Chapter 244 Influence
"Do you know those two people?" a colleague behind He Wei asked.
He Wei quickly tucked the promotional flyer into her pocket, steadied herself, and smiled. "No idea who they are."
She wasn't lying—she really didn't know Su Yuanshan personally. But that didn't stop her from guessing who he was. As an outstanding employee at one of Yuanxin's oldest stores, how could she not know who Wan Yongliang was?
He was the vice president in charge of Yuanxin's marketing—on the same level, hierarchically, as Zhang Ke, who now operated independently as head of Yuanxin's commercial division.
And everyone in the provincial capital knew: Professor Su from Yuanxin had a genius son named Su Yuanshan.
So young, and casually telling her to contact Wan Yongliang? If he wasn't Su Yuanshan, she'd chop off her own head.
And now that she thought about how Su Yuanshan and his "cousin" had been quietly observing for a while before stepping in—it had to be the young master of Yuanxin doing a surprise inspection.
Which meant… she had just met someone very important.
Recalling what Su Yuanshan had said, He Wei clenched her fist in her pocket.
Then she straightened up and greeted the next customer with energy.
"Hello, sir! Interested in checking out our phones?"
...
Outside, Su Yuanshan and Zhou Xiaohui waited for the elevator.
"President Shan, wasn't it a little hasty to tell her to contact Vice President Wan directly?" Zhou Xiaohui asked.
Ever since studying for her MBA, she wasn't sure how much real business sense she had picked up, but one thing was clear—she'd grown more confident in questioning Su Yuanshan.
"You didn't even ask about her work experience, her education... Wan is smart. He'll guess that it's someone you personally pointed out. What if he promotes her immediately, only to find she's not up to the task?"
Su Yuanshan folded his arms and noticed Fu Zhenhua peeking around the corner before quickly ducking back. He shook his head with a wry smile.
After a few seconds of thought, he said to Zhou Xiaohui,
"Yes, from a modern HR perspective, it was a little reckless—like something out of a TV drama."
"Exactly. Way too dramatic."
"But have you noticed the problem with Wan's team the past two years? No one from the frontlines has been brought into the marketing team."
Su Yuanshan explained slowly as they waited for the elevator. Zhou Xiaohui, his secretary and someone he was grooming for higher leadership, listened carefully.
"Wan's team gets its market insights by interviewing frontline sales staff, doing surveys, then analyzing that data to develop strategies and pitch scripts."
"But even I, as a tech guy, can tell that this isn't enough.
You don't just investigate the market—you should recruit top frontline salespeople into your team. Learn from their experience, turn it into flexible strategies that adapt over time."
Zhou Xiaohui nodded thoughtfully, then smiled.
"That girl really did react fast—and she knew how to talk."
"Exactly. This is the flagship store, the face of the company.
Uncle said every employee here must have at least a high school education—some might even be junior college grads.
By the way, were all junior college grads guaranteed job placements back then?"
"Only for those in regular enrollment," Zhou Xiaohui laughed.
"I still don't know if I was lucky or not. I almost repeated the college entrance exam to apply for nursing school.
Looking back now, thank goodness I didn't. I might not have gotten in anyway."
"Nursing school was easy to get into, right?"
"Provincial nursing school was tough, okay?
But still easier than the aerospace institute. The top student from my school went there for five years, and now she's already a deputy section chief."
As the elevator doors opened, Su Yuanshan stepped inside, chuckling.
"Don't be jealous. In Yuanxin's hierarchy, you'd probably be equivalent to a deputy division chief by now."
Zhou Xiaohui cleared her throat.
"So what would Yuanxin's actual 'rank' be?"
Su Yuanshan thought for a moment.
"Before, the government treated us as deputy bureau-level.
Now? Probably full bureau level, or even higher—
After all, my dad's now an academician, and he gets deputy ministerial-level treatment."
Zhou Xiaohui giggled.
"No wonder you cared so much about him getting into the academy."
"Of course! His title goes up, Yuanxin gets face."
They chatted idly until the elevator reached the ninth floor.
Looking at the gold characters reading "Zhiyuan Technology," Su Yuanshan felt a wave of nostalgia. He stepped into the hallway and took out his phone to call Jiang Wanchao.
Not a minute later, Jiang and Zhu Jianting arrived at the elevator to greet him.
"Xiaoshan!" Zhu Jianting greeted him with a friendly punch on the shoulder.
"You little punk—remember when I tried to set you up with that girl and you kept turning me down?
Next thing I know, you've quietly bagged her."
He was referring to his days as a part-time instructor, trying to introduce Su Yuanshan to a girl named Dai Peiye—actually Ye Rudai in disguise.
Su had repeatedly declined.
"Hehe, I was young and dumb," Su Yuanshan said, rubbing his shoulder.
"Senior Brother, it's been a while."
"Yeah, I've visited Yuanxin a few times, but you were never around," Zhu shrugged.
"Let's not chat in the hallway—come on in."
Su Yuanshan shook his head.
"I'm just here for a quick visit. No need to go in."
Jiang Wanchao nodded with a smile.
"Most of the folks on this floor are old hands, and we've got foreign teams too.
If you show up, who knows how everyone might react."
Su Yuanshan smiled wistfully.
Before the split, the EDA team had been Yuanxin's largest division.
These veteran employees had deep loyalty to the company, and immense respect for Su Yuanshan.
If he suddenly walked in, there was no telling how excited they might get.
Zhiyuan Technology might now be led by Jiang Wanchao and his founding team,
but the board had assigned a foreign director to help manage daily operations and coordinate with other teams.
If AMD or Texas Instruments ever got wind of Su Yuanshan still wielding influence over EDA, they'd freak out.
"I just stopped by to check on the phone launch—and figured I'd see you guys, too."
He hesitated, then added,
"In the future, EDA should focus on services and partnerships—adding value to IC design firms.
For example, send experts directly into design teams,
or into fabs to help improve manufacturing processes."
"It might be time to start shifting the tech teams to Shanghai—and start building your foreign teams as well."
"Keep an eye on Japan and South Korea—especially Korea.
They're the rising stars in semiconductors.
Don't give them any opportunities to sneak ahead.
If we build a local team, everything else will follow."
Jiang and Zhu exchanged a glance and nodded together.
"Hmm… EDA is, so far, the only sector where China has managed to hold a technological edge.
Many consider it a miracle.
You two—"
Su Yuanshan left the sentence unfinished.
But Jiang and Zhu understood exactly what he meant.
"That's all for now.
Tell the others I said hi—
Oh, and by the way, are you guys using the new email server?"
Zhu Jianting grinned.
"That brat Ding Lei already set us up. Basically forced it on us."
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