Chapter 82 Elites Just Killing Time
The new driver hired by the logistics department was named Fu Zhenhua, twenty-eight years old, a retired soldier. Three years ago, he had been deployed to a rotating battlefield but completed his tour without firing a single shot. After returning home, Fu became the village chief. However, being unable to handle the gossip about having a daughter as his eldest child, he had two more daughters within three years. With no son, he eventually lost his position as village chief and had no choice but to follow a childhood friend to the provincial capital in search of work. By sheer chance, he saw Yuanchip's ad in the newspaper for a driver. Bringing his military discharge papers and driver's license, he applied and was quickly hired as Yuanchip's first full-time driver.
Fu Zhenhua cherished this job. Whenever the company didn't need a car, he stayed at the office, taking on every task over five kilograms in the logistics department, and even rushing to fetch water and take out the trash.
"Young General Manager Su, please sit in the back seat," Fu said when he saw Su Yuanshan trying to climb into the front.
"It's fine," Su Yuanshan replied, adjusting the seat. "This isn't a business sedan. The back seat isn't as comfortable as the front. Let Sister Zhou sit back there."
Unable to convince him otherwise, Fu Zhenhua simply reminded: "Don't forget your seatbelt."
Su Yuanshan smiled: "Relax, Brother Fu. No one in this company is stricter about traffic laws than me."
Fu Zhenhua chuckled too. He had already inquired about the "bosses" at Yuanchip and knew that Su Yuanshan particularly hated speeding and drunk driving — always wearing his seatbelt, valuing his life very much.
The Mercedes slowly pulled away from the increasingly congested first ring road, heading south out of the city toward Shuangliu.
When they arrived at the Optical Machine Institute, Zheng Zhenchuan and Li Mingliu were already waiting, having received word early.
Jumping out of the car, Su Yuanshan shook Zheng's hand and immediately sensed the man's complex emotions — a mixture of guilt and helplessness.
"Xiao Su..." Zheng Zhenchuan only managed to call his name and grip his hand firmly.
"Hehe, Uncle Zheng, I'm just here to take a look," Su Yuanshan said, releasing his grip and turning to Li Mingliu.
In just two and a half months, Li Mingliu looked significantly more haggard — or perhaps the word was weary.
Li Mingliu shrugged, then forced a smile and joked: "Are you here to listen to our report, or to boost our morale?"
"I'm here to support you. Uncle Zheng, let's start with a meeting. You guys tell me about the problems you're facing. Since we're negotiating with Sony right now, maybe I can help in some way."
Hearing that Yuanchip was negotiating with Sony, Zheng Zhenchuan instantly brightened. "Which department from Sony? What rank?"
"Mainly their Home Entertainment Division. No one from the semiconductor side, but the leader is Vice President Ichiro Tsubaki."
"Tsubaki? He's a real executive!" Zheng Zhenchuan was very familiar with the top figures of Japanese semiconductor companies and beamed: "Come on, let's hold a working group meeting right now."
...
Zheng Zhenchuan moved fast. Before Su Yuanshan even had time to look around the buildings, he was ushered into a conference room inside an office block. A few phone calls later, Yuanchip's Qu Hui, Electronics Tech's Shen Haoran, and several engineers from the lithography machine project team hurried into the room.
Since it was a technical meeting, Zheng only briefly reported to leadership and immediately got things rolling as soon as everyone arrived. After a quick introduction of Su Yuanshan's purpose, he dove into the main agenda.
"Today, Young General Manager Su from Yuanchip is here to support us. So if anyone needs anything, just speak up," Zheng said, his excitement barely concealed ever since hearing about the Sony negotiations. To him, Su Yuanshan was like a genie ready to grant wishes.
Su Yuanshan smiled helplessly: "Everyone, don't get the wrong idea. If we can help, Yuanchip definitely will. But you should know, the technology cooperation clauses in the extended LT Agreement between China and Japan are very vague. Plus, Japan still has a leash around its neck. So if you want to acquire the latest components, it's still tricky. Raising sensitive requests during negotiations would only hurt us."
"So it's best to adjust expectations and aim a little lower."
In his previous life, Su Yuanshan hadn't fully understood how China broke through technology blockades. Now he had a clearer picture — typically, restricted components would first be routed through Hong Kong and then smuggled into the mainland. But even then, they could only get moderately controlled items, nothing cutting-edge.
As soon as Su Yuanshan finished speaking, the engineers, who had been slightly hesitant, immediately perked up and started discussing in low voices. Meanwhile, Su Yuanshan dragged a chair over and sat next to Qu Hui.
"Sister Qu, Senior Brother Shen, any problems on the software side?"
"Actually, PLC development is going okay. The main issues are on Senior Brother Shen's side," Qu Hui replied.
Shen Haoran, a PhD under Professor Li Gaoliang at Electronics Tech and someone Su Yuanshan had known for years, laughed: "We're managing. Now that Electronics Tech has the new CC language, once the tests pass, we can get the embedded systems running smoothly."
"And you?" Su Yuanshan turned to Li Mingliu.
"We're doing fine. We even designed a chip for another project team — and they haven't even mentioned payment yet," Li Mingliu said with a grin.
Su Yuanshan immediately understood. His so-called elite team had basically been killing time here.
But thinking about it, he could sympathize.
Chengguang's lithography machine project had been a cobbled-together effort. Yuanchip's people — seasoned veterans accustomed to efficient commercial operations — had a hard time adapting to the chaotic "big pot of rice" work style typical of research institutes. Their irritation was understandable.
Zheng Zhenchuan had also seen Yuanchip's team's work style firsthand and was still learning from it. Now, watching Su Yuanshan chat casually with the engineers, Zheng felt even more embarrassed, glancing over repeatedly.
"It's fine. Take it slowly," Su Yuanshan said, encouraging everyone with a smile. Then he turned to Zheng: "Uncle Zheng, Yuanchip's cleanroom will be completed next year. Would you be interested in collaborating with us?"
"You mean a joint research initiative?"
"Sort of. To push lithography machines to a higher level, we'll need an international collaboration model. I suggest you guys focus heavily on developing the alignment systems, while other institutes concentrate on light sources and lenses."
Zheng Zhenchuan could only sigh bitterly: "It's hard, Xiao Su. Our foundations are too weak."
Su Yuanshan chuckled: "True, but right now the landscape is nothing but problems. As long as we stay focused, we can find a path forward. That's why I strongly advocate for national research institutes and private companies to collaborate. Companies are single-minded — they invest based on goals, not politics."
Zheng Zhenchuan thought for a moment and then smiled: "You mean it's best to work with Yuanchip — because frankly, I haven't seen many other companies with both the ambition and the ability."
"Uh... you're not wrong," Su Yuanshan said, laughing.
After all, he was offering manpower, resources, and funding. Wasn't that precisely to attract talent?
And it wasn't like Chengguang was rolling in cash — engineers there were scraping by on two to three hundred yuan a month, with some people still grumbling about it...
How could they compete when their engineers could barely afford to eat, and even basic materials were scarce?
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