The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 463 Fear

"Academician Liu, you're saying the team is more important?" Xiaobai asked incredulously, "If you've always focused on the team's work, you might not be able to win the Nobel Prize in your lifetime."

"What's wrong? Is it illegal not to win a Nobel Prize?"

Xiao Bai laughed and said, "Of course it's not illegal, but the people of the whole country will be very disappointed. Everyone has been longing for the Nobel Prize."

Liu Hua said dismissively, "What's there to look forward to in that rubbish? Not winning that award doesn't mean we haven't made outstanding contributions to the world, and winning it doesn't mean our scientific research level will improve significantly."

Liu Hua smiled and said, "This is what Yang Xiu called 'chicken ribs'—tasteless to eat, but a pity to throw away."

Xiao Bai became interested and asked curiously, "Academician Liu, could you tell us what the Nobel Prize looks like in your eyes?"

"I don't know what the Nobel Prize was like before World War II, but after World War II, since the rise of the United States and the division of the world into two major camps," Liu Hua said dismissively, "everything is no longer so pure, including the Nobel Prize."

"You mean to say that this award is now controlled by the US? But they are a neutral country."

“Neutral.” Liu Hua shook his head: “That’s the most ridiculous word. Are you sure it’s neutral? Look at the literary awards over the years. Literature is the best way to express one’s stance.”

They were all smart people; with just a little guidance, Xiaobai immediately understood.

"So, according to you, it means there's basically no chance for our country to win a Nobel Prize?"

“If I immigrate to the US now,” Liu Hua smiled, “I can just ask them directly. I’ll say I want a Nobel Prize, and they’ll arrange it for me immediately.”

Are you so confident?

Liu Hua nodded: "Of course I'm not being arrogant. Many of the scientific research achievements I've made over the years are Nobel Prize-level. Just take graphene as an example, it's definitely a Nobel Prize worthy."

Xiao Bai suddenly asked, "Since you have achieved Nobel Prize-level results, but are unable to win the Nobel Prize due to various practical circumstances, do you feel it's a pity?"

Liu Hua took out a medal from his drawer; it was the highest scientific research medal awarded to him by the organization back then.

"See this? This is a medal that the country awarded me more than 20 years ago." Liu Hua said with a smile, "I feel that this is the highest honor, far more valuable than the Nobel Prize."

Xiao Bai asked the accompanying photographer to take a close-up shot of the medal. Although it was awarded more than 20 years ago, it still shines brightly today.

"It's a pity that you have such talent, yet you couldn't win a world-class award." Xiaobai shook his head: "Fate is really unfair."

Liu Hua smiled and said, "Not necessarily. As we continue to grow stronger, one day the Americans will need our help. At that time, they will take the initiative to arrange it. It's just that we don't know who will receive this award. There are plenty of scientists in our country who are qualified to receive this award."

"Academician Liu, let's tone it down a bit," Xiao Bai said with a smile. "Even though he's shameless, we can't just put his shamelessness on the ground and rub it hard."

"Why are you being so polite about this?" Liu Hua smiled. "He himself thinks his face is a nuisance. If you rub it off, isn't that exactly what he wants?"

Liu Hua's nodding interview caused a huge uproar. Some rational people saw through the true nature of the Nobel Prize from Liu Hua's nodding interview and stopped expecting anything.

Some people, however, felt that Liu Hua was being petty and judging others by his own standards, and some even wrote articles to criticize him. Liu Hua silenced them with just one sentence: "In our country, many people are qualified to win the Nobel Prize, but they have no expectations for the award and are indifferent to it. Only those who will never win the Nobel Prize in their lifetime always fantasize that they still have a chance to compete. This is why they criticize me, because I have woken them up and made them unable to accept it."

Finally, Liu Hua added, "Lies don't hurt people, but the truth does."

The reporter who interviewed Liu Hua published this passage verbatim, and it is said that several people were so angry that they vomited blood and were hospitalized that day.

This incident ended with the defeat of some people, and it's considered over now.

However, this incident also caused some other ripples.

A vice president from China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) approached Liu Hua. He and Liu Hua were old acquaintances, having dealt with each other frequently due to their cooperation on thorium-based molten salt reactors.

“We have recently been in contact with ITER.”

Liu Hua laughed and said, "Judging from your expression, it's not going to end well. Are you going to make you pay as usual?"

"That's right, they're not only paying for it, but they're also refusing to let us send scientists to participate in the research," the vice president said angrily. "Aren't they just treating us like suckers?"

"You're just trying to take advantage of me. If you're so eager to get in touch with him, you're just asking for a free lunch."

“I personally participated in this negotiation. Those white European gentlemen were as arrogant as ever.” The vice president slammed his fist on the table: “They looked down on us from the bottom of their hearts, believing that we were not capable of participating in such high-end scientific research.”

Liu Hua shook his head: "On the surface, they are arrogant and look down on others, but in reality, they are afraid to the extreme."

The vice president asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

Liu Hua smiled and asked, "What do you think our image is in the eyes of foreigners?"

“Poverty and backwardness.” The vice president frowned and said, “All they do all day long is shout protests, but they’re not assertive enough; it’s a complete display of incompetence.”

Liu Hua shook his head: "Quite the opposite."

"So what kind of image do you want?"

Liu Hua shrugged: "Even before we established our country, we dared to attack their warships on the Yangtze River. When we were newly founded and poor, we dared to confront the seventeen-nation coalition head-on."

Liu Hua smiled and said, "We've beaten up the Russian bear, we've beaten up the Americans, and we've even beaten up the monkeys that the Americans couldn't handle. We've beaten everyone around us into submission. If we say we won't fire the first shot, no one will dare to fire the first shot."

Liu Hua concluded by asking, "Our achievements are still fresh in our minds. Guess what they think of us?"

"As expected, there's something to be afraid of."

Liu Hua nodded: "Leaving aside modern times, even in ancient times, the rise and fall of the whole of Europe was related to us. Whether they could have enough to eat depended entirely on whether we would give them face. Do you think they were afraid?"

(End of this chapter)