Dr. Xu Qingzhou returned from sunny Sanya.
This group trip for the research department had cost quite a bit. After all, winter was peak season in Hainan, and neither hotels nor plane tickets came with discounts.
Yet Gao Yuan did not care about that. For one thing, the company was running well. For every ton of X Fiber sold, nearly twenty thousand yuan in net profit came in. Saying he was making money hand over fist every day would not be an exaggeration.
For another, Gao Yuan understood the value of talent.
Why did so many scientific researchers go to Europe and America? Was it not because the compensation there was better, the work was less demanding, there were fewer clueless leaders meddling in professional matters, and research funding was relatively easier to get approved?
Some bosses spent all day making empty promises and pumping their employees full of motivational nonsense. But the moment real money came up, they started hemming and hawing.
Bosses like that were usually useless besides talking big. They might fool one or two young, inexperienced employees, but truly intelligent, logical elites would never stay at a company run by a liar who spouted nonsense all day.
When Dr. Xu Qingzhou returned, he was visibly much darker from the sun, but he was in good spirits. His satisfaction with Gao Yuan as a boss had also reached an all-time high.
However, good times did not last. They soon felt immense pressure as Gao Yuan pushed them to write papers every day. Anyone who failed to submit on time, or whose paper did not meet the required standard, could forget about Lunar New Year bonuses and benefits.
Thus, Dr. Xu Qingzhou and the others could only curse evil capitalism under their breath while staying up through the night to rush their drafts.
Fortunately, building a Chinese academic website for materials science was something everyone welcomed. Complaints aside, they still held great expectations for the future.
Meanwhile, Gao Yuan used online media to promote his website, spreading the news that the papers would soon be published.
"I've waited far too long! Once Kunlun Asking the Way goes online, I'll definitely read Mr. Gao Yuan's masterpiece!"
"Support! X Fiber is the pride of domestic products, a true super technology! It deserves a Nobel Prize!"
"Kunlun Asking the Way? That's a nice name. It has a real artistic feel to it."
For a time, the entire circle exploded with activity. Everyone made posts expressing their expectations and support.
"By the way, why publish such an important paper on Boss Gao's own website instead of in Science?"
"Could it have been rejected by Science?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Would Science dare reject Boss Gao's paper? Unless they were insane. So many academic journals around the world are begging Boss Gao to publish with them."
"Anyway, something feels off. Otherwise, Boss Gao would not pass up so many authoritative journals just to publish on his own website."
"What the hell do you know? Boss Gao is a businessman, and Kunlun Asking the Way is his business too. As long as he draws traffic there, the money will come pouring in. Then he can still publish in top journals afterward."
"You're making Boss Gao sound way too sleazy. He doesn't seem like someone driven solely by profit."
Many people did not understand what was going on. They could not figure out why Gao Yuan insisted on publishing papers on his own website, and some even made malicious speculations.
Gao Yuan was speechless about it. He complained to Dr. Xu Qingzhou, "The West has not only brainwashed ordinary people; it has brainwashed academia to a terminal degree too. These days, our scholars and top students treat publishing in Western journals as the natural order of things. The moment someone occasionally breaks the rules, they get suspected of having ulterior motives."
Dr. Xu Qingzhou comforted Gao Yuan. "Ignore them. Some people are like that. Their own minds are full of filth, so they assume everyone else is the same."
"If you ask me, the more it is like this, the more people like you need to stand up and rally everyone. Not everyone needs to understand your views. As long as some people can accept them, that is already a tremendous success!"
He truly was a friend who shared his values. Gao Yuan nodded slightly, though he also found Dr. Xu Qingzhou's wording rather funny.
"What do you mean, people like me standing up and rallying everyone? It's not like I'm some important figure."
Dr. Xu Qingzhou looked at him seriously and said with conviction, "In technological innovation, the X series fiber is an epoch-making technology. It is the most powerful invention in materials chemistry in decades, and it is destined to be recorded in history forever!"
"In business, you created the strategic partnership system, firmly tying one powerful major corporation after another to your own war chariot. Not only did you avoid being controlled by capital, you even made countless capitalists conquer territory for you!"
"In character, X2 thermal fiber has spared soldiers on the snowy plateau from the ravages of cold, while Silver Frost bulletproof fiber will protect the lives of countless soldiers!"
"In academia, you rejected every temptation. You were even willing to forgo the glory of a Nobel Prize in order to fully advance the use of native languages for academic papers and the independence of scientific research!"
"If someone like you is not qualified to raise an arm and call out, then I do not think anyone in this world is qualified."
Dr. Xu Qingzhou's praise made Gao Yuan feel embarrassed. Deep down, he was actually an ordinary person from a humble background. Since his parents came from the north and south respectively, his favorite foods were dumplings and sweet tofu pudding—a truly... chaotic combination of tastes.
No matter what, Gao Yuan had been pushed into the eye of the storm.
At ten in the morning on February 5th, the livestream channel opened first, while the Kunlun Asking the Way website was scheduled to officially launch at exactly noon.
Gao Yuan's idea was simple: use the time before the website launch to say a few heartfelt words, give a brief speech explaining why he insisted on promoting academic papers in the native language, and build momentum for Kunlun Asking the Way along the way.
The livestream took place in Gao Yuan's office. It could be watched through Bilibili, Douyin, iQiyi, and other major video platforms.
"Gao Yuan, come out already!"
"Let's see whether you really are young and handsome!"
"Who's richer, Gao Yuan or Principal Wang?"
"At only twenty-one, he invented X Fiber and became an important supplier to the PLA. Boss Gao is China's youngest super-rich tycoon. Whoever marries him will be blessed!"
A close look at the scrolling comments made it easy to see that this livestream had spread far beyond its usual circle. Not only were professionals from the materials chemistry field watching, but many students on winter break and onlookers from other industries were also watching out of curiosity.
The main reason behind this was Gao Yuan's personal wealth.
Around the New Year, someone who loved stirring things up had made a post claiming that, based on Kunlun Company's current standing and the patent value of X Fiber, Gao Yuan had already become one of China's richest tycoons, not far behind Daddy Ma.
Gao Yuan was only twenty-one. His rise had been as swift as a rocket tearing through the sky. Before the major rich lists could even include him, he had already achieved fame and success.
That post instantly went viral and was wildly hyped by media outlets everywhere.
If it had been someone else, they might have taken the opportunity to promote themselves and ride the publicity to greater prominence.
But Gao Yuan had no awareness of such things. Besides, in this era, news always came and went quickly. Within a few days, everyone had forgotten about China's youngest wealthy tycoon.
Then February arrived. His papers were about to be published, the Kunlun Asking the Way website was about to launch, and Gao Yuan was about to hold his first online livestream.
These pieces of news came one after another, and self-media accounts seized the chance to hype them aggressively.
Thus, Gao Yuan became the center of attention again. Countless people came to watch his livestream simply because they wanted to see China's youngest rich tycoon.
As for what X series fiber was or what a super honeycomb structure was, the onlookers did not understand at all, nor did they care.
Uh...
Why are there so many people...
At that moment, Gao Yuan stared at the rapidly growing viewer count in the livestream room and the crazily refreshing scrolling comments, looking somewhat bewildered.
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