Chapter 441: The Baseband Chip
Su Yuanshan cleared his throat. "Just one addition. Lao Duan, please organize the latest version of our vertical procurement system proposal. I need it no later than the day after tomorrow."
The idea of "grasping both ends" applied here—both internal coordination and external cooperation had to be strong.
Reaching a chip design collaboration with Apple was only one of Su Yuanshan's goals. As Chen Jing had said, this merely marked Yuanxin's formal entry into the ranks of top Western IT firms. Up until now, Yuanxin's influence had mostly been limited to China and surrounding regions, and even then, it relied heavily on Sony's support.
As for Xinghai's cooperation… well, that didn't really count.
Su's other goal was to get Apple involved in Yuanxin's foundry system early.
He knew very well that Apple had extremely high standards when it came to quality and cost control. To meet those demands, a foundry had to be world-class in both capabilities and reliability. But that's precisely what Su wanted—having Apple as a client would force Yuanxin's foundry to grow stronger, faster.
And to convince Apple to outsource manufacturing to Yuanxin, Su knew he had to bring something substantial to the table.
Just touting high production efficiency wasn't going to impress someone like Jobs. The one thing that might was the vertically integrated procurement system that Jobs himself had championed years ago.
"Got it!" Duan Yongping nodded without hesitation, even though he didn't yet fully understand why Su wanted the report. "After more than half a year of trials, the vertical procurement system is very mature now. In terms of cost control, we've seen excellent results."
"Great." Su nodded, then smiled at everyone around the table. "Shall we continue?"
"We've already finished." Duan closed his notebook. "Wrapped it up right on time."
"Good. Lao Duan, swing by my office later—no, wait. Let's head to yours." Su stood, and once Chen Jing rose as well, the two of them exited the meeting room together.
…
In Duan Yongping's office.
All three of them sat in the reception area on the couch. Duan watched Su Yuanshan, listening intently as Su laid out his ideas.
After a few moments of thought, Duan's eyes narrowed slightly. He looked at Su and asked hesitantly, "President Su… are you planning to spin off the foundry?"
Su exchanged a glance with Chen Jing, and both of them chuckled.
Su secretly praised Duan's intuition and nodded with a smile. "Yes. If we want to become a world-class foundry, we must maintain a certain distance from Yuanxin. That's just basic commercial logic."
Duan wasn't surprised. Even though he was now focused mainly on the smartphone business, he had also taken on the title of Yuanxin's president—effectively the second-in-command. That meant he had to think about the bigger picture too.
Take the semiconductor industry, for instance: across the strait, UMC had already begun sweeping reforms, spinning off its chip design division entirely—not gradually like Yuanxin was doing, but all at once. They'd even transferred ownership to the department heads as a form of incentive, a bold and drastic move.
Now, despite TSMC and UMC having lost some talent to Deyuan, they were still developing rapidly, thanks to their deep bench of semiconductor talent and the ever-growing demand for chips.
Yuanxin's own foundry was similar to those fabs—except instead of just making chips, it could manufacture all types of electronics. That gave it a broader mission.
"Sometimes, we have to admit that breaking into certain industries in developed countries requires a 'ticket,'" Su said with a sigh. "So, even if we lose out a bit, we must be willing to collaborate—just to get that ticket."
"Makes sense," Duan said with a nod of agreement. "So… how confident are we about this cooperation with Apple?"
Su squinted slightly and turned his eyes toward the direction of Shanghai. He smiled faintly. "If my senior brother and the team can get the integrated baseband chip ready before Mr. Jobs arrives, then I'd say… one hundred percent."
Just as he finished speaking, his phone started vibrating violently.
It was a call from Qin Weimin.
…
"Let me give you some good news in advance—out of eighty wafers, even if only one is usable, we've got a chip that can go on board."
Qin's voice was a little hoarse on the phone, but he sounded energized. "We're packaging the working unit now and running the initial tests. The day after tomorrow, Tian and I will bring the final product back personally."
"Excellent!" Su was thrilled. After a pause, he asked, "Only one good chip out of eighty wafers? Is the yield really that bad?"
"Haha, not really… But this is an SoC chip, and we're using a brand-new process node. As you know, it's actually more complex than the Tenglong CPU."
"I know," Su said. He hesitated before asking, "The process lead is Liang Mengsong, right?"
"Yes. He's not only leading process development but also overseeing yield optimization."
"And what's his take on it?" Su asked, tension creeping into his voice.
He knew Liang Mengsong was a genius—possibly even a once-in-a-generation talent. But at this point in history, Liang hadn't yet built the reputation he'd later earn as a "process god." Su had no way of knowing just how capable he really was at this stage.
Still, even if bringing Liang on board didn't lead to immediate breakthroughs, at the very least it weakened TSMC's foundation by poaching one of its future stars.
Qin was silent for a few seconds. "Well, Dr. Liang is a very rigorous person. He rarely gives clear-cut answers in general situations."
"But based on his work ethic and his current attitude, I'd say he's confident."
"How confident?" Su asked.
"Probably 80 to 90 percent. Dr. Liang said that if a fab can't achieve a 95% yield, it's not a real fab—it's just for show."
Upon hearing that, Su felt all the tension in his chest lift.
Now that was the tone of a true expert.
Still, it was a bold statement—one that casually dismissed the efforts of many domestic competitors. Even Huajing, with its 0.8-micron process, had only recently reached about 90% yield.
"Excellent. If Dr. Liang is confident about raising the yield, then I won't worry about the fab side anymore," Su said, standing up and smiling into the phone. "Once I wrap things up here, I'll come over to Deyuan and take a look myself."
"Alright. I need some rest now," Qin said before hanging up.
Su took a long, deep breath and looked at Duan Yongping.
Duan mirrored him with a deep inhale of his own. He'd overheard the whole conversation and knew exactly what it meant: the baseband SoC chip that the mobile division had been desperately waiting for had just completed its tape-out—successfully.
"I'll call the design center immediately and have them contact Shanghai. We need a prototype unit ready as soon as possible!"
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1
Chapter 442: Observer from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation
Back at his apartment, Su Yuanshan stood under the showerhead, letting the stream of water cascade over him.
Through the curtain of water, he opened his eyes and looked at his fogged-up reflection. In his gaze, there was unmistakable worry.
The message from Qin Weimin had been excellent news, and Zhou Xiaohui and Gao Xiaodi's negotiation team had already scheduled their first round of talks with Intel. On the surface, everything seemed to be moving along smoothly.
But Su Yuanshan dared not let his guard down.
As Chen Jing had said in the earlier meeting, the very name of Yuanxin said it all—in Su's eyes, any other industry could be developed over time. But chips, especially those involving wafer fabrication, required seizing the right moment. Miss that window, and catching up would be as difficult as reaching the heavens.
Therefore, the most crucial business of Yuanxin was always going to be chips.
And the two major negotiations ahead—negotiations that could shape the entire future of Yuanxin—allowed no room for error.
After showering, Su changed clothes and headed to Chen Jing's room with his notebook in hand.
…
On September 26, Jobs and his Apple delegation transferred from Tokyo to the capital, then onward to the provincial capital. Their visit was extremely low-key. To avoid unnecessary complications, Yuanxin had given advance notice to the relevant departments. What Su Yuanshan hadn't expected, though, was that the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation had caught wind of the visit and sent an observer—who arrived before the Apple team itself.
This wasn't just a routine foreign investment or trade partnership anymore. It involved cutting-edge chip technology. After years under Western sanctions, the country finally had a technology platform that could hold its own internationally. Naturally, the state had an obligation to both monitor and assess Yuanxin's cooperation with Apple from the start.
Su personally received Jobs and his team at the airport, while Chen Jing hosted a simple welcome ceremony at Yuanxin's Science Park headquarters.
According to the agenda, the Apple group would stay at the Science Park's hotel, rest to adjust their time zones, visit Yuanxin's departments the next day, and then begin formal negotiations on the third day. The whole schedule would last five days—clearly showing that Jobs had come with a real intention to collaborate.
Not wanting to overshadow the event, Su entrusted Jobs to Chen Jing and Xi Xiaoding while he returned to the administrative building.
…
Yang Guangliang—brother of Yang Yiwen, a member of the newly formed Development and Reform Committee's Foreign Trade Task Force and deputy director of the Foreign Economic and Trade Commission—was currently sitting in Su Yuanshan's office, sipping tea with one leg crossed over the other.
"Why aren't you with Mr. Jobs?"
"It's better to divide responsibilities clearly. Besides, Brother Liang, you're an honored guest—how could I leave you alone?" Su smiled as he sat beside him.
"Tsk, don't flatter me. I'm only here as a note-taker this time." Yang turned to face Su. He knew Su wasn't entirely happy about his visit—after all, no business leader likes to see government oversight show up during a critical negotiation.
But Yang had no choice.
"Xiaoshan, you know that our foreign trade efforts have always focused on product import and export. When it comes to technology, it's always been about importing—not exporting. There's no precedent for exporting technology like this. So the Ministry has to cross the river by feeling the stones—we need to observe and learn from you at Yuanxin."
"You're not crossing the river by feeling the stones. You're crossing it by stepping on our heads," Su joked.
"Haha, well, that's only because you guys are so capable. But don't worry. No matter the department, no one intends to interfere in your international partnerships," Yang reassured him. "Everyone knows you won't get taken advantage of."
"Brother Liang, this time, you might be wrong... From a technical standpoint, we actually are at a disadvantage in this partnership with Apple."
Yang blinked, surprised.
Since joining the reform commission—and because of his sister Yang Yiwen—Yang had taken on responsibilities involving tech policy. He was familiar, at least to some extent, with chips and wafer fabs. He knew that Yuanxin's YX architecture was one of the most advanced globally, and it had already proven itself in Yuanxin phones and Sony's PlayStation.
So to hear Su say that they were technically disadvantaged was a shock. Did that mean Yuanxin had already surpassed Apple? Was he implying they were now number one?
"Here's the deal, Brother Liang," Su said after some thought, deciding it was best to clarify things to avoid future misunderstandings.
"From the perspective of a system architect, I can say with confidence: the YX architecture—whether in terms of concept or long-term vision—has already surpassed PowerPC and MIPS. The only one with a chance of catching up was ARM, but it's now been halted."
He paused, looking seriously at Yang. "These are all RISC architectures—not like the x86 complex instruction set used in desktop computers. Do you… understand what that means?"
"Well, I don't fully grasp the instruction set concepts, but I know they're two different systems," Yang replied with a smile. He wasn't offended by the question. "So would it be fair to say… that YX is the most powerful right now?"
"In the RISC world, yes." Su nodded. "RISC chips are used in phones, programmable machines, and specialized operating systems. Compared to desktops, they differ mainly in instruction set complexity and pipeline length. The tasks they handle are different, but otherwise, there's little distinction."
"Of course, this also ties into the software ecosystem. But to put it plainly," Su continued, "The x86 architecture from Intel, AMD, and Xinghai—when paired with Windows—is the computer we all use today. But YX is different. It's designed to appear in all kinds of hardware."
Yang furrowed his brow. "You mean, like microcontrollers?"
"Exactly! Think of the YX architecture as a super-powered microcontroller."
"Ah, now I get it."
Su grinned. "Good. If you understand that, then here's the core point—our YX architecture is the best in the world in its class. And yet, we can barely get it out of the country. Its only major users are Yuanxin and Xinghai."
Yang opened his mouth, wanting to point out that Xinghai was technically an international company…
But if Su was saying that, then clearly in his mind, Xinghai was still part of the family.
"So that's why you're partnering with Apple. To break through internationally."
"Yes. Even if we suffer some losses in the short term, it's worth it."
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1
Chapter 443: The Secret Weapon
Yang Guangliang looked at Su Yuanshan in silence for a few seconds, then slowly shook his head and chuckled.
"Xiaoshan, like I said earlier—our Ministry has always supported Yuanxin's decisions. You really don't need to worry about us hoarding privileges or blocking your technology exchanges."
"Plus, if we can export technology and products to seize global markets, we'll naturally eliminate potential competitors and establish patent and technical barriers. Since we're about to join the WTO, and the West made the rules, they'll have to follow them. They wouldn't dare break their own system."
As Yang spoke, Su couldn't help but sigh inwardly—Yang Guangliang was too smart. It was just a pity he ended up in politics. If he had pursued science, he might have been another great scientist.
"Exactly what we were thinking." Su laughed. "Monopoly is the natural pursuit of any enterprise. Even if Marx himself appeared right here, I'd still say it to his face."
"Hahahaha! You brat. What was your political science score in the college entrance exam?"
"Uh… I didn't take the exam…"
"Eh?" Yang was stunned for a second, then suddenly remembered—this guy had won first place in the national computer programming competition and had been specially admitted.
Not to mention, he was also the first domestic author to publish in Nature.
By that measure alone, Su Yuanshan could be called a scholar.
…
The next morning, Jobs toured the Science Park accompanied by Su Yuanshan, paying special visits to both the Pandora and NEWBEE labs. Throughout the visit, Su noticed that Jobs seemed genuinely surprised by Yuanxin's technological foresight and its unwavering investment in R&D.
Perhaps Jobs had never imagined that on the Chinese mainland, there could exist a company like Yuanxin—a veritable paradise for scientific researchers.
"Just beyond the artificial lake is our university partnership base and a number of confidential research collaborations," Su said as they exited the Pandora Lab. He noticed Jobs glancing toward the optical research building and smiled, "Let's take a walk along the lakeside path."
"Sounds good."
The two walked side by side, leaving their entourages behind, slowly making their way along the tranquil path around the lake.
The weather was perfect—cool and overcast. And even if the sun did break through, the well-grown trees on either side of the path cast wide, shady canopies that would shield them from any heat.
"Yuanxin is involved in so many sectors. How do you manage it all?" Jobs asked, hands behind his back, head turned toward Su.
Apple, of course, had many products, but they were all consumer-facing electronics—mostly focused on personal computing.
Yuanxin, however, was different. Beyond consumer electronics, it was involved in chips, LCD panels, lithium batteries, wafer fabrication plants, and even the internet…
If Yuanxin had been a Japanese company…
No, even Japanese companies couldn't achieve such a vast expansion in just four years. Take Sony, for example—a company involved in many sectors, but it had been around for over half a century.
To spread across so many industries and make real progress in all of them—it wasn't just about money. Even with unlimited capital, the leadership's strategic vision and execution capabilities would usually fall short under such aggressive expansion.
Jobs was genuinely curious how Su had pulled it off.
Su thought for a moment, then smiled. "If I gave you a random answer, it would only insult your intelligence. And that would be disrespectful."
Jobs smiled faintly, appreciating the honesty.
"There's a rumor going around Silicon Valley," Su continued, "that Yuanxin was secretly built by our entire country. That my father, my uncle, and even I are some kind of deep-state operatives."
Jobs immediately shook his head. "That's ridiculous."
"Exactly. It's absurd," Su said, laughing. "But in a way, there's a grain of truth to it. Because we started early, Yuanxin did manage to gather a huge concentration of domestic talent."
He turned and looked behind him, letting out a soft sigh. "In a country of 1.2 billion people, we gathered the very best graduates in one place. With that kind of talent, what can't be accomplished?"
His answer glossed over his own contributions and those of Yuanxin's leadership. But Jobs accepted it.
After all, Yuanxin was a tech-driven company. Even the brightest leadership couldn't achieve anything if the staff were weak or poorly trained. Without a strong team, no vision could become reality.
"By the way, where is Mr. Qin?" Jobs asked, suddenly recalling the technical lead.
If there was to be a serious partnership, Jobs needed to fully understand the origin and development of the YX architecture. He knew Qin Weimin was Su's senior and the creator and technical head behind the YX chip. Qin was even listed as the technical lead in the negotiation documents.
With formal talks starting soon, it was strange that the chief technologist was nowhere to be seen.
"My senior's flight lands tonight. He might be getting in late…" Su replied with a grin. "We didn't want to bother you today. You'll meet him formally tomorrow."
Jobs nodded, unfazed.
Su also smiled, turning his head slightly to exhale a breath of relief.
Qin Weimin understood how critical this collaboration was. Combined with his pure passion for technology, once he heard that the mobile division in the Special Economic Zone was working overtime to design the PCB for the demo unit, he and Tian Yaoming had flown straight there from Shanghai with the chip in hand instead of returning immediately.
Of course, as the technical lead, he absolutely had to be present for the first day of negotiations.
But before boarding his flight that evening, he needed to bring Yuanxin's greatest technological weapon to the table for this partnership:
A working prototype smartphone with an integrated baseband chip.
Due to time constraints, the phone wouldn't be perfect. But Apple was known for its industrial design. As soon as Jobs laid eyes on the PCB—with its minimal component layout—he'd immediately grasp the implications of integrating the application processor and baseband chip into one unit.
It would free up a massive amount of internal space—opening doors for slimmer designs and more battery capacity.
This was Qin Weimin's secret weapon.
Su Yuanshan didn't believe for a second that Jobs would remain indifferent after seeing how far Yuanxin had taken chip integration.
Now, Su had a new concern:
What if Jobs liked it too much?
What if he wanted to lock Yuanxin into an exclusive partnership—monopolizing the technology and keeping it from other markets?
After all, in his previous life, Apple's chips had all been self-developed and used exclusively within Apple products.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1
Chapter 444: The Core of Creativity
The next day, the first formal negotiation between the two sides began as scheduled.
The morning session was largely a mutual expression of intent and tone-setting, and so it was chaired by Chen Jing. Once the talks shifted to specific technical matters and detailed demands, Chen stepped back and handed over full control to Su Yuanshan and Qin Weimin.
After all, this was the first time Yuanxin would be exporting core technology, and Su Yuanshan needed to be present.
…
"As our chairwoman Ms. Chen Jing stated this morning, our expectations are quite simple. We hope to establish a deep partnership with your company and jointly form a development team based on the YX instruction set architecture."
Qin Weimin wasn't one for elaborate speeches, so this part naturally fell to Su Yuanshan. Gone was the agreeable, low-key demeanor he'd displayed while seated behind Chen Jing earlier; now, his gaze was sharp and focused as it swept across the Apple representatives before resting squarely on Jobs' impassive face.
"Therefore, regarding your side's licensing request…" Su smiled faintly. "Frankly speaking, we could agree to it. But Mr. Jobs… if that's all it was, would you really have needed to come in person?"
Jobs showed no reaction, tapping his pen lightly on the table. A moment later, David Ruins, one of the long-time engineers involved in the PowerPC architecture, let out a light cough and smiled. "Mr. Su, but your team's proposal is a bit much—you're asking for our entire team to relocate to your side. At that point, we might as well jointly establish a new chip company."
Su and Qin exchanged glances—and both laughed.
"That works too," Su said casually.
Ruins: "…"
Jobs' eyes flickered, a trace of amusement briefly touching his face before vanishing. "Mr. Su, we reviewed the technology materials you provided this morning. There's no denying that baseband integration is the direction in which smartphones are headed."
Su dialed back his grin and nodded slightly, gesturing for Jobs to continue.
"And it's not just you who sees this. From what I understand, many architectures—including PowerPC, Texas Instruments' DSPs, and IBM's offerings—are all moving in that direction."
Su mentally muttered, "Yeah, right."
The truth was, ARM had been the first to explore integrated baseband chips. But now the ARM team had disbanded, and with Yuanxin having started much earlier, who could really keep up?
"There's also the issue that no unified standard has yet been established for communication basebands. If we co-develop, our teams may run into incompatibilities due to differing standards."
This was one point Jobs had nailed.
The 1G and 2G mobile communication networks had been like a free-for-all—especially in the U.S., where companies were forced to buy multiple baseband chips just to get phones working. Even Xinghai had to purchase chips from several providers just to get a stable product.
If Apple and Yuanxin were to develop a platform together, differences in baseband standards would almost certainly create friction.
"So our conclusion is that separate development with shared technology is the most reasonable and mutually beneficial model for now."
With that, Jobs fell silent.
To be fair, before Su Yuanshan had approached him, Jobs had already assessed the YX architecture carefully. His conclusion? It was outstanding—and in philosophy, remarkably similar to ARM. Which is exactly why he'd intervened and shut down Apple's ARM team.
Because otherwise, all they'd be doing was trailing Yuanxin's path. Infringement risks aside, catching up would be near impossible in the short term.
From Apple's perspective, the best outcome was to get broad authorization for the YX architecture and use it to build their own products—realizing their dreams on their own terms.
But now it seemed Su Yuanshan wasn't content with just licensing—he wanted deeper integration and even appeared to be angling to absorb Apple's development team. That was something Jobs couldn't easily accept.
Besides, why was Su so confident that once both teams started at the same point on the YX platform, Apple wouldn't eventually surpass Yuanxin in innovation?
"Mr. Jobs, I acknowledge your perspective," Qin Weimin said with a friendly smile, picking up the conversation.
His English had been poor in the beginning, but under Su's strict orders, he and Tian Yaoming had undergone intensive training—right down to hiring tutors from the local language institute. (One of whom, as it happened, later became his girlfriend—but that was another story.)
After a pause, Qin continued, "Because our development started in China—where mobile networks arrived relatively late—we adopted the GSM protocol from the outset. Even Yuanxin initially chose GSM."
"Isn't that more because your government can intervene in markets by administrative order?" Ruins asked with a grin. It was unclear whether he meant anything by it or was just making small talk.
Qin glanced at him and kept smiling. "Even so, it doesn't change the fact that we adopted GSM, does it?"
"No, it doesn't."
"As a result, our baseband chips are fully integrated with GSM protocol," Qin said, then gave Su a look and reached under the table for a box.
It was a simple box—just an ordinary plastic case like the kind used for storing pens.
When he brought it out, everyone from the Apple side—including Jobs—turned to look, curious what was inside.
"Mr. Jobs," Qin said, "this is the first handheld mobile device built using our integrated baseband chip. Frankly, everything that came before it? Just bricks."
Jobs' face twitched slightly, and he gave Su a startled glance before reaching for the box.
He took a breath and opened it.
Inside lay a phone no larger than half a pack of cigarettes, and no thicker than a cigarette itself. To be precise, it was about the size of four cigarettes placed side by side.
When Jobs picked it up, his pupils contracted slightly.
Then Su spoke calmly.
"There's a small screwdriver in the box, Mr. Jobs. Feel free to open it up. Once the baseband chip and some other components are integrated, you'll see how compact the motherboard can become."
Jobs took a deep breath, retrieved the screwdriver, and—without a hint of pretense—began disassembling the device right there in front of everyone.
Curiosity is the core of creativity. It had always been his way.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1
Chapter 445: A Fortune Too Good to Be True
With a few quick turns of the screwdriver, Jobs disassembled the phone, revealing its inner components to everyone in the room.
Su Yuanshan hadn't exaggerated—once the baseband chip was integrated, the phone's motherboard could indeed be made incredibly compact and highly customizable. Aside from the display driver chip board, the motherboard of this prototype device was barely larger than a matchbox.
…
The phone's components were neatly placed back into the box and passed around among Apple's engineers, while Jobs furrowed his brow and turned to Su Yuanshan.
"Su, I request we pause the negotiation temporarily. We need to discuss this internally in more detail."
"Of course." Su nodded without hesitation.
Given the disruptive nature of what had just been revealed, calling for a temporary suspension of talks was the most logical choice. It seemed Jobs was far more than just a product manager after all…
As both parties agreed to a break, the atmosphere in the room noticeably relaxed. Several Apple employees got up and began examining the phone closely, excitedly discussing what they had just seen.
Jobs glanced subtly at his team. Most of them were chip architects and system designers. To encounter a potentially revolutionary product like this—and not react—would've been unnatural.
"Su, could we speak privately?" Jobs asked as Su was packing up his documents.
"Sure. Shall we take another walk outside?" Su smiled casually.
"Let's."
…
Su and Jobs once again strolled along the edge of the artificial lake, this time walking in the direction of the dormitory complex.
As they walked, Su kept an eye on Jobs' expression. It was clear—even though Jobs had managed to maintain his composure, he had been shaken by the "secret weapon" Qin Weimin had unveiled.
Earlier, Jobs had been asserting that other architectures were also pursuing baseband integration. While he hadn't directly confirmed it, his tone and instinct as a product visionary made it clear that he believed the future of mobile devices lay in deep integration.
By claiming other architectures were heading in that direction, Jobs had tried to suggest Yuanxin wasn't as far ahead as it seemed.
But to his surprise, Yuanxin had gone beyond just concept and documentation—they had already brought out a working product. In the morning it was a whitepaper; in the afternoon, a phone.
That was frightening.
It meant Yuanxin wasn't just ahead—it was several steps ahead.
"Su, how do you see the future of the YX architecture?" Jobs asked quietly after a long pause.
Su was a bit surprised by the question. He turned his head to glance at Jobs, only to see that Jobs hadn't looked at him. He was staring straight ahead, lost in thought.
Though it was a little impolite, Su could tell Jobs was hiding his emotions behind that neutral expression.
So Su didn't mind. He smiled faintly, shoved his hands into his pockets, and, without looking at Jobs, said slowly, "Jobs, that's a hard question to answer—unless you're willing to join us in forming a joint team."
"If you won't tell me your vision, how can I trust you to lead the team?" Jobs replied calmly. "Transparency about the future is the foundation of any true collaboration."
"Well… I suppose you've got a point."
Su chuckled, reaching out to pluck a blade of grass from the pathside, twirling it between his fingers—a little habit Zhou Xiaohui would've recognized as his tell for when he was about to start improvising.
"The truth is," Su began, "everything we've done—at Yuanxin and Xinghai—has been based on an optimistic view of the future." He paused, thinking carefully before continuing, "Maybe it's because I'm young, but I genuinely believe I'll live to see the explosion of the IT industry, semiconductors, chip design, and the internet. That's why, from the beginning, we've taken a very aggressive approach."
Jobs finally turned his head and glanced at Su, nodding slightly in agreement.
Aggressive? Yuanxin wasn't just aggressive—it was borderline reckless. Charging headfirst into so many industries without even testing the waters first… it defied conventional wisdom.
Yet despite that, Yuanxin had not only survived but thrived. Whether due to luck, Su Yuanshan's foresight, or the company's ability to gather top-tier talent, everything they touched seemed to flourish.
"And the reason we've been aggressive," Su continued, "is because we believe in the future. For instance, I believe it won't be long before multifunctional chips appear in cars—chips that provide smart infotainment systems, GPS navigation, and more. Didn't Mr. Clinton campaign on expanding civilian GPS access? That's the opening we're watching."
"Beyond that, chips can offer engine-based anti-theft systems, smart control over car interiors and components… Pandora Lab is already working on some of that."
Jobs looked at Su long and hard.
"And beyond that, we're talking about large-scale programmable systems, small robots, smart home appliances… all of it. It's not a question of whether they're possible—it's that we rarely stop to think about why they should exist."
Su shrugged and chuckled self-deprecatingly. "But even if we don't always know their utility, at least we know they're advanced. At least they bring us one step closer to the future we've seen in science fiction, right?"
"Yes," Jobs finally said.
As a product manager, he understood that building a good product wasn't hard. The challenge was inventing a new category of product altogether.
And Su Yuanshan… he seemed capable of doing that any time he wanted.
Granted, his reasoning—that it was all in the pursuit of a sci-fi dream—sounded a bit far-fetched. But for someone like Su, it also somehow made perfect sense.
He was a tech visionary… in the mold of Bruce Wayne.
"And all of this," Su said, stopping to look Jobs in the eye, "is the future I see for the YX architecture."
"Mr. Jobs, if you agree with that vision, then you should join us."
Jobs fell silent.
After a long pause, he gave a faint smile. "Then, if I understand correctly, the YX architecture could also be used in laptops and handheld tablets. Am I right?"
Su's pupils narrowed slightly—but without hesitation, he nodded. "Yes. In fact, thanks to its power efficiency and pipelined structure, it's especially suited for battery-powered systems."
Jobs wanting to fully adopt the YX architecture… was something Su Yuanshan had never even dreamed of.
If that were to happen, it would mean Apple would withdraw completely from the PowerPC alliance and throw its weight behind the YX camp instead.
This… this was a fortune too good to be true.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1