21: Chapter 21 Asking for an exorbitant price?

Hearing Lin Yuan's casual remark, Chen Jingshan was momentarily stunned.

It wasn't a polite pause, but a genuine freeze.

His fingers were still resting on the cover of the verification report, frozen in a forward-leaning posture, his gaze locked onto Lin Yuan's face.

Wei Jiancheng also jerked his head around, his eyes filled with utter astonishment.

But in the next second, he caught Chen Jingshan's expression out of the corner of his eye, and his heart skipped another beat.

Old Chen... didn't know either?

This realization added another layer to the stormy waves in Wei Jiancheng's heart.

He had thought that Lin Yuan was a talent the Academy had already fully vetted, and that all his cards should be in the hands of the high-level leadership.

But Chen Jingshan's current reaction clearly said—

The cards in Lin Yuan's hand were more numerous and more powerful than anyone could have imagined!

Seeing the reaction of the two, Lin Yuan smiled.

There was a genuine sense of confidence in that smile.

Because this time, every word he said was a fact, not a bluff.

After the first lie came true, the knowledge system instilled by the system wasn't just the light source system, but a complete set of theoretical knowledge covering the upstream, midstream, and downstream of the Photolithography Machine!

The ultra-high precision optical design of the Objective Lens System, the nanometer-level positioning and synchronization control algorithms of the Dual-workpiece Stage System...

These things were already solidly engraved in his mind.

Lin Yuan's choice to reveal this card at this particular juncture was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

On the contrary, it was a move he had calculated before even arriving at this office.

The results of the first lie were the lever used to move the second lie.

The breakthrough in light source theory was just an appetizer.

He wanted everyone to form a deep-rooted perception—

That he, Lin Yuan, was not just a specialized talent who got lucky in one niche field.

But an absurdly well-rounded research monster!

Only in this way could every new "lie" he threw out in the future be accepted with the least resistance and the greatest speed.

The office fell silent for a few seconds.

Chen Jingshan was the first to recover; he let go of the report and slowly leaned back deep into his chair.

Then, with one hand on the armrest and the other holding the temple of his reading glasses, he slowly rotated them.

"Objective lenses and workpiece stages..."

He repeated these two terms, his gaze scanning Lin Yuan twice.

"Comrade Lin Yuan, you've dabbled in quite a wide range."

This sounded casual, even carrying a hint of a joke.

But Lin Yuan, sitting opposite him, noticed that the rhythm of the old president's fingers rubbing the temple was half a beat slower than before.

Lin Yuan sat upright and took over the conversation composedly.

"The President overpraises me."

"From the moment I first became interested in the Photolithography Machine, I wasn't just looking at the light source."

He paused for a beat, his wording steady.

"A Photolithography Machine is a systems engineering project; I'm aware of this. No matter how strong the light source is, without matching objective lenses and workpiece stages, it's useless."

"So when I was doing research, I dabbled in all three major components of the Photolithography Machine."

"It's just that the Third Research Institute focuses on the light source, so I organized the light source materials first."

These words were spoken very steadily, without exaggeration or feigned humility.

It also explained why he was only mentioning it now, and reasonably indicated—

I still have stock in hand.

After listening, Wei Jiancheng rubbed his chin and couldn't help but follow up.

"Then your theoretical research in other areas is the same as the light source?"

As he said this, his finger pointed to the thick verification report on the coffee table.

The implication was as clear as day—

Are your other two studies at the same level as this set of materials?

Lin Yuan did not answer immediately.

He tilted his head slightly, as if carefully considering his wording, before giving an answer that left some room.

"A little bit worse."

"After all, a person's energy is limited; research always has priorities. It's impossible to push all three directions to the exact same depth simultaneously."

Hearing this answer, Wei Jiancheng nodded unconsciously, a "that's reasonable" expression appearing on his face.

The old director's logic was simple—

The theory for the light source system had already reached a level that shocked even him.

If the objective lenses and workpiece stages also reached the same level, then Lin Yuan wouldn't be a genius, but a monster.

"Understandable, everyone has their specialty."

Wei Jiancheng waved his hands repeatedly, his speaking speed becoming a bit more brisk.

"To be able to reach that depth in light sources is already once-in-a-century."

"It's already very good if the other two areas have a general framework and direction."

He said this entirely from the bottom of his heart.

In his view, Lin Yuan's "a little bit worse" meant that the other two theories were far from being as mature as the light source system.

This was in line with normal scientific laws.

Lin Yuan smiled and didn't respond to that.

However, the smile on Chen Jingshan's face opposite him faded faster than Wei Jiancheng's.

Wei Jiancheng was a pure technical man; when he heard "a little bit worse," he thought "understandable, limited energy."

But Chen Jingshan was thinking on an entirely different level.

He was privy to far more inside information than Wei Jiancheng.

From Elder Long's phone call to the entire process of the exceptional promotion, and then to the intense maneuvering behind the official announcement in the Xia Country Daily—

All these pieces put together made his standard for judging Lin Yuan completely different from Wei Jiancheng's.

Lin Yuan said "a little bit worse."

Wei Jiancheng understood it as "much worse," which is normal logic.

But Chen Jingshan just didn't see it that way.

Since Lin Yuan dared to speak out at this critical moment, the quality of what he held would not be low.

If "a little bit worse" came from someone else's mouth, Chen Jingshan would take it with a thirty percent discount.

But from Lin Yuan's mouth, he would even add thirty percent.

After all, he had just seen with his own eyes the result of "some theoretical materials" for the light source.

The "some" in this young man's mouth was not the same unit of measurement as the "some" in a normal person's mouth.

So, what about "a little bit worse"?

Chen Jingshan leaned forward slightly, his fingers interlaced on his knees.

"Comrade Lin Yuan."

His form of address didn't change, but the pace of his speech slowed down significantly as he spoke word by word.

"Since you have a layout for all three major components, let's set the theoretical matters aside for now."

"Right now, I want to hear your thoughts on the overall situation."

This question was extremely sophisticated.

He didn't ask exactly how much "a little bit worse" was, nor did he ask him to pull out the materials for the objective lenses and workpiece stages on the spot.

Instead, he jumped straight to "what's the next step."

This was the instinct of a top-level decision-maker.

Rather than counting how many trump cards were in hand, he was more concerned with how the cardholder intended to win the game!

Lin Yuan was waiting for this very sentence.

He sat up straight, withdrew his hands from his knees, and loosely folded his fingers.

"My idea is very simple."

"If we're going to do it, don't just make one part."

He paused for a moment, letting the sentence echo through the quiet office.

"I hope the Academy can approve the establishment of a Photolithography Machine Breakthrough Special Task Force."

"Not just a light source breakthrough group, but a full-scale team covering all core components of the Photolithography Machine."

"Light source, objective lenses, dual-workpiece stages—the three major components advancing simultaneously."

"Even including the surrounding secondary subsystems—Photoresist Materials, Mask design, Wafer Inspection Modules, etc.—these should also be included in the plan."

"Invest resources heavily, concentrate strength, unify coordination, and conquer them all at once."

Lin Yuan's gaze swept over Chen Jingshan, fell on the report on the table, and then looked up again.

"There is only one goal."

"To build a complete, functional Photolithography Machine that belongs entirely to our Xia Country in the shortest possible time—"

"A top-tier Photolithography Machine!"

The moment Lin Yuan's words fell, the office became completely silent.

Wei Jiancheng's mouth opened and then slowly closed.

What had he originally come here to ask for?

He came to ask for a new batch of resource funding, a modified small Particle Accelerator, and several sets of ultra-high precision Magnetic Field Devices so his team could build the light source prototype.

This was already the biggest appetite he could imagine.

He had even prepared his arguments in advance, ready to fight from several angles if Chen Jingshan felt the budget was too high.

But Lin Yuan was something else.

With one wide-open mouth, he jumped straight from "conquering one part" to "packaging the entire industry"!

How was this a lion's mouth wide open?

This damn kid wanted to flip the whole sky!

Wei Jiancheng's first reaction was to say something.

However, his mouth just moved, and before he could make a sound—

"Okay."

Chen Jingshan spoke.

Just one word.

Crisp, neat, and powerful.

It was so simple it didn't seem like he was making a major decision that could affect the entire resource allocation landscape of the Xia Academy of Sciences.

"I will fully consider Comrade Lin Yuan's suggestion."

"!"

Wei Jiancheng remained with his mouth half-open, the words he had prepared stuck in his throat.

He turned his head and looked at Chen Jingshan with an expression as if he were looking at a monster.

Was this... still the Old Chen he had known for decades, who was careful to plan before acting in everything?!