Chapter 227 Giving a Thigh to Siam
After reading the forum post, Su Yuanshan suddenly realized: the "isolated island" being discussed was not the one he had initially imagined.
Judging from the username zhebie.zx, Su Yuanshan guessed this user named Zhebie was from Zhongxin, and was accessing externally via a dial-up connection.
It was only 1994. Although domestic network infrastructure was progressing much faster than it had in the original timeline, internet access still depended on 56K modems. Zhongxin's network was tied to the education system...
Thus, like the provincial tech park, Zhongxin and the Special Zone both had their own local area networks (LANs) and forums.
But the tech park was Yuanxin's home base, and its internet scale was far greater. To access the tech park's forum from outside, users had to connect through the education network's external port... resulting in excruciatingly slow speeds.
Thus, Zhebie.zx lamented that the LANs of various cities were effectively isolated islands on the internet.
There were only a few replies to the post.
The first was mocking: a user with a disdainful emoji said, "Bro, what you're asking for can't be solved by a programmer. You'd need President Shan himself to lay a dedicated fiber line from the provincial capital to Shanghai."
The second reply was more interesting:
"If you're seeking physical speed, the only solutions are what the previous user suggested, or wait until domestic network infrastructure catches up.
However, once the Internet backbone is built out with fiber optics, we can consider connecting LANs via protocol designs into ring or star topologies.
Alternatively, we might establish special protocol channels to allow individual computers to join remote LANs. That way, remote offices could collaborate as if they were on the same internal network."
Su Yuanshan stared at the screen in shock — wasn't this the future VPN concept?
And when he looked at the poster's ID, he smiled knowingly:
Aobai.Pandora.
(Aobai) from Pandora Lab — Su Yuanshan recognized him. A big, burly guy from Peking University, known for his thick beard and little regard for grooming.
The original poster expressed admiration and asked if it was really possible.
Aobai simply replied, "It's a bit tricky. I'll look into it when I have time."
After that, the thread drifted into obscurity.
Su Yuanshan thought for a moment and replied to Aobai's comment:
"This is a fun idea. I'm looking forward to seeing it."
Closing the forum, Su Yuanshan chuckled to himself.
PPTP/L2TP protocols were notoriously complicated. And honestly, his understanding of network protocols was limited.
Even if they developed a solution, promoting it would require cooperation from various hardware vendors.
Just like the DVD standard — to push it forward, Xiao Shouping, technical director of the VCD division, had already made several trips to Japan and the West.
According to Xiao's estimate, it would be a miracle if a unified DVD disc standard could be finalized before next year.
Because DVD standards involved capacity, density, physical dimensions... and Sony wasn't the only tech holder — Philips was quietly developing competing technology too.
Negotiating a unified standard meant brokering huge interests.
Moreover, from Sony's perspective, the market for DVD discs was much bigger than for DVD players themselves — DVDs were seen as premier data storage media.
By contrast, USB was different. Backed by Intel, Microsoft, AMD, HP, and now Yuanxin, USB was in its final testing stages.
Once validated, it would be announced publicly.
And to beat FireWire (IEEE's 1394 standard), USBIF had decided unanimously: USB would have no licensing fees.
(FireWire, by contrast, charged royalties on every single product using the interface.)
Anyway, since Aobai was willing to take a look, Su Yuanshan would let him.
After all, only by trying would they know the limits of manpower.
In the following days, Su Yuanshan kept a close eye on developments in Siam (Thailand).
According to feedback, once Li Yinan's team arrived, Yuanxin's technical prowess fully met the Siamese side's demands — and the local partners seemed very satisfied.
However...
"It's getting a bit frustrating," Chen Jing said over the phone. Despite her words, her voice remained calm, even slightly amused.
"The initial talks went great. The technical demos went great. But now that we're discussing specifics, they're getting evasive — saying our price is high, or that our base stations haven't stood the test of time..."
Su Yuanshan lay half-reclined on his bed, glancing at the clock — it was midnight in China, meaning 11 p.m. in Siam.
"What's your and Sister Sun's analysis?" Su Yuanshan asked, adjusting his pillow. "Are they messing with us, or do they genuinely want to cooperate but are stuck by other constraints?"
Chen Jing answered firmly, "They absolutely want to cooperate. We didn't come here to play — we've done our homework.
From a policy perspective, the government isn't opposed.
From a pricing perspective, we've offered a very fair deal.
And they haven't entered substantive talks with any competitors."
She concluded, "We think they mainly want better terms."
"Then why don't they just say so?" Su Yuanshan found it odd.
Chen Jing chuckled lightly. "Ever heard of a Schelling point?"
Su Yuanshan blinked. "Thomas Schelling? Game theory?"
This time it was Chen Jing's turn to be surprised. "You... you even know that?"
Su Yuanshan thought to himself, This guy eventually won a Nobel Prize...
Aloud, he admitted, "I only know the basic idea — spontaneous coordination without communication?"
"Right. But classical game theory can't fully solve Schelling points."
She paused. "Forget that for now. Since you know the concept, I'll just say how it applies:
Based on all signs, we believe they want to latch onto Yuanxin's success — to model a domestic network build-out on the scale of what we've achieved in China."
"If they just wanted to buy base stations and networks, the talks would be straightforward:
They'd complain about the price or funding, and negotiate.
But this evasiveness? It's not normal for a professional enterprise."
"Compared to Yuanxin, their capabilities and size are tiny.
They're afraid of letting in a wolf, but they're also afraid of being bullied."
Chen Jing sighed softly. "Honestly, all of Southeast Asia has been bullied by big multinationals before."
"So you're saying... the Schelling point is: we offer our leg for them to hug?" Su Yuanshan joked.
"Exactly," Chen Jing said with a smile. "Tomorrow we'll stretch out our leg.
But hugging Yuanxin's leg won't be easy — if they want our base stations, then Yuanxin and Zhongxin phones must also be bundled.
In China, we grit our teeth and subsidize.
In Siam?
We're not here to do charity."
"Of course!" Su Yuanshan exhaled deeply. "Alright then — I'll wait for your good news tomorrow."
Friends, if you enjoyed the novel, you can subscribe to my Patreon channel.
Until November 30th, get 40% off your subscription and the purchase of the novel.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1