Chapter 21 The Communications Department Allowed to Do as They Wish
Su Yuanshan slept until noon before getting up. No one was home, but fortunately, there were leftovers in the fridge his mother had left for him. He heated them up, and just as he finished eating without even putting down the bowl, the phone rang.
"Xiaoshan, awake yet?"
"Awake. Sister-in-law, what's up?" Su Yuanshan asked, a little dazed as he held the receiver—it was Yang Yiwen calling.
"Good, we'll come pick you up in five minutes. No need for you to walk—by the way, you're heading to the company, right?"
"Yeah, okay. I'll wait for you downstairs," Su Yuanshan said, hanging up, still feeling a bit confused. He quickly gathered his materials and went downstairs to wait. In just a few minutes, he understood what she had meant by not needing to walk.
Yang Yiwen pulled up in a beat-up Crown sedan belching black smoke—an old car that Uncle Zhang had driven from Wuchang. This wreck had been manufactured in the 1970s and had survived over 200,000 kilometers, its battered appearance telling a story of age and hardship.
Uncle Zhang was its fifth owner and usually didn't dare to drive it long distances, afraid it would break down and never start again.
"Get in," Tang Wenjie, sitting in the passenger seat, reached over and unlocked the door for Su Yuanshan.
"Sister-in-law's car..." Su Yuanshan paused, smiling. He suddenly remembered that Fei Yuqing, the infamous dirty-joke king, had not yet gone off the rails in this era.
Su Yuanshan climbed in and laughed. "I really admire you, Sister-in-law, daring to drive Uncle's clunker."
"Hah, your uncle said just drive it until it finally gives up, then get a new one," Yang Yiwen said, stepping lightly on the gas. The Crown shuddered a few times before lumbering out the school gate.
Su Yuanshan rolled down the window and leaned out, letting the scenery blur past. For the first time since his rebirth, he began to seriously observe this ancient city.
It was already early July 1991. Although not on par with the four major Special Economic Zones, the provincial capital was quietly opening up. New construction sites, new shops, and even the increasingly bold fashion choices of the girls on the streets all marked the city's gradual return to youthful vitality.
A faint smile appeared on Su Yuanshan's face as his gaze swept over the young girls passing by—he liked pretty girls too.
When two brightly dressed young women turned and revealed the full faces behind their slim silhouettes, one of them exposing cheeks full of youthful collagen, Su Yuanshan's expression suddenly changed. He leaned instinctively out the window.
Ye Rudai?!
"Rudai... Wait!"
At that moment, as the Crown was just rounding a corner, Yang Yiwen heard Su Yuanshan's shout and pressed the brakes, asking hesitantly, "Should I stop?"
"Stop! Stop!"
Although she had no idea what was going on, Yang Yiwen slowly pulled over. Before the car had even come to a complete stop, Su Yuanshan had flung the door open and sprinted toward the intersection.
"Follow him and see what's wrong!" Yang Yiwen ordered urgently.
But Tang Wenjie didn't even need to be told—he had already jumped out, shouting as he chased after Su Yuanshan.
After a few steps, he saw Su Yuanshan standing there, looking anxiously around.
"Did you see someone you know?"
Su Yuanshan pressed his lips tightly together, scanning the bustling crowd, but it was a busy area. With the turn of a car and a blink of an eye, it was easy to lose track of someone.
"Maybe I imagined it..."
He walked a few more steps, paused, and finally returned to the car in silence.
It seemed he must have been mistaken—or perhaps it was someone who merely resembled her.
Still, that fleeting glimpse had stirred emotions and memories he had deliberately buried deep within. Closing his eyes, Su Yuanshan saw nothing but images of Ye Rudai.
Ye Rudai was from Penang. Thanks to her father being a factory director, her family was well-off. Like Su Yuanshan, she had been exposed to an Apple II computer at an early age and developed a deep passion for programming. She had stubbornly chosen to apply to UESTC, becoming one of the few—and most admired—female students.
Their meeting had been quite dramatic. Su Yuanshan was a freshman then. Thanks to his "childhood training" and his father's influence, he had early access to the university's labs. One day, while he was walking and contemplating circuit designs, a girl behind him cried out dramatically—"The seniors said you could find resistors on Fountain Road. Turns out it's true! Senior, you dropped your resistor!"
Turning around, Su Yuanshan saw Ye Rudai, dressed in a white top and long black skirt, pointing at two color-ringed resistors by his feet. She had one hand pointing at the ground and the other covering her mouth, her delicate face looking just like a heroine from an animated film.
...
Back at the company, Su Yuanshan first greeted Xi Xiaoding, then headed to Tian Yaoming's office. Their pager development group had started with eight members, but three had been taken away by Uncle Zhang yesterday, leaving only five.
"Xiaoshan, we're out of work now. How about granting me a summer vacation?" After a day of sleep, Tian Yaoming was full of energy and half-joking.
"Sure, take a look at this first," Su Yuanshan said, tossing a document folder onto his desk.
Tian Yaoming opened it. Inside was a single sheet of paper.
"Some Thoughts on a GSM Wireless Communication Project"
As Tian Yaoming read on, his eyes grew brighter and brighter. By the end, he couldn't help but leap to his feet.
"You mean we're going to do GSM baseband communication?"
"Not just baseband—the entire system..." Su Yuanshan licked his lips, a little helpless. "Calm down. You know better than I do how difficult this will be."
"Of course! This is my specialty!" Tian Yaoming sighed dramatically to the ceiling.
UESTC's original name had been the Institute of Telecommunication Engineering. Communications was their core expertise.
But as Su Yuanshan said, Tian Yaoming understood even better just how tough this would be.
GSM was a wireless communication standard established by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. It used a wireless cellular system, different from pagers and analog "big brother" phones—it represented the forefront of digital communication.
The GSM standard had been finalized last year, and companies like Motorola, Siemens, and Nokia had already started developing baseband chips, but none had yet entered the market.
Thus, Tian Yaoming was both excited and aware that this was no small task.
"Most of the current company employees are electronics and circuit specialists," Su Yuanshan continued. "There are only a few with communications backgrounds. But a month ago, we recruited about a hundred new people, and they'll be arriving gradually. About twenty of them are communications majors."
"For the next month, lead the current team to organize ideas and gather materials. After that, when the new recruits arrive, focus entirely on this project. There's no time limit—take as long as you need. For funding and materials, just ask me. Only one condition: you must formally join the company, and all inventions will be classified as work-related. But all the honor will belong to you, along with invention bonuses."
Su Yuanshan smiled as he watched Tian Yaoming.
"Oh, and by the way, we'll also hire your advisor, Professor Zhang, as a consultant. It'll help with your graduation."
"Well?" he asked.
Tian Yaoming gradually calmed down. He clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to control his excitement.
Su Yuanshan wasn't worried. After so much time together, he knew that Tian Yaoming was someone who could settle down and work hard on technology. Given full research conditions, generous rewards, and no arbitrary restrictions, he wouldn't refuse.
"Really no time limit? I can do whatever I want?"
"Of course!" Su Yuanshan lifted his eyebrows, smiling mischievously. "This is your chance for fame and fortune, Senior Brother Tian."
"Let's do it!"
Su Yuanshan exhaled lightly and turned toward his own office.
Unless tens of billions suddenly fell from the sky and a hundred wireless communications PhDs rained down with it, there was no way to avoid Qualcomm's dominance in the 3G era. They would eventually have to join the CDMA camp.
Su Yuanshan didn't expect Tian Yaoming to produce results within two or three years or to catch up with the first batch of digital mobile phones.
But he needed Tian Yaoming to explore a path for Yuanxin in digital communications and build a capable team.
That team would be the backbone of 3G to 5G.
At that moment, the receptionist knocked on the door. "Manager Xiaoshan, three people from Langchao Company are here to visit."
Su Yuanshan looked up, puzzled. "We bought our computers from Great Wall, didn't we? Is Langchao here to sell something?"
"Not sure. They brought a foreigner with them."
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