A genius? I just love studying.

Chapter 305 We've Become a Joke of History

"The second round of voting has started so soon?"

In the large conference room, Yang Desheng was already sitting with his good friend.

According to previous rules, the second and final round of voting usually takes place half a month after the first round, which determines the final candidates for hospitalization.

Unexpectedly, only a little over a week has passed, and we've already been notified of a second round of voting.

"I heard that Professor Chen's votes in the first round didn't look very good. I wonder if the higher-ups will intervene. This might be related to this matter."

One of the well-informed academicians muttered something under his breath.

"What can we do if the votes aren't good? What, are we really going to force that kid to be hospitalized?"

Yang Desheng said rather indignantly that if Chen Hui really got more than two-thirds of the votes in the end, then he would have nothing to say.

But if he doesn't get enough votes, and the higher-ups force him to be hospitalized through some means, he will be dissatisfied. There must be quite a few people who think like him. Who among them who is sitting here wasn't a genius back then, and who wasn't proud and arrogant?

The friend standing nearby was both amused and exasperated.

He knew Yang Desheng.

He's just a stubborn old man focused on academics, with absolutely no political sensitivity whatsoever.

Sure enough, before the meeting started, Mr. Zhao walked to the front of the main conference room.

"I'm sure you all know why I've gathered you all here today, so I won't go into details."

"Before the meeting begins, I'd like to share some information with everyone."

"Professor Chen Hui's Pangu Project was successfully ignited today and connected to the power grid."

"Alright, everyone, let's start voting!"

After finishing his speech, Old Zhao didn't waste any time and stepped down from the stage.

"Pangu Project, what is that?"

"Controlled nuclear fusion power generation!"

"What? The fusion power plant is a success?"

"I'm just celebrating the New Year, but it feels like decades have passed."

"I heard from Professor Chen before the Lunar New Year that there had been a breakthrough, but I thought it was just a minor breakthrough. I didn't expect that they had actually completed the grid connection!"

"Really? I was just looking into the research progress of controlled nuclear fusion a while ago. It would take at least another five to ten years to build a power reactor. How could it have been successful so suddenly?"

"Could this be academic fraud?"

"I don't believe it either, unless I actually see a fusion power plant!"

Perhaps anticipating the doubts, the large screen in the conference room suddenly began broadcasting a news report—the CCTV Evening News, arguably the most authoritative news program in China.

"We are now taking a shuttle bus into the core area."

In the video, a female reporter sits on a shuttle bus, speaking eloquently to the camera: "There are no towering chimneys as I expected, no huge cooling towers spewing white mist, only a few low auxiliary buildings and the faint hum of the power grid hinting at the extraordinary nature of this place."

The air was exceptionally clean; you could even smell a hint of early spring chill, unlike any industrial area smell.

"It's too quiet, far too quiet for a power plant!"

The female reporter couldn't help but sigh.

"what?"

"Is this the evening news broadcast?"

One of them started complaining instinctively.

The evening news program on CCTV only lasts 30 minutes a day. When Chen Hui and Yuan Xinyi won the Fields Medal together, it only took them two minutes. This news story hasn't even gotten to the main point yet, and so much time has already been wasted. How can this be considered the evening news program?
"Okay, finally, we've arrived inside Pangu."

The scene shifts, clearly after desensitization treatment, and the female reporter has entered the room.

"Through the huge isolation glass, we can see the heart of Pangu, the main control room."

Contrary to the imagined retro scene filled with buttons, this place resembles a command center from a science fiction movie, with a golden plasma ring rotating smoothly under the constraint of a magnetic field on a huge curved main screen.

"Did everyone see that screen below?"
The display reads 72 hours, 18 minutes, and 32 seconds, meaning the Pangu Reactor has been operating continuously for over seventy hours. This is unprecedented globally and a feat worthy of being recorded in history.

"And the 852 MWe next to it represents the power generation capacity, and 61200 MWh is the current cumulative power supply..."

The large conference room finally stirred with excitement.

When they saw the state of the reaction chamber, these academicians finally realized that this time, they were serious!
If controlled nuclear fusion power generation has truly been successful, such a momentous news story deserves a full episode of the evening news broadcast.

"Ahead is the liquid metal divertor. Under the confinement of a powerful magnetic field, the dark golden liquid metal flows silently through the complex pipes like a living silk, efficiently removing heat and impurities."

The female reporter continued her tour inside the reactor.

The conference room fell completely silent. Their gazes followed the female reporter as she lingered inside the Pangu reactor, and many of the senior academicians had tears in their eyes.

Back then, they truly went from being extremely poor to where they are today, and now, China has finally become a leader in global technological power.

This time, they have left the West far behind.

"Across from us is the superconducting magnet system that encloses the main body of the reactor. The deep hum they emit is the most prominent background sound here, like the steady breathing of this gentle behemoth."

"This magnet system uses a new type of high-temperature superconductor developed by Professor Chen Hui, with a critical conversion temperature as high as 138K. It only requires liquid nitrogen to maintain the superconducting properties of the wires..."

As the female reporter was giving her introduction, she suddenly noticed a researcher walking by. Naturally, she wouldn't let this opportunity pass by. She quickly stepped forward, stopped the researcher, and handed him the microphone. "Hello, may I interview you?"

"Having personally participated in such a project, what are your feelings? Can you share them with everyone?"

The young researcher smiled shyly, “My mentor studied magnetic confinement his whole life, and when he retired, he said he might not live to see it commercialized. But I joined the Pangu Project right after I graduated. I feel as lucky as a time traveler!”

Such an important live broadcast would not be a random interview with a random researcher; it was all pre-arranged, including the questions and answers.

Next, she interviewed an elderly academician.

“We used to calculate data using abacuses and hand-cranked calculators. Today… today is like watching our own child pass the imperial examination with top honors. We’ve walked this path for so long, but we’ve finally made it!”

The old academician wiped his eyes. Although the answer had been written in advance, his feelings were genuine.

Finally, the scene shifts back to the city, where the reporter stops an ordinary citizen on the street. "Hello, are you aware of the successful development of controlled nuclear fusion power generation? What impact do you think this will have on people?"

The citizen smiled憨厚ly, "I heard that the leaders are already discussing lowering electricity prices. I'm going back to sell my gasoline car and buy a new energy vehicle!"

……

Just as the academicians predicted, this episode of the news program devoted an entire episode to introducing this breakthrough, which is enough to prove that Professor Zhao was not lying and that controlled nuclear fusion has indeed achieved a breakthrough!

No one, not even the most dedicated, would dare to lie to the entire nation. "Truly worthy of Professor Chen!"

Yang Desheng withdrew his gaze and murmured in amazement.

His friend smiled but didn't laugh at his friend. No one could remain unmoved after witnessing what had just happened.

The subsequent vote was a foregone conclusion, with Chen Hui receiving almost unanimous approval for the academician position.

What was initially just a rumor circulating online has become a hot topic across the entire Chinese internet after tonight's news broadcast confirmed the story.

#How powerful is Chen Shen?##Pangu created the world#
[Holy crap! It really worked?! Am I dreaming?! This is ultimate energy! Guys, type "Awesome!" in the chat!]

I never imagined I'd actually see this day!

So... are electricity bills going to be drastically reduced? Will people in the South finally be able to afford heating in winter? Will our friends in the Northeast have to wear short sleeves all winter? /doge

[By broadening our horizons, we can desalinate seawater and turn deserts into oases!]

Where is the Trisolaran fleet? Is it too late to apologize? /doge When will our spaceships be built? Get the warp drives ready!

[Chen Hui, the Wallfacer, I am your Wallbreaker. From this day forward, human civilization will be upgraded to a Type I interstellar civilization!]

In short, what does this mean? 1. Unlimited energy, completely breaking free from the petrodollar hegemony. 2. Zero carbon emissions, giving us absolute say in global climate negotiations. 3. Costs for all energy-dependent industries—AI, manufacturing, agriculture, etc.—will plummet.

Most importantly, the journey to the stars and the sea is truly about to begin.

[Thank you, class representative. Please elaborate on the vast universe; a friend of mine is very interested.]

Not only on Weibo, but also on other platforms, a number of content creators have edited all the known materials into videos, and mixed together scenes of Pangu lighting the fire with the background music of "My Motherland". These videos quickly climbed to the top of the view count charts.

Questions have already appeared on Zhihu: How to evaluate the historic breakthrough of the "Pangu" project led by Chen Hui's team in achieving successful controlled nuclear fusion power generation?
Thanks for the invitation, but I have a conflict of interest, so I'll remain anonymous.

It can only be said that the shock to the industry far exceeded everyone's expectations.

Chen Shen solved not just a single problem, but a whole system from materials and engineering to control theory. Our previously estimated commercialization timeline has been brought forward by at least twenty years, and many foreign colleagues are frantically calling to verify this today.

In short: Far ahead!

The comments under this answer, which are described as "far ahead", have been flooded with thousands of posts.

Douyin, WeChat Moments, Hupu, and even the nearly dead Tieba are all discussing this topic at this moment.

It wasn't until today, when the news had become a sensation in China, and three days after Pangu was ignited, that Eremets, far away in Europe, learned of it.

"Ignition successful?"

"how is this possible?"

Eremets felt as if he had been hit hard on the head with a stick.

From the time China came to negotiate with them until now, less than half a year has passed, and the other party has solved all the problems and directly completed the ignition of the fusion reactor?

Judging from the images transmitted back from China, they did succeed, and he had already asked the staff in China and received confirmation.

He suddenly remembered that Schultz had warned them that they had at most six months. He hadn't expected Schultz's prediction to be so accurate.

After utter disbelief, regret crept into his heart like poison, quietly devouring him.

If he hadn't been so arrogant and had agreed to cooperate with Chen Hui, he could be enjoying the fruits of victory with Chen Hui now.

But now, he has nothing!

Those waste materials simply cannot complete the construction of a plasma operation model.

If only I had listened to Schultz back then!
"Eremetz, come to the conference room."

A cold, harsh voice at the office door interrupted Eremets's reverie.

It's Huber.

Eremets felt a chill in his heart. Clearly, the other party already knew the news, and it wasn't hard to tell from their ugly expression.

Upon entering the conference room, news from China was playing on the large screen.

"A historic breakthrough: the Huaxia Pangu Fusion Demonstration Reactor has achieved continuous power generation."

The image on the screen was of the inside of the circular device that he was very familiar with, and a figure that he was equally familiar with, Chen Hui, who was standing in front of the control panel with a calm and confident smile on his face.

The subtitles below the news article scrolled rapidly: "...based on its original plasma operation model and independently developed high-performance high-temperature superconducting materials...it has been stably supplying power to the grid for over 72 hours..."

It felt as if time had frozen, and my blood rushed to my head only to instantly turn cold.

“Mein Gott!”

"How on earth did he do it?"

The mathematicians at the Institute of Controlled Nuclear Fusion exclaimed in disbelief.

"Look at the confinement state of that plasma! So stable! This completely confirms the accuracy of his model's predictions!"

"What exactly did we reject back then? We rejected an opportunity that could have allowed us to get a glimpse of the future!"

"He walked a path that none of our entire research institute dared to imagine, all by himself."

These mathematicians said painfully.

"I also want to ask you, it's been half a year, where are your models?"

Huber asked angrily, then turned to Eremets, "And you, didn't you say that it was impossible for him to synthesize high-temperature superconductivity without 10 years?"

Huber's gaze swept across the conference room, but no one dared to meet his eyes.

Especially those in charge of controlled nuclear fusion, their hearts were filled with regret. If they had agreed to cooperate back then, they couldn't imagine how triumphant they would be now.

Unfortunately, it was all just a dream.

They all thought of the person who hadn't attended the meeting; if only they had listened to Schultz's advice!

Huber knew that this meeting would not yield any results and would only be a way for him to vent his anger.

The meeting didn't last long, and everyone left dejectedly.

Only Huber remained in the conference room. He stared at Chen Hui's figure on the screen, as if he were seeing a scientific peak that he had failed to climb or even properly assess its height. He murmured, his voice filled with bitterness, "We...we were not only wrong...we have become a joke of history...we could have been partners, but now we are just spectators."

Unbeknownst to them, inside the controlled nuclear fusion research institute, some young researchers even had a gleam of excitement in their eyes as they whispered among themselves, "Perhaps... we should send Professor Chen an email to congratulate him right now?"

"Or... apply to be a visiting scholar at the Pangu Project in China? That's the future hub!"

(End of this chapter)