Rebirth: Starting from Lighting Up the Tech Tree

Chapter 44 Expansion

After returning from the partner conference, Zuo Cheng held an internal meeting overnight.

"The second phase of Sky Dome is twenty times the size of the first phase." He wrote a number on the whiteboard—one hundred and twenty. "Blue Bay Communications' meaning is clear: they don't want an outsourcing company, they want a joint R&D partner. This means that if 402 can secure the extended development contract for the ground terminals, the contract amount could be five to ten times that of the first phase."

There was a two-second silence in the office.

"Five to ten times," Chen Hao repeated, "five million to ten million?"

"A conservative estimate."

Zhang Lei's expression seemed to have been paused. Liu Wei dropped his pen on the table. Fang Ze remained expressionless, but his blinking frequency noticeably increased.

"But there's a condition." Zuo Cheng's tone didn't follow their emotions. "402 currently has five full-time employees and two part-time employees. This manpower size can't support a project worth tens of millions. We need to expand."

"Hiring?" Fang Ze asked.

"We're hiring. And not just one or two people, but a team. The second phase of the Sky Dome tender is expected to be released in November, leaving less than two months for preparation. 402 needs at least three to five more experienced engineers to write a bid proposal that Blue Bay Communications will find convincing."

"Where can we find them?" Zhang Lei pointed out the core issue. "Experienced engineers are all working in big companies. We're just a startup founded by recent graduates; we can't offer the salaries or the job security of big companies."

"So we can't recruit through the conventional channels," Zuo Cheng said, leaning against the whiteboard. "I have two ideas. First, recruit recent master's graduates from university labs. BGI and Blue Star University's communication-related labs produce a batch of graduates every year. They have solid technical foundations, lower salary expectations than experienced hires, and are more receptive to startups."

"And the second one?" Chen Hao asked.

"Second, find Tang Xu."

The name surprised everyone present.

Tang Xu—the antenna array engineer who collaborated with Zuo Cheng during his internship at Tianqiong—was the one who proposed the idea of ​​using beam scanning data for meteorological interpolation.

"Tang Xu is a second-year doctoral student this year and will graduate next year," Zuo Cheng said. "His research focuses on antenna arrays and beam management, which is highly relevant to the inter-terminal collaborative networking in the second phase of the Sky Dome project. If he's willing to join 402 on a part-time basis ahead of schedule, we'll have a top-notch technical talent in beam management."

"Would he be willing?" Fang Ze asked.

"I'll go talk to them."

The next afternoon, Zuo Cheng arranged to meet Tang Xu at a coffee shop on the Huada campus.

Tang Xu still had that same honest and simple look—broad shoulders, a big build, wearing a faded plaid shirt, and a row of neat white teeth when he smiled. But he was a bit thinner than during his internship, and there were faint dark circles under his eyes, clearly indicating that his doctoral studies were not easy.

"Zuo Cheng, long time no see." Tang Xu shook his hand firmly.

"Where are your sister-in-law?" he continued, a mischievous smile on his face.

Zuo Cheng was taken aback; it seemed the news had spread quite quickly.

"She's in the lab at Blue Star University of Science and Technology." Zuo Cheng didn't dwell on the formalities and went straight to the point, "Tang Xu, I've come to talk to you about something."

He briefly explained the situation in the second phase of the Sky Dome. After listening, Tang Xu remained silent for a long time, his fingers unconsciously twirling the coffee cup.

"Zuo Cheng, to be honest, I'm very interested in this opportunity." His tone was sincere. "The beam management direction of the second phase of the Sky Dome project happens to be the core topic of my doctoral dissertation. If I could participate in a real-world engineering project, it would be of great help to my research."

"but?"

"But it's hard to explain to my supervisor," Tang Xu said with a wry smile. "He's very strict, and he's always opposed to doctoral students taking on part-time jobs outside the doctoral program."

"What if 402 and your advisor's research group signed a joint research agreement?" Zuo Cheng had already thought of a solution. "402 would provide project funding and engineering data, while your advisor's research group would provide the academic research capabilities. You would participate in 402's project, and the resulting academic findings would be published by the research group. For your advisor, this wouldn't be you doing a side job; it would be the research group acquiring a research project with an engineering background."

Tang Xu's eyes lit up.

"In that case... my advisor will most likely agree." He thought for a moment. "He always says our research is too theoretical and lacks engineering verification. If we had engineering data of the scale of Tianqiong to support it, he'd be laughing in his sleep."

"Then go back and talk to him. We'll go over the details of the plan later."

"Okay." Tang Xu nodded vigorously and extended his hand. "Zuo Cheng, thanks."

Zuo Cheng shook hands with him.

Back at the company, he created a detailed document outlining the recruitment plan—including job requirements, salary budget, recruitment channels, and timelines, with each item clearly listed.

After reading the document, Han Lu asked a question: "Hiring requires money. Do we currently have enough funds in the account to cover the additional personnel costs?"

"There's still one payment left for the first phase of Sky Dome—10% will be paid after the technical support period ends in November, which is about 98,000. Adding the revenue from the Transportation Bureau project and the IoT module project, the accounts should be around 400,000 by the end of the year. Hiring three to five new people, at a monthly salary of 8,000 to 12,000, will cost around 300,000 in personnel costs over six months." Zuo Cheng paused for a moment. "It's tight, but we can hold out until the initial payment for the second phase of Sky Dome comes in."

"What if we don't win the second phase of bidding?" Han Lu's question was very direct.

"The cash flow of 402 will face a shortfall around March next year," Zuo Cheng said, looking at her. "But if they're afraid to expand for fear of failing bids, 402 will forever only be able to do small projects. Risk and reward are never separate."

Han Lu didn't ask any further questions, and instead made a few notes in her notebook.

Recruitment began in early October.

Zuo Cheng personally set up booths at the autumn recruitment fairs of Huada University and Lanxing University. Booth 402 was sandwiched between the two large companies, with an area only one-third of theirs, and the decoration consisted of just a table and a roll-up banner.

But quite a few people came to submit their resumes.

The reason is simple—the banner on booth 402 reads: "The sole developer of the Tianqiong Constellation ground terminal signal processing module is now recruiting a core technology team."

The word "sky dome" has already gained weight among students majoring in communications.

Within two weeks, Zuo Cheng interviewed 23 people and ultimately hired four: two recent master's graduates from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, one recent master's graduate from Blue Star University of Technology, and one engineer with three years of experience who had switched jobs from a medium-sized telecommunications company.

Tang Xu's side also made progress. His advisor was indeed very interested after reading the draft of the joint research agreement, and after offering a few suggestions for revision, he agreed. Tang Xu officially joined 402 as a "joint researcher," dedicating three days a week to the project.

In mid-October, the 402 team expanded from five full-time staff to nine full-time staff plus one joint researcher. The office was overflowing, so Zuo Cheng applied to the incubator management office for a room next door, which, after being combined, doubled in size.

Standing in the middle of the expanded office, Zhang Lei remarked, "Brother Cheng, six months ago, five of us squeezed into 25 square meters; now, ten of us are crammed into 50 square meters—the average space per person hasn't changed."

"This shows that our expansion speed is perfectly matched with the spatial expansion speed," Fang Ze added coldly from the side.

The whole audience laughed.

Zuo Cheng didn't smile. He stood by the window of his new office, looking at the autumn colors of October outside. The ginkgo leaves were beginning to turn yellow, just like the Huada campus last year.

One year.

From one person to ten. From one dormitory room to two offices. From two hundred and thirty-seven yuan to four hundred thousand yuan in the books.

The technology tree was growing quietly deep within his consciousness, its branches and leaves much more lush than a year ago, but compared to its final towering form, it was still just an inconspicuous little tree.

It's okay.

Trees grow, and people grow too.