Chapter 78 Collision with "JAVA"
"Dad, are you saying you guys developed a new programming language?"
When Su Yuanshan got home, his father was just seeing Professor Zhang Huanjiang from next door out the door. Looking pleased, he told Su Yuanshan that their team, while developing an embedded system for the UESTC91 microcontroller, had extended their design to the point where they had basically created a new programming language.
This genuinely surprised Su Yuanshan — he knew that although his father's microcontroller team had lent a number of PhD and master's students to help Chengguang Institute with embedded system development, the team itself had never disbanded. In fact, because of the need to develop embedded systems, they had even recruited many new members.
After all, it was already a done deal that the UESTC91 chip would become the standard reference for domestic microcontrollers. The textbooks, being co-written by several professors, were scheduled to be finalized by June, printed over the summer, and introduced into universities as standard teaching material in September.
Whether for reputation or for bonuses, what touched Su Yuanshan most was that his father's textbook team was working tirelessly to ensure nothing was left out — they wanted to include all confirmed results and experiences, even if it felt a bit like forcing seedlings to grow.
However, beyond that, Su Yuanshan had not been asking too many questions about what else the team was researching. He only knew it was related to embedded systems.
"Hehe, but strictly speaking, it's not a completely new language," Su Xinghe laughed heartily, clearly delighted to have caught his usually unshakable son off guard.
As a father, Su Xinghe was proud of his son's achievements. But as a professor, he and many others at Electronics Tech still couldn't quite accept being surpassed by Su Yuanshan. So, the team, filled with suppressed competitive spirit, had managed to create a new, streamlined, object-oriented language based on C++ specifically designed for embedded systems. They called it CC — China C.
Just now, Professor Zhang Huanjiang had been discussing with Su Xinghe the design of a programmer device that would allow code written in CC to be directly burned into UESTC91 chips or any chip adhering to the UESTC91 standard.
Listening to his father's explanation, Su Yuanshan's face shifted through several expressions before he finally burst into uncontrollable laughter.
In his heart, he shouted: Damn!
Wasn't this the exact same thing as the original JAVA?
JAVA had originally been born as OAK, a language developed by a small team of fewer than ten engineers at Sun Microsystems. It was a modified version of C++ designed specifically for embedded systems. However, OAK had gone largely unnoticed upon its release... it sat gathering dust for several years before being rebranded and repurposed for dynamic web pages as JAVA.
And if nothing went wrong, OAK would officially debut this year — and here his father had accidentally invented something nearly identical!
"Are you laughing because you're happy, or because you're mocking me?" Su Xinghe asked, watching his son nearly laugh himself to tears, his expression hard to read. He had already made up his mind: if Su Yuanshan dared mock him, he would flip the table immediately.
"I'm happy!" Su Yuanshan said, still laughing.
Besides the weird sense of comedic coincidence, he genuinely was happy. Ever since the birth of computer languages, no significant programming language had ever been developed domestically — except, perhaps, for Yi Language. Now, thanks to the butterfly effect he had triggered, his father and dozens of professors at Electronics Tech had actually created one. How could he not be happy?
Even if this new language didn't gain widespread adoption, it was still a major step forward. And even if the worst happened, Yuanchip could still use it — and the UESTC91 chip fully supported it. It would never suffer the fate of OAK, abandoned and forgotten.
"Not bad, Dad. Keep at it. You have my full support."
"That's more like it," Su Xinghe said, visibly comforted. Then he chuckled: "Also, luck is on your side this year. You'll have several new senior PhD brothers soon."
"Oh right, the doctoral entrance exam results are out. Where are they coming from?"
"One each from Tsinghua and USTC, two from the neighboring Provincial University. As for our own school... well, everyone knows each other too well, and I didn't feel right poaching anyone," Su Xinghe said with a broad grin. "I was genuinely surprised that the Tsinghua candidate chose to join my lab."
Su Yuanshan laughed: "Dad, you're now the top dog in domestic microcontrollers. If someone's aiming to work in embedded systems, coming to your lab is the smartest choice — especially with Yuanchip backing you. You're probably the richest professor in the country. People would kill to get under your wing."
At that moment, Zhang Xiuyun came out of the kitchen carrying two dishes, glaring at them: "Oh, the richest Professor Su! If you're so rich, why don't you hire a maid? What billionaire's wife still cooks every day?"
"...Come on, come on, let's eat," Su Xinghe said, chuckling sheepishly.
Four days later, the Japanese delegation arrived in the provincial capital.
To avoid the awkward situation that had happened with NEC — where the government had forcibly inserted itself — both Yuanchip and Sony made sure not to alert any officials. The delegation slipped directly from the airport into the Mercedes and Audi cars Yuanchip had sent, heading straight to Jiangdu Building.
That night, Su Xinghe, along with the Yuanchip team and their usual translator, Teacher Lin, hosted a small welcoming banquet. There was plenty of polite flattery, but very little drinking; both sides maintained a professional demeanor.
For Yuanchip, this was the highest-level negotiation they had ever conducted. For Sony, this was a necessary collaboration born out of their desire for "revenge."
Both sides needed to leave each other with an impression of rationality and professionalism.
Given the delegation's composition, Yuanchip had thoughtfully booked them adjoining rooms — making it easier for them to coordinate privately.
"Mr. Kutaragi, judging by their behavior, they'll probably want to start with VCD negotiations tomorrow," said Sony Vice President Ichiro Tsubaki, rubbing his temples. Despite only drinking a single shot of baijiu, he still felt slightly dizzy. While he had the highest rank here, he wasn't the main negotiator — his role was largely to sign documents.
The real negotiation lead was the savvy, sharp-tongued Mr. Kutaragi.
Kutaragi poured a cup of tea for Tsubaki, then pulled a notebook from his briefcase and quickly scribbled down several names.
"Today they had eight people total. Excluding the translator, four of them are likely to participate in negotiations," he said, circling four names. "Young Mr. Su will definitely be involved. Takeda told me he's extraordinarily calm and insightful for his age — a formidable opponent."
"Professor Su, their nominal president, likely won't participate. Deputy Director Zhang doesn't seem familiar with consumer electronics. But that young female vice president — she kept observing us quietly. I suspect she will also be an opponent."
"And then there's Dr. Qin Weimin, Su's protégé and the designer of their chip — he will definitely be involved."
"Finally, they'll surely have a legal advisor — another young woman."
Kutaragi drew four circles on his notebook, then glanced up with a curious smile: "Tell me, why do they have so many young and attractive women on their team?"
Tsubaki burst out laughing: "Mr. Kutaragi, your observations are truly unique."
Kutaragi laughed as well: "If those four are their negotiating team, they want to project youth and energy — unlike us."
He glanced back at one of their own young colleagues.
The young man smiled and bowed slightly: "Mr. Kutaragi, I'm young too."
"Haha! Yes, Akita-kun, you lower our average age significantly," Kutaragi said, closing his notebook with a meaningful smile. "Tomorrow, we must start by talking about the VCD."
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