Super Rich: Rebirth of the Top-Tier Rich Second Generation

Wanliu Academy in the capital city.

As night deepens, the city's ever-burning lights shine through the panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows.

In the study, Jiang Yan put down his cup.

He picked up the phone on the table and dialed Shen Qinglan's number.

The phone rang three times before being answered. Shen Qinglan's slightly unsteady breathing could be heard through the receiver, clearly indicating that she was in a state of emotional turmoil.

Before Shen Qinglan could speak, Jiang Yan uttered six words in a lazy yet confident tone: "Come downstairs, I'll take you to celebrate."

"Now?" Shen Qinglan glanced at the clock on the wall; the hour hand was pointing to 10:30 p.m.

"I'll be downstairs at your faculty apartment building in thirty minutes." Jiang Yan didn't give her a chance to refuse and hung up the phone immediately.

Pushing open the study door, the housekeeper, Xu Qinghe, was quietly waiting outside, holding a glass of warm water.

When she saw Jiang Yan come out, her eyes flickered, and she keenly sensed the barely suppressed sharpness emanating from the male master.

"Get ready to get out of the car, we're going to Tsinghua University." Jiang Yan took a sip of water and casually gave the order.

"Also, keep an ice bucket in the back seat with a bottle of champagne."

"Yes, sir." Xu Qinghe didn't waste any more words and turned to go to the garage to make arrangements in her high heels.

This is the reason Jiang Yan gave her a 20 million yuan year-end bonus: extreme obedience and efficiency at all times.

Thirty minutes later, a black Maybach slowly pulled up in the shadows below the faculty apartment building of the Physics Department at Tsinghua University.

The car door opened, and Shen Qinglan, wearing a khaki Burberry trench coat and flat ankle boots, quickly walked out of the apartment building.

She wasn't wearing makeup today, just casually tied her hair up in a bun, but in the night breeze, she exuded a unique aloofness and scholarly air characteristic of highly educated women.

Jiang Yan got out of the car himself and opened the car door.

As Shen Qinglan got into the car, she immediately noticed the exquisite crystal ice bucket on the car's mini bar, and inside it was a bottle of Romanée-Conti Grand Cru champagne, chilled in the glass.

"Where are you going so late?" Shen Qinglan asked softly as she looked at Jiang Yan who had sat down.

"It's a private restaurant. I've already spoken to the owner." Jiang Yan gestured for the driver to start the car, then turned around and pulled a champagne bottle from the ice bucket, his slender fingers skillfully peeling off the foil.

With a soft "pop," the cork was pulled out, and the pale golden liquid, accompanied by delicate bubbles, poured into two crystal goblets.

Jiang Yan handed Shen Qinglan a glass, and the two gently clinked glasses in the spacious and quiet back seat.

"We won't discuss the lab's future schedule tonight."

Jiang Yan leaned back in the top-grade calfskin chair, turned his head to look at her, and a half-smile played on his lips.

"We must celebrate tonight."

Shen Qinglan held the cold cup stem, her gaze passing through the car window as she looked at the receding campus streetlights. The tension that had been building for so many days finally eased completely at this moment.

The Maybach smoothly drove into a quiet alley within the Second Ring Road and stopped in front of a courtyard house without a sign.

This is a private kitchen; you can't get in without a reservation.

But Jiang Yan used his connections, and the boss personally came out to greet him, leading the two into a private room with carved beams and painted rafters.

The room was filled with the faint scent of sandalwood, and several exquisite dishes were already laid out on the table to accompany the drinks.

Jiang Yan didn't ask the waiter to pour him any wine; instead, he personally opened a bottle of Château Latour's Reserve red wine that was stored there.

The scarlet wine swirls in the decanter, releasing a rich fruity aroma.

"Professor Shen, as your partner, I would like to formally raise a glass to you."

Jiang Yan picked up his wine glass, his gaze fixed on Shen Qinglan's flawless face.

Shen Qinglan looked at the young man in front of her who was ten years younger than her.

Before this, she had never imagined that her fate would be so closely tied to that of a freshman.

I never imagined that the boy who was quietly listening to the lecture from below the podium would be like that.

One day, in an underground laboratory, with an almost tyrannical absolute computing power, he will pull her and push open the door to a new world.

A crisp "ding" sounded.

Two wine glasses gently clinked together in mid-air.

Shen Qinglan, who is usually calm and composed and even meticulously calculates the tannin astringency when drinking red wine, made a move that slightly surprised Jiang Yan.

She tilted her head back, her fair and slender neck tracing a beautiful arc, and downed the full two ounces of red wine in one gulp.

"Cough..." Shen Qinglan coughed lightly because she had drunk too fast, and a charming blush quickly rose on her fair cheeks.

She put down her glass, her eyes slightly red, whether from the alcohol or her emotions, she couldn't tell.

"I really didn't expect this." Shen Qinglan looked directly into Jiang Yan's eyes, her voice trembling slightly as if a frozen silence had been broken.

"The person who completely overturned the table in the global solid-state battery race is not only my student, but also my man."

"Do you regret quitting your position as counselor now?" Jiang Yan rested his chin on his hand and poured another half glass.

Shen Qinglan shook her head, a self-deprecating yet relieved smile playing on her lips.

After a few rounds of drinks, the atmosphere in the private room became soft and ambiguous.

After a few glasses of red wine, Shen Qinglan's usual icy demeanor completely melted away.

She rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the glass of red wine with a somewhat dreamy look in her eyes, and suddenly murmured a story from the past.

"When I was a postdoctoral researcher at MIT, a nationally renowned materials science expert wanted to keep me on as a faculty member."

Shen Qinglan's voice was very soft, as if she were recalling something from a long time ago.

"He offered very attractive terms: a green card, an independent laboratory, and a million dollars in start-up funding. But I refused."

Jiang Yan listened quietly without interrupting.

"I told him I wanted to go back to China."

"I want to bring what I've learned in interface physics back to Tsinghua University."

Shen Qinglan took a deep breath, her fingers gripping the stem of the wine glass tightly.

"Guess what he said?"

"He said you don't know what's good for you?" Jiang Yan replied casually.

"He said something much harsher than that," Shen Qinglan sneered.

He pointed his finger at me and asserted, "Shen, China's research environment will only be stagnant."

"Going back would be self-destructive. If you stay there, you'll never publish a single article in a top-tier journal that can change the industry."

At this point, a deep sense of resentment and grievance flashed in Shen Qinglan's eyes.

"I've been holding this in for a long time."

"I spend all my time in the lab, I don't even dare to date."

"But..." she shook her head bitterly.

"I have to admit that some things can't be achieved by just stubbornly persisting. After returning to China, I haven't even gotten close to publishing a single article in a Nature sub-journal."

"Until... I met you."

Shen Qinglan raised her head, her beautiful eyes now brimming with tears, staring intently at Jiang Yan.

"Jiang Yan, do you know? This cover paper in Nature Energy is not just the leverage you used to move capital." Shen Qinglan's voice trembled slightly, carrying a pure resonance of ideals coming to fruition.

"It is also my most resounding answer to that arrogant mentor from back then!"

Looking at the woman in front of him, who had shed all pretense and revealed vulnerability and resentment, Jiang Yan felt a rare touch of emotion.

That's why he was willing to keep Shen Qinglan by his side.

She is not a canary; she is a comrade-in-arms with pure scientific integrity, who can stand shoulder to shoulder with him at the highest point to enjoy the view.

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"And I guarantee that soon, that mentor will see data he never dared to dream of," Jiang Yan said softly.

Then, as if by magic, he pulled a slender velvet box from the pocket of his trench coat and gently pushed it in front of Shen Qinglan.

"A celebration."

"Open it and take a look."

Shen Qinglan paused for a moment, then, with a hint of curiosity, carefully lifted the lid of the brocade box.

On the black velvet lining, lay a pure black Montblanc Meisterstück fountain pen, a bespoke design.

The pen body gleams with a cold, hard, and sophisticated metallic luster under the light.

Shen Qinglan picked up the pen, ran her fingers over the pen, and then her breath hitched.

On the inside of the pen clip, a line of small characters is engraved using an extremely exquisite laser engraving technique:

【DOI: 10.1038/s41560-xxx-xxx-x】

That's the unique identifier for the digital object automatically generated by their solid-state battery paper in the Nature Energy system!

Below that string of characters symbolizing the pinnacle of academic achievement, two even more eye-catching cursive English letters are engraved:

【J & S】

Jiang & Shen.

Jiang and Shen.

This is more than just a pen; it is the highest medal they have ever received for fighting side by side and tearing apart the old era.

This romance touched the heart of a female scientist more than any diamond the size of a pigeon's egg.

Shen Qinglan stroked the engraving on the pen. After a long while, she took a deep breath and carefully tucked the pen into the inner pocket of her trench coat.

She looked at Jiang Yan, her tone more firm and serious than ever before:

"Jiang Yan, starting today."

"I will sign all the academic papers published by Yanqiong Technology with this pen."

Jiang Yan looked at her, a satisfied smile playing on his lips, and raised his wine glass: "It's been a pleasure working with you, Professor Shen."