"Tong He, this is your medal, 24k pure gold!" Huang He respectfully handed the medal in his hand to Tong He. Tong He was stunned. Huang He patted his shoulder three times before he reacted. Just as he was about to refuse, Huang He whispered, "Listen, the value of graphene is worthy of a Nobel Prize. But because of me, you might not be able to announce anything about graphene for decades to come, so I can only give you a Huang He Award for now. However, I believe that in a few decades, the value of the Huang He Award will not be lower than the Nobel Prize."
"No refusing! Once you take my money, you'll be working for me your whole life!" Huang He said with a smile. Tong He nodded vigorously and accepted the medal. Countless cameras and camcorders simultaneously focused on the two men, capturing an incredibly precious moment.
Meanwhile, the students and faculty members in the audience still wore blank expressions. They still didn't understand what had happened. It was only after the event, through various media reports, that they gradually understood what had transpired that day. They had become witnesses to history.
After this incident, the entire centennial celebration felt somewhat like a joke. Almost everyone listlessly completed the scheduled proceedings. The leaders then rushed backstage to discuss the situation with their principal, only to find him arguing fiercely with an old man.
"Isn't that Academician Ni!" Many recognized Ni Guangnan, as he was quite famous domestically.
"Principal, what's going on? Why are you arguing with Academician Ni? Aren't you fellow disciples?" a school official went to mediate, only to hear the principal curse, "Bah, he's not worthy of being my senior. How could he be so unethical, trying to poach Tong He from our school!"
"What!" The school officials were immediately alarmed. Although they had been eager to teach Tong He a lesson just tens of minutes ago, they completely lost that thought now.
This was a young genius who had discovered a new multi-structural polysilicon material that was countless times more perfect than monocrystalline silicon! He would definitely become the most brilliant alumnus in the Shanghai University of Technology's alumni records.
Not only that, with this discovery, Tong He's future was bound to be limitless, a sure-fire future academician. They absolutely did not want to fall out with such a person.
So they all stood resolutely by their principal's side, helping him argue with Ni Guangnan.
"See? Isn't it funny? The same people who couldn't wait to kick you out are now desperately trying to keep you!" Huang He, who had taken Tong He aside, asked indifferently. Tong He nodded vigorously.
"This is the reality of this world. As long as you have results, you will earn everyone's respect. But this respect is temporary. If you cannot consistently produce results, you will eventually face the same treatment!" Huang He said.
"Yes, boss, I understand!" Tong He replied.
"However, letting them argue like this isn't going to solve anything. I'll go and mediate!" Huang He chuckled and walked into the middle of the group, smiling as he said, "Professor Ni, and Principal Chen, can you listen to me for a moment?"
"What do you want to say?" Ni Guangnan asked indignantly. "These guys don't keep their word. What else can you say?"
"You two colluded to deceive us! If you had told us earlier that Tong He had achieved such results, would we have done such a foolish thing today?"
"But the foolish thing has been done, and it can't be undone. However, you want to snatch Tong He away from me, that's absolutely impossible! I will never let him go!" the principal declared loudly.
"So, how about I propose a win-win suggestion for everyone, a cooperation that benefits both sides?" Huang He said with a smile. "How about this, Tong He will continue his undergraduate studies at Shanghai University of Technology. After he graduates, he can transfer to Southeast University for his postgraduate studies. This way, Tong He will still be a student of Shanghai University of Technology, and he will also be your disciple, Professor Ni."
"This is acceptable!" The principal immediately agreed. He couldn't refuse, as postgraduate studies were not determined by the school but by the student's choice of supervisor.
These people were well aware that they had thoroughly offended Tong He, and it was impossible to expect Tong He to continue his postgraduate studies at the school. Being able to retain such an excellent graduate in their alumni records was a blessing in disguise.
"It's possible, but Tong He shouldn't continue studying at the school in his senior year. He needs to stay with me and conduct research. At most, he can return for his thesis defense and collect his graduation certificate," Ni Guangnan said.
"No problem!" The principal also agreed immediately. In fact, he wished Tong He would leave the school, otherwise, which teacher would dare to teach Tong He now?
Having such a student in the school put pressure on the entire institution. Not to mention that Tong He was currently a slap in the face for the school. Seeing him made them feel a sting.
"Also, the disciplinary actions like demerits or even probation..."
"You don't need to tell me, I know. It was all a misunderstanding. In fact, we haven't added these things to his file yet, so you don't need to worry about them!" the principal immediately said.
It was a joke. Even if he stubbornly refused to revoke the disciplinary actions, how would future generations, decades or even centuries later, see a future great scientist who had been put on probation by the school? Wouldn't it be a huge joke?
Therefore, this disciplinary action absolutely had to be removed. It wasn't about offending Tong He, but about offending themselves.
Of course, if Tong He refused to reconcile, then this disciplinary action would have to remain.
"Tong He, do you have any objections?" Huang He asked Tong He. Tong He shook his head. He also knew that this was the best outcome for him. After all, if the school adamantly refused to let him go, his academic qualifications would be stuck in the awkward position of having only completed his undergraduate studies.
Although Tong He still felt extremely displeased in his heart.
With such an agreement reached, things became much easier. Huang He stepped forward, invited the school leaders, along with Tong He and his parents, to have a meal nearby, thus burying the hatchet.
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"Tong He, take your parents on a tour of the company. Let them see your working environment, so they don't worry that I'm exploiting you!" Huang He said to Tong He with a smile after the meal.
"Mm!" Tong He nodded, then asked, "Chairman, aren't you coming back to the company with us?"
"I won't be going. I've awarded six prizes this time, and you're just one of them. I still have five more prizes to personally deliver to those great individuals. I don't have time to go back right now," Huang He yawned and said.
"Boss, there's something I don't quite understand!" Tong He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "I was researching graphene, so why did it become polysilicon in your hands?"
"You can't even figure out such a minor issue?" Huang He retorted.
"I roughly understand what you mean, but polysilicon has already been proven unsuitable for making computer chips. If you do this, they might not be fooled!" Tong He said with a wry smile.
"Polysilicon is not a single material, but a collection of countless different structures. Have scientists experimented with all structures of polysilicon and confirmed that all polysilicon is unusable?"
"No, that was deduced from some experimental results."
"Then that's it! Who can say for sure in this world? Sometimes, things that seem impossible hide great possibilities. You can give it a try, what if it works?" Huang He chuckled.
"Chairman, how can you be such a wicked person?" Tong He sighed, then added, "But Chairman, what if the country comes looking for my research results, or asks me to give explanations and speeches? Also, there will definitely be countless reporters trying to interview me in the future. Do I have to just talk nonsense and deny this non-existent polysilicon?"
"You don't need to worry about that. Do you think I would hide graphene from the country?" Huang He tapped Tong He's head and said, "You're the only one who needs to know about this. In fact, graphene was reported to the highest leaders of the science and technology department by Professor Ni and me jointly, directly to the very top."
"Professor Ni and that leader talked for a whole day. We've reached a consensus. He will entrust the entire research work on graphene to our company, even providing us with a considerable sum of money privately. He will also mobilize some forces to help us maintain secrecy, striving to keep the secret of graphene from being leaked for the next 30 years."
"With the interference of these forces, you can rest assured and focus on research within the company. You don't have to worry about anyone disturbing you, except for spies, if they have the ability to breach the security arranged by the higher-ups personally."
"In summary, the country is fully aware of this matter. Otherwise, Deputy Mayor Liu wouldn't have personally attended this award ceremony. There's a lot going on here, but you don't need to understand it. You just need to focus on your research."
"However, this might be a bad thing for you, as you won't make any waves in the media. All news about you will be suppressed instantly. Besides knowing that you received a Huang He Award, all other information about you will be concealed. You will once again become an ordinary researcher, and it might not be until you are in your fifties or sixties that you are declassified. You need to be mentally prepared for this."
"I couldn't ask for anything more!" Tong He was relieved instead. "I just want to find a place to quietly conduct research and play games."