allonlinenovel Chapter 34 Winning the Bid
Chapter 34 Winning the Bid
The waiting period was harder than I had imagined.
After submitting the bid, Zuo Cheng did something he rarely did—he did nothing.
It's not like they're really doing nothing. 402's daily operations are still running, Liu Wei has two small to medium-sized projects in delivery, Zhang Lei is responsible for following up on customer needs, and Chen Hao is optimizing the internal code management process. But regarding the Sky Dome bidding, Zuo Cheng gave himself a strict order—not to inquire, not to urge, and not to try to probe the bidding progress through any channel.
"Once you submit a bid, you're a competitor. Before the results are announced, any private communication could be interpreted as improper contact," Han Lu specifically warned him before the bidding process. "Lanwan Communications is a listed company; its procurement process is audited and supervised. Don't create problems for yourself."
Zuo Cheng remembered this sentence very well.
On the evening of March 27th, he sat alone in office 402 and opened the technology tree panel in his consciousness.
The tech tree in its growth stage was much larger than in its budding stage, with a significantly thicker trunk. The branch representing communications engineering shone steadily in the dark golden light, its nine leaves adorning the branches like stars. The outline of the canopy remained blurred, but the locations of those dark, unlocked branches were vaguely visible—the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, new energy… each representing a field he had yet to explore.
His attention fell on a newly appeared icon in the lower right corner of the panel.
[Technological Integration]
This ability is unlocked when the tech tree evolves to the growth stage, but he hasn't had time to research it.
Zuo Cheng opened the instructions with his mind.
[Technology Fusion: Select two or more unlocked blades and attempt to fuse their core technologies across domains to generate a new fusion technology solution. The fusion result depends on the degree of correlation between the selected blades and the depth of understanding of the host. Successful fusion will generate a fused blade (without consuming the original blades), while failure has no penalty but a 24-hour cooldown. Each fusion consumes 5 points.]
Zuo Cheng stared at this explanation for a long time.
Cross-domain integration.
This means that his existing nine blades are no longer isolated technical points, but rather "raw materials" that can be combined in pairs or even in multiple combinations. If the fusion is successful, the effect of one plus one may be far greater than two.
He mentally reviewed the names of the nine blades: Digital Signal Processing Fundamentals, Matrix Operation Optimization, Embedded System Development, Communication Protocol Stack, Channel Estimation and Prediction, RF Front-End Design, Antenna Array Technology, Satellite Communication Fundamentals, and Algorithm Design Fundamentals, which he had unlocked long ago.
Which two pieces together are the most valuable?
He came up with a combination: channel estimation and prediction + embedded system development.
This is precisely the core technology of the Sky Dome bidding project—porting the channel prediction algorithm to an embedded platform. If the integration is successful, his understanding of this interdisciplinary field will leap to a new level.
But is it worth it now? Five points isn't a small amount, and if the bid fails, those five points will be wasted.
Zuo Cheng weighed his options for three seconds.
It's not a waste. Even if the bid is not successful, the embedded channel prediction direction itself is valuable—the 402 project team will eventually take this path, and the sooner it is integrated, the sooner it will benefit.
He selected two blades on the panel and confirmed the fusion.
Light shone simultaneously from two leaves, converging along the branch at a single point where it swirled, collided, and recombine.
A new leaf grew from the intersection.
It is one size larger than the original leaves, and its color is not a single bright gold, but has a faint blue sheen.
【Fusion is successful! 】
[New Blade: Embedded Intelligent Channel Processing (Fusion Level)]
[Fusion-level blade effect: The host's understanding of this interdisciplinary field is equivalent to more than 3 years of engineering experience in this direction, and it has the intuitive judgment ability for cross-platform portability.]
Current points: 83
Zuo Cheng closed his eyes, feeling the new knowledge flooding into his consciousness.
It wasn't specific code or formulas, but a higher level of "synesthesia"—he suddenly knew a hundred ways to implement channel prediction algorithms on different embedded platforms, knew the bottlenecks of each path, the optimization potential, and which pitfalls to absolutely avoid. This knowledge didn't seem like something he learned; it was more like a feeling that had grown into his bones after three years of practice.
He opened his eyes, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.
The value of technological integration—this capability—is even greater than he anticipated.
Over the next few days, Zuo Cheng focused his energy on the final revisions of his graduation thesis. The materials for the provincial outstanding graduation thesis selection had already been submitted to the college by Lin Zhiyuan, but the thesis itself still needed a final round of formatting and proofreading according to the review format.
Yu Ying helped.
She has an almost obsessive-compulsive obsession with the formatting of academic papers—every formula number, every figure resolution, and every reference format must be perfectly accurate. After Zuo Cheng sent her the paper, he received a version the next day with forty-seven densely packed annotations and suggestions for revision.
"Three of the journal titles in your reference list have incorrect abbreviations," Yu Ying said, pointing to the computer screen in the library, her tone as serious as if she were reviewing a manuscript. "Also, the units on the vertical axis of Figure 3 should be in square brackets, not parentheses."
"Received, Teacher Yu," Zuo Cheng said with a smile.
Yu Ying glared at him, but couldn't help but smile.
April 4th, the day before the bid evaluation results were announced.
Zuo Cheng worked overtime in his office until 10 p.m., finishing the final version of his thesis. He saved the file, leaned back in his chair and stretched, his gaze falling on the supplier management manual of Blue Bay Communications on the table—a reference book left by Han Lu, its cover already worn and frayed.
The phone rang.
Han Zhe called.
Zuo Cheng's heart skipped a beat, but his voice remained steady when he answered the phone.
"Brother Han."
"Zuo Cheng, I need to let you know about something in advance." Han Zhe's tone wasn't one of good news or bad, but rather a calm, businesslike manner. "The bidding results will be officially announced tomorrow, but the technical committee's review meeting concluded this afternoon."
"Um."
"Your technical proposal received the highest score."
Zuo Cheng tightened his grip on his phone slightly.
"But there's a problem," Han Zhe continued. "Of the five suppliers participating in the bidding, one—Dingxin Information Technology Co., Ltd.—raised questions about 402 during the qualification review process. Their reason was that 402 had been established for less than six months and did not meet the basic requirements for supplier inclusion, so they requested the procurement department to disqualify 402 from bidding."
Zuo Cheng's expression remained unchanged, but his mind was already racing.
Dingxin Information. He conducted competitor research before bidding—Dingxin is an established embedded software company with eight years of experience in the communications industry and is a long-term supplier to Lanwan Communications. In terms of qualifications, 402 is a complete novice compared to Dingxin.
"What's the purchasing department's attitude?" Zuo Cheng asked.
"It's currently going through internal procedures." Han Zhe paused for a moment. "Zuo Cheng, I'm not calling you to ask you to pull strings—you know I can't interfere with the procurement process. I just wanted to let you know that the procurement department will be holding a supplier qualification review meeting tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. All bidders can send representatives to attend. If 402 doesn't attend, it's equivalent to forfeiting the opportunity to appeal."
"I will be there."
"Okay. The location is the purchasing center conference room on the 17th floor of the headquarters building. Bring your original qualification certificates."
After hanging up the phone, Zuo Cheng stood in his office for a minute.
Then he picked up his phone and sent three messages in a row.
The first message was sent to Han Lu: "Blue Bay Communications has a qualification review meeting tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM. A bidder is questioning our bidding eligibility. Can you attend?"
Han Lu replied three minutes later: "Yes. I'll prepare a response plan right now. Dingxin Information?"
How did you know?
"Of the five bidders, only they had a legitimate motive. I anticipated this situation before submitting the bids, and my contingency plan is in Appendix C of the bid evaluation strategy document."
Zuo Cheng pulled out the document and found Appendix C – “Contingency Plan for Responding to Qualification Questions”, a full five pages that clearly outlined every possible question the other party might raise and the corresponding response strategy.
He raised Han Lu's rating by one level.
The second message was sent to Fang Ze: "You may need to be on standby remotely tomorrow. If the other party questions our technical capabilities, I may need you to provide technical documentation on the embedded platform porting."
Fang Ze replied with an "OK" instantly.
The third message was sent to Shen Yue: "Help me create a concise presentation of the 402 project case study, including the New Talent Cup award, the acceptance of the Blue Bay Communications horizontal project, and the Sky Dome internship review results. Send it to me before 8:00 AM tomorrow."
Shen Yue replied, "How many pages?"
"Five pages or less. Something that can be read in three minutes."
"receive."
At 1 a.m., Han Lu sent over the revised contingency plan. Zuo Cheng read it through point by point and discussed it with her online for forty minutes, finalizing their speaking strategy for tomorrow.
The core idea is simple: instead of arguing with Dingxin Information about whether a 402 error is "qualified," we should steer the discussion towards whether the technical solution for a 402 error is the optimal one.
Qualifications are static, but technology is dynamic. Blue Bay Communications' procurement department is not a charity; their KPIs are project delivery quality, not the number of years a supplier has been established.
At 8:50 a.m. on April 5th, Zuo Cheng entered the 17th floor of the Blue Bay Communications headquarters building.
Han Lu was already waiting outside the conference room. She was wearing a dark gray business suit, her hair was neatly tied up on her back, and she was holding a folder in her hand. She looked nothing like a graduate student, but rather like a young partner at a law firm.
"Did you bring all the materials?" she asked.
"All done." Zuo Cheng patted the briefcase in his hand.
The meeting room door was open. People were already seated on both sides of the long table—Zuo Cheng quickly glanced at them; there were two representatives from each of the five bidding parties, plus three heads of Lanwan Communications' procurement department, making a total of thirteen people.
The representative from Dingxin Information sat opposite him. Two middle-aged men, dressed in sharp suits, one of whom wore gold-rimmed glasses—for some reason, this reminded Zuo Cheng of Cheng Yuan—were reviewing a document.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today's meeting is part of the qualification review process," the head of the procurement department began. "Dingxin Information Technology Co., Ltd. has formally challenged the bidding qualifications of Huaxia 402 Technology Co., Ltd., on the grounds that 402's establishment time does not meet the supplier entry requirements. According to the bidding rules, the party being challenged has the right to present their objections in person. We would like to ask Dingxin Information to state their reasons for the challenge first."
The man with the gold-rimmed glasses stood up.
Article 17 of Lanwan Communications' supplier management system clearly stipulates that "suppliers entering the database must have more than two years of development experience in the relevant field." Huaxia 402 Technology Co., Ltd. was registered last November, less than five months ago. We believe—
He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over Zuo Cheng and Han Lu.
"—Regardless of the company's technical proposal score, a company established less than six months ago with no record of delivering any large-scale projects lacks the qualifications and credibility to undertake the development of key modules for the Sky Dome project. We request the procurement department to disqualify it from bidding in accordance with management regulations."
The meeting room was silent for two seconds.
The purchasing manager looked at Zuo Cheng: "Representative of 402, please make your statement."
Zuo Cheng did not stand up.
He glanced at Han Lu.
Han Lu stood up, opened the folder, and spoke in a clear and steady voice.
"Thank you to the purchasing department for giving us this opportunity to appeal. First, I need to point out that Article 17 of the Supplier Management System states, 'Possess more than two years of development experience in the relevant field, or provide equivalent proof of technical capabilities.' The representative from Dingxin Information only quoted the first half of the sentence, omitting the 'or' clause in the second half."
The man with the gold-rimmed glasses froze for a moment.
Han Lu opened the first page of the folder.
"The following is proof of the equivalent technical capabilities of Huaxia 402 Technology Co., Ltd."
She read each item aloud, handing the corresponding original certificate to the procurement manager for review after each item was read. First Prize in the New Talent Cup. Blue Bay Communications Horizontal Project Acceptance Report (score 91). First Phase Joint Review Score of the Sky Dome Project (score 97, the highest score among the nine judges). Technical background information of the core team members. Published papers in top-tier journals.
The last document was the five-page presentation document that Shen Yue sent at 7:40 this morning—Zuo Cheng had Han Lu print it out temporarily and put it as an attachment at the end.
Han Lu closed the folder.
"402 Technology has indeed been established for less than six months. However, the company's technical team has completed all four phases of technical verification in the Blue Bay Communications Sky Dome project, achieving the highest review score. We believe that these materials are sufficient to constitute the 'equivalent technical capability proof' mentioned in Article 17 of the regulations."
She glanced at the representative from Dingxin Information.
"As for 'reliability assurance'—402 Technologies' tender includes detailed delivery milestones and breach of contract compensation clauses, offering commercial guarantees no less robust than those of any of the suppliers present."
The meeting room fell silent again.
The purchasing manager went through all the materials and exchanged a few words of advice with his two colleagues next to him in hushed tones.
Then he looked up.
"The results of the qualification review will be communicated to all bidders before 3 PM today. Meeting adjourned."
As Zuo Cheng walked out of the conference room, he heard the representative from Dingxin Information speaking in hushed tones behind him. He didn't turn around.
At 2:47 PM, Zuo Cheng received an email on his phone.
From: Lanwan Communications Procurement Management Center.
Subject: Notification of Award for the Ground Terminal Signal Processing Module of the Sky Dome Project Phase II.
He opened the email and read it word by word.
"Following comprehensive evaluation by the bid evaluation committee, Huaxia 402 Technology Co., Ltd. has ranked first in overall score across dimensions including technical solution, commercial quotation, and after-sales service. We hereby formally notify your company that you have been awarded the contract for this project. Contract amount: RMB 980,000. Please sign the formal contract at the procurement center before April 10th."
Nine hundred and eighty thousand.
Zuo Cheng placed his phone on the table, crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling.
He didn't jump up in excitement, nor did he let out a long sigh of relief. He simply sat quietly for a minute, letting the number settle in his mind.
Then he picked up his phone and sent a message in the 402 work group.
"You won."
The group chat exploded instantly.
Zhang Lei sent seventeen exclamation marks. Liu Wei sent a red envelope and then immediately deleted it—probably feeling bad for sending too little money. Chen Hao sent "Awesome." Fang Ze sent a thumbs-up emoji.
Shen Yue asked a practical question: "What's the contract amount?"
Zuo Cheng typed out a number and sent it out.
The group was silent for three seconds.
Then Zhang Lei messaged: "Brother Cheng, I just checked—402 Technology took 137 days from registration to securing its first million-dollar order."
One hundred and thirty-seven days.
From four people in one dormitory room to a technology company that can take on the Sky Dome project.
Looking at the number, Zuo Cheng recalled Yu Ying's words at two in the morning: "Zuo Cheng, are you crazy?"
is crazy.
But the madman won.
He left the work group, opened his chat with Yu Ying, thought for a moment, and sent a message: "The bidding results are in. We won."
Yu Ying's reply came slower than expected—about two minutes later.
"congratulations."
Then, half a minute later, the second message arrived.
"Zuo Cheng, there's something I want to tell you. My PhD application results are in—I've been accepted into the School of Electronic and Information Engineering at Blue Star University of Technology. Because of my dissertation, I can go directly to the PhD program, and my advisor is in satellite signal processing."
Zuo Cheng looked at the message, a smile spreading across his eyes.
Blue Star University of Technology is located in Huaxia City. It's two subway stops away from Huaxia University.
He replied with three words: "That's great."
Yu Ying sent a question mark.
This is the third time you've told me "that's great."
Zuo Cheng thought about it and realized it was true—he had returned her words exactly as she had said "really good" on the day of the review.
"Because it really is a good thing." He paused in his typing, then added, "If you stay in Huaxia City, we can go to the library together again."
Yu Ying did not reply immediately.
A dozen seconds later, she sent a period.
Just one period.
Zuo Cheng stared at the period for five seconds, and the corners of his mouth curved up a little wider.
He turned off his phone and opened the window.
In early April, spring was in full bloom in Huaxia City.