The night before the college entrance exam results were released, I redeemed my Peking University ad

In this way, a total of 40 million was raised for Ji Bai.

The province allocated 20 million, the city 12 million, and the district 8 million, totaling 40 million in research funding.

In this small northeastern city known for its slow pace of life, efficiency is surprisingly high today.

Normally, approving a project worth 100,000 or 200,000 yuan would require more than a dozen stamps and half a month of procedures.

But today, from the moment Ji Bai called Wang Jianguo to the completion of the fund pooling at the provincial, municipal, and district levels, it only took half a day.

Although forty million is still half of the eighty million that Ji Bai asked for, for a recent high school graduate, it is already a record-breaking figure.

Everyone had the same thought in their minds:

You have to spoil your own genius, even if it means selling everything you own!

……

Ji Bai was genuinely surprised when he received the call from Principal Wang.

Surprisingly, the higher-ups actually approved the funding for him.

That's quite a lot, a full forty million!

He originally thought he would be lucky to get approval for a few million, since he didn't even have a proper professional title. To put it nicely, he was a "top scorer in the college entrance examination," but to put it bluntly, he was just a high school graduate.

As a result, the provincial, municipal, and district levels worked together and raised 40 million yuan in just half a day.

But then I thought about it again and realized that I was inexperienced. I should have just asked for 200 million. Maybe I could have negotiated it down and raised the amount.

We lost out this time.

"Thanks, Lao Wang."

Wang Jianguo laughed on the other end of the phone.

What's there to thank? He didn't pay for it; he just relayed a message and acted as a human router.

However, he couldn't say that, as it would make him seem like he hadn't contributed anything, so he used a more appropriate way of saying it:

"Of course, of course. Just do a good job and don't embarrass our No. 99 Middle School."

After saying that, he remembered something else: "Oh right, that piece of land next to the school, I'll approve it for you too! I've spoken to the district. It's just lying around anyway, so it'll be perfect for you to use as an experimental base."

Ji Bai laughed: "Okay, then let's put it at one million, consider it our school's investment."

Old Wang paused for a moment, then laughed.

A price of one million is not bad. That piece of land was only valued at over six hundred thousand back then, and that was because there were a few dilapidated factory buildings on it, which led to a higher valuation.

How much can one invest in?

According to what Ji Bai said before, one hundred million only gets 10%, so one million is...

Old Wang silently calculated in his mind for a long time.

If 100 million is 10%, then 10 million is 1%, and 1 million is... one-thousandth?

What's the difference between this and nothing at all!

Even if it's just a small amount, it's still the child's heartfelt wish.

This child is sensible; all the love and care we gave him was worthwhile.

"Okay, we'll do it your way."

Even if you don't necessarily get much benefit, one-thousandth is still a shareholder.

In the future, the school history museum of No. 99 Middle School can write: "Our school contributed land as equity in Ji Bai's scientific research achievements, accounting for one-thousandth of the shares."

Which high school can match this prestige?

With a smile, Old Wang added, "By the way, go to the Municipal Education Commission tomorrow. This money can't be deposited directly into your account; you'll need to open a special account."

"Okay!"

After hanging up the phone, Ji Bai slumped onto the sofa, feeling great.

Including the ten million from Academician Wang's side, it's already fifty million.

With 50 million yuan in hand, the laboratory for room-temperature superconductivity can now begin construction.

If you tighten it...

"Don't rush it; scientific research can't be rushed!"

He overheard a guy repairing phones next door say something when he was working odd jobs at an internet cafe: "If you don't spend the money you should, you'll have to spend ten times more to make up for it later."

If buying substandard equipment due to budget constraints leads to experimental deviations, then that would be a losing proposition.

At worst, I can wait until I return from the US and the two million US dollars arrive. At the current exchange rate, that's about fourteen million. Add that to the fifty million I already have, and it'll be a little over sixty million, which should be enough.

……

at the same time.

Peking University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

The retired Emperor Chen, an academician, heard about Ji Bai's request for funding.

Xiao Zhang from the School of Mathematics passed the message to him, asking if he could help Ji Bai get some money approved.

Academician Chen directly retorted.

As a leading figure in China's materials science field, Academician Chen has been in charge of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Peking University for more than a decade. He holds a national key laboratory and billions of yuan in special funding, and he has always been known for his decisive and authoritative nature.

In his eyes, no matter how prestigious Ji Bai was in the mathematics circle, he was just a newcomer who had just entered the Department of Materials Science.

They're asking for funding before they've even registered?

You're dreaming!

"Even if he does come to report, he'll have to sit on the sidelines in my lab for three years first, learn to be submissive and understand the rules before we talk about anything else."

"If he's really sensible and willing to humble himself, I might as well give him a hundred or two hundred thousand in start-up capital if I'm in a good mood."

A mathematical genius?

In the materials science department, if you're a dragon, you have to coil up; if you're a tiger, you have to lie low!

How dare they claim to be doing materials research when they can't even raise 100 million yuan in funding?

That's a joke!

……

Meanwhile, in the on-campus hotel of Tsinghua University,

A doctoral defense had just ended, and academicians and professors from several universities, including Peking University, Wuhan University, and Zhejiang University, gathered in a private room to drink tea and chat.

It's called a doctoral defense, but in reality, it's just an excuse for these old colleagues to get together, and they can even get their expenses reimbursed by the company—it's an unspoken practice in the industry.

As they chatted, the topic naturally turned to Ji Bai, who had been in the spotlight recently.

"Have you heard? That Ji Bai is begging for funds everywhere!" Academician Li from Peking University said with a teacup in hand, his tone slightly mocking.

"I heard about it. A hundred million yuan in funding, how dare he do that!" Academician Zhou from Wuhan University chimed in, his face full of disbelief.

"They even said they'd researched something 'small'. These young people these days have more bravado than athlete's foot."

"That's why they chose materials science instead of math; young people are just so clever!"

"They're really brave!"

"Materials are a trap; they can trap people, and they can trap funding!"

"I just received news that Liaoning Province really did approve 40 million for him?"

These words immediately caused an uproar in the private room.

"What?"

"This is utter nonsense!"

Academician Li slammed his hand on the table, his face darkening.

"I've dedicated myself to mathematics research for over forty years, and the total funding for all my projects, big and small, hasn't even reached ten million!"

"A fresh-faced graduate took 40 million yuan without even asking. People in Northeast China really dare to squander taxpayers' money!"

"The Northeast still spoils its children too much!" Academician Zhou shook his head, looking heartbroken.

"If this 40 million goes down the drain, how will he explain it to the people of Northeast China? How will he compensate them?"

"Revitalize? Revitalize my ass!"

"Exactly! Forty million yuan was thrown at a recent high school graduate. If that money were used for good, how many small and medium-sized enterprises could it support?"

"To put it bluntly, it was just youthful arrogance. He used his mathematical achievements as capital to swindle and deceive people everywhere. Once he ran out of money, he disappeared without a trace."

"I'd like to see what kind of trouble he can cause!"

"If he doesn't produce any results, let's see how he handles it, and see if those who approved the funding for him feel any shame."

The group of people were all talking at once, full of sarcasm and ridicule, and not one of them had any confidence in Ji Bai.

In the eyes of these veteran authorities who have been deeply involved in academia for decades, a high school student who studies mathematics daring to touch hard-core materials research and daring to ask for hundreds of millions of yuan in funding is simply ignorant of his own limitations and will inevitably suffer a huge setback sooner or later.

Of course, it was also insane jealousy!

Why should a fresh graduate be able to get a lifetime of research funding?

unfair!