Chapter 312 - 241: I Have Only Done Some Very Minor Work

Chapter 312: Chapter 241: I Have Only Done Some Very Minor Work

Those three flimsy sheets of A4 paper felt as if they had the weight of a mountain in the hands of the academicians.

The conference room was deathly quiet, the only sounds being the hurried breathing of the old experts and the RUSTLE of paper being turned.

Standing in the very center was Academician Liu from the Division of Mathematics and Physics of the Huaxia Science Academy. He had dedicated his life to plasma physics.

Ordinarily, this old man was famously rigorous, composed, and even stern.

But at this moment, Academician Liu’s hands—accustomed to holding chalk and pointers, steady as a rock—were trembling slightly.

He pushed up the reading glasses that had slipped to the tip of his nose, his eyes glued to the third formula on the page.

It introduced an extremely obscure "high-dimensional symplectic geometric operator."

To the untrained eye, it might just look like a strange symbol.

But to Academician Liu, it was like a bolt of lightning tearing through the night sky!

"HISS—"

Academician Liu drew in a sharp breath, his scalp tingling.

’So... it can be done like this?’ he muttered, the words seemingly squeezed from the depths of his throat. ’To escape the quagmire of the MHD equations and directly tackle it from the geometric properties of manifold topology... reducing all those unmanageable chaotic terms into conserved quantities on the boundary...’

Standing next to him was a gray-haired professor, a consultant for the CFETR engineering design.

Although his mathematical prowess was not as profound as Academician Liu’s, his physical intuition was top-notch.

"Look here!" the old professor exclaimed, pointing to a derivation on the second page, his finger so agitated it nearly tore through the paper. "He converted the burst conditions for the ’Edge Localized Mode’ into a simple extremum problem! Do you know what this means? It means we don’t have to calculate that infinite-dimensional dynamical system anymore! We just need to monitor a few key geometric parameters!"

"This step... this step is simply a stroke of genius!"

The more the old experts read, the more alarmed and shocked they became.

While they weren’t pure mathematicians, at their level of physics, their mathematical foundations were by no means weak.

It was just as the famous joke goes—every good physicist is half a mathematician.

So, they understood.

And it was precisely because they understood that they felt as if their worldview was crumbling.

This was a monumental problem that had plagued the entire project team for nearly two years!

For this problem, they had held countless meetings, burned through countless hours of supercomputer time, and lost handfuls of hair, only to be constantly stuck on the dead end of insufficient real-time capability.

But now?

A twenty-one-year-old young man.

One pen.

Three sheets of paper.

One hour.

And just like that... it was solved?

The feeling was like a group of master chefs studying a complex broth for three days and three nights, unable to figure out the missing ingredient, only for a passing elementary school student to casually toss in a pinch of salt and say, "There, it’s ready."

The crucial part was, you take a sip, and it’s damn delicious!

This was more than just an intellectual beatdown; it was like an attack from a higher dimension!

Vice Minister Liao Yixin, sitting beside the head seat, couldn’t understand the formulas on the paper, but he was a shrewd man, a master at reading people.

Seeing these titans of their field—men who were usually proud and wouldn’t defer to anyone—now looking as if they had seen a ghost, or perhaps a god, Liao Yixin was utterly astonished.

To be honest, when Vice Minister Liao brought Chen Lin here today, his attitude had been quite Zen.

In his original script, this was just a formality.

The controlled nuclear fusion project?

That was a national strategy, a plan for the millennium.

The cycle from project approval to tangible results was terrifyingly long.

Liao Yixin knew full well that this project was unlikely to have any earth-shattering breakthroughs during his term. That was a ribbon-cutting ceremony for his successor, or even his successor’s successor.

His job was to run his leg of the race well—ensure the funding was in place, the team stayed together, and the progress bar inched forward a tiny bit each year.

As for Chen Lin?

He was a "Pillar of the Nation" whom the higher-ups had specifically asked to be taken care of, fresh off winning the highest national science and technology award and currently in the spotlight.

Bringing him for a tour would show that the Technology Division valued young talent and also let Chen Lin experience the atmosphere of a major national project. It was a "win-win."

As for having Chen Lin solve the problem?

Liao Yixin had thought it would be great if he could just offer some insightful suggestions. After all, he’d had his subordinates look into Chen Lin’s background before they met. His prior experience had absolutely nothing to do with nuclear physics.

No matter how much of a genius he was, it would be difficult to perform in a field he knew nothing about.

But now, the atmosphere seemed a little off.

Liao Yixin’s heart skipped a beat as he looked at the fanatical expressions in the old academicians’ eyes.

’If he really solved it...’

Liao Yixin felt his heart begin to race.

This was controlled nuclear fusion!

An achievement that would be written into textbooks!

Finally, Liao Yixin could no longer suppress his agitation.

He cleared his throat, interrupting the old experts’ hushed whispers.

"Ahem, Academicians."

Liao Yixin leaned forward, his tone tinged with cautious anticipation, and asked:

"This... what Professor Chen has written... how is it?"

Hearing the minister speak, the old academicians snapped out of their daze as if waking from a dream.

They exchanged glances, the shock still lingering in their eyes.

Finally, Academician Liu took a deep breath and looked up.

He took off his glasses and rubbed his reddened eyes. Looking at Liao Yixin, his voice was a little hoarse, but his tone was exceptionally firm:

"Minister Liao."

"Even though it’s only been an hour, and even though it’s only these few pages..."

"Strictly speaking, we still need to input this algorithm into the supercomputer and run a full-parameter simulation to give a final conclusion."

At this, Academician Liu paused. His gaze shifted to Chen Lin, who was sitting to the side, his eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions—admiration, respect, and even a hint of "jealousy."

"However, based on my forty-plus years of intuition in physics, I can say this with confidence—"

Academician Liu raised the three sheets of paper in his hand as if holding a banner:

"This solution is logically complete and mathematically self-consistent."

"It’s not just a matter of being ’feasible.’"

"It’s incredibly enlightening for us!"

"If this algorithm is verified to be correct..."

Academician Liu’s voice rose, trembling slightly:

"Then, our plan for the 2035 engineering reactor might even be moved up by two years! No, three years!"

BOOM—!

Those words were like a depth charge, detonating in the conference room.

Two to three years ahead of schedule?!

For a trillion-dollar national project like this, time is money, and time is the nation’s destiny!

The other experts present, especially those in charge of engineering and implementation, were so excited their faces turned red.

"Incredible... Truly incredible!"

The crowd’s gazes toward Chen Lin were incredibly complex.

There was excitement—mainly from the old academicians who had nearly lost all their hair. They looked at Chen Lin as if he were a long-lost son.

There was elation—especially from the engineers from Science Island. They knew better than anyone what this breakthrough meant. They were all hyped up, as if on steroids, itching to rush back to the lab and start verification.

And then there were the younger researchers and PhD students, whose expressions were, conversely, the calmest.

These guys spent plenty of time on social media, so they were well-versed in Chen Lin’s recent string of explosive news.

The calculations at the mathematics conference, using a mathematical model to screen solid-state battery additives, the open-source algorithm that sent shockwaves through the global AI industry...

In their eyes, Chen Lin had long since transcended the category of ’human’.

So now, when Chen Lin solved a monumental problem that had stumped the project team for two years in just one hour, the expressions of these young people were more like—

’Yep, just another day at the office for him.’

’As expected of you, Chen Shen.’

’It would’ve been news if he *hadn’t* solved it.’

Vice Minister Liao Yixin, sitting in the main seat, was also reeling internally.

Honestly, he had lived for most of his life; what kind of grand scene hadn’t he witnessed?

But today’s events were truly beyond his comprehension.

One hour.

Three sheets of paper.

Solved the core mathematical problem of controlled nuclear fusion.

And yet, it had actually happened.

Right under his nose.

Liao Yixin took a deep breath, trying to calm his wildly beating heart.

He quickly recovered from his shock.

"Professor Chen!"

Liao Yixin stood up and solemnly extended both hands toward Chen Lin.

"Thank you! On behalf of the Technology Division, on behalf of the entire fusion project team, thank you!"

Chen Lin quickly stood up and took Liao Yixin’s hands in his, his attitude as humble as ever:

"You’re too kind, Minister Liao. I just did a little bit of minor work."

As soon as he said this, the corners of the surrounding old academicians’ mouths couldn’t help but twitch.

’Minor work...’

’You call this minor work?’

But griping aside, everyone knew that Chen Lin was just being modest.

Liao Yixin released his hands, the smile on his face growing even warmer:

"Professor Chen, originally, following the leadership’s wishes, we were going to ask you to stay in the Imperial Capital for a few more days."

He paused, a hint of regret in his voice:

"Our original plan was to have you focus on tackling the problem here at the Science Academy, discussing and brainstorming with various experts to gradually grind out a solution."

"After all, for a mathematical problem of this magnitude, even top experts would struggle to make progress in ten days or half a month."

At this point, Liao Yixin gave a self-deprecating laugh:

"And as a result... you sorted it all out for us in an hour."

"Well now, that whole slate of follow-up arrangements I prepared is completely useless."

The surrounding experts also began to laugh, and the atmosphere instantly lightened.

"However—"

Liao Yixin’s tone shifted, and his expression grew serious:

"Although this particular problem has been solved, controlled nuclear fusion is a long-term, complex systems engineering project. New mathematical challenges are bound to emerge later on."

He looked at Chen Lin, his tone sincere:

"Therefore, I would like to formally invite you, Professor Chen, to join our CFETR engineering reactor project team as a consultant."

A consultant?

Chen Lin was taken aback for a moment.

Liao Yixin seemed to notice his hesitation and quickly explained:

"Don’t worry, this consultant role doesn’t require you to clock in or attend any routine meetings. You can keep doing what you’re doing. Continue your research in Jinmen, manage your company, whatever you need to do."

"It just means that if the project team hits another roadblock at the mathematical level during its progress, we can contact you immediately and ask you to take a look."