Chapter 6 I'm Not Targeting Anyone
After lunch, Xi Xiaoding went to Su Xinghe's office.
"Senior Brother, do you feel bad losing your territory?" Su Yuanshan joked as he packed up his things, glancing at Qin Weimin.
"Lose what?" Qin Weimin rolled his eyes and smiled. "To be honest, I'm relieved. You didn't see it, but the moment your dad found out about Xiaoding's background, his face lit up like New Year's Eve."
To bring in a real expert like Xi Xiaoding, a PhD from UPenn, an expert in computer science and modeling, it was a miracle for a small private startup like Yuanxin.
"Besides, now I can focus on the single-chip microcontroller project with your dad," Qin Weimin added. "Which, honestly, is more exciting than managing people."
He looked around at the group of semi-skilled graduate students scattered around the office and whispered, "Frankly, most of these guys are here to sponge off experience for their resumes."
Su Yuanshan laughed. "No worries. We'll make sure they work hard for it. No free rides."
Within a few days, Xi Xiaoding officially joined Yuanxin, taking over as technical director and leading the development team.
His ability quickly became evident. He was the only one who could keep up with Su Yuanshan's rapid thoughts, and he even helped optimize many key algorithms, significantly improving the efficiency of Yuanxin's EDA software.
At the same time, Yuanxin's recruitment efforts picked up steam. They brought in many computer science graduates, including some from top universities like Tsinghua and Peking University.
Su Yuanshan restructured the company's organization, splitting the programmers into ten small teams of five to six people each. Every team included one semiconductor specialist to help bridge the knowledge gap between hardware and software.
As May approached, excitement buzzed through the Jiangdu Building.
The first and second floors of the mall were bustling. In preparation for the May Day grand opening, new shops moved in one after another.
Most of the businesses were related to electronics—pagers, stereos, VCRs. There were already three shops specializing in pagers.
Feeling the competition, Zhang Ke ran upstairs to find Su Yuanshan.
"Kid, we've got a problem," he said, sitting down heavily in Su Yuanshan's office. "Those other pager shops may be smaller, but they're still a threat."
Su Yuanshan leaned back in his chair, tapping his pen thoughtfully. "Did you advertise?"
"No," Zhang Ke admitted. "Nobody else did either. Besides, the newspaper ads are all about the mall's grand opening. Even if we bought ad space, it wouldn't stand out."
"Alright," Su Yuanshan said. "Here's what you do. Go to the mall's advertising department and offer them a little money. Tell them we're supporting their event. All they need to do is add two words at the beginning of their promotional slogan."
"What two words?"
"Di Di." Su Yuanshan grinned. "Make it big and eye-catching, like a horn blowing—something new and catchy."
Zhang Ke rubbed his chin and nodded. "Interesting. But how does that help us?"
"You secretly make a few big signs and hang them from the ceiling on opening day," Su Yuanshan said. "All they say is: 'Di Di.'"
Zhang Ke's eyes lit up. "Alright, I'll do it! You little rascal, you really have ideas!"
"But that's not enough," Su Yuanshan added. "The real competition will be in how we present our staff."
He grabbed a piece of paper and quickly sketched a design: a fitted black business suit, white collared shirt, black pencil skirt, sheer stockings, and small black leather shoes, topped with a butterfly-shaped necktie.
Zhang Ke squinted at the sketch. "Uniforms?"
"Exactly. Dress all our salesgirls like this," Su Yuanshan said. "Also outfit the front desk and admin staff upstairs."
"You little brat," Zhang Ke chuckled. "Already thinking about pretty girls?"
Su Yuanshan shook his head seriously. "It's not about me liking it. It's about customers liking it."
"Visual appeal is crucial for sales."
Zhang Ke closed his eyes and imagined it. "You know what? You're right. But isn't the skirt a little short?"
"One inch above the knee is best," Su Yuanshan said. "The skirt must be tight to show off the figure. Same with the jacket."
"Fine, fine. I'll listen to you. But if it doesn't work, I'm telling your mom."
Su Yuanshan choked.
"And what about your seven female programmers?" Zhang Ke teased. "Don't they need uniforms?"
"Female programmers aren't women," Su Yuanshan said solemnly. "They don't need it."
Zhang Ke almost fell over laughing.
After sending Zhang Ke off, Su Yuanshan went back to work.
With the main program, input tools, and database completed, the teams shifted their focus to development tools and simulation modules.
Xi Xiaoding personally led the team working on automated routing algorithms—his specialty. Meanwhile, Su Yuanshan and Qin Weimin traveled to Jiangyin to gather manufacturing process data and refine the crucial simulation functions.
According to their current pace, they would complete the alpha version of Yuanxin EDA by May.
Time was tight because Su Yuanshan needed the software to design the first-ever Chinese-character wireless paging chips.
These chips were crucial to Yuanxin's future.
Motorola and Langchao were about to standardize Chinese pager codes. If Su Yuanshan moved fast enough, he could beat them to market.
Otherwise, once Langchao's standard was adopted nationwide, Yuanxin would lose its advantage.
He wasn't targeting anyone specifically. He just sincerely believed that the standard should be set by Yuanxin.
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