Starting From the Chip in 1991

Chapter 54 Product Placement

Su Yuanshan closed the door, letting Li Mingliu and the others cheer for half a minute.

Seeing Su Yuanshan standing by the door, Li Mingliu hurriedly lowered his voice and said, "Remember, this is still a confidential project... Everyone, keep it down."

Everyone immediately stopped cheering and even turned down the volume on the TV.

Su Yuanshan smiled as he walked closer. He stared carefully at the host's lip movements on the screen, listening to the audio, finally relaxing: "It seems the audio sync is flawless. Let's keep recording for a while longer and analyze the tape later to ensure everything is perfectly synchronized."

The biggest risk with VCDs was audio-video desynchronization. Even a delay of just 100 milliseconds could turn into an unbearable flaw during playback.

After another half-hour of observation, the team, carrying the camcorder, quietly left the lab like a group of undercover reporters.

...

The Spring Festival holiday quickly approached.

On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, Su Yuanshan sent off the last batch of local employees going on leave. Then, together with Zhou Xiaohui, he carefully checked all the switches before locking up the glass and iron doors.

While waiting for the elevator, Zhou Xiaohui was hugging herself and stomping her feet from the cold. Su Yuanshan couldn't help but tease: "Sister Xiaohui, is it really that cold?"

"Try standing here without air conditioning," Zhou Xiaohui replied casually.

"Then why are you still wearing a skirt?" Su Yuanshan asked curiously, noting that although she had put on a down jacket, her legs were still only covered in thin stockings.

Zhou Xiaohui immediately stopped stomping and glared at him: "Wasn't it your rule that everyone has to wear formal attire?"

"Was it?" Su Yuanshan scratched his head and, staring at her legs for a few seconds, suddenly remembered that fleece-lined stockings hadn't been invented yet. He chuckled awkwardly: "If you're cold, you can wear fitness leggings underneath."

Zhou Xiaohui shook her head: "Too ugly."

"Ah... So it has to look good after all."

Truth be told, after several rounds of design revisions, the female employees' professional attire at Yuanchip truly showcased their beauty and elegance. Every visitor commented that stepping into Yuanchip felt like stepping into a company in a developed Western country.

Every time he heard those compliments, Su Yuanshan couldn't help feeling a little proud.

After all, this was Yuanchip — the company with the highest salaries in the entire provincial capital. Even the programmers, notorious for dressing sloppily, no longer wore the same Chinese tunic suits and leather jackets everyone else did. A T-shirt in summer and a down jacket in winter had become standard.

Chatting casually, they took the elevator downstairs, where his uncle was already waiting with the car.

"Xiaohui, not going home?"

"No, I'd rather not risk another blind date with that idiot son of the county magistrate," Zhou Xiaohui said, briskly walking away into the cold wind.

Su Yuanshan laughed as he climbed into the car, knowing Zhou Xiaohui lived nearby and didn't need a ride.

Watching Zhou Xiaohui disappear into the distance, Uncle Zhang chuckled: "That girl's pretty. She's your secretary?"

"Sort of."

"Tsk, tsk... not bad at all. Good figure too. You've got good taste."

Su Yuanshan gave him a contemptuous look: "Uncle, could you be a little more serious? I'm not even eighteen yet."

Uncle Zhang was momentarily stunned, then laughed awkwardly: "Honestly, if you hadn't said it, I wouldn't have believed you're just seventeen — where would anyone find a kid this mature?"

"..."

Back home, Aunt Xu Xiuying was sitting on the sofa with four-year-old cousin Zhang Qiaoyun, watching TV. His father was wearing an apron, cutting vegetables at the table, while his mother chatted with his aunt.

Seeing Su Yuanshan and Uncle Zhang return, his father quickly took off his apron and tossed it to his wife, laughing: "Zhang Ke is back. You cook now — us men have things to discuss."

"You lazy bum." Mother Zhang Xiuyun gave him an annoyed look but obediently went into the kitchen with Aunt Xu to prepare dinner.

Su Yuanshan teased his little cousin a bit. Noticing that she no longer recognized him after nearly a year apart, he shrugged and grabbed the remote control, pausing the TV.

Of course, they weren't watching regular television — they were playing a VCD disc using the prototype.

Su Xinghe smiled and asked his son, "Have you thought about how to promote it?"

The VCD was expensive to produce. With an initial batch of 10,000 units, each unit's chip cost alone was about 200 U.S. dollars. But VCDs, as a new electronic consumer product, needed time and money for market promotion.

"I've already asked Xi Xiaoding to reserve the main exhibition hall in Las Vegas for April," Su Yuanshan said. "We'll make a big splash there and see if we can lure some buyers into licensing the patents. If they're willing to pay, they can handle the product's market education."

"And on our side, I'm too stingy to blow millions on advertising. I'd rather invest a few hundred thousand to support a couple of TV dramas."

Father and uncle were both stunned, exchanging confused glances.

Su Yuanshan smiled and explained: "I'll fund some TV shows and have them feature VCD players as props. A few lines here and there will be enough. Once the shows air, the whole country will know this thing is the latest high-tech marvel made right here in China."

"Holy crap!" Uncle Zhang shouted excitedly, standing up: "Genius move, nephew!"

Father Su Xinghe also realized the brilliance of the plan, beaming with pride.

Su Yuanshan pulled his uncle to sit down: "Ultimately, it's better to spend advertising money on building brand awareness. But depending on the situation, if no one takes the bait, we might have to do it ourselves."

Uncle Zhang nodded quickly, then asked suspiciously: "Are there any suitable TV shows? Most of them are either period dramas or old-era stories..."

"We'll find some. If necessary, I'll pay someone to produce a special one." Su Yuanshan's eyes gleamed with excitement: "Imagine a drama about a struggling electronics factory, where a young, brilliant manager leads his team to develop the first domestic VCD. It'd be perfect!"

"Uncle, find a screenwriter right away!"

Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.

Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Albino1