Added to the National Important Reserve Talents List

"This is Qin Yuzhu," Chen Xihe said with a smile as he introduced her to Mo Jingchun. As for Qin Yuzhu's identity, whether he left it out on purpose or simply forgot, Academician Chen Xihe didn't say a word.

"Hello, I'm Qin Yuzhu. I'm ten years older than you, so you can call me Sister Qin."

Unlike the lieutenant colonel, Qin Yuzhu reached out to shake Mo Jingchun's hand. From beginning to end, she wore the same unwavering smile.

"Hello, I'm Mo Jingchun, a first-year student at Jing University."

Mo Jingchun's brief introduction made Qin Yuzhu think more highly of him. Although he seemed to have mentioned it casually, it was quite clear that he'd said it on purpose.

Never underestimate the significance of being a Jing University student. That identity came with a vast network of connections behind it.

After the three of them sat down again, the room fell quiet. Mo Jingchun gazed eagerly at Academician Chen Xihe.

"Ahem. Xiao Chun, this is a bit embarrassing to admit, but a whole group of people tried to crack your encryption algorithm using a supercomputer, and none of them could. Sigh, thank goodness it was you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known where to put my old face."

If it were really that easy to crack, that would be the strange thing, Mo Jingchun thought.

"About what you said a few days ago—does that offer still stand?"

Mo Jingchun blinked. "You mean cutting down the Attitude Balance Algorithm for the Smart Anti-Shake Spoon so that it only supports the Smart Anti-Shake Spoon?"

"Right, right. And there's also the military cooperation matter. Qin Yuzhu will discuss that with you." To be honest, Chen Xihe was genuinely worried about using the original Attitude Balance Algorithm in the Smart Anti-Shake Spoon. If someone with ulterior motives got hold of it and ported it to other platforms, the consequences could be serious.

The conversation in the living room then shifted to Qin Yuzhu and Mo Jingchun. Academician Chen Xihe and the lieutenant colonel remained silent.

"Here's the situation. From what we've learned from Academician Chen Xihe, the Attitude Balance Algorithm you designed can be optimized for specific applications to achieve better results."

"So, our proposal is to pay you a consulting fee of 600,000 yuan for optimizing the Attitude Balance Algorithm for each specialized project. This would be a long-term arrangement."

"The other option is for us to pay 10 million yuan for the right to use the source code of the Attitude Balance Algorithm. Our own staff would independently optimize it for specific applications. If they ran into a problem they couldn't solve, we would pay you a consulting fee of 100,000 yuan each time."

"Of course, whichever option you choose, the money you receive will be exempt from personal income tax. You'll get the full amount."

"Mr. Mo Jingchun, which option do you think would suit you?"

Mo Jingchun had no experience, so he had no idea which option to choose. He was especially worried about the second one: if he handed over the source code to the government, even if they were only getting the right to use it, he feared it might leak.

After all, there were no walls in this world that were completely airtight.

Mo Jingchun looked to Academician Chen Xihe for help.

"Ahem. Xiao Qin, isn't 600,000 a little low? I think 660,000 sounds good. It's a lucky number!"

Qin Yuzhu's smile remained unchanged, but there was a hint of reproach in her eyes.

Besides, as far as Qin Yuzhu knew, Mo Jingchun wasn't even Academician Chen Xihe's student. They were just neighbors who had met recently, and Chen Xihe had given Mo Jingchun some guidance a while back.

What's more, if they cooperated, the country would offer Mo Jingchun more than just money. There were also certain benefits that, for various reasons, couldn't be stated outright.

Qin Yuzhu was silent for a while before replying, "All right, 660,000. If you agree, we'll sign the contract."

Chen Xihe took a sip of tea and nodded to Mo Jingchun.

Mo Jingchun was struggling to contain his excitement as he nodded to Qin Yuzhu. But what she did next instantly calmed him down.

Qin Yuzhu pulled a thick stack of contracts from her black briefcase and deftly took out two bound copies from the middle.

She pulled them out from the middle! I was too careless!

Seeing Mo Jingchun's stiff smile, Chen Xihe blew on the steam above his teacup and said calmly:

"Come on, don't make that face. Sure, 660,000 wasn't the maximum, but some things couldn't be bought with money. Once you've grown up a bit, you'll understand whether you came out ahead today."

The cooperation talks finally came to an end when the little one, Candy, began babbling impatiently.

A little over ten minutes later, when Mo Jingchun left Academician Chen Xihe's home, he had a black-and-white contract in hand and a big smile on his face. Only the four of them knew what they'd discussed during those ten minutes to make him so happy. There was also the little one, who had heard the conversation, but only if she'd understood any of it!

In Candy's little mind, she was probably still thinking about how hungry she was and how she wanted food and milk.

Past ten o'clock that night, Candy had long since fallen asleep beside her Ultraman plushie. Mo Jingchun had finally finished designing every aspect of the Smart Anti-Shake Spoon, along with the assembly sequence.

Next, he just had to buy all the components. Anything he couldn't find would have to be custom-made. Once all the parts were ready, he could assemble the first Smart Anti-Shake Spoon.

At that moment, Chen Xihe was so happy he felt like humming a little tune.

Mo Jingchun was even imagining what he'd do with the money from his first sale: should he buy the little one a few new outfits, or get her a crib?

Of course, he'd buy both!

Mo Jingchun sat in front of his laptop screen, grinning foolishly as he imagined all sorts of wonderful things.

Meanwhile, in an underground archive in the Capital where day and night made no difference, Mo Jingchun's original personal records were stamped with one red seal after another. At last, they were placed in an archive box, sealed, and stamped "Confidential."

At the same time, another name was added to a list. In the last column on the final page were the three characters Mo Jingchun knew better than anyone: "Mo Jingchun."

Mo Jingchun had been added to the National Important Reserve Talents List, but he had no idea.

Academician Chen Xihe knew, of course. But since this was classified information, he wouldn't tell Mo Jingchun without authorization.

The next day, Mo Jingchun took his little sister, Candy, to class as usual. Neither Academician Chen Xihe nor Sister Qin had said when the first collaboration would begin or what the project would involve.

But Mo Jingchun wasn't in a hurry. Even if he had been, there was nothing he could do about it.

During the break between classes, class monitor Yang Xiaoyu came over to find him again.

"Are you really sure you won't apply? The preliminary selection is this Friday."

Mo Jingchun smiled helplessly. "Class monitor, this is the third time you've asked me today. I really don't plan to apply. I truly don't need this subsidy right now."