BSI Chapter 227 Enlightenment Laboratory
Chapter 227 Enlightenment Laboratory
Chapter 261 Enlightenment Laboratory
July 5th, 1:20 PM. Beijing. Zhongguancun South Street. Huang Qiming's office.
Huang Qiming turned the computer back on.
He wanted to turn it off, but he couldn't. The live stream continued: in Hall 3 of the National Convention Center, Su Chen stood on the stage, the 45-nanometer sample, the size of a fingernail, still on the table. The scrolling bar at the bottom of the screen read, "CCTV Live - Special Review Meeting of the Chinese Academy of Engineering - Afternoon Session."
Huang Qiming sat down in the chair. He picked up the half-cold cup of tea on the table. He didn't drink it.
He was thinking about that day last August.
Last August, he entered the 32nd floor of Vilan's headquarters with a PowerPoint presentation, a list of agency clients, and one sentence. He had rehearsed that sentence repeatedly in the taxi. The sentence was: "I, Huang, am willing to exchange the resources of three Chinese agencies—Synaptics, Huateng, and Ansys—for 3% of Vilan's Series B+ funding."
He didn't go into Lin Wei's office that day. Jiang Mingyuan met him at the elevator entrance on the 32nd floor. Jiang Mingyuan only glanced at the PPT and said three sentences.
The first sentence: "Villan's Series B+ funding round has been closed."
The second sentence states: "Regarding the three agency resources Mr. Huang has in China, we prefer that they continue to operate under your company's control rather than becoming part of the Vilan Capital structure."
The third sentence: "Please return."
He replied. He tore up the PowerPoint presentation in the elevator. He thought about it all the way in the taxi and came up with a phrase—"politely kicked out."
Back in Zhongguancun, he did one thing. He slashed Synaptics' TCAD "industry package price" in China to 30% of its competitors'. He poached seven clients. He wanted to use this to tell his partners in Berlin: Huang is still irreplaceable in China.
Three of the seven clients are potential clients of Vilan.
That was his goal at the time.
He wanted to force Wei Lan to come back to him during the next round of negotiations.
He was wrong.
Wei Lan didn't contact him in the next round of negotiations. Her next round of negotiations involved Goldman Sachs, a special project from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Bosch, STMicroelectronics, and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Now, Su Chen says the word "Qiming" on the screen.
Once Qiming arrived, all the knowledge and experience Huang had accumulated over twenty years in Zhongguancun was completely bypassed from behind.
He put down his teacup.
His phone rang again.
He looked down. The sixty-second agent had replied. Their message was just two words: "Sorry."
He placed his phone face down on the table.
He looked up at the screen.
On the screen, Su Chen folded the A4 sheet again and placed it on the table. He changed his standing posture. He picked up the microphone again.
Su Chen then spoke the second paragraph.
"Before I talk about the next step for Enlightenment," Su Chen said, "I'd like to tell you a bit of history first."
He glanced up at the audience.
"China has traversed this simulation track more than once in the past thirty years."
He paused for a moment.
In 1995, an academician proposed a "self-developed simulator" solution at a key research institute. It was rejected because "it's better to just buy one." In 1998, the same academician proposed it a second time. It was rejected again because "the risk is too high." In 2003, it was rejected a third time because "the international cooperation environment is improving."
He stopped. The audience fell silent.
"June 2008. The fourth time," Su Chen said. "That time he submitted his resignation. The resignation was marked 'not heeded.' He walked out of the research institute he had single-handedly built up. The simulation group in the institute was laid off. Fifteen years. He didn't join the association."
He didn't say his name.
But the fifth academician on the judging panel was Shen Shouhong. Shen Shouhong was seventy-three years old. He held the pen in his hand with both hands. Shen Shouhong didn't move.
Su Chen continued.
"Besides this line, there's another one," he said. "In 2018, Huada Jiutian made its IPO push. In 2019, Gailun Electronics made its IPO push. In 2020, Guangli Microelectronics made its IPO push. In 2024, Xinhuazhang EDA started its journey."
He looked up.
"All four companies are on the right track. None of them are making the wrong move. But what is their total market share today?"
He paused.
"Three point two percent," he said. "In the global industrial simulation market, in the first half of 2021, Chinese manufacturers held a total market share of three point two percent."
A murmur rippled through the audience.
"What does 3.2 percent mean?" Su Chen asked. "It means: if you want to build a domestically produced large aircraft today, you have to buy your aerodynamic simulation from Ansys. If you want to build a domestically produced power device today, you have to buy your TCAD simulation from Synaptics. If you want to build a domestically produced MEMS today, your multiphysics coupling simulation—three years ago—had to be bought from Huateng or Siemens."
"Those three years ago." He looked up. "That's today's turning point."
He placed his hand next to the 45-nanometer sample on the table.
"Three years ago, Vilan's production line simulation was not yet online. Today, Vilan's submicron node process simulation has achieved a convergence of 99.1%. This line has been pushed up."
He paused.
"But simulation isn't just limited to MEMS," he said. "Simulation encompasses CMOS logic, power devices, optoelectronics, quantum interaction, multiphysics coupling, system-level simulation, and production line-level simulation. There are seven main lines in total."
"Weilan has successfully navigated the first path today," he said. "The remaining six are the paths Qiming must take."
He looked up.
"Qiming Labs. Launching today," he said. "Six locations across the country: Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Hefei, Hangzhou, and Shenzhen. One lab in each location. 200 people in the first batch at each lab. 1,200 people will be in place by the end of the year."
He paused.
"The Qiming Laboratory's operating funds are fully supported by Vilan," he said. "Over the next eight years, all of Vilan's net profits, after deducting operating expenses and employee compensation, will be invested in the Qiming Laboratory's network and basic materials research."
"Eight years." He looked up. "Based on a net profit of 800 million in the second half of this year, 6 billion next year, and conservatively doubling the year after, the total investment over eight years is expected to be no less than 150 billion RMB."
A collective gasp rippled through the audience.
The third row of VIP seats. Cai Jiemin gently swirled the cup of tea in his hand.
Li Huajun pushed his mask up an inch.
Chen Daze raised his hand, took off his glasses, and then put them back on.
Five academicians were on the judging panel. Shen Shouhong's pen, which he held with both hands, trembled slightly.
"I know," Su Chen said. "This number sounds like betting everything on one track."
He paused.
"That's true," he said.
The audience was silent.
"In this global race, there are only four companies today: Siemens EDA, Synopsys, Hultens, and Ansys." He looked up. "These four companies have been around for thirty years. These four companies have never given up the fifth position. If it weren't for the fact that MEMS submicron nodes are a new track, a track that these four companies haven't touched in thirty years, Vilan wouldn't even have the qualification to enter the market today."
He paused.
"What Qiming aims to do is not to squeeze out these four companies," he said. "What Qiming aims to do is to enable the aerodynamic simulation of the next domestically produced large aircraft, the TCAD simulation of the next domestically produced power device, the multiphysics simulation of the next domestically produced MEMS, and the full-process simulation of the next domestically produced production line in China to be developed in our own country, using our own tools."
He looked up.
"This isn't a replacement. This is filling a gap."
The audience was silent.
Then a clapping started.
When the applause rose, an engineer in his forties in the fifth row lowered his head. He was wearing a gray shirt with a badge that read "BGI Jiutian Algorithm Department" pinned to his chest.
He didn't clap. He was wiping his eyes with his hand.
The engineer next to him, a man in his early thirties wearing a badge that read "Gailun Electronics Customer Solutions Department," didn't clap either. He was looking down.
The person next to him, wearing a badge that read "Guangli Micro Yield Engineering Department," also bowed his head.
The person next to him, "XinHuaZhang Backend Verification," also lowered his head.
This row contains a total of twenty-one engineers. Representatives from four Chinese EDA companies are also present.
None of them looked up.
Every word they had heard in the past twenty-one years—"self-developed," "independent," "substitute," "break the monopoly"—was broken down by Su Chen into one word today: "filling the gap."
They understood what the part meant.
"Filling in the gap" means: "The path you've been walking for thirty years without finding a way out, now someone is willing to walk it together."
The engineer from Huada Jiutian in the fifth row looked up briefly. He glanced at the stage. Then he looked down again.
He was wiping his face with his sleeve.
CCTV's cameras caught him.
That shot was cut off for three seconds.
Three seconds later, the camera cuts back to Su Chen.
Su Chen didn't see the fifth row.
Su Chen picked up the microphone and continued the next sentence.