America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 273 Everything is Ready

Formosa, Hsinchu, ZhenTek Storage Company.

The fluorescent lights in the laboratory emitted a low hum. Chen Shaokang stared at the blue waveform jumping on the oscilloscope, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the metal casing in the pocket of his white lab coat.

It was a 1.8-inch hard drive model, which felt slightly rough to the touch, and you could feel the burrs on the edges that hadn't been properly sanded.

But this inferior item made his heart race more than any trophy.

ZenTek used to have a mechanical hard drive project. At that time, Chen Shaokang was the core person in charge of the project team. He led the team to work countless all-nighters in the laboratory, drinking coffee until their teeth turned yellow. They were about to break through the technical bottleneck of 3.5-inch mechanical hard drives.

The results of it?

The company's cash flow suddenly dried up, and the project was immediately put on hold.

During that period, Chen Shaokang's mood was even gloomier than the rainy season sky in Hsinchu. The R&D team members scattered like leaves falling from the sky. Some were poached by other technology companies, while those with quick minds packed their bags and went to Japan and the United States to continue to shine in related research fields.

Only Chen Shaokang, due to family reasons, could not leave his hometown and could only grit his teeth and bow to reality, staying at GenTech to do some insignificant technical support work.

Every day I stare at the computer screen dealing with trivial problems, like a piece of gold buried in the sand, without even a chance to reflect light.

But fate is sometimes more unpredictable than the Taiwanese sausage wrapped in sticky rice at the Hsinchu night market.

Within a year, an American company suddenly set its sights on GenTek's abandoned hard disk drive business, not only acquiring related technology patents but also investing heavily in recruiting top industry talent, purchasing imported experimental equipment, and renovating the entire R&D laboratory.

As the person in the company most familiar with this part of the business, Chen Shaokang was naturally recruited into the new company.

The only difference is that the new boss set the goal for the new project not on the mainstream 3.5-inch hard drives on the market, but on developing a 1.8-inch mini hard drive.

When the R&D project was announced, many people on the team frowned because there were no 1.8-inch mechanical hard drives on the market. Who would they sell them to?

(Please remember the website 20 ...

But Chen Shaokang wasn't bothered at all; on the contrary, he was even more excited.

In his view, a blank market means unlimited possibilities. As long as he can successfully develop and commercialize it, his name, Chen Shaokang, will leave a significant mark on the hard drive industry.

"Brother Shaokang, the stability test data for the seventeenth set is out."

Just as Chen Shaokang was envisioning the future in front of the oscilloscope, intern Xiao Lin rushed over like a gust of wind, her sneakers making a rustling sound as they scraped against the anti-static floor.

"The head levitation height was controlled within the ideal range, but after four hours of continuous reading and writing, the bit error rate still exceeded the standard by 0.02%."

Xiaolin's voice carried a hint of frustration, and his once straight shoulders slumped.

Chen Shaokang strode to the computer, where the line graph on the screen appeared particularly glaring under the cold light of the laboratory.

He rubbed his temples, his gaze inadvertently falling on the samples displayed in the glass case—products that had failed during past research and development.

Some had their outer casings sawed open, revealing messy internal parts; some had deformed magnetic heads, clearly indicating serious failures.

These metal cubes, only half the size of a palm, now acted like silent warriors, constantly reminding them that they were one step closer to success.

"Lower the temperature control module parameters by another 0.5°C," Chen Shaokang suddenly said, his voice hoarse from staying up all night. "Also, check the filtering algorithm for the magnetic track servo signal; it might be causing errors due to high-frequency interference."

Xiaolin immediately responded and left, his dejection vanishing and replaced by boundless energy, showing no signs of fatigue from not having slept all night.

Being able to participate in such an important project is a rare learning opportunity for him, and it's worth it even if it's tiring.

The laboratory returned to its usual tranquility, with only the faint buzzing sound of the instruments running.

As Chen Shaokang stepped out of the laboratory, a gust of cold wind hit him, making him shiver involuntarily.

Looking up at the horizon, the east was already tinged with the pale light of dawn. Mornings always come so early in Hsinchu, as if urging people to begin a new chapter of struggle.

Back in his office, the family photo on his desk instantly swept away all his fatigue.

In the photo, he and his wife stand on either side, smiling brightly, while their daughter in the middle wears a pink dress, has two little braids, and smiles innocently, her eyes curving into crescents.

I had planned to have breakfast during the free time in the morning, but as soon as I stood up, before I could even leave the office, Xiaolin's figure chased after me like he was riding on wheels of fire.

"Brother Shaokang, there's new information."

Chen Shaokang turned his head and saw Xiao Lin with a joyful expression, his face flushed and his voice trembling with excitement, "Error rate! The error rate has dropped to 0.001%!"

Chen Shaokang's eyes widened. He no longer cared about his rumbling stomach and practically ran into the laboratory.

Looking at the stable parameters on the computer screen, he was so excited that his hands were trembling. This meant that their research and development had finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel, and all their previous efforts had not been in vain.

Meanwhile, in the general manager's office of GenTech, He Jialiang was sighing and looking out the window, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a mosquito.

What's been giving him a terrible headache lately is that fat American supervisor, Craig. Almost every day, the first thing he does upon waking up is to run to his office without fail, like a debt collector pressing for updates on the hard drive's development. He also occasionally utters a few words of Chinese with an American accent, making He Jialiang feel extremely uncomfortable.

He was puzzled. He used to not see anyone for ten days or half a month at a time. What had happened in the last half month or so?

Then he had someone investigate, and it seemed that his wife had come and had a fight with his local lover, and then he arranged for both of them to go to the United States.

Since it's a woman's problem, does He Jialiang think it's a problem?

Taiwan may not have much else, but it has plenty of beauties. Whether it's betel nut beauties or milk tea beauties, they are all beautiful with wasp waists, plump hips, and fair skin. You can pick any one of them and make any man feel desire at first glance.

If you lose a woman, you can just find another one, right?

In He Jialiang's opinion, old lecher Craig was the easiest to deal with. As long as he was given a few young and beautiful women, he would forget all about research and development.

So He Jialiang started sending Craig women every day in different ways: a pure and lovely milk tea beauty, a passionate betel nut beauty, and a gentle and virtuous beauty.

These women were all young and beautiful, with skin so smooth it looked like you could pinch water out of it, and voices so sweet they could make you sick of it.

To He Jialiang's utter surprise, Craig was like a modern-day eunuch, showing absolutely no interest in these beautiful women who came to him. He didn't even make any inappropriate moves, let alone accept them.

He Jialiang began to doubt himself. Could it be that Craig was a womanizer? Was the lover he found in Hsinchu his true love?

Just as He Jialiang was holding his coffee cup, about to take a sip to relieve his anxiety, the office door was suddenly pushed open with a bang, startling him so much that his hand trembled and he almost spilled coffee on his crotch.

It's obvious without even thinking that it's that damned Craig who's here.

"Hey, Hey, any good news today?" Craig walked in with a gloomy face, his fat face jiggling with each step, like a moving meatball.

He plopped down on the sofa, which creaked as if protesting his weight.

He has recently developed a very bad impression of He Jialiang, and he feels that He Jialiang is definitely targeting him on purpose.

He clearly preferred mature and charming young women, but He Jialiang kept sending him young, innocent girls every day in different ways.

No, he had no interest in these girls at all, because he couldn't feel any masculine virility in them.

He Jialiang cursed inwardly, but still had to put on a smile and flatter him.

Since the other party was sent by the United States, and they couldn't contact the real decision-maker, this fat man could decide his life or death with a single word.

Thinking about it that way, the other person seems more like a eunuch.

"This is a mechanical hard drive, and a 1.8-inch mechanical hard drive that has never appeared on the market before. We have to figure out a lot of the technology ourselves, and we have to adjust all the parameters ourselves. How could we possibly achieve results so quickly?"

"Be patient and wait. I believe that things will get better soon..."

Before He Jialiang could finish speaking, the office door was slammed open again with a loud bang.

He Jialiang's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot, and his anger flared up immediately.

Who's so rude? Don't they know how to knock?

I can't do anything about this fat guy, but you guys can't either?

He was about to reprimand him when he saw Chen Shaokang run in, panting, his face filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"Manager, we succeeded."

He Jialiang's expression changed instantly. The anger on his face vanished without a trace, replaced by a look of delight. He couldn't wait to rush over and kiss Chen Shaokang.

"Quickly, tell me in detail, what exactly happened?"

Chen Shaokang took a deep breath, trying to calm his excited emotions, and then quickly said, "The latest data shows that some of our prototypes have been continuously read and written for more than three hours, and the error rate has dropped to 0.001%, with all parameters stable within the standard range."

"If we can maintain the current stable data for the next five hours, our product will be considered a complete success."

Upon hearing this, He Jialiang was so excited that he immediately stood up from his chair and paced back and forth in the office, rubbing his hands together incessantly, unable to hide the smile on his face.

He knew in his heart that even if the product couldn't remain completely stable during the last five hours of testing, it would still be considered a success.

Three consecutive hours of stable testing is enough to prove that their R&D approach is correct; the remaining issues are just minor problems that can be resolved gradually.

His gaze inadvertently fell on Craig, who looked bewildered on the sofa. He immediately straightened his chest and said confidently, "Mr. Craig, our 1.8-inch mechanical hard drive has been successfully developed."

He Jialiang then explained the test results to Craig in detail, and emphasized that even if some minor problems arose later, they would be insignificant issues, and the overall research and development work could be considered complete.

Upon hearing this, Craig's eyes lit up instantly, and the gloom on his face vanished.

Great! I can finally leave this awful place and go back to America.

During this time, those women with children must have had a very hard time without their own care.