Chapter 94 Applied Physics
Wang Chaoxin, of course, knew exactly who Li Mingliu was.
Within Yuanchip, besides Xi Xiaoding, there were four key figures — Qin Weimin, Tian Yaoming, Li Mingliu, and Jiang Wanchao.
Each was responsible for a different domain, collectively known as Yuanchip's Four Heavenly Kings — each commanding teams of dozens or even hundreds of engineers.
Except for Tian Yaoming's field, which lagged internationally, the other three could confidently compete with any peers worldwide.
Now Su Yuanshan was sending Li Mingliu to Yuanzhong, an IC design company that had just spun off and barely had a hundred employees...
Clearly, he was sending him to take charge!
Li Mingliu wasn't just some talented newcomer — he was the type of person who dared to butt heads with veteran engineers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Wang Chaoxin hadn't missed a single piece of gossip about Yuanchip.
Wang immediately asked:
"If Li Mingliu goes over to lead, what happens to Yuanzhong's current operations?"
Chen Jing replied:
"Li Mingliu will still need two more months to wrap up his work at Chengguang.
Can Yuanzhong complete its current projects within two months?"
Wang thought it over carefully:
"That should be fine.
But the real problem is, Yuanzhong's technical team isn't capable of entering the high-speed cache field yet.
And if Li Mingliu moves in... well, Jiang Tao over there..."
Wang rubbed his hands, clearly troubled.
Jiang Tao had originally been one of the engineers assigned to Jiangyin, and Wang had insisted on keeping him to form the chip design team.
Su Yuanshan eventually agreed to transfer their contracts to the new subsidiary.
Over the past year, Jiang Tao and his colleagues had expanded their small operation into a nearly hundred-person team — it had been a tough journey.
And now, just as they were ready to make their mark in commercial IC design, Yuanchip wanted to parachute in a heavyweight...
...
Su Yuanshan understood.
Intervening so directly in a subsidiary's operations wasn't exactly courteous.
That was why he had let Chen Jing bring it up first.
But right now, Yuanchip was so desperately short of people that Su Yuanshan had no choice.
After thinking for a moment, he said:
"High-speed cache development must happen.
It directly impacts CPU performance and can extend into the memory sector.
CPU, memory, and storage — these are the three pillars.
The earlier we accumulate technical expertise, the better.
Otherwise, later it'll be too late — the whole landscape will be covered in patents."
Su Yuanshan looked Wang Chaoxin straight in the eye and continued:
"Here's what we'll do:
Yuanzhong should keep recruiting aggressively.
The universities around Shanghai are excellent, and the geographic location is perfect.
Recruit under the Yuanchip name if needed.
Within two months, aim to create two separate teams — one focused on high-speed cache and memory design.
Li Mingliu will take charge of that.
The other will continue commercial IC design."
"The two teams will operate parallel to each other.
Li Mingliu won't interfere with the business side.
How does that sound?"
Wang pondered for a while, then nodded slowly:
"That should work.
They should accept it.
I've always trusted your judgment — but we do have to be sensitive to team morale."
Su Yuanshan smiled:
"When we head back, I'll personally sit down with Jiang Tao.
He's a fellow from Electronics Tech, after all. He'll listen to me."
Wang slapped his forehead and laughed:
"I forgot about that!
Speaking of which, I've been treating Jiang Wanchao pretty well here — don't you dare steal him away too!"
"Actually... that's my third agenda item," Su Yuanshan said, grinning mischievously.
He walked into the bedroom, pulled out his briefcase, and produced two documents.
"Here's the cordless phone technology license and the technical documents.
If everything looks good, Jiang Wanchao can head to the SEZ to join forces with Wang Rui."
"Brother Wanchao is excellent at managing production lines.
Now that the pager line is stabilized, he can help get the VCD plant up and running too."
Initially, Su Yuanshan had planned to run cordless phones entirely through an IP licensing model.
But Carly persuaded him otherwise.
Now, the plan was for Xinghai to set up a production line first, followed by a joint venture between Xinghai and Zhongxin to establish an assembly plant.
Setting up a cordless phone factory in the Special Economic Zone served two purposes:
one, to bring in more advanced production lines,
and two, to start training industrial workers.
Making huge profits was a secondary concern.
That afternoon, Su Yuanshan and Chen Jing toured Zhongxin's pager production base and the new packaging and testing facilities under construction.
The next day, they visited Huajing.
At Huajing, Su Yuanshan and Chen Jing received a hero's welcome.
Vice Presidents Ma Pingnan and Zhou Boguang personally greeted them at the gate, and not long after they entered the reception room, Huajing's President Wang Wenshan arrived as well.
It must be said — Huajing was a real state-owned enterprise under direct ministry supervision.
Their president held the rank equivalent to a deputy bureau chief.
Treating Su Yuanshan with such high-level hospitality showed just how deeply Huajing appreciated the help Yuanchip had given them over the past year.
However, this visit was mostly ceremonial.
After a meal, they headed to Shanghai to inspect Yuanchip's branch office and Yuanzhong Microelectronics.
When Su Yuanshan explained the new arrangements, Jiang Tao readily agreed —
as long as the two new teams were structured as equals, he had no problem.
After all, as an Electronics Tech alumnus, how could he not support Yuanchip?
That said, Jiang Tao couldn't help muttering a little...
"If my family hadn't insisted on me staying close to home, I could've gotten into Tsinghua easily!"
All Su Yuanshan could do was nod sympathetically.
Back in the provincial capital, Su Yuanshan let out a long sigh of relief.
Now he finally understood why CEOs always complained about being exhausted.
Just the endless business trips alone were enough to kill you.
Compared to being a boss, he much preferred working on technical problems.
After getting home, he collapsed into bed and slept until it was completely dark and his stomach started growling.
In the living room, his parents were already back, quietly enjoying a rare evening together in front of the TV.
"Mom, Dad," he called out.
His mother immediately got up from his father's arm and hurried to the kitchen:
"I'll heat up some food for you."
His father smiled warmly, patting the seat beside him:
"Come here. I have something to tell you."
"What's up?"
"I was worried about your academic situation, so I pulled a few strings," Su Xinghe said with a mischievous grin.
"At a school meeting, I proposed that students who qualify through competition admissions no longer have to wait until senior year to enroll."
"After all, if the Youth Class can do it, why can't we?"
"Huh? So?"
"So you can officially enroll this September," Su Xinghe said, pulling out a volunteer form from the coffee table.
"Pick a major."
Su Yuanshan stared at the form, momentarily stunned.
Seeing his son frozen, Su Xinghe couldn't help teasing:
"What? Happiness came too fast for you?"
But instead of smiling, Su Yuanshan fell deep into thought.
After a long pause, he exhaled slowly and wrote down his major.
Applied Physics.
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