Chapter 341 Hyper-Threading
Su Yuanshan wasn't expecting to convince a room full of engineers who were already contemplating dual-core designs with lofty, theoretical talk. His goal was simple: make it clear that he did not support glued dual-core designs. He wanted Yuanxin's CPU team to start laying the groundwork now for something akin to AMD's future CCX architecture—a clean, proper multi-core design—getting it right from the very beginning.
If, however, Gao Xiaodi had stumbled upon hyper-threading as an idea, then Su Yuanshan would fully support him in pursuing it first.
Gao Xiaodi picked up a piece of chalk and stood in front of the blackboard.
"Based on the Pentium processor model, our Saul architecture has similarly adopted features like superscalar execution, out-of-order execution, multiple registers, register renaming, multiple instruction decoders, and branch prediction," he began.
Everything Gao described was part of Yuanxin's Saul CPU, designed specifically to match and exceed the Pentium's capabilities. In some cases, Saul's architecture was actually more advanced, though it had caused the project's timeline to fall a few months behind Cyrix's.
Pausing for a moment, Gao continued, "These features give the CPU a vast resource pool, allowing it to execute instructions in parallel and out-of-order, greatly enhancing efficiency."
"But as fabrication processes improve and clock frequencies climb, it's easy to predict that not every workload will fully utilize all of a CPU's resources. Even today's Pentium 100MHz chips often have idle cycles during typical use."
"So if we could simulate dual-core behavior on a single-core CPU, by allocating only a portion of resources..." Gao glanced around the room, then locked eyes with Su Yuanshan. "We could simulate an extra thread. By establishing development protocols between the OS, the CPU, and application software, we could effectively 'squeeze out' every last drop of performance from current CPUs—just as Mountain Boss envisioned."
Su Yuanshan pressed his lips together, then slowly smiled, the corners of his mouth curling up in approval.
Excellent. Gao had independently rediscovered the path toward hyper-threading.
...
After finishing his explanation, Gao put down the chalk and shrugged. "Gentlemen, consider your vacation canceled."
"Uh..."
"You guys were planning a vacation?" Su Yuanshan asked, raising an eyebrow. "Where were you going?"
"We only just mentioned it," Gao said, laughing. "We couldn't clear our thoughts and figured a short break might help."
"Take the break," Su Yuanshan said easily. "We're only waiting on simulation results now. The brain has limits too—sometimes you need to rest to get fresh inspiration."
"Not necessarily," Li Mingliu quipped from where he had been casually leaning on Gao's desk. "Sometimes you have to work your brain to the limit before real inspiration strikes."
Gao glanced back at Li Mingliu and teased, "Old Li, don't spread your maniac work ethic everywhere. Mountain Boss is sitting right there—you're not worried he'll drag you off on forced vacation again?"
Everyone chuckled knowingly.
After all, when Li Mingliu had become obsessed with optimizing cache architectures, it had been Su Yuanshan who forcibly dragged him off for a few days' rest—an event that had since become part of Yuanxin folklore.
"Manage your department as you see fit," Li Mingliu said, finally pushing off the desk and strolling over to Su Yuanshan. He gave him a meaningful look as if to say, Told you so.
Su Yuanshan smiled back.
It was true: Gao Xiaodi had grown significantly.
But what pleased Su Yuanshan even more was that Li Mingliu had grown too.
While he still maintained his relentless work habits, his perspective had shifted. He was no longer just a department head; he was starting to think like a true leader of the Shanghai tech park and beyond.
That was important.
Su Yuanshan's gamble—pushing Li Mingliu to head the new park despite pressure and hidden ambitions from others—had been worth it.
When the park was first founded, no one openly vied for the leadership role, but Su Yuanshan knew many quietly hoped Qin Weimin or Tian Yaoming, as "Electronics Institute faction" representatives, would be appointed instead.
...
Since Gao had made his choice, Su Yuanshan didn't press further.
He just reminded Gao to join him for dinner later before heading over to Li Mingliu's office.
Compared to the flashy setups some executives liked, Li Mingliu's office was simple.
Just a seating area with a sofa set, some paintings on the wall, and shelves packed full of professional books.
Su Yuanshan glanced over and immediately knew—these weren't just for show.
These were heavily thumbed-through, well-used books.
Clearly, Li Mingliu had been studying, trying to keep pace with Su Yuanshan and Xi Xiaoding's relentless pursuit of technical excellence.
Unlike the vast majority of so-called entrepreneurs who decorated their offices with libraries full of unread books to look good, the technical leaders at Yuanxin had never abandoned their roots.
Xi Xiaoding even still held a teaching post and was preparing to write a textbook on neural networks.
Li Mingliu peeled a piece of gum and tossed it into his mouth, then tossed another piece at Su Yuanshan.
"You make me feel bad lighting up when you're around."
"Then quit smoking," Su Yuanshan said without missing a beat.
Li Mingliu laughed. "I don't whore, gamble, or take bribes. I just like a smoke. Take that away, what joys would I have left?"
"...," Su Yuanshan had no answer for that.
"Heh, anyway, no surprises on our end," Li Mingliu said, stretching lazily. "All progress is proceeding steadily. At most, another month and we'll have solved all the issues for flash memory storage over USB."
Su Yuanshan's eyes lit up.
"How's that not a surprise?"
"Hardly," Li Mingliu shrugged. "Testing shows USB's current transfer speed is still too slow. It doesn't match the cost of flash memory."
"You're too greedy," Su Yuanshan said, shaking his head. "We only need to introduce USB flash drives. Once those hit the market, the USB Implementers Forum will have no choice but to upgrade the protocol standards."
Li Mingliu was startled. "We already have that much influence?"
"Of course," Su Yuanshan said proudly.
The reborn Meijie had already exceeded all of his expectations.
Whether it was Voodoo 3D accelerator cards or high-end motherboards, Meijie was now the industry leader.
And where there's dominance, there's influence—
If the USBIF didn't play ball, Yuanxin, Starsea, and Meijie could simply push new standards independently.
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Chapter 342 The Greatest Advantage
"But there's still a problem with current flash memory cells," Li Mingliu muttered as he chewed his gum. He furrowed his brows several times before finally reaching for the pack of cigarettes on the coffee table.
Su Yuanshan smiled helplessly. "Go ahead and smoke. I'm not your girlfriend—I'm not that strict."
"Haha, my girlfriend's still in kindergarten," Li Mingliu quipped as he flicked out a cigarette, lighting it without even removing the gum from his mouth. When he exhaled, he deliberately blew the smoke away from Su Yuanshan.
"According to our forecasts over the past few weeks, this year's global flash memory market is about 1 billion dollars. That's already beyond what I expected," Li Mingliu said as he relaxed into the sofa, looking at Su Yuanshan. "But that entire market is essentially held up by NOR flash."
"You probably know better than I do the difference between NOR and the NAND cells we're working on. Honestly, aside from being cheaper, NAND has no edge in performance or market acceptance."
Su Yuanshan could tell from the way Li Mingliu spoke that he had truly immersed himself in this field.
Li was right. The current flash memory market had been propped up almost entirely by heavyweights like Intel and SanDisk—and it was almost all NOR-based. Even Toshiba, the inventor of NAND, didn't seem confident that NAND would permanently redefine the storage landscape, let alone replace consumer-level mechanical hard drives.
"You're right, Senior Brother," Su Yuanshan admitted with a nod. But then he smiled. "But there's one thing you've overlooked."
"Go on," Li replied, adopting Su Yuanshan's habit of keeping it short and direct.
Su Yuanshan thought for a moment. It was time to introduce a bit of market theory—after all, someone as sharp as Li Mingliu was going to be running a division soon.
"Here's the thing: whether it's our secret weapon, the USB flash drive, or Intel's SSDs, or SanDisk's SD cards… all of these flash memory applications, despite using different architectures, fall under the same umbrella—consumer electronics."
"Or more accurately: mass-market consumer electronics. These products can't exist independently. They rely on integration with other systems. They don't enjoy brand or design premiums like phones, cameras, or laptops. So they all tend to follow one core rule: price-performance is king."
"Senior Brother, after all these years of reform and opening up, you've seen the effect of price on the market. You don't need me to explain it. Just look at how many factories survived in the Special Economic Zones—those that made it through all did so by controlling costs."
Li Mingliu absorbed this quietly. After a moment, he murmured, "So you're saying… price is the greatest advantage. Right?"
"Exactly! Didn't Toshiba once do the math? Per megabyte, NAND is half the cost of NOR. The reason we haven't seen it dominate yet is simple—storage capacities are still small, and Intel and SanDisk are relying on their brand and distribution to force NOR into the market. Toshiba's own consumer-grade applications aren't ready, so NAND hasn't had a chance to shine."
"But once we finalize the new architecture, give NAND a capacity edge over NOR, and pair it with revolutionary products… crushing NOR is just a matter of time—no, it's inevitable."
Li Mingliu narrowed his eyes. "So the direction moving forward is the USB product line?"
"Yes—at least for the foreseeable future. As tech evolves, SSDs will definitely become mainstream too. Our job is to make cheap, high-capacity NAND. Once we do, the applications will naturally follow. Who knows what form they'll take? The road will appear as the cart moves forward."
"Every time you hype something up like this, I feel re-energized," Li Mingliu said with a chuckle, not hiding his near-blind faith in Su Yuanshan.
"If everything goes well, after the new year we can start designing NAND flash cells on the 0.5-micron process, using a multi-layer architecture," Li continued, his voice growing more serious. "But I've been to the fab plenty of times. You know it's a different division. I can't push them."
Su Yuanshan nodded firmly. "That's why I came here."
With the wafer fab nearing full production, it was time to bring the 0.5-micron process into play.
Zhang Rujin wasn't in Shanghai at the moment—he'd returned to the U.S. and wouldn't be back for another three days.
Su Yuanshan had come early to wrap up everything in Shanghai before meeting with Zhang, so he could then focus fully on the fab.
Plus, he needed to be here for the return of Yang Yiwen from Silicon Valley—something that required his full attention.
...
Su Yuanshan stayed in Li Mingliu's office until the end of the workday. That evening, he met up with Zhou Xiaohui, Gao Xiaodi, Jiang Tao, and others for dinner in the city. Since his senior brother Chen Jianguo was away on business, they skipped the Blue Note Café and opted for a hotel lounge instead.
The next morning, Su Yuanshan was up early.
By the time he had washed up, Zhou Xiaohui was already knocking at the door.
"Xiaohui Jie, don't you think you're dressed a bit too... mature today?"
She stood at the door in a gray business suit, a pure gold brooch pinned to her chest. Normally, she wore a ponytail, but today she had styled her hair in a bun, instantly aging her appearance by at least three years.
"Formality is good," Zhou Xiaohui said as she walked in. She glanced around, then grabbed the tie off the sofa and looped it around Su Yuanshan's neck. "Want a bit of powder to touch up?"
"Forget it... They're all old acquaintances. No need to put on a show."
Zhou Xiaohui tilted her head, then smiled.
She had accompanied Su Yuanshan to meet countless business partners, and he always treated everyone the same, big or small.
If there had ever been a time when he used his power unfairly, it was during that mess with the Huayuan Group—
But Zhou Xiaohui fully understood his actions.
Su Yuanshan was fiercely loyal to his circle of senior brothers.
If someone—even just a rich kid—dared target one of their wives, there was no way he'd let it slide.
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Chapter 343 Aiding the Chosen
The driver sent by Li Mingliu arrived early, and the ride was unusually smooth. The Audi glided through Shanghai's increasingly congested streets, heading toward the municipal government building.
To avoid creasing his crisp suit, Su Yuanshan simply leaned back lightly in the rear seat instead of sprawling lazily as he usually did.
"I've got a bad feeling about today," he said, lazily resting his arm on the back of the front passenger seat. "Strictly speaking, the leader should've invited me to a family dinner. This kind of meet-up for no particular reason? It doesn't make sense to hold it in the office."
"I think so too," Zhou Xiaohui replied, sitting upright beside him. She would sometimes humor Su Yuanshan's quips by teasing or poking fun, but she had to admit—there was a kind of unspoken understanding between Su Yuanshan and the city leader.
Industrialist Party. That's what Su Yuanshan had called it—a term for those who believed that a nation's strength was fundamentally rooted in its industrial base.
Yuanxin might appear to be a tech company, but in a mature industrial society, technology and manufacturing were inseparable. The former needed the latter to manifest, and the latter needed the former to evolve.
Su Yuanshan and the city leader were textbook members of the Industrialist Party.
He had even told Zhou Xiaohui once: one reason China was surging ahead now was that many of the country's top decision-makers came from mechanical and electrical engineering backgrounds.
"So what do you think the leader actually wants to talk to me about?" Su Yuanshan asked, continuing. "Two full hours? Come on—even if 'handling ten thousand matters daily' is an exaggeration, they're not going to spend two hours just chatting during office hours."
"No clue," Zhou Xiaohui admitted honestly. "But since when have you been scared of talking? Is there any field you can't hold a conversation in?"
Su Yuanshan burst out laughing. "Haha… That's the most polite backhanded compliment I've ever heard."
...
The official-plate Audi quickly entered the compound. Not long after getting out, Su Yuanshan spotted Secretary Chen Wei personally waiting at the door.
"Good morning, Director Chen," Su Yuanshan greeted him first.
"Ah, President Su, Secretary Zhou," Chen replied cheerfully, shaking hands with both of them. "Just call me Xiao Chen."
"I wouldn't dare."
Despite being called "Little Chen" by the leader, the man was well into his thirties and held a full department-head position.
After some brief small talk, Chen Wei led them upstairs. "President Su, the leader is already waiting."
"Huh? I thought our appointment was at ten?" Su Yuanshan checked his watch. It was only 9:30.
"The leader said you're busy. As soon as you arrive, you can head in."
"…Well, alright then."
The office door was open, and they could already hear voices inside.
The moment Su Yuanshan stepped in, he immediately understood why he'd been given a two-hour slot—
The leader had assembled a whole group.
"Come in, Xiao Su."
Seated at the main sofa in the reception area, the city leader rose the moment he saw Su Yuanshan enter. The four others beside him stood as well.
"Let me introduce you: this is Director Jia from the Investment Promotion Bureau, Director Li Lianghua from the Economic and Trade Commission, Director Sun Yuliang from the State-Owned Enterprise Reform Office, and Director Tang from the Planning Commission..."
One by one, the officials stepped forward with warm smiles.
It was no exaggeration to say that the rapid progress of the wafer fab and the tech park had everything to do with the leader's strong support. Now, seeing him personally introduce everyone to Su Yuanshan, it was a clear declaration of their close connection.
"Ah… Director Jia, Director Li..." Su Yuanshan greeted each one, shaking hands before turning to the leader with a wry smile. "You caught me off guard, sir."
"Haha, since when have you been afraid of surprises?" the leader laughed heartily, gripping Su Yuanshan's hand and pulling him to sit right beside him.
Secretary Chen served tea to everyone and then sat quietly behind the leader, notebook in hand.
"I've been meaning to invite you earlier, but I heard you've been busy academically and didn't want to intrude," the leader said, smiling. "A Nature first author—that's no small feat."
"It was just luck," Su Yuanshan replied modestly.
"Alright, alright, we'll go with 'luck' then," the leader chuckled. "But since you're here today, let's have a good chat about your 'luck.'"
Su Yuanshan simply smiled and nodded.
Looking at the room full of senior officials, he immediately understood the setup:
This meeting was meant to echo the earlier visit from the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation to Yuanxin.
Because this was local-level government, the lineup included the Investment Promotion Bureau and the State-Owned Enterprise Reform Office.
Clearly, the city wanted to proactively align with national reforms and secure early advantages for future policy shifts.
Bringing in Su Yuanshan was a masterstroke.
Without hesitation, Su Yuanshan laid out his insights and analyses, giving the group a comprehensive overview of everything they needed to hear.
...
"From a national standpoint, the state has the capacity to regulate and support entire industries. But for local governments, we can only support individual enterprises."
"Exactly," Su Yuanshan nodded. "In software, we talk about product ecosystems. Locally, one of your biggest responsibilities is to build that kind of ecosystem for your enterprises."
"For example, in the Special Economic Zones, policy, regulation, components, and technical resources have all matured into a complete ecosystem for electronics manufacturing. Once our Yuanxin factories are fully integrated, they'll not only solve employment for tens or even hundreds of thousands—they'll trigger strong clustering effects, forming a major electronics production hub centered around Yuanxin's base."
"Another example—look at the provincial capital. Because they acted early on policy, there's already a strong software design atmosphere. I've heard they're throwing the entire province's resources into building fiber-optic bandwidth for the city. Can you believe the fastest internet in the entire southwest basin is in that city?"
The officials exchanged looks, thoughtful, and then smiled slightly.
"Looks like we need to accelerate our support for the chip design sector here," someone said.
Su Yuanshan nodded. "Yes."
"Sigh..." Director Jia of the Investment Promotion Bureau let out a quiet breath.
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Chapter 344 Su Yuanshan's "Child"
When Su Yuanshan finished his visit, it was just before noon, but he didn't stay for lunch. Instead, he and Zhou Xiaohui quietly slipped away.
Meanwhile, back at the municipal office, after sending Su Yuanshan off, no one headed to the cafeteria either. They stayed behind, still immersed in discussion.
Frankly speaking, in China, if you weren't in high tech or semiconductors, that was fine. But if you were, then Yuanxin was simply unavoidable.
Their opinions weren't just important—they were crucial.
"Everyone says Zhiyuan EDA is the most internationally successful mainland company, a product of the 'Eight-Nation Alliance'... but the fact that Yuanxin can still maintain influence over Zhiyuan EDA, I honestly didn't expect," Director Zhou Lianghua said with a light chuckle.
"It's not Yuanxin controlling Zhiyuan EDA," another corrected with a smile. "It's Su Yuanshan maintaining influence.
And that influence isn't based on capital, but on trust and recognition—just like us. Don't we all trust Su Yuanshan's insights and analysis of the semiconductor industry and act accordingly?
By your logic, doesn't that mean he controls our entire city government too?"
"Haha, I spoke too hastily," Zhou laughed.
"Su Yuanshan was very careful earlier," another official added, tapping cigarette ash thoughtfully. "He only spoke about Yuanxin, never mentioning the government. But for us, the real takeaway is enhancing Shanghai's international standing and strengthening our semiconductor industry base."
"I have an idea," the official continued. "Besides policies, maybe we can boost our influence and attractiveness in other ways."
"Such as?" someone asked.
"Trade shows—electronics, information tech, internet, mobile communications—all these industries are built on semiconductors and are the industries of the future.
If even that inland provincial capital can pull off a software expo, surely Shanghai can host a world-class technology expo."
Checking his watch, he stood up and said, "Let's take a walk and brainstorm some ideas."
...
Meanwhile, Su Yuanshan and Zhou Xiaohui had returned to their hotel.
The first thing Su Yuanshan did after getting back was call Chen Jing to ask if she had received any official decisions.
The answer was no.
"What's wrong?" Chen Jing asked over the phone, sounding like she was mid-meal.
"They must think I'm some kind of god..." Su Yuanshan muttered, cursing a little. "The state plans to build a 'Chip City' in Wuxi."
Chen Jing ignored the profanity and immediately caught onto the critical part. "Chip City?"
"Yeah," Su Yuanshan said, and then he told her everything he had just learned.
There was a long pause—ten seconds at least—before Chen Jing finally spoke. "This isn't just about a hundred billion yuan investment. It's about national policy direction. If the investments yield results, we're talking about hundreds of billions down the line."
After years of being immersed in Su Yuanshan's optimism about China's economic future, Chen Jing now fully believed that someday the government would easily invest hundreds of billions into a single industry.
"Exactly... and that's what worries me," Su Yuanshan said. "Right now, the government says they'll focus on industrial independence and upgrading. They're counting on us at Yuanxin to lead those breakthroughs.
But honestly, expecting zero technological upgrades from Huajing while betting everything on imports is unrealistic.
Let's not forget—Zhou Boguang is still running the semiconductor lab. That old man's still got the energy to keep going for another thirty years..."
Chen Jing couldn't help but chuckle.
Everyone in the semiconductor industry knew Su Yuanshan and Zhou Boguang had a famously good relationship.
"If that's the case," Su Yuanshan continued, "then in the future, Yuanxin will be burning its own money for R&D, while Huajing burns government money for theirs. That's a losing game for us."
"So what's your plan?" Chen Jing asked.
"No real plan. Just keep grinding forward. Compared to Huajing, Intel, NEC, UMC, and TSMC are our real enemies.
Huajing is just internal competition. Worst case, someday we'll get the government to arrange a merger—we'll swallow them whole."
"Such ambition..." Chen Jing laughed.
"Heh, just wait and see," Su Yuanshan said.
...
After chatting a little longer, Su Yuanshan hung up and went downstairs to grab a quick meal with Zhou Xiaohui.
At 3:30 p.m., they arrived at Hongqiao Airport.
As the flight from San Francisco landed right on time, they spotted Yang Yiwen stepping through the gate, wearing a pale yellow casual suit, a silk scarf around her neck, dragging her luggage behind her.
"Sis-in-law!" Su Yuanshan called, bounding forward with a big grin. "Come on, give me a hug."
"You're such a brat," Yang Yiwen laughed, letting go of her suitcase to give him a hug, and then hugged Zhou Xiaohui lightly out of politeness.
Su Yuanshan immediately grabbed her suitcase without needing to be asked.
In the car, sitting in the back seat with Yang Yiwen, Su Yuanshan grinned, "Sis-in-law, I saw your brother a few days ago."
"He called and told me," Yang Yiwen said, tying up her hair into a ponytail. "He couldn't stop singing your praises."
"Once Starsea's IPO goes through, it might be valued over 30 billion," she added, smiling. "Aren't you excited?"
"Not even a little," Su Yuanshan replied with a laugh. "The future Starsea will be worth trillions. Thirty billion? That's pocket change to me."
Zhou Xiaohui, sitting in the front, couldn't help but smile quietly at that.
She had long noticed that Su Yuanshan's demeanor changed around his senior brothers and their families. Around them, he let his guard down and acted more like the young man he still was deep inside.
Maybe it was because he was an only child and instinctively craved the comfort of older siblings.
They laughed and chatted the whole way to the hotel.
After closing the room door behind them, Su Yuanshan's expression turned serious. He looked at Yang Yiwen and said sincerely, "Thank you for all your hard work."
"What hard work? I'm just visiting family," she said, smiling warmly.
She opened her suitcase and pulled out a thick file folder, handing it to him.
"I don't know all the technical details, but according to Claude, these test results show that in certain fields, our new chip achieves almost a complete performance crush against Intel's existing products."
Su Yuanshan opened the folder to find two CDs and three CPUs, each carefully wrapped in foam and marked as engineering samples.
These three chips would undergo full-scale testing at Yuanxin's lab.
They would also serve as the benchmarks for Yuanxin's CPU division.
More importantly, these CPUs fully embodied Su Yuanshan's architectural vision.
In a very real sense, they were his children.
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Chapter 345 Let the Bullet Fly a While
There were two discs—one containing all the test programs, and another with post-processed multi-screen comparisons. The hotel was equipped with a high-definition television and Yuanxin's upgraded "Super VCD" player—a device that Yuanxin had pushed onto the market using its dominant market position, essentially a forced evolution of the standard VCD player.
In terms of format, Super VCD discs used MPEG-2 compression, offering a noticeable improvement in picture quality over the first-generation VCD—horizontal resolution was boosted from 250 lines to 350, just enough to match the clarity of the HDTV in the room.
Of course, this "standard" was more a nice-to-have than a game changer. Yuanxin didn't hold any optical disc patents, so this was essentially just a high-margin marketing gimmick with a few added functions. In practical terms, it still relied heavily on backward compatibility to support the vast library of existing VCDs in the market.
Perhaps in a nod to Yuanxin's influence, the demo disc had been encoded using the SVCD standard. At a time when DVD players had yet to go mainstream, SVCD was indeed the highest quality video format available.
Su Yuanshan stared intently at the multi-screen comparisons. Because of the limited resolution, he couldn't make out every test detail, but the differences in performance were visible.
"Looks decent," he muttered after reviewing each test.
When he reached the floating-point division test, and the Pentium 66 threw out a blatantly incorrect result, he couldn't help but let the corner of his mouth twitch into a subtle smirk.
Yang Yiwen, sitting beside him, noticed his expression and nudged him lightly. "Is that the infamous Pentium bug I've heard about?"
"Yeah," Su Yuanshan replied. "Claude's team ran source-level verification and discovered that the division table in the Pentium's design was flawed. They wrote the wrong entries."
He turned to her. "What did Carly say about it?"
"Carly said… let the bullet fly a while," Yang Yiwen replied with a sly smile.
Su Yuanshan blinked—then burst out laughing.
Carly had asked him for advice when this opportunity first arose. After all, this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. At the time, Su Yuanshan told her to handle it however she saw fit—but he'd also offered a suggestion: let the bullet fly a while and see what happened.
To his surprise, she'd passed that phrase on verbatim.
"Since we're direct competitors with Intel, it's not appropriate for us to release the news ourselves," Yang Yiwen explained. "So all we've done is post the benchmark software to our website and related platforms. Even the test results just show question marks. We've set a countdown to noon on December 1, Pacific Time."
Su Yuanshan grinned. "So Carly wants the users to test their own machines first, huh?"
"Exactly," Yang Yiwen nodded. "Without an impartial third-party testing agency, we've got no other choice but to let the users be the judge."
"Take your time. Those institutions will come."
...
The next day, the driver first dropped Su Yuanshan off at the R&D center, then took Yang Yiwen and Zhou Xiaohui sightseeing around Shanghai.
Due to limited resources, Yuanxin's CPU division didn't have a dedicated platform testing lab like Starsea's Cyrix. But that didn't stop Gao Xiaodi from cobbling together a few systems to torture-test the three sample CPUs.
At the lab, Su Yuanshan spotted some engineers from the DFT department and waved at them. "Hey, easy! What are you guys doing here?"
DFT—Design For Testability. In the future, it would be a mandatory, increasingly crucial component in chip development. It was essentially the division responsible for identifying and tagging manufacturing defects.
But in this era, with relatively simple architectures and coarse fabrication nodes, even at Intel or AMD, DFT wasn't yet a priority.
Su Yuanshan, however, had established the DFT department at Yuanxin early on and instilled the importance of testability as a design principle.
"Don't worry, President Su. We're just here to observe—we won't pop any lids," said Yu Jun, head of DFT and one of Yuanxin's second-batch hires. He was now running a major department.
Gao Xiaodi nudged him. "You guys just came for the spectacle. What does this have to do with DFT?"
"..."
The testing began quickly. Even though Su Yuanshan had already seen the full video demonstration, watching it unfold live made his excitement surge all over again—especially as this new CPU outperformed all comparable Intel products across the board.
If Su Yuanshan was thrilled, the CPU architecture team was over the moon.
Yuanxin's design was significantly more aggressive.
In a way, the CPU they'd built wasn't just a product; it was a statement.
They needed this technological flex to force Intel into negotiations and level the playing field.
And, just like before, the Pentium once again threw up the floating-point division error during tests.
"Let the bullet fly a while," Su Yuanshan told the team.
...
The next day, Zhang Rujin returned to Shanghai from TI headquarters in the U.S.
...
"Uncle Zhang, did they agree?" Su Yuanshan asked, sitting beside him in the backseat.
It had been a few months since they last saw each other. Zhang looked thinner but more energetic than ever.
His main goal during this trip to TI had been to secure a permanent assignment in China. Judging by his renewed vigor, the mission had succeeded.
"Yeah. We've concluded that the peak of the semiconductor cycle is just around the corner.
Building a new fab after that point would be far more expensive.
So HQ decided to play it safe—let's get Deyuan Semiconductor up and running first," Zhang said, taking off his glasses and wiping them with a smile.
"Heh, I'd say Vincent finally realized how committed Yuanxin is to Deyuan," Su Yuanshan joked. "Once Deyuan's operational, it'll be way more valuable than building two DRAM-only fabs."
Texas Instruments was one of Yuanxin's closest international partners.
Not only had they sent a technical team to assist with the wafer fab, but they also played a key role in staffing—many employees had been recruited jointly.
Once TI realized that Yuanxin's NAND flash architecture could realistically challenge NOR flash—and might even bypass Toshiba's patent fortress—they had eagerly dispatched a team to collaborate with Li Mingliu's group on process optimization.
That brought up some old history.
Back when Toshiba's Fujio Masuoka invented NOR flash, Intel had infamously called their lab 300 times in a day trying to buy samples.
Annoyed, Toshiba eventually gave them some—only for Intel to reverse-engineer them completely.
Toshiba, oddly enough, never seemed to treat NOR as a crown jewel.
But like many short-sighted giants, they refused to let others touch it—maybe because Intel's aggressive cloning scared them.
So while Toshiba undervalued NOR internally, they kept filing lawsuits against anyone who tried to work on it.
And one of those companies was Texas Instruments.
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