Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 575 The Thousand Talents Program
July in Shenzhen is the hottest time of year, but thankfully it has been raining intermittently for the past two days, and the overcast sky has kept it from getting too hot.

Around 7 p.m., as the city lights begin to come on, the mountain breeze makes it quite cool.

Zhihaiyuan is located on a large lawn in the middle, with several barbecue grills set up in the center, and many people gathered in twos and threes around it.

If there were outsiders present, they would quickly realize that many of the people there are business tycoons who frequently make the news.

For example, Ji Chenghe, Senior Vice President of Zhiyun Group, who is in charge of marketing; and Wang Lintu, Senior Vice President of Zhiyun Group, who is in charge of the Smart Terminal Business Unit.

Besides the people from Zhiyun Group, there are also executives from Liuhe Investment and Xia Nvshan Holdings.

Many of these people are core management members of the Xu Group. Referring to the management levels in the Zhiyun Group, they are basically senior vice presidents at the M11 level.

A few are at the group vice president level, and they are basically in charge of core subsidiaries or core management in R&D departments.

Besides these senior management personnel who are relatively well-known to outsiders, there are a few other relatively special individuals, namely the top scientists within the Xu Group... These people are relatively unknown to ordinary people outside the group.

However, these top scientists actually attract more attention from foreign intelligence agencies than the senior management of the Xu Group.

For example, Professor Lin Andong, the chief scientist of Zhiyun Group, who also serves as the dean of Zhiyun Artificial Intelligence Research Institute and holds the title of "Senior Vice President of the Group".

Professor Wang Binyao, Chief Scientist of Fairy Mountain Holdings and Dean of Fairy Mountain Materials Research Institute.

The security treatment of the two individuals mentioned above is directly comparable to that of Xu Shenxue... They are accompanied by dozens of security personnel whenever they go out.

Of course, they generally don't go out unless there's a specific reason, because they themselves are afraid of being assassinated!
Besides these two top figures, there is also Professor Fang Datong, the director of the Optical Precision Research Institute under Fairy Mountain Holdings... This guy is a bit special.

He was previously the chief engineer of the lens system, a core sub-project of the EUV lithography machine at Nanjiang Technology, and a prized student of Professor Cao Xingchen.

Although he is only 31 years old this year, he has led the research and development of the most core lens system in two generations of EUV, especially the research and development of the most core lens material!
Strictly speaking, this person is not actually involved in EUV lithography machines. He is actually a materials scientist, just like Wang Binyao. However, his early research focused mainly on optical materials.

In addition, he has conducted in-depth research in the field of precision manufacturing and led the design of several ultra-precision devices for manufacturing parts for lithography machines.

His talent and ability are obvious to the naked eye!
This person also obtained a trial period of SS-level positions under Xu Shenxue, and the results were excellent.

Later, Xu Shenxue simply included him in the rotation quota of SS-level scientific research positions... and also set up a special research institute for him, namely Fairy Mountain Optical Precision Research Institute.

When Xu Shenxue allocated SS-level research positions, he didn't just give out a single position and call it a day... He also provided a dedicated research institute, a large number of research assistants, and research funding so enormous that most companies wouldn't even dare to look at it...

If the project is truly remarkable and has a huge impact, Xu Shenxue might even approve funding of tens of billions of dollars or more.

Just like the controlled nuclear fusion project currently led by Professor Wang Binyao, the initial budget for the project was US$15 billion.

This $15 billion is just the initial funding, to be used to build a small controlled nuclear fusion experimental reactor to verify whether the technology is feasible!
If the initial experimental reactor project is successful, then a flood of funding—five hundred billion dollars or even hundreds of billions of dollars—will come in to research and build the first commercially viable controlled nuclear fusion power plant in human history!
It's not just about money; behind this are hundreds of thousands of researchers and engineers carrying out various research and development and manufacturing work according to the plan set by Professor Wang Binyao.

This is the enormous resource that an SS-level scientist can obtain!

With research grants, ample research funding, and the cooperation of the entire consortium, a scientist who obtains an SS-level research grant can conduct various research projects entirely according to their own ideas.

Of course, Fang Datong isn't ready yet... He's currently just a rotating user of SS-level research slots, and can only occasionally unleash his super power.

Once he further proves his value, he may be able to obtain a fixed SS-level research quota: always having super power!
Fang Datong, a rotating user of SS-level research quotas, is also a candidate for fixed SS-level research quotas. There are six other people in the Xu Group!
All of them were top scientists carefully selected by Xu Shenxue from across the country... Interestingly, of the remaining six people, three are mathematicians, one is a theoretical physicist, another is a chemical engineer, and the last one is a biologist.

They're playing majors that are considered dead-end by ordinary people...

Moreover, these SS-level regular users and rotating users are all under forty years old, most of them are in their thirties... belonging to the young and middle-aged in the scientific community, the best age to seriously engage in scientific research.

This is also a characteristic of the scientific community: those who are truly engaged in research are mostly young and middle-aged people in their thirties and forties... The older generation either didn't achieve any results or remained ordinary researchers in obscurity their entire lives.

Either they achieve great results before middle age, gradually grow into a research leader, and then transition into a management scientist... Their daily routine involves raising funds, building teams, assigning research tasks, and when they achieve results, they are listed as the corresponding author on papers, but they rarely participate in the research themselves anymore.

Therefore, most of the SS and S level scientists in Zhiyun Group are from the middle-aged and younger generations, with very few older scientists. However, among the management scientists who lead the teams, there are more older scientists. They are not required to conduct research themselves, but rather to leverage their enormous prestige and connections in the scientific community to form teams and drive project progress.

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On the lawn, a large group of top executives and scientists from the Xu Group gathered together. Not only did they come, but most of them also brought their families and even children.

This made Xi Wanqing, who was always alone, feel somewhat awkward, especially since she could sense that some people were looking at her in a strange way.

The senior executives and colleagues in the company were all fine; they were all top-notch shrewd individuals and naturally did not show any abnormality. Even her immediate supervisor, Director Wang of Liuhe Investment's Executive Office, greeted her naturally and kindly when he saw her and even introduced her to some other senior executives in the company.

However, not everyone who brought their family members could be so natural.

After all, their husbands are top elites, but that doesn't mean they are top elites themselves... Even if they try to be as restrained as possible in this kind of situation, they will still reveal something unusual.

This manifests as extreme politeness...

It's not that they're overthinking things; anyone who saw Xi Wanqing, their little assistant, in this kind of situation today would probably have imagined dozens of episodes of a TV drama...

If there weren't some special inside story, what qualifications would Xi Wanqing, an M6-level senior assistant in the board's office, have to be present at today's barbecue party?

Don't say that the assistants in the board's office are executive candidates or top talents who are qualified to attend the party.

You should know that everyone present, apart from you, Xi Wanqing, and a few logistics staff, is at least at the M10 level—either a vice president or senior vice president of the group. These assistants are just starting out with a high level of expertise and are given opportunities for training; whether they can truly develop into capable individuals is still uncertain.

Besides, there are dozens of assistants in the Dong Jing office, and there are plenty of people who are more outstanding and excellent than Xi Wanqing. Why should Xi Wanqing be here?

Before seeing her, most people didn't understand, but when they got closer and saw Xi Wanqing's facial features and figure clearly, they all thought they understood: "Tsk tsk, that face, that figure, no wonder..."

Then they would show a more polite attitude towards Xi Wanqing...

Xi Wanqing isn't stupid; she's someone with both high IQ and EQ. Just by listening to what the other person says and looking at their expression, she can basically figure out what they're thinking.

This left her somewhat helpless...

This wasn't the first time people had mistaken her for Chairman Xu's woman. Ever since she joined the company, she had been overtly or covertly aware that many people thought so. Even a significant portion of her colleagues in Chairman Xu's office believed it!

Even though in reality, she never spent time with Xu Shenxue in any private setting, not even once!

Although Xi Wanqing often followed Xu Shenxue around for work, not only reporting on his daily work, but also accompanying him on business trips most of the time!
She was in charge of the smart terminal business segment, which is the most core business segment in Zhiyun Group and even the entire Xu Group.

As the senior assistant in charge of this business in the board's office, she naturally had more opportunities to come into contact with Xu Shenxue.

Even so, she never actually spent time alone with Xu Shenxue in private.

Furthermore, Xu Shenxue never actually expressed any affection for her, either verbally or through body language.

Carefully recalling every interaction and conversation between the two of them, it was all about work... There was never a single word, expression, or glance that went beyond work!
The group of people outside all felt that she had something going on with Chairman Xu, as if she had already slept with him... Even though no one had mentioned it to her, she wasn't stupid; she could guess what those people outside were saying.

But she really didn't...

If so, she would accept it. Even though her boss had many women, he was impeccable in every other aspect.

If she could really have a one-night stand with him, or even go further and become one of his women, Xi Wanqing felt that although she would feel some resentment, she could accept reality.

After all, being able to sleep with Xu Shenxue, one of the world's top business tycoons, the world's richest man, and a man who is also quite good-looking, she didn't feel like she was at a disadvantage... Her resentment was just because she couldn't advance further, not because she had any dissatisfaction with Xu Shenxue himself.

However, as I said before... she and Chairman Xu are completely innocent!
This is the frustrating and infuriating reality!

Many people believe that something happened between him and Chairman Xu, but only he knows that nothing happened, and he really can't explain it...

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While Xi Wanqing, the assistant, was lost in thought, Xu Shenxue and Luo Yinian were chatting and eating barbecue.

"Chairman Xu, our Thousand Talents Program for this year has been initially completed!"

“We conducted selections at universities across the country, focusing on basic scientific literacy, intelligence, and other qualities necessary for scientific research. The selected young people will receive generous scholarships from us, and we will also assist them in contacting mentors and solving other logistical problems in their lives!”

"Including the plans from the previous two years, we have now sponsored a total of 3,000 outstanding students, and there have been some results. However, most students are still in the learning stage, so we can't see too much yet. But we can see some initial signs, and there are already quite a few students with potential in this group!"

"Around next year, the number of graduates will be relatively large, we estimate to be close to 500. We will invite them to join our company's various research institutions to continue their studies under the guidance of our top professors!"

"My team believes that we can cultivate a group of top-notch young scientists from this experience within the next five years!"

Xu Shenxue said, "We must attach great importance to the cultivation of top-notch scientific research talents. This is one of your main tasks in the next few years, so don't slack off!"

Liuhe Investment's "Thousand Talents Program"... The public statement is that Liuhe Investment selects and sponsors one thousand outstanding college students every year, providing not only tuition assistance but also living allowances, assistance in connecting with excellent teachers, research internships, etc.

If students are willing, they can even sign an employment agreement in advance and join various companies under Liuhe Investment after graduation, thus solving their worries about pursuing academic research!
Many people worry that if they go into pure academics, they might have difficulty finding a job later. Now, Xu Shenxue gives them a guarantee: You can focus on academics without worry. After graduation, I will give you a high-paying job as a safety net!

The main purpose of this program is not to train regular scientists, but to find more candidates for SS-level research positions!

Xu Shenxue's research system is very powerful; its research quotas can directly enhance a person's learning and research abilities... but this enhancement is a kind of percentage-based increase.

What it does is enable a scientist with a score of 100 to double their ability, from 100 to 200, or even triple, 5 times, from 100 to 300 or 500!

However, if a person is only at a level of 10, and is given a research opportunity, they can only reach a level of 20, 30, or 50!

The SS-level research slots, which require a million achievement points, can only be most effective when used by top-tier scientists... While they may have some effect on ordinary people, it's not particularly significant.

Xu Shenxue has held a research position for many years, but he hasn't become a scientist... he's just not cut out for it!
In order to make better use of high-level research quotas, especially SS-level research quotas, Xu Shenxue had long ago instructed Luo Yinian to search for top scientists nationwide...

After selecting from among the established scientists, they turned their attention to students... and thus the Thousand Talents Program for university students came into being!

Every year, we select one thousand top students with great potential from college students across the country and support them with scholarships and other means to help them grow better!
However, most people don't know about this, because ordinary students don't have access to the Thousand Talents Program... Luo Yinian and his classmates directly used various science and engineering competitions and referenced the recommended students from various schools for preliminary screening.

To avoid overlooking potential talent, Luo Yinian and his team partnered with Yihai Technology to create their own science competition for high school students. Although the results of this competition were not officially recognized and did not add any extra points, they could still earn scholarships from Liuhe Investment.

Xu Shenxue has always been very serious about cultivating top talents!

His research system is built on the foundation of top-notch talent.

Three days after the barbecue party, Xu Shenxue also made a trip to his alma mater, Guangcheng University, this time also for educational reasons...

Every year, Xu Shenxue would donate a large sum of money to Guangcheng University under various pretexts, either to support outstanding or impoverished students, or to donate teaching equipment and supplies.

This year was no exception; Xu Shenxue directly signed a check for 3 billion yuan to his alma mater... to continue to support impoverished students and outstanding students, as well as to fund research and teaching expenses.

Training students, especially those in science and engineering, is very expensive... Some students with potential and talent start conducting various experiments and publishing papers during their undergraduate studies, but conducting experiments costs money. It costs even more during the master's and especially doctoral stages.

The reason why some good universities, especially research universities, spend so much money is because conducting scientific research and cultivating top students is extremely expensive!
The country spends trillions of yuan on higher education every year. Every college student, especially science students, is cultivated by the country at great expense.

With tuition fees of just a few thousand yuan at public universities, you wouldn't even get to see a professor outside of college... let alone have them teach you for a year.

Knowledge is expensive, at least Americans understand this very well... their college tuition is very high!
In China, however, the state pays a heavy price for students... which sometimes gives many people the illusion that knowledge is free!

In reality, knowledge is not free; on the contrary, it is very expensive!
Xu Shenxue's donation to Guangcheng University is aimed at helping his alma mater alleviate some of its educational costs and cultivate more outstanding students.

In a few years, many of these outstanding students will go on to work for the companies under his management and create value!
Yu Taihe, who developed the room-temperature superconductor MMK34 material, is a graduate of Guangcheng University. Before graduation, he also benefited from Xu Shenxue's various support for Guangcheng University. His master's and doctoral studies were conducted in the research institute jointly established by Guangcheng University and Zhiyun Group, where he studied and worked, and obtained his doctoral degree, laying a solid foundation in materials science.

Finally, after officially joining the Zhiyun Group, he made a name for himself by directly developing the MMK34 room-temperature superconductor material!
The commercial value of MMK34 material is immeasurable...

From this perspective, Xu Shenxue really made a profit in sponsoring Guangcheng University.

(End of this chapter)