Chapter 371 A Heart of Caution
"I'll say it again—you can send people to supervise—Derun Semiconductor's technology and products will not be used for domestic military purposes, nor will we cooperate with the military,"
Su Yuanshan continued staring at Vincente without backing down. "I'm really baffled—is respecting contracts against your laws or something? Why not just agree?"
Vincente was left speechless by Su Yuanshan's words, managing only a bitter smile and a shake of his head. "The bottom line is that we'll give you the 0.5-micron technology. But the technology we have already developed—we absolutely cannot share."
"Su, this really isn't like the lithium battery deal—you know how fast you've moved in lithium technology. Otherwise, Sony wouldn't be working with you either."
A flash of disappointment passed through Su Yuanshan's eyes. "Really, no sharing?"
"Really can't be done."
"Sigh!"
Su Yuanshan let out a deep sigh, a flicker of amusement flashing through his eyes—one too subtle for anyone else to notice.
It was hard to say whether that sigh was for Yuanxin, or for Texas Instruments.
After each side conceded a little, the negotiations progressed smoothly.
After all, their bottom lines matched—one side needed 0.5 microns, the other was only willing to offer 0.5 microns.
In the end, Su Yuanshan agreed to invest an additional $150 million for subsequent fab R&D and signed a $1 billion chip foundry order over the next five years,
in exchange for the 0.5-micron process technology.
Additionally, Texas Instruments would send a working group to audit Derun Semiconductor's operations.
Su Yuanshan welcomed that oversight without hesitation.
...
As soon as Vincente and the others boarded their plane, Su Yuanshan pulled out his phone and called Qin Weimin.
"Senior brother, you can start the procedures now."
"You got it done?"
"Yeah. The tech support team will come over in a week. You'll probably need to tweak your design to match the finalized process," Su Yuanshan said, getting into a car, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
Qin Weimin's hearty laughter rang out over the line. "Got it! We'll prepare to head over. When are you coming back? Want us to bring anything?"
"No need. I'll be waiting here to welcome you guys. Plus, I still have some things to handle at the Internet Center. After I finish up, I'll head back."
After hanging up, Su Yuanshan exhaled deeply.
Qin Weimin and Tian Yaoming's first-generation integrated baseband chip had been designed for the 0.5-micron process from Texas Instruments. The official updates said it was still in design phase...
But in reality, the design was already complete—they were just waiting for the opportunity to burn in the yield rates with this chip.
Once the integrated baseband chip successfully taped out, Yuanxin would have the capability to manufacture truly miniaturized mobile phones.
At a time when everyone else was still worrying about how to make industrial designs sleeker and lighter, this would be a revolutionary black technology.
Returning to the Shanghai Industrial Park, Su Yuanshan made do by working from there temporarily.
Two days later, Qin Weimin and Tian Yaoming arrived together.
Even Zhang Rujin, who wasn't fond of formalities, went out of his way to arrange a proper welcome.
After all, these two men—one founder of China's YX architecture, the other founder of the Chinese mobile phone industry—were towering figures.
Their simultaneous arrival reflected how much Yuanxin valued the integrated baseband chip project.
The day after settling the teams, Su Yuanshan awaited Zhang Xiaolong in a temporary office.
...
"Brother Xiaolong, sit down,"
Su Yuanshan said warmly as Zhou Xiaohui led Zhang Xiaolong into the room.
At the time, Su Yuanshan had been chatting with Tian Yaoming.
Upon entering and spotting Tian Yaoming, Zhang Xiaolong paused briefly, then rubbed his hands and smiled, "Dr. Tian? What brings you here?"
"On a business trip, just waiting for my team, grabbing some free tea meanwhile," Tian Yaoming said, laughing as he slicked back his increasingly receding hairline. "You two talk. Just pretend I'm not here."
Zhang Xiaolong chuckled and shook his head. "How could we pretend you're not here?"
Having worked at Yuanxin's headquarters before, he knew that in terms of seniority, Tian Yaoming had been the third most important figure after Seat Xiaoding and Professor Su Xinghe.
Moreover, Tian's team had consumed vast resources for two years but eventually delivered big: they broke the foreign monopoly on mobile communications technology, making Yuanxin the only Chinese company to crack that field.
Now, Yuanxin's base station and mobile businesses were pillars for the future.
Legend had it that this bigshot could casually waltz into the CEO's office and snatch tea at will...
Who could really treat him as invisible?
"Brother Tian, maybe you should go chat with Old Li?" Su Yuanshan teased with a smile, noticing Zhang Xiaolong's nervousness. "You're thinking about adding multimedia playback to mobile phones, right? NAND flash is a great thing..."
"Alright then," Tian Yaoming grinned, rising with no complaints. He even thoughtfully closed the office door behind him.
Watching Tian leave, Su Yuanshan shook his head with a smile, but quickly turned serious.
"Brother Xiaolong, tell me: how do you view the future of the Internet?"
Zhang Xiaolong clenched his fist lightly.
Half a month earlier, he had already known—after Ding Lei and Pony set out on their own—the Internet Center would be his to manage.
Compared to them, he was naturally lazier and disliked rigid structures, so he had no great ambition to strike out on his own.
Being away from headquarters meant fewer messy meetings—just one trip a month, unlike the weekly grind at HQ.
And while the Internet Center's status wasn't currently very high, it was a department personally overseen by Su Yuanshan—plus, the Internet was a booming industry.
How could there not be opportunity?
Thus, Zhang Xiaolong firmly believed that the Internet Research Center was where he should be.
And since he wanted the job, he had been thinking hard about how to answer if Su Yuanshan asked him about the future of the Internet.
Su Yuanshan was a boss famous for predicting the future.
So Zhang Xiaolong knew he shouldn't try to "predict" things in front of him; he had to say something practical.
"I think the Internet will experience a prolonged boom, driven by capital's instincts and momentum.
But in the long run, I believe there will inevitably be a cooling-off period," Zhang Xiaolong said.
Su Yuanshan raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh? Go on."
Zhang Xiaolong wiped the sweat from his palms and continued with a smile,
"The profit models will be limited by the size of the Internet user base. And the growth of the user base, in my opinion, won't be able to keep up with capital's greed."
"I believe we must view the Internet with optimism for the future, but we must always carry a heart of caution."
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Chapter 372 Zhang Xiaolong's Ambition
As Zhang Xiaolong slowly explained his understanding of the internet, he carefully observed Su Yuanshan's reactions.
To be honest, he wasn't the original creator of these ideas. In many ways, he was more of a "comprehender"—he simply agreed with them.
His views on the future of the internet reflected the collective understanding of the current "Three Giants" of the internet sector.
Especially Ding Lei.
Perhaps because of his background in electronics and his longer time working at Yuanxin, Ding Lei embodied the "Yuanxin spirit" even more deeply.
The "Yuanxin spirit" was something very abstract—no one at Yuanxin openly talked about it, but in departments farther from the core at the Science Park, it was immediately recognizable.
Simply put, it was a spirit deeply inspired by Su Yuanshan: optimistic, visionary, filled with infinite expectations and passion for the future, and an intense devotion to technology.
Zhang Xiaolong didn't deny that at first, he had looked down a bit on Ding Lei and Pony. After all, he had a proper master's degree and was two years older than them... and yet, just because he had joined the company later, he had to defer to them. It stung a little.
However, as he worked with them over time, he realized Su Yuanshan's arrangement was brilliant.
Pony was steadfast in technology, unusually mature for his age. Ding Lei was brimming with passion, capable of coordinating all relationships, with a vision that transcended his immediate field—and most importantly, he could accept advice humbly.
As he made more overseas trips, Ding Lei's vision and ambition grew broader, enough to support even greater aspirations.
...
"Mm, that matches my view exactly," Su Yuanshan said, smiling warmly at Zhang Xiaolong, without hiding his surprise and admiration. "The investment world may seem to be hyping up the internet, but in reality, the capitalists are very clear-eyed. After the Cold War ended, the global economy revived fully—money sitting idle would be a disgrace to the capitalist spirit, so it must find somewhere to go."
"The ones who truly don't see the full picture are those within the industry. Whether in China or abroad, the first generation of internet pioneers were mostly tech-minded dreamers, passionately focused on technology development, and thus vulnerable."
Su Yuanshan chuckled. "But it's precisely because of these pioneers that the future will exist at all."
Zhang Xiaolong grinned sheepishly and said, "These insights aren't purely mine—they come from private discussions at the Internet Center. I think... Ding Lei and the others chose to leave partly because of this understanding too."
Su Yuanshan smiled. "Whatever their reasons, as long as they leave carrying Yuanxin's ideals, it's a good thing."
Then he added, "Since you've reached a consensus, what suggestions do you have for the future development of the Internet Center?"
Zhang Xiaolong immediately stopped smiling, adopting a serious expression.
This was effectively Su Yuanshan's final question before officially handing him the reins.
After thinking carefully, Zhang Xiaolong answered earnestly:
"I've thought hard about it these days. The Internet Center is a subsidiary of Yuanxin. All budgets and finances are controlled by headquarters.
Given that we are backed by such a giant, we don't need to worry about risk mitigation."
Su Yuanshan nodded slightly, signaling him to continue.
"If we don't need to worry about risk, then typically we would focus on profitability.
But Yuanxin is different—many of its departments aren't profitable, yet they are all in core sectors."
"Therefore, the Internet Center should pursue three paths."
Zhang Xiaolong looked at Su Yuanshan carefully and said, "First, like our current corporate email business, we should take a commercial route targeting enterprises: including but not limited to developing corporate internet products, such as server technology, website development, hosting, website tools, and technical support."
"Second, we should engage in infrastructure construction: providing ISP (Internet Service Provider) services—although this depends heavily on local regulations."
"Third..."
Zhang Xiaolong pressed his lips together and said seriously,
"This one is based on the results achieved by NEWBEE Lab so far. We hope that in the future, the Internet Center will lead the transition from the PC internet to the mobile internet."
"When that future arrives—whether it's sci-fi virtual helmets, brain-machine interfaces, electronic wristwatches, or the most likely near-future development of turning mobile phones into tablet computers—the internet technologies supporting these devices, including all existing PC internet software and functions, should be led by us at the Internet Center."
Zhang Xiaolong finished speaking and nervously waited for Su Yuanshan's response.
After being around Ding Lei the "loudmouth" for so long, even Zhang Xiaolong had developed a habit of fantasizing about the future.
But unlike Ding Lei's flamboyant style, Zhang preferred grounded, technical predictions.
He knew Su Yuanshan appreciated that.
Still, he also knew his three goals were incredibly ambitious.
The first was reasonable, the second meant competing with telecom giants, and the third involved pioneering an entirely new field.
As Su Yuanshan stared intently at him, Zhang Xiaolong grew anxious.
—Had he overreached?
However... the next moment, Su Yuanshan burst out laughing.
"Good!"
Su Yuanshan stood up, hands on his hips, pacing back and forth before stopping to look at Zhang Xiaolong again.
"Alright, I'll call Brother Tian right now. I'll give you the operating system team. Can you lead them?"
"Ah?" Zhang Xiaolong's jaw dropped, and he reflexively stood up.
"I'll transfer all Yuanxin teams related to future mobile internet technologies—including the OS and internet core tech teams—to the Internet Research Center," Su Yuanshan said, gazing seriously at Zhang Xiaolong. "Can you handle them?"
Zhang Xiaolong clenched his fists tightly, his breathing quickening.
But after a moment, he calmed himself.
"Director Shan, the operating system team... I'm afraid I can't manage them properly," Zhang Xiaolong said honestly. "Their seniority is too high. I won't be able to control them."
"Hehe, no worries. They're a research team—you'll just guide business priorities," Su Yuanshan said, realizing that Zhang's worry was justified given his limited seniority. He thought for a moment and added, "Besides, don't worry. Starting next year, I'll base myself primarily in the Special Economic Zone. My office will be inside the Internet Center."
"Alright!" Zhang Xiaolong raised his fist high. "I guarantee I'll get it done!"
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Chapter 373 ARM Surrenders
Next year would be the year the international internet bubble began to inflate—historically, it was the year Netscape went public.
Now, however, Xinghai, which was many times larger than Netscape, would also go public at the start of 1995.
Back then, Netscape's browser investment multiplied a hundredfold; today, it's merely a small tool under Xinghai's software division.
Su Yuanshan didn't know exactly how the future internet bubble would be affected without Netscape leading the way, but just by intuition, he knew—with Yuanxin and Xinghai steering the ship—the future internet bubble might swell even bigger.
Therefore, it was time to elevate the Internet Research Center's status.
Moreover, Zhang Xiaolong's performance was truly pleasing.
Besides, next year Su Yuanshan really would spend a long time based in the Special Economic Zone.
On one hand, it was relatively close to Shanghai, making it convenient for him to monitor the wafer fabrication plant's progress at a distance acceptable to Zhang Rujin and Texas Instruments.
On the other hand, the newly integrated Yuanxin Industrial Park needed to get on the right track, and Su Yuanshan needed to imprint Yuanxin's culture on it while deterring certain restless elements.
Meanwhile, in the provincial capital, Seat Xiaoding's presence would be sufficient.
Chen Jing would focus mainly on the capital, strengthening ties with major universities and ensuring the design center stayed aligned.
She also had to oversee the multi-billion investment in the LCD panel business.
As for the functional departments in the Science Park, they would gradually be handed over to Duan Yongping.
—This plan was the result of long discussions among Chen Jing, Su Yuanshan, and Seat Xiaoding, aimed at dealing with the complexities brought on by Yuanxin's rapid expansion.
...
An hour later, Su Yuanshan walked Zhang Xiaolong out of the office.
Upon returning, Qin Weimin greeted him with a laugh. "You really exploited Old Tian today. He came all this way just to get stripped down by you."
Earlier, Tian Yaoming had bumped into Qin Weimin while wandering around, and after some casual chatting, both of them had ended up at Su Yuanshan's office.
"Senior brother, don't stir things up," Su Yuanshan said, smiling. "Brother Tian is magnanimous enough to let a ship sail in his belly."
"Enough with the flattery," Tian Yaoming said, waving his hand. "Mainly, I need to keep my team focused, and since the production base is nearby, having the OS guys there too is just logical."
"Yes, yes, but mostly it's because Brother Tian is so selfless," Su Yuanshan continued teasing.
The three joked without a hint of unhappiness.
In other departments, there might still be "turf wars," but within the teams personally built by Su Yuanshan at the Science Park, any reassignment decisions he made were accepted without objection.
The reason was simple: whether it was Qin Weimin, Tian Yaoming, or Seat Xiaoding, they had all witnessed Su Yuanshan's brilliance firsthand and knew his decisions were always for Yuanxin's overall benefit.
While they were leaders of their respective fields, they were even more so the co-founders of Yuanxin.
Compared to clinging to "authority," it was more important to ensure the transferred teams had room for growth.
Besides, Tian Yaoming himself had always been generous.
Back during the Jiangdu Tower days, he had willingly recommended Li Yinan for promotion—a move that spoke volumes.
Now, Li Yinan had become the de facto number two in the communications tech department, thanks in no small part to Tian Yaoming's backing.
"By the way, I just got some news," Qin Weimin said after the laughter died down, sipping his tea and smiling mischievously. "You know ARM, right?"
Su Yuanshan raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that obvious? What about them?"
"Well, they launched a new reduced instruction set CPU in July—ARM7."
"Yeah," Su Yuanshan nodded. ARM had unveiled ARM7 at the Taipei Computer Show that July, but the launch had been a flop—interest was dismal because back in April, Yuanxin had already released the higher-frequency, higher-efficiency YX02 architecture.
By July, YX02 had secured licensing orders across Internet devices, networking, modem devices, and mobile phones.
Moreover, ARM had bumped into YX02's patent wall.
Yu Yuru had promptly sent them a lawyer's letter—civil first, military later.
After that, Su Yuanshan hadn't paid much attention.
Qin Weimin chuckled. "Yesterday, they held a press conference announcing that the ARM architecture would be fully open-sourced."
"Open-sourced? Holy crap... That's shameless..."
Su Yuanshan was genuinely shocked.
He had expected ARM to either request a licensing deal or initiate a lawsuit—after all, China hadn't yet joined the WTO, and lawsuits were a mess back then.
But he hadn't anticipated ARM surrendering completely by open-sourcing their architecture!
At this, Tian Yaoming laughed nonchalantly. "You guys forced them into it. I've seen ARM's instruction set manuals—their design philosophy is quite similar to YX's. You just happened to move first."
Qin Weimin gave Su Yuanshan a meaningful look and nodded. "Exactly. We just got there first. I was still worrying about how to maintain our lead, but who would've thought victory would come so quickly. Hehe."
Among Yuanxin's senior ranks, whether from wounded pride or superstition, there was an unwritten rule: they never discussed Su Yuanshan's abilities openly.
Superstition dictated it might attract "heaven's jealousy."
But not discussing it didn't mean they weren't aware.
From Qin Weimin's standpoint, if not for those "discussions" with Su Yuanshan back then, it would have taken him another three years to design the YX architecture.
Su Yuanshan, meanwhile, hadn't noticed the subtle looks.
He simply felt a deep sense of wonder...
ARM had surrendered just like that?
But then he quickly realized something wasn't right.
"No, it's not over yet," Su Yuanshan said, his face turning serious.
"Senior brother, don't celebrate too soon. ARM's technical roots—Apple, Acorn, VLSI Technology—none of them are easy opponents. Even with open-sourcing, if we don't achieve significant architectural and technical superiority, open-source architectures can still compete fiercely with commercial ones."
Clenching his fist, Su Yuanshan frowned. "Plus, ARM7 is a 32-bit processor. Performance-wise, it's behind us. But commercially, it meets the needs of most current applications."
"What do you mean?" Tian Yaoming asked.
"I mean, in areas that don't demand high computational efficiency, ARM7 will remain perfectly adequate for a long time," Su Yuanshan said grimly.
Tian Yaoming froze. "Damn it, that's sneaky of them."
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Chapter 374 President Qiao's Return
Su Yuanshan paced back and forth in the office, his brow deeply furrowed.
On the other side, Qin Weimin also quickly realized that, based on ARM7's efficiency, it could indeed meet the needs of many orders that YX02 architecture had secured.
And those orders wouldn't require upgrades for a long time.
"Damn it, this is a headache," Su Yuanshan muttered, stopping and lightly pounding his fist into his palm. "Our supporting systems and applications still aren't keeping up. If we're not careful, we could be dragged down."
He took a deep breath and bit his lip, sinking into thought.
There was no doubt that ARM had no real future—Su Yuanshan, after all, had dealt with ARM architecture for many years in his previous life.
If he couldn't crush it this time around, he might as well call it a wasted life.
YX architecture and ARM architecture followed exactly the same path, with similar underlying ideas and business models.
Given that YX had a technical edge, if ARM insisted on sticking close, it could only be considered foolish.
But ARM admitting defeat so early, and in such a decisive way, was something Su Yuanshan hadn't expected.
In his previous life, there had been the open-source RISC-V instruction set—but that only happened in the far-off year of 2010.
By then, not only ARM but also old players like MIPS had already built massive and stable ecosystems.
Not to mention that at that time, the iPhone 4 was sweeping the world, and Apple's A4 processor was based on ARM-licensed architecture.
And even in that context, RISC-V still managed to carve out a bloody path.
—That was the power of open-source. (Though not only that.)
"It's a headache," Su Yuanshan muttered again. "Why are they lying flat so quickly?"
Qin Weimin: "..."
"Senior brother, looks like we'll have to adjust our operating strategy," Su Yuanshan said after taking a deep breath, his voice steady. "We must not allow ARM to grow."
"Right," Qin Weimin nodded. He now understood the seriousness of the situation—not just from a technical perspective, but from a business one too.
YX architecture might have an advantage now, but commercialization was still in its infancy—and already there was a major disruptor.
"What should we do? We're not going to open-source too, are we?" Tian Yaoming asked seriously.
"Hold on. First, we need to clarify their licensing model," Su Yuanshan said, sitting at his desk while dialing. "If it's BSD licensing, that means they've given up competing with us commercially and will focus on ecosystem competition instead."
BSD licensing was the most commercial-friendly open-source license.
"No need to check, it's BSD," Qin Weimin said after glancing at a message on his phone. "So what do we do?"
Su Yuanshan put down the phone, pursed his lips, and closed his eyes.
After a few seconds, he reopened them, speaking softly: "If that's the case, then we must consider several issues."
"First of all, capital doesn't do charity unless it's absolutely desperate."
He thought of Netscape being crushed by Microsoft's Internet Explorer, eventually leading to Netscape open-sourcing its browser.
"If ARM was desperate enough to open-source, then they'll take the path that best preserves their technology and bloodline.
And among the founding companies of ARM, the only one capable of inheriting and expanding it is Apple."
Su Yuanshan stared into the void, his mind racing through the chain reactions caused by Xinghai's alliance with the x86 camp.
He realized something—
A few days ago, Xinghai had launched its Thunder series processors, hitting Intel hard.
Intel had yet to recover, silent even as forums and news groups roared about the Pentium division bug.
More importantly, Xinghai's launch had delivered a killing blow to the already struggling PowerPC camp.
Perhaps... that man would return to Apple.
"If Mr. Jobs returns to lead Apple, I believe he would be bold enough to make such a move," Su Yuanshan said, returning his gaze to the present.
"Old Joe is a smart man. He knows exactly where the future lies.
I suspect he'll pick up the ARM architecture and use Apple to simultaneously leverage open-source to disgust us while pushing his Apple OS ecosystem."
"And then what?" Qin Weimin immediately asked.
"Nothing," Su Yuanshan said calmly, clenching his fist slightly. "When the soldiers come, we block them.
We'll focus on commercializing our products, solidify our technological advantages, and then modify our licensing strategy."
"What licensing strategy?"
"Free licensing. No licensing fees. We'll take revenue cuts instead and provide technical support," Su Yuanshan said, standing up and exhaling deeply.
"Move fast, senior brother. Whoever builds the first monopoly-level application and product wins—and the integrated baseband chip we're working on is exactly that kind of product!"
...
Thanks to ARM's unexpected move, the previously relaxed Qin Weimin and his team suddenly felt immense pressure.
Even though the Texas Instruments support team had not yet arrived, Qin and Tian Yaoming immediately set their teams into motion.
Then Intel, perhaps feeling that the ARM open-source news wasn't enough drama for the chip industry, decided to add to the chaos.
Over a weekend, Andy Grove published a brief statement in The New York Times.
The headline was just one word.
"Replace!"
The fewer the words, the bigger the event.
And the firmer the stance.
That single word meant Intel would spend more than $400 million to recall and replace the first-generation Pentium CPUs.
And... Wall Street went wild.
Intel's stock, which had been nose-diving, suddenly rebounded sharply—pulled back by "moved" customers and investors alike.
It even rose slightly above where it had been before Xinghai's product launch.
...
"This is a bit crazy..."
Zhou Xiaohui said, looking at the report with disbelief.
"What's so crazy about it?" Su Yuanshan remained calm.
He had mentally prepared for this.
Otherwise, he might have shorted Intel earlier.
Andy Grove's decision to replace the CPUs wasn't just due to Intel's recent profits—it was also a matter of personal character.
The old man still had some backbone.
Still, no one had expected that Intel, facing Xinghai's superior Thunder processors, would choose to take such a financially harmful step—
And that it would trigger such a euphoric response from investors.
It could only be said that the people of the lighthouse country were a little too naive.
"The stock is soaring again..." Zhou Xiaohui sighed. "Even Xinghai's IPO isn't as favorably positioned as before."
"Stay calm,"
Su Yuanshan said leisurely, eyes scanning a fresh news update.
Steve Jobs returns to Apple.
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Chapter 375 Preventing Inbreeding
"If you divide it by business sectors, Xinghai's IPO base mainly comes from three areas. One is traditional manufacturing industries, like mobile phones and handset production companies. Another is the IT industry, like internet technologies and business software. The last one is chip design, including GPUs and CPUs," Su Yuanshan explained while clicking open the news about Steve Jobs returning to Apple, speaking to Zhou Xiaohui. "Xinghai and Intel stand on opposite ends of the capital balance scale. Intel's stock rises, and Xinghai's naturally falls."
"I get that... What I mean is, why would stockholders react like they've been injected with adrenaline just because Intel admitted a mistake?"
Su Yuanshan turned his eyes from the monitor to look at Zhou Xiaohui, noticing she genuinely looked confused.
"Sister Xiaohui, is it really that hard to understand?" Su Yuanshan asked seriously.
Zhou Xiaohui blinked, realizing that Su Yuanshan considered the reaction to this "apology" phenomenon quite important. She thought carefully for a few seconds before answering seriously:
"Admitting mistakes gains favor with stockholders, but a recall doesn't just mean acknowledging a design flaw—it also means additional costs of hundreds of millions of dollars. Right after being knocked off the performance throne by Xinghai, this move shouldn't be the optimal solution."
Su Yuanshan neither confirmed nor denied it and asked instead, "Then what would you say is the optimal solution?"
Zhou Xiaohui immediately responded,
"Admit that a mistake occurred in the design and announce which areas and scenarios would be affected. Eliminate user doubts. Let users understand that the probability of being impacted by the flaw is extremely low.
Also, promise that if users feel psychologically uncomfortable—even if just emotionally—they can opt for a replacement.
Additionally, offer a trade-in policy: users who bought the first-generation Pentium processor and don't opt for a replacement could get a cash discount when upgrading to a new CPU in the future."
After saying it all in one breath, Zhou Xiaohui smiled a little shyly at Su Yuanshan.
"I thought about how to handle it from Intel's perspective right after the flaw was discovered..."
Su Yuanshan looked at her in mild astonishment. "Not bad, Sister Xiaohui, you're starting to sound like a real CEO."
Zhou Xiaohui: "..."
Su Yuanshan chuckled but then seriously reconsidered Zhou Xiaohui's suggestion and muttered,
"If you want to be both the good guy and still retain your reputation, your plan would indeed be feasible."
Zhou Xiaohui: "..."
"Hehe, mainly because you're also trying to guide users toward platform upgrades rather than full replacement. That's pretty smart," Su Yuanshan said.
"Yeah... but honestly, does the Intel flaw really matter that much?"
"Not at all... It has basically zero impact on normal use," Su Yuanshan said, curling his lip.
Zhou Xiaohui blinked again. "Then why did it cause such an uproar?"
"Because Intel didn't respond quickly enough. Users didn't feel respected. Plus, when you pay a high price for a CPU and then find out it's not perfect, who wouldn't be upset?
Add to that the internet's ability to amplify outrage, and it created a herd mentality," Su Yuanshan said, sighing.
"That's why crisis management must be fast and transparent.
Never treat your users like fools—unless you've already achieved god-level monopoly status."
"Of course, Yuanxin must never make that mistake," Su Yuanshan said, turning to Zhou Xiaohui with a serious look. "Yuanxin's culture must be passed down through generations."
Zhou Xiaohui smiled and nodded. "Right—stay passionate, don't do evil. It's written right there on the wall."
Su Yuanshan laughed, looking a little embarrassed.
Pursuing technological excellence and avoiding evil were principles he had set for himself and Yuanxin.
He even had his father write them out and framed them on the wall—not to remind himself, but as a statement of intent.
...
Finally, the long year of 1994 came to an end.
On the eve of New Year's Day, Su Yuanshan returned to the provincial capital to enjoy the holiday.
Though "enjoy" wasn't quite the right word—he was dragged by Ye Rudai to do some grunt work, helping her with a project review.
"You're really pushing it," Su Yuanshan complained, sitting in Seat Xiaoding's office, watching Seat and Ye Rudai whisper over a computer screen about page evaluation algorithms.
"Huh? Why?" Ye Rudai looked up at him curiously.
"I mean," Su Yuanshan shrugged, waving the report in his hand with a wry smile, "you guys are leaving no room for anyone else. Hyperlink analysis, page ranking... you're practically building the core technologies of search engines."
"Far from it," Seat Xiaoding said without even looking up. "The two techniques are fundamentally similar, just different algorithms... but we still haven't found the optimal solution."
She frowned and glanced at Ye Rudai, then at Su Yuanshan. "You guys decided already? You're heading to Penn next semester, right?"
"Why don't you apply for graduate studies there too?" Su Yuanshan asked Ye Rudai thoughtfully. "Their research in internet infrastructure is way ahead of ours. Spend three years there, and when you come back, you'll be a top-tier internet expert."
"I'll stay for just one year," Ye Rudai said, pursing her lips and shaking her head. "If I work hard, a year might be enough. Plus, for hyperlink analysis and page ranking algorithms, I can collect samples from Xinghai."
"Don't go to Xinghai," Su Yuanshan immediately objected.
Both Seat Xiaoding and Ye Rudai looked puzzled. "Why not?"
"Because Xinghai is already too big," Su Yuanshan said, looking at Ye Rudai seriously. "You know that many universities in the lighthouse country refuse to let their graduates stay on as faculty—to prevent academic inbreeding and the decline of academic standards."
"The same principle applies to companies. Back then, the practice of grooming successors internally was heavily criticized."
"If a search engine project can truly break new ground, you should absolutely build your own independent platform.
Even if you fail at entrepreneurship, it's still valuable experience," Su Yuanshan said with a grin.
Ye Rudai hesitated. "Setting up servers and deploying lots of crawlers would cost a lot."
"Money is not a problem. Just go talk to Sister Qin Si," Su Yuanshan said, shrugging and smiling.
"And one more thing... you can license your engine to other portal sites with embedded agreements."
Though Su Yuanshan said it casually, seeing Ye Rudai's focused gaze, he knew she had taken it to heart.
Truth be told, search engines would definitely become giant products in the future.
If Ye Rudai hadn't stumbled upon this opportunity, Su Yuanshan would have made absolutely sure to control it himself.
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