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

Eagle.

10 a.m. Washington time.

Someone called a meeting with a group of staff members.

The oval table was filled with people, and the air was thick with the smell of burnt coffee and an even stronger sense of anxiety.

The person looked very unhappy.

"Concessions? Why should we concede? We are the US! Number one in the world! Why should we bow down to China?"

The group of staff members standing below looked at each other, none of them daring to speak first.

Everyone knows why the boss got so angry.

In the negotiations for room-temperature superconductivity patents, they originally held the leverage to bargain wildly, resorting to sanctions, threats, and diplomatic pressure. However, Ji Bai's live broadcast, in which he gave away more than a dozen semiconductor patents for free, completely shattered their confidence.

Just now, the negotiating team had to relent and accept most of the conditions proposed by China.

This is an absolute disgrace in the diplomatic history of the United States.

The aide sitting on the left spoke up: "Sir, if I may be so bold, this concession plan makes us look like... we've been robbed and are now bowing to them."

"We imposed more than twenty technological restrictions on China in the semiconductor field, but this time we lifted three of them at once! Although none of them are the most critical, the signal is terrible!"

The trade advisor chimed in, looking pained: "Not only that, but the market access window for superconducting materials is essentially giving away a market worth hundreds of billions. Several of our allies in Asia have already called to inquire whether we can withstand the pressure."

"Can't hold on?"

Someone raised an eyebrow, slammed their hand on the table, and their blond hair trembled.

"Who said we can't hold on? This is called a tactical retreat! Do you even understand negotiation? If not, learn from the Eastern saying: take one step back, take two steps forward! Temporary concessions are for a greater victory!"

Everyone fell silent.

The room was quiet for a few seconds, with only the sound of someone breathing heavily.

Finally, the scientific advisor sitting to his right, a middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses and a slightly balding head, cleared his throat and spoke:

"Gentlemen, I would like to remind you that the situation is not as bad as you think."

He adjusted his glasses and projected a new report onto the wall.

The image shows a complex set of molecular structure diagrams, with densely packed data labels next to them.

"These are the sample parameters we obtained from the lab. To be honest, Ji's technical approach is indeed ingenious. Even though we had studied similar directions before, we were always one step behind."

The science advisor paused, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips: "However, things are different now. With samples, it's like having the answer written on the blackboard."

"Based on this data, we have already launched a reverse engineering project!"

"Preliminary assessments suggest that by making structural substitutions and doping optimizations based on the existing formula, it is entirely possible to develop a superconducting formula with superior performance and lower cost!"

"If successful..."

"Not only can we bypass China's superconducting patents, but we can also use a cheaper solution to suppress them!"

"What we lost in the previous negotiations, we will get back tenfold, a hundredfold!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the conference room suddenly relaxed.

"Really? That's great!"

"I knew it! Our scientists are just as good as anyone else's!"

"That kid from China just got lucky and got there first. We, the mighty United States, can't even catch up to a high school student?"

"Wait until our new formula comes out, then let's see how smug the Chinese can be!"

The person finally grinned, revealing two rows of gleaming white teeth: "Beautiful! This is the news I wanted to hear!"

"Tell those scientists, give them money, manpower, and equipment! I don't care what methods they use, I want to see results in three months, no, two months!"

"Yes, sir." The science advisor nodded with a smile.

At this moment, the intelligence chief, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up:

"Gentlemen, allow me to remind you that our opponent is not just a room-temperature superconductor."

"Ji Bai! His very existence is the biggest variable."

The air in the meeting room grew heavy again.

"This time, he spent more than ten days making almost all of the Hausen family's core patents in the consumer electronics field publicly available for free."

"In other words, he possesses the ability to quickly disassemble, optimize, and then surpass existing technological systems. If this ability were extended to other fields..."

"In what areas can it be extended?"

A hawkish general interrupted him dismissively, slamming his cap on the table and glancing sideways at the intelligence chief:

"The things he made public—RF chips, memory interfaces, LED drivers, power management—are, to put it nicely, electronic components; to put it bluntly, they're just small-scale civilian gadgets."

"How high is the technological content of these things? To put it bluntly, they're all low-end products! Hausen and his gang are clinging to a few outdated patents like treasures; they deserve to be eliminated."

"that is."

Another advisor chimed in, "No matter how capable Ji Bai is, that's only in the civilian sector!"

"The truly cutting-edge technologies—lithography machines, chips, aircraft engines, stealth materials, advanced weapon systems…aren't these all the result of decades or even centuries of industrial accumulation?"

"How could he, a mere high school graduate, possibly get involved?"

"If he's really that capable, why doesn't he work on lithography machines? Why doesn't he work on single-crystal blades for aircraft engines? Why doesn't he work on military-grade chips?"

"That's right! Hausen's patent system is outdated. Those old fogies don't even do research and development anymore. Ji Bai just crushed a camel that should have been eliminated long ago."

"If we really put him in front of our top-notch laboratories and leading military enterprises, humph, what can he possibly use to compete with us?"

A few snickers rang out in the conference room.

The more he listened, the more comfortable he felt, and a smile returned to his face.

"You're right! No matter how much trouble an eighteen-year-old kid can cause, he's still a kid."

He may make waves in a small pond, but he's not in a position to stir up trouble in the vast ocean!

"Patent negotiations? Let him be smug for now. In a technological race, what matters is stamina. My great America is best at having the last laugh!"

Someone waved their hand dismissively, feeling extremely pleased with themselves.

Everyone in the room nodded in agreement, and the tense atmosphere vanished, replaced by an almost blind optimism.

"Alright, meeting adjourned! Let's get our scientists moving!"

The man stood up, straightened his tie, and wore a smug smile.

"I want the whole world to know that we will always be the technological leaders!"

"As for that brat named Ji Bai..."

He gave a disdainful smile, turned, and walked towards the door.

The crowd laughed.

Photolithography machine?

Are you kidding me?

That was developed by more than a dozen industrialized countries and hundreds of high-tech companies working together for more than a decade!

There is absolutely no possibility of successfully developing it in a flash of inspiration!

……

Meanwhile, at a military airport in Fucheng.

A mysterious plane, without any prior indication, slowly descended…