King of Technology: A Fresh Start in 1983

Chen Jianghe carried a bag of carefully selected imported milk powder and two boxes of royal jelly. After carefully registering at the gate, he was allowed to pass.

After passing through a heavily guarded compound shaded by green trees, we arrived at a detached two-story building.

He rang the doorbell of the courtyard.

The door was opened.

"Jiang He? When did you return to the capital? Please come in."

Su Wanqing opened the door.

She was wearing a loose and comfortable off-white cashmere sweater.

His face was slightly pale, with faint dark circles under his eyes.

But his eyes were still clear and bright, only less sharp than usual, and a little tired.

She stepped aside.

"Mr. Su, I'm sorry to bother you. I just returned to Beijing from Shenzhen yesterday, and I heard from Mr. Zhou and Professor Li that you haven't been feeling well lately..."

Chen Jianghe asked with concern, his gaze quickly sweeping over her slightly haggard face.

"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired. Thank you for your concern."

Su Wanqing spoke calmly, leading him into the living room.

The living room is spacious and bright, with elegant yet dignified furnishings.

The furniture exudes the weight of time, and several landscape paintings with profound artistic conception hang on the wall.

The most eye-catching feature is the enormous bookshelf that occupies an entire wall.

It was filled with thick technical books, foreign journals, neatly bound drawings, and various awards and certificates.

In the corner stood an old-fashioned TEKTRONIX oscilloscope.

Next to it were stacks of circuit board boxes and several potted plants full of vibrant greenery.

It adds a touch of life to this academic space.

"Mr. Su, the doctor told you to rest properly, why are you still working?"

"Sigh, you know, I can't stay still..."

Su Wanqing called out towards the inner room, "Dad, Mom, Chen Jianghe is here."

Then, an elderly man with gray hair, a sprightly appearance, and dressed in a neat Zhongshan suit, and a gentle-looking old woman with a kind face came out.

"Hello, Uncle! Hello, Aunt!"

Chen Jianghe quickly stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and greeted him.

"You're Chen Jianghe?"

Su's father's voice was loud and clear, carrying the authority of someone who had long held a high position and a hint of scrutiny that was not easily detected.

"Wanqing often mentions you. Tiangong did a great job! [Xuanyuan Core] has made a name for itself! You've brought honor to the Chinese people!"

He gestured to the sofa beside him, "Sit down! Don't be shy! Wanqing, pour some tea for Xiao Chen."

Mother Su smiled gently and nodded: "Comrade Chen, please sit down. Wanqing is such a workaholic, she really scared us this time."

Chen Jianghe sat down as instructed and looked at Su Wanqing with concern.

"Don't listen to my mom, it's not a big deal."

Su Wanqing brought over some hot tea and casually remarked, "It was just the final push before the tape-out of [Pangu II], a few all-nighters in a row..."

She spoke calmly, as if she were talking about something trivial.

"Wanqing has been stubborn since she was little!"

With a mix of heartache and helplessness, Su's father said to Chen Jianghe, "Treat the lab as your home, and your home as your lab..."

"Her brother, Wanming, couldn't persuade her to stay even by phone from the army! If the doctor hadn't forced her to rest, she would have been stubbornly enduring it in the lab!"

"Dad, I'm all better now." Su Wanqing interrupted softly, handing the tea to Chen Jianghe. "Jianghe, have some tea."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Chen Jianghe and inquiring about the development of Tiangong, Su's parents returned to their study.

Only Chen Jianghe and Su Wanqing remained in the living room.

Su Wanqing picked up an apple, sat down opposite her, picked up a fruit knife, and quietly began to peel it.

Has the FPU hardware-software co-processing solution for Pangu II achieved stable mass production verification?

She asked without looking up, her voice slightly hoarse.

"It's stable now! Thanks to your crucial guidance!"

Chen Jianghe sincerely said, "Lin Wei and Zhang Wei are conducting final verification before mass production, and the yield rate is estimated to be very high!"

On Zhao Xiaobo's side, sales of the [Xuanyuan] multimedia experience version PC, paired with the [Pangu I Card], have increased significantly! The distribution channels have also stabilized!

"Mm," Su Wanqing responded. "Have you looked at the information on driver optimization points for Windows 3.1?"

"I saw it! It's so timely!"

Chen Jianghe's eyes lit up. "We've been having a headache over the compatibility issues of graphics acceleration under Windows!"

"Your suggestions on graphics device interface acceleration and memory management optimization in that notebook were a godsend!"

"Lin Wei has already led the R&D team to modify the driver."

The apple is peeled, the flesh is intact, and the peel is a long strip.

Su Wanqing cut it into small pieces, placed them on an exquisite bone china plate, and pushed it in front of Chen Jianghe.

"Try it. The fruit is grown in the orchard in the yard."

Chen Jianghe picked up a piece and put it in his mouth; it was sweet and crisp.

"Technology is the root, and the market is the leaf."

Su Wanqing picked up a tissue and wiped her hands, her gaze calm. "Only when the roots are deep can the leaves flourish."

"The imminent mass production of Pangu II is a good thing. However, in the PC assembly market, it will be difficult for Tiangong to catch up with major manufacturers such as Great Wall and Lenovo."

"Relying solely on price and multimedia concepts won't get you far."

"What is the core of the Xuanyuan brand? Is it technological leadership? Reliable quality? Or cost-effectiveness? You need to think it through!"

She paused, her tone carrying a deeper meaning: "Your Southern Tour speeches opened up new possibilities, but they also stirred up public sentiment."

"Some people want to learn a skill, some want to make quick money, and some want to leave."

"Tiangong is sailing too fast. If not handled properly, it could get bogged down in financial difficulties..."

"Jiang He, have you ever thought about why He Fan and Zhan Yiling didn't want to stay at Tiangong back then?"

"Logically speaking, their skill level is no worse than Zhang Wei's and Zhao Lin's..."

"The younger generation is quicker to accept new things than we are, and many of their ideas are worth pondering..."

"There's a lot of internal debate at Lenovo right now about whether to go with 'technology, industry, and trade' or 'trade, industry, and technology'... What path should industry take? Have you thought about that?"

Chen Jianghe slowed down his chewing.

"Mr. Su, I understand."

Chen Jianghe put down the apple, his expression solemn. "Tiangong must take the path of prioritizing technology!"

"Okay, so where will the follow-up funding for the technology investment come from? Does this mean Tiangong will never make a profit?"

Su Wanqing picked up her water glass and took a sip of warm water.

"The second phase of the Galaxy project has been launched."

She continued, "The goal is 100 billion floating-point operations per second. This places higher demands on the processor's memory access bandwidth and task scheduling."

"Chief Engineer Zhang specifically requested that the ACL Laboratory participate in the preliminary research on the architecture of the next-generation supercomputing core processing unit."

Chen Jianghe's spirits lifted: "Please tell Chief Engineer Zhang that we will fully cooperate!"

"Preliminary research requires top-notch architecture talent and process support."

Su Wanqing turned her head and looked directly at Chen Jianghe. "Tiangong's accumulation in [Pangu II] is the foundation, but it is not enough."

"Especially in the physical design and low-power optimization of VLSI."

"The Huaxin project team also wants me to go there full-time to be in charge of the core architecture."

Chen Jianghe's heart sank!

Huaxin!

This is a strategic project for the development of a nationally independent CPU!

If Su Wanqing goes…

What about the technological soul of Tiangong?