Chapter 526: The Academic Search Solution
Although Su Yuanshan was well aware that many urban planning efforts across various cities often failed to live up to expectations in the long run, he never offered suggestions in that regard—even if he had a good relationship with the leadership.
It was his principle as an entrepreneur.
But staying within his bounds didn't mean Su Yuanshan never said anything at all. For example, when it came to Shanghai and the Special Economic Zone, he had always advocated and emphasized that the development speed of these two cities would exceed everyone's imagination. Planning them as future world-class cities was absolutely the right direction. He also knew that planning for cities like these couldn't be dictated by just one leader—both cities were simply too special for that.
As far as Shanghai was concerned, hosting the Sino-Japanese semiconductor conference had solidified its position as the domestic leader in semiconductors. More importantly, it gave the city a chance to showcase its openness to high-tech industries—especially semiconductors—and the strength of government support in this field.
So, when the city leader heard Su Yuanshan say that high-level executives from several Japanese companies would be visiting Shanghai next month, the sense of relief on the leader's face was obvious.
The two went on to discuss various trends observed during the conference, joking about Intel and SanDisk's minor antics, and lamenting IBM's shrewdness. Eventually, Su Yuanshan had to leave, right on schedule, and caught a flight back to the Special Economic Zone.
…
At the Internet Center, Gao Xiaodi had been wandering around aimlessly for four days like a ghost—showing no trace of what a senior executive should look like.
"Director Gao, the way you're pacing around is really making it hard for me to concentrate."
Zhang Xiaolong sat behind a computer, half-laughing, half-complaining as he looked at Gao Xiaodi. "Why don't you go bug Secretary Zhou?"
"I just got kicked out of her office," Gao said, glancing at the time on his watch and grinning. "Old Zhang, don't be like that—Boss Shan will be back soon."
Zhang Xiaolong could only shake his head helplessly.
He and Gao weren't even in the same field, nor had they attended the same school. They had barely exchanged greetings at annual meetings in the past. But ever since Gao Xiaodi came to the Special Economic Zone to promote the Tenglong CPU series to IBM, Zhang—being the head of Yuanxin's Internet Center—had been attending the banquets, and after a few rounds of drinks, the two had become quite familiar.
Though Gao Xiaodi tended to be a bit "unconventional"—or let's say, "playful"—he at least understood Zhang was busy. Zhang had personally taken charge of leading the team to develop an online music site, and Gao really shouldn't be distracting him. So, he eventually pulled a book from the shelf and sat quietly on the guest sofa to read.
After a few minutes, Zhang Xiaolong suddenly asked, "Old Gao, have you ever used eso?"
"Hmm? You mean what—soybean oil or the website?" Gao looked up.
"…The website. What the hell is soybean oil?"
"Uh… eso, epoxidized soybean oil… Never mind. You're talking about the search engine, right?"
"Yes…"
Gao closed his book and grinned. "Of course I've used it—our boss lady made it, how could I not? I even gave her a bunch of suggestions. Why, you need something?"
Zhang was speechless.
After considerable deliberation, Ye Rudai had eventually abandoned her original domain name and chosen eso.com—a sleek three-letter name that also carried meaning in certain contexts.
In China, it could be pronounced "Yi Sou," meaning "Easy Search." In chemical fields, it could also be interpreted as soybean oil.
As head of Yuanxin's Internet Center, Zhang Xiaolong naturally had the means to communicate directly with the eso.com team.
"I just had an idea," Zhang said. "Right now, eso.com's search speed and accuracy are excellent. But for certain types of articles, the analytical capacity is lacking. For example, say we want to search for a technical article, and we only remember part of it or a few keywords. The results shown are based on the existing algorithm, which ranks results by visit frequency—not by article relevance. Do you get what I mean?"
Gao blinked, then cleared his throat. "Don't throw too much jargon at me. Basically, what you're saying is—if someone's trying to search for a paper or journal article but accidentally ends up with a random blog post or forum comment… right?"
"Exactly."
"Hmm… that's a great idea. Right now, when we go online, aside from remote collaboration, we're often looking for all kinds of academic papers uploaded by others. As the internet keeps growing, all those articles will eventually be online. If we can search them specifically, that would be an amazing tool for us."
As Gao was speaking, a voice came from the doorway: "What tool?"
The door creaked open as Su Yuanshan entered.
Both men stood up immediately to greet him. Zhang Xiaolong also quickly explained the idea they had just discussed.
Su Yuanshan was slightly surprised, then nodded in praise. "That's a really solid idea. I remember you guys already have contacts with eso, right? Send Yezi an email and share the concept. Oh—and let me add one more thing. Suggest that they implement classification for journals and academic papers, and toolify eso to make academic search faster and more precise."
"Okay, I'll send the email right away." Zhang gave a slightly shy smile. "I just hope we're not bothering Miss Ye."
"Haha, she'll be grateful to you—why would she find it bothersome?" Su chuckled, then nodded toward Gao Xiaodi. "Senior, come with me to my office."
…
Back in his office, Su Yuanshan didn't even have time for a sip of water before asking about the specific outcome of Gao's meeting with IBM.
Of course, he already knew the result—IBM was interested.
But after witnessing how Gerstner had circled around his company without giving away anything tangible, Su realized that "interest" was the most unreliable thing in business unless it was written into a purchase agreement.
Still… given the current state of the Tenglong CPU series, even a mere show of interest from IBM was something Yuanxin couldn't afford to take lightly.
"I only got to meet Gerstner once. Shan, I have to say—not bringing me along that night you picked him up was a serious mistake," Gao said, looking at Su with exaggerated grievance.
Zhou Xiaohui and Wen Xiaoqian, nearby, chuckled quietly—only Director Gao could talk to Boss Shan so casually.
Su Yuanshan laughed. "Senior, who knew Gerstner would pull a feint like that? I thought he was going to stay in Shanghai for days!"
"Fine, just don't forget me next time," Gao muttered, then grew serious. "Although I only met Gerstner once, most of the talks were with his aides. But that guy, Mr. Anason—he's clearly someone with decision-making power."
"Because he's in charge of procurement."
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 527: Gao Xiaodi Can't Close the Deal
Su Yuanshan nodded slightly, signaling Gao Xiaodi to continue.
"Anason's stance is that without sufficient incentive, IBM will never abandon their existing, mature suppliers and product chains."
Su Yuanshan nodded again. "That's fair. And then?"
"Then we responded with targeted solutions to their concerns. For example, on profit and payment terms, we offered the best discounts we could. On stability and compatibility, we offered to coordinate directly with Soltek for joint design testing—dammit, there aren't even any compatibility issues, they're just nitpicking like amateurs. And for after-sales service, we offered full cooperation too."
"After all that, they still wouldn't agree?" Wen Xiaoqian looked at Zhou Xiaohui in disbelief.
"It's not that they refused," Zhou Xiaohui replied softly, "they're just waiting for us to make more concessions. Gerstner is a pure business manager, highly skilled in cost control. His procurement chief, being in such a critical position, clearly has to follow his philosophy to the letter."
Listening to his two former and current secretaries exchange thoughts quietly, Su Yuanshan glanced back. When he saw the growing maturity in Zhou Xiaohui's demeanor, he smiled.
It seemed all those years of nurturing had really paid off…
"Sister Xiaohui is absolutely right. It does seem they're still waiting for us to back down further," Su Yuanshan continued the conversation.
At this point, Gao Xiaodi quickly followed up, "So what do we do? Keep offering new proposals?"
"Xiaohui, what's your take?" Su Yuanshan didn't answer directly but turned to Zhou Xiaohui, who had returned from the Special Economic Zone earlier and had led the meeting with IBM.
As if she had expected the question, Zhou Xiaohui thought for a few seconds before answering, "For now, I don't recommend any further proposals. We can start exploring cooperation with other companies."
Gao Xiaodi immediately looked to Su Yuanshan.
Su Yuanshan chuckled again. "Exactly, Senior. We can't keep lowering ourselves. I get that you're in a hurry, but even so—we have principles. We're here to sell our skills, not our dignity."
"…"
"So next, we can start talking with Dell and HP. If IBM keeps posturing, we can offer other companies even better deals than we gave IBM. The point is—we can't let anyone think they can walk all over us."
"Of course, that doesn't mean we completely cut IBM off. We still maintain contact."
Gao Xiaodi gave a wry smile. "Alright, alright… damn, doing business really is full of tricks."
Su Yuanshan burst out laughing. "Just a few small tricks. Senior, since we're alone here, let me give you some advice."
"Go on."
"Don't look down on people who aren't from technical backgrounds… whether they're managers or salespeople."
Hearing that, Gao Xiaodi was stunned for a second and instinctively glanced at Zhou Xiaohui and Wen Xiaoqian—then quickly jumped like his seat was on fire. "Hey, don't slander me! When did I ever look down on anyone?"
Man, Su Yuanshan had just told his secretaries that Gao looked down on non-tech people—wasn't that throwing him into the fire?
"Calm down." Su Yuanshan smiled. "Let me ask you—when you were hiring, why did you insist on candidates from semiconductor-related majors… even for after-sales and marketing roles?"
"Uh… well, if the person doesn't understand any tech at all, how are they supposed to do marketing?"
"That's where you're wrong, Senior… Selling a product is not the same as designing one. Gerstner, a guy who used to sell cigarettes, led IBM back from the brink of death… You think he understands semiconductor band diagrams? I bet he couldn't solve a basic one if you gave him a quiz."
"Uh…" Gao scratched his head.
"The hard part of a CPU lies in the inner architecture and design, not in selling its specs. You know He Wei, right?"
"He Wei? Who's that?"
"See…" Su Yuanshan sighed, frustrated. "You don't even know her…"
Gao Xiaodi, despite being somewhat laid-back and temperamental on the surface, was a hard-hitter deep down. He had always seen himself as being on par with Li Mingliu. But how their levels truly compared was no longer possible to determine—they had taken very different paths.
Being a hard-hitter also meant he was a hardcore "technical supremacy" guy. He had a built-in superiority complex—if someone had tech skills, he respected them; if not… well, they didn't count.
"Director Gao, He Wei is currently the deputy sales director of the mobile division," Zhou Xiaohui said calmly from the side. "She studied something completely unrelated to electronics or computer science. But when she first started selling phones, it only took her one day to learn the ropes. Later, she became the top sales rep in Zhang's commercial department, and after being poached by Boss Shan, she's been leading market promotion and talent development. Even now, as a deputy director, she still spends one day a month working at a sales counter herself."
"…Yeah, but phones are a mass-market consumer product. CPUs aren't," Gao tried to argue.
"What, you think custom PC markets aren't?" Su Yuanshan shot back. "If we can't break into the branded PC market, can't we at least promote through DIY builds? Right now, markets like Zhongguancun, Buynow, and other computer malls basically cover the entire national custom PC scene—don't tell me all those people selling PCs are electrical engineering grads. Come on, anyone with basic middle school physics could learn this stuff…"
"Next month, I'm transferring He Wei to your team," Su Yuanshan said, seeing that Gao had finally stopped arguing. "She's never even touched processors before. Just see how she helps you plan your market strategy."
"Alright… What about negotiations with other OEMs? Who are you sending for that?"
"…" Su Yuanshan went speechless. "You want me to loan you Director Chen now? She's our best negotiator."
Gao's face lit up. "That'd be amazing! Director Chen is worth—"
"—Keep dreaming!" Su Yuanshan cut him off with a glare, then checked his watch and stood up. "Enough nonsense. Let's go eat. We'll talk architecture after dinner."
Gao grinned. "Now that's my area of expertise. Selling CPUs… that really isn't my thing…"
"…"
Watching Gao struggle with things outside his lane, Su Yuanshan felt a slight headache coming on.
Clearly, not everyone was cut out to run a company—especially not in the CPU sector, a latecomer's battlefield full of cutthroat competition.
And truthfully, Yuanxin still had a long way to go in processors.
The reason was simple. Even though Su Yuanshan had pulled off a miracle by leveraging the Cyrix team and his forward-looking architectural blueprints to give Yuanxin's CPU department a shot at leaping forward, that advantage was temporary.
The Intel agreement was running out, and Cyrix's departure was imminent.
From here on out, Yuanxin was on its own.
And when it came to foundation, technology, and talent in the CPU field—they still weren't quite there yet.
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 528: Learning AMD's Three-Step Strategy
"Shan, I have to disagree with you on this point."
After dinner, Gao Xiaodi, for once, expressed his disagreement with Su Yuanshan's stance on Yuanxin's upcoming 64-bit architecture: "We've suffered too much from the X86 architecture. If our X64 design still has to remain compatible with X86, how are we ever supposed to reclaim our dignity?"
In Su Yuanshan's office, Gao stared straight at him, speaking with unusual seriousness: "We could go straight for the server and enterprise systems market. It's not impossible for us to leap ahead and gain the upper hand."
Su Yuanshan blinked, surprised by his tone, then suddenly chuckled.
He had spent a long time contemplating the future of Yuanxin's CPU line. In the end, he concluded that if their desktop processors were truly to rise and become competitive, process nodes and microarchitecture alone wouldn't be enough—not to mention, their process tech might not even stay ahead.
So, he decided on a three-pronged approach.
To put it plainly, he wanted to fully adopt AMD's historic strategy.
Back in the day, when AMD was contending with Intel's dominance, they used three key tactics:
First, they fiercely competed with Intel on clock speed, launching the Thunderbird processor, the first to break the 1GHz mark. At the time—just like now—clock speed was equated with execution efficiency. To consumers, the higher the GHz, the better the chip.
Second, AMD introduced the 64-bit AMD-64 instruction set, fully compatible with 32-bit X86, allowing seamless software and hardware upgrades. Intel, on the other hand—perhaps overconfident in their market position—partnered with HP to launch the Itanium (IA64), a completely incompatible architecture aimed at the server space.
Lastly, AMD was the first to release dual-core processors, integrating two cores into one chip and thus opening the era of multi-core computing.
Yes, Intel had dual-core too—but theirs was literally just two chips glued together. Historians call it the infamous "glue-core."
Thanks to these three moves, AMD quickly devoured Intel's market share. At their peak, the two were neck and neck.
If AMD could succeed with this strategy back then, Su Yuanshan didn't believe he'd do worse by following the same playbook.
But now Gao Xiaodi wanted to imitate Intel's approach?
That was a sure way to fail without even realizing why.
…
Noticing Su Yuanshan's strange smile, Gao couldn't help but grow defensive. "Why are you laughing…"
"Senior, I disagree."
"…"
"We worked so hard to secure the X86 license. That's exactly why we can't just throw it away," Su Yuanshan said, his tone shifting from amused to serious. "I know what you're trying to say—yes, the server market is extremely attractive. If we went for it, with our national branding and Yuanxin's reputation, we could definitely secure a share of the domestic market. But what's the point if our ambitions stop there?"
"There is no point. Our goal has always been global. And think about this—why can't personal computers use 64-bit processors and systems too?"
"So we're abandoning the server market?" Gao still pushed back, unwilling to concede.
"We're not abandoning it—of course we want it. But now is not the time to fight for it. Our technical foundation is still too weak—Senior, look me in the eye and tell me: without the Cyrix team, could the Tenglong processor even exist?"
Gao opened his mouth, but in the end, he closed it firmly.
As the current head of the CPU department and the lead implementer of the Tenglong processor, he knew better than anyone how it came to be.
The original team had practically been an outsourcing unit.
Still, after thinking it over, Gao tried to argue again: "But it's different now. The team has grown. It's just a battle of brains—who's afraid? You said that yourself in front of Chairman Xi."
Su Yuanshan laughed as Gao threw his own words back at him. "Yes, but only if we're fighting on the right battlefield! Now that we finally have a bit of technical and human capital, we should double down on what we know. As for your so-called independent X64 architecture? Forget it."
Then Su Yuanshan's face turned grave.
"Senior, based on my technical foresight and market intuition, I promise you—that path is a dead end."
Seeing him so serious for once, Gao stopped resisting. "Alright, fine… you're the boss."
"No, technology is the boss. I might have to keep some cards close to my chest in front of others, but with you, I never hide anything," Su Yuanshan said, locking eyes with him. "Have I ever shot from the hip?"
Gao was suddenly struck by a realization.
Yes, Su Yuanshan was always humble, even inside Yuanxin, even in front of Chairman Xi. He never claimed to be a genius.
But in front of Gao, he didn't need to say it.
He just did things that only geniuses could pull off—no, things even geniuses might not be able to do.
The deeper Gao dove into processor architecture, the more he understood how much raw brilliance it took to design an original one from scratch.
And Su Yuanshan, at under twenty years old, had done it. He'd practically hand-held the current CPU design team into existence.
Including Gao himself.
Realizing this, Gao took a deep breath, slapped his forehead, and said, "Shan, you're right. Damn… I've been getting ahead of myself."
"Senior…" Su Yuanshan shook his head, smiling. "No worries. We'll have our shot at the server market. Let's just take it step by step. Intel won't dominate forever—someday we'll hit them so hard they'll be spitting petals. Only then will they know why the flowers are so red."
…
Over the next two days, Su Yuanshan spent time with various CPU department groups, laying out future strategies and directions.
Then, he shifted focus to his upcoming paper. He was planning to design a framework for a 64-bit architecture.
As the weather grew warmer, the calendar flipped past March.
Once April began, Su Yuanshan immediately felt like there weren't enough hours in the day—he had to work on the paper, monitor the progress of phone mass production, prepare to select new graduate students for the lab, and plan his return to Yuanxin's headquarters.
As he sat in his office, struggling to choose between several student dossiers, a commotion erupted just outside the door.
Frowning, Su Yuanshan looked up. Wen Xiaoqian, who hadn't been able to help much with the student selection, immediately stood up. "I'll go check."
"Okay."
But just as he nodded, the office door burst open.
A burly man stood in the doorway, flanked by two large bodyguards.
Seeing who it was, Su Yuanshan was taken aback. "Brother Fu? What are you doing here?"
"Director Chen sent me, told me to try barging in," Fu Zhenhua replied with a goofy grin. Then he turned serious. "Boss Shan, we're here to protect you."
"Protect me? What for?"
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 529: A Wise Man Avoids the Wall That May Collapse
The man at the door was none other than Fu Zhenhua—the very first driver Su Yuanshan had hired back in the days when Yuanxin was still headquartered at Jiangdu Tower. A retired soldier who had once stormed off from his rural hometown in a huff and fathered three daughters in a row, Fu had stumbled upon a job ad for a driver in the newspaper while working on a construction site, and came straight to apply.
Years later, Fu Zhenhua had become the director-level manager overseeing Yuanxin's transportation and security teams.
But "protection"… from what?
Was someone trying to harm Su Yuanshan?
Just then, security staff from the Internet Center came jogging over, followed closely by Zhang Xiaolong, who had received the news and rushed to the scene.
"What's going on?" Su Yuanshan asked, genuinely baffled.
"There's been an incident in HK," Fu Zhenhua said with a solemn face. "The son of the richest man in Hong Kong has been kidnapped."
Su Yuanshan's eyes narrowed sharply. He slapped his forehead—he had completely forgotten about that event. But he immediately thought of Sun Xihui, who was currently stationed in HK, and asked quickly, "What about President Sun?"
"She's the one who called Director Chen and told her to send us. And she specifically said not to tell you beforehand. Boss Shan, this isn't up for debate. The three of us are now your security detail."
At that moment, Zhang Xiaolong waved off the security guards and stepped inside, recognizing Fu Zhenhua and giving him a nod. Still confused, he asked, "What the hell is going on? Who got kidnapped?"
"Li Jiacheng's son. You'll see it on the news soon enough," Fu Zhenhua explained to Zhang. "Director Zhang, would you mind arranging an office for the three of us?"
"Yeah, yeah… sure thing…"
…
After Fu Zhenhua's arrival, Su Yuanshan received back-to-back calls from Chen Jing and Sun Xihui. Clearly, both women knew his temperament well enough to act first and inform him later.
Given Su Yuanshan's deeply nostalgic nature, he could never bring himself to reject Fu Zhenhua.
By dinnertime, the news of the HK kidnapping had broken. Su Yuanshan had no choice but to acknowledge the uncomfortable reality that, at least in the eyes of others, he was now more valuable than that high-profile son.
If some gang of lowlifes actually tried to target him… it would be a disaster.
"Well, that's it then. No more personal freedom," Su Yuanshan sighed, raising a teacup with Fu Zhenhua and his two men in lieu of wine.
"Don't worry, Boss Shan. We're only here to ensure your safety… not to restrict your movement," Fu Zhenhua said cheerfully. "And don't worry, our mouths are sealed—Old Liang and Old Chen were both reconnaissance soldiers, professionally trained."
"Alright, alright. Liang-ge, Chen-ge, eat up," Su Yuanshan replied, now somewhat resigned to his new reality.
…
The next day, Su Yuanshan received a flood of calls from concerned friends and colleagues—even his mother, who rarely phoned, called to remind him to be careful.
The HK kidnapping had clearly sent a strong message to China's wealthiest families—private security was no longer a luxury, but a necessity. It was around this time that personal bodyguards started to gain popularity in the country.
Fortunately, Su Yuanshan's concern wasn't assassination—just abduction. As a result, aside from assigning a bulletproof car to Fu Zhenhua, the other two bodyguards only needed to tail him in a second vehicle whenever he traveled. Since Su Yuanshan spent most of his time in the office, his daily routine remained largely unaffected.
Three days later, Sun Xihui arrived in the Special Economic Zone.
…
"This time, you finally listened for once," Sun Xihui said with a long sigh of relief, seeing that Su Yuanshan was now using a bulletproof car and had his veteran driver Fu Zhenhua with him.
Su Yuanshan could sense the worry in her voice. Feeling a wave of warmth, he smiled and gave her a light hug without hesitation, patting her gently on the shoulder. "Sister Sun, I'm fine. I'm not even famous."
"Who said that? The HK papers have already painted you as the hidden richest man in the mainland and the prince of China's tech scene," Sun Xihui said, rolling her eyes. "You have no idea—when I heard about it, I was really shaken. It felt like Cheung Tze-keung had split his men in two: one team for Li Gongzi and the other for you."
"Uh… no big deal. I'm heading back to the provincial science park soon anyway. Even if Cheung Tze-keung were a god, he's not breaking into a tech park. But you should be careful… you're still over there in HK."
"Me? Come on, I'm not famous and I've got no money…"
They chatted casually while heading toward the armored Mercedes, then took a detour to the hotel.
This time, aside from checking in on Su Yuanshan, Sun Xihui's main task was a business trip to Fujian Province.
Last year, Su Yuanshan had asked her to connect with provincial leaders there, and after nearly six months of negotiations, they had secured an investment deal worth around 300 million RMB.
Sun Xihui was the primary stakeholder in that deal. The rest of the funding came from the provincial capital and a third party—Zhang Ke—who was investing based on his logistics ambitions.
The total investment reached 500 million RMB and was earmarked to build a massive logistics hub in the province. It would handle the distribution of goods from across Fujian and serve as a key gateway for overseas trade.
Zhang Ke's participation was a perfect fit—he had been planning a national logistics network, and this project was right up his alley.
"How's the negotiation going?"
"The contract's been signed this time. Construction will be completed within three years. Zhang and I both believe that by then, China's small commodity and ocean freight trade will explode. We're aiming to hit that wave at just the right time."
"Good. That's great to hear. As for Fujian… let's just say it's a bit close to the frontlines. Even if we wanted to develop high-tech over there, we'd still have a few concerns deep down," Su Yuanshan chuckled.
He didn't bother sugarcoating anything with Sun Xihui. No one could predict whether tensions across the Strait would escalate. As the saying goes: hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
What if the other side suddenly lost its mind?
Three days later, news arrived from the manufacturing plant.
Yuanxin's first MP3-enabled mobile phone had officially entered mass production.
…
"What's the cost at current yield levels?"
Su Yuanshan rushed to Jiang Qingchuan's office, cradling the first production model of the phone like it was a newborn baby. Unable to wait, he flipped on the speaker—the device came preloaded not with a cheap polyphonic ringtone, but with a real, 128kbps version of "Für Elise," for which Yuanxin had bought the copyright.
Seeing how eager he was, Jiang Qingchuan and Duan Yongping—who had been holed up here for months and were practically growing mold—exchanged amused glances.
"Material cost is around eight thousand RMB right now—mostly due to the decoder chip. But if MP3 sales take off, those costs will drop quickly," Jiang explained.
Su Yuanshan nodded. Even though the chip was self-designed and self-manufactured, its price still had to be calculated based on market value, not just the cost of raw silicon.
"What about once our integrated baseband and mobile OS solution is complete?" Su asked, reluctantly turning off the speaker and still eyeing the phone with affection. It was brilliant, yes—but still a stitched-together prototype at heart.
"Then it'll get a lot cheaper," Jiang chuckled. "In fact, I was just telling Director Duan earlier—by then, we'll be able to wipe out the rest of the phone market."
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 530: Progress at the R&D Center
At the moment, at Yuanxin's headquarters in the Science and Technology Park, Xi Xiaoding was presiding over the company's monthly technical meeting with all R&D departments.
These meetings were dense with technical solutions and jargon, so, following company tradition, the Office of the President had assigned a supervisor with a technical background who had since moved into administration to attend and take notes.
And because Director Xi was well-known throughout Yuanxin for his "laziness," the fact that he was actually presiding over this meeting meant that most of the company's top brass had shown up. Those who couldn't make it were participating remotely via teleconference.
"We just got word from the Special Economic Zone—the first MP3 mobile phone has officially rolled off the production line," Xi said, glancing at the fax in his hand, smiling broadly at Qin Weimin and Tian Yaoming, who sat to his left and right. "You two have worked hard."
"We weren't the ones doing the real work—it was them…" Tian Yaoming, always the more outgoing and jovial of the two, pointed at the speakerphone and laughed. "I heard the MP3 main control chip was burned out overnight by their team."
At that moment, Li Mingliu's voice came through the phone, slightly distorted but still clear. He sounded cheerful: "Director Tian, according to Boss Shan's plan, our decoder chip was only the first leg of the relay—and it wasn't even made specifically for your phone. The ones doing the real heavy lifting are you guys."
Hearing this, Tian Yaoming exchanged glances with Qin Weimin, both offering bitter smiles.
True, Su Yuanshan hadn't pressured them directly… but from the company's leadership down to the engineering teams, a clear consensus had formed: with the digital age rapidly approaching and a flood of compact, intricate digital devices just around the corner, chip functionality would have to become more comprehensive than ever.
In the world of digital electronics and consumer devices, SOC (System on Chip) technology—with its ability to integrate multiple functions—was undoubtedly the future.
"But it's not something we can rush. We're also waiting for the Apple team to arrive," Qin Weimin said with a cough, glancing at his watch. "They should be landing today—I still need to pick them up."
"Alright, then let's stick to the schedule," Xi nodded and let the topic pass. Ever since he started mentoring undergraduates, his temper had mellowed significantly. He was becoming more of a good-natured senior figure.
"Yi'nan, what's your side looking like? According to the application from the European Telecommunications Standards Institute last month, it seems our index at Yuanxin isn't quite up to par." Xi turned to Li Yin'an, his tone a little more serious.
There was good reason for that—if anyone understood the limits of Su Yuanshan's genius, it was Xi Xiaoding. Whether it was the YX architecture or the Tenglong processor, Su had been able to lend a hand, often pushing things forward at the most critical moments.
But when it came to communications protocol, Su Yuanshan had never offered much help—because Xi knew Su couldn't.
Even geniuses had limits.
Su had already demonstrated extraordinary talent in both programming and integrated circuit design. If he also excelled in communication protocols, it would be impossible to describe him as anything other than superhuman.
That's why Xi paid close attention to the telecommunications department, and why his own lab had begun collaborating across departments with Li Yin'an's team long ago.
…
Facing Xi's gaze, Li Yin'an no longer got nervous like he used to—not when his idol was looking at him. As one of the top candidates to enter Yuanxin's Scientific Committee, he had earned his stripes.
"Director Xi, the reason our index falls short is mainly because we don't own the foundational patents in the 3G space. On top of that, Qualcomm's patent wall is very high, and their technology is very strong. So, we've only applied for one core patent. Together with two patents from Qualcomm and numerous extended patents and technologies, this forms the current 3G technology pool and the foundation of the four major standards."
He smiled slightly. "Don't look at us—look at Europe. Even though the ETSI started all this, few European companies have what it takes. They're like the silly son of a rich family."
The room burst into laughter, and even Xi Xiaoding couldn't help himself.
Technology and standards always ran ahead of practical use. While phone and base station manufacturers were still arguing over whether to upgrade to 2.5G (GPRS), companies focused on communication protocols had already begun staking out their ground for the next generation.
Just like in Su Yuanshan's previous life, almost every major player—including Yuanxin—had chosen to build their future protocols on CDMA, the code-division multiple access tech pioneered by Qualcomm.
The big-name standards included Qualcomm's CDMA2000, Europe's W-CDMA (based on GSM), Siemens's TD-CDMA, and Yuanxin's own CCDMA.
The rest, as Li Yin'an said, were little more than filler, with barely enough tech to assemble a half-baked standard.
That said, even though Yuanxin had only applied for one key patent—focused on power control—it was becoming increasingly clear, as 3G took shape, that this patent was going to be crucial.
"Our real focus is on the next generation of standards," Li Yin'an continued once the laughter had subsided. "That was the vision Boss Shan set for us: to enter the second generation, drink some soup in the third, lead in the fourth, and dominate in the fifth."
"Oh, and Directors Tian and Qin—you two might want to start thinking ahead. In the future, all functions related to 3G—sending and receiving signals, power management, analog-digital conversion—will need to be integrated into the SOC."
He raised his hands with a grin. "Boss Shan said it in passing, not me."
Everyone: "…"
…
After the meeting, people trickled out in small groups. Qin Weimin and Tian Yaoming stayed back a little while, waiting for Li Yin'an.
"Was Boss Shan really serious about that?" Tian Yaoming asked. Though he was no longer Li's direct superior, he had been a mentor of sorts. Their personal relationship remained close.
"Yeah. When I told him the power control patent had been approved, he got excited and casually said it. He called it the core of the core…" Li Yin'an pursed his lips and smiled. "Director Tian, is SOC really that hard?"
"Why don't you try doing it?" Tian said, mock-angrily.
"Uh… no thanks. Not my specialty."
"Good. Glad we're clear." Tian draped an arm around Li's shoulder and turned to go. "Old Qin, we won't be joining you at the airport."
"…You're just scared of having to speak English, aren't you?" Qin shot him a glare.
"Haha, yes, yes—you're the one with good English. That's why you get to go."
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