Chapter 197 - 148: Still Lost to That Young Man
’Looks like I need to think about how to make another big splash...’
Chen Lin was stroking his chin, secretly plotting, when his phone on the desk suddenly vibrated with a WeChat notification.
He tapped it open and saw it was from the small, three-person family group chat named [A Loving Family].
His mom, Lin Xiaoqi, had casually shared a link to a short video from some independent media outlet. The title was quite sensational: "Understand in Three Minutes: How Chen Lin Is Disrupting the New Energy Industry!"
Immediately after, his mom’s message followed.
Lin Xiaoqi: [@Chen Lin, son, didn’t you say you were working on artificial intelligence? How’d you end up in new energy? [Curious]]
Chen Lin looked at the question and felt a headache coming on.
If he were to actually explain it, things would get complicated. It was impossible to make clear in just a few words.
So, he decisively deployed an all-purpose excuse.
Chen Lin: [A task assigned by the university leadership.]
The message had just been sent when his dad, Chen Xian, who had been lurking, popped up.
Chen Xian: [Not bad. Aren’t you about to become a professor after graduating early? That makes you a university employee, so you must carry out tasks from the leadership conscientiously.]
Seeing his dad’s dead-serious lecture, Chen Lin couldn’t help but chuckle.
Lin Xiaoqi: [Oh, so that’s how it is. Son, does this mean you’ve made another huge contribution? [Starry-eyed]]
Chen Lin: [I guess so. There might be a bonus later too.]
Seeing Chen Lin’s reply, his mom and dad were clearly overjoyed. They sent several messages in a row, praising and caring for him with lines like "My son is the best!" and "Take care of yourself and don’t get too tired."
After a few more exchanges, the group fell silent.
Chen Lin looked at the quiet chat interface. He didn’t even have to guess to know that his mom was, at this very moment, excitedly on her phone, bragging in her sisters’ group chat with his aunts.
Chen Lin exited the three-person family chat and casually opened another WeChat group: [New Energy Solid-State Battery Joint Research Project Group].
Even after more than ten hours, the group’s notification count was still a bright red "99+".
He scrolled up a bit. The atmosphere in the group was even more intense than before, if that was even possible.
Professors, PhDs, and researchers of all stripes were fervently discussing subsequent work arrangements and research plans. Every line of text pulsed with a feverish excitement, as if they’d all been shot up with adrenaline.
Chen Lin could only shake his head as he watched.
All he could say was that the momentous breakthrough, far from making them relax in the slightest, seemed to have opened the door to a whole new world for them. They were all hyped up, ready to dig even deeper into the field of solid-state batteries and go all out.
Professor Tang Xuebing had made this point very clear when they met yesterday afternoon.
Professor Tang had excitedly stated that the value of the mathematical model Chen Lin provided went far beyond just solving the immediate bottleneck.
The set of mathematical tools used to describe the evolution of stress fields on a fractal interface held immense guiding significance and was incredibly enlightening for all of the project group’s subsequent research.
"I’ve already suggested they print out your solution process, one copy for everyone, and make it required material for our project group!"
Chen Lin still remembered Professor Tang’s exact words vividly. "This isn’t just an answer; it’s a methodology! It’s enough to change our entire research paradigm!"
Professor Tang also told him that this breakthrough could spawn at least several brand-new, extremely valuable research topics. In the next two to three years, the project group would likely be able to continuously produce high-quality papers and patents.
For this very reason, Professor Tang had looked at him with great expectation and sincerely invited him to remain with the project group, even if only to provide occasional guidance.
Chen Lin, of course, tactfully declined the offer.
’Are you kidding me? I really don’t have enough time right now.’
His reason for agreeing to join this project had been crystal clear from the start: to generate publicity for Yanhai Company and earn some project fees on the side.
Later on, after that Official Account article came out, he also hoped the project group would help issue a statement to clear his name.
Now, all of those goals had been achieved. Moreover, the company’s valuation had risen beyond even his own expectations.
As for the subsequent papers and patents, they had absolutely nothing to do with Chen Lin anymore.
Of course, besides inviting Chen Lin to continue collaborating, Professor Tang had also made the trip from Science and Technology University to Yannan yesterday for another, more important task: to discuss the subsequent handling of the patents with Yannan University.
After all, for research results to ultimately be implemented, they had to rely on corporations for production.
Science and Technology University and Yannan University first had to hash out core issues like patent ownership and revenue sharing internally. Only then could they approach the companies that came sniffing around with a unified plan and negotiate.
Whether it was technology transfer, patent licensing, or a three-party joint venture to form a new company, the power plays and commercial negotiations involved were all abnormally complex.
However, all these subsequent messy affairs had nothing to do with Chen Lin anymore.
He had already gotten what he wanted most.
Snapping back to the present, Chen Lin contentedly exited the project group that was still being spammed with messages. He set its notifications to "Do Not Disturb," tossed his phone onto the desk, and prepared to start his morning programming self-study session.
...
...
「Meanwhile, in Modu, over a hundred kilometers away, at Shuangdan University.」
In a certain room at the Institute of Materials Science, an oppressive silence hung in the air.