Chapter 276 Chen Haoming's Pressure
Meanwhile, over at Pandora Lab, Xi Xiaoding, Tang Jun, and Chen Haoming were gathered together in Xi Xiaoding's office. It was an informal meeting between senior brothers, so no one else came to disturb them. Of course, Qin Weimin and Tian Yaoming had already dragged Claude and Howard off to the bar for drinks.
Yes, Yuanxin had its own bar, and business was quite good. The reason for building a bar inside the tech park was simple — with the deepening of reforms and the influx of new ideas, trends, and lifestyles into China, alongside the construction boom, there had also been a rise in less savory activities. Although bars were no longer new, those who hung out at bars all year round tended to be idle types. After several incidents involving bar fights, including some where Yuanxin employees were almost seriously injured, Su Yuanshan had ordered a bar to be built within the tech park itself.
If people really wanted to party, better they did it under controlled circumstances.
After all, as the old saying goes, a precious son shouldn't sit beneath a dangerous beam.
...
"When are you and Xiao Si getting married?" Xi Xiaoding asked casually as he pulled out a box of Zhonghua cigarettes from his desk, offering one to Tang Jun and Chen Haoming before tossing the pack onto the coffee table and turning to Chen.
Chen Haoming laughed, "You sound just like my mom."
Xi Xiaoding shrugged. "Answer or don't. I'm just making conversation."
"Uh... soon. Planning to do it when either Xinghai or Star Ventures goes public," Chen Haoming said as he lit a cigarette for Tang Jun first, then himself. After taking a slow drag, he exhaled a smoke ring and smiled. "She's something else now — Star Ventures is easily valued at several billion U.S. dollars. Once it goes public, thanks to the shares Su Yuanshan gave her, she'll be a billionaire overnight."
"Heh, like you're any worse off," Xi Xiaoding chuckled.
Though he didn't say it outright, he knew that unless absolutely necessary, Star Ventures probably wouldn't go public at all. More likely, it would grow into a massive private equity firm.
"Position matters," Chen Haoming said jokingly. "She's the CEO. I'm just the CTO. How can I compete?"
Tang Jun smiled silently at their exchange, a hint of envy flashing in his eyes.
These two younger juniors, several years younger than him, were already CTOs — and Xi Xiaoding was even more prestigious, holding the lofty title of Chief Scientist.
Although Su Yuanshan had given Tang an extremely generous offer, both in terms of position and technical rank, the reality was that there was still a slight gap in status.
But he couldn't help but admire them — they were the true founding members, and Xi Xiaoding was the most legendary among them, having returned from overseas in 1991 to help create both Yuanxin and Xinghai.
"By the way, Senior Brother Tang," Chen Haoming said, turning toward him, "how hard is it really to make a DSP chip? I heard from some people next door that it's not something just anyone can do."
"Who's your neighbor?" Tang Jun chuckled. "They're not wrong... but it depends on the situation."
He flicked his cigarette ash and continued, "At Yuanxin, we have top-tier design teams and outstanding mathematicians. All I need to handle is the overall architecture and source code."
Hearing that, Chen Haoming didn't ask any more. Like Xi Xiaoding, his focus was still primarily on programming and industry-specific software development.
This time, he had come to promote Xinghai's new line of industry software, as well as their browser and CC programming environment.
Within Xinghai, everything looked harmonious on the surface — and in fact, there weren't any major internal conflicts.
But, as with any tech company that straddles both hardware and software, natural divisions inevitably formed.
Small cliques formed around individual development teams. Larger factions formed around strategic directions.
Though Chen was officially the CTO, he essentially represented all the software teams.
Meanwhile, Carly — due to her background and the need for political balance — represented the hardware side.
Thanks to Su Yuanshan and the delicate balance maintained by Yang Yiwen, Carly remained relatively gentle toward the software teams.
But after years in the West, Chen Haoming understood a hard truth — respect must be earned.
If his software division failed to deliver results, not only would he lose face, but Xinghai's development would become lopsided, and he would lose any ability to balance Carly's growing influence.
Su Yuanshan had never explicitly told him to check Carly's power, but Qin Si had explained it to him clearly.
That was why Su Yuanshan had pushed a newly graduated Ph.D. like Chen Haoming into the role of CTO — to place a trusted "insider" at the top and ensure Xinghai stayed aligned with Su Yuanshan's broader vision.
Understanding that, Chen Haoming felt an immense weight on his shoulders.
Especially since this year had been a bumper year for the hardware teams.
Sony's PS console remained wildly successful.
The Voodoo graphics card had sold like crazy.
The GPU department had ballooned and now posed a real counterweight to the Cyrix team.
Cyrix had also taped out its latest CPU, now awaiting mask work at Texas Instruments. Even though the new architecture's progress was a little slow, if they succeeded, they would be a true competitor to Intel.
Meanwhile, Carly's communications division had racked up massive achievements — cordless phones, mobile phones, even several base stations sold to the Philippines.
Riding this wave of hardware success, Carly was now preparing for an IPO.
If the software division could also step up, Xinghai's IPO might even set a historical record for Silicon Valley.
In short, from every perspective, this year's Software Expo was crucial for Chen Haoming.
...
After escorting Davidson back to his hotel, Su Yuanshan and Qin Si continued strolling around the campus.
The sky had fully darkened.
Looking at the Pandora Lab hidden among the trees, Su Yuanshan suggested, "Want to swing by Senior Brother Xi's place? Chen's probably over there too."
"Sure, let's walk," Qin Si said with a soft sigh, folding her hands behind her back as she strolled slowly along the artificial lake.
As the crowd around them thinned, she spoke quietly, "What do you think about Carly's plans?"
"You mean the IPO?"
"Yeah. From my perspective, it doesn't seem like the best timing," Qin Si said, squinting slightly. "The internet is rising fast, and Xinghai's real strength actually lies with Old Chen's side."
She smiled, quickly clarifying, "I'm not just saying that because I'm biased toward Old Chen. I genuinely believe that his team's technology forms the foundation of the internet. Once the internet truly takes off, Xinghai's valuation will skyrocket."
Su Yuanshan chuckled, neither agreeing nor denying.
He knew Qin Si's perspective was heavily influenced by him — she had come to view the internet as the ultimate priority.
And honestly, he couldn't blame her.
Qin Si watched him thoughtfully.
"I agree with your view," Su Yuanshan finally said. "But you're still underestimating the value of hardware — especially... GPUs."
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