"This truly resembles how I looked twenty years ago!" the old man said with deep emotion, watching the attendees gradually leave the conference room, standing before the projection screen.
"Teacher, why are we talking about your past again?" Mr. Huang, our protagonist, chuckled beside him. In all of China, there were probably only a handful of people whom Mr. Huang would respectfully address as "Teacher."
And for the teacher personally celebrating his birthday and witnessing a top-secret scene that few at the Jiangnan Group headquarters were privy to, that person could only be Ni Guangnan.
Nearly five years had passed since the chaos at the Jiangnan Optoelectronics Research Center. During this time, both Mr. Huang and Professor Ni had come to terms with the past.
Mr. Huang no longer harbored the same anger, and seeing new discoveries emerge from the research center at a pace faster than when he was in charge, Professor Ni had no reason to be dissatisfied.
Especially today, watching a conference held in the United States, his emotions were extraordinarily complex, difficult to articulate. He could only say it strongly resembled his own situation twenty years prior.
"Hmph, how could you possibly understand my pain from twenty years ago!" Professor Ni sighed. "Back then, I was so full of spirit and ambition, returning to my homeland with a heart full of patriotism. And at the beginning, everything was going so smoothly."
"The computer equipment I developed achieved tremendous success; almost all computers in the country were using my designs. Later, an organization established a computer company, and I was appointed as its chief engineer."
"I worked day and night for this company, continuously designing and developing new products, and gradually helping it grow. At that time, I had already decided that I would dedicate my life to this company, transforming it from a small software developer into a hardware developer, and then into a computer manufacturer and seller!"
"Everything was proceeding so well. Our computers sold like hotcakes across the nation. Businesses and individuals wishing to purchase our computers would form queues stretching from Xidan to Sanlitun, with some having to wait two years for delivery. At that time, our single company achieved an annual revenue of three billion yuan, and that was merely in 1990."
"Later, I set even higher goals. I wanted to develop more new technologies, break through international restrictions on our chips, and truly transform this computer manufacturing and sales company into a super-enterprise integrating computer chips, operating systems, and complete computer production and sales – becoming China's Intel and Microsoft."
"Then, I suddenly discovered that all the funds I controlled were frozen, my students and assistants were sequentially transferred from their posts, and eventually, even my research center was to be converted into a warehouse for storing more equipment parts."
"So, twenty years ago, in 1995, I sought out that fellow and convened a board of directors meeting as a board member."
"In that meeting, I had a fierce argument with that fellow, and then, just like the representative from Goldman Sachs today, I delivered a passionate speech to all the directors."
"I told them that this enterprise was the future of China's computer industry, born with a sacred mission, destined to help the entire Chinese computer industry rise!"
"It should not merely be a computer assembly manufacturer; it should bear greater responsibilities. It was already earning enough. It only needed to invest 10% of its profits into scientific research, into the development of computer chips, to produce our own Chinese computer chips."
"Only in this way can our computer field avoid being forever left behind, forever forced to purchase foreign chips at several times the price. We must research and manufacture everything ourselves so that we can proudly tell future generations what kind of China and market we bequeathed to them."
"Instead of this, they are now cutting off their own limbs, planning to shut down the entire research department just to earn a little more meager profit."
"Yes, this investment might not yield results for ten or twenty years, but as long as we continue to invest, China will one day catch up to world-class standards."
"And now, by completely abandoning research and only relying on purchasing foreign products, we are being irresponsible to our country, irresponsible to our future, and irresponsible to our descendants."
"How about that? Isn't what I've said exactly what that American said?"
"Of course, and the outcome was the same. Afterward, there was a collective vote by the board. I still remember there were a total of 13 directors present, but in the end, there were only two affirmative votes, one of which was my own."
"That's why I say, this scene strongly resembles my appearance twenty years ago, strongly resembles the spirit and tragic pathos of my passionate speech back then. It's just that this time it's the Americans. How interesting!!"
"Teacher!" Mr. Huang said with concern, looking at Professor Ni, who was quite emotional. Professor Ni was now 76 years old. Although his health had improved considerably thanks to quarterly check-ups at the Jiangnan Group's medical facilities and the significant reduction in his workload over the past five years as he transitioned to a less active role teaching at Jiangnan University, with plenty of leisure time, doctors believed he could live to 90 if no accidents occurred.
Yet, Mr. Huang remained worried. This was, after all, the greatest treasure and the contributor to the rise of the entire Jiangnan Group!
"Little Huang, you don't need to worry about me. I'm feeling exceptionally good right now; I'm just overwhelmed with emotion!" Professor Ni patted Huang He's hand, his voice catching slightly. "Back then, we looked at America as if it were the moon in the sky, high and mighty, shining with brilliant radiance, as if our entire lives were destined to be spent gazing up at it from the ground."
"Twenty years ago, I was heartbroken and wept, believing I might never see the day when we could stand as equals, soaring in the high heavens. I felt I might never experience that feeling."
"Unexpectedly, twenty years later, I see Americans acting just as I did twenty years ago, watching their own people cut off their limbs with their own eyes, watching them completely lose the opportunity to catch up to us. In the future, at least with high-speed vacuum maglev trains, we will be the moon in the sky, illuminating them. My heart is filled with emotion!"
"Yes, in the future, we will not only be the moon; we will be the sun. That way, regardless of day or night, our brilliance will shine upon the heads of the Americans!" Mr. Huang said with a smile.
"I believe that day will come!" Professor Ni took a deep breath. "It's truly incredible, but I now firmly believe we can surpass America in technology. If I had traveled back twenty years and told my past self these words, I would likely have been directly branded a fraud and kicked out."
"Indeed, not even twenty years ago. Just thirteen years ago, when I went to your home with a bag of fruit and gifts, didn't you almost kick me out as a con artist?" Huang He said with emotion, recalling the day thirteen years ago. He had finally managed to find out Professor Ni's address and had visited him with his sister-in-law and a car full of gifts, only to be kept waiting all day before finally meeting this great figure.
"Yes, it's been thirteen years. If you hadn't appeared thirteen years ago, what would have become of me?" Professor Ni suddenly grabbed Huang He's arm and said like a child, "Child, you're not fake, are you? You exist for real, right? You're not just a dream I'm having, and when I wake up, everything will still be as it was thirteen years ago, as if nothing ever happened, just a fleeting dream?"
"How could this be a fleeting dream?" Huang He smiled. "However, if all of this is indeed a fleeting dream, then I, Huang He, would likely still be hiding somewhere with my sister-in-law, perhaps even being made into a meme video and posted online, or written into a novel."
"But even if all of this is a fleeting dream, and our experiences are illusory, I firmly believe that our motherland, in another timeline, will also move forward with unwavering steps, step by step, reaching a position alongside the sun and the moon, bringing about the great rejuvenation of the entire nation!"
"That would be truly wonderful!" Professor Ni said with emotion. Afterward, the two shared a rare drink. Professor Ni, his mood completely relaxed, soon fell into a deep sleep. Huang He quietly left his teacher's home, looking at the Hongqi sedan parked downstairs, feeling the flow of the air and the warm sun in the sky.
"This can't be fake. I am Huang He. I have reshaped this world. How could this possibly be fake?" Huang He muttered to himself, quickly composing himself, got into the car, and began reading the daily concise reports on various commercial markets provided by his secretary.
Along with this concise report was another document marked "Top Secret."
"Is it confirmed?" Mr. Huang asked with a serious expression after glancing at the document. "There can be no room for error in this matter. This is intelligence that will turn the world upside down!"
"There is no mistake. Our staff communicated with a senior executive from Huansheng Computer for three full years before finally obtaining this intelligence from him."
"At the same time, our technical engineers have also verified this intelligence and confirmed the discovery of this deeply hidden backend command," the secretary whispered.
"As soon as the opposing engineers activate this command from thousands of miles away, all computers installed with Microsoft systems, whether genuine or pirated, will immediately cease to function. Simultaneously, they will continuously read and write data on the hard drive, erasing it, until all data is completely destroyed and irrecoverable!"