October in Huizhou, and the wind carried a palpable chill.
The old camphor trees on the Keda campus still stood tall, but when a gust of wind blew past, a few yellow-edged leaves would fall, spinning down onto the smooth pavement.
Occasionally, a student on a bicycle would hurry past, their wheels rolling over the fallen leaves with a soft, rustling sound.
Chen Zhuo walked toward the School of Physics’ office building.
He had no classes this morning.
To be precise, he rarely attended classes anymore, aside from the mandatory Ideological and Political course.
Walking into the School of Physics building, the hallways were quiet. The large pieces of equipment in the labs seemed to be down for maintenance, lacking their usual humming sound.
He took the stairs to the third floor and walked with practiced ease to the door of the vice dean’s office.
Chen Zhuo raised his hand and knocked lightly on the door twice with his knuckles.
"Come in."
Alchemist’s voice came from inside, sounding full and resonant, carrying an unconcealable sense of satisfaction.
Chen Zhuo pushed the door open and walked in.
A rich aroma of tea filled the office.
Alchemist wasn’t sitting behind his large desk. Instead, he was standing in front of a low cabinet against the wall, holding a purple clay teapot and pouring tea into two white porcelain cups.
He wore a neatly ironed light blue shirt, his hair combed perfectly in place. Despite having rushed to the Capital City and back over the past few days, Alchemist’s face showed no signs of fatigue—no stubble, and certainly no bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep.
On the contrary, he looked several years younger, with an unshakeable, sharp edge in his eyes.
"Professor."
Chen Zhuo closed the door behind him and greeted him warmly.
Alchemist turned his head. Seeing it was Chen Zhuo, the smile on his face immediately deepened.
He put down the purple clay teapot, beckoned to Chen Zhuo, and pointed to the sofa.
"Sit. I just brewed some Xinyang Maojian Tea. Have a taste."
Chen Zhuo walked over to the sofa and sat down.
Alchemist didn’t rush to serve the tea. Instead, he walked around the coffee table to the door, took the handle, and with a CLICK, locked it from the inside.
Next, he walked to the window and adjusted the blinds, completely blocking any view from the outside.
The series of actions was very natural, but the atmosphere in the room grew slightly heavy in that moment.
Alchemist walked back and sat down on the armchair across from Chen Zhuo. He picked up his own cup and blew on the floating tea leaves.
"The other side has conceded."
Alchemist’s first words, delivered without any prelude or pleasantries, were quiet but carried immense weight.
Chen Zhuo’s hand, reaching for his teacup, paused. He looked at Alchemist, not rushing to reply, but quietly waiting for him to continue.
"We were at a stalemate at the negotiating table for five whole days. It was tough."
Alchemist took a sip of tea, his gaze fixed straight ahead, as if he were still reliving the moments in that smokeless battlefield of a conference room.
"At first, the foreigners were completely intransigent. Relying on their head start in aerodynamics, they wouldn’t give an inch on the core parameters. Their high-and-mighty attitude was truly infuriating."
Alchemist paused, then turned to look at Chen Zhuo.
"But the afternoon before last, when we put the supercomputer data—generated from your algorithm—squarely in front of them, their lead negotiator, the one from the German Side, just stared at the screen for a full two minutes without saying a word."
As he said this, the corners of Alchemist’s mouth lifted into an irrepressible smile.
"They requested a recess. Three recesses in one afternoon. By the time we sat back down at the negotiating table that evening, their attitude had changed."
Alchemist placed his teacup back on the coffee table with a crisp clink.
"The hardware and software have been unbundled. They dropped their demand to bundle the software for two hundred million euros. We got the hardware manufacturing standards and blueprints we really needed. We managed to scuttle their toughest demand."
Alchemist looked at Chen Zhuo, his eyes filled with undisguised admiration.
Chen Zhuo listened quietly, his expression remaining placid. He cupped the white porcelain teacup in his palm, feeling its warmth.
"Professor, on this trip to the Capital City, you’ve really done our country proud."
Chen Zhuo said softly, a gentle smile on his face.
"As long as that software bundling demand has been broken, getting the rest of the technical details is just a matter of time. You should finally be able to get a good night’s sleep these next few days."
Chen Zhuo’s words were tactful. He didn’t press for sensitive details about the negotiations, nor did he smugly take any credit.
Hearing this, Alchemist felt a wave of relief and contentment. He smiled and pointed at Chen Zhuo.
"You kid, you always talk like such an old man. But this time, you and Zhang Yuan’s team truly deserve the top credit. Without the model you cooked up in that lab, I wouldn’t have been able to stand so tall at the negotiating table."
After speaking, Alchemist stood up and walked behind his desk.
He took a thick envelope from a locked drawer, along with a small box of red ink paste and a black pen.
Alchemist returned with these items and sat down again.
He unwound the string on the envelope and pulled out three documents with red letterheads.
The atmosphere in the room turned solemn once more.
Alchemist pushed the documents in front of Chen Zhuo, along with the pen.
"This is the ’National Major Science and Technology Project Confidentiality Agreement’."
Alchemist’s tone became strictly business, devoid of its earlier ease.
"It’s in triplicate. Although the negotiations have achieved a milestone, the security classification for this matter has also been raised accordingly."

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