Chapter 366 Experimental Report
"You've been saying all year that this would be the most expensive year ever... Besides, would it have helped if I had reminded you?" Zhou Xiaohui shrugged and tossed the document onto the coffee table. "This is a report from your lab. I can't understand it."
Su Yuanshan casually said, "Just leave it there. In a few days, I'll find a grad student to be my research assistant."
Zhou Xiaohui was stunned for a moment, then quickly pressed her lips together to hide a smile—Su Yuanshan himself was still a junior in college!
Su Yuanshan immediately realized his slip and laughed sheepishly, "Well, what can I say, genius problems. Nothing wrong with getting an assistant, right?"
"No problem at all—if that's it, I'll head back to the dorm to rest for a bit. Will you be waiting for the press release tonight?"
Su Yuanshan glanced at the calendar and finally remembered: in just over ten hours, Xinghai would officially release the Thunder architecture processor, Thunder 75MHz.
As for Intel's vulnerability issue, after careful discussion, Carly had convinced Su Yuanshan—they would handle it subtly, guiding users and public opinion in a low-profile way.
Specifically, Carly would announce all the testing tools and results for Thunder 75 at the press conference and on the official website—previously, they had only released a teaser image with a question mark. She would also publish comparisons against an anonymized competitor's 120MHz processor.
Choosing this subtle method was mainly because, with Xinghai being a newly diversified company on the verge of its IPO, maintaining surface-level respect for giants like Intel was the wisest choice.
Both Carly and Su Yuanshan believed that once the test results were made public, any attentive user or institution that had pre-downloaded the tools would notice the significant differences in performance between the first-generation Pentium and all other processors.
"I'll see if I have time. I still have to have dinner with Nishimi Miu tonight," Su Yuanshan said, picking up the report from the coffee table with a sigh. "Japanese folks are just like us. If we don't host a proper welcoming dinner, they'll think we're being rude."
Nishimi Miu was the founder of Sony's lithium battery division, arguably the founder of the entire lithium battery industry, and the first factory director to commercialize lithium batteries.
His visit demonstrated Sony's commitment to partnering with Yuanxin in the lithium battery field.
...
As he flipped through the experimental report, Su Yuanshan's expression gradually darkened.
There were two reports: one from He Chunhua about Hall effect experiments—which was fine, simply reproducing an experiment Su Yuanshan himself had previously done.
But the other, a report on the "electrocatalytic properties of graphene," was quite sloppy. Judging by the delicate yet bold handwriting, Su Yuanshan knew it must have been done by Xia Xiaoxuan, a senior he had once briefly met at P University—a girl considered a goddess among science and engineering students.
Thinking it over, he grabbed his phone, checked the time, and decided to visit the lab himself.
Five minutes later, he stood outside the lab office.
"Hello, Director Shan," a graduate student he didn't recognize greeted him from afar.
"Hello, senior brother," Su Yuanshan replied with a straight face, showing no embarrassment at all. Ever since the lab was founded, he only knew a few key people—he had long gotten used to calling everyone "senior brother" whether he knew them or not.
"Is Senior Sister Xia Xiaoxuan around?"
"I think she's over at the optics lab. I can page her for you."
"Thanks, I appreciate it," Su Yuanshan said as he entered the office, greeting the few grad students sorting data inside with a smile, before sitting at Xia Xiaoxuan's desk.
Since the entire Yuanshan Lab shared one big office, all the project teams worked there without much hierarchy—everyone worked at their desks.
Xia Xiaoxuan's desk radiated feminine vibes—on her 15-inch monitor was a cute sticker of a little monk, eyes closed, drawing circles above his head.
It symbolized her wish to have flashes of inspiration like the monk.
Su Yuanshan chuckled at the sight, then noticed the drawer slightly ajar, revealing a snack bag inside...
After a quick glance around and battling with himself internally, curiosity won. He stealthily opened the drawer.
"Just as I thought—Bawang Crisp..."
Bawang Crisp was a snack Seat Xiaoding had discovered at a school shop—five mao per bag, crispy and fragrant. According to Xiaoding, school shops were the best places to find delicious snacks.
Su Yuanshan smiled, feeling both tempted and guilty, but in the end, he closed the drawer respectfully and focused back on the report, thinking about how he would discuss it with Xia Xiaoxuan later.
Immersed in the report, time flew by.
When Su Yuanshan finally put down his pen and looked up, he realized Xia Xiaoxuan was already standing beside him, staring intently at the notes he had written.
"Senior Sister Xia," Su Yuanshan greeted her with a bright smile.
"Ah!" Xia Xiaoxuan jumped slightly, caught off guard. Seeing Su Yuanshan smiling, she immediately realized he must have issues with her report. She quickly smiled back. "Please go ahead. I'm listening."
"Nothing serious. Let's just have a chat. Grab a chair and sit down. I've already marked all the parts where the report lacks clarity or consistency. Take a careful look," Su Yuanshan said as he handed her the report.
After she sat down, he spoke casually, as if chatting, "For the experiment on the electrocatalytic properties of graphene, the current bottleneck is in preparation—we need to use graphene oxide, which ties back to the preparation process itself. Our lab is pioneering in this field, so often we have to tackle related areas too."
Xia Xiaoxuan nodded while reviewing the annotated report...
And in less than three minutes, she had finished reading it.
Su Yuanshan's comments were so detailed it felt like he was correcting an elementary school essay.
"But the more areas we cover, the more results we generate, whether in papers, patents, or even just failed experiences—those are all valuable assets. So every step must be taken seriously," Su Yuanshan said, smiling as Xia Xiaoxuan looked up. "Right now, Yuanxin is negotiating lithium battery cooperation with Sony. The critical part is the anode, cathode materials, polymers, and electrolytes. Once the electrocatalytic properties of graphene are confirmed..."
"Super lithium battery?" Xia Xiaoxuan immediately blurted out.
"Exactly!" Su Yuanshan nodded, slightly surprised.
This girl was quick on the uptake!
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Chapter 367 Intel's Predicament
However, Su Yuanshan quickly realized that Xia Xiaoxuan was technically Li Xiao's senior from the same university. With their labs located just upstairs and downstairs from each other, and after spending so many days together, they had probably already discussed these topics.
"How long would it take for commercialization?" Xia Xiaoxuan immediately asked.
"Hehe... Not every successful scientific experiment must rush into commercialization. Of course, we are a profit-oriented company, so commercialization is ultimately the main goal," Su Yuanshan said with a slight smile. "But before that, we must speak with data first: validate, replicate, and then consider next steps—you should know that aside from mechanical exfoliation, every method we currently have for producing graphene is extremely costly."
"So after confirming graphene's potential, the next most important challenge is to lower production costs while increasing yield. Otherwise, it might end up like lithium batteries, stuck in labs for decades."
Xia Xiaoxuan nodded. "But lithium batteries have finally made it, right?"
"More or less. Their current cost has finally dropped to a level where market promotion is viable," Su Yuanshan said as he prepared to leave. "Anything else? If not... I'll head out. If you have questions, you can call or email me."
"Ah... no, that's all."
"Alright, keep up the good work!"
After sending Su Yuanshan off, Xia Xiaoxuan returned to her desk, took a deep breath, opened a drawer, and shoved some snacks into her mouth.
As she chewed on her Bawang Crisp snacks, she glanced again at Su Yuanshan's annotated report, recalling what Seat Xiaoding had said about him.
—Indeed, she had used the pretext of applying for experimental funds to find Seat Xiaoding for a chat, and coincidentally found her free, leading to a longer conversation.
Most of their discussion had been about Su Yuanshan—after all, he was technically her "boss."
According to Seat Xiaoding, Su Yuanshan was practically omnipotent.
"Truly worthy of the title 'Mountain God'," Xia Xiaoxuan thought, staring at the detailed annotations. How could a junior university student possibly make such professor-level corrections?
...
That evening, Su Yuanshan, along with Chen Jing, Seat Xiaoding, Wang Chuanfu, Cheng Peng, and Li Xiao, hosted a dinner for Kutaragi Ken and his team on the third floor.
When the Japanese guests learned that this banquet room had once hosted numerous domestic dignitaries, they were visibly pleased.
After dinner, Su Yuanshan received a call from Claude, who reported that the product launch had been a success. Claude even joked that he should have shorted Intel's stock.
"Hehe, good thing you didn't. Otherwise, you'd be crying right now."
"But Intel's stock is already starting to fall," Claude insisted. "And the fallout is still building... Soon the whole online world will be full of rumors that Intel CPUs can't even do basic math. You know, the first-generation Pentium sold really well last year."
"We'll see tomorrow..."
After hanging up, Su Yuanshan took a shower and then logged into his computer.
Thanks to an added HK proxy for overseas connections, the internet speed was barely acceptable. He logged into Yuanxin's code-hosting forum—now the largest open-source community in North America, nicknamed the "programmers' paradise."
Upon entering the hardware forum, he immediately noticed a post titled, "Why do the calculation results for Pentium 66 differ from other CPUs?"
...
Silicon Valley, Intel Headquarters.
Andy Grove stood by the window, staring at the setting sun with a worried expression.
His secretary stood silently behind him, not daring to make a sound.
In the past few hours, Intel had encountered the greatest crisis since its founding.
Half a month earlier, Xinghai had released hints about their CPU, tightening the invisible noose around Intel's neck with increasing pressure. Tension at Intel was even worse than at Xinghai.
Because Intel didn't know how powerful Xinghai's CPU really was, rumors said it incorporated the latest technology from Yuanxin.
Naturally, everyone was most anxious before the outcome was clear.
But after the launch, Intel had initially breathed a sigh of relief.
Yes, everyone admitted that Xinghai's CPU, thanks to its pioneering use of L2 cache, had a significant same-frequency advantage, even outperforming Intel's second-generation Pentium at a 50% higher clock speed.
But Intel wasn't naive—L2 cache alone wasn't unbeatable; it wasn't as if Intel couldn't also adopt it.
Their long-dominant design department even felt a bit excited—at least the competitor wasn't another cheap clone.
However, rumors began to circulate online and in newsgroups that, during scientific computation tests, the first-generation Pentium produced anomalous results.
Someone quickly reviewed the open-source testing software code and confirmed the existence of a floating-point division error in first-generation Pentiums.
To be honest, Intel had long known about this flaw.
Before the official chip launch last year, their testers had already discovered this "low-level" error.
But at that time, the chips had already been successfully fabricated and were ready for mass production.
Moreover, reproducing the bug required extremely specific and rare conditions, mainly in heavy-duty mathematical, scientific, and engineering computations.
Most importantly, the first-generation Pentium was merely a transitional product.
Thus, almost all executives had agreed it wasn't a significant issue—perhaps no one would ever even notice during normal use.
Even now, Andy Grove believed the bug wasn't catastrophic. Intel could still reasonably persuade users that it wouldn't impact performance or normal operations.
However, the timing could not have been worse.
The revelation coincided with Xinghai's new CPU launch, and that made it a problem.
Andy Grove furrowed his brow deeply, turned to face his secretary, and asked in a low voice, "What's their recommendation?"
The secretary answered cautiously, "Explain to customers that this isn't a defect, nor a flaw, just an insignificant bug, and speed up the launch of the Pentium Pro."
"Is there no other way?" Grove asked.
The secretary hesitated, then said in a low voice, "There is—complete recall of all defective CPUs... but that would cost us over four hundred million dollars!"
"And, Andy, most importantly, our stock price... it has already dropped 3% today. If we don't act soon..."
Andy Grove took a deep breath.
For a public company, especially one striving to become the industry leader, a 3% drop in a single day was a catastrophic warning sign.
"Let me think..."
Andy Grove waved his hand weakly.
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Chapter 368 Unconditional Technology Exchange
The news of Intel's stock decline became the perfect breakfast topic at Yuanxin.
"Fortunately, we're not a publicly listed company—we don't have these headaches," Su Yuanshan said while eating breakfast at the same table with Chen Jing and Zhou Xiaohui, casually chatting.
"If Yuanxin were listed, with this year's investment directions and intensity, our stock price would probably soar to the heavens," Chen Jing said, sipping milk through a straw while flipping through a heavy, bulky mobile phone—yes, through a mobile phone.
This phone was the latest "Internet phone" concept model produced by NewBee Labs. Compared to mainstream phones, this device was purely conceptual. It had a massive 1.8-inch screen and was equipped with Yuanxin's latest "YOS" operating system.
This OS was built on a Unix-based architecture and supported all executable programs compiled from the CC language developed by Professor Su Xinghe's team.
The phone also used the latest GPRS technology and, supported by a test base station set up in Yuanxin's industrial park, could connect to the internet.
Of course, being a test device, it was heavy and brick-sized. Moreover, the technology was so far ahead that its actual commercial release would have to wait for the GSM committee's finalization of the GPRS standard and the corresponding upgrade of base stations—at least several years away.
"Starting tomorrow, Xinghai will officially begin its IPO roadshow. Projections suggest Xinghai could hit an IPO price of 35 dollars per share," Chen Jing said, glancing up and offering Su Yuanshan a congratulatory smile. "That means Xinghai could immediately surpass a market value of 40 billion dollars—it's practically a miracle."
"If you look at Xinghai as a whole, sure, it's a miracle. But if you break it down by business sectors, 40 billion is just the beginning," Su Yuanshan said while peeling a boiled egg, showing no signs of someone about to become a billionaire.
"The Wall Street big shots aren't fools. Whether it's the CPU sector, GPU sector, internet business, or mobile communications, each one is a hot area for investment. Plus, Xinghai's revenues are healthy—honestly, even if the IPO price surpassed 100 dollars, I wouldn't be surprised."
"Starting with a hundred billion dollar market cap? You're pushing it," Zhou Xiaohui said with a laugh.
"Haha! Eat your eggs!" Su Yuanshan laughed, handing a peeled egg to Chen Jing and another to Zhou Xiaohui.
He thought to himself—none of them could yet imagine what it would feel like to see a 2 trillion yuan-valued giant emerge...
Hmm, and that giant had already been forcefully suppressed.
...
After breakfast, Zhou Xiaohui went to the Yuanxin hotel to pick up Kutaragi Ken and his group. Su Yuanshan, meanwhile, gathered with Chen Jing, Wang Chuanfu, Cheng Peng, and Li Xiao to head to the rooftop sunroom of the Yuanxin office building.
Before long, Kutaragi Ken, Nishimi Miu, and the others also arrived at the sunroom led by Zhou Xiaohui.
Each side had six members.
A large "negotiation team" underscored both parties' determination to cooperate. Kutaragi Ken's unusually long stay in China was ultimately aimed at today's meeting.
After all, today marked the formal start of their "marriage."
"I won't waste time with pleasantries," Su Yuanshan said in fluent Japanese, smiling across the table. "We've already reached several agreements in prior discussions. I hope we can finalize everything today."
"So do we," Kutaragi Ken replied with a smile in Chinese.
"Then I'll outline three points," Su Yuanshan said, taking a thick file from Chen Jing, flipping to the executive summary, and glancing at it before continuing. "First, both parties must unconditionally exchange their current technologies and production know-how, including ongoing work progress and forecasts for all projects."
Chen Jing, who also understood Japanese, quietly translated this for Zhou Xiaohui and the others.
The Sony representatives didn't show much reaction; Kutaragi Ken simply nodded. "Of course. In fact, we suggest that both sides completely separate their current lithium battery teams."
"That's essential," Su Yuanshan said with a smile.
If they were truly going to cooperate, there could be no holding back—both sides had to jointly own all technologies. That was the essence of a "marriage."
"Secondly, the two sides will exchange personnel to accelerate team integration and technical coordination..."
...
The entire morning passed quickly.
Thanks to the strong will to cooperate, all three of Su Yuanshan's basic principles and Kutaragi Ken's five proposals received unanimous approval.
Ultimately, it boiled down to both sides being afraid the other would hold something back.
For Yuanxin, Sony's commercialization experience, production technology, established standards, and brand recognition were extremely attractive.
For Sony, China's low production costs, favorable policies, Yuanxin's "lucky" breakthroughs in lithium batteries, its influence across China, and Xinghai's growing prestige were irresistible.
Particularly Yuanxin's "luck" in lithium batteries—Sony was downright envious. After all, it had taken dozens of companies around the world many years just to stumble onto the commercialization of lithium batteries. Yet Yuanxin had easily carved a new path with the potential to revolutionize the industry.
Sony wasn't foolish enough to turn such a lucky "partner" into a competitor.
Joining forces to monopolize the market was clearly the best strategy.
...
"Now that the foundation is set, I'll bow out," Su Yuanshan said cheerfully to Chen Jing during lunch.
Chen Jing rolled her eyes lightly. "When have you ever stayed for an entire negotiation?"
"Hey, this time I have to go to Shanghai... Vincente is supposedly bringing board members over," Su Yuanshan said.
At the mention of the wafer plant, Chen Jing stopped joking and nodded. "Alright. Anyway, from here, it's just a matter of battling over shareholding percentages and technology contributions."
"And the company name," Su Yuanshan immediately added. "After the merger, the brand name will be very important. We must come first."
"So what do you want to call it?" Chen Jing asked. "FarSony? FarNippon? XinNippon? Personally, I think Suoxin sounds good—Suoxin Energy, Suoxin Batteries."
"Terrible... Sounds like a locksmith company. People will think we sell padlocks," Su Yuanshan grumbled.
"You're overthinking it. You're just being irrationally nationalistic," Chen Jing said bluntly. "Yuanxin's name was never great to begin with—it sounds rustic. Especially the English name, 'yuanxin'—just straight-up pinyin, reeks of a tiny corner shop business."
Su Yuanshan: "..."
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Chapter 369 Respect Your Investments
After that, Su Yuanshan no longer participated in the negotiations, leaving them to the "highly skilled" Chen Jing—negotiation was her specialty.
Taking advantage of the fact that Vincente had not yet arrived, Su Yuanshan finally had a few days to spend quietly in the lab, conducting various experiments alongside his team.
During this period, news from Silicon Valley kept coming through the internet. Compared to Xinghai's IPO roadshow, Su Yuanshan was even more concerned about Intel's situation.
Unexpectedly, even as Intel's stock price continued to fall and news about the Pentium division flaw spread across the internet, Intel remained astonishingly calm and made no official statement.
—In his previous life, Intel had initially tried to explain the bug, claiming it didn't affect users' experience, which triggered public outrage and ultimately forced them to announce a recall.
Now, this silent approach left Su Yuanshan puzzled.
Soon after, with the lithium battery negotiations still unresolved, Su Yuanshan and Zhou Xiaohui flew once again to Shanghai.
...
After picking up Vincente and his group from the airport, Zhang Rujin accompanied them in the back of the car, while Su Yuanshan and Science Park leader Li Mingliu sat in the front Audi.
"How are the lithium battery negotiations going?"
Li Mingliu formally met Su Yuanshan for the first time today, but he already knew Chen Jing was conducting crucial negotiations that could determine the future of the battery industry.
"Still stuck on minor details, but it should conclude soon," Su Yuanshan said, resting his hand behind his head, eyes half-closed as he watched the construction sites pass by outside.
"Ōga Norio will be arriving the day after tomorrow," Su Yuanshan added with a smile. "Just like us, they want to wrap up negotiations quickly but also want the best terms. Right now, it's all posturing."
"Rumor has it Akio Morita is no longer fit to lead. Is that true?"
"I don't know... But it's clear that Ōga Norio is now in charge. It won't be long before it's official," Su Yuanshan sighed. "Morita's stroke during a tennis match was just bad luck. Speaking of which, Old Li, you better take care of your health too."
"My health is just fine."
"Still smoking?"
"Not much."
"Being controlled by your girlfriend?" Su Yuanshan teased with a smile.
After settling down in Shanghai, Li Mingliu had found a girlfriend—a young woman from Shanghai introduced by relatives who had just been admitted to graduate school.
"...Her? Controlling me? Don't be ridiculous," Li Mingliu chuckled. "She's just a young girl, still immature. I just let her have her way."
Su Yuanshan: "Pfft!"
...
The next day, Zhang Rujin and Su Yuanshan accompanied Vincente and his group on a tour of the wafer fabrication plant.
After more than a year of construction under Zhang Rujin's expert management, the fab was steadily approaching operational status. The photomask workshop was already in use, and the subsequent process workshops were almost fully set up. Nikon engineers and Derun engineers were conducting final checks on the lithography bay.
According to plan, there would be an official ribbon-cutting ceremony on January 1st.
"Mr. Vincente, the leadership will personally attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony here in Shanghai on the first of next month," Su Yuanshan said as they walked through the plant. The tour was more of a formality for both sides.
"You mean Derun Semiconductor is carrying your country's political ambitions?" Vincente asked, throwing out a seemingly strange question.
Su Yuanshan just smiled.
"No, it simply shows our country's commitment to the semiconductor industry," he said, narrowing his eyes slightly. "In a week, our national news program will publicly announce a government support policy for the semiconductor sector."
"This major national project will directly support our competitor—Huajing Semiconductor. They will soon introduce the most advanced 0.5-micron process line from Japan or your country, including setting up a new plant and restructuring Huajing with foreign capital, especially semiconductor companies' investments."
"As far as we know, this project has already attracted strong interest from Japan, especially NEC. NEC representatives have already contacted Huajing and are actively lobbying..."
Su Yuanshan paused, then looked seriously at Vincente.
"Mr. Vincente, no matter how backward the domestic market is, it is still a market. And markets follow market rules. If we can't lead in process technology, we won't be able to compete with old wafer fabs like Huajing."
Vincente stayed silent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. After a moment, he smiled and asked, "Wasn't it you who helped Huajing in the first place? I remember you even invited Dr. Zhang to assist them."
"People grow up by making mistakes like lifting a stone only to drop it on their own feet," Su Yuanshan said calmly, shrugging. "Am I not allowed to regret it?"
"Haha!"
Vincente laughed, amused.
But he also understood that Su Yuanshan spoke the truth—not just about regret, but about Derun Semiconductor's competitiveness issue.
In fact, his concerns went even deeper—Huajing, being a state-owned enterprise, would clearly enjoy national favor under the new semiconductor policy. Would Yuanxin, an increasingly "unfavored" private entity, really be able to compete against them?
"That's why we must secure the 0.5-micron process. It's the foundation for Derun Semiconductor's future survival," Su Yuanshan said earnestly. "And frankly, this proposal shouldn't come from me—it should come from you."
Vincente raised an eyebrow, signaling Su Yuanshan to explain.
Su Yuanshan smiled again. "It's simple. As a publicly listed company, you should respect every dollar of your investment."
He locked eyes with Vincente and glanced back at the Texas Instruments board members who were quietly chatting behind them, then said softly, "Don't forget, you are the second-largest shareholder in Derun—just like you are in Xinghai."
Vincente stiffened in shock!
Su Yuanshan's words struck him like a bolt of lightning, instantly cutting through the confusion in his mind.
With Xinghai's valuation skyrocketing, Texas Instruments' stock had also soared.
It was simple—Texas Instruments had become Xinghai's second-largest shareholder when everyone else had fought desperately to get in.
Based on current valuations, TI's original investment in Xinghai had quintupled.
Thus, as Derun's second-largest shareholder as well, even if Yuanxin didn't demand it, TI should proactively offer their most advanced technology to strengthen Derun's competitiveness.
—That was Su Yuanshan's true message.
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Chapter 370 Su Yuanshan's Sigh
That evening, after arranging accommodations for Vincente and the others, Zhang Rujin headed straight to Su Yuanshan's hotel room.
Zhou Xiaohui, knowing they had business to discuss, hung a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door before bringing them coffee.
"What's the CEO's stance?" Zhang Rujin asked eagerly as he sat down, staring intently at Su Yuanshan.
Within the current framework of their cooperation, his ability to act was limited—it all depended on Su Yuanshan's negotiations with Texas Instruments.
"I admire Mr. Vincente very much," Su Yuanshan said after a few seconds of careful thought, choosing his words deliberately. "He possesses all the qualities of an outstanding entrepreneur and the broad-hearted kindness of a Christian."
Zhang Rujin laughed. "That's high praise coming from you."
"Hehe, but after all, Texas Instruments is an old, conservative listed company. Frankly speaking, even if I convince Mr. Vincente, meeting all our demands will still require a lot of effort," Su Yuanshan said, taking a sip of his coffee and handing a document to Zhang Rujin. "This is Yuanxin's plan for the next stage of increased investment and some related business considerations."
Zhang Rujin put on his glasses and began reading the document carefully.
Meanwhile, Su Yuanshan silently observed him, feeling a bit guilty—he had once promised Zhang Rujin that he wouldn't interfere in Derun Semiconductor's business operations.
But he worried that if left unchecked, Zhang might lead them astray.
A person's style is hard to change.
Zhang's strength was in building factories and expanding operations, and naturally, he had a strong expansionist mindset—which aligned with the overall ambitions of the domestic semiconductor sector.
It was no exaggeration to say that, with enough support, Zhang could plant the "red flag" in every corner of China!
However, this was not Su Yuanshan's ultimate priority.
He knew very well that the semiconductor industry would inevitably become a winner-takes-all battlefield.
In an environment of limited resources, expansionism had to give way to technological advancement.
That's why Su Yuanshan had sent his senior brother into Derun as a representative of the "technology-first" faction. With Chen Jianguo's position, he could quietly build up the technical team, and Zhang would find it hard to stop him.
"Uncle Zhang, to be honest, this push for process upgrades has really scared me," Su Yuanshan said, using "Uncle Zhang" as a term of endearment in private.
"That's why I think, going forward, Derun needs to prioritize investment in technology over pure capacity expansion."
Zhang Rujin stayed silent for a few seconds, nodded slightly, and replied in a low voice, "It is troublesome... but the domestic semiconductor market is huge. Plus, partnerships between fabs and design companies are usually very stable...
If we don't quickly capture the market and secure users..."
He raised his head and looked seriously at Su Yuanshan.
"By the time the domestic chip sector fully matures, it'll be very difficult for us to win users back. And advancing process technology... frankly, it takes customers' money to help burn through that development cost."
Zhang Rujin's thinking was crystal clear. He wanted to build the strongest contract manufacturing fab, and first he needed to dominate the domestic market.
"I've considered that," Su Yuanshan patiently explained.
"But we have Yuanxin. We have Zhongxin.
Just with our own orders, we can keep the fab running.
When we break through the technical barriers and reach international advanced standards...
Then we'll look to the international market."
"A professional fab needs professional technology.
If we don't have the technology, everything else is just empty talk."
Seeing Zhang Rujin's uncertainty, Su Yuanshan continued,
"Uncle Zhang, you know that Yuanxin has grown very large... both in scale and in the range of industries we touch.
I have to consider the problems that come with being such a giant."
Though Su Yuanshan spoke vaguely, Zhang Rujin understood perfectly.
"So... when the country decided to support Huajing Semiconductor, I simply let them.
There's no need for us to compete with the state for resources during an era of technological upheaval.
And believe me, Uncle Zhang, in less than ten years, the true golden age of semiconductors will arrive.
By then, whoever has the best technology will survive."
"Besides, it's not like we're giving up on expansion—
In the negotiations with Texas Instruments, I'm determined to secure a manufacturing base for memory chips.
Whether it's DRAM, where we still have an edge, or NAND flash, where we have a huge lead—
These are all future hot industries, well worth building specialized fabs for."
After a moment of silence, Zhang Rujin finally nodded slowly.
...
The next day, Su Yuanshan and Vincente's teams formally sat down at the negotiating table.
Su Yuanshan didn't haggle much, nor did he give the opposing directors any chance to complain—
He directly presented the terms Yuanxin was offering.
Yuanxin would inject $150 million in fresh capital, along with technology from the Lin Benjian team in Silicon Valley as its contribution.
Similarly, Texas Instruments would contribute their 0.5-micron process technology and other node process technologies.
After both parties' injections, the shareholding structure would remain unchanged.
Additionally, Yuanxin promised to provide no less than $1 billion worth of foundry orders over the next five years,
but demanded that the relevant processes be unconditionally transferred to Derun Semiconductor.
In short, Su Yuanshan was delivering Texas Instruments a massive gift package.
All he asked in return was to bring Derun's process technology up to Texas Instruments' current level.
...
"Su, this isn't going to work," Vincente said seriously during a break after lunch, pulling Su Yuanshan aside.
"Why not?" Su Yuanshan asked innocently. "If Sony can do it, why can't you?"
Vincente was momentarily speechless.
Just today, in the provincial capital, Sony executive Ōga Norio and Yuanxin CEO Chen Jing had signed a strategic cooperation agreement—
Announcing the establishment of "Suoxin Energy Electronic Devices Co., Ltd."
The two companies would cooperate deeply across lithium batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries, solar energy, and other fields, stepping together into the new energy era.
Although the announcement was low-key, for those following the companies or the energy industry, it was a bombshell.
And for Su Yuanshan, it was the perfect bandage to shut Vincente up.
"Su, chips are different," Vincente insisted.
"How are they different?" Su Yuanshan asked.
The truth was that Vincente simply couldn't bring himself to say it aloud—
"We can't let you also have all the top-end technologies."
Because for a company that prided itself on freedom, fairness, and fair trade, admitting that would be politically incorrect.
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