Chapter 90 I thank you and your ancestors for eighteen generations!

At this moment, a strong desire to survive pushed Li Jiajun's acting skills to their peak. His words were earnest, his expression sincere; he was practically ready to kowtow to the Experts on the spot to express his agreement with their brilliant conclusion.

The atmosphere at the scene also became harmonious amidst this candor.

"Good! Very good!" Academician Zhang Jingmin personally stepped forward and supported Li Jiajun, who was about to bow, a smile of appreciation on his face. "Comrade Xiao Li, this scientific spirit of yours, seeking truth from facts, is very rare! We old fogies appreciate it very much!"

"Indeed," another optics Expert chimed in with a smile. "A young person with achievements who isn't blindly arrogant, who can clearly recognize the limitations of their own technology—this is the most precious quality for us scientific researchers! Your future is limitless!"

...

The Experts spoke one after another, offering high praise to this honest young man, Li Jiajun. They felt their trip today was worthwhile; not only had they witnessed a breakthrough technology, but they had also discovered a promising young researcher with noble character—it was truly a double blessing.

Liu Jianguo stood to the side, watching this touching scene of official-civilian harmony, his mouth twitching. He knew Li Jiajun's character all too well; this nonsense could only fool these honest Experts who had spent their whole lives dealing with blueprints and data. However, since it managed to gloss over the matter, he was naturally happy to have an easy time and prepared to lead the team to pack up later.

As for Li Jiajun, after receiving the warm praise from the Experts, he felt wonderful inside. He felt that his maneuvering today was textbook quality. He had protected his secret, gained a good reputation, and incidentally built a friendship with a group of national treasure-level Experts.

'Perfect!' he thought triumphantly to himself.

However, just amidst this happy and harmonious atmosphere, an ill-timed voice rang out abruptly.

"Leaders! Are you satisfied with just this?"

...

The voice was loud, filled with heartfelt pride and a hint of regret.

Li Jiajun's heart skipped a beat. He was all too familiar with this voice! It was his loyal but often dim-witted manager, Wang Dachui.

He turned his head sharply to see Wang Dachui, chest puffed out and face glowing red, walking quickly in front of the Old General and the group of Experts with a protective stance.

Wang Dachui had been watching from the side, his heart surging with excitement; his boss's technology was simply divine. When he saw these big leaders from the state stunned into silence one by one, his inner sense of pride was about to break through the sky. But immediately after, he saw this group of Experts conclude that the technology could only be used on a small scale, and his own boss, the man who was omnipotent in his mind, actually nodded and bowed in agreement!

How could this be?!

This was clearly this group of Experts looking down on his boss! They were blind to a priceless treasure! And the boss's agreement, in his view, was a higher level of pretense!

'I get it! I totally get it! The boss just likes to hide his light! He is best at this technique of downplaying first and praising later! Even though he has better things, he insists on waiting for others to force him before reluctantly bringing it out to slap their faces with even stronger strength!'

'As his most loyal subordinate, I must be tactful! I must proactively hand him this step! Let him make this scene even more perfect!'

He felt he had grasped the essence of his boss's conduct, and today's scene was a stage tailored for him to showcase his emotional intelligence and loyalty!

Thus, completely failing to notice Li Jiajun's instantly ashen face, he used his voice, which had become distorted with pride, to loudly announce to the bewildered Experts:

"Don't look at our boss as usually low-key; he's just thin-skinned and likes to hide things! That coating you just saw, at best, is just the 1.0 test version we eliminated! Its functions are very limited! It can't even be taken seriously!"

As soon as these words were out, the previously harmonious atmosphere at the scene instantly froze.

The smiles on the Experts' faces stiffened.

Liu Jianguo had just picked up his teacup to take a sip, but upon hearing this, his hand shook, spilling tea all over his hand and scalding him so much he grimaced in pain.

Li Jiajun felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet straight to his skull. He wanted to rush over and cover the Big Smart One's mouth, but under the gaze of the Old General and the group of big shots, he dared not move. He could only watch helplessly as his teammate slammed his foot on the gas pedal on the path to his doom.

Wang Dachui completely failed to grasp the murderous look in his boss's eyes. Seeing the leaders staring straight at him, he thought his words had taken effect and became even more enthusiastic. He cleared his throat and proudly delivered the heavy blow:

"My boss long ago disliked that this 1.0 version was not good here or not good there! So, he later tinkered with a 2.0 professional version himself!"

"That version, that is what you call truly powerful!" The manager said, getting excited and dancing with his hands, saliva flying everywhere. "That 2.0 official version, which can be used on big things like airplanes and warships—our boss dislikes that some of its details are not perfect enough and that it doesn't live up to the Li Family Toy Factory brand philosophy of pursuing perfection, so…"

He deliberately dragged out the tone, and amidst everyone's horrified gazes, he said those words in a showy tone:

"……So he has just been letting it gather dust in the warehouse!"

Gathering dust in the warehouse… Gathering dust… Dust…

These words echoed repeatedly in everyone's ears. Their last bit of reason, their last bit of thinking ability, were completely crushed.

Time, at this moment, seemed to have stopped.

The entire office fell into silence.

Academician Zhang Jingmin and the few Experts behind him had expressions of "so that's how it is" on their faces, which first froze, then shattered, and finally turned into a blankness mixed with dullness and confusion. They had their mouths open, their eyes unfocused, as if their souls had been sucked away. The new theories they had just built using their lifelong learning were, at this moment, smashed to pieces by a toy factory manager with the phrase "gathering dust in the warehouse."

Liu Jianguo's face, distorted by the scalding burn, also froze completely. He maintained the posture of blowing on the back of his hand, his eyes wide open, his mouth unconsciously open, his Adam's apple rolling violently up and down, yet he could not make a sound. He felt his cardiovascular system was undergoing a harsh test.

And Li Jiajun, who was at the center of the storm, had completely given up on managing the muscles on his face. His honest and loyal expression had shattered. He slowly, slowly turned his head, and with a look one might use to look at a stranger, stared fixedly at Wang Dachui, who was still there waiting to be praised.

In that gaze, there was no longer anger, no longer despair, only a kind of calmness, carrying a sense of transcendence.

'Wang Dachui…'

'I thank your ancestors for eighteen generations!'

'After this matter passes, if you can stay in my factory for one more day, I will write my name backwards! Pfft, I will write my name, Li Jiajun, backwards.'