144: Chapter 144 Taking the Stage, Commendation

Lin Yuan reached out, picked up his phone, pressed the answer button, and slowly brought it to his ear.

"Hello, Dean Chen."

"Lin Yuan, I hope I'm not disturbing you?"

Chen Jingshan's voice came through the receiver, carrying a hint of irrepressible joy.

"How could you be? If you're calling me at this hour, it must be some good news."

"You guessed right. It's like this: the time and location for the Academician Conferment Ceremony have been set."

Chen Jingshan paused for a beat, as if intentionally keeping him in suspense.

"Tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, it will be held at the Great Hall."

The Great Hall.

Lin Yuan understood the weight of those three words.

It wasn't a place where just any ceremony could be held.

The authorities arranging his individual Academician Conferment Ceremony there clearly meant to grant him the highest level of recognition.

"Alright, I understand."

He replied with a smile, "Thank you, Dean Chen, for informing me personally."

"No need for thanks, it's only right."

Chen Jingshan chuckled on the other end, "Remember to get some rest early tonight; tomorrow is a big day that belongs to you."

"Understood."

The call ended.

Lin Yuan placed his phone back on the coffee table, leaned back against the sofa, and let his gaze drift to the ceiling.

"Tomorrow morning..."

He murmured softly, a faint smile blooming on his lips.

...

The next morning, a little past eight.

Inside the solemn and majestic Golden Hall of the Great Hall, the crowd was already bustling.

Lin Yuan, wearing a crisp, ironed Zhongshan suit, followed behind Wei Jiancheng and walked in slowly.

As soon as he stepped into the hall, an invisible, heavy aura washed over him.

The lights in the hall were bright and dazzling, and a red carpet stretched from the entrance all the way to the podium, but there was little noise in the entire space, only low, restrained conversations flowing in every corner.

Most of those present were elderly men with graying hair and reading glasses.

Whether dressed simply or thin in stature, every single one of these people was a renowned titan in their respective fields.

Materials science, physics, chemistry, biology, information engineering...

The top minds of the Xia Academy of Sciences were gathered here for this one ceremony.

Lin Yuan stepped inside and walked along the side aisle toward the front row.

The second he appeared, the buzzing of low conversations noticeably quieted down.

Swish—!

Countless gazes converged from all directions, landing on him.

There was curiosity, shock, complexity, but mostly, an unconcealed admiration and awe.

"Is that him? The young man who created the Photolithography Machine and 5G?"

"Too young... he's truly too young. Compared to him, I feel like I've wasted most of my life."

"Heroes truly emerge from the youth! By his own strength, he has elevated our Xia nation's national destiny by decades; he is truly worthy of being called an Academician!"

A few barely suppressed exclamations spread through the crowd.

Lin Yuan's back was straight, his pace steady, and a perfectly balanced composure on his face—neither arrogant nor reserved.

He walked through the crowd, heading straight for the seat in the very center of the front row, directly below the podium.

That was the seat reserved specifically for him, with a simple nameplate on the table bearing only two words—Lin Yuan.

He pulled out the chair and sat down calmly.

His Zhongshan suit sleeve brushed against the edge of the table; he smoothed it out casually, his posture relaxed.

Seated on the left and right of the front row were all current, senior Academicians of the Xia Academy of Sciences.

The nearest white-haired elder was less than two seats away, turning his head to look at him.

The elder didn't speak, merely nodding slightly as a greeting.

Lin Yuan returned a polite nod.

Time slipped away second by second in the quiet and solemn atmosphere.

Approaching nine o'clock.

The atmosphere of the entire hall was steady and restrained, with everyone sitting upright in their designated seats.

But the gazes constantly being cast his way were so dense they were almost palpable.

Lin Yuan could feel it.

Approaching nine o'clock.

"Creak—"

The heavy, dark wooden door at the back of the hall was pulled open from both sides by two ushers simultaneously.

Elder Zhang walked at the very front.

In a gray Zhongshan suit, his back straight, his steps steady, he possessed an innate, commanding presence.

Following closely behind was Chen Jingshan, then Zhou Ping, and several other influential department heads.

The group walked along the central aisle toward the podium.

The muffled sound of leather shoes on the red carpet was exceptionally clear in the hall.

"Whoosh—"

At this moment, the entire audience spontaneously stood up.

Hundreds of Academicians, dozens of academic leaders from various fields, and the relevant officials in attendance all stood up in unison.

No one made any unnecessary noise; even the sound of chair legs scraping against the floor was kept to a minimum.

Lin Yuan also stood up, his arms hanging naturally by his sides, his gaze calm as he looked ahead.

Elder Zhang ascended the podium and stood in the center.

His gaze swept over the crowd, landing with extreme precision on Lin Yuan below the stage; a look of admiration appeared on his face, and he nodded slightly to the entire audience.

Afterward, Elder Zhang raised his hand and pressed it downward, signaling everyone to sit.

At Elder Zhang's signal, a very uniform sound of seating filled the hall, and it quickly returned to complete silence.

At the same time, red signal lights suddenly lit up on the large screens on both sides of the podium.

Synchronous live broadcast nationwide, officially connected!

By convention, the Academician conferment process is always held behind closed doors, highly confidential, and never open to the public.

But today, for this Academician Conferment Ceremony, the authorities made an unprecedented special approval—a public live broadcast!

At this moment, in front of countless mobile phones, computers, and television screens across the country, hundreds of millions of viewers were staring at the live broadcast.

The servers of major video platforms saw traffic soar to the warning threshold the second the signal connected, and the barrage in the live chat exploded like an avalanche!

"It's here! Checking in from the front row to witness history!"

"Holy crap, is this scale too intimidating? I see several big shots who often appear on the news!"

"When will the camera cut to the audience? I want to see God Lin! A twenty-year-old Academician, a twenty-year-old peerless national scholar! I'm so excited I have goosebumps!"

Inside the hall, the lights dimmed slightly, and the spotlights above the podium focused on the lectern in the center.

Chen Jingshan stood up and walked to the lectern.

His eyes, behind his reading glasses, swept over the audience, finally resting on the young man in the front row for a heartbeat.

Afterward, he reached out to steady the microphone and spoke.

"Respected leaders, respected comrades."

"Welcome to the scene of this Academician Conferment Ceremony."

"This ceremony today can be said to be the most special one since I took office as the Dean of the Xia Academy of Sciences."

He paused for half a beat, sweeping his gaze over the gray-haired faces in the audience.

"Where is it special?"

"One is the unprecedented individual conferment, and the other is the age of the recipient."

"Everyone present here is the backbone of the Xia nation's scientific community, and the youngest among you was already nearly forty when selected."

"But the comrade we are conferring the title of Academician upon today—"

Chen Jingshan turned his head, his gaze like a torch, looking straight at the upright figure in the front row.

"Is twenty years old."

These words spread out from the microphone, echoing through the vast Golden Hall.

The hall was quiet to the extreme; the breathing of hundreds of Academicians was clearly audible.

Chen Jingshan did not dwell on this number for too long.

He turned back, facing everyone in the audience, his speaking pace steady, articulating every word with precision.

"Academician is the highest academic title in the Xia nation's scientific community."

"But I want to say that it represents not only honor, but also a heavy responsibility."

"It represents the commitment to the nation's scientific and technological cause, the upholding of academic integrity and moral bottom lines, and the guidance and role modeling for those who come after."

The hall was quiet, with only Chen Jingshan's voice echoing under the vaulted ceiling.

"Every Academician should shoulder the mission of promoting scientific progress in the Xia nation."

"Regardless of age or seniority, the weight of this mission will not be reduced in the slightest."

"And Comrade Lin Yuan has, in a mere three months, traveled a path that others could not finish in thirty years, or even a lifetime."

"His past astonishing achievements have already provided a perfect answer to the nation and the people."

"I also sincerely hope that after receiving the title of Academician, Comrade Lin Yuan will be able to provide an even more perfect answer."

After saying these words, Chen Jingshan stepped back half a step, raised one hand, and made a "please" gesture toward the front row below the stage.

"Now, let us invite Comrade Lin Yuan—"

"To take the stage!"