Chapter Summaries

Wu Chen’s research success began drawing public and academic attention as he prepared to help Jiang Nan’s pharmaceutical factory. He and Jiang Nan took the frightened Min Xinrou out for dinner, where Wu Chen’s intimidating presence discouraged other men and the women asked him to call Wang Hongfa.

• Xu Jianping saw news that Wu Chen had published seven papers in top journals in a month, while Chen Beitao told Wu Chen that his other five papers had also been published and invited him to lecture.
• Wu Chen told Jiang Nan he would be busy with academic work, and she asked him to handle the factory that day so her family’s production line could use his pill inspection system.
• Wu Chen and Jiang Nan found Min Xinrou waiting outside because she was afraid to return to the dormitory after Yang Yuanjing’s threatening look, so Jiang Nan took her to dinner.
• Jiang Nan directed Wu Chen to drive them to a Chaoshan beef hot pot restaurant in Pingfeng, where she and Min Xinrou began to relax over food.
• Wu Chen’s sharp glance deterred a group of young men from approaching Jiang Nan and Min Xinrou, and the two women noticed his unexpectedly intimidating side.
• After Wu Chen finished replying to messages about his papers, Jiang Nan asked him to call Wang Hongfa.

Wu Chen helped Min Xinrou move out of her hostile dormitory and settle into a rented room, then worked through the night with the Hazelnut Technology staff to modify the factory production line. The line was ready for a trial run, and Jiang Nan's parents arrived at the factory as Wu Chen tried to clarify his relationship with her.

• Wu Chen called Wang Hongfa and arranged for Min Xinrou to withdraw from the dormitory, while Wang Hongfa tried to make peace with him.
• Jiang Nan found Min Xinrou a cheap room, and she and Wu Chen helped her move in and settle there.
• Wu Chen arrived at Hazelnut Technology's factory and showed Chen Yongkang, Li Bin, and Zhao Hengrui the equipment he had brought to modify the production line.
• Wu Chen led the overnight production-line modifications, impressing Zhao Hengrui with his technical skill and explaining how to install the calibration board.
• After the work was completed, Wu Chen instructed Chen Yongkang to begin trial production and prioritize Jiangdong Pharmaceutical Factory's order.
• Jiang Nan called her parents over while Wu Chen was about to tell Chen Yongkang that he and Jiang Nan were only business partners.

Wu Chen met Jiang Hongyue and Lai Shuxian at the factory, where the family brought gifts for the workers as the factory prepared to resume production. He explained why he chose manufacturing and discussed the production line with Lai Shuxian, who wondered how he would get home so late.

• Jiang Hongyue and Lai Shuxian arrived with gifts for the factory workers, and Wu Chen and the others unloaded them into the warehouse.
• After the workers left, Jiang Hongyue worried about the difficulties facing manufacturing and asked why Wu Chen had chosen industry over the internet business.
• Wu Chen said manufacturing was the foundation of the economy and described his ambitions to make graphics cards and build a computing center.
• Jiang Hongyue offered to help Wu Chen find buyers, noting that Jiang Nan owned a share of his earnings.
• Lai Shuxian asked Wu Chen about his production-line modifications, listened to his detailed explanation, and then asked how he planned to get home.

Wu Chen borrowed Jiang Hongyue’s car and discovered that publishing his papers had earned him extra system draws. One draw upgraded his stamina, while another awarded the hidden skill Deep Reading, leaving him with a powerful new way to absorb and remember information.

• Lai Shuxian persuaded Wu Chen to borrow Jiang Hongyue’s car and invited him to dinner on Saturday, hoping to assess him as a potential partner for Jiang Nan.
• Jiang Nan told her parents she did not want to date, and Jiang Hongyue asked Lai Shuxian not to pressure her.
• Wu Chen checked his system and found that his engineering experience had increased and his eight published papers had earned him 80 Skill Points and three extra draws.
• Wu Chen’s first draw awarded a Stamina Potion, raising his stamina to Level 2 and restoring his energy while improving his physique.
• Wu Chen’s second draw landed on “Thank you for playing,” but the system revealed that he had won the hidden skill Deep Reading, which increased his reading speed, information capture, and memory a hundredfold for one hour each day.

Wu Chen obtained Small Modular Molten Salt Reactor Theory and decided he needed to rise in standing to promote fourth-generation nuclear power. At the university, Wang Hongfa saw an online smear campaign against Wu Chen backed by the Science and Public Policy Institute, which accused him of fabricating and plagiarizing his papers.

• Wu Chen drew Small Modular Molten Salt Reactor Theory and resolved to master it so he could push China toward thorium-fueled fourth-generation nuclear power.
• Wu Chen ran, saw his stamina progress rise from 7% to 7.5%, then drove to the university.
• Wu Chen asked Wang Hongfa whether Yang Yuanjing had been expelled, and Wang said he would raise it at a university meeting.
• Wang Hongfa emailed Lavrov about testing equipment, then Liu Ping showed him a viral Weibo post accusing Wu Chen of bullying Yang Yuanjing.
• Wang Hongfa found supportive comments from foreign organizations, including the Science and Public Policy Institute, which alleged Wu Chen's papers were fabricated and plagiarized.

Wang Hongfa welcomed an overseas NGO’s inquiry into the allegations against Wu Chen, while Wu Chen taught class and then worked on developing Spring Boot. After Jiang Nan arrived, Wu Chen prepared her to bait Wang Hongfa into investing more money in the SNN deal and covering his misused funds.

• Liu Ping told Wang Hongfa that the Science and Public Policy Institute wanted to speak with a school leader, and Wang agreed to discuss Wu Chen with its staff member.
• Wu Chen taught a Java EE practical class, dismissed students’ questions about Yang Yuanjing’s accusations, and decided to build Spring Boot to advance his engineering progress.
• Jiang Nan met Wu Chen at the School of Computer Science, gave him yogurt, and heard his instructions for persuading Wang Hongfa to raise his investment in the SNN deal.
• Wu Chen returned to coding Spring Boot and told Jiang Nan he was doing something that would truly change the industry.

Jiang Nan met with Wang Hongfa to discuss a pill-recognition project, but rejected his proposal that she help fund it because the expensive technology relied on questionable human intervention. Wang Hongfa tried to justify the cost with a story, while Jiang Nan remained unconvinced.

• Jiang Nan watched Wu Chen in his office and noticed how energetic he seemed after a late night and a morning of teaching.
• Jiang Nan visited Wang Hongfa, who probed her about whether she was dating Wu Chen and mentioned his unsuccessful effort to promote him.
• Wang Hongfa showed Jiang Nan Lavrov’s report that the recognition system had reached ninety-percent accuracy, but its implementation would cost 800,000 dollars.
• Wang Hongfa proposed forming a joint research team, with him investing a million and Jiang Nan covering the rest, but Jiang Nan refused to invest upfront.
• Jiang Nan questioned the technology’s reliability and the cost of human labor, while Wang Hongfa defended the project by recounting a story about workers laying roads by hand.

Jiang Nan and Wang Hongfa finalized a research collaboration between Jiangdong Pharmaceutical Factory and Xiaoheshan University of Technology, then she learned about the accusations against Wu Chen and found him after class. Wu Chen said he would call the police and confront the matter with President Xu, leaving Jiang Nan surprised by his apparent experience.

• Jiang Nan and Wang Hongfa agreed that Jiang Nan would contribute 500,000 yuan and Wang Hongfa’s school would provide four million yuan and a research team to develop and test a product, with Jiangdong Pharmaceutical Factory guaranteeing 30 million yuan in sales over three years.
• Wang Hongfa showed Jiang Nan trending searches about Wu Chen and warned her to be wary of him, but Jiang Nan defended Wu Chen’s published research before leaving.
• Wang Hongfa called Yang Yuanjing to tell her not to say too much, then prepared to inform President Xu Jianping about the collaboration and distance the university from her.
• Jiang Nan waited outside Wu Chen’s classroom and told him about the trending searches after class ended.
• Wu Chen said he would call the police and go to President Xu, and Jiang Nan wondered whether Wu Chen had dealt with situations like this before.

Wu Chen reassured Jiang Nan about the online controversy, and she warned him before leaving to handle factory work. At Xu Jianping’s office, he met reporter Shen Jia, who said she wanted to interview him about Yang Yuanjing and the authenticity of his seven top-journal papers.

• Jiang Nan told Wu Chen that she had negotiated with Wang Hongfa and trusted Chen Beitao’s judgment, despite Wu Chen’s doubts about the SNN-based vision project.
• Jiang Nan warned Wu Chen about the trending topic, and Wu Chen said he could handle it; before she left, he gave her a Starbucks Frappuccino and thanked her for helping at the factory.
• Wu Chen went to Xu Jianping’s office, where police officers were reprimanding a tearful Yang Yuanjing and Wang Hongfa was waiting with reporter Shen Jia.
• Xu Jianping introduced Shen Jia, a University of Technology alumna working for 1818 Golden Eye, and she explained that she wanted to interview Wu Chen about Yang Yuanjing and whether his seven top-journal papers were genuine.
• Wu Chen said he had a question.

Wu Chen corrected Shen Jia about his eight papers and faced questions about the student controversy and foreign research claims. Xu Jianping announced that Wu Chen had been appointed a full professor, then invited him to explain his research on camera.

• Wu Chen told Shen Jia that he had published eight papers and explained why his FCS paper would become a top journal next year.
• Shen Jia questioned Wu Chen about the female student controversy, and he redirected the question toward Wang Hongfa.
• Shen Jia asked whether Wu Chen could have independently produced research results that foreign experts had not yet published.
• Wang Hongfa began to describe Wu Chen as a lecturer under consideration for associate professor, but Xu Jianping interrupted and announced Wu Chen’s appointment as a full professor.
• Yang Yuanjing asked Xu Jianping for another chance, but he refused, and she fled the office as the police officers followed her.
• Xu Jianping invited Professor Wu to explain his research on camera.