9: Chapter 9: Is he going to be kicked out?

The two of them walked downstairs and arrived at the steps outside the main building's entrance.

A black sedan, displaying a special institute pass, glided silently to the bottom of the steps. The driver opened the rear door and stood quietly waiting.

Lin Yuan bent down and sat inside the car, his back sinking into the soft leather seat.

Luo Yang followed, sitting on the other side of the back seat. The door closed with a 'thud,' sealing off all outside noise.

"To the Third Microelectronics Equipment Research Institute."

Luo Yang gave the instruction to the driver in the front. The sedan started smoothly and silently merged into the main road.

The interior of the car was quiet.

Only the faint, almost inaudible sound of cool air blew from the air conditioning vents.

Luo Yang turned his head, his gaze shifting from behind his lenses to rest on the excessively young face beside him.

"Researcher Lin, while we're on the road, let me give you the lowdown first."

His tone was familiar, carrying a hint of guidance.

Lin Yuan turned his head, his gaze gentle.

"Director Luo, you can just call me by my name."

"Please go ahead, I'm listening."

Luo Yang smiled, not dwelling on the form of address.

"The Third Research Institute you're going to... its director, Professor Wei Jiancheng, is a man with... a rather unique personality."

Lin Yuan tilted his head, adopting a listening posture.

Luo Yang raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, a faint, bitter smile appearing on his face.

"Director Wei is a titan in the domestic field of optics; he has devoted his entire life to scientific research."

"Because of that, he's blunt, has a fiery temper, and cannot tolerate even a grain of sand in his eyes."

"In his domain, he doesn't care about your seniority or so-called social connections; he only recognizes one thing."

Luo Yang extended a finger and tapped the air.

"—Technology."

"If he doesn't acknowledge someone in his heart, even if Dean Chen personally puts in a word, he will absolutely not show you any courtesy."

At this point, Luo Yang reached out and patted Lin Yuan's arm, his tone becoming earnest and well-meaning.

"You're just starting, and you've already made quite a splash. I suggest you don't be in a hurry to show off."

"Listen more, observe more, and take steady steps."

"Once you produce some results, he will naturally think more highly of you."

Lin Yuan nodded, a look of appropriate gratitude appearing on his face.

"Thank you for the reminder, Director Luo. I'll keep it in mind."

He understood Luo Yang's good intentions.

A young man who had never made a name for himself in the academic world and had a blank resume was being promoted exceptionally and dropped directly into the nation's top technical department.

This was inherently a challenge to traditional authority and an injustice to those veteran researchers who had spent their lives buried in books.

Luo Yang's words were simply meant to have him hide his sharpness, integrate into the environment first, and proceed gradually.

But in Lin Yuan's calculations, this was completely contrary to his strategy.

Steady steps?

How long would that take?

His lie-to-truth system needed speed, explosive power, and the spotlight of the masses!

Fortunately, Luo Yang did not read his inner thoughts. Seeing his sincere attitude, he said no more.

The Xia Academy of Sciences was very close to the Third Research Institute, only about a ten-minute drive away.

The black sedan slowed down and entered an internal road lined with poplar trees on both sides. At the end of the road, a tall electric telescopic gate blocked the way.

The driver stopped the car, rolled down the window, and handed over a green pass.

The guard took the pass and carefully checked the photo on the ID against the faces of the people in the car.

Then, he used a handheld device to scan around the vehicle.

After confirming everything was correct, the guard stood at attention and gave a standard military salute.

The electric telescopic gate slowly retracted to one side, making a faint mechanical sound.

The car entered a courtyard filled with grayish-white buildings and came to a stop in a vacant parking spot in front of the main office building.

The two of them pushed open the doors and stepped out.

Luo Yang walked beside Lin Yuan and pointed to a three-story grayish-white building ahead.

"Let's go, I'll take you to see Director Wei."

He raised his wrist to check his watch.

"At this hour, I'd bet he's in the lab nine times out of ten."

Lin Yuan followed behind Luo Yang toward the small building whose outer walls were covered in climbing plants.

The glass doors on the ground floor were tightly shut. Luo Yang walked to the door, pulled a pass card from his pocket, and tapped it lightly against the card reader.

With a soft 'beep,' the door lock clicked open.

They stepped into the lobby, and a scent mixed with disinfectant, ozone, and high-end lubricant wafted toward them.

The floor was covered in anti-static light green epoxy paint. On both sides of the corridor were sealed rooms, with various safety regulations and operational flowcharts posted on the walls.

Several researchers wearing white dust-proof suits hurried across the corridor.

The two reached a double-leaf metal door at the end of the corridor.

A metal plaque hung beside the door.

[Extreme Ultraviolet Light Source Core Breakthrough Laboratory]

A young researcher happened to be walking out, carrying a thick stack of printed papers.

He saw Luo Yang and stopped abruptly.

"Hello, Director Luo."

Luo Yang nodded in response.

"Xiao Liu, is Director Wei inside?"

Xiao Liu pointed behind him and lowered his voice.

"He is. He's leading the team to monitor the light source test data."

"The 142nd excitation experiment just now failed to reach the expected power again. The atmosphere inside... probably isn't great."

Hearing this, Luo Yang shot Lin Yuan a helpless look and shook his head slightly, saying it all without words.

He took a deep breath and reached out to push open the metal door.

"Come, let's go in."

The interior of the laboratory was enormous, with the ceiling seven or eight meters from the floor.

In the center, a massive and structurally complex piece of metal equipment sat like a sleeping steel beast, with dense clusters of pipes and wires spreading across its body like veins and nerves.

A dozen or so researchers were gathered around the control console on one side of the equipment. The atmosphere in the entire lab was incredibly heavy, with only the low-frequency hum of the machinery and the roar of cooling fans echoing throughout.

A thin, white-haired elderly man stood at the very front of the control console.

He pressed his hands heavily onto the metal tabletop, staring intently at the power curve on the screen that was far below the red line.

This was Wei Jiancheng.

Luo Yang led Lin Yuan forward. Their anti-static soles made a faint 'rustling' sound on the floor, which sounded exceptionally clear in the vast laboratory.

Someone at the control console turned around, saw Luo Yang, and tugged at the sleeve of the person next to them.

More and more people turned their heads to look at the newcomers.

Wei Jiancheng noticed the movement and also turned around.

He wasn't wearing a protective cap; his white hair was a bit messy, and the hem of his one-piece dust-proof suit was stained with several black spots.

Seeing Luo Yang, Wei Jiancheng's brows knitted together, his face full of the irritability that comes from having one's train of thought interrupted.

"Why has Director Luo come?"

He walked over with large strides, speaking very quickly.

"Does the Academy have new instructions?"

"Or has the application for the new type of reflective lenses I requested been approved?"

Luo Yang stopped and stepped aside, revealing Lin Yuan behind him.

"The lenses are still going through the process."

"Director Wei, I'm here today to deliver a talent to your institute."

Luo Yang pointed to Lin Yuan and introduced him.

"This is Comrade Lin Yuan. He'll be working here with you from now on."

Hearing this, Wei Jiancheng's gaze bypassed Luo Yang and landed on Lin Yuan.

He sized him up.

Too young.

His posture was upright, his clothes were neat, and his eyes were clear.

He lacked entirely the fatigue from long-term late nights that came with spending years in a lab.

Wei Jiancheng's expression visibly turned cold.

Just then, an uncontrollable burst of whispering erupted from the team of researchers behind him.

"Lin Yuan?"

A researcher wearing thick-lensed glasses pushed up his frames, staring at Lin Yuan's face with eyes full of astonishment.

"This name is so familiar... wait, I've seen this face too."

A female researcher nearby sucked in a breath of cold air, her lowered voice filled with shock.

"How could it not be familiar? The whole internet exploded yesterday! The one reported on the front page of 'Xia Country Daily,' the youngest Distinguished Young Researcher in the history of the Xia Academy of Sciences to be hired exceptionally—isn't his name Lin Yuan!"

"Holy crap, it really is him! That undergraduate who hasn't even finished his junior year?"

"Why did he come to our institute? You've got to be kidding me! Does an undergraduate even know what Extreme Ultraviolet Light is?"

"Shh! Keep it down! If he could be promoted exceptionally, maybe he really does have some extraordinary qualities?"

"Extraordinary qualities? You believe that? Which one of us here didn't start with a PhD from a prestigious university? He's a junior student; he probably hasn't even finished learning the basic theories yet!?"

Although the voices were deliberately lowered.

In the quiet and oppressive laboratory, they clearly reached everyone's ears.

Shock, confusion, absurdity, disdain.

Various gazes intertwined like a dense net, enveloping Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan stood where he was, his face as calm as water, his breathing rhythm not faltering even slightly.

And listening to the surrounding discussions, Wei Jiancheng's brow had already twisted into a tight knot.

He usually paid very little attention to trending news on the internet.

But he wasn't deaf.

The whispers of those around him had already laid bare Lin Yuan's background.

Hasn't even finished his junior year.

Undergraduate.

A parachuted Distinguished Young Researcher.

Wei Jiancheng's furrowed face instantly turned as cold as a block of iron.

He didn't even bother to give Lin Yuan another look, speaking directly to Luo Yang with a voice that held no warmth.

"Director Luo."

"This place is for conquering Photolithography Machines, not a place for undergraduates to do their graduation projects."

"Take him back."

He waved his hand as if shooing away a fly.

"I'm very busy here; I don't have time to babysit!"