A genius? I just love studying.

Chapter 173 The advantage is mine
"What are thermoelectric materials?" a student asked, looking bewildered.

"It's a heat dissipation material used in zinc sheets. Think about it, there are so many transistors in a zinc sheet, they definitely need to dissipate heat."

Zinc sheets have been very popular in recent years, and many students who are interested in this topic have read a lot of popular science articles and have learned quite a bit about them.

"Oh!"

The students suddenly realized, "So it turns out that China took a different approach and made a breakthrough in heat dissipation materials, forcing ASML to back down."

In other words, Andy Lau may not have paid the high price they expected. This collaboration was not a matter of each side backing down, but rather Andy Lau using his own strength to force the other party to make concessions!
Having grasped this concept, the students were filled with excitement.

The difference between the gains and losses is enormous!
"We won again?!"

The students were in high spirits.

At that moment, a discordant voice rang out, "I have another question."

One student timidly spoke up, "I remember ASML manufactures lithography machines and specializes in this one application. It has nothing to do with making zinc sheets. What is it cooperating with China for?"

"Don't you understand this?"

"Zinc sheet manufacturers want this new type of thermoelectric material, but China wants lithography machines. Since the manufacturers don't have lithography machines, they can only find a middleman to negotiate. That's roughly the idea."

Yin Hao's thinking was very clear.

"But what kind of heat dissipation material would make manufacturers willing to lift restrictions on Andy Lau just to cooperate with him?"

This is a good question.

A lithography machine is like a car engine, and the heat dissipation material is at most like the wheels. But how good do your wheels have to be for engine manufacturers to beg to cooperate with you?
Do you think your wheels can fly by themselves?

"Would a thermoelectric material with a ZT value of 2.1 work?"

At this moment, Zhang Xia suddenly spoke up, saying that he was still following the official Huaxia News account, which had just released a new announcement.

Congratulations to Chen Hui from Jiangcheng University on publishing a high-level paper in *Nature Physics*.

The details below the title include the paper's title and a brief description.

"ZT value 2.1?"

The student who had previously explained thermoelectric materials exclaimed in surprise, "The most advanced thermoelectric materials on the market currently have a ZT value of only 1.5, and they haven't even achieved large-scale industrialization yet. 2.1 - 1.5 = 0.6, which means the performance has improved by more than 30%!"

"More than 30%?"

The students stared at each other, having no concept of what 30% meant.

"Let me put it this way: the progress in ZT values ​​of thermoelectric materials has been only a few tenths of a percent. An improvement of 0.1 is enough to publish a Q1 SCI paper. In fact, a lab that improved from 0.9 to 1 published in Nature Physics."

"In other words, if this author were to hold back his publications, he could easily produce sixty SCI papers, which would be more than enough for all of our class to graduate with doctorates."

hiss!
The students gasped in shock.

Now they have a clear understanding of the numbers 0.6 and 30%.

It's so terrifying!
"More than 30%!"

Yin Hao shook his head. "Given the nature of domestic scientists, these kinds of articles, these kinds of strategic research, are always outdated. Once they've been published, they're definitely not cutting-edge technology anymore. Besides, ASML has already compromised; a 30% performance improvement isn't enough."

"Therefore, the performance improvement is definitely not just 30%, it's at least 60%!"

He is also very knowledgeable about the current performance of zinc sheets and the gap between Huazai and Western cutting-edge technologies. The estimated data is already very close to the truth.

"Wait a minute, shouldn't your focus be on the authors of this paper?"

Zhang Xia looked at Yin Hao.

"Chen Hui, what's wrong?"

Yin Hao was still reeling from the shock of the groundbreaking breakthrough in thermoelectric materials.

But soon, he understood what Zhang Xia meant.

"Chen Hui?"

"There can't be only one person named Chen Hui at Jiangcheng University, right?"

"Holy crap, could it be... Master Chen?"

As the class monitor, Yin Hao had always been careful about his words and actions, but at this moment, he couldn't help but swear.

"It really is Master Chen!"

"Look, the contact information for the author is in 'Nature Physics,' and this email address belongs to the great Chen."

Zhang Xia was also searching for evidence, and finally he found it on the official website of Nature Physics, where he stated with certainty.

The classroom fell silent immediately.

What year is this eve?
The students were all somewhat dazed.

Well, they're still in Makka Pakka, while their classmates are already bringing glory to the country?
……

Lin'an, Barbary Headquarters

Xiao Ming, head of Alibaba Charity, sat by the window on a high floor of the building, sipping tea. Opposite him was Sun Jianfeng, head of DAMO Academy. The tablet screen on the table in front of them displayed the breaking news from China News.

"It's a pity that if we could have won over that little guy back then, Barbary would probably be riding high now."

Sun Jianfeng was a bit of a pity.

"Who could have imagined that the little guy would grow up so fast?"

Xiao Ming shook his head. "If I had the ability to foresee the future, I would have gone all in on gold last year and wouldn't be playing with you here now."

"There was a chance to seize it."

Sun Jianfeng shook his head again. As someone with a technical background, he valued talent highly, and the more he valued it, the harder it was for him to let go of the past.

"You should be secretly happy. Luckily we didn't mess with that little guy, otherwise we'd still be sitting here drinking tea, right?"

Xiao Ming sneered, "Now the show is about to begin!"

In the editorial department of the Shanghai branch of Lanfang Metropolitan Daily, the usually bustling office was unusually quiet today. Everyone was trembling with fear and unable to concentrate on their work. The release of that bombshell news from China News, combined with that announcement, had undoubtedly sealed the fate of Lanfang Metropolitan Daily.

Nobody knew if the company would even see the sun rise tomorrow, so what was the point of doing any work? Everyone was glancing, intentionally or unintentionally, at an office at the far end of the editorial department.

In the deputy editor-in-chief's office, Jia Ning stared blankly at the computer screen, which naturally displayed the news that China News had just released.

As it turns out, his speculation was at least effective. Thanks to the article he reposted a few days ago, he brought huge traffic to Lanfang Metropolitan Daily. He was originally just an ordinary editor, but now he is the deputy editor-in-chief.

Of course, this is also related to his previous persistent reposting of articles from outside, stirring up controversy and attracting a lot of traffic. One article is certainly not enough to become the deputy editor-in-chief, but this article was particularly popular and became the opportunity for that promotion.

But now, this opportunity for promotion has become a deadly curse.

If you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet!

"I only reposted a news article, it should be fine, right?"

"I've made so many great contributions to Lanfang Metropolitan Daily, they shouldn't fire me, right? At most, they'll demote me to the lowest level of editor, which I can still accept."

Jia Ning's eyes were unfocused, his mind wandering. After being promoted to deputy editor-in-chief, he was full of pride and finally made up his mind to buy an old, dilapidated apartment in Shanghai. He made a down payment of three million and took out a loan of five million eight hundred thousand.

Although the pressure is considerable, interest rates are very low now, so he only needs to pay a little over 24,000 yuan each month. His housing provident fund covers part of it, and with his and his wife's salaries which have just increased, they can still save several thousand yuan each month, so the pressure isn't too great.

After all, renting a house used to cost more than 5,000 yuan a month, which was a considerable expense. He was also always at risk of being evicted by landlords who were eager to sell their properties. He had only been working in Shanghai for a little over five years when he was evicted twice.

He had had enough of this kind of life, so he made up his mind a long time ago that he must own a house in Shanghai. For this, he was willing to sell his soul.

Furthermore, he has just been promoted to deputy editor-in-chief, and his year-end bonus will increase significantly this year. In just two more years, this house will no longer be a major financial burden.

I never expected something like this to happen.

If they were fired, their world would truly collapse.

Jia Ning was filled with anxiety, various thoughts swirling in her mind, making her feel like her head was about to explode.

Fortunately, at that moment, two dignified-looking men in suits walked into the branch of Lanfang Metropolitan Daily. After asking for directions, they went straight into the office of Deputy Editor-in-Chief Jia Ning, helping him end this predicament.

"Hello, you must be Jia Ning?"

"You are suspected of colluding with external forces to incite cyberbullying against heroes of China. Please come with us to the station to cooperate with the investigation."

Jia Ning slumped into a chair, feeling utterly despondent yet also a sense of relief.

Okay, now I don't have to worry about being fired, and I don't even have to worry about my family. By the time I get out, my wife should have found a good family.

Two imposing men led Jia Ning out of the office and announced, "Due to the illegal operations of Lanfang Metropolitan Daily, it is required to suspend publication for rectification. It will resume publication when the rectification is completed."

After saying that, the three of them walked out of the editorial department of Lanfang Metropolitan Daily.

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of Yangcheng Lanfang Metropolitan Daily, several editors-in-chief and the person in charge of this matter were taken away by mysterious people to cooperate with the investigation. Not only the Shanghai branch, but the entire Lanfang Metropolitan Daily was ordered to suspend publication for rectification.

As for when things will resume, it's probably a long way off, since the boss is in jail.

It wasn't just the Blue City Daily; several other newspapers that were most active in the news a few days ago also received visits from mysterious individuals, such as the Heart-Stopping News...

Previously, because the relevant strategies were still underway, they were allowed to cause a few more days of trouble. Now that the dust has settled, it is naturally time to settle the score.

……

Conference room at ASML headquarters in the Netherlands.
The executives who had just signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China looked gloomy. They had originally been the only ones in power, but now they had to share the prize that was already in their mouths. No one was in a good mood.

Even if what they share isn't the most core technology, and there are no other supporting component suppliers, China still can't really manufacture a 3nm EUV lithography machine. But those guys previously used only DUV to create zinc sheets comparable to 3nm process. Who knows what kind of astonishing things China can do with its more advanced technology?

On the contrary, CEO Christopher's mood wasn't too bad. They did pay a considerable price for this strategic agreement, but the gains were equally significant. China only acquired the technology for their next-generation products, but they acquired China's amazing thermoelectric materials. With their existing technology, they could completely overwhelm China in terms of product strength and maintain an absolute advantage.

Perhaps China can quickly absorb their technology, and even surpass them, but that will be at least five to ten years from now. By then, they will have already developed the next generation of technology.

At the same time, they possess two major weapons: lithography machines and thermoelectric materials. This has greatly increased their bargaining power in the entire industry chain. They no longer have to be completely subservient to others. They would never easily agree to decisions that forced them to completely abandon the Chinese market, as they did before.

More importantly, through this strategic cooperation, China's huge market has once again opened its arms to them. China, which accounts for 50% of the global market, is a piece of fat meat in their eyes. They had to give it up before for various reasons, but now they can take this opportunity to return to China. For them, this is not a disaster, but a blessing!
Even if China can gain a certain market share with its next-generation technology, the lion's share will still belong to them. Compared to the Chinese market, the share that China takes away is insignificant.

"Look at that article in the latest issue of *Nature Physics*!"

Suddenly, Chief Technology Officer Mark exclaimed in surprise.

Martin ultimately failed to complete the reverse engineering within three days, so Mark is now the Chief Technology Officer.

Without the board members giving any instructions, Mark had already projected what he saw onto the conference room's large screen.

Breakthrough in Phonon Localization Induced by Fractal Defects in the Golden Ratio: Achieving CuSe-based Thermoelectric Materials with ZT=2.1

After all, they were directors of a technology company, and the executives present all understood some technology, especially since they had just signed an agreement with China that displeased them regarding thermoelectric materials. They were very sensitive to the term ZT value.

"They've all published papers?"

"Then why should we cooperate with them? Why not just directly reproduce the paper?"

One of the directors immediately jumped up in anger.

When you get to their level in business, agreements aren't necessarily infallible rules. If the profits are big enough, they can completely break the agreement.

"I'm afraid not!"

Mark shook his head. "I've glanced at the article. The author discovered a special fractal structure that can increase the ZT value of materials, but the highest it can reach is 2.1. However, the thermoelectric materials that China provided to us have a ZT value as high as 2.9!"

"Given the temperament of those Chinese, how could they possibly release their latest technology? I've heard before that they have many technologies that they haven't published papers on for decades. Those researchers have remained unknown their entire lives, but in reality, they've made amazing achievements."

"This is probably just one part of their technology. This fractal structure alone is far from enough. They have at least proposed a new computational model to achieve such a significant improvement based on this fractal structure."

Christopher has a good eye. This new chief technology officer's understanding of technology is far superior to that of the incompetent Martin. This kind of insight is essential for technical personnel.

"Then why did you bring this article out?"

One of the directors frowned unhappily. He was already in a bad mood and had no interest in watching the show with Mark.

"This article isn't important; what's important is its author!"

Mark looked at Christopher, "We can poach this guy!"

The people in the conference room were immediately impressed. Since this person was the first author, he must be a key figure in the project. If they could recruit him, they could not only obtain information on fractal structures, but also get even more!

Their eyes fell on the author's section of the paper.

Chen Hui, Jiangcheng University!
(End of this chapter)