Jiang Xingye became even busier.

After running around for two or three months, with the help of Mr. Qin, he managed to secure a piece of land. He began to recruit more people, asking Luo Jinhao to bring a group from the Shangjiang Team to start construction on the enclosed land.

Back then, when Mr. Qin was involved in the black market in Anguang County, he had a number of people under him.

When Mr. Qin left, these people were absorbed by Jiang Xingye into the factory run by the Shangjiang Team. Now, most of those who have come are these people.

Once the factory was built, Jiang Xingye did not initially install equipment, but rather used the approach from when he ran a threshing machine factory. He ordered a batch of parts and asked his team to assemble them into machine tools.

By this time, it was almost the 1990s.

Policies were becoming more open.

However, family planning policies were becoming stricter. The "Kangbo" set was launched. With high quality, thin material, and low price, it was included in the government procurement list, and its slogan, "Romantic moments protected by Kangbo," was everywhere on the streets.

At Shangjiang Supermarket, packages were placed by the checkout, allowing customers to conveniently add a box when making a purchase, a thoughtful touch.

Unlike the previous thick leather-like versions, this ultra-thin type was obviously more popular among couples.

A lady from the neighborhood committee heard that it was Jiang Xingye’s company that made them, and came to tell Xu Qinghuan, "Your Jiang comrade has truly done something beneficial for the country and the people."

Xu Qinghuan thought to herself, this credit must go to her own third brother.

Four years later, Zhang Changqing and Jiang Baohua retired. The newly appointed county leadership invited them to lead a team to find Jiang Xingye, asking him to take over the factories of the Shangjiang Team.

The factories were nearly abandoned.

This time, Jiang Xingye did not refuse and took over the factories he had originally set up.

He retained all the employees but adjusted the business scope, optimizing the sewing machine business and adding automobile design and manufacturing.

After graduating, Jiang Xingmei worked at a garment factory in Yan City. She was ambitious about design, but instead became a technician, guiding cutting workers all day and checking factory quality with quality inspectors.

After graduation, she listened to Xu Qinghuan and quickly married Huo Chi, having two children in three years, a son and a daughter. She left her job and took over the Four Sisters Clothing Factory, leaving the children with grandparents.

Huo Chi was in the military district of Yan City, where there wasn’t much opportunity for military family placements. He rarely came home, giving Jiang Xingmei the chance to focus on her own business.

Xu Qinghuan suggested she should eventually place the headquarters in Yan City, and only use the Shangjiang Team location as a processing plant. In the future, after expansion, factories could be built in both Yan City and Shen City, creating a tripartite position.

After revitalizing the factories of the Shangjiang Team, Jiang Xingye bought a piece of land in Yan City, planning to build a building that would serve both as headquarters and a research center.

Only then did Xu Qinghuan realize that Jiang Xingye’s business empire differed from what she had read in books.

He had no plans to pursue greenhouse vegetables, gave up on furniture business, and didn’t intend to engage with livelihood matters, focusing solely on technology.

The five and a half years at Yan University, combined with the books in Xu Qinghuan’s space, ultimately shaped a different Jiang Xingye, whose abilities, ambition, and perspective far surpassed most people of this era.

On New Year’s Day in 1990, Shangjiang Group globally released an operating system called "Qiming" and office software named "Xunhang." Meanwhile, five years earlier, in the United States, an operating system software had already debuted.

Yet, Shangjiang Software surpassed the American one in terms of stability, applicability, and compatibility, advancing several levels.

The computers developed and produced independently by Shangjiang Group, equipped with "Qiming" and "Xunhang" software, caused a market sensation.

Different from the bulky monitors of its time, it used a slim LCD screen, and the mainframe was very lightweight. The electronic components were integrated onto the circuit board, with remarkably powerful computing capacity.

The world now recognized Shangjiang Group, and by this time, Shangjiang Group had completed its commercial layout.

It was a high-tech conglomerate integrating machinery, electronics, and software.

In addition to the technological products being sold like computers and phones, mechanical production also focused on automotive engines and transmissions. In electronics, it boasted the world’s largest chip manufacturing plant. In software, it focused mainly on research software like graphics and 3D modeling.

Shangjiang Group gained global attention with a very strong presence.

In Shen City, Qiao Xinyu and Yu Xiaomin’s families were always close, gathering together for a meal on weekends with the family TV broadcasting the grand press conference.

The broadcast voice echoed in the room, "The computer launched by Shangjiang Group is at the forefront of the world, both in software and hardware technology. This means our country’s computer industry is leading on the international stage. Expert evaluations declare our technology to be at least ten years ahead of the international standard..."

"Our unit plans to order twenty computers and gradually implement computer-based office work, which is said to be particularly convenient."

Qiao Xinyu stayed in Shen City to work at a garment factory, responsible for technology, while Yu Xiaomin remained at school.

Lin Yufei entered the commerce bureau, and Chen Dewen is now the deputy director responsible for sales at a mechanical plant.

In Shen City, they were considered among the elite.

However, after watching the broadcast, no one spoke for a while. Over the past two years, they witnessed changes in the situation; market trends were not friendly to those who once held stable jobs in state-owned enterprises.

The person who led them into this industry had now become a prominent figure in the field of technology.

"This Shangjiang Group, do you think it was really started by Ye Ge?" Lin Yufei asked a question that even he thought was foolish.

Shangjiang Group was well-known, but nobody knew who the chairman was.

While others might not, couldn’t they guess?

They just didn’t dare!

They all went to college together, even though there were some differences in their exam scores at the time, ten years on, their lives were drastically different.

This disparity was really hard to accept. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"I’ll go make a phone call!" Chen Dewen stood up and went outside.

On a Saturday, after leaders came to inspect, Jiang Xingye had just sent them off. Changing clothes to go home, he absent-mindedly thought about the 5G era discussed in books when the phone on his desk rang, interrupting his thoughts.

He assumed it was Xu Qinghuan calling, buttoning his shirt as he answered, "Huan..."

On the other end, a somewhat familiar voice replied, "Ye Ge, it’s Chen Dewen, it’s been a long time!"

Chen Dewen had obtained the phone number from Xu Qinghuan, and over the years, they maintained contact, though rarely meeting due to distance.

The most recent gathering was when Jiang Xingye brought his family to Shen City for a trip, and everyone met up once.

"Old Chen, of course, I remember. It has been a while. Huanhuan just mentioned you yesterday, when will you come over to hang out?"

It seemed that time hadn’t really kept them apart for long.