628: Chapter 628 Examination

Wearing sunglasses, Zhao Yazu stared at the scene of dozens of bulldozers working in unison in the distance, looking somewhat stunned.

Is this really a data center under construction, not something else?

Andy and Deng Xiaoqi were equally stunned.

Andy had never seen such a thing, and neither had Deng Xiaoqi.

Where else but in China could you see four or five bulldozers lined up diagonally, pushing sand together?

And these weren't just a few groups; there were three such phalanxes working in coordination in every direction—north, south, east, and west.

It was as if they really intended to flatten the rolling desert with sheer manpower.

"Our wind and solar power plant covers an area of about 1,000 mu, and the leveling work currently underway is for this specific area."

"The remaining sand control work will be carried out next spring."

Li Na stood beside Chen Cheng, acting as a tour guide, introducing the situation to Chen Cheng and the leaders who had come with him.

"Once the sand dunes are leveled, we will drive piles and pour the fixed foundations for power generation."

"We are using an innovative model: power generation above the panels, sand control below the panels, and generating wealth beneath the panels."

"..."

"Xiao Chen, once your power plant is fully completed, what will the annual power generation be?"

The middle-aged man standing next to Chen Cheng, with a slightly thin build and a shiny, bald forehead that marked him as a powerful figure, asked.

Chen Cheng replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "The Kubuqi area is a balanced zone for wind and solar energy. The power plant is designed with a 4:6 ratio of wind to solar, with a designed installed capacity of 730MW—that is, 310,000 kilowatts of wind power and 460,000 kilowatts of photovoltaic power."

"The annual power generation is approximately 1.7 billion kilowatt-hours."

"Hmm?" The man frowned. "I heard at your engineering department earlier that your annual power consumption is just under 700 million?"

"Yes," Chen Cheng nodded. "Our designed PUE (the ratio of total data center energy consumption to IT equipment energy consumption) is 1.2, so the initial investment is higher, but the energy consumption will be reduced."

"If the design meets expectations, the annual power consumption will be around 660 million kilowatt-hours. If it doesn't meet expectations and the PUE hits 1.3, the annual power consumption will exceed 700 million kilowatt-hours."

Chen Cheng smiled, not forgetting to praise the local area. "It's because the environmental resources here are excellent. By using the most advanced liquid cooling technology combined with natural air cooling, we can achieve the goal of a 1.2 PUE."

The man smiled. "Aren't you worried about such a large investment?"

Chen Cheng shook his head. "Energy conservation, emission reduction, and carbon neutrality are the major trends and the ultimate goals."

"As an innovative company, it makes no sense for us to be preventing and controlling sandstorms on one hand while consuming massive amounts of energy on the other."

The man narrowed his eyes. This little slippery guy could really talk the talk.

"What about the remaining electricity?"

A bright smile appeared on Chen Cheng's face as he joked, "It depends on whether the power grid will take it. If they don't, we'll just have to let it go."

The man laughed in annoyance. "Xiao Chen, although this is our first time meeting, I should be able to hear the truth, right?"

Chen Cheng sighed. These old foxes in the system were never easy to deal with.

He turned his head to look at the people following seven or eight steps behind, and seeing Zhao Yazu with her ears perked up, he whispered as if telling a secret:

"Secretary Shi, Boundary Exploration Company will not stop building data centers. This surplus electricity will only be fed into the grid for a short time. Within three years, the energy consumption scale of our data centers will double."

Before arriving at the power plant construction site, Chen Cheng hadn't really wanted to meet the leaders who were coming.

But he hadn't expected this specific person to come.

If Chen Cheng remembered correctly, this man would be promoted in a little over a year.

Chen Cheng lowered his voice even further. "My plan is to build a 1GW data center within seven years."

The man's expression tightened. "That's 13 times your current design scale?"

Chen Cheng nodded with a smile. "Yes!"

The man gasped, taking a long time to calm down before taking two quick steps forward.

He finally understood why Chen Cheng was keeping such a low profile. He didn't want to attract attention.

"Before I came, I did some research on this."

"Japan's Fugaku has an HPL performance of 442 PFLOPS; it is already the most powerful supercomputer in the world today."

"If my calculations are correct, the computing power of your data center should be close to 1 EFLOPS."

"That's more than double Fugaku."

"And now you're telling me that in the next few years, you're going to build a supercomputer more than ten times larger than what you have now."

"What on earth are you trying to do?"

Facing the interrogation, Chen Cheng remained calm. "It's obvious: Artificial Intelligence!"

Until the truth truly stands before people, even if you shout it in their ears and tell them solemnly, they will only be half-believing.

It is human nature to doubt things that have not yet appeared.

It is also human nature to blindly believe in things that have not yet appeared.

Chen Cheng dared to buy 100,000 A100 chips at once because he was gambling on human nature.

Before they figure out what Chen Cheng wants to do and what he can actually create, the US won't rashly embargo advanced process chips.

The two looked at each other, neither speaking for a long time.

The people following behind had also stopped long ago.

After a long while, the man exhaled and a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. "It seems you are very confident in your judgment of the future."

Chen Cheng remained smiling, nodding neither humbly nor arrogantly. "Yes, I am quite confident in my investments."

The man turned slightly, put his hands on his hips, and looked at the boundless yellow sand before finally speaking after a long while:

"Boss Wang was right. You're a bold and meticulous kid, someone with a fierce tiger in his heart, sniffing the roses."

"You weren't intimidated by an old man like me at all."

Hmm? Countless thoughts flashed through Chen Cheng's mind in a split second.

He finally understood the reason for today's meeting.

It was likely that from the moment he arranged his trip to North of the Great Wall, this meeting had already been planned.

Chen Cheng smiled broadly. "Leader, you are my local official; I haven't committed any crimes, so why would I be afraid?"

The Boss Wang the man mentioned was someone Ouyang had introduced to Chen Cheng before he last went to the capital.

It was a friendship from over thirty years ago with the Old Madam.

Originally, Chen Cheng hadn't understood the situation, but when he met the person, he almost ran back to Shanghai on the spot to kowtow to the Old Madam and call her 'Mom'.

Introducing this person really allowed him to reach the highest authorities.

She truly treated him like her own son; otherwise, how could she have introduced such a connection?

The man laughed in annoyance. "I am not your local official."

Chen Cheng replied with a grin, "My data center is in your territory, so you are naturally my local official."

The man suddenly became serious. "I think you need a lesson. What's this about 'your territory' and 'my territory'?"

Chen Cheng immediately stopped smiling. "You are right to reprimand me; it all belongs to the people."

"However, it is thanks to your protection and support that our work has proceeded so smoothly."

"President Li has already told me that the 'three supplies and one leveling' was able to proceed so quickly thanks to the district's coordination."

"I owe you many thanks."

The man was amused again. "You really are a little fox, very slippery." He blinked and looked at Chen Cheng:

"You studied abroad for five years and should have long adapted to life there. You also made a fortune on Wall Street and achieved financial freedom. Based on your fund's scale and profitability, it looks like it's better over there than here in the country."

"If you stayed there, without the time difference and with your energy focused, you could probably earn even more money. Why did you want to come back?"

Chen Cheng's expression tightened. If he were talking to others, this would just be casual banter.

But with this person, the question carried the weight of an examination.

Chen Cheng pondered for a few seconds, but couldn't think of a convincing answer.

He thought about it and decided to answer honestly.

"The truth?" Chen Cheng raised an eyebrow playfully.

"Do you think I want to hear lies?" The man frowned, looking at Chen Cheng askance.

"You told me to say it," Chen Cheng smiled. "Actually, I still prefer Asian girls."

"You kid~" The man shook his head in annoyance.

Chen Cheng suddenly turned serious, looking at the endless yellow sand in the distance, and said wistfully, "This is my home, my country. Why wouldn't I come back?"

The man looked at Chen Cheng's profile, and a smile gradually appeared on his face.

People can lie, and expressions can be faked. But the look in someone's eyes when they gaze upon their homeland cannot be faked.