Chapter 95 Senior Brother from the Pig Farm
Su Yuanshan still remembered something his former boss had once said: "Make real changes in mathematics and physics." The semiconductor industry, at its core, was nothing more than an extension of mathematics, physics, and chemistry. And the most advanced technologies represented the ultimate fusion of these three fields. Su Yuanshan didn't believe he needed to relearn what he had already mastered in his past life. He was still young, with endless energy — he could afford to push himself further.
Seeing his son write down "Applied Physics" as his major choice, Su Xinghe was stunned. "You little brat—" he said, bouncing over to peer at his son from afar.
"Betraying the family tradition," Su Yuanshan said calmly, putting down the application form and taking a deep breath. "Dad, in the end, breakthroughs in electronics and circuitry still boil down to mathematics and physics."
"During the visit to Huajing, President Wang even lamented to me — as chip fabrication processes advance, the talent requirements become increasingly specialized. And those specializations come from fundamental sciences." Su Yuanshan gritted his teeth for a second, then smiled: "I'm still young. I've got time to learn another skill."
Su Xinghe held his breath and stared at his son for several seconds. Finally, with a slow exhale, a smile crept across his face. "Good. I support you! Besides, your achievements in integrated circuits... are already quite impressive."
Su Yuanshan smiled back: "Dad, be objective."
Su Xinghe burst out laughing: "You little punk, so full of yourself now! But seriously — are you sure about this? Electronics Tech's Applied Physics program isn't quite as strong as its Electronics department."
Su Yuanshan thought: That's putting it mildly — but he had already made plans: "I can transfer to Peking University later, or pursue graduate studies there."
"Not thinking about studying abroad?"
Su Yuanshan shook his head: "We'll see. Undergrad is about building fundamentals. It depends on personal effort. Later, I'm planning to focus on condensed matter physics and move into materials physics."
Su Xinghe knew his son always thought long-term, so he didn't press further. He wanted to say: If you run into anything you don't understand about integrated circuits, just come ask your old man. But he realized he couldn't quite say it out loud. Instead, he just patted his son on the shoulder — no words needed.
"Oh, right, Dad," Su Yuanshan added with a serious face. "I'll probably be skipping a lot of classes. You'll have to cover for me a bit."
"Pfft..." Su Xinghe burst out laughing: "You little rascal — getting bolder by the day."
Lying in bed, Su Yuanshan pulled out his high school physics textbook, flipping through one concept after another, making sure he still understood everything before finally closing his eyes.
In the next few years, especially after China connected to the international Internet in 1994, a wave of overseas returnees would flood back. Some would start companies; others would join universities.
(Note: "Internet" with a lowercase "i" refers to generic computer networks, while "Internet" with a capital "I" specifically refers to the TCP/IP-based global network — what we now call simply "the Internet.")
Among those returning scholars, many would genuinely have skills — though some would just be looking to coast. But most would still be capable mentors for students.
Even if they weren't, Su Yuanshan had chosen to pivot toward experimental condensed matter physics. There, the mentor's main value was pointing to resources and general directions — which Su Yuanshan could largely handle himself. And Yuanchip wouldn't dare refuse to fund a high-end physics lab if their young boss needed it.
Drifting off to sleep, Su Yuanshan replayed the contents of his high school and college physics courses in his mind.
Over the next few days, Su Yuanshan entered a near-monastic life. During the day, he pulled Qin Weimin aside to discuss x86 architecture. At night, he relentlessly self-studied Applied Physics courses.
From theoretical mechanics to atomic physics, from electrodynamics to quantum mechanics — he devoured them one after another.
Thanks to the interdisciplinary training from his "previous life's" graduate studies, self-learning wasn't too difficult. Only certain very specialized physics topics posed challenges.
Every morning, the first thing Su Yuanshan did was post his questions to the company's internal forum. Yuanchip now had several hundred employees, about a quarter of them holding graduate degrees or higher. Since EDA development demanded strong physics expertise, there were always some staff members especially skilled in physics.
And because showing off in front of Young General Manager Su had become the ultimate badge of honor, many were happy to take turns explaining things to him — some even organized lunch break discussions about his questions.
Thus, Su Yuanshan feasted on a "hundred families' meal" of collective wisdom. Lunchtime, when he received "lectures," became the happiest time in Yuanchip.
"Amazing."
"Unbelievable."
"Respect."
"...Alright, enough," Su Yuanshan said helplessly, rolling his eyes at the crowd of senior brothers watching him solve problems. "You just want me to say 'Thanks to my wise senior brothers for nurturing me,' huh? Not gonna happen."
Jiang Wanchao laughed heartily. As someone who originally majored in Applied Physics before switching to Computer Science, he was one of the ones who helped Su Yuanshan the most.
"Still, Young Su, you're impressive," Jiang Wanchao praised, glancing at the computational physics and theoretical mechanics books Su Yuanshan had already mastered. "Finished two textbooks in two weeks — and in your free time too. If this were a final exam, you'd easily score over 90."
"Even Senior Brother Xi praises him non-stop," Qin Weimin added proudly, sitting next to Su Yuanshan. "Xiaoshan, what's next?"
"Electrodynamics," Su Yuanshan said, massaging his temples. "But I need a short break. At this pace, I'll burn out."
The group exchanged looks and laughed.
Thank goodness — this guy still knew what exhaustion felt like. He was still human, just ridiculously smart.
At that moment, Zhou Xiaohui took the opportunity to speak up:
"Young General Manager Su, logistics asked me to check — should we recruit summer interns? Like temporary interns?"
Su Yuanshan tossed aside his book:
"Second-years? Third-years?"
"Third-year students, from Electronics Tech. Apparently, they want to do temporary internships during the summer."
Since earlier this year, Yuanchip had officially become a designated internship site for Electronics Tech.
Any student with the proper placement certificate could come.
And if they actually worked hard, they almost always got a job offer afterward.
Hearing that some juniors wanted to join, Qin Weimin perked up:
"Sharp kids. Which professor's students are they? What major?"
Zhou Xiaohui smiled:
"I'm not sure.
A group of them want to come together.
The organizer's name is Ding Lei — you know him?"
Qin Weimin and Tian Yaoming both shook their heads.
But Su Yuanshan froze slightly.
He turned to Tian Yaoming:
"Senior Brother Tian, you don't know him?
I think Ding Lei is from your department."
"We had too many students — how could I know everyone?" Tian Yaoming laughed. "Besides, he's third-year. I'm third-year PhD — huge gap."
Su Yuanshan chuckled.
True.
In the future, the famous President Ding had, at this point, been just a random junior brother.
"No problem," Su Yuanshan said casually. "Give them summer stipends.
And if any of them show real ability and are willing to sign early job offers, we can even start giving scholarships while they're still in school."
He thought for a moment and added:
"Tell logistics to draft a talent cultivation plan.
Let second-years apply too.
If they show promise, Yuanchip will provide support and stipends."
If Senior Brother Ding had already jumped into his bowl — he probably wouldn't have a chance to end up raising pigs later.
(End of Chapter 95)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1