Chapter 501: Willing to Let Go
For someone like Yang Guangliang, who had studied the Western economic system, the term "logistics" was far from unfamiliar—in fact, he was quite well-versed in it. In any economic system, simply put, logistics referred to the processes of transportation and management before a product became a marketable commodity.
"Yuanxin focuses on technology and products. When it comes to anticipating developments in these areas, we have a definite advantage," Su Yuanshan said, glancing at his uncle with a smile. "But when it comes to market circulation and user interaction, we fall far behind companies rooted in commercial trade."
"Uncle, why don't you explain the situation to Brother Liang?"
"Alright. Director Yang…"
"Thanks to the deepening of reform and the liveliness of the market economy, people's spending power and consumption habits have seen huge improvements. For example, the 'Three Big Pieces'—household essentials—have already gone through multiple iterations. A few years ago, it was all about refrigerators, televisions, and washing machines. Now, it's air conditioners, computers, and VCDs."
Yang Guangliang nodded with a smile. These were standard insights, widely accepted and easy to use as conversation openers in any setting.
"So, our commercial operations have developed rapidly over the past few years. As of this year, we've opened more than a hundred appliance stores in major cities across the country."
Yang was well aware of Yuanda Trading's size. It was the leading chain of electronics retailers in the country. Its rapid expansion and unique management model had already been the subject of studies by several government agencies.
"Our next step is to expand into second- and third-tier cities. But during our market research and analysis of factory capacities, we discovered a significant issue…" Zhang Ke paused, then continued, "There's a huge unmet demand for appliances in the market."
"But in terms of production capacity, thanks to foreign investment and enterprise reform in recent years, our manufacturers are keeping up—and even have room to grow."
Su Yuanshan chimed in, "That I know for sure. I've been working in the industrial zone in the Special Economic Zone, and right now our OEM factory is far from running at maximum capacity."
Yang Guangliang's expression grew serious, and he nodded slightly. "Yes, the relevant departments are aware of this. Many local governments are encouraging the formation of various enterprises to meet market demands."
"Director Yang, home appliances may seem simple—just parts assembled together. For example, grab any random electronics repair shop on the street and they could probably build you a TV."
"But this kind of operation doesn't really benefit the electronics industry. It's merely about satisfying market need, nothing more."
Yang nodded slightly. "What President Zhang means is—by improving logistics efficiency, we can accelerate the circulation of products from legitimate manufacturers?"
"Exactly. But currently, logistics in our country relies heavily on rail and road transport. In terms of timeliness, it's seriously lagging behind. So… we hope to create an air logistics system—something more in line with global standards."
Upon hearing the term "air logistics," Yang was visibly taken aback. He instinctively looked to Su Yuanshan. "Is this with Yuanxin's involvement?"
"No, Yuanxin doesn't plan to get into the logistics business," Su Yuanshan said with a smile, then added, "Brother Liang, FedEx began using cargo planes over twenty years ago and introduced the idea of overnight delivery."
...
Dinner lasted until nine in the evening before Su Yuanshan and his uncle escorted Yang Guangliang back home.
Then the two of them returned to the tech park.
"Uncle, what kind of logistics company are you aiming to build?" Su Yuanshan asked as he washed his face while Zhang Ke was sprawled over a desk scribbling out a business plan.
"What kind of company? What do you mean?" Zhang Ke looked up, puzzled. "A logistics company is a logistics company. We plan to first serve our own freight needs and then gradually expand to external clients."
"And after that?"
"We'll play it by ear."
Su Yuanshan put down the towel and shook his head with a faint smile. "Logically, this is your company, and I shouldn't be interfering."
"You brat… just say what you want to say."
"Well, my point is: you need to be willing to let go."
"Let go?" Zhang Ke repeated the words slowly, his brows gradually furrowing as he processed what Su Yuanshan was suggesting. When he looked up and saw how seriously Su Yuanshan was staring at him, Zhang suddenly thought of Yuanxin's business practices over the past few years—and the rumors that had come with them.
"You mean I should spin off the logistics division? Like how you handled Yuanxin?"
"Exactly." Su Yuanshan nodded. "You only need to retain control and invest in the early stages. Uncle, you believe, just like I do, that the logistics industry will become a massive industrial chain in the future. Correspondingly, commercial retail—both online and offline—will become an enormous market as well."
"But human energy is limited. Once the logistics division is running properly, you should decisively let go. You have to understand—sometimes a department within a large enterprise can benefit from shade and protection, but more often… that protection turns into a constraint." Su Yuanshan paused, then added, "If you hadn't split Yuanda Trading from Yuanxin, if I had brought it under Yuanxin's direct management from the start—do you think it would've become what it is now?"
Zhang Ke opened his mouth to respond, but rational thought stopped him. He knew Su Yuanshan was right.
Had the trading division remained under Yuanxin's umbrella, it would've been tied down by the larger company's priorities. Not necessarily because of money, but because it would've been treated as just another department—one that served the company's overall goals.
"I see. If we want to make this the biggest logistics company in China, then it has to be professional and independent. Is that what you mean?"
"Uncle, you're sharp!" Su Yuanshan gave him a big thumbs-up.
"It's not that I'm sharp. It's just that listening to you has never steered me wrong." Zhang Ke chuckled, completely unbothered by flattering his own nephew.
After all, they did share some of the same blood.
"...But Uncle, there's still a long way to go on this, and you might want to build some connections in the aviation department. That area—I'm really not familiar with. I can help ask around the Postal Ministry side, though."
"No problem. We're in no rush. We've got plenty of patience."
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Chapter 502: Solid-State Drives
After leaving the minister's office, Su Yuanshan made a stop at the wafer fabrication plant. He chatted with a few graduate students who were conducting experiments there to check on their progress before heading to Li Mingliu's office.
Ever since Yuanxin released MLC (Multi-Level Cell) chips and the controller for the MP3 player, Li Mingliu's flash memory department had been energized as if a vital meridian had been unblocked. In addition to the architecture team achieving major breakthroughs in 3D circuit design, Luo Ming's team had also been split into two: one group continuing to optimize the MP3 chip, and the other, led by Luo Ming himself, tackling the challenge of building a high-capacity flash-based storage device over the IDE bus.
In simpler terms, he was trying to develop a solid-state drive—an SSD.
"Old Luo is a beast, right?" Li Mingliu grinned as he poured Su Yuanshan a fresh cup of coffee, unable to hide his pride in having such a sharp eye for talent.
"Yeah, total beast."
At this point, nearly all SSD-related technologies were in the hands of Intel and SanDisk, who had already carved out a sizable market. If Yuanxin could enter this space now, it would be like reaping the benefits of someone else's hard work.
"Only thing is, SSDs aren't like USB sticks or MP3 players. Data reliability is far more critical. Plus, our MLC flash chips have only just been released, and still require a lot of optimization..." Su Yuanshan looked at Li Mingliu with a serious face. "Senior, we absolutely can't take this lightly."
"Mm, I know. The USB stick optimization is being handled by Jiang Tao's team. They've already ordered a large batch of chips, and the first generation should hit the market in a few months."
"As for the SSDs... I plan to lead that team personally. On paper, the theoretical lifespan of MLC cells is much longer than what we're currently seeing in tests. There's still a lot of room for improvement."
Su Yuanshan finally relaxed upon hearing that Li Mingliu would personally head up the effort.
After all, MLC was viable for both commercial and enterprise-level applications—which meant reliability was non-negotiable.
"By the way, I've been toying with an idea," Li Mingliu added.
"Oh? Let's hear it."
"Remember why I came here in the first place? I used to work on high-speed cache systems..." Li Mingliu grabbed a sheet of paper and quickly sketched out a chip architecture diagram. "These past few days, I've been thinking: the biggest drawbacks of MLC compared to SLC are lifespan and read/write speeds. So… what if we introduced a cache mechanism?"
"If we added a high-speed buffer zone, it would significantly improve read/write queueing efficiency."
"Additionally, I've been thinking—what if we used the controller to partition the chip, assigning a portion of the MLC to operate as SLC?"
Su Yuanshan's eyes lit up.
This guy… was sharp! He'd just outlined the two core "secret weapons" of future SSDs!
"That's a brilliant idea. I fully support it!" Su Yuanshan immediately said. "But have you considered the technical difficulty? You're the expert in this area now—I can't help much."
"Heh, we did a quick evaluation. It's definitely a direction worth pursuing... Besides, look at our competition—SanDisk and Intel. If we don't have some real innovations, there's no way we can grab a share of the enterprise market just by undercutting prices."
"As for technical difficulty..." Li Mingliu smiled faintly. "Has anything at Yuanxin ever been easy? And hey, I'm not even 30 yet—what's there to be afraid of?"
"...Not that young anymore, Senior. Maybe it's time to start thinking about personal matters too."
"Why don't you take care of that for me?"
"..."
Li Mingliu chuckled. "Once this project is done, I'll probably get married. When that happens, you better be my best man."
"Absolutely not!"
"Why not?" he asked, feigning confusion.
"Because once I agree to one, I'll end up being best man all year long. Nothing else will get done."
"..."
At that moment, a cheerful voice came from the door: "Who's volunteering as best man?"
Both men turned to see the door being pushed open. Standing there was Luo Ming, his messy hair tousled, holding a roll of documents in one hand.
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Chapter 503: The Third-Generation I/O Protocol
There's a saying: being one step ahead makes you a genius, but two steps ahead makes you a lunatic. While Su Yuanshan didn't fully agree with that sentiment, he understood one thing very clearly—when it came to technology, the more forward-thinking an idea was, the harder it became to convince others. But if the idea was just slightly ahead of its time, people were much easier to sway.
For example, Su Yuanshan would never bring up the fact that, in the future, streaming media would become the core of internet audiovisual experiences, nor would he mention how the monopolistic tendencies of tech giants would eventually fracture the web into a series of "information islands."
Similarly, in the realm of computing, he only subtly nudged along the development of USB, letting it progress in tandem with flash memory architectures in a kind of mutual spiral.
But the person in front of him right now—Luo Ming—was something else.
…
Luo Ming had come to Li Mingliu's office because, while chatting and "talking big" with key engineers from Meijie, the Xinghai GPU team, and Yuanxin's CPU division, he had suddenly been struck by an idea.
"Xinghai's GPU computational power is growing rapidly. The existing PCI interface is about to become a bottleneck for graphics card performance and data throughput. So, everyone's interested in developing a new interface standard just for GPU communication—word is, even Intel is looking into this," Luo Ming said, his eyes gleaming with enthusiasm as he looked at Su Yuanshan. "Boss Shan, you're aware of this, right?"
Su Yuanshan nodded with a smile. "Wasn't there talk of upgrading the PCI protocol? Just switch the interface to enable direct data transfers—that should work."
This was, essentially, the trajectory that the historical AGP interface had followed—introduced by Intel in 1997.
Since launching Yuanxin's first CPU, Su Yuanshan had made a point of guiding the CPU division only at the strategic and directional level. He rarely got involved in day-to-day development work.
That didn't mean he wasn't paying attention, of course.
By now, the CPU department had branched into multiple research teams—working on 64-bit processor architecture, instruction sets, and, relevant here, communication protocols.
"So then I started thinking… why stop at a GPU-specific protocol? Why not design a universal one?" Luo Ming's eyes were practically on fire. "Let's go big—completely overhaul the I/O bus system of modern computers."
Without waiting for a reaction, he handed a rolled-up bundle of documents to Su Yuanshan.
Li Mingliu couldn't help but shake his head in amusement as he sat down next to Su Yuanshan, curious to see what kind of wild idea Luo Ming had cooked up this time.
Su Yuanshan, on the other hand, composed himself and started reading.
The documents weren't detailed schematics—more like a conceptual roadmap and framework.
In his draft proposal, Luo Ming outlined the core traits of what he called a third-generation I/O bus standard:
Performance: It would be faster than existing PCI-based buses.Connectivity: It would support various forms of connection, including external ports, enabling high-speed data transfers between a computer and peripherals outside the case.Topology: Unlike PCI's shared bandwidth design, this would be a multifunctional serial topology bus offering individual bandwidth to multiple devices.Openness: The protocol would be open, cross-platform, and flexible enough to connect not just storage devices and graphics cards, but even CPUs—if needed.
…
Li Mingliu finished reading first.
"No way, Old Luo. You're redesigning the entire expansion bus just to build an SSD?" he chuckled, half amused, half exasperated. "That's like buying a new car and deciding to rebuild the whole highway system just so it runs better."
"Even if we had the influence, which we don't, pushing this through the market would be almost impossible."
Su Yuanshan finally looked up, smiling. "Even Intel couldn't push something like this on their own."
With both Su Yuanshan and Li Mingliu shooting down the idea, Luo Ming looked visibly disheartened. He had recently been promised a promotion to P14 by Li Mingliu, but he was painfully aware that his weakness within Yuanxin's technical ranking system had always been innovation.
This was his chance to prove himself. If he could spark the next-generation I/O protocol revolution—starting with SSD interfaces—it would be a huge milestone, both for Yuanxin and for himself.
Watching Luo Ming's enthusiasm fade, Su Yuanshan couldn't help but smile.
"What Li said might've sounded harsh, but come on—you've gotta admit, this is a pretty big leap," he said, still smiling. "But your idea? I think it's fantastic. I support it."
Luo Ming blinked. "You do? How?"
"Hmm… let me think."
Su Yuanshan leaned back, falling into deep thought.
Truth be told, the reason he'd taken longer than Li to finish reading wasn't because he was slower—but because he was stunned.
Line by line, what Luo Ming had just proposed was eerily similar to what Intel would later call the "Third-Generation I/O Protocol," or 3GIO.
Now, most people outside the industry probably wouldn't recognize 3GIO by name.
But its upgraded form?
Anyone even mildly tech-savvy would know it: PCI-Express (PCIe).
PCIe carried the "PCI" name but had little in common with the old standard. In contrast, AGP had evolved from PCI 2.1. But PCI's inherent limitations were exactly why AGP was ultimately phased out and replaced by the superior PCIe.
And now Luo Ming had independently envisioned something strikingly similar.
The only explanation? He'd been doing some serious deep work in computer hardware protocols.
"Alright, Brother Luo…" Su Yuanshan said after a pause. "From what I can tell, based on bus logic and protocol engineering complexity, this project would take a team of a hundred engineers at least one to two years to flesh out properly. And even then, pushing a new protocol to market would require influence—lots of it."
"If we don't have enough market weight, we might end up doing all this work for nothing."
Hearing this, Luo Ming nodded. At least this version of the critique was easier to accept.
"You're right. I've just been thinking—future computing really needs simplicity. And the current I/O architecture is just too old. If we could get ahead of it now, it might have a huge positive impact."
"In that case, we'd need to partner with other companies again," Li Mingliu chimed in. "Don't forget how hard it was to push USB back then. Shan even had to go to Silicon Valley to rally support. And now, two years later, USB still isn't mainstream... You can imagine how hard it would be to replace all legacy I/O ports with a new standard."
"True," Su Yuanshan nodded. "But I agree with Brother Luo's vision. Unified I/O is definitely the future. We'll just have to move slowly."
"For example, we could start with the ATA interface."
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Chapter 504: Cowardly and Greedy
Since its introduction in the 1980s, PATA—more commonly known as the IDE interface—had become the industry standard. Whether it was for CD-ROM drives or hard disks, IDE was the go-to.
However, its core nature was still that of a parallel bus, which suffered from inherent limitations in transmission speed and signal interference.
With continual advancements in hard disk read speeds, memory performance, and CPU capabilities, the low speed ceiling of IDE was soon anticipated to become a bottleneck. As a result, companies began proposing a serial hard drive interface around the turn of the millennium: SATA.
Now that Yuanxin was planning to enter the solid-state drive sector, upgrading the IDE interface had become an inevitability.
—According to Luo Ming's original vision, they'd essentially be building PCIe-based SSDs in the 1990s… a step that was far too advanced. Not to mention the technical difficulty and cost—if they really did pour everything into developing it, the end result would probably be something too cutting-edge to gain widespread adoption.
"The main problem with the current PATA (Parallel ATA) bus is its parallel structure—it's inherently limited. If we can switch to a serial bus, that should meet our performance needs for the next 10 to 20 years. Plus, we already have some technical reserves in serial communication. After all, USB is a universal serial bus too."
Luo Ming considered Su Yuanshan's suggestion quietly for a few seconds, then nodded. "Mm… if it's SATA (S for Serial), then yes, it should be easier to push. I'll discuss it with my colleagues?"
"Go ahead. But Brother Luo, don't wait until SATA is finalized before developing your SSD controller, okay?"
"Haha, understood. Our main goal right now is to design the controller chip and product using the IDE interface first. Meanwhile, we'll keep working on the protocol. And even if SATA is finished, I think we should still retain IDE for compatibility with users."
Seeing how thoroughly Luo Ming had considered everything, Su Yuanshan nodded with a smile.
…
"Damn, so that's why the guy's been so quiet lately—he's been holding back a big move," Li Mingliu muttered as he watched Luo Ming walk off, rubbing his chin with a slightly awkward grin.
Even so, having one of his most prized subordinates fire off a "nuclear idea" right in front of Su Yuanshan was mildly embarrassing.
"Mm, Brother Luo's idea isn't bad. It's just too far ahead—even I don't dare imagine that far," Su Yuanshan chuckled. "Let's give it a few years. Once we've built up our technical reserves, established product reliability, and earned industry influence, then we can think about promoting these kinds of protocols. And truthfully, when it comes to something like I/O protocol reform—if the industry giants aren't involved, you're probably just wasting your time."
"Exactly..." Li Mingliu sighed, then nudged Su Yuanshan with his elbow. "Back when you were pushing USB—was this what you had in mind?"
Su Yuanshan nodded. "Yeah. USB was meant to be our high-speed bridge between computers and digital devices in the digital age. At this semiconductor conference, I'm planning to promote it again—hopefully get those Japanese printer and scanner manufacturers to start making USB-compatible office equipment."
"Makes sense. But hey, are you really only inviting Japanese companies to this event?" Li Mingliu glanced west—toward the wafer fabrication facility, where the TI (Texas Instruments) engineers were based.
"What do you think?" Su Yuanshan winked.
"…I think I should keep my mouth shut."
"Haha. Of course TI is getting an invite."
"Just TI? What about Xinghai?"
"Forget Xinghai. They're transitioning into an internet+ holding company now," Su Yuanshan said, slowly shaking his head. "Some of those senior Japanese executives suggested that I invite IBM… I just haven't made up my mind yet."
This trip to Japan hadn't just been about inviting companies into the flash memory initiative. Su Yuanshan had spent most of the time observing and analyzing Japan's semiconductor industry—its attitude and courage.
By "attitude," he meant whether Japanese companies were willing to increase investment and influence within Asia. By "courage," he meant whether they dared to challenge the U.S. from a business standpoint.
But now it seemed clear: the Japanese were cowardly and greedy. They wanted to expand their influence—but didn't dare stand up to the U.S.
And that, frankly, irritated Su Yuanshan.
At that moment, Li Mingliu spoke up. "If you want my opinion…"
"What is it?" Su Yuanshan looked at him, intrigued. Normally, Li Mingliu didn't like to comment on matters at this level of cooperation.
"Shan, we can't make the conflict appear too stark," Li said, his tone calm. "From a purely business standpoint—if IBM is willing to join the Flash Memory Alliance, then we're halfway there. And even if you do want to challenge the U.S… we'll still need allies on the inside."
Su Yuanshan nodded. "Go on."
"Also, if we're talking about confrontation—then yes, we need to find internal allies. And if we can build a bridge to IBM, that makes everything easier down the road."
"Heh, dreaming big again, huh, Old Li? Still… you make a good point. I've decided—we're inviting IBM." Su Yuanshan exhaled slowly and made the decision on the spot. "We'll prepare the invitation letter when we get back tomorrow."
"Let's just hope IBM actually accepts," Li said with a teasing grin.
"Don't worry. I've got enough clout for that."
…
Time passed quickly, and as February arrived—just one week before Chinese New Year—Ye Rudai, who hadn't returned home in nearly a year, finally gave herself a break. She arrived at the Hong Kong airport on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, where she was escorted through customs by someone from Sun Xihui's team.
"We'll stay here tonight. Tomorrow we'll fly straight to the provincial capital."
Su Yuanshan pulled her massive suitcase through the hotel lobby while speaking.
"Mm. I'll go along with your plan." Ye Rudai had cut off her signature ponytail and now wore a sleek medium-length hairstyle. Combined with her dark coat, the change made her look much more mature.
After all, she was now the CEO of an internet company... looking like a schoolgirl would only make people doubt her credibility.
Once they entered the room, Su Yuanshan sat on the couch and studied her new hairstyle with a frown. "Yezi, this hairstyle doesn't suit you."
"This is the most mature-looking cut that still works for me," she said with a wry smile. Then she pulled a hair tie from her pocket and twisted her hair into a small bun behind her head. "How about this?"
"Much better. No offense, but with your earlier look, you kinda looked like my older sister."
Ye Rudai didn't get angry. Instead, she grinned and sat down in front of him, crossing her legs playfully. "Then say it out loud for me—call me 'Sister Ye.'"
Su Yuanshan: "…"
Ye Rudai smirked, but then her expression turned quiet. "Xiao Shan… I want to hand over my company."
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Chapter 505: The Annual Meeting
When Su Yuanshan saw the weariness in Ye Rudai's eyes, he felt a sudden wave of tenderness.
In their past life, after returning to China, Ye Rudai had gone back to her alma mater to become a teacher. She turned down countless opportunities in the booming internet industry, showed no interest in pursuing a full professorship, and focused entirely on teaching and mentoring students.
As the saying goes, "rivers may change course, but a person's nature is hard to alter." Clearly, even in this lifetime, she remained the same at heart.
"It's fine. If you want to hand it over, then hand it over." Su Yuanshan didn't even hesitate. He immediately nodded and said, "I'll call Sister-in-law and have her arrange a valuation so Xinghai can acquire it directly."
Ye Rudai was stunned when she saw him actually reaching for his phone. She quickly sat down beside him and pressed down on his hand. "You… you're really going to make the call?"
"Of course." Su Yuanshan took her hand into his and looked into her pretty, slightly bloodshot eyes. Smiling, he said, "Whatever you want to do, I'll support you."
Ye Rudai bit her lip and lowered her gaze. After a few seconds, she exhaled lightly, and when she looked up again, all the fatigue had vanished from her expression.
"No. I should at least get the company to the point where it's listed before I retire."
"..." Looking at her youthful face—barely in her twenties—and hearing her talk about retirement, even Su Yuanshan couldn't help but chuckle. "Come on, isn't 'retirement' a bit of a stretch?"
"Hehe… I was just speaking figuratively. I really admire President Xi. I want to live like him."
"Sigh..." Su Yuanshan let out a sigh. "Who doesn't admire President Xi?"
It wasn't just Ye Rudai—Su Yuanshan admired him too.
By now, not just domestically but internationally, anyone in the field of algorithm design had to acknowledge that President Xi was a major figure.
Under his leadership, Pandora Lab had become a sanctuary for idealistic engineering. It now housed a mathematics tools development team (YXLAB), a DSP chip team, an AI algorithms team, and several other groups that collaborated with nonprofit organizations around the world. It was a place that burned money purely for the sake of science and discovery.
In contrast, even though Yuanxin embodied Su Yuanshan's dream, he still had to deal with endless responsibilities and decisions.
"That's why when I retire, I want to join President Xi's lab and take on a few students," Ye Rudai said, eyes glowing. "Do my own research, solve my own problems. Just thinking about it makes me happy."
"...That's a beautiful vision," Su Yuanshan nodded. "But you know, President Xi gets to handpick the best students from all over the country. You might not have that luxury."
"Oh, come on. I'm at least an expert in the search field…" She started to brag, but then paused and realized she was essentially "showing off her saber in front of Guan Yu." She coughed awkwardly and changed the subject.
Su Yuanshan, amused, finished her sentence for her. "Hehe, I know—you're an expert."
"Barely," she replied with a modest smile. "In March, there's an internet conference at the University of Melbourne. I've already been invited to give a talk on search engine development. Will you be free to come?"
"Uh, probably not," Su Yuanshan replied. He explained that he'd be busy preparing for the flash memory conference that month.
Ye Rudai looked at him for a few seconds, then burst into laughter. "What kind of relationship are we even in? We're both so busy all the time."
"Then maybe we shouldn't be in a relationship."
"Hm? What did you just say?"
"Let's just get married already."
Su Yuanshan barely finished the sentence before he felt a sharp pain on the back of his hand—she had pinched him hard.
"Keep dreaming! Come on, let's eat. I'm starving."
…
That night, Su Yuanshan didn't have the heart to disturb Ye Rudai, who had been traveling for nearly twenty hours without rest. He let her sleep soundly.
The next morning, after making a few quick work arrangements, he accompanied her back to the provincial capital.
He had hoped Ye Rudai would stay at Yuanxin and spend the New Year with him, but she hadn't been home in a year. Her parents had been waiting anxiously. So, Su Yuanshan could only instruct the driver to take her back to her hometown.
At Yuanxin, the annual company celebration had always been one of the major events of the entire lunar calendar year. Before that, the company would hold a year-end summary meeting, gathering all senior executives together.
This year was a little different, as both of Yuanxin's top figures—Chen Jing and Su Yuanshan—had been out of town. So the annual meeting, which would normally take place around the 15th of the lunar month, was postponed to the 26th.
That meant, once the meeting was over, everyone could go straight into celebration mode without having to leave again.
…
"Is she gone?" asked a voice in the Pandora Lab.
Even as the lunar new year approached, President Xi was still hard at work in his office.
Meanwhile, Su Yuanshan was wandering around the tech park like he had nothing better to do.
"She's gone. What, did Sister-in-law want to meet her?" Su Yuanshan teased, glancing at Xia Xiaoxuan, who had just walked in. "If she really wants to, I can ask her to come back."
"…President Su…" Everyone at Yuanxin already knew that Xi Xiaoding and Xia Xiaoxuan were in a relationship and had been living together. The two were expected to officially register their marriage soon. But for now, Xia Xiaoxuan was still nominally a PhD student working in Su Yuanshan's lab, which made her a bit reserved around her "boss."
"Don't mind him. He never says anything normal," Xi Xiaoding chuckled. "Xiaoxuan, can you let my mom know I won't be home for dinner tonight?"
"Okay, I'll let her know. I'll leave you two to it."
Xia Xiaoxuan nodded, handed over a file, and started to leave. But just before she walked out the door, she turned to Su Yuanshan and gave him an awkward smile. "President Su, when you write this year's annual report conclusion… please be kind."
"You got it!" Su Yuanshan said with a dramatic wave of his hand. "I'll make it sound like flowers blooming in spring!"
"Thanks!"
…
As Xia Xiaoxuan left, Su Yuanshan shook his head, grinning. "Senior, that girl used to be so lively. What happened? She's gotten so shy ever since you two started dating."
Xi Xiaoding was speechless. "...You didn't come here just to mess around, did you?"
Su Yuanshan sobered up, shaking his head.
"Of course not. After the year-end summary in two days, Yuanxin will officially transition to a founder-team equity structure. Senior, do you have any thoughts or suggestions?"
Hearing this, Xi Xiaoding's expression grew serious.
The transition to founder-controlled equity was, on paper, just a structural adjustment.
But in reality… it meant that Su Yuanshan was finally preparing to redistribute power and shares.
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