Chapter 16 Don't Beg Me
When he received the call from his former advisor at the University of Electronic Science and Technology, Chen Yujie only asked a few basic questions. He learned that Associate Professor Su Xinghe had partnered with someone to found a private company without resigning his post and that they had designed a chip they wanted to fabricate at Huajing. He was asked to help receive them. No further details were given.
Therefore, Chen Yujie hadn't taken it too seriously—sure, Associate Professor Su Xinghe was capable, but what kind of chip could a non-resigned professor's private company possibly design? At most, it would be a simple DIP or SOP packaged chip, maybe something used in toy remote-controlled cars. Yet when Qin Weimin casually mentioned "QFP," Chen Yujie was stunned. Would a remote-controlled car chip really need dozens or even hundreds of pins?
Facing Chen Yujie's shock and confusion, Qin Weimin answered lightly, "Encoding and decoding chips for paging stations and pagers."
Chen Yujie's eyes widened, and after a long pause, he finally blurted out, "Damn!"
"What's wrong? You guys aren't working on this too, are you?" Qin Weimin joked.
"...Not exactly. We're working on... uh, that's a commercial secret," Chen Yujie said, leading the group toward the director's office. As they approached, they heard the sounds of someone angrily slamming a mouse against a desk.
Chen Yujie knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Inside the office, a man with graying hair, looking to be around fifty years old, sat staring grimly at his monitor. His face was stern and imposing. Seeing Chen Yujie enter with a group, he frowned subtly and asked in a deep voice, "What is it?"
"Director Jia, they are researchers from Yuanxin Technology. They're here to fabricate some chips," Chen Yujie explained, handing over the introduction letters.
Jia Jibing accepted the two letters, frowning as he carefully read them. Meanwhile, Chen Yujie quickly motioned for the group to sit down.
"Yuanxin Technology? A private company?"
As soon as Su Yuanshan sat down, he heard Director Jia's tone, almost mocking, as he muttered about Yuanxin. Su Yuanshan's mouth twitched slightly but he remained composed.
In his previous life, after Huajing's catastrophic failure during the 908 Project, their microelectronics research institute collapsed, and many senior researchers jumped ship to other companies. Huajing became known as the "Huangpu Military Academy" of China's semiconductor industry.
Many outstanding talents had emerged from Huajing—but Jia Jibing was not one of them.
Jia Jibing continued frowning and muttering to himself, "An associate professor abandoning his teaching duties to run a private company... what nonsense."
Although he hadn't spoken loudly, everyone in the room clearly heard him.
Qin Weimin's face darkened immediately. He let out a cold snort and prepared to rise, but Su Yuanshan was faster. He pressed Qin Weimin back into his seat and stood up, walking toward the desk.
Chen Yujie's heart skipped a beat. Insulting someone's father right in front of his son—anyone would blow up over that.
Seeing Su Yuanshan walking over with a dark expression, Jia Jibing was initially startled, but his face quickly hardened again. "What do you think you're doing, kid? Don't you know any manners?"
"Director Jia, he's..." Chen Yujie tried to explain, but Su Yuanshan raised his hand to stop him.
He stared coldly at Jia Jibing until the latter grew furious and slammed his hand on the desk. "Get out!"
"Director Jia Jibing, huh? You were given a very fitting name," Su Yuanshan said coldly. "Your parents must have hoped you would study chemistry. Unfortunately, you ended up messing around in electronics."
Jia Jibing's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You—"
Su Yuanshan glared at him, speaking each word clearly: "Whether my father teaches or runs a private company, whether he's playing around or not, it's not for people like you to judge."
Since being reborn, this was the first time Su Yuanshan truly lost his temper.
He knew his father was pushing forward because of him. Even though the road ahead was rough and uncertain, in this era when academia was undervalued and professors' primary duty was to teach under poor conditions, his father still chose to believe in technology, in the dream that science could change China.
Su Yuanshan had seen his father's daily exhaustion—leading the microcontroller design project, preparing EDA teaching materials, giving lectures—all while growing visibly older with more gray hairs each day.
And yet this man, who would barely leave a trace in future records, dared to judge his father?
"You... you... get out! Chen Yujie, throw them out!" Jia Jibing shouted, red-faced.
Su Yuanshan snatched back the introduction letters, glanced at Jia Jibing, and sneered, "Just remember—when the time comes, don't beg me."
"Senior Brother, let's go."
Qin Weimin stood up, giving Jia Jibing a frosty look before striding out.
Tian Yaoming also rose. Although he wasn't as closely connected to the Su family, even he couldn't hide his disdain. As he walked out, he added, "Director Jia, unless something unexpected happens, Professor Su Xinghe is almost guaranteed to win a National Advanced Individual award this year."
Jia Jibing froze, glaring at them and barking, "Out!"
...
Outside in the hallway, Qin Weimin caught up to Su Yuanshan. They stood together silently at the end of the corridor, waiting for Tian Yaoming.
Moments later, Tian Yaoming and Chen Yujie caught up. Chen Yujie wore a bitter expression, clearly unsure of what to say.
After a few seconds of silence, Su Yuanshan spoke softly, "Sorry, Senior Brother Chen, for dragging you into this."
Chen Yujie forced a wry smile, glancing back at the director's office before shaking his head. "Sigh, Jia Jibing is just like that. Not much ability, but he relies on his privileged background to boss people around. We've accomplished almost nothing major here in years. If he had said that about my father, I would've slapped him."
Su Yuanshan chuckled coldly. "Senior Brother Chen, have you considered coming back to UESTC? My dad will almost certainly qualify as a PhD supervisor this year. You could do your doctorate under him, and Yuanxin would pay you a salary too."
Chen Yujie froze for a moment. "Let me think about it. My mind's a mess right now."
"Of course. Whenever you're ready, just let us know." Su Yuanshan took a deep breath and glanced coldly back at the office thirty meters away.
Qin Weimin said gravely, "Should we head straight to Shanghai now and try Beiling Semiconductor? They're a Sino-foreign joint venture, so we shouldn't need an introduction letter."
"No need," Su Yuanshan replied with a cold laugh. "Beiling's capacity is mostly booked by Bell. Even if we go, they won't have any production slots for us."
The three looked at him curiously.
"Senior Brother Chen," Su Yuanshan said, turning back. "Please take me to see Deputy Director Zhou Boguang."
Chen Yujie blinked in surprise. "You... you know our deputy director?"
Su Yuanshan shook his head. "Not personally. But I've heard of him. Deputy Director Zhou is known for his rigor and his lifelong dedication to scientific research. I believe he will give Yuanxin a fair evaluation and opportunity."
After leaving Huajing Research Institute in the future, Zhou Boguang would join Guoxin as their head of technical operations. Even into his sixties, he would continue striving for the development of domestic chips. Qin Weimin had been promoted under his leadership, and it was Zhou who later called Su Yuanshan back from abroad.
Su Yuanshan firmly believed: even though time had shifted, Deputy Director Zhou's unwavering spirit would not have changed.
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