「The next morning.」
Li Dong and Liu Ruochuan left their hotel and got into the business van sent by Huaxuan Technology.
Li Dong leaned back in his seat, lost in a daze.
The previous night, he had gone over the contour integral derivation from Riemann’s Manuscript in his mind three times. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was still a layer of understanding he hadn’t pierced through.
"What are you thinking about?" Liu Ruochuan asked with a yawn.
"Nothing, Professor."
Li Dong snapped back to reality.
Liu Ruochuan continued.
"Lin Wei mentioned that it won’t just be him this time. Someone from the parent group is coming too."
"The parent group?"
"National Power Equipment?"
Li Dong was slightly taken aback.
The National Power Equipment Group.
As the leader in Huaxia’s semiconductor equipment industry, its full name was the Huaxia Guowei Equipment Manufacturing Group Co., Ltd.
Its core subsidiaries included Huaxuan Technology, National Pride Microelectronics, and Changguang Precision, which was just integrated last year.
The group’s business covered the entire industry chain, from light sources, optical lens assemblies, and motion stages to immersion systems.
Huaxuan Technology was just the part responsible for the assembly of the immersion lithography system.
In other words, although Lin Wei was the Vice President and CTO of Huaxuan Technology, within the larger National Power Equipment system, he was merely a middle manager.
The van pulled to a stop in front of the Huaxuan Technology Headquarters Building.
Lin Wei was already waiting there.
But he wasn’t the main character today.
Standing behind him was a tall man.
The man was in his early fifties, dressed in a navy-blue suit.
Lin Wei was the first to approach them.
"Dean Liu, Li Dong, it must have been a long trip."
"Come, let me make an introduction."
"This is the Executive Vice President of the National Power Equipment Group, President Lu Zhengming."
Executive Vice President.
Li Dong’s heart skipped a beat.
For a top-tier Huaxia conglomerate the size of National Power Equipment, there would be two or three Vice Presidents under the President.
The word "Executive" in his title meant he was the one actually running day-to-day operations. Major investments and strategic technology projects at the group level basically all required his signature for approval.
Lu Zhengming took the lead, walking toward Liu Ruochuan and enthusiastically extending a hand.
"Dean Liu, I’ve heard so much about you!"
"I’ve been wanting to find an opportunity to visit you for some time, but unfortunately, we folks in the industrial sector rarely get to connect with an academic titan like yourself."
His tone was very humble.
Liu Ruochuan smiled and shook his hand.
"President Lu, you’re too kind. This is my first time at Huaxuan’s headquarters. It’s been quite an eye-opening experience."
"Haha, please come more often in the future."
After letting go of Liu Ruochuan’s hand, Lu Zhengming turned his gaze to Li Dong, who was standing to the side.
"And you must be Li Dong?"
"So young and so accomplished!"
"To have already published a paper in a top international journal at such a young age... and I also heard you have another recent article that solved a major problem in the world of mathematics, the Montgomery Conjecture?"
Li Dong wanted to say that he hadn’t solved it, merely advanced it.
But he stopped himself before the words came out.
Clearly, this Executive Vice President of National Power Equipment didn’t come from an academic background.
The only reason he knew these things was because he had done his homework beforehand.
Getting this far already showed his sincerity.
Li Dong suppressed a smile and nodded.
"President Lu, you flatter me."
"Come, let’s talk inside!" Lu Zhengming said, leading the way.
In the fourth-floor conference room, there were only four people in total.
Lu Zhengming, Lin Wei, Liu Ruochuan, and Li Dong.
Lu Zhengming started the conversation, which centered around Li Dong’s age, his academic journey, and his scholarly achievements.
"Nineteen years old..."
"When I was nineteen, I was still hauling bricks on a construction site."
After a round of Chinese-style pleasantries,
Lu Zhengming’s expression gradually turned serious.
He looked at Li Dong.
"Li Dong, I came here today in good faith, so let’s not beat around the bush."
"Your iterative algorithm has undergone a joint evaluation and verification by our internal Technical Review Committee and the Equipment Development Department of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense."
"The consensus is that it holds irreplaceable strategic value for the engineering implementation of our entire extreme ultraviolet lithography immersion flow control system."
The Technical Review Committee was the highest level of technical decision-making within Huaxuan Technology.
As for the Equipment Development Department of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense... they weren’t a group that just anyone could persuade.
This meant the value of Li Dong’s algorithm was no longer limited to the commercial level.
It had been incorporated into the framework of a national-level strategic technology initiative.
"So..."
Lu Zhengming looked directly into Li Dong’s eyes.
"Regarding the offer Vice President Lin previously made you, I think we can sweeten the deal."
He spoke very directly, without the probing so common among businessmen.
As the "national team" in Huaxia’s semiconductor equipment sector, National Power Equipment had never operated by haggling over prices or pinching pennies since the day it was founded.
They knew all too well what was truly important.
In the face of a core bottleneck technology, all petty profits were like passing clouds.
Not every company possessed this kind of perspective.
Although Lu Zhengming came from an administrative management background and had a businessman’s shrewdness in his bones, shrewdness and stinginess were two different things.
His shrewdness lay in knowing where money ought to be spent.
"Your position as a consultant remains unchanged."
"But for the annual salary, I’ll raise it to ten million."
The moment this figure was mentioned, even Liu Ruochuan, who was sitting beside him, couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
An annual salary of ten million.
For a nineteen-year-old college freshman, this number was already absurd enough.
But in Lu Zhengming’s eyes, it was a very reasonable offer.
"As for the returns from the technological commercialization after the algorithm is implemented..."
"Five hundred million."
The conference room fell silent for two seconds.
Lu Zhengming continued.
"However, this money can’t be given to you all at once."
"This five hundred million will be paid in installments based on three core milestones of the engineering implementation."
"First installment: when the algorithm passes the full-process simulation verification for the immersion flow control system and reaches the industrial-grade precision threshold, we will pay you one hundred million."
"Second installment: when the algorithm is integrated into the actual lithography hardware platform and completes its first full-chain, closed-loop test, we will pay another one hundred and fifty million."
"And finally, when the complete machine enters mass production and the algorithm module passes the 72-hour continuous stability test under extreme working conditions, we will pay the remaining two hundred and fifty million."
He looked at Li Dong and explained.
"Every payment requires joint signed confirmation from three parties: the group’s Technical Committee, a third-party independent evaluation agency, and the project office of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense."
"This is a strict rule of the group’s financial management, and it applies to everyone, no matter who they are."
His attitude was very candid.
After hearing the entire proposal, the expression on Liu Ruochuan’s face was quite a sight to behold.
He had originally come with Li Dong to negotiate a higher price.
Before they left, he had even mentally prepared a complete negotiation script.
But as it turned out, Lu Zhengming had laid all his cards on the table right from the start.
A ten-million-a-year salary plus five hundred million?
How could they possibly negotiate up from that?
In what direction could they even push?
"This offer..."
Liu Ruochuan mulled it over in his mind.
To be honest, it was quite fair.
First, even before the algorithm was implemented, they were offering a ten-million-a-year consultant fee.
And while that five hundred million wasn’t a huge amount for National Power Equipment—in fact, the value generated by Li Dong’s algorithm after implementation would far exceed that number—...you couldn’t calculate it that way.
From equipment R&D to mass production, there was a long series of processes in between, including process validation, yield ramp-up, production line debugging, and customer certification.
During this period, the continuous investment National Power Equipment would need to make in R&D, equipment procurement, and labor costs would add up to tens of billions, at the very least.
Therefore, the installment plan Lu Zhengming proposed not only guaranteed Li Dong’s interests but also complied with the financial discipline expected of a top-tier Huaxia enterprise like National Power Equipment.
Liu Ruochuan sighed inwardly.
’It feels like I’m not very useful here...’
However, he suddenly thought of something.
"President Lu."
Liu Ruochuan spoke up.
"Regarding the compensation, this proposal is very sincere."
"However, I’d like to add one condition."
Lu Zhengming made a "go on" gesture.
"In the future, when Li Dong is conducting his basic research, he may need to borrow your company’s experimental facilities."
After hearing this, Lu Zhengming didn’t hesitate at all. Instead, he laughed.
"Oh, that? You can just talk to Vice President Lin about it."
"We have always been strong supporters of outstanding young scholars. The doors to our labs are always open to you."
Lin Wei quickly chimed in.
"No problem, Dean Liu, Li Dong. I’ll fast-track the access permissions for the experimental facilities. We can coordinate it anytime."
Liu Ruochuan nodded in satisfaction.
This was his main purpose for coming today.
As for money, Lu Zhengming had offered more than enough.
But something like a laboratory wasn’t a resource you could just buy with money; it required connections and trust.
Today’s trip was worth it.
And throughout the entire conversation,
Lu Zhengming had been secretly observing Li Dong’s reaction.
He noticed that the young man had been exceptionally calm from beginning to end.
Whether it was hearing about the ten-million-a-year salary or the five hundred million, his expression had barely changed at all.
"Not bad."
Lu Zhengming nodded to himself inwardly.
’He’s young, but his temperament is very steady. Not the type whose eyes light up at the mere mention of money.’
’This kind of person is worth a long-term partnership.’
What Lu Zhengming didn’t know, however, was...
...that at this very moment, Li Dong’s brain was performing some very basic arithmetic.
’Five hundred million... how many zeros is that after the five?’
’500,000,000... eight zeros.’
’Ten million a year, plus five hundred million...’
’The housing prices in Jiangcheng are about five thousand per square meter, right?’
’With five hundred million, I could buy...’
Li Dong calculated silently in his head.
’About a thousand apartments?’
’No, wait, I’d have to pay taxes.’
’Still, that’s at least eight hundred apartments, right?’
’Damn, eight hundred apartments... Does this mean I’ll never have to squeeze onto a bus again when I go out?’
’Can I get my mom an apartment with an elevator?’
’And Old Yang! I’ll buy one for Old Yang too!’
’And maybe buy a car for Liu Liang? Nah, that guy doesn’t even have a driver’s license...’
So, what Lu Zhengming perceived as calm composure was actually just Li Dong’s CPU being completely occupied by the question of "how much can I buy with five hundred million," leaving him with no spare processing power to display any emotion.
While Li Dong and Liu Ruochuan were at the Huaxuan Technology Headquarters, back in Kyoto, the phone rang in the office of the International Cooperation and Exchange Department at Yan University.

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