Chapter 118 - The Genius "Traitor"
Around five o'clock, Xie Kaiyun declined Su Yuanshan's invitation to stay and insisted on returning to Chengguang Institute. However, Zhou Boguang suggested staying behind to discuss a few things with Su Yuanshan. So, after seeing off Xie Kaiyun and the others, Su Yuanshan, Qin Weimin, and Zhou Boguang headed back upstairs.
Once they returned to the company, Qin Weimin went straight back to his office, while Zhou Boguang accompanied Su Yuanshan into his office.
"Uncle Zhou, would you like tea or coffee?" Su Yuanshan glanced at the time and suggested, "Or why don't we just go upstairs to the restaurant? I can call my father over too."
"Xiao Su, no need for all that trouble," Zhou Boguang said, smiling warmly at him. "Let's just chat casually for a bit. Later, I'll grab a bowl of noodles and catch a cab back."
Su Yuanshan laughed, "You're scolding me, aren't you?"
Zhou Boguang scratched his head with a chuckle. "Hehe, no trouble for Professor Su either. He must be busy these days, right?"
"The university is working him like a draft horse," Su Yuanshan grinned. "He's leading two teams — one on 16-bit microcontrollers, and another developing a CC environment. Both are backbreaking projects."
"Haha! Those capable must bear more work. Your father's still young; there's plenty more he can accomplish."
"Thank you for your encouragement. I'll be sure to tell him," Su Yuanshan said with a smile.
Zhou Boguang shook his head and sighed, laughing a little. "For this inspection... I came specifically because I handle process technology. I've seen a lot of lithography machines. Based on the feedback from our engineers, your alignment system is very well done — even compared to the foreigners, you're not inferior."
"To be honest, without you guys, this lithography machine probably wouldn't even be operational by next year."
Su Yuanshan chuckled. "No need for false modesty in front of you, Uncle Zhou. It's true.
Most of the people we sent over were graduate students or PhDs, and all were experienced hands.
Just in subsidies alone, I pay nearly a hundred thousand a month.
Why do you think I'm doing this?"
"Exactly — why?" Zhou Boguang stared at him meaningfully.
"Political capital? Academic reputation?"
"Nothing so grand," Su Yuanshan laughed at himself. "It's just... I couldn't stand the thought of all that talent being wasted.
The people capable of working on lithography machines in China are so few.
If their skills rusted away, who would I find in the future when I wanted to build a lithography machine?"
"But it's just too difficult to develop lithography machines in China."
"There's always more solutions than difficulties.
Look at you guys — aren't you making gradual progress?" Su Yuanshan said encouragingly.
Zhou Boguang smiled bitterly. "Progress? It's more like struggling.
Process technology needs constant tuning, constant wafer testing.
Our biggest weakness is that we have no independent core technology.
We have to learn everything from scratch with foreign tools."
"It's alright, step by step," Su Yuanshan said. "The teams we sent abroad will be back by the end of the month. Hmm?"
"And we might be able to bring back another person!" Zhou Boguang said suddenly.
Su Yuanshan raised his eyebrows, immediately smiling brightly.
"What person?" he asked.
"You'll find out soon enough," Su Yuanshan said mysteriously.
He immediately returned to his desk and dialed Dr. Zhang Rujin's satellite phone in Singapore.
When the line connected, Su Yuanshan stood up straight and greeted warmly, "Hello, Dr. Zhang, this is Xiao Su from Yuanchip Technology — Su Yuanshan."
"Yes, yes! Haha! Are you busy?" Zhang Rujin's warm voice came through the line.
Su Yuanshan knew very well that Zhang Rujin always preferred to be on the front lines during factory construction.
"It's like this, Dr. Zhang.
Last time you mentioned that the Singaporean government had approved your request.
We've also recruited a lot of people here.
Would you be able to make a short trip to the mainland?
There's also some business I'd like to consult with you about."
"Sure.
Business?"
"Yes," Su Yuanshan said. "There's a fab here — Huajing.
They imported a six-inch production line, but their process and yield rates have been struggling.
I was hoping you could lend them some guidance while you're here."
On the other end, Zhang Rujin thought for a few seconds before replying,
"I can probably spare about half a month at most."
"That's perfectly fine! Half a month is more than enough.
Can we schedule a date?"
Zhang Rujin smiled, "How about the fifteenth of this month?
I need to wrap up some work here first."
After hanging up, Su Yuanshan let out a long sigh of relief.
Zhou Boguang, who had been watching, asked curiously,
"Who exactly is this Dr. Zhang?"
Su Yuanshan smiled,
"Zhang Rujin.
He's building a factory in Singapore right now.
Last time, he promised to recruit several hundred engineers from the mainland."
Zhou Boguang's eyes widened.
He clapped his hands hard and burst into laughter.
"Good! That's wonderful!"
He stood up and paced around the office, hands on his hips, laughing uncontrollably.
"You actually managed to invite someone like Zhang Rujin with just a phone call!"
Su Yuanshan teased,
"Uncle Zhou, didn't I also get you to come with just one phone call?"
"That's different," Zhou shook his head.
"You helped Huajing. We have old ties. Of course, I'll do whatever I can to help you.
But Zhang Rujin... How did you even meet him?"
"I visited him during the Texas Instruments investment talks," Su Yuanshan said.
"And you directly suggested he recruit from the mainland?"
Su Yuanshan nodded, smiling, "Yes.
Dr. Zhang has always wanted to contribute to China's semiconductor industry."
"Excellent, excellent!" Zhou Boguang clapped again, smiling broadly.
"But just half a month... is that enough?"
"Not quite enough," Su Yuanshan admitted.
"But combined with the people coming back from UMC, it should be sufficient."
...
After work, Zhou Boguang refused to let Su Yuanshan organize a big dinner.
Instead, Su Yuanshan, Chen Jing, and Qin Weimin accompanied him to a simple meal, then arranged for a driver to take him back to Chengguang Institute.
By mid-October, Su Yuanshan led a team from Huajing to Shanghai to welcome Dr. Zhang.
He didn't linger long — spending only one day there, visiting Yuanzhong Microelectronics briefly before returning to the provincial capital.
Upon returning, Chen Jing was just preparing to take a team to Las Vegas for the annual COMDEX'92 expo.
Compared to last year, Yuanchip didn't expect to make much noise this time.
They were mainly showcasing the upgraded LAN version of the EDA tools, the YX architecture, and the new microcontrollers.
A few small chips — like power management ICs — would also be displayed.
In reality, it was just about maintaining visibility.
No company could churn out world-shocking products every few months.
Besides, Su Yuanshan knew full well — no matter how powerful Yuanchip became,
there was no way they could steal the spotlight from Intel at this year's COMDEX.
Because at COMDEX'92, Andy Grove would unveil Intel's brand-new CPU — the mighty Pentium.
Once Pentium appeared, the counterfeiters and knockoff brands would no longer be able to muddy the waters with similar-sounding trademarks.
...
After sending Chen Jing and her group off, Su Yuanshan returned to the office.
Just as he sat down, Tian Yaoming stormed in with a young man.
"Xiaoshan, it's done!" Tian Yaoming shouted.
"You got the SMS system working?" Su Yuanshan looked up, glancing at both Tian Yaoming and the young man beside him.
The newcomer looked to be about twenty years old, wearing glasses, somewhat thin and dark-skinned.
He seemed a little excited and nervous to meet Su Yuanshan, but hid it well.
Su Yuanshan found him vaguely familiar.
Not from someone he'd seen at Yuanchip — but a deeper familiarity, from his memories.
"And this senior brother is...?"
"Hello, President Su. My name is Li Yinan," the young man said, nodding slightly.
Tian Yaoming patted Li Yinan on the shoulder and laughed.
"Yinan is from Huazhong University of Science and Technology's special youth class.
He's currently a second-year master's student, here interning with us.
He's the one who cracked your SMS system idea."
Su Yuanshan's mouth fell open slightly.
After a moment, a slow smile appeared on his face.
No wonder the kid looked so familiar.
He was a "traitor" from his old life!
No — not just a traitor — a genius traitor.
The butterfly wings of fate truly worked in mysterious ways.
This man, who should have gone elsewhere, had ended up joining him instead.
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