King of Technology: A Fresh Start in 1983

Li Mingyuan immediately said, "How could I not remember? You said something back then."

"If you come back and don't make anything of yourself, you'll leave again."

After Li Mingyuan finished speaking, he asked Zhou Yuguang, "Do you remember what I told you back then?"

"Of course I remember! You said back then that if we were to leave, we'd leave together."

At this moment, the room fell silent, as Li Mingyuan and Zhou Yuguang seemed lost in their memories…

Their generation embodies the historical experiences of several generations…

But Zhang Wei couldn't understand, because he and they didn't belong to the same generation.

Zhou Yuguang looked at Zhang Wei: "Xiao Zhang, you haven't been to the United States yet. Let me, someone who's been there, tell you about my experience."

"These are two completely different worlds, the differences are something I could never have imagined here."

"When I got there, the impact and shock on me were so intense."

"But when the night is quiet and I calm down, I think, what does all this have to do with me, Zhou Yuguang?"

"Did I contribute even the slightest bit to that country? No!"

"What did I, Zhou Yuguang, come to the United States for? I came purely to leech off their benefits and freeload off them."

"It's perfectly natural for people to look down on me, despise me, laugh at me, and reject me."

"Honestly, is it good over there? Yes!"

Should I go? Yes!

"But why did I come back?"

"Because I, Zhou Yuguang, am not reconciled! I can't convince myself!"

"Xiao Zhang, if one day you get there and can truly stay there without feeling empty, then it can only mean that I, Zhou Yuguang, misjudged you today."

Zhang Wei swallowed hard, his throat dry. "Engineer Zhou, I will come back. I know there are more and better opportunities in China now."

"I just want to go out and broaden my horizons and gain more knowledge."

"Putting everything else aside, just getting a higher degree is worth it..."

"What's your zodiac sign?" Before Zhang Wei could continue, Zhou Yuguang abruptly interrupted him.

"Me? I was born in the Year of the Horse, in 66."

"I'm a full twenty years older than you," Zhou Yuguang continued, "How many years do you plan to study?"

"Well, a master's or doctoral degree takes three years at the fastest, and five years at the slowest."

"Okay, so even if you finish your studies in five years. You just said that Qin Shunan is already over there, so you'll still get married and have children after graduation."

"When the child is too young, you will definitely be tied down and unable to leave."

"By the time you've settled down and started a family, and are ready to return to China to make your mark, it will probably be ten years from now."

"In other words, for at least ten years, you and China were on different coordinates."

"Just think about it, over a billion hardworking and intelligent Chinese people..."

"Without the constraints and burdens of outdated thinking, we can finally unleash our full potential... What will our country be like ten years from now?"

"You only came back then, don't you think it's too late?"

"Looking back now, it seems like you actively jumped out of this coordinate system. Looking back in the future, it will seem more like you were thrown out of this coordinate system."

"If you waste the next ten years, the loss will be far greater than the ten years that Professor Li and I wasted."

Li Mingyuan immediately stood up: "Zhang Wei, you and Qin Shunan are both my students. If you really want to leave, I won't stop you!"

"Let's make a deal today, using you and Zhao Lin as a benchmark, and see how you two compare ten years from now?"

After listening to Zhou Yuguang and Li Mingyuan's words, Zhang Wei was taken aback, weighing the weight of their words in his mind.

Zhou Yuguang's tone suddenly changed: "Whether you stay or leave depends on how you want to live your life, and what you truly desire."

"Do you want to be a pioneer here, or a hedonist over there?"

"Do you want to be a participant here, or an observer over there?"

"If you subconsciously want to be the latter, then consider everything I said today as utter bullshit!"

The room fell silent.

After Zhou Yuguang finished speaking, he turned around and walked back to his desk to sit down, continuing to look through the documents spread out on the table.

At this moment, Li Mingyuan also ignored Zhang Wei.

Unable to bear the embarrassment any longer, Zhang Wei stood up from the sofa and walked to the desk: "Teachers, is it really possible for our Tiangong project to succeed?"

Without even looking up, Li Mingyuan replied irritably, "How would you know if you don't try?!"

Zhou Yuguang didn't look up, and then asked in return, "Xiao Zhang, do you think Teacher Li and I can pull this off? Do you think President Chen and Engineer Su can do it?"

Do you think you're capable?

Li Mingyuan looked at Zhang Wei seriously: "Xiao Zhang, don't you think that for you, these 'unknowns' are precisely where the opportunities lie?"

"What is a pioneer? This is what a pioneer is!"

...

Zhou Yuguang and Li Mingyuan's passionate and ambitious words did not seem to have any enlightening effect on Zhang Wei.

He left ACL in a daze, and returned home looking lost and dejected.

When he climbed to the sixth floor and stood at his front door, he searched his entire body but couldn't find his key.

He slapped his forehead and realized that the key was in his handbag, which was in the far corner of the large laboratory.

After leaving Li Mingyuan and Zhou Yuguang's office, he didn't return to the large laboratory, but went straight downstairs and headed home...

He knocked on the door, and Zhan Yiling opened it.

Upon seeing Zhang Wei, she immediately asked, "How did it go? Did you quit?"

Standing in the aisle, He Fan sneered, "Yi Ling came here today specifically for you, Zhang Wei."

"Before you came in, she was restless and kept muttering your name."

Zhang Wei silently walked to the living room, took off his heavy coat and put it on the sofa, and said weakly, "I did resign, but they didn't say they agreed or disagreed."

"He also lectured me with a lot of道理 (principles/truths) and fed me a whole pot of inspirational platitudes."

Zhan Yiling and He Fan exchanged a glance.

With an air of certainty, Zhan Yiling said, "See? I knew it! They definitely used this tactic. The first word: stall, the second word: delay."

"That's how it is at my parents' workplace. They research everything, and by the time they figure it out, it's too late."

Zhan Yiling continued, "So what are your thoughts?"

"What else could he be thinking? Even a fool would know what to do, unless he's lost his mind!"

He Fan spoke first, then looked at Zhang Wei: "They made you stay purely to use you, and at a low cost."

"You'd better think this through. Cornell University wants you. Qin Shunan has been waiting for you for so many years. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"Don't waste your breath on them, resign decisively, and go abroad!"

Zhan Yiling analyzed, "I don't think so. The current domestic situation may also be an opportunity."

"I feel that the Chinese computer market has been taking off in the last six months..."