50: Chapter 50 A Laughingstock at the Annual Meeting! The Head of State's Dignity, Worthless?

The first annual meeting was from the major internet company, "Shanyue Technology."

It was held at the most prestigious hotel in Beijing, with a magnificently decorated banquet hall.

As Lin Zhou walked into the venue with Lin Wan on his arm, the noisy crowd instantly fell silent, followed by a wave of whispering.

"Look! That 'King' of the Cyber Republic actually came!"

"He's got guts. Isn't bragging online enough? Does he really dare to show up at an event for industry bigwigs?"

"Is that his sister next to him? She's dressed like a princess and is quite pretty. What a pity, following such a crazy brother."

"An internet meme come to life, and he actually thinks he's someone important."

The volume of these voices was deliberately controlled to be just loud enough for the parties involved to hear.

Every sentence stung Lin Wan.

The dress she had carefully chosen now felt like a joke in everyone's eyes. The color drained from her face, leaving her pale, and her fingernails almost dug into Lin Zhou's arm.

Lin Zhou, however, turned a deaf ear, his expression calm.

He patted his sister's hand and whispered, "Stand tall, don't be afraid."

A middle-aged man with a beer belly and greasy, slicked-back hair walked over holding a glass of champagne. He was Wang Dong, the founder of "Shanyue Technology."

"Oh! Isn't this our Leader Lin of the Cyber Freedom Republic! Your presence really brings light to our humble abode!"

Wang Dong's voice was loud, his face full of undisguised mockery, deliberately emphasizing the word "Leader."

A crowd quickly gathered around to watch the spectacle, all holding back laughter.

"Come, come, Leader Lin, let me toast you! May your Cyber Freedom Republic get internet access, electricity, and sewage systems soon!"

"Hahaha!" The crowd erupted into harsh, mocking laughter.

This was blatant humiliation.

Lin Wan was trembling with anger, her eyes instantly turning red.

Lin Zhou looked up at Wang Dong but did not take the glass.

"You're too kind, Mr. Wang." His voice was not loud, but it clearly cut through the laughter. "Our country already has internet access; we use Starlink, which might even be faster than your company's gigabit fiber optics."

"As for electricity, we use solar photovoltaic panels. There isn't much else in the desert, but there is plenty of sun, allowing us to be completely self-sufficient with clean energy."

"Oh, right, we don't need a sewage system for now. The 'water recycling and regeneration technology' we developed allows us to utilize every single drop of water 100%."

Lin Zhou spoke slowly and clearly.

The smile on Wang Dong's face slowly faded.

The surrounding laughter also gradually died down.

They had expected to see a young man fly into a rage, but none of them expected such a calm, almost cold response.

Wang Dong's face flushed red and then turned pale; his hand holding the wine glass hung in mid-air, extremely awkward.

He gave two dry laughs and slunk away.

Although Lin Zhou had the upper hand in the first exchange, it only invited more mockery.

Throughout the entire banquet, he became the object of everyone's ridicule.

People kept coming over with wine glasses, saying "I've heard so much about you" while their eyes were full of contempt.

"Leader Lin, I heard your country is vast and sparsely populated? Are you selling titles? Get me a Prince title to play with! You name the price!"

"Brother Lin, is your place covered in sand? Need water? How about I invest in building a mineral water factory for you? I guarantee it's more reliable than magically conjuring water from thin air!"

"Your Majesty, when are you holding the concubine selection? I know quite a few influencers, want me to introduce them to you?"

Filthy language and malicious jokes followed one after another.

Lin Wan could no longer hold on.

She watched her brother being surrounded by a group of older, wealthy, and powerful people, bearing all their malice alone.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she bit her lip hard.

Lin Zhou noticed his sister had reached her limit, made an excuse, and took her away early.

The atmosphere in the car was oppressive.

"Brother…" Lin Wan's voice was thick with nasal congestion, and tears fell as soon as she spoke. "In the future… let's not go to these places, okay?"

"No."

Lin Zhou's answer was without any hesitation.

He turned his head, looked at his sister who was crying with a tear-stained face, and reached out to gently wipe away her tears.

"Lin Wan, you must remember. Dignity is never given by others; it is earned by ourselves, punch by punch."

His voice was very calm.

"It doesn't matter how they mock us today. The only thing we need to do is become stronger than all of them, so strong that they can only kneel on the ground and look up at us!"

"All the humiliation we receive today will become an insurmountable threshold for them when they want to cling to us in the future!"

Lin Wan looked at her brother, half-understanding. The neon lights outside the car window flickered on his determined profile.

She leaned her head gently on her brother's shoulder, and her sobbing gradually subsided.

The second annual meeting was from the top investment firm, "Panshi Capital."

Lin Zhou thought that those in finance would be more decent than those in the internet industry.

He was wrong.

These people were not only not decent, but even more ruthless and direct.

They stabbed people right in the open.

The firm's boss, a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, actually used Lin Zhou as a negative example while giving a year-end summary on stage.

"...Here, I want to specifically remind all investment managers! When looking at projects next year, you must keep your eyes open!"

"Don't be fooled by some concepts that sound flowery and grand, but are actually castles in the air! Things like the Metaverse, or founding a Cyber country, sound intimidating but are actually worthless!"

"Otherwise, our year-end bonuses this year might just turn into a 'Founding Duke' title from some desert country!"

After saying this, he glanced pointedly in Lin Zhou's direction.

"Boom—!" The audience erupted into even louder laughter than the night before. Flashlights even went off, flashing wildly at Lin Zhou and Lin Wan.

At this moment, Lin Wan felt as if she had been stripped naked and thrown into the crowd for public display.

Humiliation! Anger!

"Brother! Let's go!" She stood up immediately, pulling Lin Zhou, wanting to leave.

Lin Zhou, however, didn't move an inch, holding her back with his hand.

He just sat there quietly, watching the man on stage with an expressionless face until he finished speaking and stepped down.

On the way back, Lin Wan completely exploded.

"They are too much! How can they say that about you! Brother, why didn't you refute him just now? Why aren't you angry?!"

"Because it's useless."

Lin Zhou's voice had no ripples. He watched the streetscape receding outside the window and said softly, "Discussing the ideals of the stars and the sea with a group of hyenas who only care about money is like casting pearls before swine, and it is also an insult to ourselves."

He turned his head and looked at his sister, whose face was flushed with anger.

"The more they look down on us now, the more they will regret it and hysterically want to kneel and beg us when our 'air-to-water' and 'super sand-fixing grass' technologies are truly implemented and create trillions in value."

"Lin Wan, anger is the cheapest and most incompetent emotion in this world."

"Treat every humiliation as a piece of firewood and keep it in your heart. One day, we will use this firewood to ignite a raging fire that will light up our country's path forward!"

Lin Wan looked into her brother's eyes; there was no anger, no grievance, only a bottomless calm and a kind of madness that made her heart palpitate.

She suddenly understood.

Her brother was under pressure that ordinary people could not imagine, and all she could do was stand by his side, unconditionally believe in him, and support him.

After forcing herself to attend two more similar annual meetings, Lin Wan refused to go again no matter what.

Lin Zhou looked at his sister's increasingly haggard face and did not force her again.

These soul-crushing occasions were indeed too cruel for a sixteen-year-old girl.

To be honest, he had had enough himself.

He had hoped to find visionary partners, but he had overestimated the outlook of these capitalists.

He would no longer pin his hopes on these hypocritical business cocktail parties.

Two days later, he would welcome a truly meaningful "diplomacy."

An official invitation from the Egyptian Embassy was quietly sitting in his email inbox.

That would be a completely different stage.

There, he, Lin Zhou, would no longer be a joke or a clown in the eyes of others.

He would, as the Leader of the Cyber Freedom Republic, engage in equal dialogue with a diplomat from a sovereign state.