Courtyard House: A Major Power's Heavy Industry, Hand-Crafted Nuclear Fusion

Summer 1979, Akihabara, Tokyo.

This is the mecca of Japanese electronics and a global trendsetter for consumer electronics.

July 1st was supposed to be the release date of Sony's first-generation Walkman TPS-L2. Akio Morita had been preparing for this day for a long time, and countless GG (Good Game) posters had already taken over the streets of Ginza and Shinjuku.

However, the atmosphere in Akihabara today is somewhat eerie.

At the entrance of Sony's flagship store, there was a queue, but it was sparse, with only a few dozen die-hard fans.

Across the street, in front of the newly opened "Red Star Electronics (Tokyo) Specialty Store," the queue stretched for three whole blocks!

They even deployed mounted police from the Metropolitan Police Department to maintain order.

"What happened?"

Akio Morita sat in his black sedan, looking out the window at the frenzied crowd across the street, his face ashen. "Our TPS-L2 is having its debut today, why are they all running over there?"

"President..."

The secretary wiped away cold sweat and handed over a red box. "Because...because Red Star Company also released their Walkman today, codenamed 'Red Star-X1'."

"A clash of releases?"

Akio Morita sneered, "Overestimating themselves. We've been in the tape recorder industry for twenty years. What do they, a game console maker, know about sound quality? What do they know about precision mechanics?"

He opened the box.

The next second, his smile froze.

What lay in the box was not the rough plastic product he had imagined.

Instead, it is an incredibly thin silver metal box made entirely of brushed aluminum alloy.

It's only the size of a palm, and its thickness... is only half that of the TPS-L2!

What's even more striking is that it's too beautiful.

The minimalist industrial design, with the red five-pointed star logo embedded in the corner of the fuselage, exudes a cool and avant-garde sci-fi feel.

In comparison, the blue and silver TPS-L2 in his hand suddenly looked like a heavy brick.

"Let's listen to a sample."

Akio Morita put on the matching headphones with trembling hands.

Press the play button.

It lacks the annoying background noise and motor whirring of traditional tape drives.

The music flowed into his ears like a clear spring.

The high frequencies are clear and transparent, while the low frequencies are deep and resonant.

Especially the stereo separation, it's like being in a live concert hall!

"What...what kind of motor is this?" Akio Morita asked in astonishment. "How can it be so stable? There's not a single vibration!"

The disassembly report shows...

The technical director, head bowed, sounded like he was crying. "They used a miniature brushless DC motor. This kind of motor... is usually used in missile gyroscopes. Its speed control precision is two orders of magnitude higher than ours."

"Missile motor?"

Akio Morita felt a wave of dizziness. "Are they crazy? Using missile generators to listen to music?"

"besides……"

The technical supervisor pointed to the circuit board, "They used a dedicated audio processing chip with built-in noise reduction algorithms. This... this is also a decentralization of signal processing technology from military radar."

"And the price?"

Akio Morita clung to his last glimmer of hope, thinking, "Using such military-grade materials must be very expensive, right? Our TPS-L2 sells for 33000 yen, how much are they selling it for? Fifty thousand? Sixty thousand?"

The secretary swallowed hard and held up two fingers.

"14800 yen."

"..."

Akio Morita clutched his chest and slumped into his chair.

It’s over.

Half the price, twice the performance, and ten times the aesthetics.

This is hardly business competition.

This is simply a dimensional reduction attack! It's a ruthless crushing defeat from a higher dimension of industrial civilization!

……

Meanwhile, on the second floor of the Red Star specialty store.

Su Zheng stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the long line of young people from Japan, holding a glass of sake in his hand.

"Su Sang, you are truly amazing."

Standing beside him was Tanaka Ichiro, the general agent for Red Star Electronics in Japan. This small electronics dealer, who was on the verge of bankruptcy, now looked at Su Zheng as if he were God.

"This isn't selling appliances, it's practically printing money!"

Tanaka was so excited he was almost incoherent. "You know what? That batch of phones was even being resold by scalpers for 30,000 yen! Those young people said that owning a 'Red Star-X1' is cooler and more fashionable than owning a Sony!"

"cool?"

Su Zheng smiled. "Of course it's cool. Because it's not just a music player, it's a culture."

He pointed downstairs to the stylish young people with dyed hair.

They wore red star portable music players on their waists and red star headphones on their ears, the red five-pointed stars shining brightly in the sunlight.

In the past, the red five-pointed star might have represented "rustic" and "backward" in their eyes.

But now, with the support of cutting-edge industrial design and advanced technology, this symbol has been redefined.

It represents "hardcore", "rebellious", and "mysterious power from the East".

It became a totem.

A fashion item that has become a must-have for trendsetters on the streets of Shibuya, Tokyo.

"Su-san, but there's something strange."

Tanaka looked puzzled. "Why wasn't the cassette tape that came with your Walkman a pop song, but instead a... symphony?"

That's "The Butterfly Lovers".

Su Zheng took a sip of wine, his eyes deep, "There's also a rendition of 'Ambush from Ten Sides' on an electric guitar."

"I want them to know that China not only has good products, but also a great voice."

"When they listen to our music, use our products, and admire our technology."

"That so-called 'sense of superiority' will burst like a soap bubble."

……

Three days later, in Ginza, Tokyo.

A product launch event for Red Star, titled "Voice of the East," is underway.

Su Zheng did not go on stage. He handed the stage over to a young Chinese designer.

The designer, dressed in a Zhongshan suit, spoke fluent Japanese to hundreds of media representatives in the audience, explaining the "Red Star Design Language":

"Minimalism is not about being crude, but about returning to the essence."

"We used aluminum, the same material used in aircraft manufacturing, and the same technology used in chip manufacturing, to create this portable music player. Because we believe that every soul that loves music deserves to be respected."

The applause of the audience was thunderous.

The flashbulbs were going off like crazy.

The next day, the headlines of major Japanese newspapers read:

Industrial Aesthetics from China!

The Twilight of the Sony Empire? The Red Star X1 Sweeps the Island!

Red Storm: Chinese Manufacturing is Winning Over the Hearts of Young People!

Looking at these newspapers, Su Zheng knew that things were in order.

The Game Boy took over the living room.

Walkmans have taken over pockets.

Red Star Electronics has firmly established its brand image. It is no longer a cheap OEM manufacturer, but an international giant representing high technology and fashion.

"How's the cash flow?" Su Zheng asked Ye Xinyi, who was standing next to him.

"Very healthy."

Ye Xinyi looked at the report in her hand and smiled, a rare occurrence for her. "With the booming sales of Walkmans, our cash flow has exceeded five hundred million US dollars. Moreover... because we own core patents, Sony has to pay us a patent fee of three US dollars for every TPS-L2 unit they sell."

"To kill someone is to destroy their spirit."

Su Zheng laughed loudly, "However, I like it."

"That's about it."

Su Zheng's smile faded as he looked out the window at the Tokyo Tower. "The situation in Japan is largely settled. As long as they maintain a product iteration pace of one new model every six months, Sony won't be able to turn things around for at least ten years."

"Next, it's time to go to the final battlefield."

He turned around and took a plane ticket out of the drawer.

Destination: San Francisco.

Time: Tomorrow.

"Xinyi, have you packed your luggage?"

"All packed up."

Ye Xinyi pointed to two boxes in the corner.

One of the boxes contained a few changes of her clothes.

The other, larger box was filled with hard drives and blueprints.

That was the source code of "Red Flag OS", the design blueprint of "Loongson 2", and the spark for China's electronics industry in the next decade.

"This trip to Silicon Valley might take a long time."

Su Zheng walked up to Ye Xinyi and gently tidied the stray hairs at her temples. "Are you scared?"

"I'm not afraid."

Ye Xinyi raised her head, her gaze clear and firm. "Wherever there is computing power, that is my battlefield. And..."

She paused, her voice so low it was almost inaudible:

"As long as you're here."

Su Zheng felt a warmth in his heart and took her hand in his.

Their hands were clasped tightly together in the Tokyo night.

From the nuclear explosion site in the Northwest desert to the negotiating table in Hong Kong, and then to the bustling streets of Tokyo.

They walked through the most difficult years together.

And now, they are about to set foot on the most technologically advanced and fiercely competitive land on this planet—Silicon Valley.

Go there and plant that red flag on the Mount Everest of world science and technology.

"Let's go."

Su Zheng picked up his suitcase. "Let's go give those Americans a little bit of a shock from China."

……