I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 132 Old Man Wields a Hoe

As the director, Lao Fangtou is extremely busy, managing computer-related project development, which differs from the typical equipment manufacturing project initiation process. It leans more towards academia than industry.

The entire upstream and downstream industries of computers, even the design of processing technology at the production end, are difficult to solve through experience, unlike traditional industries where theoretical support is sometimes lacking.

Most of the time, breakthroughs in basic theories and research come first, and only then can inspiration emerge from them.

In traditional equipment manufacturing, sometimes the team leader might find that the temperature control is off by 10 or 11 degrees, or even 100 or 200 degrees. Hey, how did this thing mutate?
Taking ceramic tiles as an example in home decoration materials, there are actually very few truly outstanding products developed through positive innovation, and even fewer blockbuster products. The blockbuster products that have been tested in the market, apart from marketing efforts, are often the result of accidental success, similar to "kiln transformation."

Some tile suppliers can become giants with a scale of billions in a certain place simply because they have a product that is particularly awesome, particularly good-looking and particularly in line with the style of the times. But this awesome product is nothing more than the result of a worker taking a nap in the factory at night and oversleeping.

Then comes the process replication.

There are no scientists, no high-end laboratory equipment, and not even spectral analysis is needed.

I think that's fine.

Of course, if you insist on calling this a kind of materials experiment, that's not entirely wrong; it just so happened that the wealthy boss picked it.

The requirements for computers are much higher, requiring breakthroughs in materials science, processing technology, algorithms, and so on. It is a collection of one system engineering project after another.

This is why industries derived from the electronics industry are called "high-tech" or "cutting-edge technology." Super industries that are bet on and valued by the country's top strategic masters could not have been "a big deal" from the beginning.

Perhaps individual programmers might pray for peace when faced with code left by their predecessors, and then never touch it again, since it will still run anyway. But for the entire industry, this "I think the method" won't work.

It requires the concerted efforts of mathematicians, physicists, chemists, and others.

This is why, in the upstream and downstream of the computer industry, regardless of the region, large investments that are linked to the capital market are usually led by chief scientists, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences or the Chinese Academy of Engineering. If they don't take the lead, ordinary researchers simply won't come.

Fang Daqiao is currently traveling all over Jiangkou Province, uniting the experts in the province, and if necessary, requesting personnel from them.

While Zhang Da'an was recruiting people in the provincial capital of Shandong, Lao Fangtou also took the opportunity to visit several local universities, mainly experts in "library management" from a long time ago. This group of veteran experts from Shandong later became one of the many teams in China that started to develop library management systems and Chinese character input methods.

Currently, "Xiaobai Antivirus" has entered a rapid update phase of its development, with a focus on how to retain users and how to further increase the functionality of the antivirus software while reducing its size.

In order to piece together the boss's puzzle piece by piece, Fang Daqiao has already completed the internal testing of "Xiaobai Input Method" ahead of schedule, and has applied for patents for "two-way input retrieval", "automatic URL completion", "keyword association", "common word library" and other features.

The patent ideas were basically all given by Zhang Da'an. The role of Lao Fangtou was enough to make the "Xiaobai Input Method Project Team" work overtime.

They ate and slept in a closed building on Xianlin Avenue. They had three meals a day, afternoon tea, and late-night snacks. As long as the programmer wanted something, even if it was just to taste what matsutake mushrooms tasted like, Zhang Da'an would do anything, even if it meant having his "cousin" fly to Southwest China that day and then fly back to Jiangning to bring them back by hand.

As for money, the average daily wage is 700 yuan, which is equivalent to the salary of a project manager or development office director in other large companies.

This treatment is unique in the entire Jiangkou Province. Even veteran programmers who run their own software development companies in Jiangning City may not earn a total profit of 200,000 yuan a year.

Even though the landlord was on high alert, the salary and benefits still got out. Despite repeated explanations that frontline programmers only make about 5,000 yuan a month, the people who inquired were completely bewildered and replied: "Only?"

In fact, the hard work within the company is not in the basic salary, but in the project bonuses. The "boss" can get 7.5% of the bonus pool, and if a hit product is produced, he can become financially free on the spot.

Even though they had no idea how to make a profit, and even though the boss had said early on that "Xiaobai Input Method" was free... it was still free.

This is the most frustrating part for programmers; they might not achieve financial freedom on the spot...

It's a happy kind of trouble. If it weren't for that old geezer, Lao Fangtou, who was wielding a whip, things would definitely be even happier.

With Fang Daqiao's qualifications and abilities, let alone criticizing programmers, even the research lab mentors of programmers would have to offer him a drink and a cigarette first.

Given their status, they have connections that extend back to several former industrial ministries.

The old man came to Jinan City to poach people to Jiangning and then create his own font library.

At the same time, there are several people related to semiconductors. If necessary, Fang Daqiao's idea is to directly invest in an electronic dictionary production line in the "thousand-acre industrial park".

It's easy to make multiple dishes from one fish.

So when the boss held a job fair at the old cadres activity center in Dongcangmen, Lao Fangtou contacted a few middle-aged men who were also on summer vacation and ordered a pot of "Longjing" tea on a boat on the west moat.

Then we talked about starting a business in the south.

"Daqiao, how much money do you make now?" "A month or a year?"

"Is there a difference?"

"That's a huge difference. In a month, it's only fifty or sixty thousand; in a year, it's more than a million."

"Fuck!"

There was an old man with gray hair who wasn't actually seventy or eighty years old, only fifty-two, but he was a serious old scholar who had been doing research for a long time, and his hair had turned gray many years ago.

I still have tasks to complete, but it doesn't require as much effort anymore. I can just delegate them to the PhDs under my command, and then he just needs to sign his name.

Of course, he didn't take advantage of the doctoral students. The results belonged to whoever they were. After all, he had also suffered a lot along the way, and he wouldn't say that he had been through the rain and now he was waving the umbrella.

He is a person with high moral standards. It's not that he doesn't like money, he just doesn't want to resort to certain tricks.

Hearing that Fang Daqiao suddenly made over a million a year, my first reaction was that Old Fang had fallen from grace and was now settling for "tea eggs" rather than "atomic bombs." But then I remembered that Old Fang was originally from Jiangning University of Finance and Economics, and everything made sense again.

"Stop fucking just saying 'Holy shit'! I'm here to discuss something with you guys and analyze it. Listen to me first, then make your own decisions. I'll only be in Jinan for three days. After that, I'm going to Beijing. I've also made plans with someone at Jinghua University."

"Okay, then you tell me."

The middle-aged men didn't hesitate; they drank tea, ate snacks, and listened to what the old man had to say.

Fang Daqiao first opened his briefcase, took out a file folder, untied it, pulled out a few sheets of paper, and distributed them to everyone.

"Firstly, there are the projects I'm currently in charge of, and I've already marked the number of development team members; secondly, the local governments of Jiangkou Province, Jiangning City, Wudu City, Taihu City, and others are also providing support in terms of resources. The corresponding industrial support policies and talent policies will be announced one after another after the National Day holiday. We're just giving hints now, and the specific implementation will take place either next year or the year after next, in March or April."

"In terms of funding, it mainly comes from my boss, a local state-owned investment company, a small number of banks, and a small number of private capital groups. There are no individuals involved. However, employees can apply for targeted fundraising together in their individual capacities and then hold shares and receive dividends. We will not cross any red lines. My boss is very law-abiding and often emphasizes that we are running a legitimate organization."

"..."

"..."

Several middle-aged men remained silent, thinking that the owner of the old house must be very humorous.

Then an old bald man suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Ah?! So this is 'Zhang Xiaobai Technology Co., Ltd.'? You work at this company?! Then isn't your boss the 'three-time champion'?"

"Oh~~ is that the young man who cursed Li Jiqi so badly that he ended up in the hospital getting an IV drip? That kid really has a sharp tongue, and his insults are really filthy."

“I saw him advertising in Jicheng a few days ago. A lot of students were handing out flyers. I even took one back with me. He came to Jicheng to recruit, poaching local middle school teachers to work for him.”

"This is truly despicable. There are so many schools in Jiangkou Province, yet they come to Shandong to poach them. Is this even acceptable?"

It's one thing to gossip about one's boss, but the old man even chimed in with his own rant: "You guys know nothing! He poached talent from every county-level city under Wudu, and even from Chongzhou next door. He doesn't care about anyone. Two years ago, anyone who could become a first-level lecturer earned 150,000 yuan a year, not including bonuses and benefits. Is that fair? Do you think that's fair? He's ruthless. Unless you give him a bribe, he won't stop poaching people. Otherwise, it's all about money. I know a head of a Chinese language group who earned 180,000 yuan a year just in salary. He's about to go back to his hometown to become the principal of a branch school. He's not earning much less than me, even though I do more work."

"Why don't you go teach?"

"Forget it, there's an internal certification system. If you pass it, you're a big shot; if you don't, you're a nobody."

Shaking his head, Fang Daqiao envied Han Tieguai, but everyone has their own expertise, and he didn't have the talent for it. However, if the boss were to set up a vocational school or junior college specializing in accounting, he would be more than qualified to be the principal.

Actually, another reason why Lao Fangtou kept helping the boss make connections was this: once he had made enough money, he could go and become a school principal to retire and enjoy a comfortable retirement.

They had money, face, status, and even disciples and followers.

If a formidable figure emerges from the school in the future, perhaps my future grandchildren will also benefit from it.

After finishing this, I'll publish a book titled "How Should Vocational Education Take the New Era?" by Fang Daqiao...

That's incredibly cool.

It's much more effective than publishing papers in university. At his age, all that talk about academic accumulation is nonsense. You need to have the right opportunity. Although he has a vague feeling that his boss can definitely create miracles, he just can't see any possibility of him making a name for himself.

But there was one thing Old Fangtou firmly believed: at forty-seven years old, he had no chance; but following his madman boss, he was sure to have something to eat.

(End of this chapter)