When the subject came up, Yu Xiaoxiao blushed and cooed, "Do you still have business over in Tyrande?"
"A little. I'm planning a chip R&D project, so I asked some contacts there to scout talent for me."
Jiang Cheng's answer neatly diverted Yu Xiaoxiao's attention.
"Chips? You're going to invest in tech?"
Jiang Cheng nodded. "I'm thinking about it, but first I need the people."
"I don't know much about it, but I hear the investment is huge and the payback is slow."
"Exactly," Jiang Cheng said. "We're so far behind in chip fabrication that we have to move before the rest of the world reacts. Otherwise we'll be caught off guard again."
Seeing how big-picture his thinking was, Yu Xiaoxiao's opinion of him shifted a notch higher.
Eyes shining, she said, "I'm no expert, but I thought domestic tech companies get state support. Most seem to do in-house R&D. Going solo sounds expensive—aren't you taking a huge risk?"
Jiang Cheng merely smiled.
Unlike him, Xiaoxiao didn't have the foresight that came from having lived once already.
"Self-research is too slow; there isn't time. The fastest way is to import foreign tech and talent so we can jump ahead."
Xiaoxiao frowned. "Is our chip-making really that bad?"
Jiang Cheng gave a calm nod.
"Honestly, yes. Early on we weren't far behind—lithography machine technology, for instance, trailed international leaders by maybe five years."
Xiaoxiao pondered, then pressed, "You said 'early on.' What about now?"
Impressed that she'd zeroed in on the crux so quickly, Jiang Cheng looked at her gravely.
"We stood still for more than a decade. Today our home-grown fabrication is at least fifteen years behind the global state of the art."
Shock flashed across Xiaoxiao's face.
She stared at him. "A gap that big?"
Jiang Cheng could only nod. "Right now our best fabs can manage 20-nanometre chips, while overseas lithography is already at four."
"That… is huge. Even I can see a 20-nm chip wouldn't keep up with today's specs."
"Exactly. For years our own products have used top-tier foreign chips. Swap in a 20-nm and, sure, it runs—but the user experience tanks."
"Think of a phone: the processor is its brain. Install a fifteen-year-old chip in your current handset and see how it feels."
Xiaoxiao nodded. "Got it. But why hasn't the country poured resources into something this critical?"
"Market economics. We can buy better chips abroad, so domestic demand dried up. No sales, no profit, no drive to invest."
Xiaoxiao snapped her fingers. "Right—R&D costs a fortune, but if no one buys home-grown chips, firms can't recoup the outlay, so progress stalls."
Jiang Cheng agreed. "We're strong at chip design—take Huawei and SMIC—but weak at manufacturing, especially lithography machines."
"In a high-tech age," Xiaoxiao said, "without cutting-edge equipment even the best blueprints are useless."
Jiang Cheng exhaled. "That's why this plan has to succeed."
Her eyes lit up. "If we bring those experts in, could we build the same machines?"
"Not overnight, but we could leap a lot closer—maybe reach seven-nanometre precision."
"Seven nanometres? That would be massive!"
Jiang Cheng smiled. "It would be our new baseline. Four nanometres is world-leading today, but seven is enough for self-sufficiency."
He remembered how, in 2019, news of chip sanctions had hit like a hammer.
Every headline fretted over China's tech future.
Especially Huawei.
Because it had broken through 5G first, it became the main target.
To survive, Huawei activated its backup supply chain and started building its own fabs.
At first they thought three years—until 2022—would yield a 20-nm line.
History shows the tighter the blockade, the stronger China becomes.
With heavy state support,
by 2024 we had cracked seven-nanometre chips.
The news slapped Pretty Country in the face.
They'd assumed catching up would take far longer.
Yet in only five years we closed the gap.
Overseas, those same five years pushed them to three nanometres,
but seven nanometres turned out to be plenty for most electronics.
And because our chips cost less and proved reliable,
they were perfect for mass deployment.
We grabbed huge global market share with that cost-performance edge.
Nations that once imported elsewhere started buying from us,
smashing the blockade
and even stealing their sales.
So the system's reward effectively fast-forwarded China's chip timeline by five years.
If this lithography machine project pans out,
give the country another five years and by 2024 we should pull even with the world.
Watching Jiang Cheng look as if the nation's fate rested on every citizen, Xiaoxiao felt a sudden surge of emotion.
She swung over and knelt astride his lap.
"Darling… you're amazing."
"Which rod are you talking about?"
With a sultry glance she lowered her head and murmured, "Both of them, of course."