Rebirth 07: Start adding points from elementary school students

Chapter 471 I Know It’s Difficult But It’s Not Difficult
"Is it necessary to have such a big reaction?" Li Yan said with a smile.

"You little brat, do you think I'm your safe haven?"

"How dare we let Mr. Shi get involved in this mess?" Li Yan was still copying something quickly in his hands.

"You're teasing me again," Shi Lei picked up the teacup again, "Tell me, what are you going to do?"

"Why are you thinking about getting away?"

Shi Lei was stunned again after hearing these words.

"You've entered the game, but you're not considering getting out?" Shi Lei tapped the coffee table with his fingers. "Little Li Yan, do you think Hou Xiaofeng is going to change his nature and become a good guy in your place?"

"Of course not. Shiyuan is quite enthusiastic about this topic, right?"

"Well," Shi Lei shook his head, "You took my kindness for granted. I was just afraid that you were really naive and thought that if I mentioned you to Hou Xiaofeng, he would help you wholeheartedly."

"This is not naive, this is stupid." Li Yan smiled, "Once you enter the game, of course you have to consider how to get out, but if I let others enter the game, then I don't have to consider how to get out, right?"

“…It really lives up to its reputation.”

I don't know what Shi Lei is sighing about.

"Shiyuan, let's not talk about those trivial things in the mall for now. I have a lot of questions here. Can you at least help me sort them out and give me some directions?"

Li Yan wouldn't say that she didn't trust Shi Lei, but at least she was a little wary of him.

These big guys who are in higher positions always have some communication among themselves. Who knows what they will talk about and whether it will affect Li Yan’s subsequent plans.

"Point out the direction. These four words are really not easy." Shi Lei finished a small pot of tea.

"Why do you say that, Dean Shi?" Li Yan stopped writing, folded up the information in his hand and put it on Shi Lei's desk. "Although I asked a lot of questions, they are all relatively basic for you, right?"

"I can see that the content of your questions focuses on 'understanding'. All the questions are systematic. The fact that you can ask such questions shows that you have some understanding of the current industry situation." Shi Lei said, "and you want to sort out your own ideas."

“That’s always been the way I learn.”

Especially after activating the "learning speed", learning anything will affect the whole body, and your thoughts will diverge and you can't control them at all.

However, "organizing one's thoughts" was a habit Li Yan had before his rebirth.

This habit even led to his sudden failure in the comprehensive science subject during his high school years.

It's the kind of situation where you only get 20-something points in physics and chemistry.

In the eyes of her classmates at the time, Li Yan was hopeless and had completely given up on herself.

Including Li Yan, who was flipping through textbooks to study physics and chemistry in the second semester of his senior year, most of his classmates had an attitude of "He must be joking."

So when I saw that Li Yan scored close to 90 points in both subjects in the college entrance examination, I was completely stunned.

The score was indeed not high, but Li Yan was only barely able to pass until the third mock exam. It was really a visible climb up step by step in the past six months.

This result shattered the morale of many students at the time.

They totally don't understand why one can go from not knowing physics and chemistry to knowing it in just one semester, and why Li Yan has to rely on reading textbooks without taking notes to learn science?
Just because of the "idea".

Li Yan was tired of studying and had always been disgusted with the "mechanical learning formula". It was difficult for her to learn if she didn't understand the "why".

A major difference between high school science and junior high school science - which is also the reason why many top junior high school students fail - is that all kinds of knowledge become less "intuitive" and even somewhat counterintuitive.

If you want to fully understand this system of scientific knowledge, you must overturn your previous understanding of the world to a certain extent.

In fact, every time you want to learn higher-level knowledge in the future, you will inevitably have to go through this route again.

In the second semester of her senior year in high school, Li Yan was still reading textbooks without notes and asking some basic questions that seemed "stupid" in the eyes of her classmates, all in order to establish a scientific thinking system that was suitable for current knowledge.

He succeeded, so the formulas became easy to understand and the questions became simple. Except for some difficult content that he did not cover or could not remember due to time constraints, the other questions were no different from 1+1 equals something.

Li Yan is doing the same thing now.

To get in touch with some high-tech and cutting-edge fields that have never been touched before obviously requires some completely new understandings. This path needs to be customized by Li Yan himself, so he can only explore it through some basic and even somewhat stupid questions.

Shi Lei could see this, which meant that he at least understood this way of thinking of "destruction before construction".

"It's not difficult to answer your question, but it's not easy to give the answer you want." Shi Yuan smiled and flipped through Li Yan's manuscript.

Li Yan didn't say anything, just waited.

"So, are you really ready to get in touch with the lithography machine?" Shi Lei asked after watching for half an hour.

"Correct."

"Why? You ask so many questions, it doesn't seem like you don't understand the basics of lithography machines."

"Shiyuan, I don't believe that you contacted me for anything other than the photolithography machine job."

"Of course, but I didn't expect you to get into it right now." Shi Yuan's tone became serious, "I thought you would at least start with various basic subjects first."

"I feel that what you said is outrageous to outsiders. I am just starting with basic subjects, and the next step is lithography machines? You really trust me."

"A miracle boy, isn't he?" Shi Lei smiled. "You learn everything very quickly. From our perspective, this is an objective fact."

"So it's okay for me to touch the lithography machine directly." Li Yan said with a smile.

"Do you have needs?"

"Have."

Shi Lei was totally surprised by this statement. As an industry leader and technical consultant for Huaxin International, the largest chip research and production company in China, even though he had stacked up all the buffs, he still regarded the lithography machine as an insurmountable scientific research difficulty.

It is far from being a demand.

The current development of the field of lithography machines in China is really not good enough. In the global field, lithography machines are not a big industry either, and the most advanced technology is basically monopolized by ASMA in the Netherlands.

Although chips are currently highly dependent on imports and exports, they can fully meet demand.

In other words, there is no urgent demand for "domestic lithography machines" at present.

The core is still for technological development, which is a political and scientific task. Although Li Yan makes mobile phones, how can there be demand? Isn't Jiaolong using imported chips now?

"For your phone?"

"correct."

"Little Li Yan," Shi Lei smiled, "You don't want to make your own chips just to control costs, do you? The money you invested is enough for you to develop two generations of mobile phones."

"No, I'm preparing for a rainy day." Li Yan said, "I'm afraid we'll be subject to chip sanctions next, and the best way out is to handle it ourselves. Even if you don't come to me, I should come to you."

"...Sanctions?" Shi Lei frowned. He had never heard of such news.

"Now that my competitors in the Super Life Circle have all died, it's my turn to expand the market. It's necessary to take advantage of the situation and rush into the international market. If even Pineapple Mobile can't sell more than me by then, do you think the outside world will specifically control the use of my chips?"

It turns out that it was all Hou Xiaofeng’s credit!
"You are...very confident, Li Yan."

"It is one of several possibilities for the future. Since it exists, we should be prepared."

"Entering the international market requires a lot of work. Are you ready?"

"It has already been arranged. As for the language adaptation, operating habits adaptation and even the establishment of overseas operating platforms, that is not a big deal." Li Yan said with a smile, "So, of course I need to plan ahead. It would be too frustrating to be cut off from production by someone saying 'it doesn't work', right?"

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

"From what you said, why are you still planning to build a lithography machine in a short period of time?" Shi Lei looked at Li Yan with a subtle look, and even thought for a moment that Li Yan was making fun of him.

"When I do things, I never prepare for a long-term battle," Li Yan said. "If I want to do something, I have to be quick and get ahead of history."

"Do you want to make an EUV that can meet the lower limit demand, or one that represents the highest level of current technology?"

"Of course it is the latter. If we are only satisfied with developing chips and applications with mature processes, we will always be inferior to others, which will put us in shackles in the future data era."

Shi Lei shook his head. "Although I think you should know this, I still have to emphasize it to you."

"All ears."

"Li Yan, the lithography machine is an industrial product after all, not a difficult number theory problem. The reason we can't make it is often not because we lack a flash of inspiration." Shi Lei's voice became very low.

Li Yan nodded.

"Industrial manufacturing has its own logic. Even if a certain technology is achieved in a laboratory, it does not mean that something truly useful can be produced. Photolithography machines cannot be developed by the hard work of one or two units. In industrial manufacturing, no large factory can produce high-quality products without the industrial chain."

Li Yan nodded again.

"And you have to understand that cutting-edge technology cannot be exchanged for by relying on the market. If you really rely on the market, all you get in return is second-hand technology that will be eliminated. To build lithography machines, we need a Chinese optical industry that is also improving. We need to give up short-term gains for long-term industrial construction. The market economy is ineffective in this regard."

Li Yan still nodded.

"Do you know how the current giant Asuma got to this position?"

"I understand. Asuma insisted on immersion lithography, successfully extended Moore's Law, and directly defeated other competitors. It can be said that the bet was right."

"You used the right word 'gamble'." Shi Lei nodded, "But success doesn't just depend on the courage and luck of 'gamble'. Asuma invested billions of euros to switch tracks. Without the support of the Netherlands and the United States, it would have been impossible to hold on."

Li Yan remained silent this time.

"At the end of the last century, the research and development of extreme ultraviolet light technology was almost at a dead end. In order to share the risks and costs of EUV technology, the US government took the lead and united several national laboratories and technology centers, together with the giants who were already in the industry to form the Extreme Ultraviolet Light Company Alliance. Later, it absorbed a large number of semiconductor giants, chip industry giants and American advanced optical technology companies, and it was completely a small group of domestic companies."

"So Asma was able to join this alliance at the cost of promising to purchase 55% of raw materials from the United States and build a factory. After they finally got positive results on the general direction of the commercialization of extreme ultraviolet light, they disbanded and continued their research. Asma just got the upper hand in the end. Their 'bet' can only succeed under this premise."

Li Yan's addition made Shi Lei nod frequently.

"So, Xiao Li Yan, you should understand that if the U.S. government had not led the national laboratory to promote the research and development of extreme ultraviolet light, no company would have been able to independently develop an EUV lithography machine."

"At the same time, ASMA's EUV lithography technology is full of American genes. If we want to buy one from him, I'm afraid it's not up to him to decide. If I enter the international market, I'm afraid they won't sell it to us even if we want to."

"Ok?"

“So we have to be faster.”

Several big question marks appeared in Shi Lei's head.

No, I told you so many difficulties, how come you came to the completely opposite conclusion?
"Li Yan, I am an academician of the Huaxia Academy of Science and Technology and the Huaxia Academy of Engineering. I can tell you responsibly that the top EUV lithography machines have more than 100,000 parts, which need to be provided by more than 5,000 top semiconductor production suppliers around the world. Almost every one of them is a hidden champion in a specific industry. Let alone you, even if the subject is Huaxia, it would be a dream to want to replicate the entire industry chain on your own."

Li Yan looks...unchanged.

"Li Yan, Li Yan, there is a huge gap between what is produced in the laboratory and what is produced in the workshop. I am not trying to boost others' ambitions and undermine my own prestige. We must also remain calm and rational."

"I am very rational."

Shi Lei even stood up and paced, "Li Yan, Asma's employees come from 118 countries around the world. Do you know what this means?"

“The talents needed cover all aspects.”

"Yes, to develop photolithography machines, it is not enough to be strong in one aspect, but all aspects must be strong and outstanding."

“Isn’t this just right?”

The four words "Li Yan" sound so natural.

Naturally, Shi Lei didn't know how to respond.

"Well, I am confused and I am talking too much. I feel uncomfortable when it comes to EUV. Obviously, we are not planning to make EUV."

"I know the main difficulty of the lithography machine. It comes down to technical barriers." Li Yan said, "The extreme ultraviolet light source technology is produced in the United States, which is what you said, thanks to so many years of technological accumulation and concentrated efforts. The alignment system is from the German optical giant Cece. Currently, no other manufacturer can reach Cece's level. These two are exclusive cooperations, so with these two major technical barriers, ASMA's lithography technology integration already has enough moats that other companies cannot replicate."

"...You are quite clear about this. The current sources of lithography technology are: Netherlands Cavity and English Vacuum account for 32%, German Federal Optics accounts for 14%, American Light Source and Sakura Country Materials account for 27% each. This is the crystallization of global technology and wisdom. It is unrealistic to let one country or one region replicate it."

The second half of Shi Lei's sentence clearly suppressed the topic - "Not to mention it is just a private enterprise."

"But, Academician Shi, didn't you say it?" Li Yan said with a smile, "Miracle boy. If there are technical barriers, just break through them; if there are no technical barriers, then it's time to give full play to the advantages of our national system."

What are you talking about?

Shi Lei didn't know if he was hallucinating or not. He just talked a lot and ended up with Li Yan saying:
"Just break through"?
"Good boy, then tell me, how did you start reading like this?" Shi Lei found it difficult to describe his current emotions.

"Let's buy him a lithography machine." Li Yan looked serious.

(End of this chapter)