From Wage Slave to Tycoon

While Elder Xiao, Su Chen, and the others were sound asleep, things in the Imperial Capital had already erupted into a frenzy because of Elder Xiao’s phone call.

.......

"Let’s go. I want to see just how many secrets this research base of yours is hiding."

After lunch, Elder Xiao, as expected, suggested they tour the other research institutes.

Su Chen shrugged nonchalantly. He had long been prepared for this. Under Chen Fei’s guidance, they headed straight for the chip research institute.

At first, Su Chen had thought it was in the main research institute area, but to his surprise, Chen Fei drove the sightseeing cart directly to the factory district in the back.

"Professor Wu and his team have all moved over here?" Su Chen asked.

Upon hearing the question, Chen Fei glanced at Elder Xiao and Xiao Chen, who were sitting beside Su Chen. He looked hesitant, unsure if he should speak.

"Go on, there are no outsiders here," Su Chen said, his smile widening. He was quite satisfied with Chen Fei’s conduct.

He hadn’t blurted out secrets about the research base just because of Elder Xiao and Xiao Chen’s statuses. That alone was worthy of praise.

Meanwhile, neither Elder Xiao nor Xiao Chen showed any sign of displeasure. Instead of being angered by Chen Fei’s behavior, they were both smiling.

Having received Su Chen’s go-ahead, Chen Fei didn’t waste any more time and began to explain.

"With the help of Professor Wei and several mechanical engineers, Professor Wu has successfully built the lithography machine. The final hurdle in chip manufacturing has been overcome."

"Currently, through the collaboration of several mechanical engineers, they’ve built three lithography machines. Professor Wu and his team are now trying to set up a mass-production line, which is why they moved the entire lab to the factory district in the back."

The moment his voice fell, Elder Xiao spoke up. "Xiaofei, did you just say you’ve built three lithography machines? Do you know what their performance is like?"

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

A trace of anticipation flashed across the elder’s face, a detail that Su Chen happened to notice.

"Er..." Chen Fei scratched his head in embarrassment. "Elder Xiao, I don’t know the specific performance details of the lithography machine. I just heard Professor Wu say during testing that the one we built ourselves is even better than that ASML one."

"What? Are you serious? The lithography machine we built ourselves performs better than ASML’s?" Elder Xiao’s voice involuntarily rose by several decibels.

"Yeah, that’s what Professor Wu said. You can ask him yourself for the specifics later," Chen Fei answered honestly.

"Hahahaha! Excellent! This is truly excellent!" Elder Xiao slapped his thigh and burst into hearty laughter.

The elder’s excitement left Su Chen and Xiao Chen, who were beside him, a bit baffled.

"Elder Xiao, what’s going on...?" Su Chen couldn’t hold back his curiosity and had to ask.

"It’s nothing major, so there’s no harm in telling you. This is the perfect opportunity to reveal the lithography machine we’ve developed and built ourselves."

The situation was actually quite simple. It was common knowledge that for the past few years, our country had been competing with the US in various sectors. The US, in turn, had been using its dominant global position to suppress our domestic industries.

Just two days ago, in an effort to restrict the development of our domestic semiconductor industry, the US had employed certain measures to pressure the ASML lithography machine company in the Netherlands, forcing them to suspend follow-up services for all ASML machines exported to our country.

It was important to understand that the domestic semiconductor industry relied almost entirely on ASML’s lithography machines. Although limited by our current chip technology, which could only produce chips at the 18nm level at best, this capability was still providing enormous support to the nation’s development.

However, if follow-up services for the ASML lithography machines were suspended, it would mean that any machine that malfunctioned would be completely out of commission. For the domestic semiconductor industry, this would be a catastrophe.

If, as Chen Fei had said, the lithography machine Professor Wu and his team built really did outperform ASML’s, it would change the entire landscape of the global semiconductor industry.

At that point, our country would no longer be constrained by lithography machines, and research in all areas of semiconductors would accelerate significantly. The resulting changes would be impossible to predict.

The significance of this was immense—it could be called a revolution in the semiconductor industry.

Soon, the sightseeing cart pulled up in front of a four-story factory building. A team of the park’s security personnel stood at the main entrance. Su Chen recognized the team leader; it was Wang Gang, who had previously traveled abroad with him.

Seeing Su Chen and the others arrive, Wang Gang immediately came forward to greet them.

"Boss, Brother Fei!" Wang Gang greeted them respectfully. As for Elder Xiao and Xiao Chen, he didn’t know them, so he naturally didn’t greet them.

Su Chen gave a slight nod. "Mm. Are Professor Wu and his team inside now?"

"Professor Wu and Professor Wei are both here. I’ll go inform them right away." With that, Wang Gang turned to head into the factory building.

Su Chen quickly stopped him. "No need. We’ll go in ourselves. You can get back to your duties."

Hearing this, Wang Gang didn’t hesitate for a moment and immediately returned to his post.

After getting out of the cart, Su Chen led Elder Xiao and the others into the factory building.

Once inside, Su Chen discovered that the layout was similar to Old Man Chen’s research institute, which he had visited before. The only difference was that the glass walls here were opaque, making it impossible to see what was inside.

Su Chen turned to Chen Fei, who was beside him, and gestured for him to lead the way. After all, this was Su Chen’s first time here. ’How embarrassing would it be if I got lost?’

Besides, chip manufacturing required a cleanroom environment. Barging in recklessly could affect the chips.