Chapter 175 Windows, Past and Present
"For the future of the semiconductor industry, the professional consensus has always been relatively clear," Su Yuanshan said. "After all, Mr. Moore's golden words are there—future core technologies will revolve around lithography equipment."
Lin Bencheng smiled and nodded in agreement.
"But our assessment is even more precise, or rather, more detailed," Su Yuanshan continued. "We believe the real technical bottleneck in future manufacturing processes will lie in the light source—or more specifically, in photolithography itself." He took a sip of coffee and looked back at Lin Bencheng. "That's why we're interested in acquiring Lintron."
Lin Bencheng fell into deep thought.
Though he had always been immersed in technology, like every true semiconductor professional, he was certainly aware of Yuanxin and Xinghai. After Xinghai Capital approached him on Yuanxin's behalf, he had dug deeper into Yuanxin's background.
He discovered that Yuanxin had never once suffered a defeat since its rise.
At first glance, their success seemed like luck, but behind every stroke of luck, there was solid technical power driving it.
That realization was terrifying—because it meant Yuanxin was always on the right path.
And now Su Yuanshan was saying that the future core bottleneck of semiconductor manufacturing would be in photolithography—the very field Lin Bencheng specialized in.
"I actually agree," Lin Bencheng said slowly. "The difficulty will be in photolithography. But at the moment, many people don't want to believe it. They think as long as we achieve DUV, everything will be fine. I led DUV projects myself, so I know: DUV has its limits. Pushing deep ultraviolet light to its absolute limit through technological means—that's the real challenge."
"So our views are aligned," Su Yuanshan said with a smile. "Although Western countries are advancing faster in light source technology, microfabrication technologies are still mostly concentrated in Japan. Therefore… Mr. Lin, I hope you will accept my proposal, and let us work together toward this shared vision."
Lin Bencheng fell silent again, then suddenly asked, "What about mainland China? Why not invest there?"
"Because… we don't have an expert like you there," Su Yuanshan said with a deep, heartfelt sigh.
Lin Bencheng quickly waved his hand, looking slightly embarrassed. "I dare not accept such praise."
"You deserve it, Mr. Lin," Su Yuanshan said with a smile. "So, shall we talk about Lintron's valuation?"
Lin Bencheng gave Su Yuanshan a deep look, then slowly nodded.
After saying goodbye to Lin Bencheng, Su Yuanshan and Qin Si returned to the car.
As soon as she fastened her seatbelt, Qin Si turned to look at Su Yuanshan, who had reclined his seat, preparing to nap comfortably.
"Sister Qin Si, I'm not growing flowers on my face," Su Yuanshan teased, sensing her gaze and smiling sideways.
"Is Lintron really worth that much?" Qin Si asked, clearly puzzled.
After all, Lintron had been founded just a year ago with only $5 million in seed capital. Now, Su Yuanshan was offering Lin Bencheng ten times that amount—$50 million.
In Silicon Valley at that time, $50 million was already enough to fund major ventures.
"Lintron itself isn't worth that much. Lin Bencheng is."
That made Qin Si even more confused. After a pause, she said cautiously, "I don't mean to sound... ageist. But he's already in his early fifties... even if he works until he's seventy..."
Hearing her hesitant, slightly discriminatory words, Su Yuanshan chuckled.
He understood—Qin Si had been heavily influenced by Silicon Valley's youthful culture, where vitality and youth were synonymous with innovation, and age was often seen as a disadvantage.
Thinking for a moment, Su Yuanshan said seriously, "Sister Qin Si, your viewpoint holds true in pure science fields, especially those that rely heavily on raw intellectual breakthroughs.
That's why most Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry recognize work done when the laureate was young."
"In mathematics, it's even more extreme—most major breakthroughs are made before the age of 35."
Qin Si nodded thoughtfully.
"But when it comes to technology, especially engineering-focused fields, it's a different story," Su Yuanshan continued. "Lin Bencheng is an old engineer. His value lies in his rich, irreplaceable experience. Like the legendary old monk who sweeps the Shaolin Temple—"
He paused. "Do you read wuxia novels?"
Qin Si laughed and shook her head.
"In short, Old Lin can lead a team. And what he's good at is precisely what we need," Su Yuanshan concluded.
Negotiating with Lin Bencheng was just the first step. There were still many processes ahead, but Su Yuanshan didn't need to follow up personally anymore. Chen Jing was already preparing to fly over and would arrive the day before the exhibition started.
It wasn't ideal dragging Chen Jing all over the world with him, but there was no choice. In terms of administrative authority, only his father and Chen Jing could represent Yuanxin abroad—and obviously, his father couldn't leave the country right now.
They pulled up in front of Microsoft's headquarters. After reporting their names, Su Yuanshan strolled right in.
...
Mr. Gates had long since transitioned away from being a hands-on programmer, so when Su Yuanshan entered his office, he found that a fresh pot of coffee had just finished brewing.
"Su, you came at the perfect time," Mr. Gates said, raising two coffee cups in greeting.
"I can't believe you didn't brew the extra cup just for me," Su Yuanshan said, laughing as he sat down and made a long, playful comment in English.
Gates laughed heartily, poured Su Yuanshan a cup of coffee, and sat across from him.
Every time Su Yuanshan came to Silicon Valley, he would make it a point to visit Microsoft—just to "keep the relationship warm," as he put it.
In fact, every tech company in Silicon Valley welcomed Su Yuanshan with open arms—this was a place where technical prowess was revered.
From his jaw-dropping chip design demonstrations in Las Vegas, to the open-source programs bearing his name, to the famous "debate me if you dare" motto from the EDA project team, Su Yuanshan was already labeled as a "genius."
And not just a cold, arrogant genius—he was approachable, humorous, and respectful.
Who wouldn't like someone like that?
Gates especially liked him.
"I'm so envious of your semi-retired life," Su Yuanshan said, glancing around the office, which was filled with signs of a leisurely lifestyle.
"I'm not retired," Gates shrugged. "I just supervise the young guys more now."
"Your young guys are amazing," Su Yuanshan said, looking around with a smile. "Your next-generation operating system must be close to launch, right?"
Gates laughed and shook his head. "Still a long way off!"
"Well, could you ask them to hurry up a little?" Su Yuanshan said playfully.
Gates paused slightly, then smiled at him.
One reason he liked Su Yuanshan was that the young man showed no interest in challenging Microsoft's dominance in desktop operating systems.
Dealing with Apple was already exhausting enough—whether or not Jobs was involved.
The last thing Gates wanted was another "genius" like Su Yuanshan jumping into that arena.
Ten years ago, Jobs had been inspired by Xerox's graphical user interface and released the Lisa OS. Later, Gates announced that Microsoft would also develop a graphical OS: Windows.
At that time, Apple was a giant compared to Microsoft.
The proud Jobs summoned Gates to Apple headquarters, gathered the Macintosh team, and openly accused Gates of stealing their ideas.
Gates remained calm and delivered what later became a classic Silicon Valley rebuttal:
"We both had a wealthy neighbor named Xerox. I broke in to steal the TV and discovered you had already stolen it."
Two years later, in 1985, after Jobs was ousted from Apple, Microsoft immediately released Windows 1.0.
Having learned from that experience, Gates absolutely did not want Su Yuanshan to become a future rival.
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