Chapter 101
After the celebration banquet, Ji Zhixing took Deng Yi, who was about to be tormented by his thesis, to Yenching University and handed him over to Professor Gao Xiao, who was also about to be tormented by his thesis.
Gao Xiao sent Deng to the Zhixing Research Institute for two reasons: first, to plan for his future; and second, to secretly take a break and hope that Ji Zhixing, a master of thesis analysis, could help revise his doctoral dissertation.
However, he never expected that Ji Zhixing would go so far, daring to target vacuum energy with his fledgling research institute. And, incredibly, he actually succeeded!
Now that he's gained a student who will go down in history, he might as well revise the doctoral dissertation. The main thing is that Ji Zhixing is of extremely important scientific, academic, and political significance to China today, and he doesn't want Deng Zhixing's dissertation to make him sick.
After chatting with Ji Zhixing for a while, Gao Xiao brought up something: "By the way, when exactly do you plan to submit your application for academician? Both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering have been asking me to urge you to submit it."
"Becoming an academician?" Ji Zhixing scratched his head; he hadn't thought about it at all.
Gao Xiao was amused; Ji Zhixing had truly reached a certain level of detachment from empty fame. Along the way, he had never given a second thought to any of the various talent titles and programs, such as Outstanding Young Scientist, Young Thousand Talents Program, Ten Thousand Talents Program, Thousand Talents Program, and Hundred Talents Program, and he didn't even care about the title of Academician.
In fact, Ji Zhixing was absolutely qualified to be nominated for academician as early as when the photonic chip was successfully developed. However, the election of academicians is held every two years, so Ji Zhixing would have to wait until the following year to be nominated.
The following year, when he saw that Ji Zhixing was not on the final list, he called to ask and found out that Ji Zhixing was so engrossed in vacuum energy that he hadn't even thought about it.
Now that Ji Zhixing has developed vacuum energy, many people in both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering are getting restless. How can it be acceptable that someone with four achievements—the Navier-Stokes equations, low-temperature optical tweezers, photonic chips, and vacuum energy—doesn't have the title of academician? So they've turned to him for help.
“The projects are all successful now, why don’t you take some time to write the application?” Gao Xiao said with a smile. “Or you can take my old one and copy it?”
Ji Zhixing waved his hands repeatedly: "No need, no need, I will definitely write it in the next two days."
Of course, it's more sincere to write the application yourself. He had been genuinely busy before, and subconsciously, he always felt that becoming an academician was something he should consider when he was in his forties or fifties, so he kept putting it off. Now that both academies have extended olive branches, he naturally won't take it lightly.
After leaving Yenching University, Ji Zhixing visited Professor Yan and then left Beijing. Before leaving, he instructed Deng Qi to finish his thesis as soon as possible and return to the institute to formally complete his onboarding procedures. Deng Qi looked haggard and said that he might not finish his thesis by the time Ji Zhixing completed another project.
After parting ways with the haggard Deng and returning to Guangling, Ji Zhixing unexpectedly faced a final farewell.
"You're going back?" Ji Zhixing asked in surprise.
[Yes, host. This is a program pre-programmed by your great-grandchildren—after witnessing your ascent to the pinnacle of scientific research, the system will intelligently leave the system space to return and report the results. Rest assured, you can give the system instructions to prevent it from disclosing specific information to protect your privacy.]
"It's okay, you can tell them anything." Ji Zhixing was overwhelmed with thoughts, his mind a jumbled mess. He had so much to say but didn't know what to say. After a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence, "Please pass on a message for me—thank you! I'm very grateful that they went to so much trouble for me."
If it weren't for the learning system sent by his great-grandchildren, he would never have been able to devote himself to learning, and he wouldn't have been able to achieve these results in his twenties.
"Will you come back?" Ji Zhixing was still reluctant to part. Although the system was mostly in a silent state, it had always been by his side, like family and friends.
[You no longer need the system's help in your life, so its existence is essentially dispensable. Furthermore, time travel is not easy, and there's no guarantee you'll be able to return to this timeline.]
"I see..." Ji Zhixing also remembered that the system had said on the day they first met that the time-space transmission system was a pioneering achievement of later generations, and the time-space coordinates were not precise. The system had gone through many difficulties and failed attempts before finally finding him when he was 20 years old.
Besides "thank you," is there anything else you'd like to say to your great-grandchildren?
There's so much I want to say, so many words of gratitude, concern, and advice that have been swirling in my mind for a long time, but I'm a little shy to express them. After all, we're called grandfather and grandson, but in the end, we're complete strangers. Who knows, if you calculate their actual ages, his great-great-grandchildren might even be older than him.
However, there was something Ji Zhixing had wanted to say to his great-grandchildren for a long time, but...
Ji Zhixing hesitated for a long time, but finally couldn't help but ask, "May I, as an elder, leave behind a 'family precept'?"
【sure. 】
"Just eight words: be diligent in serving the country, be frugal at home," Ji Zhixing said solemnly.
[Host, you can rest assured that these eight words are precisely what your great-grandchildren have been practicing.]
...Really? Ji Zhixing was skeptical. His great-grandchildren practiced "diligence in serving the country" as he believed, but "frugality at home"... could be seen from the items provided by the system.
A luxury watch worth 100 million—he has no interest in watches, has never worn one, and probably never will in his life.
He has a billion-dollar meal card—he's only ever used the one from Shiyueju, and he still doesn't know what to do with the others.
The property is worth tens of billions of yuan—more than a dozen units have been sold so far, and there are still more than a hundred units where the property management fees alone will cost him ten million yuan a year!
He wasn't complaining about getting a good deal; he just felt some of the money was wasted. Looking back, the only real bargains were the clothes and shoes, ranging from casual to formal wear. He hadn't bought any clothes in years.
[System intelligently detaching from system space countdown; security and confidentiality regulations being unlocked...]
Security and confidentiality regulations? Ji Zhixing remembered. Back then, his great-grandchildren chose a luxury watch as a gift, specifically requesting it be delivered on the very day he was extorted by Liu Shihui. He had been curious then whether it was a coincidence or a deliberate arrangement. However, when he inquired with the system, it said he had to abide by security and confidentiality regulations and could not reveal too much detail about future generations, so he didn't press the matter further.
Does this mean the security and confidentiality regulations can be unlocked?
Yes, to prevent the "future" from excessively influencing your life choices in the "present," your great-grandchildren have established security and confidentiality regulations. Now that your life's trajectory is largely clear and the system's intelligence is about to leave the system space, the security and confidentiality regulations have triggered the unlocking conditions, so some things can finally be revealed—in fact, the gifts your great-grandchildren sent were only knowledge and money exchanged for points. The luxury watches, clothes, shoes, meal cards, and real estate were all personal assets that you personally purchased. Your great-grandchildren sold them and entrusted the system to repurchase them in the new timeline.
Ji Zhixing was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized that the system was talking about his future self: "How could that be! Don't I know myself? Just take those ten watches for example, even if I could earn a hundred million a day, I wouldn't throw money at these useless things that I can't eat or wear!"
[A very important item will also be unlocked along with the security and confidentiality agreement. Please accept it, host. You will understand after reading it.]
The next instant, a thick A5-sized notebook appeared in front of Ji Zhixing. The cover was light blue, faded and somewhat mottled. The corners had obvious wrinkles and wear, clearly indicating frequent use.
This is… He looked at the familiar light blue cover and suddenly remembered that there was a notebook like this in the freshman welcome package that the school gave him when he entered university.
He opened the cover and saw the three characters "Ji Zhixing," undoubtedly his handwriting. So, this was his notebook?
Ji Zhixing turned a page; yes, this was his notebook.
When he first got the notebook, he used it as a notebook. He recorded income and expenses, made memos, noted down things to note when working, and sometimes even wrote down his thoughts.
The first page states: Tuition fee 6000 yuan/academic year (already paid), accommodation fee 1200 yuan/academic year (already paid), savings 217.5 yuan.
As he stroked the words, Ji Zhixing suddenly recalled his past struggles. Without the system's help, he might have had to struggle to balance studying and working throughout his four years of university, living a life of financial hardship and exhaustion.
Ji Zhixing slowly turned the pages, one by one, and memories surfaced.
Tutoring costs 50-100 yuan per lesson; distributing flyers costs 120 yuan for 8 hours...
To save 2 yuan on bus fare, he rode his bicycle between the tutoring center and school, only to get caught in a downpour, get soaked to the bone, and fall ill. Not only did he not save money, but he also spent tens of yuan on medicine and had to take a day off from his tutoring job. How regretful he must have felt then…
He applied to the student union for a work-study opportunity on campus, but never got one. Later, a fellow student from his hometown hinted that Fan Yongjie had generously given up his opportunity to another student. How furious he was then…
His notebook contained many of the hardships, grievances, and frustrations he had never wanted to talk about...
However, since receiving help from the learning system during his freshman summer vacation, he has never encountered anything so upsetting that he had to put it into words. From then on, the notebook was left unused.
However, the notebook in his hand was clearly filled to the brim. So, this notebook was actually written by... the version of him without the system's help.
Ji Zhixing took several deep breaths before finally deciding to turn the page. He read very, very slowly, for a very long time.
So, this is what his life was originally like...
After being falsely accused of stealing a watch by Liu Shihui, he wanted to report it to the police, but Director Chen, citing the upcoming start of the school year and the potential negative impact, suggested that the school investigate the matter itself first. He agreed, thinking that if the school couldn't clear his name, he would continue to report it to the police.
However, the school is not a professional investigation agency, and without surveillance evidence, Liu Shihui persisted in his original statement when questioned by the school teachers.
The school actually took it quite seriously, setting up an investigation team to retrieve all the library's surveillance footage and compare the movements to find students who might have witnessed the incident while in the library at the time... However, a week passed and they still found nothing.
During this time, Liu Shihui had spread rumors everywhere. He carried the stigma of being a thief for a week before finally losing patience and reporting it to the police. Only then did Liu Shihui have no choice but to confess everything to the police.
However, "it takes only a mouth to spread rumors, but it takes a lot of legwork to refute them." Even though the school issued an announcement and Lin Lang, Xu Dongyang, and many classmates actively explained for him, his reputation at school had already become a complete mess, and people who did not know the truth would look at him with contempt from time to time.
But can he rush over and explain to strangers every time?
And so he became more and more taciturn, less and less fond of interacting with people, and just kept burying himself in his studies and part-time jobs.
At this time, Fan Chuanshuo found him, expressed his appreciation for his efforts and his sympathy for his plight, and offered him a work-study position as an assistant in the laboratory.
He was overjoyed at that time and regarded Fan Chuanshuo with the same respect and gratitude as a mentor.
Since the allowance Fan Chuanshuo gave his assistant was enough to maintain a basic standard of living, he decided to devote himself entirely to his studies and laboratory work.
One day, while he was on night shift alone in the lab, he unexpectedly discovered the possibility of synthesizing antiferroelectric materials.
Although this material was not closely related to Fan Chuanshuo's research topic, considering its application prospects, he was eager to report it to Fan Chuanshuo. Unexpectedly, he overheard a conversation between Fan Chuanshuo and Fan Yongjie.
Fan Yongjie was resentful that his father treated him so well, so Fan Chuanshuo, in order to appease his son, told him his true intentions frankly.
He then realized that Fan Chuanshuo had recruited him into the lab just to find a scapegoat for that doomed project!
Shocked by the truth and pained by being deceived, he calmed down and began to carefully collect evidence in his daily experiments, while secretly using Fan Chuanshuo's laboratory to study antiferroelectric materials.
When Fan Chuanshuo suddenly turned hostile and accused him of sabotaging the experiment, he used the evidence he had collected to demand hush money from Fan Chuanshuo, and then anonymously reported him to the procuratorate.
After Fan Chuanshuo was imprisoned, he was lost about the future. Later, seeing the potential in synthesizing antiferroelectric materials, he used the hush money to barely set up a laboratory. To save money for his research, he lived in poverty.
However, just as he was making some progress, Fan Yongjie set fire to his laboratory, and he almost burned to death.
Although Fan Yongjie was quickly arrested, his achievements were ruined; although he survived by chance, he suffered burns and respiratory complications that could not be cured for the rest of his life.
Unwilling to let his hard work go to waste, he painstakingly raised funds and set up a very rudimentary laboratory to start afresh.
The notebook didn't record the hardships of that period in detail; only a few words offered a glimpse:
Poverty and illness plagued him, yet he devoted himself wholeheartedly to his work.
After arduous and persistent efforts, he finally succeeded in developing the technology three years later and transferred the patent for one million yuan, thus devoting himself to scientific research.
One million sounds like a lot, but it's far from enough for scientific research. So, the instruments he later purchased were mostly second-hand, obsolete and stored in warehouses, and some he even hauled back from the junkyard and repaired himself.
He was lucky; his scientific research progressed relatively smoothly. Later, his research on metal hydrides caught the wave of energy transformation, which made him extremely wealthy.
Having seen this, Ji Zhixing completely understood that those luxury watches, clothes, shoes, restaurant cards, and real estate were all forms of revenge spending.
I was framed and wronged before because of a watch, but now that I have money, I'll buy one!
I used to be dressed in rags, but now that I have money, I can buy!
Before, we ate simple food; now that we have money, we buy!
I used to be displaced, but now I have money, so I buy!
At the end of the notebook, half a sentence was written: If there is an opportunity...
Ji Zhixing stroked these words, tears streaming down his face. He understood what "he" wanted to say—if given the chance, "he" wanted to go back in time and help his past self, who had been in dire straits...
A note from the author:
① "Be diligent in serving the country and frugal in managing the household" comes from the Book of Documents, "The Great Plan of Yu".
②Tomorrow is the last chapter of the main story. Also, regarding the great-grandchildren and the learning system, areas that weren't clearly explained in this chapter due to the limited perspective will be supplemented and described from a later timeline in the extra chapters.
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