106: Chapter 106 Shadows in the Dark

October 5th, Marina Bay Financial District, Singapore.

Lin Haoran stood in front of the office window on the 57th floor of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, overlooking the garden city.

Under the cover of night, Singapore was ablaze with lights; the "ship" atop the Marina Bay Sands Hotel spanned three towers, shimmering with golden light in the night.

He had been in Singapore for a month.

The Spark Singapore R&D Center was located in the heart of the Marina Bay Financial District, occupying an entire floor of the office building.

The team had grown from the initial seven people to fifty, consisting mainly of Chinese engineers who had returned from Silicon Valley, along with a small number of locally recruited technical talents.

The workload was intense.

Su Chen’s mission for him was: within six months, build a team capable of independently developing a GPU architecture, while simultaneously beginning preliminary research on autonomous driving chips.

"Mr. Lin, this is an invitation to next week's Semiconductor Association event."

His assistant knocked and entered, handing over an exquisite envelope.

Lin Haoran took it and glanced at it.

The Singapore Semiconductor Association monthly salon, with the theme "chip Opportunities in Southeast Asia."

Among the guest speakers were several familiar names—executives from Intel, Nvidia, and the Singapore branch of TSMC.

"I will go," Lin Haoran said.

He needed to build a local network and also needed to understand the movements of his competitors.

On the evening of October 8th, the salon was held at the Singapore Science Park.

More than one hundred people attended, mostly mid-to-high-level executives in the chip industry.

Lin Haoran, wearing a dark gray suit, sat alone in a corner, observing the venue.

A figure walked toward him.

It was a woman in her early thirties, wearing a well-tailored dark blue suit, with exquisite makeup and a polite smile.

"Mr. Lin? The person in charge of Spark Singapore?"

She extended her hand, "Zhang Yawen, Longteng Capital, also a director of the Semiconductor Association."

Lin Haoran stood up and shook her hand: "Ms. Zhang, nice to meet you."

"I've heard of you."

Zhang Yawen—also known as "Nightingale"—sat down next to him, "Returning from Nvidia to lead Spark's GPU R&D. I admire your courage."

"I just made the choice I had to make," Lin Haoran replied cautiously.

"I understand," Zhang Yawen nodded, "I spent six years in Silicon Valley, an MBA from Stanford, and then worked in tech investment at Goldman Sachs. Three years ago, I returned to Hong Kong to found Longteng Capital, focusing on semiconductors and artificial intelligence."

Her tone was natural and fluid, perfectly fitting the image of a successful investor.

Lin Haoran was not suspicious—such women were common in the Singapore financial circle.

"What projects has Longteng invested in recently?"

Lin Haoran asked; this was a standard social topic.

"We just invested in an AI chip startup in Malaysia," Zhang Yawen took a business card from her handbag, "They make specialized chips for edge computing, with a lot of potential. By the way, Mr. Lin, what is Spark's R&D focus in Singapore?"

"GPU and autonomous driving chips," Lin Haoran did not reveal too much.

"Interesting," Zhang Yawen's eyes lit up, "The Southeast Asia market really needs localized chip solutions. The climate, road conditions, and user habits are all different from those in Europe and America. If there's a chance, I'd love to cooperate with Spark—we can invest, and we can also help you connect with Southeast Asian car companies."

The conversation was pleasant.

Zhang Yawen had a deep understanding of the semiconductor industry; she could talk about architecture design and market trends.

When they parted ways, she proactively added Lin Haoran's WeChat.

"Let's keep in touch, Mr. Lin. Perhaps we can find opportunities for cooperation."

Lin Haoran didn't think much of it.

In Singapore, such social interactions were very common.

On October 9th, Zhang Yawen sent a WeChat message: "Mr. Lin, are you free tomorrow night? At the Sands rooftop bar, a few investor friends want to chat about the Southeast Asian chip market, and you are the most suitable expert."

Lin Haoran thought for a moment and replied: "Sure. Eight o'clock in the evening."

He needed to expand his connections and also needed to understand the trends in the capital market.

8:00 PM on October 9th, the "Sky Garden" bar on the 57th floor of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.

Here, one could have a 360-degree view of Singapore's night scene, and the liquor cabinet behind the bar was stocked with high-value whiskies.

Zhang Yawen had already arrived, sitting by the window.

She was wearing a black dress tonight, looking even more elegant than in their previous meetings.

"Mr. Lin, over here," she beckoned.

Lin Haoran walked over and found that she was alone.

"Where are the other friends?"

"Something came up at the last minute," Zhang Yawen smiled, "But that's fine too; we can have a deeper chat."

She ordered two single malt whiskies.

When the bartender served them, Lin Haoran noticed the price of the bottle—three thousand SGD per glass.

"Ms. Zhang is too generous."

"It's worth it," Zhang Yawen raised her glass, "To those who dare to change the world."

After a few drinks, the conversation gradually deepened.

Zhang Yawen asked many technical questions: What innovations does Spark's GPU architecture have? How is the 14nm process progressing? How is the ecosystem construction of the Flint instruction set going?

Lin Haoran remained vigilant, revealing only public information.

"Mr. Lin, do you know?"

Zhang Yawen leaned forward, lowering her voice, "Wall Street is very curious about Spark. Your progress is too fast, so fast that... it's unreasonable."

"We just work harder," Lin Haoran said.

"Hard work can explain a 20% improvement, but it can't explain a 200% leap."

Zhang Yawen stared into his eyes, "From 28nm to 14nm, TSMC spent four years, and Samsung spent five years. Spark says it will finish in two years. Unless..."

She paused: "Unless you have 'external help.' Mr. Lin, I won't ask what it specifically is; I just want to know—is this kind of help reliable?"

Lin Haoran's heart rate accelerated.

This question was too sensitive.

"I don't understand what Ms. Zhang is talking about."

"Mr. Lin, we are all smart people."

Zhang Yawen took an envelope from her handbag and pushed it toward him, "Open it and see."

Lin Haoran opened the envelope; inside was a photocopy of a Swiss bank cashier's check—twenty million US dollars, with the payee left blank.

"What does this mean?"

"Sincerity."

Zhang Yawen's voice was even lower, "Mr. Lin, you are receiving an rmb salary and stock options at Spark. Even if it goes public, there are various restrictions on cashing out. But these twenty million are cash, deposited in a Swiss bank, completely confidential. And—"

She took out another folder: "This is information on a property near Stanford, worth five million US dollars. And this document—your whole family can get a US EB-1 Extraordinary Ability visa, and your children can attend top private schools in Silicon Valley. All of this only requires you to share some... information."

Lin Haoran felt his mouth go dry.

He picked up his glass, his hand trembling slightly.

"Ms. Zhang, who exactly are you?"

"Someone who wants to help a friend."

Zhang Yawen leaned back in her chair, "Mr. Lin, I know you are struggling. Singapore is nice, but it's not home after all. Are the children adapting at school? Does your wife miss her circle of friends in Silicon Valley? Do you miss that... composure you had when you were at Nvidia?"

Every question hit the mark.

Yes, the children did have language barriers at the international school in Singapore; his wife had complained that it was too hot here and there were too few friends; he himself often recalled the sunny afternoons in Silicon Valley, walking in the Nvidia campus.

"What information do you want?"

His voice was hoarse.

"Technical documents. The roadmap for the 14nm process. The research directions of the five Academicians. And..."

Zhang Yawen's eyes were sharp, "Most importantly—the real reason for your technical breakthroughs. How did those materials, those chips, suddenly appear?"

Lin Haoran was silent for a full minute.

The Singapore night view outside the window was as brilliant as a galaxy, but at this moment, in his eyes, it turned into blurred spots of light.

He remembered many things: Zhang Wei's speech when he renounced his US citizenship at the San Francisco consulate; Su Chen's words at the welcome ceremony, "Welcome home, let's do big things together"; the look in the eyes of those young engineers in the Shenzhen factory who stayed up late debugging chips...

Then he thought of his father—the physics teacher at his hometown middle school.

Before he went abroad, his father said: "Haoran, go out and see the world, and remember to come back when you've learned. China needs talent."

"I need time to consider," Lin Haoran finally said.

"Of course," Zhang Yawen smiled, "Three days. Also, to show my sincerity—"

She pushed a USB drive over: "This contains some early data on TSMC's 7nm process. Although it's outdated, it might have reference value for you. It's free."

Lin Haoran took the USB drive, feeling its weight.

"How do I contact you?"

"This number."

Zhang Yawen wrote down a string of numbers, "Encrypted communication software, download it and add this ID. Remember, don't use company computers, don't use company networks."

When he left the bar, it was already 11:00 PM.

Lin Haoran stood at the entrance of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, looking at the USB drive in his hand and the note with the number, feeling a surge of dizziness.

He took a taxi back to his apartment.

His wife, Lisa, was already asleep, and the two children were in their respective rooms.

He walked into the study, closed the door, and turned on his computer.

But he did not plug in the USB drive.

Instead, he opened a special encryption software—the one provided by Spark's security department to all core technical personnel for reporting emergencies.

He entered the password, and the interface popped up.

Hesitating for three seconds, he began to type:

"Report: Between 8:00 PM and 11:00 PM tonight, at the Sands Hotel bar, I met with a woman who claimed to be 'Zhang Yawen, a partner at Longteng Capital.' The other party attempted to use money (twenty million US dollars), real estate (near Stanford), and defection to solicit 14nm technical documents and information on the source of the technology. Initial contact made, no promises were made. Attachment: Encrypted communication ID and USB drive provided by the other party (unopened). Requesting instructions."

Clicked send.

Ten minutes later, the reply came: "Received. Stay calm, continue to work and live as normal. The security team will contact you. Do not open the USB drive, do not proactively contact the other party. Appear conflicted and wavering to buy time."

Sender: Wang Lei, Head of Security at Spark Singapore.

Lin Haoran let out a long sigh of relief.

He walked to the window and looked at the tranquil night sky of Singapore.

The struggle and fear of the past hour had now turned into determination.

He remembered a sentence Su Chen had said: "Returning to the country isn't just about changing where you work; it's choosing a life. This life might have risks, but it is meaningful."

Meaningful.

Yes, this is the meaning—not for personal wealth, but for the technological rise of a country.

He deleted the report record, turned off the computer, and walked into the bedroom.

His wife turned over in her sleep, and he gently hugged her.

"What's wrong?" Lisa asked groggily.

"Nothing," Lin Haoran said, "I made a choice, and now I'm at peace."