Chapter 28: A Proposal to Acquire Property

Su Qiao was selected by Yanjing University's special recruitment program.

Even after working for Zhao Lixing privately, Xu Xiangdong insisted on his own opinion.

Despite offending both his boss and his superior, Zhao Lixing maintained a clear conscience and felt relieved.

Throughout, Zhao Lixing called Wang Xiang, expressing constant apologies, stating that the loss of Chen Xiao as a student was Yenching University's loss, not Chen Xiao's.

Wang Xiang was surprised that such an outstanding student like Chen Xiao was overlooked by Yanjing University.

Wang Xiang decided not to inform Chen Xiao that he and Zhao Lixing were classmates, and he entrusted Zhao Lixing to look after Chen Xiao. The purpose was to avoid affecting Chen Xiao's mood, allowing him to review peacefully.

Little did Wang Xiang know that Chen Xiao had already discarded that idea.

In contrast, it was Su Qiao's family who received the news that Su Qiao failed to get admitted.

Upon hearing this, Su Qiao got angry at Su Desheng and locked herself in her room.

For Su Qiao's admission to Yenching University, Su Desheng had invested a lot of money and used connections.

When Su Desheng sought help from a middleman, the response was that because Su Qiao's classmate Chen Xiao performed too well, it disrupted the admission process. Consequently, neither of them was selected.

This explanation was rational, not because the middleman had not worked hard, but because someone else had outperformed them.

"Chen Xiao, this name sounds familiar..." Su Desheng suddenly remembered that Chen Xiao was the son of Chen Qiang, a worker in the factory, the one who designed the circuit diagram of the main board of the CNC machine tool.

Su Desheng felt extremely upset. His father, Chen Qiang, seemed to have brought misfortune, and now it appeared that his son was also facing a similar fate.

Determined to use his powerful network, Su Desheng began exploring the possibility of having his son recruited by other universities.

Chen Xiao was waiting for the Toshiba laptop to boot up. He had used a floppy disk to obtain a TC compiler from a computer teacher in the school.

Chen Xiao had only heard about floppy disks before, and today was the first time he saw one, feeling like he had stepped into ancient times. Nevertheless, it worked just fine.

Having clicked on the TC compiler, Chen Xiao noticed books on C language lying next to the computer.

Though activating the technology tree did not instantly grant him all the knowledge of the C language, it allowed him to learn and comprehend it at a higher level after some study.

At present, Chen Xiao had become proficient in using the C language.

He planned to use the compiler to write a plug-in for Red Alert 95 first.

The plug-in was simple and could be completed in a few minutes, but it couldn't fit on a floppy disk. So, Chen Xiao decided to try it out at an Internet cafe the next weekend using a CD-ROM drive.

"Having no internet at home... It's really inconvenient."

Chen Xiao couldn't help but think about the era of wireless networks everywhere in the future cities. In comparison, the current world seemed quite lonely.

The landline phone rang urgently, interrupting his thoughts.

After Lin Hui answered the phone, she called out, "Chen Xiao, someone's looking for you."

It was Wang Xiang on the other end of the line.

Wang Xiang said, "Are you free on Saturday? Someone wants to purchase your motherboard design at a high price."

Chen Xiao asked, "Where should I go?"

Wang Xiang hurriedly replied, "You don't have to go anywhere; we'll come to visit you."

On Saturday, Chen Xiao decided to give up going to the Internet cafe (computer room) to try his plug-in and waited for the visitors at a restaurant not far from home.

An Audi A6 pulled up at the restaurant entrance, and Wang Xiang and a chubby middle-aged man stepped out of the car.

In this era, only wealthy individuals could drive an Audi, let alone afford one.

"Chen Xiao, this is Mr. Zhou, Chairman of ADLINK CNC Machine Tool."

"Mr. Zhou, this is Chen Xiao, the one who designed the motherboard for the CNC machine tool in my hands."

"Hello, nice to meet you!" President Zhou extended his hand for a handshake. "I've been looking forward to meeting the genius boy."

Chen Xiao regarded the compliment as a polite remark.

Zhou Linghua started out in the maintenance of foreign CNC machine tools and later ventured into making domestic machine tools.

ADLINK CNC machine tools purchased second-tier motherboards from overseas and eliminated chips. These parts were then assembled and reprocessed in China.

Although the performance and quality of ADLINK CNC machine tools were not on par with pure imports, they satisfied many domestic low-end customers.

While German and Toyo CNC machine tools could cost tens of millions, ADLINK CNC only needed tens of thousands or slightly more.

CNC machine tools represented a lucrative market, and over the years, Zhou Linghua had made a considerable fortune by purchasing foreign waste (CNC machine tools that had been eliminated overseas), dismantling motherboards, chips, and usable parts, and then reproducing supplementary parts, assembling, and engaging in OEM business.

In 1998 and 1999, there were waves of layoffs, and many people started their own businesses, with some even entering Zhou Linghua's line of work.

Although Zhou Linghua's business was profitable, it lacked core technology, making it vulnerable to imitation.

Chen Xiao's achievements had already been spread in the Jiangzhou CNC machine tools circle, which made Zhou Linghua quite sensitive.

Zhou Linghua got straight to the point, "I can obtain Demag's chips from overseas and produce the main body of the machine tool. If I have your motherboard, I can produce a machine tool with the same performance as Demag's but at a lower cost."

Chen Xiao's motherboard was a general-purpose one, compatible with several types of machine tools from Demag, which were popular worldwide.

Copying Demag's technology would enable Zhou Linghua to produce higher-quality and more profitable machine tools than simply refurbishing overseas parts.

Zhou Linghua was excited; he knew that only core technology could guarantee long-term success.

He could imagine how many factories would line up to purchase domestically produced Demag machine tools.

Zhou Linghua originally intended to directly approach Delong to produce the motherboard, but Wang Xiang insisted that Delong had no technical intellectual property rights, and the rights belonged to Chen Xiao.

To manufacture the motherboard, Chen Xiao's agreement was necessary.

Zhou Linghua didn't waste time on unnecessary talk and said, "I want to buy the ownership of your motherboard's blueprints outright. Brother Chen, name your price."

Zhou Linghua offered a cigarette to Chen Xiao, but when it was refused, he lit it himself.

Wang Xiang glanced at Chen Xiao and added, "Chen Xiao, it would be better if the blueprint could be realized as soon as possible."

As an insider, Wang Xiang knew that integrated circuit development was progressing rapidly.

While many people might not currently be able to design Chen Xiao's blueprint, within a year or two, there would likely be others who could plagiarize, imitate, and even surpass it.

Chen Xiao took a sip of tea, contemplating the proposition.