Chapter 11: Three Hours
Having been stationed at the factory for over a month, the security guard was already familiar with Qin Weimin, and with no need for a letter of introduction, he allowed Su Yuanshan and the others to enter the factory. The jeep was parked far away outside the factory office building.
Jiang Qingchuan, nearing thirty years old, ran up to them, continuously apologizing from about thirty meters away.
"Dr. Tian, hello, I'm really sorry, I couldn't get away, I've been negligent," Jiang Qingchuan said as he shook Dr. Tian Yaoming's hand and kept apologizing. He then turned to Su Yuanshan and asked, "Xiao Shan, you're not going to report me to the teacher, are you?"
Su Yuanshan teased, "If my senior doesn't provide me with food, I might just have to report you."
Jiang Qingchuan laughed heartily, "Providing food is no problem. Let's go, I'll first take you to your accommodation."
Su Yuanshan and Tian Yaoming exchanged glances. Su Yuanshan shook his head and said, "There's still time. Let's head directly to the machine room and verify the compatibility with the Gerber files."
Jiang Qingchuan didn't expect Su Yuanshan to be in such a hurry and asked in confusion, "Is it that urgent? Then why still take the train?"
Su Yuanshan smiled helplessly, and at that moment, Qin Weimin leisurely remarked, "I know why the teacher had them take the train..." He then gave Su Yuanshan a meaningful glance. "Probably because he wanted Xiao Shan to get some good rest."
Tian Yaoming nodded in agreement and glanced at Su Yuanshan, "And yet, he was still drawing and writing non-stop on the train. It made me feel so embarrassed I had to pretend to read a book."
"No way, my dad is just stingy," Su Yuanshan interrupted, laughing. "Senior Jiang, please lead the way. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can start the photochemical process."
Over the past month, Qin Weimin had discussed with Jiang Qingchuan many times about Su Yuanshan's technical genius and his obsessive work habits. Therefore, Jiang Qingchuan knew that Su Yuanshan was a rare technical prodigy. He didn't insist anymore and led the group to the machine room.
As they passed by the jeep, Su Yuanshan frowned and glanced at it. Now, he felt a strong sense of caution and hostility toward reckless drivers.
The machine room in the Jiangyin factory was about the size of a conference room, with five or six computers lined up against the wall. At the moment, several people were gathered around one of the monitors, watching intently.
Jiang Qingchuan lowered his voice and said, "We were supposed to start the PCB work today, but Protel has some minor issues that we're fixing."
Tian Yaoming, curious, asked, "Do you still have a PCB production line at the factory?"
"We have one... but let's not talk about that." Just then, someone turned around, and Jiang Qingchuan smiled at the person, "Factory Director Wang, Dr. Tian from Yuanxin Technology and his team are here."
Wang Chaoxin, the current factory director of Jiangyin Factory, looked to be in his early thirties, very young with bright, sharp eyes. When he saw Tian Yaoming and his team, he immediately walked over with a smile.
"Welcome, Doctor, to guide us with your work."
Tian Yaoming quickly waved it off, introducing Su Yuanshan and explaining the purpose of their visit.
Wang Chaoxin smiled and nodded, "No problem, but it might take a little while. The computer software here is having some issues, and the layout verification system is only available on that machine."
At that moment, a young man who was working on a computer suddenly started scolding someone behind him, "I've told you guys so many times to save your work regularly! Don't forget the hyphen for the transistor, don't click where you shouldn't, and yet you still don't listen!"
Everyone turned to look at the computer, and the young man turned around to continue scolding the drafter behind him, "Now, look what you've done. Not only do we need to reinstall the software, but we can only open half the file."
Hearing this, a plump middle-aged man's face changed, "What are we going to do?"
"Only one thing—redraw it. Ask them how long it will take."
"Don't worry, Old Zhang, it'll take at most three days. I'll have them work overtime," the deputy factory director, Pan Dajun, patted the middle-aged man and comforted him. "You can go back and work on the mold first. Come back in three days. You have to trust our technicians—Pan Xiaojun, stop talking and fix it!"
"You guys!" Pan Dajun turned back and looked at the drafter beside him with a stern face, "I've told you so many times to be careful! This is imported software worth tens of thousands of dollars per set! How can you act like this? How can I trust you with Cadence (Kaiten) if you keep doing this?"
The two drafters opened their mouths but didn't speak, only staring at the screen.
As he listened to the drafters being scolded like children, Su Yuanshan frowned slightly.
He knew that during the 80s and 90s, the technicians who maintained foreign software were just as impressive as those foreign engineers, who, according to street rumors, would make a fortune for just drawing a line on a device.
They had no choice. They were some of the few people with the necessary skills. Even ten years later, when computers had become widespread, the technicians who repaired computers still had the habit of scolding their clients.
"I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit," Wang Chaoxin said with an apologetic look as he turned to Tian Yaoming.
Tian Yaoming instinctively looked at Su Yuanshan, knowing that Su Yuanshan couldn't afford to wait three days.
Su Yuanshan licked his lips and looked at Wang Chaoxin, "Director, would it be possible for us to give it a try?"
"This…" Wang Chaoxin hesitated and then asked, "Do you know how to fix Protel?"
Zhang Jianjun, the factory director of a nearby new factory, had temporarily abandoned computer-aided design to save money. All the drawings were done by hand and then brought here for computer layout.
This was the first product from Zhang Jianjun's factory, so he was in a rush to get the PCB sample boards back for mold comparison and prototype production.
"It's not that, we just want to take a look at Director Zhang's drawings. If possible, we can help him draw them," Su Yuanshan smiled and said, "We won't need three days."
His voice wasn't very loud, but it still reached the ears of Pan Dajun and his brother.
Pan Xiaojun, who was about to reinstall Protel, turned around, "Tsk," and continued typing on the keyboard. He knew that his older brother's factory had a few people who were said to be working on domestic EDA design, and they were supposedly all graduate students from the Electric Science University.
If they were doing other kinds of research, Pan Xiaojun would think more highly of them. But since they were working on EDA… in his eyes, these people were just ignorant.
In terms of PCB design, foreign software was the best! Protel was the strongest!
However, this comment sounded different to Zhang Jianjun, who had been waiting for a long time. One more day of waiting meant one more day of loss.
Zhang Jianjun, who was quicker than expected for someone his size, grabbed a roll of blueprints and walked toward the group. After sizing them up, he smiled at Tian Yaoming and said, "Doctor, nice to meet you. Let me introduce myself. I'm Zhang Jianjun, the factory director of Limin Electric Factory."
Tian Yaoming smiled and shook his hand, "It's an honor."
Zhang Jianjun rubbed his hands together awkwardly, then said with expectation, "I heard you guys can finish the drawings in less than three days. How long will it really take?"
He handed the blueprints to Tian Yaoming.
Tian Yaoming and Qin Weimin opened the blueprints. The drawings were about two feet square, drawn entirely with pencil. It was clear that the person who hand-drew them had very high skills; the components were drawn very neatly, and the lines were all very precise.
Qin Weimin glanced at the drawing and was about to say "at most one day" when Su Yuanshan spoke up.
Su Yuanshan glanced at Pan Dajun, and from the look in his eyes, he could tell that Pan Dajun had a strong sense of disdain.
He smiled slightly.
"Three hours."
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