Steal the enemy's base at the start and build a technological empire.

Chapter 173 Nanjing University Spark Laboratory

The corridor on the third floor of Zhixin Building was packed with people.

As Ling Yun walked up the stairs, a bespectacled boy was loudly reading from a flyer in his hand: "Monthly subsidy of 800 yuan, project bonuses are additional, outstanding performers can be directly recommended to Xinghuo Technology..."

The boy paused, looked around, and asked, "Is it true or false?"

"Really," said a short-haired girl next to him. "My senior is in a lab at Shandong University. He received a 5,000 yuan bonus last month because he solved a chip heat dissipation problem."

"Five thousand?"

"Yes. But he's from the hardware team; he's been working on it for over three months."

The crowd stirred again.

Ling Yun walked past them unnoticed. He was dressed in a plain white shirt and casual pants, carrying a black backpack, looking like a graduate student.

At the end of the corridor is Room 308, with a newly made sign hanging on the door: "Nanjing University - Spark Technology Joint Laboratory". The sign is made of acrylic, with white lettering on a blue background, and the Nanjing University emblem and Spark Technology logo in the lower right corner.

Ling Yun walked in. The room still smelled of renovation. The walls were freshly painted white, and the floor was covered with anti-static flooring.

Two rows of worktables were placed against the wall, each equipped with a computer. The computers were not yet turned on; the black monitor screens reflected the swaying shadows of the trees outside the window.

Director Wang was talking to a worker, pointing to the network cable interface on the ceiling. Seeing Ling Yun enter, he nodded, indicating to wait a moment.

"Add two more ports here," Director Wang said to the workers. "The students need to test the network equipment, and we don't have enough ports."

"clear."

The worker climbed the ladder, the sound of the electric drill filled the air, and dust fell in a flurry.

Director Wang walked over and shook hands with Ling Yun. His palms were thick, and his grip was strong.

"The number of applications has exceeded expectations." He picked up a stack of forms from the table. "As of last night, we had received 273 applications. Almost a quarter of the computer science students, from sophomores to seniors, have applied."

Ling Yun took the forms. Each form had a passport photo attached and was filled out with information about the major, grades, awards, and project experience. Some handwriting was neat and tidy, while others was illegible and illegible.

"We plan to recruit twenty people," Director Wang said. "Now there are more than two hundred applicants, so screening is a problem."

"What standards are used for screening?"

"The department held a meeting and initially set a few standards: top 30% in major courses, participation in at least one actual project, and a letter of recommendation." Director Wang paused, "But even after this screening, there are still more than 80 people left."

Ling Yun flipped through the forms. The first one was of a sophomore; the boy in the photo had bright eyes, and the transcript read: Advanced Mathematics 98, Data Structures 95, Computer Organization 92. His project experience section stated: Independently developed a student course selection system.

"The presentation is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon," Director Wang said. "It's in the school auditorium, which can seat three hundred people. Would you like to take a look at the speech first?"

"No need for a prepared speech," Ling Yun said. "I ask, they answer. That's more direct."

Director Wang glanced at him.

"That works," he said. "But there are a few things we need to discuss. For example, the ownership of intellectual property rights, confidentiality agreements, and what happens if a student drops out midway. Parents will ask these questions, and the school needs to keep written records."

"Everything is prepared." Ling Yun took out a draft agreement from his backpack.

Director Wang took it, turned to the third page, where several clauses were highlighted in bold:

"If the technological achievements generated by students during their time in the laboratory are of a basic research nature, the intellectual property rights belong to the university; if they are of an application development nature, the intellectual property rights are jointly owned by the university and Spark Technology, with Spark Technology having priority in use."

"Students' employment destinations after graduation are not limited by the laboratory."

"The laboratory organizes monthly technical assessments, and those who fail twice in a row will be removed from the program."

After reading it, Director Wang nodded.

"Okay." He placed the agreement on the table. "The interviews will begin after the information session tomorrow. The department will send three professors, and you will send two to form the interview panel. The final list will be decided within a week."

"it is good."

The school bell rang outside the window. The noise in the corridor suddenly increased as students poured out of the classrooms.

A girl appeared at the laboratory door and knocked on the open door.

"Director Wang, should we submit the registration forms here?"

"Yes, put it on the table."

A girl walked in. She had her hair in a ponytail, was wearing a Nanjing University T-shirt, and was carrying a file folder. When she saw Ling Yun, she paused for a moment, but didn't ask any questions. She put the file folder on the table and left.

Director Wang waited until she was out of sight before saying, "This girl's name is Zhou Xiaowen. She's a junior and ranked first in her major. Her father is a section chief in the Provincial Department of Science and Technology."

Ling Yun did not respond. He walked to the window and looked downstairs.

The campus was full of students who had just finished class. Bicycle bells rang incessantly, several boys ran past carrying basketballs, and groups of girls headed towards the cafeteria. The sycamore leaves were still green, but the edges were already turning yellow.

Autumn of 1997 arrived just like that.

They arrived carrying the fragrance of osmanthus, the anticipation of the new semester, and 273 registration forms.

"When will the lab be operational?" Ling Yun asked.

"The equipment will all arrive next week," Director Wang said. "The network needs to be debugged and the software installed, which will take at least half a month. However, we can start the interviews first, and after we determine the candidates, we can have them participate in the preparation work."

"Let them start by learning how to install the machines."

"What?"

"The students will assemble the computers in the lab themselves." Ling Yun turned around. "Everyone needs to know what each connector on the motherboard does, how to connect each cable, and how to install the system. This is the first lesson."

Director Wang thought about it.

"Sure," he said. "We just happened to have thirty machines, and the parts are all loose."

Footsteps sounded outside the door again. This time it was a boy, very tall, carrying a bulging backpack.

"Director, I'd like to ask..." The boy started to speak, but then his eyes widened when he saw the equipment in the lab. "Are all these machines for us to use?"

"Those selected can use it."

"What's the configuration?"

"Pentium II processor, 64MB RAM, 4MB video memory, 10GB hard drive," Lingyun said.

The boy whistled.

"It's much better than the department's computer lab," he said. "The computer lab's still uses 486s."

He put down his schoolbag and took something out of it. It was a mouse, but unlike ordinary mice, it had a red light on the bottom.

"I made this myself during my summer vacation." The boy handed the mouse to Director Wang. "It's an optical mouse, more accurate than a ball mouse. However, the optical sensor was soldered by myself, so it's not very stable."

Director Wang took the mouse and moved it across the desktop. The cursor slid across the monitor, but occasionally frames would skip.

"Where did the optical sensor come from?"

"I salvaged it from a broken scanner." The boy was a little embarrassed. "I know it won't work well, but I wanted to give it a try."

Ling Yun walked over, picked up the mouse, and looked at it.

"What's your name?"

Chen Rui, a senior.

"Want to join the lab?"

"Yes," Chen Rui said. "I want to work on hardware. Chip design, circuit board development, those things."

"This mouse," Lingyun handed the mouse back to him, "if you can solve the frame skipping problem within a month and achieve an accuracy of 800 dpi, the lab will reserve a spot for you."

Chen Rui's eyes lit up.

"real?"

"Really. But you need to write a complete test report, explaining every single technical detail."

"I can do it," Chen Rui said. "I studied a lot of materials during the summer vacation and I know where the problem lies. It's just that we lack the money to buy good sensors..."

"The lab has a budget," Lingyun said. "If you need any equipment, just write an application, and once it's approved, you can buy it."

Chen Rui hugged the mouse, bowed deeply, and ran out.

Director Wang watched his retreating figure.

"This student," he said, "isn't the best academically, but he's very hands-on. Last year, he built his own radio that can receive shortwave."

"The lab needs people like this," Ling Yun said.

They discussed the specific arrangements for a while. The interviews were scheduled for next Tuesday and Thursday evenings, four hours each time, with twenty people interviewed each time. The evaluation criteria included technical fundamentals, project experience, learning ability, and teamwork.

"There's another question," Director Wang said. "With twenty spots, how should we allocate them by year? Second-year, third-year, or fourth-year students?"

"We recruit based on ability, not year of study," Ling Yun said. "If a second-year student is qualified, we'll recruit them. If a fourth-year student isn't qualified, we won't recruit them."

"Some seniors are already preparing for graduate school entrance exams..."

"Then let them focus on preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam," Ling Yun said. "The lab needs people who can dedicate their time to it."