Chapter 465: It’s My Fault for Advancing Too Quickly?(3)
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Didn’t 1 tell you about the situation at Fuxing before?”
“You did,” Lin Wu replied, “During the last report, you mentioned that the scale had expanded again, and now there are nearly ten thousand people working at the steel plant. The local economy has also improved significantly since our last visit.”
“Why didn’t you report it to me?”
Lin Wu lowered his head and whispered, “Boss, you don’t seem to be interested in these matters.”
Zhou Chao gave him an exasperated look and muttered to himself, “You make a good point. 1 can’t argue with that.”
“We should visit Fuxing soon to see how Li Wei has developed the steel plant,” Zhou Chao said. He wanted to check on the progress and remind Li Wei not to be too high-profile.
“Sounds good, boss. We can enjoy some authentic local barbecue while we’re there.”
Zhou Chao gave him an annoyed look and then waved his hand, signaling him to go back to his own room and rest.
Seeing this, Lin Wu chuckled, scratched his head, and left Zhou Chao’s room.
Lying on the sofa, Zhou Chao picked up his phone and grumbled, “This old master, he left nothing for me. Luckily, 1 didn’t hand over the 311m technology to them; otherwise, I’d really have reason to cry.”
He tried calling Old Master Jiang, but the phone rang multiple times without an answer. He knew Old Master Jiang was probably busy with some experiments.
“Well, I’ll have to call him later,” he sighed and placed the phone on the table. Then he reclined on the sofa to rest.
Zhou Chao slept for over an hour and woke up when Lin Wu knocked on the door, calling him for dinner.
“Let’s go out to eat. See if there’s anything good nearby.”
The two of them left the hotel and wandered around the area for about half an hour. In the end, they settled on a Fog City hotpot restaurant. The main reason was that Zhou Chao couldn’t resist the enticing aroma of butter in the air, which made his mouth water uncontrollably, so they decided to go in.
They ordered a hotpot, and it cost Zhou Chao over 500 yuan. Unfortunately, the taste wasn’t as authentic as they had hoped, and the food wasn’t particularly delicious. Towards the end of the meal, Zhou Chao ordered a bowl of egg-fried rice to fill his stomach.
When they returned to the hotel, it was already past 9 PM. Zhou Chao took a shower, and just as he settled down, his father, Old Master Jiang, called.
“Why were you so busy today, old master? Did you just reach home?”
“Home? I’m having dinner now. I’ve been working on some important research. Is there something you need to talk to me about?”
Zhou Chao could hear his father chewing his food.
“Old Master, what’s the deal with the patents for the lithography machine? You registered all of them, and 1 spent so much time researching, only to find out that you’ve already registered all the patents. You didn’t even tell me,” Zhou Chao complained, playing the victim. After all, he was the one who felt wronged, and sometimes a little self-pity didn’t hurt.
“I didn’t mention the patent thing to you? Maybe 1 forgot to tell you. Well, you know, memory fades as you get older,” Old Master Jiang said somewhat sheepishly.
Hearing this, Zhou Chao’s mouth twitched. Is he trying to tease him? Saying that he forgot due to a bad memory is a better excuse than being too busy.
“Xiao Chao, do you know why ASML registered thousands of lithography machine patents in Huaxia and mostly sells their machines to Huaxia? They want to suppress our research on lithography machines and deter us from developing our own products. High-precision lithography machines are essential for top-tier chip research. They’re effectively blocking us at the source. How many companies in China are willing to invest billions in research? Even if some are willing, most likely they’ll be just throwing their money away. So, the country needs lithography machine technology patents to break free from these constraints. 1 hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind. I’m just concerned that someone else might get hold of the lithography machine’s patent technology,” Zhou Chao hinted without directly saying it. He didn’t want others to profit from his technology; that wasn’t something he wanted to see.
“Don’t worry, it won’t leak out. It’s all for internal use. You can rest assured. By the way, you mentioned that you’ve already successfully developed it, and the lithography machine is ready for production in about ten days?” Old Master Jiang grasped the crucial information.
Zhou Chao didn’t hide anything and replied, “Yes, it’s already been manufactured, but it still needs about ten days of debugging. After that, we can start mass production.”
“That’s great!” Old Master Jiang exclaimed in excitement, catching the attention of Yang Lao, who was dining with him.
“Laojiang, who are you talking to on the phone? You sound so excited.”
“Zhou kid, his research institute has already developed a finished lithography machine, 511m. I’m thrilled.”
“Wow, this kid is really something. Impressive.”
Listening to the conversation on the other end of the phone, Zhou Chao wanted to speak up and say, “Old man, you could at least acknowledge my existence.” How did they start chatting among themselves without involving him?
Unable to contain himself any longer, Zhou Chao cleared his throat twice into the phone, making Old Master Jiang realize he was still on the call with Zhou Chao.
“All, I forgot to hang up after chatting with Lao Yang just now. Sorry about that, my boy. Try to achieve mass production as quickly as possible. I’m eagerly awaiting the surprise you mentioned earlier!” Old Master Jiang chuckled.
“Don’t worry, Old Master. 1 won’t let you down,” Zhou Chao reassured him. He knew that the “surprise” Old Master Jiang mentioned was the chip. With the successful development of the lithography machine on the horizon, preliminary research on the chip had already begun. He believed that it wouldn’t be long before they could unveil their independently developed top-tier chip.
“Alright then, I’ll be looking forward to it. 1 have some other matters to attend to, so I’ll hang up now.”
“Wait, Old Master. 1 wanted to ask which universities in China have notable expertise in chip research. I’m planning to recruit some talent.”
“Jinling Integrated Circuit University. It was established a few years ago, specializing in this field. You can give it a try. Additionally, Fudan University in Modu has been one of the earliest institutions in China to research integrated circuits. 1 believe you’ll find some promising individuals there.”
“Thank you, Old Master!” Zhou Chao replied with excitement.
Old Master Jiang smiled and didn’t say much before hanging up the phone..
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