Chapter 471: Mysterious Forces
"Old Wang, we both came from a tech background and ended up running companies, so let's not beat around the bush," Su Yuanshan said bluntly.
After finishing dinner, he and Wang Dongsheng moved to the office. Su Yuanshan directly handed him the document Chen Jing had shared. Although he personally felt the delays were within acceptable limits, since Chen Jing had brought it up so seriously, he had to treat it accordingly and show some formality.
A shareholder had to look the part, after all.
"Director Su, I'm aware of the progress. I'm the one who submitted those updates to Director Chen," Wang Dongsheng replied as he took the document, but instead of reading it, he looked Su Yuanshan in the eye and added with a serious tone, "The main reason I came tonight is to explain why things have turned out this way."
"Alright, I wouldn't call this a formal report… but let's hear it," Su Yuanshan said, sitting back, genuinely curious.
Tonight's meeting was informal and private. Normally, there would've been no issue with both Su Yuanshan and Chen Jing hearing the same message together. But after dinner, Wang Dongsheng had specifically phrased it as "reporting to Director Su," clearly implying that he had something to say only to him.
That made things interesting—especially since Chen Jing was the one primarily responsible for the capital region and all overseas affairs.
"The difficulties we're facing are mainly coming from the government side."
"The government?" Su Yuanshan raised an eyebrow, and after a brief moment, realization hit him. He suddenly looked surprised. "You don't mean… this has something to do with that case from earlier, do you?"
"No, not directly," Wang Dongsheng immediately shook his head. "But because we accepted government investment earlier, this round of investigations into financial irregularities from that case has caused them to scrutinize all related capital flows—very thoroughly."
"I see..." Su Yuanshan let out a long breath.
So that was it… some mysterious forces had interfered with their operations.
It turned out that the political fallout from a previous scandal had impacted this cooperative project too. When Su Yuanshan initially agreed to bring in government investment, he had considered the risks. But he assumed that with Yuanxin and Xinghai as key players and their cooperation with international companies, it would be insulated from such repercussions.
Clearly, he had been overly optimistic.
Also, since Yuanxin was only a capital investor and hadn't taken an active operational role, local government agencies might have assumed it was just a casual financial play by Yuanxin—with no real strategic intent.
"And what's the situation now? Are you still under review?" Su Yuanshan asked.
"No, that's ended. But once delays start for whatever reason, things begin to pile up. On top of that, our project was heavily supported by the previous administration… so now everything is slower and more cumbersome."
After Wang Dongsheng explained the current environment, Su Yuanshan fully understood why he had chosen to speak to him in private—and why Chen Jing had limited her earlier remarks to vague phrases like "three monks."
Given her position and profile, she couldn't speak too directly. But with her intellect and perception, she had probably figured out the real issue right away.
After a moment of silent thought, Su Yuanshan slowly nodded. "Alright. When I meet with the minister the day after tomorrow, I'll bring it up and explain the situation. Hopefully, we can get some stronger support from the top."
Wang Dongsheng let out a relieved sigh. "Then I'll count on you, Director Su."
"No need to thank me. But Old Wang, I have to be honest—even with the delays, I still think your overall project timeline is acceptable. What's missing is technical progress." Su Yuanshan glanced down at the file again, feeling a headache coming on as he thought about how Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan were all gearing up for a massive expansion in LCD panels.
"We're all playing catch-up, and if the tech gap keeps widening instead of shrinking, then unless others pause to wait for us or hit a bottleneck, we'll be stuck eating their dust forever. And Yuanxin can't afford to support a lagging industry on sentiment alone."
Su Yuanshan's tone sharpened. "Any breakthroughs Yuanxin supports must be tied to cutting-edge tech—only then will we have international competitiveness. I hope you understand that."
Wang Dongsheng took a deep breath. A wave of pressure washed over him.
If someone else had said this, he might have resisted. After all, as Su Yuanshan said, three latecomers struggling to catch up with global leaders was no small feat.
But this was Su Yuanshan talking.
This was the man who had led Yuanxin to create repeated miracles—transforming a tiny software company of a few dozen people into a technological giant with global influence in just a few years.
How could Wang argue with that?
"I understand. But… Director Su, can Yuanxin provide technical personnel support?" Wang asked after a moment, his tone cautious. "We're lacking in technical strength. And as for Fujitsu and Sony... let's just say our cooperation is still far from smooth. Especially Fujitsu—they seem to view us as a normal commercial partner, not a strategic one. They stick strictly to what's written in the contract, and even that's being done half-heartedly."
"Hmm… as for tech support, Yuanxin doesn't have any existing expertise in this area. At most, I can try to help you hire a few people—maybe poach some from Japan or Taiwan. The U.S. hasn't really touched LCDs," Su Yuanshan admitted, rubbing his forehead. "As for Fujitsu, I'm planning to visit Japan at the end of the year. I'll bring it up and see if I can push the cooperation forward."
"That would be amazing. Thank you, Director Su." Though he hadn't gotten a promise of technical resources, just having Su Yuanshan agree to bring it up during his Japan trip made Wang Dongsheng breathe a little easier. "You're really going to Japan at the end of the year?"
Su Yuanshan nodded. "Yeah. It's time. But keep it quiet, okay?"
"Of course."
In truth, Su Yuanshan had planned a visit to Japan since the start of the year, but for various reasons, it kept getting delayed. Now that Yuanxin's three major chips were complete and the commercial product lines were forming, the time had finally come.
He would travel to Japan—an aging semiconductor giant—on the heels of his company's greatest technical breakthroughs.
He would go with sincerity, with a vision of partnership, and with hope for the future.
Politically, Su Yuanshan knew it was unlikely that Japan would ever fully break away from the influence of the U.S. and regain full sovereignty over its own destiny.
But economically? Through business?
There was still much room for genuine cooperation.
The Japanese loved their "flying geese" strategies.
Fine—Su Yuanshan would give them a formation worth following.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1
Chapter 472: A Small Bit of Qualification
In China's political ecosystem, if a department is restructured multiple times in a short period, it often means that department is a "key focus area," with functions closely tied to the nation's broader macro policy goals.
The Ministry of Electronics Industry was one such example.
In 1982, the state merged the Fourth Ministry of Machine Building, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, and the State Administration of Electronic Computers to form the Ministry of Electronics Industry.
Then, to accelerate reform and industrialization, the Ministry of Electronics was merged with the Ministry of Machinery to form the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics six years later.
And five years after that, the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics was dissolved again, splitting once more into the Ministry of Machinery and the Ministry of Electronics…
—On the surface, these merges and splits looked like bureaucratic shuffling, but in fact, they reflected the central government's shifting focus and understanding of mechanical and electronic development paths.
Moreover, Su Yuanshan knew that the reshuffling wasn't over. There were already calls to merge the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications with the Ministry of Electronics to form a new Ministry of Information Industry—focused on the future of information technology.
And indeed, in the near future, that would happen: the Ministry of Information Industry would be officially formed before the turn of the century.
Today, Su Yuanshan had a meeting with Minister Hu of the Ministry of Electronics—a man directly overseeing the semiconductor industry and its top regulatory authority.
In fact, this same Minister had already been at a Standing Committee-level position several years ago.
...
"I heard you went to Peking University yesterday?"
The Minister was already in his sixties but still energetic and sharp. Despite the silver strands in his hair, his demeanor remained vibrant.
Su Yuanshan was no stranger to this man. In fact, when Su returned to China after gaining fame in Silicon Valley, it was this very official—then Deputy Minister of Machinery and Electronics—who had presided over Su's national-level report.
Since today's visit was of a reporting nature, Su Yuanshan had submitted a summary document in advance. So the Minister already knew what Su was here to talk about. What he couldn't guess was what triggered this visit—especially since Su Yuanshan had previously launched something as big as a CPU with just a press conference, much to the frustration of some more traditional-minded leaders.
But this Minister wasn't one of those old-school thinkers. In fact, one could say that Yuanxin had flourished precisely under the industrial policies and ecosystem shaped during his tenure.
The Minister looked at Su Yuanshan, and his expression softened with a fatherly warmth. This young man, once a shy boy, had become a confident and composed leader.
"So, you went to Peking University?" he repeated, opening the conversation with a casual tone.
"Yes, I attended an academic seminar," Su Yuanshan replied politely, his demeanor relaxed but respectful. "I believe you're an alumnus of Peking University, right?"
"I am. And coincidentally, I also studied physics," the Minister chuckled. "But I didn't mean to snoop into your schedule—turns out an old classmate of mine was at your seminar yesterday."
"Oh! Then I'm certainly the junior here," Su Yuanshan said humbly. "I should be learning from you."
"Haha, that's too much. I heard you spoke quite passionately yesterday—connecting graphene to the future of semiconductors and energy. That's far beyond what us old-timers can keep up with," the Minister said with a gleam of admiration in his eyes. Then, glancing at his watch, he continued in a more serious tone, "My time is a bit tight today, so let's get to the point. I've read the technical and market analysis Yuanxin submitted on flash memory. I assume you're not here just to repeat what's already in the report?"
Su Yuanshan was well aware of the Minister's no-nonsense style, and he also knew their time was limited to about an hour. He nodded immediately.
"That's correct. Many of the thoughts and strategies behind the data are hard to convey clearly through documents alone."
"For example, Minister, you've watched Yuanxin grow and mature. Besides the favorable reform environment, Yuanxin's ability to seize the pulse of the times—particularly of the semiconductor era—was a major factor."
Even speaking to such a senior figure, Su Yuanshan was careful to articulate every word with precision.
The Minister didn't mind the politeness—he'd done extensive research on Yuanxin and understood exactly what Su Yuanshan meant. Yuanxin had indeed seized the moment, and in doing so, had grasped the lifeline of the modern era.
"So you're saying, one step ahead means staying ahead?" the Minister smiled.
"Yes, something like that," Su Yuanshan nodded. "The flash memory market is a good example. Flash memory doesn't serve an isolated market."
"Ah, you mean what was in the document—that it will define how data is stored in future electronic devices?"
"Exactly, exactly." Su Yuanshan nodded enthusiastically. He loved dealing with leaders who understood.
The Minister chuckled at his enthusiasm. "Go on."
"So, flash memory will evolve alongside many industries and products. It will become a foundational technology."
"The most important components in any computer are threefold: processor, memory, and display. For handheld and mobile devices—like phones, laptops, tablets—we also add power supply to the list."
"And we're not the only ones who see this. Intel and other giants recognize it too. We were just lucky to get a head start in both technology and conceptual direction."
The Minister nodded slowly. Everything Su Yuanshan said aligned with Yuanxin's current positioning.
This young man was steering Yuanxin toward a future he had envisioned—and that future, so far, seemed not only plausible but promising.
Which meant that China, in this sector, had gained—if only slightly—some qualification to catch up to the West.
"So, what comes next is turning our small head start into a big leap ahead of the world?"
"Oh? Tell me—how do you plan to do that?"
"We need to accelerate our global expansion. That means extending our market footprint overseas. Beyond product exports, we'll also look at conditional tech licensing—like how we've licensed the YX architecture. We'll position ourselves as core technology providers, enabling other companies to become deep developers on top of our foundation."
"But we can't do this alone—not just as a business. We need strong national support."
The Minister smiled knowingly.
So that's what this meeting was really about.
Support.
But he was curious—what more did Yuanxin need? Weren't the existing policies supportive enough?
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1
Chapter 473: Don't Just Aim to Survive
"Go ahead—what kind of support do you need?" the Minister asked calmly.
"We hope… aside from greater tax relief and reduced fees for the new wafer fab," Su Yuanshan began, "that the state can make a few exceptions in some of the regulatory controls involving Yuanxin."
At that, the Minister's expression turned serious.
Though he wasn't in finance, he understood that the current national stance on financial and capital regulation was extremely strict—especially when it came to foreign capital's involvement in certain industries and companies. A company like Yuanxin was already well within the scope of national regulatory attention.
Even capitalist Germany had once introduced a "Volkswagen Law" to protect the interests of its core industrial enterprise.
"In addition to that," Su Yuanshan continued, "we've invested heavily in the LCD panel industry, and we hope the ministry can provide more support there as well. Although the main technological power still lies in Japan, if we don't get involved now, catching up in the future will be extremely difficult."
"LCD panels?" the Minister paused, then quickly recalled there was only one domestic player. "You mean BOE?"
"Yes… BOE is a project we co-funded with Fujitsu, Sony, and Xinghai. It's been a while, but progress has been slower than expected," Su Yuanshan said, gathering his thoughts. "To put it bluntly, we're just a bunch of underachievers trying to catch up with a study group. If we don't work harder now, we'll fall hopelessly behind."
"I thought BOE was already receiving good policy support. Why the delays? What's the issue?" the Minister asked with a slight frown.
"...It's related to an investigation into some of the capital involved. They're being scrutinized very thoroughly, which has caused operations to stagnate," Su Yuanshan replied cautiously.
The Minister's eyes flashed in understanding. He now knew exactly what Su Yuanshan was referring to.
After a few moments of silence, he nodded slowly. "I'll look into it. I agree with your perspective. A computer consists of three things: processor, memory, and display. Since LCD panels are the future of display technology, there's no reason to slow down unless there's a real problem."
Su Yuanshan exhaled gently and smiled. "Thank you, Minister. BOE really doesn't have any major issues—it's just been caught in the crossfire."
"Alright. Now, how about your product?" the Minister glanced at his watch again. "I'm very eager to see what you've come up with."
Su Yuanshan immediately took out a flash memory chip from his briefcase.
"This is just the chip. By the end of the year, we'll have several new products and technologies ready for expert review—and I guarantee they'll be world-class."
"Good. Then I'll look forward to seeing them," the Minister said with a satisfied smile. Now that's what I like to hear.
...
After leaving the Ministry of Electronics, Su Yuanshan took time to visit BOE and meet with the Japanese team. As an outsider in the LCD panel field, there wasn't much he could do beyond offering a few words of encouragement. Still, he did take the opportunity to pass along some of what had been discussed with the Minister to Wang Dongsheng.
"Technically speaking, the Minister can't interfere with local government matters, right?" Wang Dongsheng asked as the two of them strolled under the shade of trees in the factory grounds. Though he was hopeful, he still looked uneasy.
"Technically… no. But since this is an industrial project, if the ministry starts to take it seriously, the local government—even here in the capital—will still have to show some respect," Su Yuanshan explained. He knew the turbulence wouldn't last long. Stability was the current priority, and since BOE was involved with multiple international partners and cutting-edge technology, as long as no serious violations emerged, the issue would be resolved quickly.
"That's a relief."
"Old Wang, as I've said before—right now, LCD panels are the only real weak link in Yuanxin's entire industrial chain. And it's likely they'll remain our weak point for quite a long time." Su Yuanshan stopped by a long bench, prompting Wang Dongsheng to pull out a cloth to wipe it down. But Su waved him off and sat down directly.
"If all we wanted was survival, then with the technologies from Fujitsu and Sony, we'd be fine. But we can't just aim to survive… right?" Su Yuanshan let out a deep sigh. "Our generation has a mission."
Wang Dongsheng looked at Su Yuanshan's youthful face and felt deeply moved. That statement—"our generation"—included him, even though they were more than a decade apart in age.
But when it came to running tech businesses, they truly were the same generation.
That mission was the responsibility of pushing their industry forward.
"By the way," Su Yuanshan added, "when I was at the physics seminar at Peking University yesterday, I mentioned your situation. The physics department seems interested in forming a new joint academic research base with your team. You should reach out. Don't worry about funding—when it comes to R&D, no cost is too high."
"Great! I'll reach out to them tomorrow."
"No need to rush."
"You said we have a mission, right? How can I not rush?" Wang Dongsheng smiled. "Director Su, don't worry—if we don't have talent, we'll train it. If we lack technology, we'll break through ourselves. Like you once said: 'It's just brains—so what if we have to burn some?'"
"Oh? When did I ever say that?" Su Yuanshan blinked.
"I don't know. People say it's something that circulated around Yuanxin."
"Hah, probably something I spouted while bragging…" Su Yuanshan stood up, glanced once more at the factory, and then looked toward the east, already thinking about Samsung's next move—by now, they were privately poaching Japanese LCD talent at full speed.
Su Yuanshan had always disliked Samsung.
...
Back at the courtyard residence, Su Yuanshan had barely walked in when Zhu Yuanxin burst through the door, carrying a thick stack of printed pages.
"Don't tell me this is all your concept design drafts…" Su Yuanshan flipped through them and saw that they were all mobile phone exterior designs.
"They are. I want you to help pick a direction."
As he flipped through a few pages, Su Yuanshan couldn't help laughing. "Old Zhu, is this your way of messing with me like I'm your client?"
In the past, Zhu Yuanxin might have taken such a remark seriously. But now he understood Su was joking, not criticizing. He chuckled. "It's just that this design will define our product direction for a long time. Once we decide, it'll be hard to change. If even the boss doesn't like what we design… then what's the point?"
Su Yuanshan: "…"
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1
Chapter 474: The "Big" Screen Phone
Zhu Yuanxin had spoken with such straightforwardness that Su Yuanshan couldn't quite tell whether he was trying to flatter him or something else…
Still, when it came to predicting future trends, Su Yuanshan had a decent degree of confidence. After all, aesthetic preferences weren't easily disrupted by the butterfly effect. And two years ago, he had already decided that Yuanxin's mobile phones would follow a classic candy bar form factor. What they were doing now was simply refining and subdividing that direction.
So Su Yuanshan began to look through the design drafts in earnest.
Zhu Yuanxin quietly observed his expressions, trying to decipher his boss's preferences from each glance—his earlier words hadn't been meant as flattery but a simple truth.
Yuanxin had grown huge. Although the design center—based in the capital—was officially an independent division within the group, with its own science and tech park, its actual influence lagged far behind the other tech bases.
No need to mention the provincial headquarters—that's where Chief Scientist Xi presided.
And Shanghai? That was under the stewardship of one of the "Five Titans" of the Yuanxin Academy, Li Mingliu, and located right beside the wafer fab—its strategic weight was self-evident.
The only place the design center could reasonably compare itself to was the Internet Center in the Special Zone.
But the Internet Center… was home to Director Su's own office—and conveniently, Director Chen's office was located in the design center.
With the two top bosses occupying north and south, a certain balance—perhaps even rivalry—was inevitable.
Zhu Yuanxin understood clearly: if the design center wanted to elevate its position, it had to produce results—and avoid offending the boss.
As for Director Chen… from what Zhu could observe, she almost always followed Su Yuanshan's lead.
As Su flipped through the design sketches, he occasionally made notes with a pen.
Being a seasoned designer, Zhu had excellent pattern recognition skills. He quickly began to summarize Su's preferences:
"Bigger screen, thinner body, sleeker look. Something like… huh? This one's not bad. Who designed it?"
Su Yuanshan had turned to the last page and unexpectedly found a phone model resembling the Nokia 3210—or at least something very similar to the device that sold over a hundred million units worldwide back in the day.
Zhu was taken aback. Seeing Su praise that one, he suddenly became a bit self-conscious. "That's one I designed myself… just added it in to fill space."
"Fill space?" Su Yuanshan was amused. "Come on, Old Zhu, don't lie. This design's pretty elegant. Why didn't you go with it?"
"The screen's too big. It'd be too expensive to produce."
"…" Su Yuanshan stared at the 1.5-inch screen. From any angle, it wasn't what one would call big.
Then again, compared to the current mainstream, it was a bit larger than usual.
"This was basically a scaled-down version of one of our previous concept phones. But with concept phones, we don't have to worry about cost. When it comes to market-ready mass production, we do. So even though Director Duan and I liked the design, we decided to shelve it until we could secure cheaper LCD panels."
Su Yuanshan nodded in understanding.
Yuanxin had launched a concept phone late last year, focused on paving the way for mobile networking and business devices—in essence, a test platform for Yuanxin's operating system team. It wasn't even publicly released; just distributed internally to a few senior executives.
Chen Jing had been using it all along—checking emails and reading the news. Su Yuanshan, on the other hand, had never gotten used to it and preferred his laptop.
Zhu glanced at Su again and continued with a grin, "Since you said to prepare some special ones this time, I figured I'd include it. If we're aiming for the high end, we can afford to ignore costs temporarily."
"Exactly. This time we're targeting the Western market. The concept alone is enough to make an impact," Su Yuanshan said as he placed the final design on top of the pile. "Talk to Director Duan and relay my thoughts—then get with the engineering team and see if the design's feasible. If not, I'll personally go hound the OS team until they develop a custom music player."
After a brief pause, Su added, "Also, we shouldn't waste that nice, big screen. Add a lyrics display feature."
"Lyrics? How would that even work?" Zhu was stunned.
"That's not your concern—that's a software issue," Su Yuanshan said with a chuckle.
If they were going to fully integrate the music ecosystem and elevate the experience, then it had to be a full-service solution—right down to a new lyrics file format.
Otherwise, how would the MP3 player or MP3 phone distinguish itself?
...
Though it was already early winter, the recent string of sunny days made the chill far more tolerable—especially without wind.
After dinner in the courtyard, Su Yuanshan and Chen Jing sat in rattan chairs, sipping hot tea and chatting under the stars.
"When are you leaving?" Chen Jing turned her head, the soft glow of the courtyard lamps reflecting in her eyes like stardust.
"Tomorrow, probably. There's nothing left for me here," Su Yuanshan replied, squinting slightly and reclining like an old master gazing at the stars. "I plan to head back to the provincial capital and kick the OS team into gear. Been feeding them for years—it's time they did some real work."
Chen Jing rolled her eyes. "Tomorrow's the weekend, you know…"
"Oh? It is?" Su scratched his head sheepishly. "Guess I've been too busy—I'm losing track of time."
"…Then take a break. You haven't really rested since you came back from Silicon Valley." Chen sighed. "Don't push your body just because you're still young. There's a Viennese orchestra performing at the Capital Concert Hall tomorrow. Want to go?"
"The concert hall?" Su Yuanshan turned to her.
"Yeah. Think of it as a bit of relaxation."
"Uhh…" Su pursed his lips, and for a split second, a flood of thoughts ran through his head. Then he shrugged and gave a wry smile. "Jing-jie… I'll be honest."
"Hmm?" Chen raised an eyebrow curiously.
"If we were in public, sure—I'd put on a show of being refined and cultured. But with you, I can be real. I just… don't get classical music. I'd rather listen to some pop."
He shrugged again. "I guess I'm just a bit of a philistine."
"Pfft…" Chen Jing burst out laughing. "Then what do you do for fun?"
"Hobbies, huh… well, I used to love watching football. But nowadays I'm more of a casual fan—just listening to gossip and following scores. Haven't had time to attend a live game in forever."
Just then, An Siying happened to arrive with a fruit platter. Overhearing them, she smiled and said, "Director Su, there's actually a game here in the capital tomorrow. Yuanxin's team is playing against the Capital City team…"
"Huh?"
"How about going to watch it?" Chen Jing's eyes lit up with excitement.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1
Chapter 475: Under Someone Else's Roof
Back when Su Yuanshan was pushing to introduce the 0.5-micron process, he had nearly slammed the table in frustration to get Texas Instruments (TI) to finally agree. Of course, TI had plenty of internal challenges to overcome as well—but compared to the effort Yuanxin had poured in, TI had essentially harvested a full basket of benefits.
In Shanghai, any process enhancements derived from TI's provided technology would be shared back with TI unconditionally.
To put it bluntly: no matter how much face Su Yuanshan had, no matter how innovative Yuanxin was as a fully private company, at the end of the day, it was still an enterprise marked with a mainland identity.
Whether viewed commercially or politically, TI inherently needed to maintain technical control—or at least leverage—over Deyuan, and by extension, over Yuanxin.
And Su Yuanshan accepted that constraint.
—When you live under someone else's roof, what choice do you have?
What TI hadn't expected, however, was that Zhang Rujin, relying primarily on engineers poached from Taiwan and working alongside Yuanxin's EDA and chip design centers, would manage to complete the manufacturing process for the most advanced flash memory particles.
That was a hard pill to swallow.
As a semiconductor veteran with decades of history, if TI failed to grasp the strategic significance of Yuanxin's MLC flash memory development, and showed no technological sensitivity at all, it might as well shut down and retire with dignity.
...
"Let's see how sincere they are," Su Yuanshan chuckled, recalling the email he'd received from Mr. Vincent just before boarding the plane. "I think TI has learned its lesson—they finally realized not to put all their eggs in one basket."
In his past life, TI's decline had stemmed from its stubborn focus on scaling production of commercial memory particles while failing to keep up technologically—or rather, choosing the wrong paths entirely. They diverted efforts toward specialized chips like DSPs and microcontrollers. When the semiconductor winter hit, TI had no choice but to sell off its outdated fabs, ultimately falling out of the top-tier chipmaker ranks.
"If we license the technology to TI, what kind of model are we thinking?" Zhang Rujin asked, knowing that Su Yuanshan didn't want to strain the relationship with TI—so some form of licensing was inevitable.
"No rush," Su Yuanshan replied thoughtfully. "TI probably wants to use the mature 0.5-micron technology to upgrade its older fabs. But let's be honest, we're the ones currently pushing the flash memory market forward."
Then he paused, smirked, and corrected himself. "Okay, fine—right now it's Intel and SanDisk… but we'll be joining them very soon. That means TI can't stay on the sidelines if it wants to get into the game."
"They can't just make flash memory chips to earn money while refusing to take part in growing the market. If they want to be in, they'll have to present a concrete partnership proposal and show some real sincerity."
...
Back in the Special Economic Zone, Su Yuanshan began preparing for his upcoming trip to Japan before the Lunar New Year.
With Christmas approaching, time was running short—and there was much to be done on this visit.
First, he had to finalize which companies to visit. Officially, he was traveling at the invitation of Sony, so Sony would naturally be the first stop. Then came Fujitsu, a key partner, followed by Nikon and Canon—the two companies currently supplying lithography machines to Deyuan.
These two were also Su Yuanshan's primary target clients.
His motto had always been: if you're going abroad, don't come back empty-handed. Japan's entire semiconductor sector was pivoting toward digital technologies, and the components limiting the popularity of digital products were primarily memory and power.
As it happened, Yuanxin was currently the strongest supplier in both areas.
Additionally, Su Yuanshan hoped to become a lithography equipment partner to Nikon and Canon.
He had already made up his mind: whether or not the American EUV alliance formed, whether or not ASML would eventually rise, for now, he needed to secure these two Japanese powerhouses. As long as Nikon and Canon still existed and remained Japanese—not fully absorbed into the American orbit—they were a thorn in Washington's side.
In geopolitics, the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Su Yuanshan didn't mind positioning himself as a technology provider to both Canon and Nikon.
—The technology in question? That would be the deep UV (DUV) light source optimization methods from Lin Bencheng's team.
As for Lin's most groundbreaking contribution—the idea that would one day almost derail Moore's Law with the 193nm DUV barrier—well, that would have to wait. At present, no one had fully realized just how pivotal that challenge would become.
Beyond preparing for the Japan trip, Su Yuanshan also had to keep an eye on the progress in the industrial park, the lithium battery project, and even make time to read the graphene papers from He Chunhua and Zhou Xingbo.
...
"Director Su, Professor Lü from the University of Electronic Science and Technology is calling—should I patch him through?" Wen Xiaoqian asked as Su Yuanshan was reviewing Zhou Xingbo's research.
"Yeah, go ahead," Su Yuanshan said with mild curiosity. There was only one Professor Lü at the university—Professor Lü Xuechao, head of the applied physics department, and Zhou Xingbo's academic advisor.
"Uncle Lü, why didn't you call my cell?"
"Your phone's off." Lü's voice came through, cheerful. "Have you read Xiao Zhou's paper?"
"I'm reading it now. You've already seen it?"
"I haven't done the experiments myself, but based on academic intuition, I think the results are valid and meaningful," Lü said confidently, sounding as if Su Yuanshan were an editor at Nature and he was pitching a paper on behalf of his student.
Su Yuanshan couldn't help but laugh. "Uncle Lü, don't be too hasty… There are already multiple papers on graphene doping. If Zhou wants to publish, it may have to go to a second-tier journal."
"As long as it's a journal, that's fine!" Lü said casually. He wasn't picky—especially knowing that Zhou Xingbo was currently working with He Chunhua from Peking University on carbon-based semiconductors, a field that even Su Yuanshan was backing strongly. Their experimental progress was rumored to be world-leading.
Naturally, Lü was delighted that a student he mentored had come this far.
"Yes, as long as it's not a top-tier journal, second-tier is still fine. Would you like to be listed as corresponding author? This paper is something Zhou completed independently."
"Hmm… What do you think?"
When it came to this, Lü suddenly turned bashful.
With China now prioritizing scientific research—especially international publications—research groups across universities had begun targeting prestigious journals. Even though formal policies on tenure and promotions hadn't fully solidified, it was clear that in the future, international academic influence would matter more and more—even marginal influence.
Lü, too, had aspirations.
"Then we'll list you as the corresponding author," Su Yuanshan said.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1