Chapter 778 Super Rice T1 Generation Plants! Annual Revenue of 1 Billion US Dollars! First Batch of Lithography Machines Delivered!
As January draws to a close, the excitement among employees at various projects of Senlian Group is gradually subsiding, but the potential changes and impacts are already quite evident.
In the major shopping malls of Luzhou, employees of Senlian Group can often be seen buying things with their eyes closed, spending money with great lavishness and generosity.
The Senlian Group alone has boosted the pre-Luzhou consumer market. Gradually, people have even developed a stereotype about Senlian Group employees: high salaries, good benefits, and generous bonuses.
In the local marriage market, even frontline operators at the Orange Mobile phone factory have become highly sought-after.
From the outside, employees of Senlian Group are seen as having stable incomes, weekends off, and medical insurance that covers their wives and children.
Before January was even over, more than 500 employees had already registered to receive wedding gifts.
The long-time employees of Pinbei and Orange Technology who worked alongside Chen Yansen have gradually settled down, started families, and many even have children.
On January 21, Orange Interactive Entertainment launched the IP development work for "Perfect World" and "Mang Huang Ji", and announced that the film and television versions of "Night Emperor", "Confucianism and Taoism", and "Tang Dynasty Brick" had been sold.
The former was developed in-house, while the latter was developed by a third-party film and television company.
After the "prison scandal" in 2014, the entertainment industry suffered heavy losses, and its fig leaf was completely torn off. For the audience, following the artists of Orange Entertainment is more worthwhile than following celebrities.
The reason is simple: Orange Entertainment is the first entertainment company in China to establish a rule that "its artists are not allowed to accompany guests to drinking parties." Fans don't have to worry about their favorite female or male stars having to put on a show at drinking parties in private.
In other words, artists from other entertainment companies may not necessarily be morally upright, but artists from Orange Entertainment are more likely to be cleaner.
As a result, the original market structure of the entertainment industry is quietly changing, and resources in the Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong entertainment circles have been greatly hampered.
Because Orange Interactive Entertainment is backed by two giants, Tencent and Senlian Group, it has a complete IP development chain, from voice to animation, comics, games, and film and television adaptations, with complete control in its own hands. In addition, its short drama ecosystem has cultivated a large number of artists, taking away some exposure and traffic from the original stars.
Many artists who didn't want to accompany others for drinks and sex switched to Orange Entertainment after their contracts expired.
At the same time, with Chen Yansen's support, Fang Xiang established a branch in New York and began to participate in Hollywood film investment projects.
At this time, the overseas short drama market was booming, and ShortMimo's annual revenue exceeded 1 billion US dollars, with more than 1,000 short dramas launched, each generating an average profit of 1 million US dollars.
It looks small, but the cost is extremely low, and the staff and production team are all from the lowest rungs of Hollywood.
To put it bluntly, they're just a bunch of dead extras.
If you're lucky, the short drama becomes a hit, earning you tens of millions of US dollars; if you're unlucky, you might only lose a few hundred thousand US dollars at most.
It's worth noting that the total box office revenue in North America in 2014 was only $10.35 billion. Now, a short-form video platform has sold $1 billion worth of content, which has naturally caused a strong shock to Hollywood.
This is also the main reason why Orange Interactive quickly established itself in New York and secured investments in several popular films.
These Hollywood movie giants have also set their sights on the short drama market and want to establish a deep partnership with Orange Interactive Entertainment.
For a time, shooting short dramas became almost the main job of low-level employees in Hollywood.
For example, Chen Yansen saw Anna Armas in a movie called "My Billionaire Husband," who later became the actress who starred in "Blade Runner," "007," and "Blonde Marilyn."
Fang Xiang originally planned to gather several good-looking and well-built white actresses for the boss's "appreciation" when he held the ShortMimo Short Drama Festival at the end of the year. However, after being scolded, he suddenly realized that the big boss had no interest in unspoken rules.
What he didn't know was that Chen Yansen simply disliked his poor taste.
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Senlian Science and Technology Park, Orange Biotechnology R&D Center.
Chen Yansen was standing outside the fully transparent sterile laboratory, his eyes focused on the newly sprouted rice seedlings in the petri dish.
The seedlings' leaves are a nearly transparent light green, and under the fluorescent light of a gene sequencer, they reveal subtle differences that are difficult for the average person to detect.
This is the first-generation sample optimized using CRISPR Cas9 gene editing technology!
By editing the PEPC gene, the CO2 fixation capacity of rice was enhanced, and the photosynthetic efficiency was greatly improved.
If successful, production will achieve a qualitative leap!
Meanwhile, the edited IPA1 gene can increase the number of effective spikes and make the stems thicker, while the improved DEP1 gene can make the spikes denser and the number of grains greater, forming a "dense spike type" variety.
In addition, the introduction of Bt gene, glufosinate-resistant and glyphosate-resistant genes allows rice to produce its own insecticidal proteins, effectively controlling lepidopteran pests and simplifying field weed management, thereby saving labor costs.
"Boss, these are the results of the third round of gene target screening."
Senior R&D engineer Sun Jianing handed over a tablet. The screen displayed a densely packed three-dimensional map of the rice genome, with three gene fragments highlighted in particular.
“We identified three core genes, OsSPL14, OsPYL9, and OsNAC10, which correspond to effective ear number, drought resistance, and nitrogen use efficiency, respectively. By editing and knocking out the inferior fragments, and then introducing the stress-resistant gene fragments extracted from deep-sea algae, we can theoretically improve yield, drought resistance, and fertilizer absorption efficiency at the same time.”
Sun Jianing said softly.
She was a graduate student at Yenching Agricultural University. When she learned that Orange Biotechnology was recruiting breeding technicians, she submitted her resume without hesitation.
She didn't want to accumulate seniority in a research institute, nor did she want to live a hard life earning a monthly salary of ten thousand yuan at a private seed company.
As is well known, the subsidiaries of Senlian Capital are famous for their high salaries, low workload, and generous benefits.
Although some people online say that Orange Biotechnology is newly established and lacks technical foundation, which will affect career development and future prospects.
But Sun Jianing didn't think so. She knew very well that Xingyuan Technology had developed the Dawn A220 lithography machine and the Candle Dragon G1051 in just one year. Was that reasonable?
That's definitely unreasonable!
It was less of a gamble and more of a sign of trust in Chen Yansen.
After she joined the company, she found that the lab was full of young people around the same age as her, the oldest being only in their thirties.
Their first project was to use gene editing technology to cultivate a super rice variety that is high-yielding and resistant to insects and diseases.
Without any prior experience, Chen Yansen led more than 300 researchers to screen and analyze thousands of key molecular structures in rice genes.
In just one month, the T0 generation seeds were planted and T1 generation plants were obtained.
Chen Yansen took the tablet and tapped the OsSPL14 gene with his finger: "The number of effective spikelets should not be too high. Excessive density will lead to poor ventilation and light penetration, which will affect the seed setting rate. Lower the editing threshold by 15% to ensure that the number of effective tillers per plant is controlled at 12 to 15. At the same time, strengthen the cellulose synthesis gene of the stem cell wall to avoid lodging later."
“Okay, boss.” Sun Jianing nodded in agreement.
She knew that Chen Yansen was a liberal arts student and that he majored in journalism in college, but she also knew that with Chen Yansen's research ability, he could teach those professors at Yenching Agricultural University.
In reality, her mindset was: Just do it!
She was curious about why the big boss knew about biotechnology, but she also knew to ask as few questions as possible.
Anyway, the company gives her a base salary of 18,000 yuan per month, and her total annual income easily exceeds 400,000 yuan, which is much more comfortable than working in the research institute.
Although they are not on the official payroll, Chen Yansen said that the next batch of welfare housing for the group will prioritize R&D personnel.
With money, housing, and comprehensive welfare benefits, who would still want to work at a research institute?
After exchanging instructions with Sun Jianing, Chen Yansen continued walking forward.
A molecular scientist is carefully operating a microinjection device. Genetically edited rice embryo cells are suspended in a specially prepared nutrient solution. Under the microscope, the needle tip, carrying a nanoscale gene carrier, precisely pierces the nucleus of the embryo cell.
This process requires an error of no more than 0.1 micrometers; even the slightest tremor can cause the editing to fail.
Looking at the cell images being transmitted in real time on the screen, Chen Yansen frowned slightly, recalling the seedlings that had withered due to unstable gene fragment integration in the first two rounds of experiments. He then reminded them, "Replace the traditional vector with an anchoring enzyme."
Anchoring enzyme is a proprietary technology developed by Orange Biotechnology. It enables exogenous genes to form covalent bonds with the rice genome, improving integration efficiency by at least 30%.
Upon hearing this, the molecular researcher immediately swiped quickly on the touchscreen of the control panel, operating according to Chen Yansen's instructions.
As he spoke, he connected the reagent tube containing the anchoring enzyme to the syringe. When the needle tip was aimed at the embryonic cell again, the gene map on the screen displayed a highlighted indication of the binding site in real time.
This is a gene tracking system independently developed by Orange Biotechnology, which can dynamically monitor the integration process of exogenous genes in cells.
Chen Yansen stood aside, watching the fluctuating curves on the screen, and continued to instruct: "Pay attention to monitoring cell activity, and record the mitochondrial respiration rate every ten minutes."
Two hours later, he left the lab and walked toward Building 1, lost in thought.
The key task at this stage is to extract DNA from each leaf, perform molecular testing, and then screen out homozygous plants with stable editing events and no off-target effects.
The selected homozygous T1 generation plants were then self-pollinated, and T2 generation seeds were harvested. Once it was confirmed that all offspring carried the target edited gene 100%, it was proven that the trait had been stably inherited.
First, the seeds were planted in an artificial climate chamber and hybridized with T2 generation seeds. Then, the new seeds were backcrossed with T2 generation seeds to further stabilize the gene molecular structure.
After 4 to 6 generations of backcrossing, a brand new gene-edited variety with a genetic background that is more than 99% identical to that of the T2 generation seeds can be obtained.
The reason for choosing an artificial climate chamber is that it can control light, temperature, humidity, nutrients and gas structure. Under such conditions, the growth cycle of rice can be shortened from about 120 to 150 days in the field to 70 to 100 days, or even shorter, and 4 to 6 crops can be planted continuously in a year.
If placed in an outdoor experimental field, the speed would be too slow.
But before he even reached Building No. 1, his divine sense "saw" a familiar face. He then turned around, looked at a girl with a backpack not far away, and asked, "On holiday?"
Wearing a bright red short down jacket, Wang Ziyan nodded and said with sparkling eyes, "So I'm here to report for duty!"
The nineteen-year-old girl exuded the charm of youth.
Chen Yansen looked Wang Ziyan up and down. She was 1.72 meters tall and wearing sneakers. She stood in front of him, her height just reaching his lips.
She paired it with dark blue jeans, which hugged her long, straight legs, making them appear extremely well-proportioned.
If you only look at Wang Ziyan's face, you would think she weighs only 90 pounds at most, but in reality, she weighs 107 pounds, with plump and fleshy thighs and slender and toned calves.
Aside from not gaining weight in her face, she has gained weight in all the right places, and her body proportions are even better than Song Yuncheng's.
Both are C-cups, but Wang Ziyan is six centimeters taller than Song Yuncheng, so she naturally has a slight advantage.
"Would you like me to take you there?"
Chen Yansen glanced at the time; it was 11:15. He asked casually.
"Is it okay?" Wang Ziyan asked, somewhat uncertainly.
Normally, Chen Yansen would ignore her and occasionally reply to a message, but today his attitude was noticeably warmer.
"Of course you can, you're my sister."
Chen Yansen raised the corner of his mouth and chuckled as he reached out to put his arm around Wang Ziyan's waist. His right hand was halfway there when it changed course and ended up resting on Wang Ziyan's shoulder.
Wang Ziyan's body stiffened, her breathing became rapid, her ear tips turned red, and her heart burned as if a fire had ignited inside her.
Are you alright?
Chen Yansen lowered his head and asked the question knowing the answer already.
"It's alright, let's go," Wang Ziyan said softly, smiling as she replied.
Chen Yansen led Wang Ziyan to Building 4 and called over Jiang Leiming from the R&D department: "Wang Ziyan, a sophomore majoring in software engineering at USTC, help me arrange her to join the DevOps team."
The DevOps team is a hybrid group of developers and operations personnel, responsible for server expansion, load balancing, database maintenance, and ensuring that the hardware and infrastructure support high concurrency.
OrangePay and 12306's distributed systems and microservice architecture are their creations.
The system for purchasing train tickets during last year's Spring Festival travel rush did not crash, thanks to their support to the railway association, which helped them optimize the technical modules for ordering, payment, and inventory, greatly reducing the pressure on individual points of failure.
"Okay, boss." Jiang Leiming quickly agreed. Seeing that the boss had no other instructions, he personally took Wang Ziyan to the human resources department to complete the intern onboarding process.
In principle, the company does not allow nepotism, but Chen Yansen is a stickler for principles.
He dared not refuse the people brought by the big boss.
In addition, judging from the name Wang Ziyan, she is most likely Wang Zihao's younger sister.
Currently, Wang Zihao is in charge of launching the Orange Convenience Store project at Orange Supermarket. Anyone with eyes can see that Wang Zihao holds a high position in the boss's heart.
If he lacked ability, that would be one thing, but Wang Zihao's work ability is quite good. From FoxTao to Pinduoduo, then to OFO bikes and Orange Supermarket, he has been able to rotate through different positions within the group, and he will most likely be in charge of a project independently in the future.
It's never wrong to be on good terms with them, and Jiang Leiming was happy to make a good connection.
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The following day, January 22, the first batch of Xingyuan Technology's Dawn A220 entered the delivery stage, with two units shipped to Shanghai, two to the United States, one to South Korea, and the last one to Taiwan.
Accompanying them were more than 1,000 engineers responsible for assembly and debugging.
The installation cost for each unit is as high as $5 million.
In addition, the buyer must also cover the engineers' accommodation, travel expenses, and subsidies.
Although they paid for the equipment when they placed the order, the installation and subsequent maintenance costs were still mandatory.
It may seem unreasonable, but Chen Yansen was simply copying the common practices in Europe and America.
Just like in the past, when the factory's machine tools broke down and the factory couldn't or dared not repair them, they could ask the equipment supplier to send engineers from abroad, and the domestic factory would have to pay for the airfare, accommodation, and travel allowance.
There's nothing I can do; if I don't have the skills, I can only obediently pay.
Nowadays, Chen Yansen is simply applying the Western model to them.
This was an ordinary day, but it marked the day when China's semiconductor industry entered the center stage. By mastering EUV lithography machines, China gained control of the discourse.
Even suppliers from small businesses, the United States, and Korea no longer dare to obstruct Xingyuan Technology's supply.
Because they angered StarSource Technology, the latter had the ability to force the fab factory to stop using their products.
In short, once you're on the dinner table, you have the power to distribute the food, and your status undergoes a dramatic change.
While ASML can still sell DUV lithography machines, EUV lithography machines are monopolized by StarSource Technology.
When StarSource Technology launches its DUV lithography machine, ASML may not go out of business, but its market share will decrease by half, or even more than half.
Peter, the president of ASML, who is far away in Eindhoven, is at a loss in the face of the current predicament, as mainstream fabs have abandoned ASML.
Unless ASML can increase the wafer processing efficiency of its EUV lithography machines from 20 wafers per hour to over 200 wafers per hour within six months, it will not be able to gain the corresponding market competitiveness.
Otherwise, TSMC, UMC, and GlobalFoundries wouldn't even give ASML a second glance.
Even though some of their major shareholders are institutions holding ASML's equity, the performance and wafer processing efficiency of the NXE 3300B are too poor. Compared with the Dawn A220, it instantly loses its commercial value.
Just as Peter was in a state of utter distress, a group of senior executives from the North American Semiconductor Association gathered once again.
This time, their thinking has shifted from "suppression" to "cooperation," and they plan to establish a cooperative relationship with Xingyuan Technology and Tiangong Technology through investment and equity participation.
When faced with self-interest, all confrontations seem pale and powerless.
Moreover, even the Business Association and the Anguo Association could not find an effective way to block Xingyuan Technology, so they could only choose the path of "if you can't beat them, throw money at them".
After all, lithography machines have a large technology stack and a wide range of supporting parts, so you can always find a suitable part to participate in.
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The following week, Chen Yansen handed over the optimization work of rice planting and hybridization to Sun Jianing and others, while he himself devoted himself to engine research.
The rocket engine designed by Lin Maoye and Simon did not meet his expectations in terms of power performance.
After thoroughly reading all the technical documents, Chen Yansen officially began to improve the engine.
(End of this chapter)
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