88: Chapter 88 A New, Avant-Garde Path

The fifth generation?

Chen Jingshan's head buzzed.

He instinctively thought he had misheard; his mouth hung slightly open, and he was stunned for a full three or four seconds, unable to respond immediately.

Beside him, Wei Jiancheng's eyes bulged even wider as he craned his neck forward, looking like he was about to demand, "Say that again."

The corridor suddenly fell silent.

Only the faint hum of the ventilation fan echoed in the air.

Looking at the dumbfounded expressions of these two titans of the scientific world, a smile appeared on Lin Yuan's face.

Their reaction was completely within his expectations.

He wasn't surprised at all.

In the current global telecommunications field, the giants The Other Side of the Ocean had only just begun rolling out fourth-generation communication technology. Commercial networks were still in the large-scale construction phase, and coverage was far from perfect.

As for Xia Country, although pilot work for the fourth generation had started, it was limited to small-scale testing in the core areas of a few major cities. It was still a long way off from true commercial implementation.

Across the nation, the signals flickering on most people's mobile phones were still the snail-paced 3G!

Therefore, when Chen Jingshan had asked with full anticipation if they were going to fully promote the fourth generation, his logic had been perfectly sound.

The third generation was lagging, the fourth generation was being blocked, and Lin Yuan's intervention was surely to achieve a breakthrough on the curve.

This was the most reasonable prediction any rational decision-maker could make.

But Lin Yuan refused to play by the rules.

He skipped the fourth generation entirely and stepped directly into the fifth.

Soon, Chen Jingshan came to his senses and stared at Lin Yuan for a long while.

"Lin Yuan... are you sure the next generation you mentioned is the fifth generation? Not some upgraded version of the fourth?"

"Yes, the fifth generation."

Lin Yuan's answer was brief and calm, without even half a second of hesitation.

Chen Jingshan fell silent.

Wei Jiancheng also fell silent.

Lin Yuan watched their reactions, the corners of his lips twitching slightly.

The lie he had just realized was, from start to finish, a carefully designed "word game."

While pushing forward with the next step of his plan, it was also a deep exploration and a wild testing of the system's rules!

During the high-profile press conference just now, his wording had been very deliberate—

"Next-generation communication technology."

Next generation.

These words were themselves an extremely vague and deceptive expression.

For the vast majority of people in the world, when they hear "next generation," what is the first reaction that pops into their minds?

Without a doubt, it's the fourth generation.

Because foreign countries had only just crossed the threshold of 4G, while Xia Country was still miserably stuck at 3G.

Therefore, in the inherent perception of the public and the industry, the term "next generation" could be 100% equated to fourth-generation communication technology.

Even the world's top communication experts wouldn't think of the fifth generation.

However, Lin Yuan chose not to take the common path.

The "next generation" he had in mind was never the fourth generation.

Instead, using the existing fourth generation The Other Side of the Ocean as a benchmark, he pushed forward by one more generation.

That is, the fifth generation!

The beauty of language was precisely reflected here.

Even if the next generation he spoke of was actually the fifth, while the whole world thought he meant the fourth.

As long as others believed his words and had no doubts about his strength.

Even if they misunderstood, the system would still recognize it.

The confidence would also increase.

As for whether everyone believed it was the fourth or fifth generation?

It didn't matter.

Because the term "next generation" was inherently ambiguous; as long as someone believed that "Lin Yuan had mastered next-generation communication technology," the system's progress bar would obediently move up.

And once the confidence was maxed out and the lie became reality, what the system would pour into his mind would be the "next generation" as defined by Lin Yuan.

A vague lie.

A precise harvest.

This was exactly why Lin Yuan had found the press conference so interesting.

Lin Yuan pulled back his thoughts, looked at the two shocked faces in front of him, and spoke up.

"Dean Chen, Director Wei."

He spread his hands, his tone carrying a hint of obviousness.

"Foreign countries already have the fourth generation, and their base stations are almost all over the streets."

"So when I said 'next generation' on stage just now, it naturally meant the generation after the fourth generation abroad."

"What else could it be?"

He said this very smoothly, and the logic actually sounded impeccable.

But the expressions on Chen Jingshan and Wei Jiancheng's faces did not relax because of this.

Wei Jiancheng's mouth opened twice, but not a single word came out.

He worked in microelectronic equipment; although communication technology wasn't his main focus, he was clear on the basic concepts.

The domestic fourth generation was still nowhere to be seen, with even the standards not fully understood, and you, kid, open your mouth and want to do the fifth generation?

What even is the fifth generation? Even the international academic community hasn't formed a unified definition yet!

Chen Jingshan's reaction was half a beat faster than Wei Jiancheng's.

He lowered his head in deep thought for a moment, and when he looked up at Lin Yuan, a deep frown creased his brow.

"Lin Yuan, I can understand your thinking; you don't want to follow behind others and eat their dust."

"But fourth-generation communication technology is currently the mainstream international development direction—the industry chain, the standard system, the base station equipment..."

"The world's communication giants are all focusing their efforts on the fourth generation!"

"Even if we develop our own fourth-generation solution and bypass some of the patent barriers, we'd still have a chance to compete."

"Jumping directly to the fifth generation, isn't that... too aggressive?"

He asked this tactfully, but the subtext was clear.

Lin Yuan was in no hurry to refute him.

He straightened his back, and the casual smile on his face vanished.

That logic of dimensional reduction strike, which he had rehearsed countless times in his mind, was slowly delivered in his steadiest yet sharpest tone.

"Dean Chen, since you mentioned the fourth generation, let's just speak plainly."

"As for fourth-generation communication technology, those people abroad have already finished most of their layout."

"From the right to set core standards to the division of key frequency bands, and then to the patent network for base station chips and RF components... it's all held in their hands."

Lin Yuan straightened up from the wall and held up one finger.

"Entering the fourth generation at this point in time, to put it bluntly, no matter how much we struggle, at most we'll just be barely finding a clean spot to stand in the pigpen they've already built!"

He shook that finger.

"Wanting to completely bypass their patent barriers? Wanting to avoid paying those blood-sucking, sky-high patent fees?"

"Impossible."

He said this decisively, leaving no room for doubt.

Chen Jingshan's body tensed slightly.

Because what Lin Yuan said was precisely the cruel reality that the high-level officials of Xia Country's tech industry were most reluctant to face, yet bled for every day!

More than 70% of the core patents for fourth-generation communication technology were held by giants The Other Side of the Ocean and in several other Western camps.

If Xia Country followed the fourth-generation route, even if they mastered all the parts they could develop themselves, they wouldn't be able to pay a single cent less in patent fees.

For every base station built and every mobile phone activated, they would have to obediently stuff money into other people's pockets.

That was a massive loss of wealth amounting to hundreds of billions every year!

That was the humiliation of having a patent club held against one's throat!

"Since the path of the fourth generation is already covered with poisoned nails by them, why must we take off our shoes and step on it?"

Lin Yuan pulled his hand out of his pocket, fingers slightly spread, making a hollow grasping motion in the air.

"Why not do just like we did with the Photolithography Machine—"

He closed his fingers, gently clenching them.

"We choose to forge a new, advanced path directly."