Chapter 577 - 575: The Crown Jewel of Industry
Chapter 577: Chapter 575: The Crown Jewel of Industry
Before leaving, Han Xiaorui called Wang Liwen and Ye Zheng.
Her father-in-law, Ye Zheng, was still away on a business trip and wouldn’t be back for another two days.
Wang Liwen was at home and warmly welcomed Han Xiaorui to come over with the children for the New Year.
When Ye Ling and Ye Chen heard their sister-in-law was coming, they were ecstatic and bought a lot of New Year’s goods in advance.
Han Xiaorui boarded the plane with Xia He and Sister Lian.
Xia He and Xia Lian were the newly hired bodyguards. Both were female veterans, and local ones at that.
The pay was high, and social insurance was included.
Wang Liwen and Ye Ling came to pick them up from the airport personally, and they all headed home together.
"Aunt Wang, Ye Feng didn’t come this time. I have some business to attend to, so I’ll need to leave the children here in your care."
Wang Liwen quickly smiled. "I was already hoping you’d all stay with us. With Ye Feng away, I wouldn’t feel at ease with you staying in that big courtyard house by yourselves."
"What do you need to do? Ye Ling is on break, so he can go with you. As for the four children, Ye Chen and I will be at home. I guarantee we’ll take good care of them for you."
"Thank you so much, Aunt Wang," Han Xiaorui said gratefully. Ever since she and Wang Liwen had reconciled, they had gotten along well and could trust each other completely.
This mutual trust was the result of helping each other out.
In the car, Ye Ling asked, "Sister-in-law, when will my brother be back?"
Han Xiaorui replied, "Probably in about half a month. The project over there is massive and involves too many things, so your brother will be staying there for quite a while."
Ye Ling nodded. "I see. It would have been great if he were home so we could all celebrate the New Year together. I had an event this year that only ended the day before yesterday. Otherwise, I would’ve taken Ye Chen to Shencheng to visit you all long ago."
"Sister-in-law, what exactly is it that brought you here this time? If there’s anything I can do to help, just say the word. I’ll give it my all."
Han Xiaorui smiled. "It’s a matter of great importance. We’ll talk about it when we get home."
Hearing this, Ye Ling’s expression turned serious. He knew the weight behind those words.
His sister-in-law was always easygoing, but she had never backed down from anything, no matter how big the challenge.
He rarely saw her get anxious, even over the most difficult matters.
’With my brother away, the fact that my sister-in-law rushed to Beijing over his business must mean it’s something incredibly important.’
"Alright!" Ye Ling held his breath, ready for anything.
Wang Liwen grew a little nervous. "Xiao Rui, should I call your father-in-law and ask him to come home as soon as possible?"
Han Xiaorui shook her head. "No need. This matter doesn’t have much to do with Father-in-law. I’ll see what I can do first."
"Alright then, you try first. If you can’t handle it, your father-in-law can think of something," Wang Liwen said with a nod. "Xiao Rui, don’t panic when you run into trouble. Just do your best and leave the rest to fate. Often, just when you think you’ve hit a dead end, a new path will open up."
"Mhm!" Han Xiaorui smiled. "Don’t worry, I’ll do my best."
When they arrived home, the housekeeper had prepared a delicious lunch.
Ye Chen was playing with his nephews and nieces in the yard, having a snowball fight.
It was only then that Han Xiaorui spoke to the solemn-faced Ye Ling. "I need to go to Tsinghua University to see Professor Xu. We have to report to the higher-ups that the lithography machine R&D team cannot be disbanded."
Ye Ling was shocked. "My brother invested a lot of money into this! If it’s disbanded, all his investment will go down the drain!"
Han Xiaorui nodded, filled with emotion. "Yes, and the money is the least of it. If this R&D team is broken up, it will be incredibly difficult to assemble it again. Chips are hailed as the ’grain’ of modern industry and the ’jewel in the crown’ of modern technology."
"As the catalyst for the Third Industrial Revolution, the semiconductor industry, represented by chips, has given rise to a series of major transformations like computers, the mobile internet, communication technology, and industrial digitalization. You could say that chip technology is one of the core competencies of modern science, representing a nation’s technological prowess and innovative imagination."
"Our country has been continuously conducting R&D in this area. The lithography machines used to make chips are equivalent to ’industrial mother machines.’ Now, foreign countries have suddenly opened up sales of lithography machines; some models are no longer under embargo and are permitted for export."
"Everyone thinks the foreign lithography machines are better, so they buy foreign ones, and our domestically produced machines are about to face a situation where no one wants them. Many people feel that instead of investing so much money in R&D every year, it’s better to just buy from abroad. This way of thinking is very dangerous. It will cause a huge shock to our domestic upstream semiconductor industry."
Ye Ling listened with a grave expression. "A while ago, my university held a debate on this very issue. The affirmative side argued for self-reliance, while the negative side argued that it’s better to buy than to build. They think this will allow them to participate in foreign globalization and integrate into the Western world."
Hearing this, Han Xiaorui realized, ’So the war of public opinion has already begun.’
"The Mao Bear to the north knelt before the West. Their so-called ’shock therapy’ involved selling off state assets for pennies, which were then bought up at rock-bottom prices by countries in Europe and America, allowing domestic oligarchs to monopolize resources. The common people’s lives became even more miserable. Was it worth it?"
Ye Ling didn’t speak. He recalled that they had once discussed the situation in Russia after the collapse of the Mao Bear.
Many from his academy would go into politics in the future, so it was normal for them to discuss the international situation in class.
"Sister-in-law, don’t worry," Ye Ling comforted her. "Make the call first. I’ll take you there."
Han Xiaorui nodded. "Okay!"
She made the call and scheduled a meeting with Professor Xu.
Ye Ling and Han Xiaorui went to Tsinghua University together and found Professor Xu.
When Professor Xu saw them, he personally poured a glass of water for Han Xiaorui. "Mr. Han, why didn’t Mr. Ye come?"
Han Xiaorui replied, "Ye Feng is abroad on business and will be back in half a month. I’ve received some news... is the lithography team going to be disbanded?"
Hearing this, Professor Xu sighed. "Someone brought it up. They said we spend so much on funding every year, but the things we develop aren’t as good as what’s available abroad. They argue it’s better to just buy foreign equipment, which can produce higher-quality chips."
"It’s not just scholars who think this way now; many companies are also rushing to apply to purchase foreign equipment. What’s worse, some aren’t even importing lithography machines—they’re importing chips directly from abroad, which is even cheaper."
Hearing this directly from Professor Xu made Han Xiaorui’s heart sink even lower. "’If you’re behind, you’ll be beaten.’ How long has it been, and they’ve already forgotten? This is the jewel in the crown of modern industry."
"They’re only selling to us cheaply now to cripple our semiconductor industry. Once we lose the ability to do our own research and development, they’ll raise the prices. And we’ll have to agree to whatever harsh conditions they impose."
"And this ’cheap’ is only relative. They can trade one of their machines for countless tons of our agricultural products and cheap industrial goods. We work ourselves to the bone, and for what? So they can eat the meat while we don’t even get a sip of the broth."
"If our country’s development continues like this, then what’s the point of all our hard work? Is it just so we can be exploited by Western countries? The example of the late Qing Dynasty is right there: ’If you’re behind, you’ll be beaten.’ It’s not so bad that we’ve been behind for a long time, but we’ve always been striving, ’learning from the barbarians to counter the barbarians.’"
Professor Xu was a very traditional researcher, and he was even more determined to preserve the R&D team.
He knew all too well how difficult this field was.
If you don’t advance, you fall behind, and you’ll never be able to catch up later.