Chapter 472: The Seventy‑Two Hours of Life and Death of the Wanshang DVD

The firecracker blasts of the 1992 Spring Festival still crackled and exploded in the night sky over Shenzhen.

The assembly line at the Wanshang DVD factory has been roaring nonstop for three full days and nights.

Xu Jiaming stood on the observation platform on the second floor of the assembly Workshop, watching the winding silver serpent below—a conveyor belt carrying newly born DVD players, moving forward in silence like soldiers awaiting inspection.

The air was filled with the acrid smell of melted plastic, the fresh scent of rosin, and a faint whiff of metallic iron odor from metal friction.

His right eyelid had been twitching since yesterday afternoon.

It twitched erratically, sometimes rapid like a drumbeat, sometimes slow like a pendulum, yet never stopped.

Folklore says a left‑eye twitch brings money, a right‑eye twitch brings disaster. Xu Jiaming, a Tsinghua‑graduated engineer, shouldn't believe such things, yet an inexplicable unease coiled and writhed in his stomach like a cold snake.

"Chief Xu, the random inspection results for the third batch are in,"

Quality supervisor Lao Zhao climbed onto the observation platform, clutching a stack of reports; his complexion looked ashen under the harsh fluorescent lights.

Xu Jiaming took the reports and scanned them quickly.

Pass rate: 97.3%.

That's a drop of 0.5 percentage points from the previous two batches.

"Where's the problem?" he asked, his voice taut like a fully drawn bowstring.

"It's mainly the laser‑head components," Lao Zhao said, pointing to a bolded line on the report. "The assembly pass rate at station seven is only 91%. Workers report that the imported Japanese focusing lenses have micrometer‑level variations between batches, making adjustments time‑consuming."

Xu Jiaming's eyelid twitched hard again.

Three months ago, Wanshang DVD burst onto the scene, priced at 3,888 yuan with ultra‑strong error‑correction, catching Japanese brands off guard.

The market exploded like a volcano.

Orders poured in like snowflakes; distributors queued at the factory gates with cash, long lines formed at department‑store counters, and even News Broadcast devoted fifteen seconds: "Our domestically developed DVD player has won consumer favor thanks to its outstanding performance."

But Xu Jiaming knew that a time bomb lay beneath this prosperity.

—The core components were still held in someone else's hands.

Three Japanese firms monopolized the global supply of high‑precision laser heads. Although Wanshang could produce the whole machine, the most critical lens assemblies, photoelectric detectors, and precision guide rails all had to be imported.

The supplier's chokehold was only a matter of time.

Sure enough, a week before the Spring Festival, a Japanese supplier faxed: due to "capacity adjustments," February shipments would be cut by 30%, and March by another 50%.

The fax was politely worded, the reason grandiose.

Everyone understood the implication.

"How's the domestic replacement project progressing?" Xu Jiaming asked.

Lao Zhao gave a wry smile: "Over at Zhang's side, the fifth‑version sample was delivered the day before yesterday. Test results… still unstable."

The two descended from the observation platform, passed through the roaring Workshop, and entered a small laboratory in a corner.

It was as quiet as an alternate dimension.

On the workbench lay dozens of disassembled laser heads, assorted lenses, coils, and circuit boards, resembling an exhibition of dead precision instruments.

Zhang Wei hunched over the microscope, his white coat rumpled, hair a mess like a chicken coop.

He looked up at the sound of footsteps.

Xu Jiaming felt a weight in his chest—those eyes, always as sharp as an eagle's, were now blood‑shot, with puffy bags, radiating almost desperate fatigue.

"Old Xu," Zhang Wei's hoarse voice said, "I've failed again."

He pointed to the lens under the microscope: "Curvature error, 0.3 micrometers. That 0.3 µm shift makes the focus drift when reading discs—lightly causing mosaic artifacts, severely causing outright crashes."

Xu Jiaming leaned over the microscope.

The lens glowed with a cold sheen under the light, its edges showing fine, irregular ripples.

"A grinding‑process issue?" he asked.

"It's the material," Zhang Wei shook his head. "The optical glass we use lacks purity. During high‑temperature polishing, uneven internal stress release creates these micro‑distortions."

He grabbed the experimental report and slammed it onto the table: "The Japanese material formula is classified! To reverse‑engineer it, we'd need to test at least three hundred formula combinations, which will take… at least six months."

Six months?

Xu Jiaming closed his eyes.

Each day the assembly line stops costs eight hundred thousand yuan. Halt it for half a year, and the newly born Wanshang DVD brand could be declared dead outright.

Back in the office, Xu Jiaming flung himself into his chair.

Outside the window, the sky gradually lightened. Distant building silhouettes blurred in the morning mist, like an unfinished ink wash painting.

He recalled October of last year, when the DVD was first successfully developed, Li Ping'an said at the celebration banquet: "We've stood up; now we must stand even steadier."

But how to stand steadily?

Without the core technology in our hands, the lifeline remains forever in others' grasp. They can cut supply today, halt it tomorrow, and raise prices by 300% the day after.

This isn't commercial competition.

This is war.

A war without smoke, yet equally brutal.

The telephone rang suddenly, blasting.

Xu Jiaming answered; it was Li Ping'an's voice, calm yet unmistakably decisive: "Jiaming, I just got word. Panasonic and Sony will jointly launch a new DVD next month, priced at 3,288 yuan."

That's 600 yuan cheaper than Wanshang.

Xu Jiaming's hand clenched the handset hard.

"They're using a next‑generation integrated chip, cutting costs by 15% compared to us," Li Ping'an continued. "And… they've privately approached our distributors, promising a five‑percentage‑point higher rebate if they switch to selling Japanese brands."

Undermining us at the source.

"How much time do we have?" Xu Jiaming asked.

"At most one month," Li Ping'an paused, "After a month, if we can't lower costs or improve performance, the market… will be lost."

He hung up.

Xu Jiaming stared at the production schedule on the wall, the massive chart filled with red and blue arrows, which now looked like a mocking smile.

8 a. m., emergency meeting.

The conference room was shrouded in smoke, choking enough to keep eyes shut. Seven or eight department heads sat around the table, each with a grave expression.

"First, the good news," Xu Jiaming began, his voice hoarse, "In January we sold 120,000 units, and market share jumped to 41%."

No one clapped.

"The bad news is that the Japanese counterattack has arrived," he said, reciting Li Ping'an's Telephone content.

A deathly silence.

Then, Procurement Manager Lao Qian exploded first: "As for the laser heads, I called again this morning to urge them, and they said… the March supply might have to be cut again!"

"Why?" the Production Manager slammed the table.

"They claim… 'upstream raw material supply is tight.'" Lao Qian sneered, "Nonsense! They just see us selling well and want to choke us!"

Sales Manager Lao Wang frowned: "The distributors—three of them have called, saying the Japanese brand offers higher rebates and asking if we can match them."

"Match?" Xu Jiaming scoffed, "Our gross margin is already squeezed to 18%; giving more rebates would mean selling at a loss just for hype."

"What should we do?"

All eyes turned to Xu Jiaming.

He rose slowly, walked to the window, back to the crowd. Morning light streamed through the glass, gilding his outline, yet it could not pierce the gloom in his eyes.

"Two paths," he said, turning. "First, be compliant, accept the Japanese terms—aren't they raising prices? If they raise, we endure. If they cut supply, we wait."

"What about the second?" someone asked.

"The second," Xu Jiaming said deliberately, "is to achieve domestic production of the laser heads within thirty days."

The conference room erupted.

"Thirty days? Zhang said it would take at least half a year!"

"Is this a joke?"

"Even if we manage it, can the performance meet standards? Can the quality stay stable?"

Xu Jiaming waited until they finished arguing, then began slowly: "I know this is very hard. As hard as scaling heaven. But everyone—"

He scanned each face.

"If we comply today, tomorrow they'll demand more. The day after, they'll make us kneel. Our Wanshang DVD, from project inception to market launch, countless people have toiled and poured their heartbeats to reach this point. Are you willing?"

Not willing.

In each person's eyes were those three characters.

After the meeting adjourned, Xu Jiaming headed straight to Zhang Wei's laboratory.

He pushed the door open and was stunned.

The lab now had two more people—both old men, wearing faded Zhongshan jackets; one completely white‑haired, the other wearing thick black‑rimmed glasses.

Zhang Wei was demonstrating a microscope to the two, and upon seeing Xu Jiaming, quickly introduced: "These two are retired experts from the Changchun Optics Institute, Engineer Wang and Engineer Xie. I invited them especially."

Engineer Wang was the gentleman who had said, "We'll modify according to the precision we can grind."

He grasped Xu Jiaming's hand with astonishing strength: "Kid, don't worry. What the Japanese can do, we Chinese can also do."

Engineer Xie adjusted his glasses and said slowly: "The material issue doesn't have to follow the same path as the Japanese." He looked at your report and added, "Your thinking… is too narrow."

"Please, Engineer Xie, give guidance," Xu Jiaming bowed.

Engineer Xie pulled a darkish stone from his bag.

It wasn't a stone, but a certain metal alloy, its surface rough yet emitting an odd sheen.

"This is called beryllium‑copper alloy," he said. "Its thermal expansion coefficient is only one‑third that of optical glass. Used as a lens mount, it can counteract the material's intrinsic stress deformation."

Xu Jiaming's eyes lit up.

"What about the lens itself?" Zhang Wei asked urgently.

Engineer Wang smiled: "The lens doesn't have to be high‑purity optical glass. Our country has a special quartz glass used on satellites; its purity is sufficient, but… expensive."

"How expensive?"

"Five times pricier than Japanese material."

Xu Jiaming's heart sank again.

The cost‑accounting meeting felt like a funeral.

Financial Director Lao Sun, calculator in hand, tapped away for a while, then looked up, his face pale: "If we use special quartz glass with a beryllium‑copper mount, the single laser‑head cost… will rise by 120 yuan. The whole machine's cost goes up by 240 yuan."

"What about the selling price?" someone asked.

"The price cannot increase," Xu Jiaming shook his head. "The Japanese are cutting prices; if we raise ours, it's suicide."

"If we don't raise the price, we lose 240 yuan per unit," Lao Sun's voice trembled. "Selling 100,000 units a month means a loss of 24 million. We… can't sustain it."

The conference room fell into dead silence again.

The sunlight outside grew brighter, yet it could not disperse the heavy gloom inside.

Xu Jiaming stared at the dense numbers on the financial statements, his mind racing. Cost, price, output, loss… these figures were like mountains pressing him to the point of breathlessness.

Suddenly, he recalled something.

"Lao Sun, what is our current after‑sales repair rate?"

"3.2%."

"Where does the main problem lie?"

"The laser heads aging and disc‑reading capability dropping account for 70%."

Xu Jiaming sprang to his feet: "What if our domestically produced laser heads could last twice as long as the Japanese ones?"

Everyone was stunned.

"The Japanese, to control costs, use materials that are just sufficient," Xu Jiaming said faster and faster. "Their laser heads are designed for 8,000 hours. If we use better materials, can we reach 16,000 hours?"

Zhang Wei's eyes lit up: "In theory... it's possible! Specialty quartz glass has far greater heat resistance and stability than ordinary optical glass. If we pair it with a beryllium‑copper base, doubling the lifespan is entirely feasible!"

"Then it's not a cost increase, but a value upgrade!" Xu Jiaming slapped the table excitedly, "We can promote—Wanshang DVD, laser‑head lifespan doubled, three‑year warranty!"

Three‑year warranty.

In 1992, home‑appliance products typically came with only a one‑year guarantee. Three years—that's a nuclear‑level selling point.

"But will consumers believe it?" someone questioned.

"They will." Xu Jiaming said resolutely, "Because we can do a public teardown comparison—open both the Japanese unit and ours side by side, let everyone see whose materials are solid and whose craftsmanship is refined."

The more he spoke, the clearer his line of thought became: "Costs rise by 204, but the price stays the same. Are we losing money? No. With that 204 we gain technological independence, we gain a quality reputation, we gain the right to long‑term survival!"

In the conference room, everyone's gaze shifted from despair to hope.

From gloom, a spark of fire gradually ignited.

A resolution formed: go all‑out, and within thirty days achieve fully domestic laser‑head production.

Code name: Dawn Project.

The Nanshan R&D Center slipped back into a sleepless state. Zhang Wei brought two veteran experts, eating and living in the lab. Engineer Wang handled material ratios, Engineer Xie handled structural design, and Zhang Wei oversaw system integration.

Xu Jiaming stationed himself at the factory, coordinating all resources—money when needed, personnel when needed, equipment rearranged overnight as required.

On the seventh day, the first‑edition prototype emerged.

Test results: disc‑reading speed 20% slower, heat emission exceeded standards.

Failure.

On the tenth day, the second‑edition prototype.

Disc‑reading speed met the target, but the noise was too loud, like a small tractor.

Failure.

On the fifteenth day, the third‑edition prototype.

All metrics passed, but Engineer Wang, looking at the test data, furrowed his brows: "Something's off. During continuous high‑temperature testing, the light spot showed slight scattering."

Upon inspection, it was indeed a problem of thermal deformation in the base.

Failure.

Days passed one by one.

Pressure rolled like a snowball, growing larger. A strand of Xu Jiaming's hair turned visibly white. Zhang Wei had become so gaunt his shape was lost, his glasses hanging loosely on his nose.

On the twenty‑fifth day, the fourth‑edition prototype.

The testing lab was packed with people.

Everyone held their breath, watching the tester press the start button.

The machine whirred, the disc spun, the screen lit up…

The picture was clear, the sound full, it played continuously for eight hours, temperature stayed stable, and noise remained within a reasonable range.

The tester looked up, voice trembling with excitement: "All metrics... all met the standards!"

A brief silence.

Then the cheers nearly blew the roof off.

Zhang Wei slumped in his chair, hands covering his face, shoulders shaking violently. Engineer Wang and Engineer Xie embraced, both old men with tears glimmering in their eyes.

Xu Jiaming walked to the test bench, reached out and touched the newly born, fully domestic laser head.

Slightly warm.

Like a heart just beginning to beat.

The thirtieth day, April 1st.

April Fool's Day.

Matsushita and Sony's new DVDs hit the market as scheduled. Priced at 3,288 yuan, advertisements flooded everywhere: "Next‑generation chip, smoother experience."

The same day, Wanshang held a press conference.

Xu Jiaming stood on stage, behind him a massive backdrop bearing a line of text: "Wanshang DVD fully upgraded—laser‑head lifespan doubled, three‑year ultra‑long warranty."

Below the stage, hundreds of media reporters sat, flashlights blazing.

"Today, I am proud to announce." Xu Jiaming's voice rang through the microphone across the venue, "Wanshang DVD, from today onward, will fully adopt laser‑head components that are independently developed and manufactured."

He paused, looking at the Japanese reporter seated in the front row.

"That means Wanshang DVD has achieved complete independence from whole‑device design to core components."

The audience erupted in a roar.

A reporter raised a hand: "May I ask, President Xu, can the performance of the domestic laser head compare with imported products?"

Xu Jiaming smiled.

He gestured, and staff rolled up two machines—a Japanese new model and a Wanshang new model.

"Words are cheap; let's do an on‑site teardown comparison."

Screwdrivers rose and fell as the two machines were dismantled on the spot.

When the two laser heads were placed side by side, everyone could see clearly— the Japanese unit used an ordinary aluminum base with a simple lens assembly; the Wanshang unit used a beryllium‑copper alloy base, with heavy, solid lenses.

"Our laser head is designed for a lifespan of 16,000 hours, twice the industry standard." Xu Jiaming lifted the Wanshang laser head, "So we dare to promise: three‑year warranty. Within three years, any disc‑reading issue will be replaced free of charge."

He looked toward the audience: "As for price—Wanshang DVD still sells for 3,888 yuan. No price hike, no compromise."

Applause thundered like a storm.

That evening, Li Ping'an called from Hong Kong.

"Jiaming, you did a great job today." His voice carried a smile, "I just got word that Matsushita's China regional president smashed a teacup in his office."

Xu Jiaming also laughed, "What he needs to cut down is still ahead."

"But don't be complacent." Li Ping'an grew serious, "This war has only just finished its first battle. Next, they'll strike back in other areas—chips, decoding algorithms, exterior design... every link could become a battlefield."

"I understand." Xu Jiaming looked toward the window.

Shenzhen's nightscape shines like a river of stars. On this land, countless people like him fight on their own battlefields, giving their all for the four characters "Made in China".

"Boss, you said…" he suddenly asked, "When will we no longer be strangled by others?"

The Telephone on the other end was silent for a few seconds.

Then Li Ping'an's voice came, calm yet full of power:

"When the day comes that we choke others."

Hang up the Telephone.

Xu Jiaming stood by the window, unmoving for a long while.

In the distance, the Wanshang DVD factory's lights burned bright, and the assembly line still roared.

That voice, on this spring night of 1992, sounded exactly like—

the footsteps of this ancient nation marching toward the future.