140: Chapter 140 He's already an academician?

In the following days, diplomatic visit requests from various countries flooded the inbox of Xia's diplomatic department with staggering density.

They were all, without exception, high-level, state-grade delegations.

If such a wave of high-profile visits to Xia had occurred half a year ago, Xia's diplomatic department wouldn't have even dared to dream of it.

During an internal briefing within the diplomatic system, the official in charge flipped through the schedule in their hands, their expression shifting from initial excitement to a somewhat sweet "exhaustion."

These intensive diplomatic activities naturally appeared in full on Xia's news.

"A high-level delegation from a certain Southwest Peninsula Federation has arrived in Xia for a friendly visit."

"A diplomatic envoy from a certain major industrial power on the Northern Continent arrived in the capital by private jet and received high-level hospitality."

"A resource-rich power from the Middle East led a hundred-person delegation on a visit, with both sides engaging in in-depth consultations on multi-field communication cooperation..."

Similar news headlines occupied the front pages of major portals every day, as if spamming the feed.

The news wording was extremely official, and the accompanying photos were standard, showing nothing more than representatives from both sides shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries.

But the common people of Xia were not stupid.

Everyone knew clearly why these foreign delegations had come and what they were here to discuss.

"Haha, we used to beg them to sell us technology, and now it's their turn to line up at our door!"

"I have only one feeling when I see this news—it's awesome! It's damn awesome! It's finally our turn to call the shots!"

"It cracks me up. Look at that representative from the Southwest Peninsula. Half a year ago, they were still mocking us for being backward at an international conference, and today, look at how much they're bowing while shaking hands! Is it necessary to be this realistic?"

"The tables have turned. It's my turn today, and now the rules are finally being set by Xia!"

On social media platforms, under every news item about a visiting delegation, the comment sections were filled with uniform pride and excitement.

A sense of superiority and absolute vindication grew wildly in the hearts of the people of Xia.

The stifling feeling of being suppressed by Western powers in the tech field, the anxiety and anger when supply chains were cut and faced with shortages...

At this moment, they received the ultimate, most satisfying release!

At the poker table, it was finally Xia's turn to deal.

...

In stark contrast to the jubilation in Xia, there was a dead, heavy silence in the headquarters of those communication giants The Other Side of the Ocean.

At an emergency meeting of a certain global communication giant alliance, the atmosphere was frozen in oppression.

On the projection screen, a dense stream of summaries of the latest letters from partners around the globe scrolled by.

Although the wording varied, the core meaning was highly consistent—

Cooperation intentions were being suspended, procurement plans shelved, and signed framework agreements were being requested for re-evaluation.

Those 4G global deployment contracts that had originally reached the final stages collapsed one after another like dominoes under the impact of Xia's official commercial Fifth-generation Communication launch.

The president sat in the main seat and threw the fountain pen in their hand onto the table. The metal pen body bounced twice on the solid wood surface, making a crisp sound.

"Everyone."

Their voice was pressed very low, so low that little emotion could be detected.

"In this game of Fifth-generation Communication, we no longer have a chance to turn the tables."

No one refuted this.

The silence lasted for a long time.

Finally, the president stood up from the chair, hands bracing against the edge of the table.

"Since the Fifth-generation is beyond saving—"

"Then we skip it."

They raised their head and scanned the room.

"From today on, all the group's R&D resources will fully shift to the pre-research of Sixth-generation communication technology."

As these words landed, the executives on both sides of the conference table looked at each other.

Skip 5G and go straight to 6G?

This was a huge gamble.

But in the current situation, apart from a high-stakes gamble, was there any other choice?

"Xia is now building 5G infrastructure everywhere, having just spent an astronomical amount of capital to roll out the network."

The president's knuckles tapped slowly on the tabletop.

"They will never turn around and overturn their own achievements to pursue 6G."

"The window of time in between is our only chance."

"We must seize the right to set 6G standards before they do."

"Otherwise..."

They did not finish the second half of the sentence.

But everyone understood, and no one dared to think about whether Xia might again be one step ahead and develop 6G.

Otherwise, this giant alliance, which once dominated the global communication lifeline, would completely fall from being an industry leader to being obsolete.

...

Meanwhile, in another city.

The head of that high-end smart device company, known for its closed ecosystem, lacked the composure they had displayed just days ago.

They sat alone on the office sofa, the coffee in their hand had gone cold, but they were completely unaware.

On the tablet in front of them, a compilation of "Longzai" interaction videos uploaded by Xia netizens played on a loop.

That Artificial Intelligence assistant embedded in the base layer of the Hidden Dragon System—the depth of its understanding of natural language, the precision of its grasp of context, its ability to deconstruct and execute complex instructions...

Far exceeded their expectations.

The smart voice assistant that their company had spent years secretly developing, originally planned to be launched as a "revolutionary innovation" at the next press conference, when compared with this "Longzai"—

Was like a primary school student who could only recite textbooks compared to a university professor capable of improvisational speeches.

The gap was despairingly large.

"Snap!"

The head of the company slowly put down the tablet, leaned deep into the sofa, and stared at the ceiling for a long time.

During the previous internal tests, the team had excitedly boasted about an "experience revolution."

But now, looking at this "Longzai" from Xia...

This was the real experience revolution!

After a long while, they came back to their senses and pressed the intercom button on the desk.

"Notify the heads of all departments to come to my office tomorrow morning at eight."

"All core members, not a single one can be missing."

They released the button, leaned back into the chair, and crossed their arms.

The Xia market... they no longer held any illusions.

In the face of dirt-cheap terminals and this kind of dimension-reduction strike-like Artificial Intelligence, their products had already lost their competitive edge in that land.

However, the international market could not be lost.

They absolutely could not let Xia's devices use this momentum to reach into their home base.

...

Meanwhile.

Xia Academy of Sciences, Research Building No. 7.

On the long conference table in the large meeting room, two brand-new plaques were placed side by side.

The gold-stamped fonts, the deep red base, and the words "Collective First-Class Merit" gleamed with a heavy luster under the fluorescent lights.

Chen Jingshan stood at the head of the table, one hand resting on the corner of one of the plaques, his eyes behind his reading glasses crinkling into slits with a smile.

"Everyone, these two plaques are what I just brought back from above."

"Collective First-Class Merit, two of them!"

Chen Jingshan raised his hand and patted the edge of one of the plaques, making a crisp sound.

"Individual honorary certificates and special bonuses will be distributed to everyone one by one later; there will be no ambiguity!"

As soon as the words fell.

The entire conference room erupted into a burst of uncontrollable, frenzied applause and deafening cheers!

A few younger researchers jumped straight up from their chairs, excitedly pounding each other's shoulders, their eyes turning red.

"Two First-Class Merits! Damn it, my life is worth it!"

"If I take this back and hang it in the living room, my dad will probably cry!"

"Don't even mention that. If I bring these two First-Class Merits back to my hometown, they'll have to open a separate page in the family genealogy just for me!"

The cheers lasted for quite a while before slowly subsiding amidst everyone's excited gasps.

Lin Yuan stood in the corner, hands casually stuffed in the pockets of his lab coat, watching this group of people who had fought alongside him for months jumping around, a slight smile curving the corner of his mouth.

These people deserved it.

Just as the laughter and noise gradually died down, Lin Yuan noticed something unusual.

Yang Lin was looking at him.

Lin Yu was also looking at him.

Wei Jiancheng was holding a thermos, his gaze also landing on him, a very awkward, hesitant smile hanging on that old face.

The three of them had their gazes converged on him.

Carrying a bit of teasing, a bit of expectation, and a bit of undisguised solemnity.

Lin Yuan tilted his head slightly, scanning the three of them.

What was going on?

Before he could ask, Chen Jingshan gave a light cough.

Everyone's attention was instantly focused on Chen Jingshan.

However, Chen Jingshan did not look at the crowd.

His gaze passed through the sea of heads and landed steadily on the young man in the corner.

"Lin Yuan, there's something I need to congratulate you on in advance."

Chen Jingshan called out, his voice sounding exceptionally loud in the quiet conference room.

Lin Yuan looked at Chen Jingshan with some confusion.

Chen Jingshan smiled.

In that smile, there was kindness, emotion, and even more, a pride welling up from the bottom of his heart.

"The things you've done in these past few months, I won't count them one by one; everyone here knows them better than I do."

"Without you, there wouldn't be everything we have today."

"So, after everyone's nominations and voting a few days ago, a consensus has basically been reached."

"From now on, everyone will probably have to call you..."

Chen Jingshan paused, every word extremely clear.

"...Academician Lin Yuan."