Reborn in 2012, building a new energy empire

In the factory of "New Technology" in Suzhou Industrial Park, the air is filled with the faint smell of coolant and metal dust as always.

Gu Qiushi stood in front of the old wire cutting simulation test bench, a pair of slightly bulky goggles perched on his nose, his eyes behind the lenses fixed on the waveforms and data jumping on the screen.

His white coat had a few oil stains and the cuffs were a little worn, but he stood straight, like a javelin.

Wang Qiming stood to his side and slightly behind, holding a thermos cup with some paint chips on it, from which a faint steam rose.

He wasn't wearing goggles, but squinted, his eyes glued to the screen. The lab was quiet, save for the low hum of the equipment and the occasional hiss of the cooling system.

They have been testing here continuously for seventeen hours.

Starting yesterday evening, the latest batch of diamond wire samples, codenamed "G-7", underwent final comprehensive simulated cutting tests.

This is not the first time, and it will certainly not be the last.

Over the past year, especially in the two months since Kirin Technology acquired a stake, similar scenarios have been repeated no less than a hundred times.

They constantly adjusted the busbar material ratio, optimized the electroplating solution formula, and changed the heat treatment curve. Then they would prepare samples, test, analyze data, fail, and adjust again... This cycle repeated itself endlessly, becoming so tedious that it numbed them.

But this time, it seems a little different.

The robotic arm on the testing platform, following a preset program, pulls the "G-7" diamond wire, which is thinner than a hair, back and forth on a standard polycrystalline silicon ingot sample at a constant speed and tension.

On the screen, the curves representing cutting resistance, line vibration, and temperature changes extended smoothly without the previously common sharp spikes or sudden drops.

"The linear speed remains stable... the tension fluctuations are within the allowable range..." Gu Qiushi whispered the key parameters, his voice slightly hoarse from long hours of concentration.

Wang Qiming didn't respond, but gripped the thermos cup even tighter, his knuckles turning slightly white.

The simulated cutting was finally complete. The robotic arm automatically lifted, the silicon ingot was removed, and sent to the adjacent optical inspection instrument. A high-magnification lens scanned the cut surface, and the computer began automatic analysis.

The tens of seconds spent waiting for the results felt unusually long. The only sounds in the lab were the background noise of the machines and the almost inaudible breathing of the two people.

The final analysis report popped up on the screen.

Gu Qiushi took a deep breath and leaned forward, almost touching the screen.

Wang Qiming strode over to his side and slammed the thermos onto the nearby counter.

The data in the report is very clear, showing a significant leap compared to the previous generation: Line loss rate: reduced by 15.2% compared to the previous generation's best sample (G-6); Average surface roughness (Ra): improved by 8.7%; Wafer edge chipping rate (>50μm): decreased by 41.3%; Line operation stability index (overall): improved by 22.5%.

Each of these represents a significant improvement in key metrics.

Gu Qiushi straightened up, took off his goggles, and rubbed his bloodshot eyes. He didn't cheer or jump for joy; he just let out a long, long breath of stale air.

Then, he turned to Wang Qiming, his lips twitching with difficulty as if he wanted to laugh, but his facial muscles seemed stiff from prolonged tension, ultimately forming only an extremely complex expression.

Wang Qiming stared at the data for a full half minute.

Then, without saying anything, he simply extended his calloused and finely scratched hand and patted Gu Qiushi's shoulder heavily. The force was so great that Gu Qiushi swayed.

"Damn it..." Wang Qiming finally spoke, his voice rough, carrying a sense of relief and exhaustion, and a tremor that was almost imperceptible, "...Finally...we've seen something decent."

Gu Qiushi nodded, wanting to say something, but his throat felt a little tight.

He turned around and rummaged through a pile of printed papers filled with various failure data and hastily drawn-up analyses, finally finding the G-6 test report. Comparing the two, the black and white text clearly showed tangible progress.

This is not the final victory. There is still a long way to go before achieving stable mass production, meeting cost targets, and fully matching or even surpassing imported products in performance. There may be countless obstacles along the way.

But this at least proves one thing: their chosen path of improvement, starting from the fundamentals of materials and heat treatment processes, is feasible. All those countless days and nights of theoretical deduction, parameter adjustments, and frustrating failures were not in vain.

Hope, like the faint glimmer of light shining from the screen of the testing instrument in this dimly lit laboratory, is weak yet truly present.

When Jiang Haoran received Gu Qiushi's call, he was in the trading room of Jiutian Investment, watching the first decent negative line appear after the continuous surge in infrastructure stocks.

On the phone, Gu Qiushi's voice remained as restrained and steady as a technician's, but Jiang Haoran could still hear the barely suppressed turmoil beneath that calm tone.

"General Jiang, the final simulation test data for the 'G-7' batch is out. Key indicators have shown breakthrough progress."

Jiang Haoran immediately stood up, gave a few brief instructions to the trader beside him, grabbed his coat, and headed out.

"Specific data."

Gu Qiushi clearly and concisely reported several key figures on the other end of the phone.

Jiang Haoran paused for a moment, standing in front of the elevator, looking at his somewhat blurry face reflected on the metal door.

The thin sunlight of a winter afternoon streamed in through the window at the end of the corridor, casting a long, thin shadow of him.

"Okay, congratulations, I'm coming right now."

His voice was calm, but after hanging up the phone, his fingertips lingered on the edge of the phone for a moment before pressing the elevator down button.

About half an hour later, the brand-new silver Panamera stopped in front of the familiar, dilapidated old factory building in the Suzhou-Hangzhou Industrial Park.

The deep winter wind swept across the empty park without any obstruction, stirring up withered leaves and dust, and whipping the bare branches and rusted metal pipes with a biting chill.

Inside the factory was another world. The central air conditioning maintained a constant temperature, dispelling the harsh cold outside.

The air was filled with a faint smell of machine oil, chemical reagents, and the distinctive odor of equipment that had been running for a long time. But at this moment, the atmosphere in the laboratory area was strangely stagnant.

Success does not bring celebration, but a silence that is a mixture of extreme exhaustion, relief, and deeper pressure.

Like a bowstring stretched to its limit for a long time, after finally hitting the bullseye, it doesn't immediately relax, but needs a little time to confirm that the "bang" was not an illusion, and to feel the force that supported it slowly receding.

Everyone was exhausted and hadn't recovered yet.