Chapter 1629 Am I a substitute?
He didn't dare say the following words, but the subtext of "resigning" or "being poached" was clearly conveyed to everyone present.
A low murmur of discussion suddenly rang out in the conference room, and anxiety and suspicion once again spread like vines.
The pressure brought by the delayed project progress, the uncertainty caused by the long-term absence of core leaders, and the huge psychological impact brought by Wen Koning's interview just now, several negative emotions intertwined together, making the situation seem to be out of control.
"Quiet! Everyone, be quiet!" Fan Hongjie slammed the table and his voice became stern, forcibly suppressing the noisy discussions.
His face was tense and there seemed to be veins throbbing on his forehead.
The shortage of staff and delayed progress mentioned by Kong Xuewu are exactly the core pain points that have caused him anxiety and sleepless nights during this period.
As the deputy team leader who temporarily took over the project leadership, Fan Hongjie felt overwhelmed.
When Zhang Runing was there, his strong system integration capabilities, accurate technical route judgment and overall control were the stabilizer for the steady progress of the project.
Now that the needle has been pulled out, Fan Hongjie realizes that coordinating more than a dozen subsystems, managing a team of hundreds of people, and coping with endless technical challenges are a hundred times more complicated and difficult than simply overcoming a certain optical design difficulty.
As a result, the project is already at least three months behind schedule.
But he knew better that he was the backbone of the team at this moment. He could not show any hesitation or retreat.
Fan Hongjie forced himself to calm down, and his tone became firm again: "I am aware of the difficulties everyone has raised. We are short of manpower, it takes time to adjust, and there is pressure on progress. These are objective facts." He looked around at everyone, "So, I called you all here for this meeting today."
He picked up the laser pointer and pointed it at the project schedule on the projection screen:
"I have carefully sorted out the priorities and resource requirements of each subtask. Today, we will readjust the personnel allocation, optimize the division of tasks, and concentrate our limited resources on the most critical path! Ensure..."
Before he could finish his morale-boosting words, there was a clear and steady sound of footsteps approaching from the heavy door of the conference room.
Then there was a slight "click" sound.
The door handle was turned.
Swish!
Everyone in the conference room looked towards the door.
Fan Hongjie also stopped speaking and frowned in confusion, thinking it was a late colleague or a visitor who walked into the wrong room.
The heavy wooden door was slowly pushed open.
When the familiar figure at the door came into view clearly, the entire conference room fell into a momentary, absolute silence.
It was as if time had been paused.
The next second, just like cold water being dropped into a boiling oil pan, huge exclamations and incredible gasps exploded!
"Team Zhang?!"
"Teacher Zhang?!"
"You...you're back?!"
Standing at the door was the project leader, Researcher Zhang Runing, whose whereabouts they had just been discussing and even worried about.
He looked tired, obviously having just finished a long journey.
Zhang Runing did not immediately respond to the crowd's exclamations, but strode in and walked to the front of the meeting room with a clear goal in mind.
It was not until then that everyone noticed that there was another strange man in his thirties following him.
Fan Hongjie was the first to recover from his extreme shock. He stood up almost subconsciously with surprise and a little panic, and was about to give up the hosting position he had just sat in:
"Team Leader! Why didn't you tell me in advance that you were coming back? I could have arranged a car to pick you up at the airport! And who is this...?"
His thinking is still a little confused.
Zhang Runing raised his hand and made a clear and forceful "no need" gesture, stopping Fan Hongjie from giving up his seat and motioning him to sit back.
Then, he gestured to the strange man next to him and introduced:
"Everyone, the person next to me is Professor Li Yabo from the Beijing Torch Laboratory."
"Torch Labs?"
The name caused a low murmur of surprise and confusion in the conference room.
Although not everyone knows who Li Yabo is, the golden signboard of "Torch Laboratory" is still somewhat well-known.
The applause rang out hesitantly, but it was sparse and there was an atmosphere of confusion and bewilderment - Researcher Zhang suddenly came back and brought a professor from the Torch Laboratory with him, what was going on?
Zhang Runing didn't care about the not-so-enthusiastic applause.
He took a step forward and stood in front of the big screen, his eyes sweeping over everyone present.
Just when everyone was a little scared by his gaze and the conference room fell into a subtle silence again, Zhang Runing spoke:
"I declare that from now on, the photolithography lens research and development team will stop all subsequent research and development work on the 'ArF-1800' photolithography lens!"
His voice was not loud, but it carried a decisive and unquestionable power that was clearly heard by everyone.
boom!
This statement was like dropping a real bombshell in a conference room that had just gone through an emotional roller coaster!
“Stop research and development?!”
Everyone was stunned! Including Fan Hongjie, who had just sat down, he stood up again as if he had been pricked by a needle, his face full of disbelief and horror.
Kong Xuewu opened his mouth so wide that his eyes almost popped out.
The only sound in the entire conference room was gasps, as everyone was confused by this sudden and completely illogical order.
Countless efforts, resources and time have been invested in the ArF-1800 project, which is the key for their R&D team, Changguang Group and even the entire China to gain a foothold in the semiconductor equipment field in the next few years.
Despite the numerous difficulties and the delay in progress, no one ever thought of giving up!
Is this crazy?
Dead silence.
Suffocating silence.
After more than ten seconds, a trembling voice with great confusion and puzzlement squeezed out from the corner with difficulty, asking the question in everyone's heart:
"Why...why?!"
Everyone's eyes were focused on Zhang Runing's face, waiting for an answer that would convince them.
Zhang Runing's gaze paused for a moment on Fan Hongjie's face, which looked a little haggard due to pressure, and then swept across the frustration that had not yet dissipated in Kong Xuewu's eyes, and finally fell on the TV screen in front of him - the picture happened to be frozen on a close-up of Pete Winkling's face with an arrogant sneer.
An extremely complicated smile slowly spread across Zhang Runing's mouth:
"Because, the development task of the 'ArF-1800' lithography objective system..." He paused slightly and uttered two words clearly, "has been completed."
hum!
There seemed to be a silent roar in the conference room.
Everyone suspected that there was something wrong with their ears!
Just now, countless answers flashed through everyone's mind.
But I didn’t expect it to be this kind.
Fan Hongjie's mind was completely blank:
finished?
When was it completed?
Where was it done?
How come I, the deputy team leader, didn't know anything about this?!
After all this fuss, I've become a substitute?
Zhang Runing did not give them time to digest this thunderbolt. His voice suddenly rose, with an unquestionable commanding tone:
"Now, we need to immediately organize a group of capable technical forces, led by me personally, to rush to Shanghai Microelectronics Equipment Co., Ltd. (SMEE) as quickly as possible..."
“Our mission is to fully assist SMEE to complete the assembly, integration and debugging of the whole machine based on a new objective lens system!”
