Chapter 259 A Good Man
To be honest, Su Yuanshan had always been cautious about Liang Mengsong.
Engineering wasn't like materials science — in engineering, it was mainly about technical capability and sensitivity to innovation; luck played a much smaller role.
Therefore, from the beginning, Su Yuanshan had already prepared two contingency plans specifically for Liang Mengsong, or rather, for the two key future technologies — his two senior brothers.
One, Tang Wenjie, had been pursuing FinFET technology since 1992, five years ahead of Professor Hu Zhengming.
The other, Chen Jianguo, had started working on copper interconnect technology in 1993, nearly ten years ahead of Jiang Shangyi and Liang Mengsong's success in developing it.
—If, as Zhang Rujin suggested, they could poach some of those key technical backbones from potential competitors, wouldn't that be even better?
Zhang Rujin was a bit surprised that Su Yuanshan had specifically mentioned Liang Mengsong.
After all, although TSMC was developing rapidly and had successfully gone public in Taiwan this year, its technical strength and overall size were still inferior to UMC, let alone to giants like Intel, NEC, IBM, or Texas Instruments.
But since Su Yuanshan had brought it up, Zhang Rujin naturally took note. He thought for a moment and said,
"We can give it a try, but it depends on whether this person has stock options at TSMC. However, if we offer enough incentives and show enough sincerity, usually anyone can be moved."
"Mhm," Su Yuanshan mused.
"I heard he's quite skilled in process technology."
"I'll make some inquiries later."
...
After returning to the factory, Su Yuanshan met with the first group of engineers who had come back from Singapore —
More than half of them were students from the University of Electronic Science and Technology, personally arranged by Professor Zhou.
Just as Su Yuanshan had expected, when they heard about Yuanxin's plan to build a wafer plant, almost none of them hesitated to return.
Su Yuanshan also toured the photomask factory and several cleanrooms.
After having a meal with the factory staff, he finally left.
On the third day, he continued attending the CPU team's technical meetings.
But as the chief architect, most of his responsibilities had already been completed; he attended mainly to stay updated on progress.
After wrapping up his trip to Shanghai, Su Yuanshan headed straight to the Special Economic Zone.
The SEZ held a special place within Yuanxin's system:
On one hand, it served as the manufacturing hub — the far end of the Yuanxin network.
On the other hand, its workforce was almost entirely recruited locally.
These two factors combined to create a unique atmosphere of "the emperor is far away" — a feeling of distance and autonomy.
Half a year ago, following a suggestion by Chen Jing, Yu Yuru initiated an internal company inspection.
Every case of misconduct they uncovered happened to originate from the SEZ.
In particular, two individuals from the HR departments — one from the VCD factory and the other from the mobile phone plant — were exposed.
Both were high-level HR managers responsible for recruiting workers.
Electronics manufacturing required a large number of semi-skilled workers.
HR departments held great power, able to decide who got hired and who didn't — a critical position, given that Yuanxin's wages were very attractive.
Under the piecework system, frontline workers who were diligent could easily earn between 1,000 and 2,000 yuan per month.
The high salaries led to rampant bribery and "black intermediaries" —
For 500 yuan, they would guarantee you a job at the factory.
Naturally, both HR managers were fired on the spot.
To prevent such incidents from recurring and to strengthen internal cohesion, Chen Jing and Su Yuanshan agreed that one of them must personally visit the SEZ at least once a month.
...
Upon exiting the airport, Su Yuanshan immediately spotted a VCD factory Santana 2000, with Jiang Qingchuan standing right beside it.
"Senior Brother," Su Yuanshan called out, quickening his steps.
"I thought it would be Old Xiao picking me up."
"Old Xiao's been busy designing the DVD decoding chip. I happened to be free, so I came instead," Jiang Qingchuan laughed.
The two brothers clapped each other on the shoulder, and Su Yuanshan peered into the car.
"Where's Sister-in-law?"
"Not here. You're lucky today — she's performing at the Sports Center tonight," Jiang Qingchuan said with a chuckle.
"I just dropped her off. Want to go to the concert tonight?"
Su Yuanshan teased,
"Now that you've successfully won her over, even if I had no interest, I'd still have to go support her!"
While talking, Su Yuanshan sized up Jiang Qingchuan.
This senior brother of his...
Previously buried in obscurity as a lowly production supervisor at the Jiangyin factory, he only got the chance to prove himself after Pan Xiaojun's elder brother resigned.
Later, after moving to the SEZ, not only did he personally establish the VCD plant, but he also painstakingly helped set up several other factories, earning himself a reputation as an "electronics factory expert."
Now thirty years old, whether it was the glow of love or success, Jiang Qingchuan looked far more polished than the nerdy engineer he used to be —
Now he appeared every bit the successful business elite.
"Senior Brother, you actually clean up nicely!"
Su Yuanshan stepped back a little and turned to Zhou Xiaohui,
"Sister Xiaohui, don't you think so?"
Zhou Xiaohui giggled behind her hand.
"President Jiang really is quite dashing. No wonder he captured the heart of a diva like Yang Yingying."
"You two..."
Jiang Qingchuan shook his head helplessly, gave Su Yuanshan a friendly shove, and opened the car door.
"Come on, let's chat on the way."
On the road, to satisfy Zhou Xiaohui's gossip cravings, Su Yuanshan relentlessly pestered Jiang Qingchuan to tell the story of how he met Yang Yingying.
Helpless, Jiang Qingchuan finally relented and confessed the truth:
It all started with work.
To align with Yuanxin's brand promotion strategy — and because the VCD's design was elegant and refined — they needed a spokesperson who matched its "delicate and exquisite" image.
Among all domestic celebrities, only the "Jade Girl" Yang Yingying fit the bill.
Initially, Jiang Qingchuan didn't need to personally handle the endorsement talks.
But by coincidence, he had a business trip scheduled and decided to drop by Yang Yingying's music company personally — after sprucing himself up a bit.
The fact that a CEO of Yuanxin's VCD division came in person shocked the company's management.
They rolled out the red carpet.
During the evening dinner and karaoke, they naturally invited Yang Yingying herself to join.
Although the music company president simply meant for her to make a polite appearance —
(There were no shady intentions) —
everyone knew that what mattered wasn't the intent of the host, but the self-control of the guests.
And that's where Jiang Qingchuan's "pure engineer" demeanor shone.
Whether eating or singing, he acted with the utmost propriety —
almost naïvely innocent.
In Yang Yingying's eyes, he was a true gentleman.
Or more simply put, a good man.
And a good man, in Jiang Qingchuan's case, was richly rewarded.
Happy New Year.
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