Rebirth: Starting from Lighting Up the Tech Tree

Chapter 33 Bidding

The tender notice for the ground terminal signal processing module of the second phase of the Sky Dome project has been published on Blue Bay Communications' supplier management platform.

Zuo Chengzai read it carefully three times.

The scope of the tender is clearly defined: to develop a signal processing software module for the ground-based intelligent terminal of the Tianqiong constellation, requiring the implementation of signal reception, demodulation, channel estimation, and beam management functions for the satellite-to-ground link on a specified embedded platform. The delivery criteria include the software source code, technical documentation, test reports, and three months of technical support.

Bid submission deadline: March 25th. Evaluation results will be announced in early April.

The contract amount column says "negotiable", but Zuo Cheng estimated it based on industry norms—a reasonable quote for an embedded software development project of this scale would be between 800,000 and 1.2 million.

For a student company that has been registered for less than four months, this number is alarmingly large.

But Zuo Cheng wasn't afraid at all.

The core technology of this project—space-to-ground link channel estimation—was precisely what he had developed during his six-week internship at Tianqiong. As for porting the embedded platform, Fang Ze had already worked on it once before on a terrestrial 5G base station. They weren't starting from scratch; they were building upon existing achievements.

The real challenge lies not in technology, but in qualifications.

402 Technology was established less than six months ago, with no past large-scale project cases, no enterprise-level quality management certifications, and not even a decent company introduction PPT. In a formal bidding review process, the "supplier qualification review" stage alone would be enough to give them a hard time.

"Han Zhe mentioned 'open bidding' in the message, meaning all qualified suppliers can bid," Zuo Cheng said in a meeting with his team in the office, a task list for bidding preparation drawn on the whiteboard. "But the phrase 'qualified' is a hurdle. One of the requirements for suppliers to be included in Lanwan Communications' supplier database is—'having more than two years of experience in embedded software development, or providing equivalent proof of technical capabilities.' We've been established for less than six months; the two-year experience requirement won't pass."

"What about 'equivalent technical capability proof'?" Chen Hao asked.

"This is our breakthrough point." Zuo Cheng pointed to a line of text on the whiteboard, "The award certificate for the first prize in the New Talent Cup, the acceptance report for the horizontal research project of Blue Bay Communications, and the evaluation results of the Sky Dome internship—whether these can be considered 'equivalent proof of technical capability' depends on how the evaluation committee determines it."

"To put it bluntly, it depends on whether Blue Bay Communications will give us face," Liu Wei said incisively.

"It's not entirely about saving face," Zuo Cheng shook his head. "It's about interests. Lanwan Communications' procurement department doesn't care who we are; they only care about whether we can deliver on time and to the required quality. If our bid can outperform other bidders in terms of technical solutions, the procurement department has ample reason to grant us special approval."

Fang Ze leaned back in his chair, arms crossed: "Overpowering in terms of technical solutions isn't difficult. The challenge lies in the standardization of the bid itself—format, terms, commercial pricing, risk mitigation plans—we've never done any of that before."

"So I found a helper." Zuo Cheng glanced at the message history on his phone. "Shen Yue knows a law school graduate student who has done two years of part-time work in intellectual property and commercial contracts. She's very familiar with the bidding process. I've already asked her to come to the company tomorrow to discuss things. If she's a good fit, we'll hire her on a project-based basis."

Zhang Lei remarked from the side, "Brother Cheng's network of connections is incredible; he can always conjure up whatever he needs."

"It's not my connection, it's Shen Yue's," Zuo Cheng corrected him. "The value of a team isn't just what each person can do individually, but also the resource network connected to each person."

The following week, 402 entered the bidding phase.

The technical solution was primarily drafted by Zuo Cheng, and its core content was adapting the two-layer prediction architecture to the embedded platform of the Tianqiong ground terminal. Fang Ze was responsible for the platform porting plan and performance evaluation, while Chen Hao was responsible for the software architecture design and module interface specifications.

The business proposal was completed with the assistance of Han Lu, a law school graduate student introduced by Shen Yue. Han Lu was much more reliable than Zuo Cheng had imagined. She spent two days studying Lanwan Communications' supplier management system and bidding scoring rules from beginning to end, and compiled a twenty-page "Bidding Strategies" document, clearly listing the weight and response strategies for each scoring item.

"Technical solution accounts for 45%, commercial quotation for 25%, supplier qualifications for 20%, and after-sales service for 10%," Han Lu said, adjusting her glasses and pointing to the strategy document. "Your qualifications are your weakness; getting full marks is impossible. But as long as your technical solution gets close to full marks, your quotation is reasonable, and your after-sales service terms are well-written, the overall score can make up for the disadvantage in qualifications."

Zuo Cheng looked at the countermeasures document and mentally gave Han Lu a high score for her abilities.

The final version of the tender was completed on the evening of March 23rd. It was a total of 146 pages—62 pages of technical proposal, 38 pages of business proposal, 26 pages of qualification certificates, and 20 pages of after-sales service commitment.

Zuo Cheng checked the folder page by page, and it was already 2 a.m. when he closed it.

He was the only one left in the office. Chen Hao left at 11:00, Fang Ze at 12:00, and Zhang Lei and Liu Wei even earlier. Han Lu sent over the final draft of the business section at noon and then didn't show up again. Shen Yue helped with the layout and then went back to her dormitory.

Zuo Cheng sat in his office chair, looking at the thick tender document on his desk, a strange feeling welling up inside him.

This is the biggest thing 402 Technology has ever done since its inception. It's not about taking orders and doing projects, nor about participating in competitions and winning awards, but about participating in a real commercial bidding process as a formal company.

If we close this deal, 402 will no longer be a "student startup company".

Instead, it's a technology company that can stand on the same table as established players in the industry.

My phone vibrated. It was a message from Yu Ying, timestampd 1:58 AM.

"Still not asleep?"

Zuo Cheng replied, "Working overtime at the company. Why aren't you asleep either?"

"Writing my research proposal for my PhD application," Yu Ying sent a yawning emoji. "What are you working overtime for?"

"Tender documents. 402 has accepted a bid for a large project."

How big?

Zuo Cheng thought for a moment, then typed in a number and sent it over.

Yu Ying did not reply to the message for half a minute.

Then he sent five words: "Zuo Cheng, you're crazy."

Zuo Cheng smiled and replied, "Only a madman can accomplish great things."

Yu Ying remained silent for another ten seconds or so before replying, "Then you absolutely must win her over."

"Um."

Go to bed early.

"The same to you."

Zuo Cheng turned off his phone, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes for a while.

On the morning of March 25th, he personally submitted the tender documents to the receiving window of the procurement department of Lanwan Communications.

The staff at the window took the document bag, glanced at the company name on the cover—Huaxia 402 Technology Co., Ltd.—and then expressionlessly affixed a number label.

"The evaluation results will be announced before April 5th."

Zuo Cheng nodded, turned around and walked out of the Blue Bay Communications Building.

In late March, spring was in full bloom in Huaxia City. Cherry blossoms were in full bloom along the roadside, and the pink and white petals were blown by the wind, swirling and landing on his shoulders.

He reached out and brushed away the petals, then looked up at the sky.

The sky was cloudless.

A good omen.