6:14 a.m., Bao'an Airport, Pengcheng.
Xue Zhaoheng sat in the departure lounge with his assistant, Xiao Luo.
Both had gotten up early to catch the flight and were still groggy.
"Boss Xue, what are we heading over there so early for?" Xiao Luo asked, then yawned again.
"To visit Icecore," Xue Zhaoheng said simply.
Xue Zhaoheng had only received the notice yesterday. Boss Han had called to tell him that he had arranged a formal business visit to Icecore, that there might be substantive progress, and that Xue Zhaoheng should be there if possible.
It was short notice, but with his new boss giving the word, Xue Zhaoheng dared not drag his feet. He immediately had Xiao Luo from the engineering office organize all their L100 documentation, from design and tape-out to mass production and delivery, then booked the earliest flight that morning.
"Icecore?" Xiao Luo's half-closed eyes suddenly widened. "We're going to Icecore today?"
Xue Zhaoheng glanced at him without answering.
He knew why Xiao Luo had reacted that way.
Ximing had considered working with Icecore even before designing the L100.
The problem was that far too many companies wanted to work with Icecore. Xue Zhaoheng had spent decades working his way through the industry, but his connections still weren't enough to get him through Icecore's door. Their reply had been perfectly polite: for a regular order, submit the design, have their engineers review it, pay the deposit, and get in line.
But if he wanted deeper collaboration, with Icecore sending engineers to participate in the design process, then sorry, they didn't have the resources and weren't offering that kind of partnership for now.
In truth, Xue Zhaoheng didn't hold out much hope for the "substantive progress" Han Luyi had mentioned.
Still, getting as far as a business visit