They’re all reborn, what’s wrong with being a little more almighty?

Chapter 231 I Really Don’t Treat the Second Master as a Swordsman

At the end of 2005, Zhang Wei returned to Tsinghua University.

At this time, it was the final exam period at Tsinghua University, and Zhang Wei realized that he had been busy for an entire semester but had not attended a single serious class.

So Zhang Wei hurried to find Principal Gu and asked him to write a note so that he could go to the School of Economics and Management and report before the end of the first semester.

"Oh, you're finally back. If you didn't come back, I would have called you back." Principal Gu said as he was rummaging through a thick stack of documents.

"Do you have something to talk to me about?" Zhang Wei asked.

"Well, I found it. Take a look at this." Principal Gu took out a piece of paper from the file and handed it to Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei took it and saw that it was a meeting notice.

"Notice on the convening of the National Science and Technology Conference. In order to formulate a development plan for science and technology, commend advanced units and individuals in the intellectual community, reward outstanding research results, and fully mobilize the enthusiasm and creativity of the vast number of intellectuals, the Fourth National Science and Technology Conference will be held in the Great Hall of the People on January 2006, 1..."

After reading the meeting notice, Zhang Wei looked at Principal Gu with some confusion, and then asked, "Principal, you are not asking me to attend this meeting, are you? Am I qualified to attend such an important meeting?"

"Of course you have to go, and you can't go empty-handed. You have to write a few reports and bring them with you." Principal Gu said.

"I still have to write a report!" Zhang Wei felt a little annoyed when he heard that he had to write something, and then he asked, "Isn't this meeting important?"

"That's very important. Such meetings have only been held three times since the founding of the country. This is the fourth time!"

Principal Gu took the cup, took a sip to moisten his throat, and continued, "I still remember the first National Science Conference in 1978, which was chaired by Mr. Guo Moruo. That conference was called the 'Spring of Science'. It was also at that conference that the concept of scientific and technological modernization and science and technology being the primary productive force was proposed.

The second National Science and Technology Conference was held in 1995. That conference was mainly about education, and the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education was determined at that conference. The rapid development of Tsinghua University over the years also benefited from that conference.

In 1999, the Third National Science and Technology Conference was held. The main purpose of that conference was to transform knowledge innovation and scientific and technological achievements into productivity and improve my country's overall quality and comprehensive national strength. The Fourth National Science and Technology Conference will be held in January next year."

"So what's the theme of next year's conference?" Zhang Wei asked.

Principal Gu answered: "Deployment and implementation of the National Medium- and Long-Term Science and Technology Development Plan. This is a 2006-year strategic plan to build a strong country in science and technology, spanning from 2020 to .

Our goal is to strive to increase the proportion of R&D investment in GDP to more than 2020% by 2.5, the contribution rate of scientific progress to more than 60%, reduce the dependence on foreign technology to less than 30%, and rank among the top five in the world in the number of invention patents granted and the number of international scientific paper citations. "

Zhang Wei nodded as if suddenly realizing it. Except for the target of the proportion of scientific and technological research and development investment in GDP, all other targets had been met or even exceeded.

As for the first point, the proportion of scientific and technological research and development investment to GDP in 2020 was 2.4%, 0.1 percentage point away from the target value.

However, when this plan was formulated, no one could have imagined that China's economic growth would be so fast. According to estimates at the time, it would have been a stretch if China's GDP could reach Japan's level by 2020.

With Japan’s GDP of 4.8 trillion US dollars at the time, 2.5% was already a lot. When the plan was drawn up, no one could have imagined that it would be 15% of 2.4 trillion US dollars.

Zhang Wei continued, "This 'Outline of Science and Technology Development' is a matter at the national strategic level. I'm just a college student. To say that I have little influence is a compliment to myself. How can it be my turn to write a report?"

"The official document of this outline will not be released until the Science and Technology Conference, but I have obtained some of the core content in advance. The outline identifies 62 key areas and priority topics, covering energy, environment, agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, information technology and other fields.

There are also 22 cutting-edge technology studies, which are related to you. Among them, there are five biotechnology studies, including target discovery technology, animal and plant species and drug molecule design technology, gene manipulation and protein engineering technology, stem cell-based human tissue engineering technology, and a new generation of industrial deep groove technology.

The third and fourth items, gene manipulation and protein engineering technology, and stem cell-based human tissue engineering technology, are all related to the topic you worked on this year. Aren’t gene scissors and nucleoside modification technology gene manipulation and protein engineering? As for IPS cells, they are stem cell-based human tissue engineering technology.

So you have to write two reports on these two points, mainly to introduce your technologies. It would be even better if you can combine the scientific and technological development of our country and add some descriptions of the technological prospects. "Principal Gu said.

"The meeting will be held on the 9th of next month. You ask me to write two reports at this time. You are really making it difficult for me." Zhang Wei said helplessly.

"I'm already taking care of you. Among the 22 cutting-edge technologies, there is also high-temperature superconducting technology in the new material technology. Your graphene has good thermal conductivity, and there is a chance to develop it into high-temperature superconducting materials in the future. If I were not afraid that you would be too busy, I would ask you to write another report on graphene." Principal Gu said.

"Okay! You can just pick on me and bully me!" Zhang Wei said as he stretched out his hand and continued, "President, can you give me a letter of introduction? I will go to the School of Economics and Management to register first, and then go back to write the report. Is that okay?"

"There's no need to write a letter of introduction. I've already called Dean Qian Guoguang of the School of Economics and Management, and Director Bai Qian of the Department of Economics. You can just go to them directly." Principal Gu said.

"Then I'll go there now. Would you like to make a phone call first and let them know?" Zhang Wei said.

"Okay, I'll call!" Principal Gu picked up the phone and dialed a number.

After a while, Principal Gu ended the call and said, "Qian Guoguang is on a business trip and is not in the hospital now, but Director Bai Qian is still here. Bai Qian is also the vice president of the School of Economics and Management. You can go find him."

……

Zhang Wei came to the Economics Department and met Bai Qian, a modest gentleman.

"Zhang Wei... uh, classmate Zhang Wei! Welcome!" Bai Qian hesitated for a moment about how to address Zhang Wei, and finally called him "classmate".

After all, since the students will be studying here in the future, it would definitely not be appropriate to call them “teacher”.

"Director Bai, I'm sorry, the semester is almost over and I'm just coming here to report!" Zhang Wei said.

"Good food is never too late, good words are never too slow. It is an honor for us to have you come to our Economics Department!" Bai Qian said politely.

After the two of them sat down as host and guest, Bai Qian asked, "I heard from Principal Gu that you are very interested in economics?"

“That’s very interesting! I went to Japan as an exchange student some time ago and found Japan’s economy after World War II very interesting. They were able to achieve great success in such a short period of time, and then stagnate for ten consecutive years.

I really wanted to know what was going on, so I took some public economics courses and found them very interesting, so I decided to study economics systematically. "Zhang Wei lied.

"Economics is profound and extensive. Many economic phenomena are indeed very interesting and worth spending energy to study." Bai Qian nodded in agreement.

Zhang Wei continued, "Director Bai, I came here today not only to report to you, but also to ask for leave. There will be a national science and technology conference next month, and Principal Gu has assigned me a task to write two reports. I don't have time to attend classes before then."

"It doesn't matter. It's the end of the semester anyway. The courses for this semester are basically over. You can still make it in time next semester." Bai Qian said as he stood up, took out a garbage book from the bookshelf behind him and handed it to Zhang Wei.

"Principal Gu specifically instructed that you have to do research in the Department of Biology, so your schedule will definitely be tight. If you don't have time, it doesn't matter if you don't come to class. It won't be counted as an absence. These books are all about basic theoretical knowledge related to economics. You can take them back and read them by yourself. The undergraduate courses in our department usually cover these contents. If you don't understand something, you can come and ask me directly."

"Thank you, Director Bai." Zhang Wei took the book and looked at the title. They were all books on basic economics, so he asked, "Director Bai, do you have any books on finance? I would like to take a look, too."

"Finance, yes. But it may be more advanced, mainly in English, with many specialized terms. If you are not a finance major, you will have to look up a lot of dictionaries."

Bai Qian said as he found two books on finance and handed them to Zhang Wei. Zhang Wei took them and saw that they were indeed both in English.

Bai Qian then introduced: "These two books are used as textbooks for finance by the University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong's financial industry is very developed, and the finance major of the University of Hong Kong is also among the best in Asia. To encourage others, their teaching level in finance is indeed several levels higher than that of our Tsinghua University."

"Director Bai, didn't you come back from the United States? And you have been to the University of Hong Kong?" Zhang Wei asked.

Bai Qian introduced himself: "I received a PhD in economics from Harvard University in 1993, and then taught at Boston College. In 2000, I taught at the University of Hong Kong for two years, and then came to Tsinghua University.

When I was in the United States, I was mainly working on a World Bank project, researching national economic transformation and the regulation of public utilities. Later, when I went to Hong Kong University, my research topic shifted to the reform of state-owned enterprises.

Over the years, I have mainly studied applied economics focusing on industrial structure, but I have not delved deeply into finance. If you are interested in finance, I would like to introduce you to Director Li of the Finance Department, who is also a PhD from Harvard and my senior.

"Thank you, Director Bai. I will definitely ask you questions if I have any." Zhang Wei paused and then asked, "So, from studying to working, you have been in the United States for more than ten years! Have you bought a house in the United States?"

"Yes, when I was in the United States, my wife had a better job than me, so we bought a small house with a mortgage. Later, my wife wanted to have a second child, so she quit her job and we returned to China." Bai Qian said.

"Has the house been sold?" Zhang Wei asked.

"I've already sold it. Since I plan to return to China for development, there's no point in keeping the house in the U.S. Not only do I have to pay the mortgage, I also have to pay property taxes. It's not cost-effective."

"It's good that it's sold." Zhang Wei breathed a sigh of relief.

"It'll be fine if I sell it?" Bai Qian smiled bitterly and shook his head. "In fact, I sold it at a loss. I heard from my friends in the United States that the housing prices in the United States have skyrocketed in the past two years. If I sell it now, I might be able to get an extra hundred thousand US dollars! It's a pity that I'm just a teacher and I'm not destined to get rich!"

"Director Bai, don't say that. Maybe in a year or two, you will be glad that you sold the house!" Zhang Wei said.

Bai Qian looked at Zhang Wei in surprise and asked, "Why, are you interested in real estate too?"

"Well..." Zhang Wei pondered for a moment and decided to give a few spoilers first, so he said mysteriously: "Didn't I just come back from the United States? This time when I went to the United States, I found that the American real estate market is about to collapse!"

"The U.S. real estate market is collapsing? Is the U.S. going to tighten its mortgage policy?" Bai Qian asked.

When Japan burst the real estate bubble, it mainly used three measures: first, tightening mortgage policies, second, tightening land policies, and third, raising interest rates.

If it were the United States, tightening land policy would definitely not work, as land policy is the foundation of the United States and cannot be changed. In addition, federal and state laws are different, so it cannot be changed even if you want to.

The United States has been raising interest rates. In order to get out of the Internet bubble, the U.S. federal benchmark interest rate was lowered to 1%. It has been rising in recent years and is about to rise to 5%, but the U.S. real estate market has been hot.

Therefore, the only possibility Bai Qian could think of was that the United States would tighten its mortgage policy.

Zhang Wei said: "The US mortgage policy is indeed loose, but you might as well kill Wall Street if you ask them to tighten their mortgage policy. There is a saying that goes, 'You won't turn back until you hit the wall.' But those people on Wall Street, if they hit the wall, they won't turn back unless they pretend to be in pain!"

"Your analogy is very vivid. But if the United States is not tightening its mortgage policy, why do you think the US real estate market is going to collapse?"

"It's because the bubble in finance and real estate has been too big. That's why I want to learn some financial knowledge!" Zhang Wei said.

"Uh..." Bai Qian was speechless.

I can't believe you haven't even learned the basic knowledge, yet you come here and talk nonsense, saying that the US real estate is going to collapse!

I am an economist after all. Don't you think this is a bit of a show-off? Do you really not regard Guan Erye as a swordsman?

But then, Bai Qian looked relieved again.

Why should I compete with a biologist in economics?
……

After leaving the School of Economics and Management, Zhang Wei went to Weiguang Technology Company.

"While I was in the United States, Brother Xiaoyao should have recruited a few employees!" Zhang Wei thought to himself and walked into the office area rented by Weiguang Technology in Zhongguancun.

The office area looks very simple. Apart from the grid desk and water dispenser, there is a projector, probably for presenting ideas.

There are dozens of workstations, most of which are empty, with only a few occupied.

A closer look reveals that black-framed glasses, plaid shirts, and jeans are almost standard equipment for these people. In addition, most of them have thinning hair and look like they have been drinking and having sex too much.

Judging from the outfit he wore, he would definitely be an excellent programmer in that era!

Zhang Wei walked into the office, but no one paid any attention to him. Everyone was busy with their own things.

As for programmers, nine out of ten are homebodies. Most programmers are naturally immune to social anxiety disorder.

Zhang Wei went straight to Yao Xiaoguang's office, knocked on the door, and walked in.

"Zhang Wei, you're back from the United States!" Yao Xiaoguang was surprised when he saw Zhang Wei.

"Brother Xiaoyao, I didn't bring you anything. I just bought some macadamia nuts to supplement your protein." Zhang Wei handed two bags of macadamia nuts to Yao Xiaoguang.

Yao Xiaoguang didn't care. He pulled Zhang Wei to his computer and said, "You're back just in time. Let's try out our "Legend of the Three Kingdoms"!"

Zhang Wei was shocked: "Play it for free? You've already made this game? So fast!"

(End of this chapter)