Chapter 289 An Explanation
Zhou Xiaohui's official title was Su Yuanshan's personal secretary, but because of Su Yuanshan's unique status and his need to stay focused on frontline technical work, after she completed her MBA coursework, Su Yuanshan suggested promoting her.
At Yuanxin, where Su Yuanshan's word was effectively law, Zhou Xiaohui's appointment as Assistant to the Chairman was approved immediately.
Everyone knew Zhou Xiaohui was someone Su Yuanshan had personally "groomed" for the role.
Following Su Yuanshan for three years, Zhou Xiaohui had been involved in every matter he cared about, big or small. If there was anyone at Yuanxin who truly understood Su Yuanshan's habits and thinking, it was her — no one else even came close.
Thus, Zhou Xiaohui immediately realized that Su Yuanshan was preparing to "send her away."
Or rather, he was planning to "reassign" her.
Biting her lip tightly, countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Xiaohui's mind, and very quickly, she guessed where Su Yuanshan intended to place her. After only a moment's hesitation, she shook her head firmly.
"I'm better off staying at Yuanxin.
If I go to Shanghai, first, I'm not confident.
Second, it could cause unnecessary suspicion."
Su Yuanshan was genuinely surprised she guessed his plans so quickly.
"Wow, Sister Xiaohui, you're like a worm in my stomach," he joked.
Zhou Xiaohui: "..."
The Shanghai tech park was in full swing, and the wafer fabrication plant was pushing hard to meet deadlines.
If all went well, the photomask factory would be operational by the end of the year, and the entire fab structure would be complete by early next year.
Although Su Yuanshan had nominally entrusted everything to Zhang Rujin, as the largest shareholder, Yuanxin still needed a powerful and trustworthy presence in senior management to ensure its interests.
Su Yuanshan's first choice was Zhou Xiaohui.
She wasn't just a loyalist — she was someone he had personally trained.
She was the person who most fully embodied his will at Yuanxin — even more than his senior brothers like Qin Weimin.
"But I don't fully agree with your reasons," Su Yuanshan said seriously.
"Explain."
Zhou Xiaohui slowly walked over, sat down across from him, took a deep breath, and after a few seconds of silence, locked eyes with him.
"If I go there, I'll only be responsible for administrative work, right?"
"Yes, Administrative Director."
"Exactly.
Even though my official affiliation has always been with the administration office, my actual work has been closely tied to your office.
Frankly speaking, I'm not familiar with administrative management —
even An Siying knows more about it than I do.
If I went over there, I might not be able to coordinate relationships well."
She paused, then added,
"As your personal secretary, if I'm sent there, it would make Yuanxin's intention to control the wafer fab too obvious.
There's no guarantee that Dr. Zhang won't develop concerns."
Listening to her explanation, Su Yuanshan frowned slightly.
After a few seconds of contemplation, he asked,
"Then who do you think would be the best candidate?"
Zhou Xiaohui thought for a moment and said,
"Liu Jie or Deputy President Wan.
Both have seniority and status.
Compared to me, their transfers would seem more routine — more normal."
Su Yuanshan silently looked at Zhou Xiaohui's still-youthful face, full of collagen even though she had dressed as maturely as she could.
It finally hit him — she was only twenty-four years old.
Twenty-four years old, and being asked to manage administration for a factory with thousands of employees.
It was too much to ask.
Even though she had followed him closely, Zhou Xiaohui had originally been just an ordinary girl with a junior college diploma.
It was understandable she didn't feel confident.
Not everyone could be like Chen Jing — born into privilege, highly educated, and bursting with confidence.
After a long pause, Su Yuanshan nodded lightly.
"Alright then."
Zhou Xiaohui's shoulders visibly relaxed, and she let out a slow breath of relief.
Watching her, Su Yuanshan chuckled and shook his head.
"Sister Xiaohui, people like you, with so little ambition... you're really rare."
Zhou Xiaohui grabbed his coffee mug, smiled sweetly, and said,
"Come on, I'm now officially an Assistant to the Chairman.
That's a senior executive position, right?
How's that not ambitious?"
"Sure, sure, senior executive..."
Su Yuanshan laughed.
"Now help me book that flight."
"Right away!"
Watching her skip lightly out of the office, Su Yuanshan couldn't help but smile.
Over the years, he had watched Zhou Xiaohui grow —
and in a way, she had watched him grow too, from a seventeen-year-old boy to the twenty-year-old he was now.
She wasn't just his work secretary.
In many ways, she handled his personal life too.
From her perspective, she probably saw herself as having inherited Sun Xihui's role — the "big sister" who looked after him.
The way she insisted on traveling with him earlier made that clear enough.
In her heart, Su Yuanshan must still seem like someone who needed caring for — even protecting.
Thinking about that, Su Yuanshan smiled warmly.
"Well, being Assistant to the Chairman isn't exactly a bad deal," he thought.
...
In the cool night breeze, Su Yuanshan and Li Mingliu strolled along the artificial lake.
Now that autumn had arrived, fewer people came out to cool off by the water.
And since the MUD game had launched, hordes of programmers skipped the lakeside concerts and spent their evenings holed up in their offices, forming departmental factions and battling it out online.
"I'm feeling more and more that human capacity has limits," Li Mingliu said, frowning as he looked toward the still brightly lit Optical Laboratory across the lake.
"The deeper you dig into integrated circuits, the more complicated it gets.
Everywhere you turn, countless problems demand countless technical solutions.
And the worst part is having to stop and wait for the wafer fab's next process update."
"Haha, no kidding," Su Yuanshan said, plucking a blade of wild grass and twirling it between his fingers.
"That's why integrated circuits will become more and more specialized in the future.
There's no way we'll keep seeing this 'everyone's a brick' phenomenon — moving wherever needed."
"True."
Li Mingliu fell silent for a few seconds, then stopped walking.
He turned to Su Yuanshan, his eyes serious.
"President Shan, tell me — how big is the future of flash memory?"
Su Yuanshan stopped too.
He had a good guess what was going through Li Mingliu's mind.
After a few moments of silence, Su Yuanshan said softly,
"Right now, in the semiconductor world, there's a saying:
He who controls memory, controls the world."
Li Mingliu's eyes lit up.
"And in the future?"
"In the future, it will be:
He who controls flash memory, controls the world."
"Are you sure?"
Su Yuanshan took a deep breath.
"I'm absolutely, definitely, one hundred percent sure."
"Good!"
Li Mingliu clenched his right fist and struck it against his left palm.
"Then when I get back, I'll hand off all my CPU responsibilities to Gao Xiaodi.
I'll transfer the cache technology to Zheng Tiejun.
And I'll fully commit myself to flash memory architecture and technology."
Su Yuanshan didn't hesitate at all.
"Of course, Senior Brother — whatever you choose, I support you.
But... can I ask why?"
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