Chapter 92
Read carefully; Ji Zhixing's slightly cunning remark made Deng Yi realize what was going on.
“No wonder.” Deng Yi looked at Fang Shou. “No wonder you arrived later than me. I thought you were taking a break from using the toilet.”
He had witnessed Fang Shou's skills firsthand. He could climb a 3-meter-high wall in just a couple of leaps and stride up 18 steps in a second or two. There was definitely a reason why he took so long to get up there.
Deng Zhi looked at Ji Zhixing with a hint of resentment. No wonder Ji Zhixing's experiments seemed haphazard lately. He couldn't understand the experimental objectives and thought there was some hidden meaning, but he couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried. It turned out it was to keep Jian Yi at bay.
Great! Deng regained his confidence in his intelligence.
On the other side, Jian Yi was deeply enraged by the fact that Ji Zhixing had tricked her, and kept shouting, "You lied to me! You used me!"
Ji Zhixing looked at Jian Yi, who was struggling incessantly. This person's communication channels involved foreign countries, so it was more appropriate to leave it to the state to handle. However, before ordering Fang Shou to take her away, he also wanted to ask a question himself.
"Why?" He considered himself a good boss.
"Ha! What a great boss!" Jian Yi was furious, her eyes bulging with rage. "A woman can get a million, why am I only getting 500,000! And she's even making a woman the team leader..."
Ji Zhixing waved his hand: "Cover your mouth, take him away!" There's no need to listen to that brainless spiel.
He had only asked casually what his boss had done to warrant such a betrayal. But since the boss immediately judged ability based on gender, he figured further discussion would be pointless, so he decided not to waste his time.
Fang Shou had long wanted to get rid of Jian Yi. As soon as he got permission, he casually punched Jian Yi in the stomach, making him unable to speak from the pain, and then dragged him downstairs.
Zhu Ren leaned closer to Ji Zhixing: "Should we... investigate the others as well?"
This was the first time he had ever faced a spy directly. The previous encounter with Fan Yongjie was merely a coincidence, but this time it was a real spy standing right next to him. Zhu Ren was momentarily on edge, finding everyone suspicious.
“They’ve all been checked,” Ji Zhixing reassured him. “After I discovered Jian Yi was suspicious, Fang Shou had someone secretly investigate her, and there were no problems.”
"That's good! That's good!" Zhu Ren patted his chest. He knew that Fang Shou had the power of the state behind him, so he felt relieved as soon as he heard that.
Fang Shou returned the next day. The investigation results were not complicated; Jian Yi was indeed a spy planted by the United States in the Zhixing Research Institute.
Ji Zhixing's research activities have always been closely watched by the outside world. After learning that he was targeting the energy sector, many countries sent spies. Ninety-nine percent of these spies were stopped by the government, except for Jian Yi, who slipped through the cracks. This is because Jian Yi was not a seasoned spy who had been trained from childhood to infiltrate the institute; he entered the research institute with a clean record and was then lured and recruited.
“We asked around among his relatives and classmates, and we found that he has always been a bit cynical and a bit of a Westernizer. This should be the biggest reason why the United States targeted him,” Fang Shou said. “They offered a reward of 1 billion and promised to process his immigration after the job was done.”
"Tsk!" Ji Zhixing frowned. "This kind of person!"
Fang Shou also despised people who betrayed their compatriots for personal gain. He cursed them and continued, "Also, the matter of Yu Zhuli's grandparents was not an accident." The purpose was to make Yu Zhuli's position vacant so that Jian Yi could take advantage of the situation and replace her.
Ah… Ji Zhixing’s face was contorted with guilt. He had suspected it beforehand, and it turned out to be true.
“The one who did it was someone else; we just caught him yesterday,” Fang Shou said. This person was much more “professional”; they had to go to great lengths to find any clues.
The matter has reached a point where it can no longer cause any significant disturbances. As for the undercurrents between countries, they have never ceased, and that is beyond Ji Zhixing's control.
After Fang Shou left, Ji Zhixing called Yu Zhuli and told him the whole story.
He felt extremely apologetic for causing the two elderly people this undeserved misfortune. However, the two elderly people were broad-minded and did not blame Ji Zhixing. Instead, they joked, "It's because our Zhu Li is too powerful. If he doesn't leave, no one else can get in."
While caring for her grandparents, Yu Zhuli also kept the laboratory in mind. But a broken bone takes a hundred days to heal, especially for elderly people. Although they had passed the critical period, their recovery would still require a long time.
Although Yu Zhuli was anxious about the experiment, she really couldn't just leave her grandparents behind.
"Don't you have the money to hire a caregiver? Just go! Xiao Ji is doing research that benefits the country and the people, you can't delay things!" Grandpa Yu is a veteran Party member with a high level of awareness, and he had been urging his grandson to return to the research institute for a long time.
Yu Zhuli was in a dilemma. Later, Zhu Ren came up with an idea—to bring the two elderly people to Guangling for recuperation.
There is a high-end private sanatorium on a small hill near the Zhixing Research Institute. The environment and medical care there are of a high standard, and of course, the fees are unaffordable for the average person. But this is not a problem for Yu Zhuli at all. He also received a considerable share of the patent fees from the photonic chip.
"That's a great idea!" Grandpa Yu said. "The sanatorium has medical staff. If you're worried, you can hire another caregiver. It's so close by, you can visit us every day after get off work. What's there to worry about?"
Grandma Yu also advised, "You're not a doctor. What you can do, a caregiver can do too. I think the environment over there is quite nice, with beautiful mountains and clear waters. Isn't it better than these four white walls?"
Yu Zhuli finally agreed.
Upon learning this, Ji Zhixing immediately paid for the highest-level care package at the sanatorium. This package included a day shift doctor and a night shift doctor, as well as several nurses and caregivers, and a very extensive menu. He then chartered a plane to have the sanatorium's medical staff come to Beijing to pick up the two elderly people and take good care of them throughout the journey.
Although Yu Zhuli and his grandparents didn't blame him, he still needed to do something to feel at ease.
Everything went smoothly, and Grandpa and Grandma Yu were very satisfied with the mild climate of Guangling and the environment of the sanatorium. And so, Yu Zhuli returned to the laboratory after his leave.
Ji Zhixing regained a capable assistant and then thought of Lin's group.
Before discovering Jian Yi's problem, he planned to return Jian Yi to Lin's team once Yu Zhuli returned from leave, but now he had to recruit someone else to fill the gap in Lin's team. However, having just experienced Jian Yi's situation, all the researchers, including Ji Zhixing, had a PTSD-like distrust of outsiders.
Lin Yujing took the initiative to approach Ji Zhixing, indicating that she could fully balance experiments and data collection.
Ji Zhixing knew that she was somewhat uneasy because of what Jian Yi had said that day, and worried that she might have some negative thoughts about her.
"Don't take Jian Yi's words from that day to heart. Look, he betrayed me first, yet he still had the nerve to accuse me. His character is clearly questionable. His bad nature is the root cause, while external temptations are the direct cause. Using you as an excuse is just that."
Lin Yujing visibly breathed a sigh of relief; her biggest worry was what her boss, Ji Zhixing, thought of her.
After speaking, Ji Zhixing thought for a moment. Lin Yujing had indeed performed exceptionally well in handling two roles during this period. If she was willing, it would be fine for her to continue like this. Therefore, he highly praised her work ability, gave her a raise, and no longer mentioned hiring a new person.
Thanks to Chien Yi's "help," Chi Chih-hsing obtained the data that was expected to take four or five months to complete within a month, and saved hundreds of millions of dollars in equipment costs.
He integrated all the valuable data, and the experiment progressed by leaps and bounds, which revitalized everyone who had been somewhat depressed due to the betrayal.
...
Two years later, the Zhixing Institute had become a coveted institution for many young researchers due to the founder's fame and its unparalleled stable high salaries. However, some people ridiculed Ji Zhixing for having lost his creative talent, saying that the institute had wasted so much money but had not produced any results.
However, those who are truly engaged in scientific research understand that it is perfectly normal for a project to not produce results for several years; the speed at which Ji Zhixing produced results in the past was an exception.
The people at Zhixing Research Institute know that although they have not yet succeeded in the past two years, they have achieved many milestones.
For example, they successfully induced a vacuum through the collision of high-energy particles.
For example, they can detect the position and momentum of a particle at absolute zero.
For example, they observed particles that appeared and disappeared in the vacuum and fields that fluctuated at the zero line value.
For example, they calculated the density of the vacuum energy sea based on quantum field theory, clarifying that this energy permeates every corner of the universe.
For example, they discovered that visible matter and invisible energy are interconnected through vortices, and that the basic material form of vacuum energy is a vortex structure.
It can be said that they have already "seen" vacuum energy and are only one step away from "capturing" it.
However, they have been stuck at this threshold for more than five months now.
Ji Zhixing tried many methods, but the experiment still made no progress. From the zero-gravity seat project to the Navier-Stokes equation, then to low-temperature optical tweezers technology, and even photonic chips, this was the first time he had faced a bottleneck for so long and been at a loss.
Another very real problem is that he is running out of money, with only 1.6 billion yuan left in savings.
"No matter who you say that to, they'll roll their eyes at you!" Zhu Ren retorted.
Ji Zhixing sighed, clutching his head. His values had been shattered by the tens or hundreds of millions of yuan spent on instruments and engineering. Moreover, the experiment had been in a stalemate for a long time. Even if he successfully broke through the bottleneck and "captured" vacuum energy, he would still have to continue to study storage and transmission. The thought of having only 1.6 billion yuan left made him anxious.
Having spent more than two years at the Institute of Management, Zhu Ren knew that 1.6 billion was indeed a bit meager for energy experiments.
He said, "Then let's increase revenue and reduce expenditure!"
"Any good suggestions?" Ji Zhixing stared blankly, his mind seemingly rusted, too lazy to even think.
Zhu Ren began to take stock: "Open source, you know..."
Ji Zhixing interjected, "Besides shooting commercials and movies."
"Hmph, you think it's two years ago?" Zhu Ren retorted.
Two years ago, Ji Zhixing was truly a national sensation. He had achievements, awards, status, good looks, and government support. Back then, the research institute received countless interview and endorsement offers every day. Advertisers were offering no less than five million, and many were offering over ten million.
It's no exaggeration to say that, given Ji Zhixing's popularity at the time, he could have sold stones at prices comparable to gold and jade even if he had just set up a stall.
However, the public is forgetful. After two years of absence from the public eye and without any new scientific achievements, Ji Zhixing was largely forgotten. The mere mention of his name still evokes the image of a young, handsome, and outstanding scientist, and brings to mind his various achievements and anecdotes. But Ji Zhixing has lost that nationwide appeal—of course, he still has a strong influence within academia, but how many people are in academia?
Therefore, if you want to make quick money these days, you can probably only get one or two million yuan for an endorsement deal. Not to mention Ji Zhixing, even he wouldn't be interested in that kind of money.
Oh dear, thinking about it now, his values have become distorted. Two years ago, he was at his wits' end worrying about the 1.5 million yuan shortfall in buying a house for his daughter. After two years at the research institute, handling funds in the tens or hundreds of millions, a million yuan is nothing to him anymore. Zhu Ren patted the back of his chair and sighed deeply.
Noticing the chair beneath him, Zhu Ren suddenly remembered: "Zero Gravity Company?"
Ji Zhixing shook his head: "Dongyang told me before that they wanted to expand into the European and American markets. I have no objection. The profits of the past two years have basically been used to build factories and promote the products."
Zhu Ren scratched his forehead: "How about you see if you can come up with some small inventions or something?"
Ji Zhixing shook his head again. Right now, whether his eyes were open or closed, his mind was filled with vacuum fluctuations, particle vortices, oscillation frequencies, quantum radiation, and so on, leaving no room for anything else. Of course, it could also be because he hadn't reached a point of financial distress yet; in any case, his mind just didn't want to work.
Zhu Ren could somewhat understand this problem among researchers: "Then think about cutting costs. Wouldn't it save a lot of money if we bought fewer instruments? Like that quantum spectrum analyzer we ordered last week, the MS710C model in our lab is still working quite well, so why do we have to buy a new one? Why don't we just return it before it's shipped?"
“You don’t understand!” Ji Zhixing stubbornly shook his head. “Do you know how good the MSR910A is?”
It can automatically track quantum dissipation and particle rotation, analyze axial acceleration effects in real time, and reduce and intelligently correct the offset of atomic nuclei in grains—truly an essential item for researchers to use for experiments and analysis!
And then the manufacturer's anniversary sale offered a huge discount, only 12.99 million, who wouldn't be tempted!
Zhu Ren: ...
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