Siheyuan, Shazhu: I have both parents in this life

Chapter 385 Let's get a little exciting (It's the end of the month, those with tickets can give it a try).
In late June 1988, in the western suburbs of Beijing, a newly completed five-story building was adorned with a bronze plaque reading "Yellow River Group Microelectronics R&D Center." This would become a new starting point for the chip dream.

The interior of the building is still undergoing final renovations, but some areas have already been put into use.

The biggest challenge is relocation and restructuring.

The equipment and data acquired from various sources, as well as the newly recruited and internally transferred researchers, need to be integrated into an efficient whole.

Huang Lingyi now has a heavier burden on her shoulders. In addition to being in charge of chip design, she also serves as the director of the newly established "Precision Instrument Research Institute".

The core mission of this research institute is to overcome the difficulties in developing lithography equipment and domestically produced chips.

The backbone of the institute's lithography machine team was a retired expert named Song Zhiyuan, who was invited from the 45th Institute. He was nearly 60 years old and had an almost obsessive passion for lithography technology.

He and several other middle-aged technicians who had also come from the 45th Research Institute became the cornerstone of the institute.

The relocation process was not as smooth as expected. Most of the equipment transported from the 45th Research Institute and Wuhan was old, and some even had missing parts.

The workers carefully carried what they considered junk to what they thought was a near-luxury cleanroom laboratory, saying as they left, "Such a nice place should be used for people to live in, how can it be used to store junk? What a waste!"

"They've got money to burn!"

"Yeah, look how impressive that building is!"

Song Zhiyuan ignored what the movers were saying. He and his men checked the list item by item, occasionally squatting down to wipe the dust off the equipment nameplates with a handkerchief, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Old folks, let's try somewhere else," he muttered to himself.

Organizing the archives was an even more massive undertaking.

Hundreds of boxes of technical drawings, experimental records, and process manuals filled the temporary warehouse.

Huang Lingyi recruited several young researchers from the chip design group to help Song Zhiyuan's team with archiving, numbering, and recording in the computer.

A young researcher picked up a notebook with curled edges, opened it, and found it filled with dense formulas and hand-drawn diagrams, dated more than a decade ago.

"Engineer Song, what's the data in this notebook?" the young man asked curiously.

Song Zhiyuan took the notebook, put on his reading glasses, and looked at it with a reminiscing expression: "This was written by Lao Liu. It's the experimental data we used to do on lens aberration correction. Alas, Lao Liu passed away the year before last."

The atmosphere was a little heavy for a while.

Huang Lingyi then walked over and patted the young researcher on the shoulder: "These are the fruits of our predecessors' hard work, and they are also our starting point. Every page may hold the key to solving the problem. Organize them carefully and don't miss anything."

She turned to Song Zhiyuan: "Engineer Song, the most urgent thing right now is to solve the manufacturing process problem of the microprocessor we designed. The existing equipment is not precise enough. Do you think we can find any ideas from these materials to improve the existing equipment, or to piece together a prototype that can meet the basic requirements?"

Song Zhiyuan shook his head and said, "The precision you are using now exceeds the scope of our original design. I'm afraid it won't work. Why don't you try a different approach and see if there are any other solutions?"

As he spoke, he pointed to several boxes of materials labeled "Institute 45 - First Generation Lithography Machine" and said, "Even if we finish organizing all of this and the equipment is running normally, it will probably be a long time before we can help you."

"Okay, I understand." Huang Lingyi was still a little disappointed. She had looked at the information and thought it was just a little bit short, but she didn't expect it to be completely impossible. Now she was wondering if she had acted impulsively and asked the boss to do this.

Although she didn't make it too obvious, someone still reported the matter to He Yuxin.

Then He Yuxin had a talk with Huang Lingyi—no, it should be said that He Yuzhu held a conference call with her, which resolved Huang Lingyi's inner conflict. What excited her the most was that He Yuzhu promised to help her get a state-of-the-art lithography machine.

He Yuzhu then handed the task over to He Yaozu, who was in North America.

Having just completed a series of inspections of civil aviation, shipbuilding technology companies, precision instrument and semiconductor companies, He Yaozu received new instructions from his father.

In fact, Ho Yiu-cho's work in North America did not go smoothly, not smoothly at all.

Following the list provided by his father, he visited one by one the Chinese experts who had made significant contributions to academia and industry.

The conversations usually start pleasantly, with the other party quite pleased with the humility and respect for technology shown by the young entrepreneur from the East.

However, once the conversation delved into inviting them back to their home country or to serve the Yellow River, the atmosphere took a sharp turn for the worse.

Most people looked hesitant, then politely declined and saw the guests out.

A gentleman who works as a senior researcher at a well-known semiconductor laboratory privately told Ho Yiu-cho: “Mr. Ho, I admire your and your father’s ambition. But the reality is that I have a stable job and life here, and my children are growing up here. More importantly, the field I work in is very sensitive. Since you have come to us, you should know how serious the barriers are. Even if we go back, we won’t be able to make much of a difference. In a few years, if the situation improves, I will definitely go back.”

"Thank you for being so honest!"

Those are nothing compared to the more direct blows coming from the business level.

When he approached several small and medium-sized enterprises that were struggling financially but possessed specific precision manufacturing technologies, the companies would often reject his offer outright from the board of directors or the capital behind him as soon as they heard that he had Chinese capital backing.

In response, Chen Sheng patted him on the shoulder and said, "Young man, it's not that we don't have enough money, but that some people would rather let their technology rot in their hands, or sell it to other European and American companies at a low price, or even mortgage it to a bank than sell it to us, because we are Chinese, and that's the reality."

"Uncle Sheng, I actually know, but I just wanted to give it a try."

"That's normal. I had the same problem when I first arrived."

"I don't think I'd be able to successfully purchase any lithography machines using my position."

"It's alright, we have many ways to buy it back," Chen Sheng said with a smile.

"I'll still have to trouble Uncle Sheng. I'll study hard."

"It's okay. Just like your dad gave me a chance, I will teach you everything I know. As long as you are willing to learn."

"willing."

After returning to his residence, He Yaozu couldn't help but call his father.

His tone on the phone inevitably carried a hint of frustration and resentment: "Dad..."

On the other end of the phone, He Yuzhu's voice was tinged with laughter: "Feeling the difference now?"

"Yes, I felt it. Not just in terms of technology, but also in terms of the environment."

"and then?"

He Yaozu took a deep breath and said, "I increasingly feel that only when a truly strong and prosperous motherland stands behind us can we, as businessmen traveling abroad, stand tall and speak with more weight. Many of our current difficulties stem from the fact that we as a whole are not strong enough."

After listening to his son's story for a long time, He Yuzhu finally spoke through the receiver with a relieved smile: "Yaozu, you've really grown up to think this way. This trip wasn't in vain. Remember this feeling, but don't let it crush you; only by recognizing the gap can you know the direction to strive for. The more they act like this, the more it shows they're afraid of our strength, so we should strive to become stronger."

“I understand, Dad.” He Yaozu gripped the microphone tightly.

"You've been drawing attention for a while now, so be careful over there and think things through carefully," He Yuzhu advised.

"it is good."

Several months later, a batch of wooden crates labeled "laboratory instruments" and "medical equipment" arrived at Huacheng Port and the Special Economic Zone after transiting through several third-party countries and regions.

With complete customs documents and proper procedures, and thanks to special assistance, customs clearance was exceptionally smooth.

The box contained the results of He Yaozu and Chen Sheng's extensive efforts in North America: a set of core components and technical data for civilian infrared thermal imaging, purportedly for "security and fire monitoring"; several sets of second-hand miniaturized avionics and radar systems, purportedly for "general aviation aircraft modification"; and the most crucial "laboratory-grade" lithography machine.

The lithography machine was transported directly to the microelectronics R&D center in Beijing.

When Song Zhiyuan and his technicians carefully opened the layers of protective enclosures in the ultra-clean laboratory and saw the precision machine gleaming with a cold metallic light, his hands trembled slightly and his eyes instantly welled up with tears.

"With it, we can at least catch up with the international mainstream level," he murmured to himself, as if he saw the possibility of realizing his long-cherished wish.

Huang Lingyi was extremely excited, as there was finally hope of breaking through the bottleneck in chip design.

"Old Song, this is a treasure, there's only one. You can't take it apart for research." Huang Lingyi quickly stood in front of the machine, seeing the eager look in Song Zhiyuan's eyes as he looked at the machine gun.

"No, no, I just want to take a look." Song Zhiyuan said with an awkward smile as he came back to his senses.

Having received the promise, Huang Lingyi immediately organized a team to install and debug this precious machine, and began studying the accompanying technical manual.

Song Zhiyuan's team was also busy, participating throughout the entire process.

Meanwhile, the batch of infrared thermal imaging components and avionics radar systems were secretly sent to the newly built factory of "South China Precision Machinery" on the outskirts of Huacheng.

Xu Damao personally took over the task and arranged for his most trusted technicians to carry out disassembly, research, and reverse engineering in a separate workshop guarded by reliable personnel sent by Wu Qianli.

Upon hearing the news, Wu Qianli, Xiong Jie, and others secretly came to visit once.

When they saw the outline of a person lurking in the grass hundreds of meters away through the demonstration screen of that civilian infrared equipment in the pitch-black night, the two looked at each other and saw shock and excitement in each other's eyes.

"Damn, if we could install this on our helicopters..." Xiong Jie lowered his voice, leaving the rest of his sentence unfinished, but the meaning was clear. Wu Qianli patted Xu Damao's shoulder heavily: "Damao, tell Zhuzi that this thing is of great significance! We must thoroughly understand it; we must build our own."

Xu Damao felt the weight on his shoulders and nodded solemnly: "Don't worry, we will definitely do our best."

As for the avionics and radar of the small civil aircraft, He Yuzhu had Xu Damao give them to Wu Qianli and his group. These were not of much reference value to Huang He, so it was better to give them as a favor.

To be honest, He Yuzhu has better radars, but he doesn't want to use them to scare people. He brought back too many things from his trip to the Monkey Country, including several types of ground radars. In addition, the radars on Apache helicopters and F-15s have been thoroughly understood. The technology is now sealed and waiting for the right time to be used.

Not only those, He Yuzhu also gave several dismantled American planes from the Vietnam War.

"This thing is from the Americans?" Wu Qianli exclaimed.

“My brother said yes.” Xu Damao nodded.

"How did it get disassembled like this? Can it even be put back together?" Wu Qianli asked.

"Well, I don't know either. It seems like I never intended to pack it up and give it to you for research."

"Oh, I knew it! But speaking of which, where did this thing come from?"

"It seems they came from over there," Xu Damao said, pointing north.

"Spoils of war? Why are they so new?"

"I don't know."

"How come you don't know anything? Why don't we ask Zhu Zi?"

"Why? Do you think he can tell you the truth?"

"So how do we hand it in? We'll just hand it in like this. We'll just hand in the junk that Zhuzi bought as junk. But the junk is sorted into categories quite neatly."

Should we shuffle them?

"It's alright. Since Zhu Zi dared to give it to us, there's no problem. These things are indeed a bit outdated."

"Oh."

"By the way, Damao, go back and tell Zhuzi that we won't take this for nothing. As for what the higher-ups will give us, I don't know. Let's wait and see."

"I'll pass that on."

After Xu Damao left, Wu Qianli and Xiong Jie looked around at the neatly stacked aircraft parts, marveling at them.

These "junk" items are in surprisingly good condition, almost as if they were just taken apart off the production line, with very little rust.

“Old Xiong,” Wu Qianli lowered his voice, his fingers brushing over a piece of wing skin, “this thing doesn’t look like junk salvaged from the battlefield. It’s too new, unbelievably new.”

Xiong Jie crouched down, carefully examining the English markings and serial numbers on the parts, his brow furrowed: "The F-4 and F-106 are both old models, but the level of storage and maintenance they've maintained is truly impressive. Zhu Zi's methods are incredibly unconventional. How did he manage to get them? Did he dig them up from some graveyard?"

"Don't talk nonsense, and don't ask. If you ask, I don't know." Wu Qianli straightened up. "Da Mao said it came from the north. The north, huh? The north is flirting with North America now. How could such good stuff flow out? I bet it's Zhu Zi's own connections. That kid probably has a team overseas that can raid bird nests."

"So we're just going to submit this? This junk?" Xiong Jie was still hesitant. "This thing is too conspicuous. What are we going to say if they ask about its origin?"

Wu Qianli pondered for a moment, a decisive glint in his eyes: "As for the source, let's agree on one thing: we'll say it was obtained through special channels, from the international second-hand equipment market, or even from scrap materials in certain regions. Anyway, things are chaotic outside right now, and it's not surprising that some things leak out. If the higher-ups investigate too deeply, let the intelligence team deal with it. We'll just hand over our mission to them, and the rest is none of our business."

He narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "This is Comrade He Yuzhu's patriotic sentiment; he went to great lengths to obtain this to support national defense construction. If someone..."

Xiong Jie nodded knowingly: "Understood, we brothers can still pick up a gun."

"Alright, you keep an eye on things, I'm going to make the call."

A few days later, several jeeps with special license plates quietly drove into one of Xiong Jieshi's warehouses.

Several middle-aged and elderly men dressed in Zhongshan suits or old military uniforms, with a calm demeanor, got off the car. Accompanying them were several people wearing glasses who looked like technical experts.

Wu Qianli and Xiong Jie had been waiting for a long time, and with serious expressions, they led them to the heavily guarded independent workshop.

The warehouse door slowly closed, isolating it from the outside world.

When the tarpaulins covering the aircraft parts were lifted, even the most knowledgeable experts couldn't help but let out a low gasp of surprise.

An elderly expert strode to a pile of parts, knelt down, and his trembling fingers traced the cold metal skin, carefully examining the inscriptions and riveting techniques. "This...this is so well preserved! This isn't just junk, it's a textbook!"

He looked excitedly at one of the leaders in charge, “Old sir, look at this process, this structure! It has great reference value for our current project, no, it should be said that it can greatly improve our technical level!”

The old commander leading the team had a solemn expression. He looked around at the "harvest" in the workshop, and his gaze finally landed on Wu Qianli and Xiong Jie: "Qianli, Xiong Jie, you have made a great contribution this time! No, it is Comrade He Yuzhu who has made a great contribution! These things cannot be bought with money!"

Wu Qianli straightened his back: "Commander, Comrade He Yuzhu only said that he managed to get it back through some overseas connections, from the international second-hand market and some scrap materials channels, as a way to contribute to the country's construction. He couldn't reveal any more details."

The old leader nodded, indicating his understanding.

At his level, he naturally understood that some channels needed to be kept absolutely secret.

"Please convey to Comrade He Yuzhu that the country and the people thank him! We will remember this kindness." He paused, then said to the veteran expert, "Immediately organize the most reliable technical personnel to form a special task force to conduct systematic research, mapping, and reverse engineering on these materials! All participants must strictly adhere to confidentiality regulations!"

"Sir, let us transport it back; it's not convenient to study it here!"

"Alright, Qianli, you arrange the car."

"Yes."

Surprisingly, after the items were taken back, some people actually wanted to investigate He Yuzhu, and even more so, they wanted to find out where the items came from, for various reasons.

Lao Fan went to find Lao Fang immediately. Lao Fang was furious. He went back to the special department and gave them a good scolding. He said that anyone who flew a fighter jet back to China was considered to have revolted, and yet they were investigating people who donated fighter jets. They were just doing some nonsense every day.

Then he went to his superiors in person, and the matter was finally settled. Of course, there were definitely some secret investigations, and Lao Fang still gave He Yuzhu a warning.

“Zhu Zi, that batch of ‘scrap metal’ you brought back has caused quite a stir.”

"Uncle Fang, what did you say? I don't understand." He Yuzhu asked.

"Don't play dumb with me. Don't you know what you brought back? It's good stuff, so good it's almost blinding. Someone's following the clues to find out what you're up to."

“Oh, then let him touch it, what am I afraid of?” He Yuzhu said.

"Let me tell you, don't mess around. I've already taken care of things here, and no one will be making any overt moves for the time being. But you'd better clean up the mess properly and don't let anyone follow you around; it won't be good for you."

He Yuzhu laughed and said, "You can rest assured about my work. If they manage to find anything, you should really promote them. They're quite capable." He understood Lao Fang's subtext: the higher-ups had tacit approval, but there were bound to be different thoughts among the lower ranks, so they needed to be more cautious. However, he still made a sarcastic remark: Was he afraid of being investigated? What was there to be afraid of? They brought back people from the battlefield. Where could they investigate? Even if they did investigate, the people might not admit it. That would be a disgrace.

"Don't try to fool me, I'm serious."

“I know, I mean it,” He Yuzhu said.

"Okay, take care of yourself and don't come back for a while." Old Fang said and hung up the phone.

He Yuzhu put down the receiver and sighed. This "test" had yielded results. The "big guy" really couldn't be brought out, or else it would be a real mess.

Then Wu Qianli called.

"Pillar, I'm sorry, we..."

"Needless to say, what business is it of yours? If someone wants to jump, let them jump. Sooner or later, they'll be held accountable," He Yuzhu said.

"Your channels are all outside, so tell them to keep an eye out. You know what to do when it really matters."

"Don't worry, when have you ever seen me go easy on anyone?" He Yuzhu said.

"That's good. I was really worried that your precious sword would be dulled by money."

“No, I can kill them all right now if I go up there,” He Yuzhu said.

"Don't come back anytime soon. I'll tell you when things are calmer, and we can come back for a drink together."

“Okay, but you’ll have to prepare the wine. I can’t be the one cooking and preparing the wine every time,” He Yuzhu said.

"No problem, the higher-ups have given us plenty of good wine, I've saved it all for you."

“Okay,” He Yuzhu said.

(End of this chapter)