Chapter 290 - 223: 3 Compounds

Chapter 290: Chapter 223: 3 Compounds

Shen Yan’s ears instantly turned beet red.

She hurriedly lowered her head, staring at the tips of her toes as her heart hammered like it was about to burst from her chest.

"I’m just glad you like it."

The atmosphere was nice.

Just as Chen Lin was wondering if he should strike while the iron was hot and say a few more charming lines...

"Boss, you haven’t left yet?"

A crisp, pleasant voice—one that nevertheless made Chen Lin’s heart jump—suddenly came from the stairwell.

Chen Lin and Shen Yan turned their heads at the same time.

Yunqing stood there, looking chic in a fashionable long trench coat and high heels, a blue folder in her hand.

The bright smile on her face remained, but as her gaze swept over the pink thermal lunch box on Chen Lin’s desk and then to Shen Yan standing beside him with her flushed cheeks—

—that smile visibly stiffened for a moment.

But only for a moment.

The next second, Yunqing walked over with a beaming smile, acting as if nothing was amiss.

"Oh, Yanyan, you’re here too?"

Yunqing came to a stop in front of them. Her eyes lingered on Shen Yan for a moment before finally landing on the lunch box, her tone a mix of teasing and something else, something harder to define.

"How thoughtful of you, waiting until after work to bring the boss dinner to take home?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Boss, this kind of treatment really makes us regular employees burn with envy."

It sounded like a joke, but Chen Lin could clearly sense a faint sourness in her words.

Although Shen Yan was shy, she didn’t back down in a situation like this.

She turned to face Yunqing, gave a polite nod, and spoke in a calm and composed voice:

"Senior. Chen Lin has been too busy lately, and takeout isn’t healthy. I just made some for him since I was already cooking."

No explanation, no panic—just a statement of fact.

The smile on Yunqing’s face faltered slightly, but she quickly regained her bright and captivating look.

She walked right up to Chen Lin’s desk, placed the folder in her hand on it, and leaned forward slightly, getting extremely close to him.

A faint, expensive-smelling perfume instantly wafted into Chen Lin’s nostrils, mixing with the aroma of the food from earlier to create an exceptionally complex scent.

"Boss~"

Yunqing’s voice became a few degrees sweeter, and her alluring eyes stared straight at Chen Lin.

"These are the documents you need to sign tomorrow. I was going to give them to you then, but I was just passing by, so I brought them up."

"Take a look. If there are no issues, remember to bring them with you tomorrow morning, okay?"

As she spoke, she even winked at Chen Lin.

"Ahem!"

Chen Lin coughed abruptly, breaking the strange stalemate.

He glanced at his phone and feigned a look of sudden realization.

"Oh, wow! It’s already so late past closing time?"

He snatched the thermal lunch box from the desk, deftly stuffed Yunqing’s folder into his bag—all in one smooth, seamless motion.

"Anyway, it’s getting late. You two should hurry home and get some rest! I’ve got to go, too!"

After saying that, Chen Lin didn’t dare look at either of the women’s faces. He slung his bag over his shoulder and strode toward the door like a fleeing soldier.

"Um, see you tomorrow!"

Watching Chen Lin’s hasty retreat, the two women he left behind wore different expressions.

Shen Yan watched the lunch box clutched tightly in Chen Lin’s hand, the corners of her lips turning up in a faint, satisfied smile.

Yunqing, however, crossed her arms and stared in the direction Chen Lin had disappeared, a complex mix of emotions flashing in her eyes.

There was some disappointment, some indignation, and also a touch of competitiveness.

The two of them exchanged a glance.

"Goodbye, Senior."

"Goodbye, Yanyan."

They bid each other a polite farewell, then turned and left in different directions.

Just as she reached the door, however, Yunqing suddenly looked back and gave Chen Lin’s empty workstation a deep, meaningful look.

’Stupid boss...’

...

「December 15th, Monday, 10:00 AM.」

In the office area of Yanhai Company, Chen Lin was sitting in front of his computer, staring at the dense block of Python code on the screen.

His fingers flew across the keyboard. He would occasionally stop to rub his temples before continuing.

Bai Qian, next to him, was in the same posture. The two of them were completely immersed in the world of code.

Just then, Chen Lin’s phone suddenly rang.

BZZZT— BZZZT—

The vibrating sound was particularly jarring.

Chen Lin frowned, picked up his phone, and saw a video conference invitation on the screen.

Initiator: Tang Xuebing.

Meeting Subject: [URGENT! Report on Major Progress in the Solid-State Battery Project]

Chen Lin froze for a moment.

’How many days has it been?’

’I just gave Professor Tang that mathematical model last Thursday afternoon.’

’And now it’s only Monday morning, and there’s already major progress?’

’This kind of efficiency... isn’t it a bit too fast?’

Stirred by the thought, Chen Lin immediately clicked the link to the video conference.

A few seconds later, a video window popped up on his computer screen.

The screen showed a familiar scene—a conference room at the Science and Technology University.

The conference room was packed with people.

Chen Lin immediately recognized Professor Tang Xuebing sitting in the main seat, as well as Professor Lu Zhongqi from Yannan University’s Department of Chemical Engineering.

Besides them, there were several unfamiliar faces.

However, Chen Lin noticed that the chubby, middle-aged man sitting next to Tang Xuebing looked somewhat familiar.

The man had slightly thinning hair and a gentle smile on his face. He was waving at the camera.

"Chen Lin, do you remember me?" the man said with a chuckle.

Chen Lin took a closer look and suddenly remembered.

’Isn’t this Academician Liang’s disciple, Professor Gongtan from the Science and Technology University’s Math Department?’

"Professor Gong!" Chen Lin quickly greeted him. "Long time no see!"

"Haha, it has been a while," Gongtan said with a smiling nod. "You’re a busy man these days, you know. It’s hard to even get a meeting with you."

"You’re too kind, Professor Gong," Chen Lin said humbly.

After a few pleasantries, Tang Xuebing got straight to the point.

He stood up from his seat, visibly in a state of extreme excitement.

His eyes were gleaming, and his voice even trembled slightly.

"Professor Chen!"

Tang Xuebing cut right to the chase, dropping a bombshell.

"That mathematical model of yours is incredible!"

As he spoke, he slammed his hand on the table with a loud "BANG," startling Professor Lu Zhongqi beside him.

"We ran it on the supercomputer for two days and two nights! From a database of over eighty thousand candidate substances, we filtered out three compounds that perfectly match your model’s parameters!"

"Three!"

Tang Xuebing held up three fingers, his face flushed with excitement.

"You have to understand, before you gave us this model, our project team tested over a thousand compounds and didn’t find a single promising one!"

"And now, in just two days, we’ve precisely locked onto three targets from over eighty thousand compounds!"

Hearing this, Chen Lin was also quite pleased.

Although he didn’t know much about the field of solid-state batteries, he could tell from Professor Tang’s ecstatic reaction that they had clearly made a major breakthrough.

"Professor Tang, what exactly are the three compounds?" Chen Lin asked.

Tang Xuebing immediately switched the screen to display a PowerPoint slide.

The slide was densely packed with three complex chemical formulas.

"The first is a modified polyether compound."

Tang Xuebing pointed to the first chemical formula on the screen and explained quickly.

"This compound’s molecular structure is relatively flexible. In theory, it should adapt well to the dynamic changes in the electrolyte."

"The second is a fluorine-containing organophosphate."

"This thing has a high dielectric constant and pretty good thermal stability."

"The third is a new type of borate ester derivative."

"This compound is quite special. Its electron cloud distribution pattern is unlike any additive we’ve seen before."

After explaining, Tang Xuebing switched back to the video feed. He looked at Chen Lin, his tone filled with admiration.

"Professor Chen, the electron cloud distribution, spatial configuration, and dipole moment of these three compounds all precisely match the mathematical constraints you provided!"

"Theoretically speaking, any one of them could be the perfect inhibitor!"

Professor Gongtan, sitting beside him, chimed in at the right moment:

"Chen Lin, our colleagues in the Math and Physics departments conducted a detailed review of your model."

"Everyone unanimously agreed that the model’s mathematical structure is exceptionally elegant. It’s a closed loop, logically, with no loopholes."

"Furthermore, the method of functional extrema you used, from theoretical deduction to practical application, is a classic, textbook-level case."

At this point, Gongtan couldn’t help but add with a sigh:

"Honestly, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed that a purely mathematical model could play such a massive role in a field like material screening, which is so heavily dependent on experimentation."

Hearing this, the corners of Chen Lin’s mouth turned up slightly.

’As long as complex interdisciplinary problems can be abstracted and summarized into purely mathematical ones, I can bring my abilities to bear with the help of [Little Mathematician].’

"You’re giving me too much credit, Professor Gong," Chen Lin said humbly. "This is the result of the team’s hard work."

"What’s there to be modest about!" Tang Xuebing waved his hand dismissively. "Don’t be humble, Professor Chen! Without your mathematical model, our project team could have worked for several more years and still might not have found these three compounds!"

As he spoke, Tang Xuebing’s expression suddenly grew even more excited.

He took a deep breath, as if preparing to make a major announcement.

"Professor Chen, what I’m about to say next is the real main event!"

Tang Xuebing’s voice was trembling.

"After screening these three compounds, our project team immediately moved on to synthesis and experimental verification."

"Yesterday afternoon, we performed an emergency synthesis of all three compounds."

"Last night, we worked through the night to conduct preliminary electrochemical tests."

As he said this, Tang Xuebing switched the PowerPoint again, displaying a set of comparative data charts.

"Now, let me show you the experimental results."

Chen Lin stared at the screen, a sense of anticipation building within him as well.

Although he didn’t understand much about chemical experiments, judging by Professor Tang’s demeanor, the results were bound to be good.

"The first compound, the modified polyether."

Tang Xuebing pointed to the first set of data on the screen, a look of regret on his face.

"The inhibition effect was average. The lithium deposition rate was reduced by about 40%."

"However, the battery’s cycle life actually decreased by 15%."

"Unqualified."

Tang Xuebing shook his head, dismissing the first candidate outright.