Chapter 326 Yuanxin's Unspoken Rules
Su Yuanshan had always seen great potential in Duan Yongping. And it wasn't just him—Chen Jing also believed in Duan Yongping's capabilities. Compared to his technical strengths, Duan's real edge lay in his operations and marketing skills, which were top-tier within Yuanxin. He was also the only current leader within Yuanxin with proven survival ability under pressure—Dynasty Wang might count in the future, but not yet.
Besides, Dynasty Wang currently only belonged to the broader Yuanxin ecosystem, not to Yuanxin internally. Before Duan came along, Su Yuanshan had even considered pulling Dynasty Wang into Yuanxin to serve as Chen Jing's main deputy. But as the scale of Zhongxin (AllCore) expanded—especially the packaging line—Wang became too deeply involved to take on more responsibilities, and Su Yuanshan gradually let go of that idea.
Now that Duan had proven himself capable, what he still lacked was internal seniority—his seniority within Yuanxin itself. Su Yuanshan's plan was to promote him by one level at year-end. That way, with both accomplishments and sufficient tenure under his belt, no one would question a bigger promotion later on.
"You think it's time to promote him?" Su Yuanshan asked Chen Jing.
Chen Jing nodded. "He has both the ability and ambition. It's better to push him forward early."
Su Yuanshan hesitated. "Wouldn't your side have some objections?"
Chen Jing smiled faintly. "Objections? From who?"
"Uh…" Su Yuanshan chuckled, seeing how confident she was. "Alright, I'm overthinking. I'm not that familiar with the business side."
"It's not that you're unfamiliar," Chen Jing said calmly. "It's just that you're subconsciously applying the messy, factional dynamics of R&D to the business side." She paused briefly when saying "factional" and then casually glanced at Qin Si, before continuing, "The business side does require teamwork, but it's driven by execution, not creativity. So even if factions form, they're much easier to dismantle."
Su Yuanshan paused for a moment, quickly realizing Chen Jing was saying this on purpose—with Qin Si present. Or perhaps, she was reminding both him and Qin Si.
He looked at Qin Si, who simply smiled at him, amused and relaxed. Su Yuanshan gave a sheepish grin. "So you noticed how strong the factionalism is in the R&D division, huh?"
"Anyone could notice it. I've already informed HR to raise the bar for Electronics Institute graduates. We're not going to lower the standard just because of the old arrangement."
"Mm, good move," Su Yuanshan nodded immediately.
Yuanxin had originally been set up as an internship base for the Electronics Institute. At the time, the Institute had provided a steady stream of interns, solving Yuanxin's critical early-stage talent shortage.
The side effect, of course, was that the admission rate for Electronics Institute graduates at Yuanxin was abnormally high. Even if others had the same qualifications, or sometimes even slightly better, the Institute's grads were prioritized. After all, many of the top dogs at Yuanxin were their senior classmates, and the nominal chairman of Yuanxin was the dean of the Electronics Institute. In such a relationship-driven society, as long as an Electronics graduate wasn't a total slacker and had some baseline competence, they could usually be trained up to standard pretty quickly once inside.
That's why, despite knowing it wasn't exactly fair—and that it could hurt Yuanxin's long-term growth—both Su Yuanshan and Chen Jing had silently accepted this "unspoken rule." Because being able to integrate quickly into the team's interpersonal dynamics was, in itself, a kind of added value.
"The core issue is that Yuanxin was built on a foundation laid by the Electronics Institute. Especially with the tech park based in the provincial capital, most of our recruits still come from local schools like the Electronics Institute and the provincial university. Top schools from other regions haven't sent many graduates here," Su Yuanshan said with a wry smile.
"Then just turn the Electronics Institute into a world-class university," Qin Si said casually. "If you can't avoid the connection, embrace it. Turn it into China's Stanford."
"That's a great idea, Sister Qin Si!" Su Yuanshan laughed. "You've got the same vision as President Zhou."
"There's another way too," Chen Jing added. "Expand quickly and dilute the Electronics Institute crowd. Next year, let's recruit a thousand graduates from other schools."
"Uh…" Su Yuanshan waved his hand. "Forget it. I'd rather just train our own."
Meanwhile, Xi Xiaoding's pilot class proposal had already been submitted and was waiting on administrative approval. Given his and Yuanxin's influence, it was almost certain to be approved.
If that went through, the Electronics Institute would likely launch a special high-scoring class next year that surpassed even the top-tier university cutoffs. Admissions scores had always been a reflection of institutional strength.
Su Yuanshan didn't expect the Electronics Institute to become a Tsinghua or Peking University, but as a specialist institution in communications and electronics, it still had a shot at becoming a leader in its field. Besides, as the economy and transportation infrastructure continued to develop, the tech park would eventually attract top talent from all over the country.
By then, who cared about factions—talent was all that mattered.
"Alright, it's settled then. If you think Duan is ready, draft his promotion letter and give him a heads-up. I'll get my dad to sign off on it later."
...
Next came Qin Si's "briefing."
Chen Jing had initially planned to leave, but Su Yuanshan asked her to stay. Qin Si had just returned from abroad the previous month and had already spent several days debriefing with Su Yuanshan, so there wasn't much to report now.
She focused mainly on recent investment trends and insider news from abroad.
For instance, Wall Street had officially entered the internet startup scene. The competition was now brutal. Whereas before, one could get 10% equity in a startup for a few tens of thousands of dollars, now that number had doubled or tripled. Unless you invested $200,000 to $300,000, no one would even talk to you.
Starsea Venture Capital had been lucky to enter early and grab a lot of cheap equity, but with the constant need for follow-up investments, its cash reserves were stretched thin. To really make money, they'd have to wait until a few unicorns went public and they could cash out.
"What about the trading side?" Chen Jing asked, clearly interested, after listening attentively to the investment update.
"You mean Sister Sun?" Qin Si replied.
"Mm-hmm."
Su Yuanshan paused, then grinned. "Sister Sun is working on a 'rural encirclement of the city' strategy."
Of course, that wasn't literal rural areas or big cities—she had started from the periphery, focusing on Southeast Asia, gradually building a presence and then expanding westward.
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Chapter 327 Alliance Through Marriage
After watching Su Yuanshan leave, Qin Si finally took a good look around Chen Jing's office. Although the courtyard house here was only considered a temporary office, and Chen Jing didn't spend much time here, the design team had turned the remaining courtyards into a sort of hobby project, decorating them with surprising elegance and style.
"From what you said earlier, are you planning to settle in the capital for a long time?" Qin Si asked as she sat back down in her chair, looking at Chen Jing. They had known of each other for a long time, but their first real meeting had been at last year's computer expo. At first, their interactions were formal, but after a few conversations, they realized they shared many common interests. Over time, they grew close, though given their respective statuses, their relationship could only be one of cautious friendship, not carefree intimacy.
"Not exactly. But with domestic policies shifting so rapidly, I do plan to stay longer this time," Chen Jing replied, picking up a cup to pour Qin Si some water. "How long are you staying?"
"I'll stay until your negotiations conclude. I'm also hoping to hitch a ride on Yuanxin's momentum and build a few connections with the leadership here," Qin Si said with a smile, cradling her cup. "By the way, what is Yuanshan really thinking? Will Yuanxin go public?"
"He hasn't explicitly said whether we'll go public or not," Chen Jing frowned slightly. "But judging by Yuanxin's current strategy, I doubt it."
"Oh? Why not?"
"There are too many constraints with going public. And IPOs are mainly to raise money, not for showing off. Yuanxin isn't exactly short on cash right now—provided we don't start throwing it around recklessly."
"Pfft… you summed it up perfectly with that 'recklessly'," Qin Si chuckled.
"Heh, the main thing is…" Chen Jing's smile turned a bit stubborn. "He's too smart. Honestly, I just want to see how far his vision can really go."
...
That evening, before his departure, Su Yuanshan headed to the Capital Hotel.
Since he had already handed off the LCD panel project to Chen Jing, he didn't intend to discuss it further. However, Yuanxin's cooperation with Sony wasn't limited to that alone.
In the hotel café, Su Yuanshan, Kutaragi Ken, and Akitani Junichiro sat casually, as if they were just chatting. Zhou Xiaohui played the role of server, bringing over snacks and fruit.
"Kutaragi-san, Akitani-san, I'll be blunt: at Yuanxin, lithium battery technology is classified as an A-level priority. It's on the same level as mobile communications and CPU technologies," Su Yuanshan said, his eyes sharp and sincere.
Kutaragi and Akitani exchanged a smile.
They were high-ranking technocrats, and if they didn't realize the future importance of lithium battery tech to the IT and mobile industries, they wouldn't be seen as future successors within Sony.
"But your technology is still stuck in the lab stage, Su-san," Kutaragi said honestly—his naturally sincere expression and earnest tone made it hard to catch the underlying threat in his words.
Yet Su Yuanshan understood very well. This "honest old man" was shrewd. Personal friendships aside, when it came to corporate interests, no relationship could stand in the way.
"That's different. We can commercialize it whenever we want," Su Yuanshan replied calmly. "Frankly speaking, your 18650 batteries have too many flaws. They'll be obsolete sooner or later."
As he spoke, he quietly observed their reactions.
Of course, he was exaggerating—the 18650's lifespan would last much longer than he implied. But in this fast-evolving era of lithium battery technology, even Sony wasn't entirely sure how things would turn out. Plus, neither Kutaragi nor Akitani were battery experts...
Thus, Su Yuanshan saw an opportunity to bluff and seize an advantage.
Exchanging lithium battery technology was part of Yuanxin's broader strategy with Sony. At the same time, gaining manufacturing know-how was another key goal.
The lithium battery market was currently in the "concept promotion" stage. Su Yuanshan didn't believe for a second that Sony had made much money yet—it had barely begun.
In truth, Sony hadn't profited much at all from lithium batteries. Just as they were gaining momentum, nickel-metal hydride batteries (NiMH) had appeared as a strong challenger.
And both faced competition from the existing nickel-cadmium batteries (NiCd).
"Right now, NiMH batteries dominate the mainstream market with excellent performance and price advantages," Su Yuanshan continued. "Frankly, if we can jointly advance the 18650 lithium battery's technology and branding, it would significantly reduce Sony's competitive pressure."
Hearing "pressure" made Kutaragi frown slightly.
Sony's lithium batteries were outstanding in performance, but their high costs severely hampered adoption. Meanwhile, NiMH batteries were steadily eating into the mobile phone sector, edging out NiCd batteries.
Worse, NiMH technology was still dominated by Japanese companies, and Sony had missed the train—just like they had with LCD panels.
"True, promoting lithium batteries right now faces resistance," Kutaragi admitted. "But we firmly believe lithium will ultimately prevail. Even without Yuanxin's help, we will win eventually."
Su Yuanshan cursed inwardly.
"How about this?" he said after a pause. "Let's both spin off our lithium battery teams, restructure the production lines, and jointly form a new energy company with shared ownership. What do you think?"
Both Kutaragi and Akitani were visibly stunned.
Su Yuanshan's proposal was essentially an arranged marriage—true strategic partnership, not just casual business cooperation.
Akitani spoke first, smiling, "Su-san, are you proposing an alliance through marriage?"
"You could put it that way," Su Yuanshan laughed. "If we're going to cooperate, let's go big."
"And who would hold controlling interest?" Kutaragi asked, recovering quickly and hiding his emotions.
"Either side can control it, I don't mind. But all intellectual property must be jointly owned, that's non-negotiable."
Su Yuanshan's voice remained earnest.
"We genuinely want to work with you."
Akitani exchanged a glance with Kutaragi, then smiled slyly. "Su-san, actually we're very interested too—shall we also discuss NAND FLASH cooperation while we're at it?"
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Chapter 328 Becoming the One Being Probed
Su Yuanshan immediately turned his gaze, surprised, toward Akitani Ichiro. In Yuanxin's internal priority system, flash memory wasn't ranked that high, but it was definitely tied to future storage technologies. When Li Mingliu decided to hand off his CPU projects and devote himself entirely to flash memory development, Su Yuanshan had actually felt a bit guilty.
After all, flash memory was a field unlikely to see large-scale applications within the next three to five years, meaning Li Mingliu would have to spend several years working in obscurity—a situation quite unfair for someone as dedicated and hardworking as he was. Honestly, if Su Yuanshan hadn't assigned Li Mingliu to oversee the expansion of Yuanxin's Shanghai Technology Park, some might have thought he had been quietly sidelined.
But how did Sony come to focus on flash memory?
Facing Su Yuanshan's astonished gaze, Akitani Ichiro narrowed his eyes slightly, casually sipping his coffee, visibly pleased that he could elicit such a reaction.
"Su-san, I heard your multi-level cell NAND flash technology has achieved a major breakthrough?" Akitani asked, staring straight at him.
Su Yuanshan twitched the corner of his mouth. The word "spy" briefly flashed through his mind, but he quickly dismissed it. It wasn't espionage—it was just that Yuanxin's work on flash memory wasn't exactly a secret. Anyone paying slight attention to the field would have caught wind of it.
Most likely, Akitani had seen Yuanxin's recent patent filings, which had only been submitted last month.
Understanding this, Su Yuanshan composed himself and smiled casually. "Hmm, almost there. But don't tell me you guys are interested in flash memory too?"
"We're very interested," Akitani said without hesitation. "Sony shouldn't just be a home electronics and entertainment company. We want to return to the semiconductor sector."
Su Yuanshan opened his mouth but said nothing, closing it again. He knew Sony had started with transistor radios and then expanded into various home appliances that swept the global market. By the 1980s, Sony, like other Japanese companies, had tried to carve out a place in semiconductors, making notable achievements with SRAM and CCDs. However, in global rankings, Sony's semiconductor ventures always hovered just outside the top ten, never breaking into the upper echelon.
By the 1990s, as Japan's semiconductor industry overall declined, Sony sold off much of its SRAM capacity, clinging mainly to CCD sensors, which remained necessary for cameras.
Su Yuanshan also knew that Sony would continue to invest in imaging sensors, eventually making their CMOS sensors the best in the world. During the smartphone boom, Sony's sensor division would almost single-handedly bring them back into the semiconductor game.
Now, Akitani was saying Sony wanted back in.
"Why flash memory?" Su Yuanshan asked after a few seconds. "Why not CPUs or wafer fabrication? You know, we have both RISC and CISC processor architectures, and even our YX architecture is open-license."
"Because we don't have the foundation for processors. But we do have background in memory technologies," Akitani said, smiling. "Besides, Li Mingliu holds a very high status at Yuanxin. Any team led personally by him must be working on a project with great prospects."
Su Yuanshan opened his mouth again and closed it without speaking.
In the end, it looked like he had become the one being "felt out."
He didn't mind cooperating with Sony, but that didn't mean opening up every single project. Otherwise, why not just merge the two companies altogether?
When it came to flash memory, Su Yuanshan fully trusted that Li Mingliu's team could dominate the sector in the future.
Besides, in this field, Yuanxin was playing a "chicken-stealing" strategy: if you had the resources, you got on board early and developed something, because nobody could be sure whether flash memory would become revolutionary or not.
Internationally, this was common practice. When Intel and Toshiba pioneered NOR and NAND flash, tons of companies jumped in. Intel had already launched the concept of flash storage cards and set up SSD-focused departments.
Fujitsu, AMD, Samsung—all had labs working on it.
Still, most companies had relatively short-term thinking.
Even now, Intel, Toshiba, and Sandisk (founded by EEPROM inventor Eli Harari) mainly saw flash memory as something that might take over storage for laptops and tablets.
Using flash in mobile phones had been considered, but that would make phones prohibitively expensive—and luxury phones couldn't sustain an entire industry alone.
Meanwhile, mechanical hard drives were rapidly advancing, with capacities exceeding 1GB and climbing exponentially.
So apart from Intel, Sandisk, and Toshiba pushing hard, other companies were basically just "participating" for the sake of appearances.
Even Sandisk itself would have a hard time claiming real profits during these early years.
But Yuanxin was different.
Su Yuanshan knew from the start that flash memory would eventually dominate storage markets.
He also knew that solid-state drives wouldn't become mainstream until mechanical hard drives started bottlenecking computer performance, around 2007–2008.
Before that, flash memory would survive largely thanks to USB drives and MP3 players.
Thus, even though flash memory wasn't high on Yuanxin's official priority list, its importance was beyond dispute—otherwise, Su Yuanshan wouldn't have entrusted the division to someone as crucial as Li Mingliu.
Still, why did Su Yuanshan want to cooperate with Sony?
"Mr. Akitani," Su Yuanshan said after some quick mental gymnastics, "we do believe in flash memory's future." He paused meaningfully. "But cooperation must create synergy—it has to be a case where one plus one is greater than two."
He paused again. "I don't believe your memory tech can help with NAND flash. They're completely different technologies."
Akitani glared at him resentfully.
Su Yuanshan simply smiled back calmly.
Finally, Akitani said in frustration, "You can't just keep using our technology without giving back."
"Come on, Mr. Akitani," Su Yuanshan said with a shrug. "We always pursue cooperation based on technology and markets. For example, we've never had any ambition for your CCD sensor technology because we're not involved in that field at all."
"Jiayu?" Akitani blinked at the unfamiliar word.
"Jiayu—it means coveting," Su Yuanshan explained with a grin.
At that moment, Kutaragi, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke up.
"Su-san, what do you think about the future of CCD sensors? How long do you think it'll take for digital cameras to replace traditional film cameras?"
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Chapter 329 Giving Power
Su Yuanshan was stunned for a moment. He knew that Sony was currently investing heavily in CCD sensors, while also pushing hard into digital cameras and camcorders—the latter still used magnetic tape, but the former would inevitably rely on expensive flash memory cards. Perhaps this was why Sony was so eager to return to the "semiconductor industry"?
Su Yuanshan was not a photography enthusiast. Aside from taking experimental photos, he rarely took pictures, and when he did, they usually looked like horror movie stills. Even so, he was well aware that in the future, even though CCD sensors had undeniable advantages—particularly in color fidelity—they would ultimately be overtaken by CMOS sensors, which were deemed "low-end." The proliferation of smartphone cameras would play a major role in that shift.
To use a trendy analogy, CCDs were like vinyl records: beautiful but ultimately replaced by CDs—or in time, CDs themselves would be replaced by MP3s.
"I have no research background in photography, and honestly, not even much interest," Su Yuanshan said, pressing his lips together and answering seriously. "But based on my projection of semiconductor technology, I think digital cameras will become mainstream in about five years."
Ken Kutaragi smiled and nodded, continuing to probe: "I heard you mention digital cameras—should I assume that by then, flash memory will become the primary storage medium for them?"
Su Yuanshan froze.
This old fox was good at leading the conversation.
Reluctantly, Su Yuanshan nodded, not wanting to contradict himself. "Yes, although it will still be expensive. Based on our projections, there should be 64MB to 128MB flash memory cards available by then, which should barely meet the needs of digital cameras."
"That would exceed Moore's Law in terms of capacity growth," Kutaragi smiled. "So the key lies in your multi-level cell technology, right?"
"I'm not good at lying, so... yes," Su Yuanshan admitted quietly. "You two old foxes came here to probe Yuanxin's technological outlook, didn't you?"
Kutaragi and Akitani exchanged a smile.
"I'm not old," Akitani protested, chuckling.
Su Yuanshan rolled his eyes. "You're way older than me."
After the laughter subsided, Kutaragi returned to deep thought, looking intently at Su Yuanshan.
He knew that while his internal influence at Sony had grown thanks to the Yuanxin cooperation, there was always risk—what if following Yuanxin turned out to be a mistake?
Sony wasn't the scrappy little startup that had once gambled everything on transistor radios.
As the company grew, it became harder to steer. Reformists like Kutaragi and Akitani were naturally unpopular in an aging corporation.
If they were right, it would be fine.
But if they were wrong...
Kutaragi didn't dare think further.
Akitani, meanwhile, said nothing more.
Compared to Kutaragi's caution, he preferred to trust Su Yuanshan unconditionally.
Because in his view, a rational, down-to-earth genius was almost incapable of being wrong—especially when his predictions were based on technological feasibility, not just commercial speculation.
And Su Yuanshan himself was thinking too.
He was curious how far these two intended to tie their fates to Yuanxin.
And whether they truly understood the future potential of flash memory—the idea that "whoever controls flash memory controls the future."
Regardless, Su Yuanshan was impressed. Their carefully coordinated questioning showed they had done their homework and taken him seriously. Being valued by two of Sony's future successors did inflate his ego a little.
"It's like this, Su-san," Kutaragi said seriously, licking his lips. "I personally am willing to deepen cooperation with Yuanxin across multiple fields. This isn't an official commitment—just my personal stance and emotion. That emotion grew from my visits to your tech park."
Su Yuanshan immediately straightened up, placed his hands on his hips, and bowed slightly in thanks.
"Both Akitani and I believe that Yuanxin will become the dominant force in this land," Kutaragi said.
"You flatter me," Su Yuanshan replied humbly.
"But," Kutaragi continued, "Sony's internal processes are slow. Even now, though many people believe in Yuanxin's and China's rise, many are still cautious."
Su Yuanshan smiled and nodded.
But deep down, he knew—yeah right.
At this point in history, most ordinary Japanese people still viewed America as the "beacon" and China as backward.
Even Sony's main business revenue was still rooted in the West, especially under Kutaragi's PlayStation division.
Which made Kutaragi's willingness to bet on Yuanxin all the more precious.
"So," Kutaragi said, locking eyes with him, "Akitani and I hope Yuanxin can give us some concrete strength to persuade upper management and the board."
Su Yuanshan exhaled slowly, his expression turning serious. He understood immediately.
In the Confucian cultural sphere they both shared, Kutaragi trusted he would understand without needing explicit words.
In tech companies, strength meant one thing: technological demonstrations.
Kutaragi hoped that Yuanxin would not just be a partner sucking Sony's resources but would showcase enough technical strength to prove that investing in Yuanxin—and in China's future—was the right move.
After processing this, Su Yuanshan's brows slowly smoothed out.
"I promise," he said, "that once our NAND flash technology matures, we will offer unrestricted licensing. If you continue investing, we're willing to conduct joint R&D with you."
"And beyond that... we can collaborate in other fields too."
"Such as?"
"Such as the internet and gaming."
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Chapter 330 A Sense of Fear
Even though Su Yuanshan had never personally engaged in the internet industry in his past life, he still knew that when the future internet giants emerged, Japan would be notably absent—and that absence would further deepen Japan's decline. As for China, although it would rise domestically with a robust internal internet ecosystem, internationally it would still be relatively absent.
When Chinese IT companies attempted to break into the global market during the mobile internet era, they were ruthlessly blocked at every turn. Su Yuanshan had never thought deeply about why this was the case before. But reflecting on it now, he could only come up with an amateur conclusion: in the early internet days, due to submarine cable limitations and restricted bandwidth, most internet companies grew based on their native-language user base before expanding globally.
Within this context, China, propelled by the widespread adoption of smartphones, essentially leapfrogged from the traditional internet era straight into the mobile internet era. Thanks to its massive user base, China fostered several "local giant" internet companies that could be considered behemoths even by international standards, albeit mostly operating within a "local network" scope.
Meanwhile, in Japan, because of their smaller population base and particular living habits, their internet companies failed to scale up. Worse, they missed the opportunity to expand internationally.
And then there was the United States—the lighthouse nation. With its early lead in internet technology, powerful production capabilities, affluent population, creative culture, and widespread use of English, American internet companies were practically destined to dominate the internet era. Especially when it came to international social media—domination of social networks meant domination of discourse.
Su Yuanshan had lived through that era, an era where American internet companies violently exported their values through global social platforms. In the post-internet age, whoever controlled social media controlled global narratives.
Of course, Su Yuanshan wasn't so arrogant as to believe he could create a Chinese equivalent to the FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) giants, nor did he expect to overturn Western prejudices on his own. But if he could at least help establish a world-class internet company, it would be better than doing nothing at all.
"You know why we chose to partner with Sony two years ago?" Su Yuanshan asked with a grin, taking another sip of coffee as he watched Ken Kutaragi and Akitani Ichiro fall into stunned silence.
Akitani's eyes flickered, then he smiled and asked, "We'd love to hear your reasoning."
"Because I believe Sony is a great company," Su Yuanshan said simply.
Both men froze again. But quickly, they realized that Su Yuanshan was not lying. His tone and expression were completely sincere.
They both stood up slightly, nodding respectfully. Being called "great" by someone of Su Yuanshan's stature, even if it were just personal opinion, was a tremendous compliment.
"As Akitani-kun mentioned earlier, we too want to walk into the future alongside great companies," Su Yuanshan continued. "Whether it's extending existing technologies or taking risks into new territories. I know... Sony still hasn't fully defined its strategy for the internet age yet, right?"
Ken Kutaragi and Akitani exchanged a look and then nodded. "That's right, Su-san... You know we've always believed that design and manufacturing are the industries with the most beauty."
"I think so too," Su Yuanshan agreed warmly. But then he looked at them, his gaze carrying a trace of self-mockery and deep worry. "And it's precisely because I believe that, that I have a profound fear about the future."
Ken Kutaragi was slightly startled.
It was the first time he had heard Su Yuanshan admit to "fear"—and about the future, no less.
Akitani immediately stood up and bowed slightly. "Please elaborate, Su-san."
"If your understanding of the internet still stays at the level of accessing information through websites..." Su Yuanshan trailed off deliberately, not stating the conclusion. Instead, he shifted and said, "What I fear is—if we give up industries within our reach, then if we get eliminated, what will we do?"
"Internet, big data, deep learning, artificial intelligence, automated production, automated living..."
"These fields may sound distant, even overly sci-fi right now, but I can already smell the tsunami of technology rolling forward. It's evolving toward the next technological revolution—and it's heading toward these domains."
"Kutaragi-kun, Akitani-kun, we have no excuse to be absent from the future."
By the time Su Yuanshan, Kutaragi, and Akitani left the meeting room, it was already 10:30 p.m.
Outside in the café area, Zhou Xiaohui was sitting across from a man, chatting idly while facing the door. When she spotted Su Yuanshan emerge, she smiled politely at her companion and quickly stood up to greet Su Yuanshan.
"Sorry to keep Miss Zhou waiting," Ken Kutaragi said warmly, bowing slightly as he and Akitani took their leave.
They clearly needed to go back and carefully digest Su Yuanshan's proposals for the next stage of cooperation.
Watching the two depart, Su Yuanshan turned back—only to notice the man Zhou Xiaohui had been speaking with was now standing up and walking toward him.
The man froze for a split second upon recognizing Su Yuanshan, then broke into a smile.
"Who is that?" Su Yuanshan asked quietly, preparing to extend a handshake but glancing questioningly at Zhou Xiaohui.
He didn't believe for a second that Zhou Xiaohui would casually chat with a random man at this place and time.
"He wouldn't let me tell you," Zhou Xiaohui said, covering her mouth as she chuckled.
Su Yuanshan muttered under his breath, "What the hell..."
"Good evening, President Shan," the man said cheerfully as he approached.
He looked to be in his early thirties, a bit thin but sharp-eyed and full of good-natured energy.
As they shook hands, Su Yuanshan realized he looked a bit familiar—but not exactly someone he knew. More like he resembled someone Su Yuanshan was familiar with.
"Hello," Su Yuanshan said, scratching his head. The handshake lingered longer than expected.
"Let me introduce myself: my name is Yang Guangxin," the man said warmly, gripping Su Yuanshan's hand. "I've seen you before—in photos my younger sister sent me."
"Your sister... Oh—Yang Dage, nice to meet you!"
Su Yuanshan instantly tightened his grip, excitement and happiness welling up in his heart.
Of course!
Yang Guangxin was Yang Yiwen's older brother—Yang Yiwen being the fiancée of Su Yuanshan's senior brother. No wonder he looked familiar!
"No wonder Xiaohui-jie listened to you," Su Yuanshan said with a chuckle, sitting down again in the booth. "Yang Dage, if I remember right, Yiwen-jie mentioned you were working as a diplomat in the UK?"
"Yeah, I was. But now I'm back. Mainly to switch departments..." Yang Guangxin hesitated, then glanced around cautiously.
"There might be some changes coming in the Planning Commission," he added in a lowered voice.
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