Rejecting Tsinghua and Peking Universities: I Will Lead Harbin Institute of Technology to World Lead

My first feeling upon returning to Harbin Institute of Technology was a mix of unfamiliarity and familiarity.

Lin Feng walked along the familiar tree-lined path.

Libraries, teaching buildings, laboratories... every building is etched with memories.

Four years have passed so quickly.

The principal's office was on the top floor of the administration building. When Lin Feng knocked, a meeting was in progress. The secretary's eyes lit up when she saw him, and she whispered, "Please wait a moment," before turning to go inside and announce his arrival.

Two minutes later, the meeting room door opened.

Tang Guohong was the first to step forward. This leader of Harbin Institute of Technology, nearing sixty, had gray hair but a straight back and piercing eyes. Upon seeing Lin Feng, he quickly stepped forward and firmly grasped his hand.

"Xiao Feng, you're back!"

His voice was loud and clear, filled with undisguised joy.

"You're back, Principal Tang." Lin Feng smiled.

"Come on, let's talk in my office." Tang Guohong nodded to the other attendees and led Lin Feng to the principal's office at the end of the corridor.

Tang Guohong personally brewed the tea. It was top-quality Longjing tea; the tea leaves unfurled in the hot water, releasing a delicate aroma.

"You've come back this time because..." Tang Guohong pushed the teacup in front of Lin Feng and asked tentatively.

"Graduation," Lin Feng said directly. "I've been at Harbin Institute of Technology for over four years; it's time to get a diploma."

Tang Guohong paused in his tea-serving hand.

He put down his cup and looked at the young man in front of him.

"It's time to graduate." Tang Guohong nodded. "All the students in my graduating class left school last year. Some went abroad for further studies, some went into business, and some..."

He spoke the last sentence very softly, but there was a light in his eyes.

Lin Feng knew that after graduating from Harbin Institute of Technology, students would go to different places, and many of them would go to various classified units.

"What are your plans after graduation?" Tang Guohong asked casually, but his fingers unconsciously tapped on the table, revealing his nervousness.

Lin Feng shook his head: "I haven't decided yet."

That's the truth. We already have the core theory of controlled nuclear fusion, but we still need to plan where to start.

"Since you haven't made up your mind," Tang Guohong leaned forward, his tone serious, "then stay at Harbin Institute of Technology."

He paused, then continued, "I'll give you a professorship. No teaching, no fixed office hours, no restrictions whatsoever. The university will provide you with the best labs, the best benefits, and the highest degree of freedom—you can research whatever you want."

After speaking, he looked at Lin Feng, waiting for a response.

Lin Feng smiled.

He certainly understood Tang Guohong's intention—this was an investment. Investing in a genius destined to change the world, investing in an opportunity that would make Harbin Institute of Technology's name resound throughout the globe.

But he didn't mind.

Over the years, Harbin Institute of Technology has given him so much: resources, protection, and an atmosphere conducive to pure academic pursuit. This is where he began.

"Okay." Lin Feng only said this one word.

Tang Guohong's tense shoulders instantly relaxed. He took a deep breath, then laughed loudly, "Great! Great! I'll arrange it right away!"

He picked up the phone and quickly issued instructions:

"Personnel Department? Prepare a specially appointed professor contract immediately, with the highest standard of compensation and top-level access... Yes, right now."

"Logistics department? That detached courtyard in the professor's residential area, clean it up immediately, upgrade the security system to the highest level... Lab equipment? Provide whatever Professor Lin requests."

"The Academic Affairs Office? Lin Feng's graduation exam is scheduled for this afternoon. Yes, through the special channel, I'll personally proctor it."

Three phone calls, and everything was arranged within ten minutes.

This is the principal's power, and also full support for a future giant.

"Xiao Feng," Tang Guohong said, hanging up the phone, looking at him, "No one but me knows the specifics of your professorship. This is the order from above; your security clearance level... has been raised again."

Lin Feng nodded: "I understand."

"I'm sorry to have to put you through this," Tang Guohong sighed. "With your achievements, you should be famous throughout the world. But now, you can only remain behind the scenes."

"Reputation isn't important." Lin Feng picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "What matters is whether the matter can be accomplished."

Graduation exam at 2 PM.

The examination was held in a small conference room in the administration building. There were only three people present: Lin Feng, Tang Guohong, and the deputy director of the academic affairs office.

The exam was prepared on short notice and covered all the core courses of Lin Feng's major: Advanced Mathematics, Quantum Mechanics, Materials Science, Computer Principles...

Lin Feng picked up his pen and began answering the questions.

Without thinking, without pausing. Multiple-choice questions are checked off at a glance, calculation questions are mentally calculated and the results are written down directly, and essay questions are written in a long and eloquent manner, with rigorous logic and quotations.

He finished five exam papers and three hours' worth of content in forty minutes.

When the deputy director collected the papers, his hands were shaking—he had seen geniuses before, but this was the first time he had seen one like this.

Tang Guohong picked up the exam paper and quickly scanned it. The more he looked, the brighter his eyes became.

"Perfect score." He put down the last paper. "No, it's more than perfect. Your solution to the last essay question about controlled nuclear fusion... goes beyond the scope of undergraduate studies, and even beyond existing theories."

He looked at Lin Feng and asked, "Who set this question?"

"Me," Lin Feng said frankly, "The assessment always needs to be a bit challenging."

Tang Guohong and the deputy director exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

"Graduation passed." Tang Guohong announced on the spot, "Your degree certificate and graduation certificate will be delivered to your residence tomorrow."

"Thank you, Principal."

That evening, Lin Feng moved into the detached courtyard house in the professor's residential area.

The residential area is nestled deep within the campus, built against the mountain, in a tranquil environment. The courtyard is a detached two-story building with a small yard filled with birch trees. The exterior walls are simple gray bricks, looking no different from the surrounding buildings.

But once you step inside, you'll find it's special.

The first floor houses the living room, kitchen, and study; the second floor contains bedrooms and a gym. The basement has been transformed into a 300-square-meter laboratory, fully equipped with everything from basic chemical analysis instruments to advanced quantum computer simulation platforms.

The security system is extremely robust, featuring infrared monitoring, biometric access control, electromagnetic shielding, and even an independent backup power supply and communication system.

"This place was originally prepared for academicians," Tang Guohong said as he toured the place, "but several senior academicians felt it was too deserted and didn't move in. Now, it's yours."

Lin Feng was very satisfied.

Quiet, safe, undisturbed—that's exactly what he needs.

Zhao Weiguo, Qingfeng, and Hanren also moved into the adjacent annex building, taking turns on 24-hour shifts.

Everything was settled by then it was late at night.

Lin Feng stood by the window on the second floor, looking out.

In the courtyard, the birch leaves rustled in the night breeze. In the distance, the teaching buildings of Harbin Institute of Technology were still lit up, with students working late into the night in the laboratories.

He turned and went into the study.

Consciousness sinks into the system's simulation space.

In the white virtual space, three huge holographic projections lit up simultaneously—

The upper left corner reads: "Vermilion Bird VI Fighter Jet!" It's a streamlined fighter jet model with blade-like wings and a stealth coating as deep as the night sky. Data streams fly around it: maximum speed Mach 8, service ceiling 3 meters, plasma stealth, artificial intelligence fire control system…

The sign in the middle reads: "Nuwa's Controlled Nuclear Fusion!" It's a toroidal tokamak device with magnetic field lines coiled like blue ribbons, within which plasma rotates and glows. Parameters show: confinement time 1000 seconds, fusion gain factor Q > 10, thermoelectric conversion efficiency 65%...

On the right is written: Pangu Artificial Intelligence! It's a complex optical neural network structure with billions of nodes blinking, where information travels at the speed of light. Next to it are performance metrics: general artificial intelligence, autonomous learning ability, multimodal perception, ethical and safety framework…

Lin Feng stood in the center of the three projections.

When he closed his eyes and opened them again, his gaze was like a cold star.

"start."

At a single command, three projects were launched simultaneously.

The aerodynamic shape of the Zhuque fighter jet has begun to be fine-tuned, with the wing sweep angle optimized by 0.3 degrees; the magnetic field configuration of controlled nuclear fusion has begun iterative iterations in search of more stable constraint schemes; a new attention module has been added to the neural network of artificial intelligence, improving inference efficiency by 12%...

Doing three things at once.

This is an impossible task for ordinary people.

But for Lin Feng, this was easy.