Scholar’s Advanced Technological System

The interview came to an end.

Belinda put away the audio recording device and smiled.

“Oh yeah, can we take a photo of you?”

Lu Zhou: “Photo?”

Belinda nodded and said, “Yeah, we plan on making you the cover person of this week’s Nature Weekly issue.”

Cover person?

Lu Zhou awkwardly smiled.

This… I’m embarrassed.

Speaking of which, he didn’t even remember how many magazine covers he had been on.

“No problem… I’ll send my photo to your email?”

“No need for that, we have a photographer here, so we’ll just take a photo right now.” Belinda nodded at her colleague and smiled toward Lu Zhou. She said, “Most people are curious about what your office looks like. Is it fine if we take a photo here?”

“Sure…” Lu Zhou looked around his office. He then looked down at his t-shirt and said, “Can I change clothes?”

Belinda smiled and said, “Just wear the same thing, it seems more academic.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

It took an hour just to take one photo, and it was more tiring than the interview itself.

When the Nature Weekly photographer finally made an OK gesture, it was already dusk.

All in all, the photo was pretty good. Even though it didn’t totally reflect Lu Zhou’s handsomeness, it was still a seven or eight out of ten.

After the interviewer left, Lu Zhou went to the cafeteria.

Like usual, he ordered a bowl of barbecue meat on rice and sat down at a quiet, secluded area. He was about to eat his food when he heard Yan Yan’s footsteps. She wore a white coat today. She walked toward him and placed her food tray across from him.

Lu Zhou was a little startled. He began to eat while talking to her.

“You eat at the school cafeteria as well?”

“Of course, where else am I supposed to eat? I’m living in one of the school apartments right now, and I don’t have a kitchen.” Yan Yan took a pair of disposable chopsticks and gently blew her noodle soup. She lifted the bowl and took a small sip, which left her with a satisfied look on her face.

She then put down the bowl. When she saw Lu Zhou’s bowl of meat and rice, she couldn’t help but ask, “Are you not sick of eating meat and rice all day?”

“Sick?” Lu Zhou stopped moving his chopsticks and smiled. “Why would I? There’s spicy-flavored meat, curry-flavored, tomato-flavored… I think there are more than seven flavors? If I wanted to, I can even put Lao Gan Ma sauce on it.”

Yan Yan was speechless. She couldn’t think of a counterargument.

After a while, she sighed.

“You should still try to eat healthier and more nutritious food. Eating this kind of fast food isn’t good for your health, you’ll gain weight.”

“Oh, I don’t care.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I’m the type of person that can’t gain weight no matter how much I eat. I’ll be happy to gain weight.”

Yan Yan: “…”

F*ck sake!

I’m jealous!

After Lu Zhou finished his meal, he walked around the campus while thinking about the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem. A lot of students recognized him and greeted him, to which he smiled and greeted them back.

Lu Zhou walked from the lecture buildings to the observatory, then back to the library. He saw it was getting late, so he called Wang Peng and was about to ask him for a ride back home.

However, when he opened his contact list, he saw an incoming call from Chen Yushan.

Lu Zhou picked up the call and put his phone next to his ear.

“Hello?”

A pleasant voice came from the other end of the phone.

“Little brother, Little brother, did you eat yet?”

Lu Zhou was too lazy to complain about his nickname.

“Yeah, I ate.”

“Oh? You already ate…” The other end of the phone sounded a little disappointed. However, she quickly said, “Do you want to get a cup of coffee then?”

Lu Zhou was a little full, so he didn’t want to drink coffee.

However, judging by her tone of voice, she was probably near campus.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit before asking, “Which cafe?”

As expected, she immediately replied in a cheerful voice, “The place outside the campus entrance! Come over, I’m already waiting for you here!”

…

Cafe outside the school entrance.

When the cafe door was opened, Chen Yushan, who was sitting near a window, heard a bell sound. She looked up and saw Lu Zhou walking into the cafe.

She waved her hand happily as she called out, “Over here!”

Lu Zhou sat down across from her. He warmed his hand by cupping the hot cup of mocha and looked at Chen Yushan.

Her delicate face was lightly coated with makeup, and she had a white off-the-shoulder top and a light red skirt on. If it weren’t for her professional aura, one could easily mistake her for one of the university students.

These two had been friends for a long time, so Chen Yushan didn’t waste any time on small talk. She immediately took out a contract from her bag and placed it on the table. She looked at Lu Zhou and smiled.

“Look at this.”

Lu Zhou picked up the contract and briefly glanced at it.

“What is this?”

Chen Yushan smiled and explained, “Zhongshan New Materials’ letter of intent.”

“Zhongshan New Materials?” This name sounded familiar. Lu Zhou flipped through the letter of intent and said, “Patent license for lithium-sulfur battery anode material and cathode materials, and 15 million yuan, in exchange for 15% of shares. Both parties will cooperate in technology research… Is there any point in buying this company?”

He didn’t really ask questions about his investments, but when it came to major decisions, Chen Yushan would take his input.

Chen Yushan’s soft lips gently bit on her iced americano straw. She looked at Lu Zhou and smiled.

“The state is trying to standardize clean energy vehicle batteries, right? Several domestic automotive energy giants are participating in this project. Apparently, they’re trying to separate the battery component from the automobile so that they can develop standardized battery specifications, which will be produced by battery manufacturers. Rumor is, when the time comes, more than 40 billion yuan of subsidies will enter the battery production market. Right now, it is the best time to invest in battery production.

“Since we don’t have any battery production experience, our best way of eating a piece of this pie is to jump on the bandwagon.”

Lu Zhou knew about this battery standardization news since he was partly responsible for this proposal.

After automobile batteries were standardized, it would be equivalent to buying cars without batteries. They wouldn’t have to wait to charge at gas stations anymore. They could just replace the battery and continue on their journey. As for a series of concerns, such as battery degradation or damage, this can all be included in the cost of the battery replacement. Car owners also wouldn’t be allowed to dismantle their temporary batteries.

Considering the fact that in three years, the penetration of fusion electric energy would be more than 80%, the cost of electricity would be extremely cheap by then. Even including all of the additional costs, the average cost per kilometer for electric vehicles would be much lower than traditional gas vehicles.

But I don’t think the state has approved this policy yet, right?

Lu Zhou hadn’t heard anything about it.

He flipped through the letter of intent and asked, “How did you hear about this?”

“I obviously have information sources. Of course, even without my sources, there are little clues scattered all over the place. For example, BYD Company is separating its battery production business, which will become a separate subsidiary.” Chen Yushan sighed and said, “But they have their own friends, and they don’t want to play with us. Otherwise, it would be better if we could cooperate with a giant company instead.”

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t really understand what she was saying, he noticed a few key points from the contract.

“What do you think about this proposal?”

Chen Yushan said in a serious manner, “I think we should consider this. Zhongshan New Materials has already become the largest anode and cathode material manufacturer in the whole province of Jiangsu. If they plan on entering the battery industry, they’ll already have a good foundation and government support. Also, Jiangsu is the first province to operate a fusion power station. I’m guessing that the battery standardization will also be implemented in Jiangsu first.”

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and nodded.

“Okay, we’ll go with your plan.”