Chapter 13 Actually a Dragon-Slaying Saber
Pan Dajun's face had already turned an ugly shade of green. In contrast, Pan Xiaojun, after three hours of observing, had slowly sobered from his initial shock. Watching Su Yuanshan continuously constructing new circuits, his heart was filled with indescribable emotions.
If earlier Su Yuanshan's work could still be explained as "skilled hands following a blueprint," now, even after adding new components and re-routing according to them without slowing down, there was no longer any way to describe it except as monstrous. Moreover, Pan Xiaojun, who was familiar with almost every EDA software, understood very well that without powerful software support, no matter how monstrous or skilled someone was, it would be impossible to achieve such smooth and effortless precision.
It was like a top-notch driver—no matter how good they were, if you gave them a broken tractor, they could never outrun someone driving a modern car.
The end-of-day bell rang, but no one left. Instead, people began murmuring quietly among themselves.
Pan Dajun's face turned from white to red. He leaned toward his brother and growled, "Let's go!"
"Wait."
Pan Xiaojun clenched his teeth. "Wait to see the other features."
Pan Dajun snorted. "You stay and embarrass yourself if you want. I can't afford to."
Watching his brother storm off, Pan Xiaojun endured the buzzing whispers from the crowd like a swarm of flies.
"Amazing."
"Today I finally saw a real expert. Compared to him, Director Pan isn't even fit to shine his shoes."
"Shh, keep your voice down! But seriously, if a kid this young is this good, what about their PhD-level guys?"
"I think it's the software that's amazing. It looks way better than Protel..."
Face grim, Pan Xiaojun ignored the idiots around him—the same ones he had hand-fed lessons to but who had never learned anything—and kept his gaze locked on the monitor.
...
Su Yuanshan placed the final surface-mounted transistor and connected it to the solder joints.
"This reserved interface here uses a five-wire ribbon cable to connect to a 15mm by 42mm LCD screen. Based on this spec, you just need to find a proper spot on the front panel to mount it. Once powered on, it will display the tape recorder's current status, including band frequency while receiving, recording or playing status, fast-forward, rewind, and so on."
"This isn't a new function, just a little flourish. It doesn't cost much more, but it raises the product's grade. If you like, you can use it. If not, you can stick to your original design."
After loading the simulation tool and setting the parameters, Su Yuanshan turned back around. This little modification was just a casual act of kindness—after all, tape recorders were a dying market, destined for rural sales at best. It would have been much better to design something like a Walkman to meet the upcoming music boom.
At this point, more than a dozen people had gathered tightly behind Su Yuanshan. Everyone stared at him, then at the simulation interface on the screen, as if watching a monster.
It was beyond words.
Three hours to complete what usually took four or five days of work—and not only that, he had casually modified the schematic, added new components, and designed a brand-new feature: an LCD display, something usually reserved for high-end electronics.
Zhang Jianjun was already beyond ecstatic. His pudgy body allowed him to comfortably occupy the spot closest to Su Yuanshan. Hearing Su Yuanshan ask if he was satisfied, he grabbed Su Yuanshan's hand tightly and exclaimed over and over, "More than satisfied! Thank you! We always wanted to design something unique, but the old mold master at the factory didn't know how to approach it. He kept saying it couldn't be done technically."
"No worries," Su Yuanshan smiled, struggling but failing to pull his hand free. "With technology improving, design software will get stronger and stronger. I wish your product great success."
At that moment, the circuit simulation finished. This meant that once powered, the PCB would operate correctly.
"I'll run a few more simulations," Su Yuanshan said casually. "Mainly to test the waveform and interference resistance."
Zhang Jianjun reluctantly let go of his hand. He turned around and, as if to remind the stunned crowd, began clapping enthusiastically.
Director Wang quickly caught on and joined in. Moments later, thunderous applause filled the machine room.
"Xiao Su, no need to rush anymore. Let's go eat first," Wang Chaoxin said, coming over and patting Su Yuanshan's shoulder. "You guys can continue tonight if needed."
Su Yuanshan turned back with a grin. "Alright, but you said it yourself."
"Of course. Come on!"
Zhang Jianjun hurried over again, grabbing Su Yuanshan's hand tightly. "Director Wang, don't fight me for it! Tonight's meal is on me! I'm treating all the friends from Yuanxin!"
**
Dragged almost forcefully by Zhang Jianjun, Su Yuanshan was ushered toward the door.
He noticed that while Deputy Director Pan had already left, Pan Xiaojun remained. The young technician, now stripped of his earlier arrogance, simply stared at him with complicated emotions before stepping aside to make way.
Su Yuanshan hadn't expected him to stay and watch the whole three hours.
Stopping in his tracks, Su Yuanshan turned toward Pan Xiaojun, his voice calm as ever. "Convinced yet?"
Pan Xiaojun's eyes narrowed. After a moment's pause, he gave a self-deprecating smile and nodded. "Convinced."
He had always considered himself a technical person, despite only holding a vocational school diploma. And a true techie naturally admired strength.
After a few seconds of silence, Pan Xiaojun said, "I only know a little about software development, but compared to the average person, I know EDA. I know exactly how hard it is to achieve what you just showed us—especially those new features. You guys are truly amazing."
Su Yuanshan was genuinely surprised that someone as arrogant as Pan Xiaojun could admit defeat so easily. He didn't even know how to respond.
Then Pan Xiaojun added, "But your EDA software is too advanced, too smart. That means it demands better computer hardware. And I'm guessing it's not cheap either. For small or new factories in China, it would be a significant burden."
As a former agent, he knew all too well that the licensing fees for powerful foreign EDA software were astronomical—tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars per license, with no discounts based on market or company size. In comparison, Protel was actually the cheapest option available.
Su Yuanshan raised his eyebrows slightly, looking Pan Xiaojun up and down.
This young man, despite his humble background, was clean-cut and had a stubborn, confident gleam in his eyes.
More importantly, he had immediately identified the biggest current weakness of Yuanxin EDA.
Not bad at all.
After a few seconds' thought, Su Yuanshan smiled slightly. "You're right. So, are you interested in joining Yuanxin as a sales rep?"
"You... what?" Pan Xiaojun instinctively leaned forward. For a moment, he thought he had misheard.
Not just him—everyone in the room was stunned.
Just minutes ago, these two were almost at each other's throats. Now suddenly, one was offering the other a job?
But Qin Weimin and Tian Yaoming weren't surprised. They exchanged a smile, thinking it only natural.
In their eyes, as long as Pan Xiaojun saw himself as a technical man, he would inevitably respect Yuanxin EDA and Su Yuanshan.
After all, Su Yuanshan hadn't been joking when he said that letting Qin Weimin and Tian Yaoming redo the schematic was like killing a chicken with a cow knife.
But what no one else knew was that letting Su Yuanshan do it himself wasn't just using a cow knife—it was wielding a dragon-slaying saber.
Su Yuanshan nodded. "That's right. Since you're so familiar with our competitors' products, would you like to sell ours?"
He paused and added, "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself properly. My name is Su Yuanshan. My father is Professor Su Xinghe, the CEO of Yuanxin Technology. My uncle, Zhang Ke, is the deputy CEO."
Hearing this, everyone gasped again.
Not only was he outrageously skilled, but he was also the young boss?
Pan Xiaojun took a deep breath and stepped forward.
This time, he had no doubts.
Yuanxin's young boss was personally inviting him to join.
Suppressing his excitement, Pan Xiaojun said in a low, firm voice, "No problem!"
"But there's one condition," Su Yuanshan said, staring into his eyes.
"What condition?"
"No speeding," Su Yuanshan said, frowning slightly, "and no drunk driving. I hate those kinds of people."
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