However...

Earning one hundred million yuan a day, while still a far cry from what Ye Chen ultimately aimed for, was a different story for Chen Yinuo.

Earning over twenty million yuan a day was already an astronomical figure beyond her comprehension.

Over twenty million a day, six to seven hundred million a month, seventy to eighty billion a year?

And he called that "not much"?

"Old Ye, you call earning over twenty million a day 'not much'?" Chen Yinuo clicked her tongue.

"Since we're looking towards the future, the investment for this endeavor will definitely be substantial. Putting aside everything else, research and development for lithography machines alone will require at least three billion yuan a year. If we want to venture into the chip industry on top of that, even more massive R&D investment will be needed! It's no exaggeration to say that if we truly want to develop high-end technology, the R&D for Tenglong Technology, which we just acquired and renamed, will require at least four to five billion yuan annually—and that's a conservative estimate!" Ye Chen stated seriously.

"Isn't that investment a bit too high? There are several companies in China investing in lithography machine R&D, and even combined, they don't spend tens of billions a year, do they?" Chen Yinuo frowned, once again shocked by Ye Chen's words.

"Yes, they indeed don't spend tens of billions a year combined. That's why China's lithography machine R&D can't even see the taillights of the world's leading levels! Technological R&D might seem like it only requires talent, but in reality, besides talent, it also requires pouring in money without regard for cost. Take ASML in the Netherlands, for example. Their annual R&D investment in lithography machines is several hundred million euros, which translates to several billion yuan. So, the three to five billion I mentioned might not even be enough when we truly start investing!"

Without pausing, Ye Chen continued, "In fields like technological R&D, if there's a shortcut, then throwing money, or rather, burning money, is often the best shortcut. Of course, there must be a way to burn that money. For example, before Tong Zhen returned, even if we threw money at lithography machine R&D in China, we wouldn't have seen any significant progress compared to ASML. The gap was simply too large; we couldn't even find a viable path to spend the money. It's only now, with Tong Zhen's return after eight years of perseverance and deep integration within the enemy's camp, that we see a glimmer of hope!"

As if he had gotten into a flow, the serious Ye Chen shook his head and added, "And Tong Zhen's return not only brings hope but also allows us to avoid many detours and save a lot of money because, in any case, he's returning with some achievements. These achievements are enough for us to reduce a significant amount of time and cost. Otherwise... it's no exaggeration to say that with China's current R&D level in lithography machines, even if we invested one hundred billion yuan a year, we wouldn't necessarily be able to achieve a rapid catch-up in the short term!"

At this point, Ye Chen still didn't stop.

"It's precisely because of this situation that so many semiconductor technology companies face bankruptcy. Firstly, the gap in technology makes them lose hope of catching up. Secondly, even with cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, their long-term lack of profitability makes it impossible for them to persist. All these factors combined create a situation where, relying solely on cooperation between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and private enterprises, without the emergence of top-tier talent and without strong support from the state in terms of funding, talent, and policies, catching up is simply wishful thinking. Private enterprises don't have that much money to burn, and even if they did, they wouldn't dare to take the risk!"

After Ye Chen's long explanation, Chen Yinuo frowned and fell into thought.

After a brief moment, she said, "Old Ye, if Tong Zhen hadn't returned and proactively offered to cooperate with you, would you not have considered venturing into the lithography machine field?"

Faced with this question, Ye Chen replied without hesitation, "Yes! In the end, it was Tong Zhen's return that ignited the hope!"

"If he hadn't returned, you wouldn't have thought about venturing into high-tech fields?" Chen Yinuo asked again.

"If?"

"There's no such 'if'!" In his previous life, Tong Zhen joined Huawei shortly after.

Before meeting Tong Zhen, he had been thinking about establishing close, in-depth cooperation with Huawei in the future.

After all, Huawei, with high-end lithography machines in hand, led the wave of cutting-edge chips in the decades to come and stood at the top of the world!

The reason he only considered cooperating with Huawei and didn't think about recruiting Tong Zhen to build his own semiconductor empire was simple: as mentioned before, he didn't dare to think about it, feeling it was unrealistic and wishful thinking.

At this stage, he had nothing but money, not even a good reputation.

How could he compete with Huawei for talent?

How could he make Tong Zhen submit to him?

But what he never expected was that fate played a joke on him, a joke he wouldn't have even dared to imagine.

However, he certainly couldn't say these things. "There's no such 'if.' But even if he hadn't returned, I would still have started planning for the future. It would just mean paying a higher price!" Ye Chen said.

"Are you really so certain that Tong Zhen can definitely build the lithography machine?" After thinking for a moment, Chen Yinuo asked.

"My gut tells me it's worth a shot!" Ye Chen smiled.

Then, a hint of nonchalance appeared on his face.

"Even if it ultimately ends in failure, it would at most mean losing a year and a half's worth of profits from Yi Ren Ru Xue. But if we succeed, what does it mean to have domestically produced high-end lithography machines in hand? So, weighing the cost of failure against the significance of success, this is a choice that doesn't even require consideration!"

"Old Ye, perhaps my worldview is narrow, but... if I really had to choose, I think it would be enough to make Yi Ren Ru Xue successful. After all, with a steady and solid approach, Yi Ren Ru Xue alone can bring us immense wealth that would provide for generations to come. Why bother with so much else? As the saying goes, 'Grasp all, lose all.' Now, it's not even a question of whether we can 'grasp all,' but going into too many fields and taking on too much is exhausting! You can say I'm shortsighted, but this is truly what I think!" Chen Yinuo sighed and shook her head. "If I weren't a reborn person, I would be satisfied too!"

Facing Chen Yinuo's words, Ye Chen smiled inwardly.

But returning with the developmental trends of the next sixty years, understanding the changes that would occur step by step...

How could just Yi Ren Ru Xue satisfy him?

If he were truly satisfied with just that, would he be worthy of heaven giving him a second chance?

Would he be worthy of his rebirth?

Contentment is a virtue difficult even for ordinary people to achieve, let alone someone like him who had a cheat code.

Isn't the purpose of living to strive and make things happen?

If he were to simply stop, wouldn't it be no different from retirement?

Ye Chen smiled lightly.

Chen Yinuo was momentarily stunned by this.

Knowing that she couldn't change Ye Chen's ambition, she stopped dwelling on the topic.

"You always yearn for the future of technology. Then tell me, what do you envision the future of technology to be like?" Chen Yinuo asked, curious about a question she had always forgotten to ask.