Chapter 396 Learning from the Beacon
"By the way, Old Li," Su Yuanshan said, feeling it necessary to remind Li Mingliu, "even though today's meeting was only for executives of Yuanxin subsidiaries, the meeting notes will still be shared with Derun and Zhongxin. We talked a good game today, but that doesn't mean we can ignore things. Derun has a lot of employees from the island—you need to keep an eye on that side."
"Mm, I understand," Li Mingliu nodded. "Actually, last month, Dr. Zhang Rujin and I discussed setting up a hometown association—to organize occasional care activities and such."
Su Yuanshan thought for a moment and nodded. "Good idea. Hometown culture is strong on the island, especially Fujianese traditions. They care about this sort of thing."
A hometown association could be a double-edged sword. At its best, it created solidarity and mutual support among expatriates. At its worst, it could become cliquish and abusive.
But in Derun's case, it was mostly engineers, highly technical people. As long as it stayed within the scope of the fab and tech industry, the risks were low—and the benefits clear: stabilizing the islander workforce's emotions.
Especially now, when rumors of "war" were spreading everywhere.
Seat Xiaoding nudged Su Yuanshan. "How long do you think this standoff will last?"
"Depends on how the Beacon reacts," Su Yuanshan said, licking his lips and sighing. "Ultimately, it still comes down to problems on the Beacon's side... Forget it, let's not talk about that."
"But it'll definitely affect us," Tian Yaoming sighed. "Getting foreign tech will be even harder now."
"Yeah. Fortunately, we locked down a lot of projects last year, and our relationship with Japan is decent. Semiconductors aren't just an American thing. Ten years ago, not just semiconductors—the entire manufacturing sector was dominated by Japan. Believe it or not, the U.S. even boycotted Japanese goods back then."
"Now, our best strategy is to keep a low profile and quietly make money. In the chip sector, we must maintain an advantage in design and architecture. Especially NAND flash memory. Old Li, you've seen the developments around USB—you know once that hits, floppy disks are dead. And later, once flash drives become big enough and cheap enough, they'll wipe out CDs too."
"Yeah! We'll complete the chip tape-out by the end of the year," Li Mingliu said seriously. "And Jiang Tao's team—his control chip started taping out last month, using 0.8-micron process."
"Once Microsoft's new Windows OS launches," Li Mingliu continued, "we'll be ready."
Su Yuanshan nodded with a smile. "Good.
But remember—U disks will be revolutionary. They won't just be a new product; they'll open an entirely new market.
Progress isn't the most important thing—stability and usability are."
"Xiaoshan, that's favoritism!" Tian Yaoming joked, patting Li Mingliu's shoulder. "You're always breathing down our necks. But when it's Old Li, you tell him to take it easy..."
Li Mingliu chuckled. "Brother Tian, we're not like your mobile chips.
You guys have people crying for product launches.
We're giving the market a surprise.
It's different."
Everyone laughed.
And Li Mingliu wasn't wrong.
Two years ago, Jiang Tao—the head of Yuantron Microelectronics, a wholly-owned Zhongxin subsidiary—had started working closely with Li Mingliu's team, at Su Yuanshan's instruction,
to enter the U disk controller chip and NAND flash memory sectors.
Now, Jiang Tao's control chip was already taping out at 0.8-micron, a more mature node.
So naturally, he moved ahead first.
Moreover, Jiang Tao was a crafty one.
Not long after Su Yuanshan laid out the vision,
Jiang Tao had organized his team to directly file for design patents on USB flash drives—what would later be known as "U disks."
At the time, this had infuriated Li Mingliu,
since he was still in the design phase.
When Su Yuanshan heard about it later, he had just laughed and told Li Mingliu to treat it as a "gift" to their "nephew company."
Li Mingliu had swallowed it—
not realizing that "gift" would be worth at least hundreds of millions.
Once Jiang Tao's controller chip was successfully taped out,
Yuanzhong would quickly launch U disks using NOR flash.
The goal, as Su Yuanshan said, was simple:
"Get the standard set first."
Later, they would switch to NAND flash,
naturally manufactured by Yuanxin itself.
Of course, U disks would only be one application for flash memory.
Sony, one of Yuanxin's key strategic partners, had their eyes firmly set on NAND flash's potential—
especially for digital cameras.
Digital cameras, personal computers, printers—
these products together would form a complete home photo system.
That was why, when Zhou Xiaohui and Unisoc reached out to Sony about entering the printer, copier, and scanner markets,
both sides hit it off immediately,
quickly forming a joint team.
Zhou Xiaohui was the go-between—
and this was her first time leading a project negotiation from start to finish.
Naturally, she took it very seriously.
She hadn't even come back for the internal meetings.
—Not that she needed to.
As Su Yuanshan's closest aide,
her loyalty was unquestionable.
Returning to the present,
Su Yuanshan smiled.
"The main thing is to expand the market.
Even though we work closely with Japanese companies,
we can't copy Japan's model—
where they insist on making every little thing themselves,
terrified of letting someone else make money."
"We're different.
We work across many sectors, many industries.
But in each, we only focus on our strengths—the core areas.
We leave the rest of the profits to our partners."
"Like vertical procurement?"
"Yes, vertical procurement is one approach," Su Yuanshan said with a smile.
"But more accurately, in the tech field,
we should aim to become China's version of the Beacon."
All four others were stunned for a moment—then they quickly understood what Su Yuanshan meant.
The first to fully grasp it was Seat Xiaoding—
after all, he had lived in the U.S. for quite some time.
"You mean,
we only touch the high-end, leading technologies.
We dominate markets through technological monopolies and leadership," Seat Xiaoding said.
Su Yuanshan smiled and nodded.
"Leave the dirty, heavy, low-margin work to other companies."
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Chapter 397 Yuanxin Eats the Meat, the Little Brothers Drink the Soup
Driven by capital and the desire to earn "clean money," "easy money," or even "money while lying down," the Beacon Nation had, over the past ten-plus years, begun gradually offshoring low-end and manufacturing industries—relying on the technological reserves it had built up during two world wars. For example, the rise of Japan in the automotive and semiconductor industries was a direct result of the Americans' "support."
As for what happened to the Rust Belt workers in the U.S.? The elites of Wall Street couldn't care less. Making eight million dollars a minute doesn't leave time to worry about factory workers.
Of course, this "support" for Japan eventually led to the U.S. bleeding away some of its own high-end technologies. With the booming growth of the semiconductor industry, the Americans finally woke up and began guarding their chip sector closely—while also desperately trying to claw back what had been lost.
But as mentioned earlier, once you get used to making easy money, going back to hard work is difficult. That's why, in the previous life, America saw its manufacturing hollowed out. In the end, nearly everything in the world was "made in China."
So when Su Yuanshan talked about "Yuanxin learning from the Beacon," he meant exactly what Seat Xiaoding had guessed: they wanted to earn clean money, easy money, and eventually make money while lying down—leading the technological trends of China and the world as a whole.
But Yuanxin wasn't a country or a region. It would never experience industrial hollowing. Instead, it would spawn countless industry chain partners.
In the end, Yuanxin would eat the meat, and a whole group of little brothers would drink the soup.
...
Once everyone understood Su Yuanshan's point, they all nodded in agreement.
"If Yuanxin can maintain its edge in tech and innovation, do we even need the business department anymore?" Tian Yaoming glanced across the lake and joked.
Li Mingliu replied, "Still need them—at least for finance and logistics."
"I think we could even get rid of those two. Finance can be automated, and logistics handled by robots. By the way, Seat, didn't someone in your lab work on robotics? Is it any good?"
"You mean Li Kaiyuan?"
"Isn't he the one called Ao Bai?" Tian Yaoming asked.
Seat Xiaoding chuckled. "Ao Bai is Zhu Yonggui... Li Kaiyuan's nickname is Zhe Bie."
"Your nicknames are something else."
"Zhe Bie's robot... well, it can walk, sort of," Seat said, smiling. "But Ao Bai is actually pretty impressive. He's got serious skill in encrypted data transmission. After developing a VPN protocol last year, he's now working with Xinghai on an SSL encryption protocol."
"And SSL is about to be officially recognized and recommended by the W3C. Soon, all secure online communications globally will use it."
Tian Yaoming let out a sigh, "No wonder he's at the top of P14..."
Su Yuanshan chuckled.
Ao Bai, the bearded genius, was the very definition of a pure tech guy. Just like Tian Yaoming had said, Su Yuanshan had placed him at the top of P14 this year, making him effectively one of the top ten talents at Yuanxin. And when it came to data encryption and security, there was no one at Yuanxin who could match him.
But truth be told, only Yuanxin could afford to support someone like that—and only Yuanxin would.
Because the tech Ao Bai worked on seemed utterly useless in terms of profit.
Judged by profitability, Ao Bai hadn't made Yuanxin a single cent in over two years. On the contrary, because his skills were so advanced, his P-level had continually increased, and his salary had risen steadily. He was the textbook case of "high-paid but useless."
But Su Yuanshan knew that all seemingly useless things were only useless for now.
The emergence of SSL would become the cornerstone of future online shopping and digital payments. That's why, from the start, he had recommended that SSL be open-sourced, and also suggested that the W3C establish a public, nonprofit open-source organization. Yuanxin would support it with long-term funding.
The W3C had gladly agreed and publicly praised Yuanxin as a company with noble spirit.
—This was the value of "idle" people like Ao Bai.
Industry recognition and corporate credibility might be overlooked in the short term, but in critical moments, they couldn't be bought with millions.
The last time a company paid to buy back credibility, it was Intel. And it cost them "only" 500 million USD.
...
The five of them chatted idly until dusk. During that time, many employees on night shifts joined the conversation, including people from the optics lab.
Right now, Zheng Zhichuan's lithography machine project was in the critical assembly phase. Because the domestic light source technology was still lagging behind, the UV light source for the lithography system was sourced from a U.S. company that specialized in laser sources—Cymer.
To mitigate risks and obstacles, Professor Zhao Kaidong—who had traveled all the way from the Changchun Institute of Optics—had "taken leave without pay" and joined Yuanxin along with a group of researchers, instead of letting Zheng Zhichuan resign from the Chenguang Institute under pressure.
Zhao was now working side-by-side with Lin Benjian, focusing fully on the next-generation light source: the 248nm KrF excimer laser, also known as DUV.
Of course, Yuanxin's roadmap extended beyond that. While fully committing to KrF development, they were steadily advancing the theoretical and experimental work toward the 193nm ArF excimer laser.
With results imminent, Zheng Zhichuan had insisted that Su Yuanshan—who hadn't been back in half a year—come visit the optics lab again.
Naturally, Su Yuanshan was happy to oblige.
Knowing all too well the pain of not having a domestic lithography machine, Su Yuanshan had always been a tireless supporter of the project. If they needed money, he gave it. If they needed contacts, he found them. If they needed materials or components, he'd find them too. Procurement priority was always set to the highest.
And during his time in the Science Park, although it was an exaggeration to say he visited the optics lab every day, it wasn't far from the truth—he dropped in regularly.
Because the lithography project was a collaborative effort, Su Yuanshan couldn't pressure them directly. So instead, he showed his "concern" constantly—dropping by, checking in, and letting the team feel the urgency.
...
The next day, Su Yuanshan walked with Li Mingliu and the others to the main gate before turning back. On the way back, he "borrowed" a bicycle from an employee and headed straight for the optics lab.
When he arrived, Zheng Zhichuan's assistant told him the team was currently inside the cleanroom assembling the machine and asked if he wanted to join them.
So Su Yuanshan changed into a cleanroom suit, looking like an astronaut, and entered the assembly site.
Inside, more than fifty people were gathered around a massive machine about two meters wide and 1.5 meters tall. They were pointing, discussing, recording data on laptops.
When Zheng Zhichuan saw Su Yuanshan, he waved him over.
"Come on, you all-knowing oracle."
Su Yuanshan: "..."
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Chapter 398: Not an Obligation
"When did I get that nickname? How come I didn't know about it… Uncle Zheng, hello everyone."
Su Yuanshan wore a cheerful smile as he waved and walked over. Just then, he saw Qu Hui standing up. He was slightly taken aback before grinning. "Sister Qu Hui, you're here too?"
"Why couldn't I be here?" Qu Hui laughed heartily and shook her head—but it didn't have much of an effect, since she was wearing a dustproof suit and her hair was wrapped up under a dust cap.
"Heh, of course you can be here. So, what's going on?" Su Yuanshan didn't dare to argue with Qu Hui, and now wasn't the time for banter anyway. "Is it not working? Or what?"
"It works, the components all match the design tolerances, just that the error margin is too high," said the technician from the knitting factory with a chuckle. "Right now, we can only say it moves..."
Su Yuanshan felt relieved as soon as he heard that.
If it moves, then more than half the battle is already won—the rest is just troubleshooting. He knew how this worked: if all the component data checks out, then disassemble and reassemble it; if that doesn't work, replace some parts and try again.
That's how original designs come to life—from nothing to something.
Zheng Zhenchuan handed him a laptop with data connected: "Want to take a look?"
"Oh no… I don't know the first thing about this. Don't embarrass me," Su Yuanshan quickly declined. And truth be told, he really didn't have a knack for mechanical stuff—no one's perfect, and he was happy to admit that.
Zheng Zhenchuan was obviously joking. He knew Su Yuanshan was smart, but when it comes to photolithography machines—ultra-precise mechanical equipment—intelligence alone isn't enough. Experience is just as critical.
And that's why Zheng wasn't anxious despite the difficulties—they were developing a precision instrument completely independently, from design to construction. Any problem they encountered now would be valuable experience for the future.
After spending about half an hour in the cleanroom, Zheng Zhenchuan invited Su Yuanshan to his office.
After all, this wasn't just a site tour.
…
"If we're right about the main problem areas, we'll have everything ironed out in a month or two," Zheng Zhenchuan said as he lit a cigarette, grinning at Su Yuanshan. "I've got a good feeling—this one won't end up like the one from three years ago."
Su Yuanshan: "…Don't get too happy too soon. I had high hopes for that machine three years ago too. In the end, it got brought back and used in the lab as a training tool… and it wasn't even qualified for that."
"Heh, it's all part of growing up," Zheng said a bit sheepishly. After all, Su Yuanshan had spent a fortune on that machine, which had been hailed as the "Top Ten Technological Inventions in China" that year.
But looking back now… especially after seeing the most advanced UV photolithography machine imported from Nikon by Deyuan…
It didn't even compare!
"And this photolithography machine—at least in theory—should support down to a 0.5-micron process."
"That's different, Uncle Zheng. A new photolithography machine needs a lot of supporting processes and workflows to truly become productive," Su Yuanshan replied with a smile.
Of course, he understood the significance of this machine. But more importantly, he understood Zheng Zhenchuan's mindset.
Zheng had finally managed to create a photolithography machine only one to one-and-a-half generations behind foreign models. He was overjoyed and eager to find a good place for it—to gain the most benefits, be it in prestige or otherwise.
And that's perfectly understandable.
But Su Yuanshan wasn't about to agree that easily—Zheng still represented the Chengguang Institute, after all.
Their relationship was one of collaboration.
"..." Zheng was briefly speechless before chuckling and cursing playfully: "So what you're saying is, the results we got from pouring over 200 million yuan into this thing don't have a market?"
"You know we spent over 200 million yuan, huh?" Su Yuanshan laughed. "Uncle Zheng, I don't want a theoretical 0.5 microns—I want a photolithography machine that can easily achieve the most advanced process nodes."
Zheng responded frankly: "Then wait for the next one."
"No problem. I can wait."
"What about this one?"
"This one? Let it pass the performance review first. After that, Deyuan will send a team of engineers over," Su Yuanshan said seriously. "Uncle Zheng, you know where I stand. I'm willing to invest without caring about costs to support domestic photolithography tech—but only if the technology holds up."
The implication was clear: in the end, it's up to the veteran semiconductor engineers at Deyuan—people like Zhang Rujin—to decide, not the Academy of Sciences experts.
After all, Yuanxin is a company. Supporting domestic products is great, but only when it doesn't hinder their own development.
Zheng smiled and nodded: "I get it. But according to our original plan, this model should already be on the market… Are you really not going to back it?"
—That was Zheng's true goal, or rather, the goal of Chengguang Institute.
After all the money Yuanxin had poured in, even if Chengguang thought it was deserved, Zheng—the guy who actually spent it—couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
So he was desperate to push for the photolithography machine to go commercial.
And right now, the best way to ensure its success would be with Yuanxin's support—if Yuanxin endorsed it, everything else would follow.
Su Yuanshan gave a faint smile: "I want it. But Deyuan doesn't—for now."
"Why not?"
"Because Deyuan still wants to maintain a good relationship with Nikon," Su Yuanshan said frankly, hands spread. "It took us a lot of effort to build that relationship. You can't expect us to just walk away from it… right?"
As for Nikon—Yuanxin had started reaching out to them long ago, during the EDA era. But back then, Nikon didn't even give them a second glance. Their businesses didn't overlap much anyway, so it wasn't until Zhang Rujin came on board that they managed to rebuild the relationship.
Now that Nikon and Canon were reigning supreme in the photolithography world, there was no need for Su Yuanshan to risk getting laughed at just to support a domestic machine that was still a generation behind—choosing the inferior option over the superior one would invite ridicule.
Still, this photolithography machine carried Su Yuanshan's expectations and efforts. In fact, he had made plans during its early R&D stages.
—Yuanxin would eventually establish a specialized NAND wafer fab, likely in the Special Economic Zone, to support the boom in USB drives, MP3 players, SSDs, smartphone storage, and many other future businesses.
However, with the state implementing Project 909 last year and ramping up support for state-owned wafer fabs like Huajing…
Su Yuanshan figured—
The duty of supporting photolithography tech in the commercial sector should fall to the state.
No matter how capable or profitable Yuanxin was, it couldn't compare to the power of the nation.
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Chapter 399 Teammates Are No Good
"Next year or the year after, we'll be building a new wafer fab in the Special Economic Zone,"
Su Yuanshan said as he sipped his tea, smiling leisurely at Zheng Zhichuan.
"By then, whether it's next-gen lithography or the current generation, whether it's 0.5 microns or 0.8 microns—the technology will have matured. At that point, Yuanxin will start procurement step by step."
"But before that... to be frank, domestic semiconductor component localization still has a long way to go, and production capacity remains scarce.
If this lithography machine passes Derun's acceptance tests, I'm confident companies will be willing to purchase it," Su Yuanshan said, pausing briefly before adding, "And when the time comes, I'll help promote it."
Zheng Zhichuan immediately said, "You said it—you have to help."
"I said it, and I mean it," Su Yuanshan replied with a chuckle.
Zheng Zhichuan smiled too but shook his head.
"Xiaoshan, if even Yuanxin doesn't procure it seriously... it'll be hard to set an example."
"If Yuanxin only makes a token purchase of one unit, that's even worse—it would set a negative example," Su Yuanshan shook his head too.
"Don't worry, Uncle Zheng. When the time comes, I'll have Derun's process team help you out.
As long as the acceptance tests pass and yield rates improve, I'm sure it'll sell."
"Derun's target is to make CPUs, to produce ultra-large-scale integrated circuits.
Meanwhile, in the rest of the country, even basic diodes and transistors still rely on imports.
Remember when a bus card cost 180 yuan to make? That was just a few years ago."
Hearing this, Zheng Zhichuan finally felt a flash of realization.
Spending so much time at Yuanxin, seeing world-leading tech every day and working with young talents leading the charge,
he had unconsciously forgotten one basic fact—
Yuanxin was a unicorn.
Compared to Yuanxin, the rest of China's fabs—whether it was Huajing, Shougang-NEC, Belling in Shanghai, or countless others—
they couldn't even be mentioned in the same breath in terms of technology, equipment, or funding.
Most were still using second- or third-hand machines at 1 micron or even 2 microns and above.
And the true customer base for this domestically produced lithography machine wasn't Yuanxin at all.
It was those other fabs.
"A single flower doesn't make a spring.
The rest of the country's fabs need to upgrade together.
That's the only way to truly localize our semiconductor components," Su Yuanshan said.
"You're right. I was too narrow-minded—only thinking about Yuanxin,"
Zheng Zhichuan admitted cheerfully, smiling broadly.
"Haha, once the project really lands,
I'll come back and host a celebration banquet," Su Yuanshan said with a laugh.
At that moment, the office door opened, and in walked Qu Hui,
dressed in casual clothes, her neat short hair still looking crisp and clean.
"If it weren't for the meeting, you probably wouldn't have come back, would you?"
Qu Hui walked over to Su Yuanshan, curled her finger, and made as if to knock on his forehead.
"Sis, don't slander me," Su Yuanshan said, quickly ducking to protect his head.
Qu Hui took advantage and sat down beside him, smiling.
"Looks like you've put on a little weight.
Eating well in the Special Economic Zone?"
As one of the first batch of postgraduate students from the University of Electronic Science and Technology to support Yuanxin,
Qu Hui was one of the few female employees who genuinely treated Su Yuanshan like a younger brother—
though technically speaking, she no longer worked for Yuanxin.
She had watched Su Yuanshan grow from a barely pubescent teenager into the twenty-something young man he was today.
Su Yuanshan, aware of all this, had always respected Qu Hui.
He smiled and said,
"It's mainly that there's nowhere to walk after meals,
and no lab to worry about either."
"Good, putting on a little weight is fine.
But take care—don't let yourself go at such a young age."
"..."
"Haha, onto serious business,"
Qu Hui glanced at the grinning Zheng Zhichuan,
realizing this wasn't the time for casual chit-chat.
She immediately turned serious.
"You know I've been stationed at the Capital Precision Instrument Factory, right?"
"Yeah, I know. What's up?"
After designing mechanical CAD,
Qu Hui had shifted focus and pursued a Ph.D. in mechatronics—while still working.
She wasn't just after the degree; she had put in real work.
Last year, when the Precision Instrument Research Center and Professor Xiao from Tsinghua's Mechatronics Department came to Yuanxin to establish the precision instrument factory,
Qu Hui joined as a CAD and mechanical expert,
helping to produce and develop the wafer stage system.
And the core R&D focus was the dual wafer stage system proposed by the Precision Instrument Research Center.
This had always been one of Su Yuanshan's key concerns.
However, Su Yuanshan wasn't very optimistic.
He knew from past experience that dual wafer stage technology wasn't something you could crack with a good idea alone.
It required deep technical know-how and massive practical experience.
Sure enough, Qu Hui had hit a wall.
"Last year, they tricked me into going over, saying they had a breakthrough,"
Qu Hui said, using the word "tricked," making both Su Yuanshan and Zheng Zhichuan laugh awkwardly.
"But now it's clear—
the original design had major problems.
I've spent almost a year there, and basically, it's been nothing but failures."
"And?" Su Yuanshan asked, still relaxed, smiling.
"And now, I'm planning to pull together a new team and start fresh—
I'm done playing with them," Qu Hui said,
her eyes bright and determined.
Su Yuanshan tilted his head, wondering if he had misheard.
His jaw almost dropped.
"Wait, wait, Sister Qu Hui—you can't just ditch them like that!"
"Why not?" she asked, tossing her short hair.
"You can't just... ditch your team when things go wrong!"
"Why not? If the teammates suck, then regroup and start over," Qu Hui said firmly—
she even used gaming terminology, knowing full well how familiar Su Yuanshan was with it.
"This... this isn't a video game, big sis!" Su Yuanshan said, half-laughing, half-crying.
"But last year, when I talked to them, they seemed quite capable.
The director of the Precision Instrument Center is Li Keqing, right?"
"Yeah, Old Li."
"So what happened?
Did they mistreat you?"
Qu Hui bit her lip, didn't answer immediately, blinked, and then lowered her gaze.
Seeing her reaction, Su Yuanshan immediately understood.
So... Big Sister Qu Hui had indeed been wronged over there.
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Chapter 400 Investigate First
"Did they really mistreat you?" Su Yuanshan nudged Qu Hui lightly with his elbow, but his face showed little concern—more a hint of teasing.
After all, Qu Hui wasn't just anyone.
Economically, with Zhiyuan EDA preparing to go public, she and the other founders had seen their net worth soar, making her one of the top female tycoons in the country.
In terms of ability, she was a PhD and a senior executive at a listed company.
In terms of connections... that went without saying. Having come from Yuanxin, she commanded respect wherever she went.
Frankly speaking, who would dare mistreat her?
"It's not exactly mistreatment," Qu Hui admitted, unable to fake the image of a delicate lady. She stared at Su Yuanshan for a moment, then sighed and shook her head.
"It's just... frustrating. Even in front of Director Zheng, I'd say it—some places are still way too bureaucratic."
"...Wasn't it supposed to be a newly established enterprise?" Su Yuanshan grew curious and his expression turned serious.
"Tell me exactly what's going on."
Yuanxin had invested money into the Capital Precision Instrument Factory.
Even if that money was partly expected to "make a splash," Su Yuanshan still needed to monitor R&D progress and project direction.
His general experience with state-owned enterprises was that,
apart from a few ancient SOEs that hadn't been restructured,
most restructured or newly established ones were easy to work with—free of bureaucratic nonsense.
After all, this was an era where "socialist market economy" slogans were shouted from every rooftop.
Who still had time for old-school bureaucracy?
"They designed the blueprints, simulated everything through CAD and YXLAB under various parameters, and then started implementation," Qu Hui began.
Su Yuanshan nodded. That was why he had approved the project initially. "And then?"
"Then it just kept failing—something wrong here, something wrong there.
After two months, I suspected there was a design flaw in the stepper motor's coordinated transmission system.
Basically, the structure of the traditional system was flawed.
I submitted proposed modifications."
"At first, they took it seriously.
But later they said, 'Let's keep testing'—
I mean, test your damn uncle!" Qu Hui said, fuming.
"These kinds of failures are just burning money for nothing."
"And since they couldn't make the dual wafer stage work, they decided to start working on laser annealing equipment instead."
Su Yuanshan looked over at Zheng Zhichuan and chuckled, nodding.
"Well, at least laser annealing is still essential for wafer fabs.
I was worried they were about to start making digital scales or something."
Qu Hui: "…Please be serious."
Su Yuanshan made a small joke but quickly sobered up.
He lowered his eyes and thought for a few seconds.
"Since that's the case, let's first investigate carefully.
Right, Uncle Zheng?"
Zheng Zhichuan, even though he was old friends with the Precision Instrument Institute people, could only smile and nod.
"Yes, we have to figure out where the real problem lies.
Personally, I'm still optimistic about the dual wafer stage concept."
"Exactly. Dual wafer stage technology can massively boost lithography machine efficiency.
If we crack it—and pair it with the most advanced process nodes—
then we really could punch Nikon and kick Canon to the curb.
Lithography is the ultimate money-printing machine," Su Yuanshan said.
He first comforted Qu Hui,
then received a slightly jetlagged visitor—Professor Zhao Kaidong.
Zhao's team had switched to California time to align better with Lin Benjian's team overseas.
Thanks to Yuanxin's famously fast broadband, their online collaboration went smoothly.
After Zhao Kaidong's team abandoned the original KBBF crystal approach and pivoted to rare gas lasers (KrF),
their project had sped up significantly.
Out of professional pride—and with a strong desire to "redeem" themselves—
Zhao's team had caught up.
Now, neither side led the other;
they simply focused on different fields, working toward the same goal.
...
When Su Yuanshan exited the optics lab, the sky had turned gloomy, threatening heavy rain.
He decided not to ride his bike.
Instead, he strolled back toward his office, chatting with Qu Hui along the way.
"What's your plan?" Qu Hui asked, hands in her pockets, strolling lazily beside him.
"Sister Qu Hui, first of all...
as long as the Precision Instrument Factory is genuinely working on dual wafer stage technology,
Yuanxin cannot interfere too aggressively,"
Su Yuanshan said seriously once they left Zheng Zhichuan's office.
"This isn't about being bureaucratic or saving face.
It's basic respect.
If there's a problem, we solve it step by step.
We can't just show up and overturn their entire design—
that would be humiliating."
Qu Hui bit her lip and glared at him.
Su Yuanshan found it all rather amusing.
Qu Hui's attitude had been shaped by years of being spoiled.
During the EDA era and later when she shifted to CAD,
she had always worked within her domain,
where she commanded absolute authority.
But now, with greater status and responsibility,
working on a joint project,
she suddenly found herself constrained—and it frustrated her.
"So you're saying we just let it be?"
"Of course not. We intervene—but not too harshly.
First... Sister Qu Hui,
you need to judge:
Are they sincerely trying to develop technology,
or are they just looking for an easy way to siphon off funds?
This is crucial."
Qu Hui bit her lip again, fell silent for a few seconds, and finally said,
"I won't slander anyone.
Even though there's a heavy bureaucratic vibe,
I have to admit—they are genuinely committed to R&D."
Su Yuanshan smiled.
"Good.
If they truly want to develop technology,
then the current conflict is just a matter of technical disagreements.
In mechanical design, we've always been weak domestically.
The dual wafer stage idea is frankly ambitious.
This kind of technology usually only emerges inside companies already manufacturing lithography machines."
"The Precision Instrument Research Institute only got exposure to lithography when various organizations were trying to domestically develop a lithography machine.
Their willingness to continue focusing on fab equipment is commendable."
"So don't rush. Take it slow."
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