Chapter 176 - 132: Full of People Downstairs at the Company
Some authoritative state media outlets, while not focusing their reports entirely on Chen Lin personally, also published an editorial titled, "Reaching New Heights in Science: A Call to Action for Today’s Youth." The piece highly affirmed the monumental significance of his research and encouraged young scientific researchers to follow Chen Lin’s example, break new ground, and contribute to the nation’s technological development.
Naturally, media outlets that followed the tech and finance sectors focused on Jask’s tweet.
They issued a stern call to the nation’s tech giants, pleading, "Don’t let this talent get away!" They urged them to show some real commitment, invest in Chen Lin’s startup, Yanhai Company, and ensure this rising tech star remained firmly in Huaxia.
And all of that was still relatively tame.
The small-time independent media outlets, which lived off of chasing clout and grabbing eyeballs, went completely wild, with each headline more sensational than the last:
As for the actual content, it was, of course, a stitched-together mess of baseless gossip, hearsay "insider info," and their own wild fabrications.
In an instant, the entire Chinese internet was blanketed with news about Chen Lin.
This was the second time Chen Lin had hit the trending topics since his last interview. But this time, the buzz was more than ten times greater!
Under a Weibo post about the matter by a state media outlet, the comment section completely exploded. Within a single hour, the number of comments surpassed the one hundred thousand mark.
[Holy shit! Damn, that’s impressive... Solved a world-class problem as a junior? When he gets his Ph.D., isn’t he just going to skyrocket?! (shocked) (shocked)]
[Hey, poster above, did you just get back from Mars? Chen Shen already graduated early. He’s started his own company and is a boss now. What’s he need a Ph.D. for... People are saying he’s going straight to being a professor!]
[The more I read, the more I want to cry. I’m out, I’m out. Done with Weibo for today. I’m going back to work on my dissertation. (crying) (crying)]
[When I was twenty, I was stressing about failing advanced calculus, wondering how I could get my professor to go easy on me... Now look at this guy at twenty, already having money thrown at him by tech giants. (facepalm)]
[He’s from Yannan University! Go, senior!!! (voice cracking)]
[Adding another one to the "My Ideal Guy is a Mathematician" list! +1000! He’s handsome and brilliant. Isn’t that way more attractive than those pretty-boy pop stars?!]
[Hey sis, are you after his talent, or his company with that eight-figure valuation...? (smirking dog emoji)]
[Grapevine news! 100% legit! My cousin works in the Yannan University administration office, and I heard the school was originally planning to specially appoint Chen Lin as a researcher for the School of Mathematics after he graduated. But once this paper came out, the school held an emergency overnight meeting and changed his title directly to Special Professor!!!]
[My god!!! Is the poster above for real?! A professor who’s not even 22?! Is this a fucking TV show?!]
[I don’t really care about math, but I remember him! He’s the same great Chen Lin who put those entitled girls in their place at the modeling competition, right?! For that alone, he has my unconditional support!!!]
[If the youth are strong, the nation is strong! A salute to all young scientific researchers! (fist) (fist)]
...
The next morning at 8:30, Chen Lin slowly woke up.
After more than eight hours of high-quality sleep, he felt refreshed and clear-headed, as if every cell in his body were brimming with vitality.
He habitually reached for his phone on the nightstand to check the time, only to be jolted fully awake by the string of notifications on the screen.
’What’s going on?’
Chen Lin frowned and opened WeChat, only to find his message list completely flooded. Aside from a few familiar group chats and contacts, there was a long list of people he rarely talked to and @-mentions from various group chats.
Even his high school alumni chat group—a group that was usually dead silent aside from exchanging holiday greetings and "Happy New Year" stickers—had a bright red "@" notification waiting for him.
The corner of Chen Lin’s mouth twitched. Without hesitation, he ignored the messages from people and groups he barely knew, prioritizing the conversations with a few important figures.
Principal Chang Kai was concise, sending just one message: [Chen, you’ve seen the news, I take it? Well done! But there might be some reporters heading to the Incubator Space to corner you today. I’ve already sent He Qun over with some people. You should be careful too.]
Chen Lin immediately replied: [Understood, Principal. Sorry to trouble you.]
Next was a message from Peng Yifeng, who had officially joined Tiansheng Investment. The message from Chen Lin’s benefactor was much more direct: [Chen Lin, you’re really something else, kid! Even Jask has made you an offer!]
[So, interested in talking about a Series A round? I can connect you with a few top-tier VCs. I guarantee they’ll give you a higher valuation than that old guy Jask did!]
Chen Lin couldn’t help but chuckle at the message. He replied, [You’re too kind, President Peng. The company is just getting started; we don’t have any plans for another round of financing yet.]
Professor Gongtan’s message was, as always, brutally direct: [Attaboy, kid! I heard about the paper. You’ve made the entire Chinese mathematics community proud! Ignore that offer from Jask. Just focus on your work here at home; there’s a line of people waiting to throw money at you!]