After breaking up with my boyfriend, I made a fortune and rose rapidly in my career.

The sound of Zhao Xilai slamming his phone back onto the table hadn't yet faded in the small conference room.

Chen Ping had already swiped his credentials at the entrance of the Corefire Lab.

The access control light turned from red to green, and the heavy, soundproof door was pushed open, letting in a rush of cold air.

Jiang Fan was standing inside, still wearing his white coat, which hadn't been changed in time, and there were still several indelible coolant stains on it.

"The director is here."

Chen Ping let him in, closed the door behind him, and didn't exchange any further pleasantries.

Where is Lu Yuan?

"They're running the seventeenth set of parameters at the very back of the lab," Jiang Fan said, turning to the side. "Should we call him over?"

"Call them over here, and bring the core team over as well, within three minutes."

Jiang Fan turned around, and the footsteps in the corridor were quick.

Chen Ping draped his coat over the back of the chair, stood next to the lab bench, and casually picked up a stack of test reports from the table and flipped through them.

The data was dense, but Chen Ping could understand the key points.

The light source stability of the seventeenth set of parameters for the Light Chaser 1 satellite has improved by nearly an order of magnitude compared to last week.

If this number were made public, it would be enough to instantly render the Zhao family's narrative that "the chip industry is about to shut down" worthless.

But it cannot be made public.

This card should be saved for the expo.

Less than three minutes later, Jiang Fan walked in with Lu Yuan and two other core members.

Lu Yuan is 28 years old, a PhD in optical engineering, and is holding a data logbook in his hand, clearly having come directly from next to the equipment.

Chen Ping glanced at the five people present.

"What I said ends here today; I won't leave this room."

No one spoke, but everyone straightened their backs.

"You know the true progress of the Light Chaser One project yourselves." Chen Pingfang put the test report back on the table. "But to the outside world, there's only one version right now. The bottleneck hasn't been broken, the funding chain is running out, and it could shut down at any time."

Jiang Fan nodded without questioning.

"From today onwards, all core data of the EUV light source system will be encrypted and backed up, the server will be disconnected from the network and isolated, and only Engineer Jiang and I will have the password."

Chen Ping took a step forward and stopped in front of Lu Yuan.

"Lu Yuan, you are responsible for compiling the latest parameter set into a complete technical file, which will only exist on physical media. There will be three backups, stored in three different locations. You can decide the locations; just let me know."

Lu Yuan tightened his grip on the notebook. "I'll finish organizing it tonight."

"Okay." Chen Ping glanced at the others again. "Also, Engineer Jiang, from now on, continue to work overtime as usual every day. The lab lights must be on, the equipment must be running, and people outside should think that you are still struggling with bottlenecks."

Jiang Fan adjusted his glasses and his lips twitched slightly.

"We can do that, but... Director, there's something I want to say."

"explain."

"In the past two weeks, there have been a lot more visitors coming to tour the area around the lab." Jiang Fan lowered his voice a few decibels. "Before, there were at most two or three groups a week, but recently there have been almost every day. They are all, ostensibly, representatives from companies that are looking to explore cooperation opportunities."

Chen Ping kept that detail to himself and didn't respond immediately.

Visitor numbers increased, and the timing just happened to coincide with the period following that provincial newspaper report.

This time difference is intriguing.

"Was the list kept?"

"The front desk has records, but the review process goes through the External Cooperation Department. The lab isn't the first checkpoint." Jiang Fan paused for a moment. "There were two groups that entered the central corridor of the lab."

The central corridor is separated from the core area by a double access control system.

According to regulations, no classified areas are allowed to enter the central corridor.

However, the corridor itself faces the glass curtain wall of the laboratory.

The layout of the equipment inside can be roughly seen with the naked eye.

Chen Ping went over the matter in his mind and felt somewhat worried about the situation, but he did not express his opinion immediately. Instead, he turned to Lu Yuan.

"You mentioned the seventeenth set of parameters, what were the results?"

Lu Yuan opened the notebook and pointed to the last two pages with his finger.

"The pulse frequency of this group of light sources has stabilized at 13.5 nanometers for 72 hours without decay, and a phenomenon that has never been seen before has also occurred."

Lu Yuan pushed the notebook forward, his finger landing on a set of data marked with a red circle.

"The power conversion efficiency is 21% higher than the original theoretical peak."

After saying this, Jiang Fan let out a soft breath, indicating that he himself had just confirmed it not long ago.

Chen Ping read through that page of data from beginning to end without saying a word.

21%.

It's not an optimization, it's a leap in scale.

This means that in the actual application scenarios of lithography machines, the Zhuguang-1 is closer to the threshold of commercial mass production than any other domestic solution on the market.

"Under what conditions was this data generated?"

"We replaced the light source cavity with a new batch of tin targets, along with our self-developed magnetic field confinement module," Lu Yuan replied quickly. "The external components cannot be replicated simply by hardware imitation; the core parameters are adjusted in our own control software."

Chen Ping handed the notebook back to Lu Yuan and turned around.

"Okay, so, was this result mentioned even a single word to any outsiders before today?"

Lu Yuan paused for a moment, then pulled his thoughts back to the beginning.

"...One time, last Wednesday, I was in the park's cafeteria, and sitting next to me was Engineer Lin from the International Cooperation Department."

"What did he ask?"

"I just casually asked how things were going lately, and I said I was working on new light source parameters, which led to the mention of tin targets."

Just this one sentence.

Tin target.

In the semiconductor industry, this isn't exactly a secret. But given the current timing, and the context of the "ChipSpark project working on EUV light sources," it's quite significant.

Those in the know can deduce the core technology roadmap from this one word.

The External Cooperation Department handles external reception. Two groups of visitors entered the central corridor last week.

Chen Ping mentally went through these key points, not letting them stop.

"Mr. Lin, what's your full name?"

Lu Yuan said a name.

Chen Ping remembered the name and turned to Jiang Fan.

"From today onwards, the Department of External Cooperation is no longer authorized to enter the central corridor of the laboratory, for any reason. Visitor reception will be moved entirely to the first-floor exhibition hall."

Jiang Fan nodded immediately.

"There's one more thing: talent development can't stop." Chen Ping took his coat back from the back of the chair, his tone softening slightly. "Engineer Jiang, Lu Yuan, while you two are working on the core challenges, each of you should bring two young people in to participate throughout the process, so they can get firsthand data."

Jiang Fan hesitated for a moment: "At this critical juncture, should we expand the scope of those who know about this..."

"It's not about expanding the scope of knowledge, it's about cultivating people who truly understand this system." Chen Ping interrupted, "Corefire isn't a project, it's a line, and this line can't be supported by just the two of you."

Jiang Fan remained silent for a few seconds, then did not refute.

Chen Ping walked towards the door, but stopped before pushing it open.

"Tonight, find an opportunity to go through the safety verification process and retrieve Engineer Lin's communication records for the past month."

After saying this, he pushed open the door and walked out of the laboratory.

The corridor lights made the floor appear white, and footsteps echoed one after another.

Chen Ping took his phone out of his pocket, dialed a number, and as soon as the call connected, he blurted out his first words.

"Zhang Chao, help me investigate someone, Engineer Lin from the International Cooperation Department."