143: Chapter 143 Pillars of the Nation

Lin Yuan is going to become an Academician?

The speed at which this news spread was even more rapid and frenzied than any phenomenal technological breakthrough!

The simple public notice on the Xia Academy of Sciences official website was screenshotted at lightning speed by sharp-eyed netizens and forwarded to major social platforms in less than three minutes after being posted.

On the screenshot, the black text on a white background and the bold red title were incredibly striking.

Below that was Lin Yuan's basic resume and a summary of his major contributions.

Photolithography Machine, Chip Architecture, special material preparation technology, Fifth-Generation Communication Technology, Hidden Dragon Operating System...

Item after item of heaven-defying achievements, enough for any scientific heavyweight to spend a lifetime pursuing, were densely listed, occupying more than half the page.

And at the very bottom of the notice, the dual bright red official seals of the Xia Academy of Sciences and the higher competent authorities were stamped.

Upon seeing this notice, many people's instinctive reaction was to rub their eyes, zoom in and zoom in again on the screenshot, and even suspect whether it was a prank pulled by some master of photo editing.

Countless people, with hearts pounding violently, specifically entered the URL, squeezing the Xia Academy of Sciences official website until it nearly crashed, just to confirm it for themselves.

The result was that the news was absolutely true!

Lin Yuan, that young man only in his early twenties, was really going to become the youngest Academician since the founding of the Xia Academy of Sciences!

Consequently, in less than half an hour, the trending search lists on all major platforms across the entire network were rapidly reshuffled.

"Academician Lin Yuan"

"Twenty-year-old National Scholar"

"Xia Academy of Sciences exceptional selection"

...

A series of related entries descended directly onto the trending search lists with an unstoppable, domineering posture.

The comment sections were soon flooded with millions of messages, densely packed and overwhelming.

"A twenty-year-old Academician? Holy crap, am I dreaming? Someone slap me awake!"

"Unprecedented, and there definitely won't be anyone after him! Who can break this record? How? Unless God Lin is reincarnated again!"

"Crazy, this is crazy! At twenty, I was still in my dorm room losing my hair over the CET-4 exam, and he's already standing in the highest hall of the Xia Country scientific community at twenty?"

These were the first wave of comments that poured in, uniformly showing shock and disbelief.

As time passed, the initial state of bewilderment gradually faded, and a second wave of comments followed.

Amidst the shock, countless people began to seriously examine the resume on the screenshot.

A long comment was quickly pushed to the top-liked position.

"Calm down and think about it. A twenty-year-old becoming an Academician sounds scary, but if you cover his name and just look at that list of scientific achievements below."

"First, he led a team to build the Photolithography Machine and created a purely domestic Chip Architecture, breaking decades of technological blockade."

"Then, within a month or two, he forced out Fifth-Generation Communication Technology and Artificial Intelligence."

"Just taking any one of these items would be enough for a person to live off for a lifetime, or even compete for the highest domestic scientific award."

"Now that all these items are concentrated on one person, is it really too much to give him an Academician title?"

Below this comment, identical replies of agreement were refreshing crazily.

Everyone's emotions were completely ignited.

"Reasonable! Which of the things he did didn't extend the nation's life or benefit the common people?"

"I side with the Xia Academy of Sciences on this! So what if it's an exception? Rules are rigid, but people are flexible. For such a monstrous genius, we should break the convention!"

Of course, among this base of tens of millions of discussions, there were bound to be some dissenting voices.

Several accounts with "Senior Scholar" or "Commentator" certifications posted several long threads in succession.

"It is undeniable that Lin Yuan's contributions are immense, but the title of Academician is the nation's highest academic honor, which emphasizes long-term academic accumulation and grounding."

"He is twenty, hasn't even graduated from university; is his mindset mature? Is his academic foundation solid?"

"By violating procedural justice like this and directly bypassing countless older-generation scientists for an exceptional promotion, could this set a bad precedent?"

"The scientific community cannot engage in a 'god-making' movement; this will dishearten down-to-earth scientific researchers!"

As soon as these posts were published.

Countless young people who have suffered deeply from seniority-based systems, as well as those scholars who have been toiling at the bottom of the scientific research ladder for years, were completely enraged.

Keyboards were clattering, and one after another, retaliatory comments filled with anger were hurled at these accounts.

"You call this god-making? His solid, real-world achievements are right there. Are you blind?"

"The scientific community should only look at truth and results, not age!"

"If you had these achievements, you could be promoted too, and we definitely wouldn't object! If you don't have the ability, then shut your mouth!"

The netizens' anger presented an overwhelming stance.

Those dissenting voices were completely crushed to the very bottom of the comment section.

Just as the commotion in the public opinion sphere reached its peak.

The highest-level official mouthpiece of Xia Country, the official account of the Xia Country Daily, pushed a long editorial without warning.

"Breaking Conventions to Recruit Talent, Such Should Be the Pillar of the Nation"

The editorial was not long, but every word carried immense weight.

"When a person fills one strategic void after another for the nation at a speed that transcends the era, what we should do is not measure the new giant with an old ruler, but forge a new ruler for him."

"The Pillar of the Nation is not judged by age, not by seniority, but only by contribution."

"We look forward to, and have every reason to believe, that this young scientist will bring more and greater surprises to this country and all of humanity in the future."

After this editorial was published, the trend in the comment section completely tipped to one side.

"The Xia Country Daily has already defined it. Weigh the weight of the four words 'Pillar of the Nation' for yourselves!"

"Breaking conventions to recruit talent, well said! This is the magnanimity a great nation should have!"

"Looking forward to Academician Lin's next miracle!"

Countless supporters of Lin Yuan flooded various platforms, cheering and spreading the word.

That fanatical emotion could burn one's eyes even through the screen.

...

A few days later.

Inside an independent dormitory at the Xia Academy of Sciences.

Lin Yuan was half-reclined on the sofa, his thumb gently sliding across the phone screen.

The public opinion data captured in real-time by Xiao Long slid down from the top of the page, only to be replaced by new content.

Pillar of the Nation.

The four words were reflected on the screen and also on his retinas.

The Xia Country Daily personally stepping in to define it—this weight was much heavier than any Academician title itself.

Of course, for Lin Yuan, these things were, in the end, just icing on the cake.

The title was for outsiders to see; it was a signboard to maintain the persona of a "scientific genius."

The real trump card always lay quietly deep within his consciousness.

However, the louder his reputation, the higher his authority.

And the higher the authority, the more terrifying the confidence that every future lie could leverage.

This was a perfect positive cycle.

He scrolled down a few screens.

In the comment section, there was a message that had been liked and pushed to the forefront by countless people, with extremely simple wording.

"I used to feel that the word 'Academician' was very far away from me, something only gray-haired seniors could touch. Today, seeing Lin Yuan's name appear on the public notice, I suddenly realized that our generation also has its own hero."

Lin Yuan looked at this comment for three seconds, then immediately exited the page.

He placed his phone face down on the coffee table, leaned back into the sofa, and stared blankly at the incandescent light tube on the ceiling for a while.

Such rare moments of leisure were truly not many.

But the pieces for the next game of chess were already positioned in his mind.

He was just waiting for the right moment to place them one by one.

"Buzz—"

Just at this moment, the phone on the coffee table suddenly vibrated.

Lin Yuan lowered his head and glanced at it; a name popped up on the caller ID.

Chen Jingshan.