Chapter 10 Heading to Jiangyin Factory
"Hey, I heard you finished designing two MOS chips in just two days?" Xi Xiaoding leaned against the door, tapping the two floppy disks he held against his palm, smiling as he spoke.
Su Yuanshan took his hands off the keyboard, turned, and smiled back. "You believed that nonsense?"
"How much VHDL do you know?" Xi Xiaoding asked, genuinely curious.
Su Yuanshan laughed. "I know VHDL, but I'm more familiar with Verilog HDL. I'm not as monstrous as you think."
Verilog HDL and VHDL were the two main hardware description languages used for designing and modeling digital systems. It wasn't surprising that Xi Xiaoding wasn't deeply into hardware languages—after all, he specialized in computer systems and modeling.
"You waiting for a workstation?" Su Yuanshan asked.
"No rush," Xi Xiaoding said. "Just do me a favor and run a simulation when you're free. I have a semi-finished thermal management tool here. Thanks to your inspiration about open interfaces, I decided to let users input custom data for calibration."
"Alright. Since you're handling models, it's your territory," Su Yuanshan said, saving his project and standing up to give him the seat.
As Xi Xiaoding took over the computer, Su Yuanshan leaned casually against the desk, watching him work.
After a while, Xi Xiaoding paused and said, "I have an idea."
"Let's hear it," Su Yuanshan said.
"You know about the World Distributors Conference in Las Vegas later this year, right?"
"Of course," Su Yuanshan nodded.
The 1991 Las Vegas conference and the 1992 NAB show would both leave a profound impact on China's tech community. Apple would unveil a slew of new products, Intel would finally push out its 66MHz 486, and companies like Motorola would show off their high-definition displays.
Those exhibitions would be considered monumental events in China's internal reports afterward.
"In short," Xi Xiaoding continued, "it's the best platform to showcase Yuanxin EDA. If we go, we can immediately catch attention—especially among American second-tier players like TI and Cyrix who are struggling against Intel's monopoly."
"We could partner with companies like Texas Instruments and Cyrix to establish local joint ventures, handling support and sales through them. We wouldn't even need much initial capital."
"But we have to move fast."
"If we wait until your dad gets the EDA officially certified by the Ministry and Yuanxin becomes a semi-government entity, it'll complicate everything."
Su Yuanshan listened carefully. He understood Xi Xiaoding's concern. Once Yuanxin became heavily tied to national projects, it would lose the flexibility and competitive drive that private companies needed to survive.
"You're right," Su Yuanshan said after a moment. "But don't worry. I've already made up my mind. Yuanxin's core company will remain completely private. Not a single share will be sold."
He smiled faintly. "Later, when we set up subsidiaries, we can partner or restructure as needed. But this main body stays pure."
Xi Xiaoding's eyes lit up. "Good!"
"But our real target isn't just Intel or the Americans," Su Yuanshan added. "We're also aiming east."
Xi Xiaoding raised an eyebrow.
"Japan," Su Yuanshan said. "Their semiconductor industry is under heavy attack from the U.S. right now. They're desperate to find allies and open new markets."
"In the coming years, they'll invest heavily in China. If we play our cards right, we can ride that wave too."
"And don't forget: for education markets, we'll offer our EDA software for free along with matching textbooks. That way, we grab the next generation of engineers early, just like Microsoft did with Windows."
Xi Xiaoding whistled softly. "You're ruthless."
Su Yuanshan just smiled.
At that moment, Xi Xiaoding finished copying his files. Su Yuanshan sat down again and resumed work.
In truth, the Las Vegas exhibition wasn't Yuanxin's only priority.
More urgently, they needed to make money.
Zhang Ke's pager business was bringing in about two hundred thousand yuan in gross profits per month now. After salaries, management fees, and expenses, there wasn't much left.
They still had the 1 million yuan cash reserve for chip fabrication, but they couldn't afford to hire more staff until they secured more funding.
Thus, launching the Chinese character pager project as soon as possible was critical.
Even if the hardware wasn't revolutionary, the first-mover advantage would allow them to dominate the market.
Even as Su Yuanshan pushed himself harder and harder—sacrificing his seventeen-year-old hairline along the way—time slipped past.
By mid-June, the designs for all the new chips and PCBs were finally complete.
Carrying light luggage and two hard drives filled with design files, Su Yuanshan and Tian Yaoming boarded a green-skinned sleeper train bound for Nanjing.
The journey took two days and two nights.
After arriving in Nanjing, they transferred to a long-distance bus, riding another five hours to reach Jiangyin's bus station.
As soon as they stepped off the bus, they spotted Qin Weimin at the exit, waiting for them.
"You're finally here," Qin Weimin called, grinning.
Su Yuanshan smiled back. "Sorry for making you wait. Delays on my side."
The truth was that he had made last-minute changes to the chip instruction sets, which had cost precious time.
The journey from the bus station to Jiangyin's semiconductor factory was short. The factory district already had the beginnings of an electronic hub.
As they walked, Qin Weimin chatted, telling them what had been happening at the factory.
"When we first got here, the vice factory manager, Pan Dajun, wasn't exactly welcoming," he said. "He thought we were here to steal business from his brother, who does Protel support services."
"And because our EDA software was still in beta at the time, it was hard to prove ourselves."
Su Yuanshan nodded. He could imagine the politics at play.
"Now that the factory manager is back, things have calmed down," Qin Weimin added. "By the way, which version did you guys bring?"
"The beta version," Su Yuanshan said. "But it's close enough to final release."
"What about Senior Brother Jiang?" Tian Yaoming asked.
"Still stuck in meetings," Qin Weimin said. "One of the local customers' PCBs messed up because of Protel bugs, and now they're scrambling to fix it."
Su Yuanshan and Tian Yaoming exchanged looks and laughed.
Classic. Nothing like a rival's screw-up to smooth your way in.
Just then, a black Jeep sped past them, kicking up dust.
Su Yuanshan instinctively moved to the side.
Qin Weimin frowned and said, "That was Pan Dajun's brother.
Typical."
No wonder the local factory people had been wary.
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