If you cheat, money will follow

at the same time.

South Korea, Institute of Science and Technology.

The LK99 project research and development team held its last meeting in the laboratory.

Why was it the last meeting?

The meeting was not about project progress, but:

"Everyone, according to the spirit conveyed by superiors, the institute's funding is very tight and all unnecessary projects will be canceled." Kim Hyun-suk, the main person in charge of the project, said:

"I regret to inform you that our project has been cancelled. Starting today, there will be no funding support."

"Our labs will also be closed throughout the week."

After listening to Kim Hyun Suk's words, everyone present at the meeting was not surprised and remained silent without saying a word.

Some time ago, there were many signs, and everyone was mentally prepared.

Now it's just the final dust settling and the end of the story.

Li Shipei and Jin Zhixun, the co-directors of the project, felt sour and a little painful.

The cause of pain is not just unemployment.

This project was their teacher’s last wish.

About 20 years ago.

Li Shipei and Jin Zhixun were doing research at Korea University with their graduate supervisors.

Korea University is equivalent to the mid-level 985 in the country.

When three people were testing a sample of lead apatite, they accidentally discovered an unusual weak fluctuation on the internal stress testing instrument.

According to scientific common sense, this fluctuation should not occur at all.

Now that it appears, it is very likely that there are room temperature superconductor components inside the lead apatite sample.

As a result, the three of them began to repeatedly burn the boiler and repeat the experiment...

Lead apatite crystals are continuously synthesized.

So, three years passed.

It was repeated thousands of times and thousands of pots of lead apatite were burned, but the unusual fluctuation was never seen.

Three years later, the three of them were disheartened.

Their teachers started new projects;

After Li Shipei graduated, he went to teach in a school and teach computers;

Jin Zhixun went to a manufacturing company to sell products as a salesman.

In 2017, their teacher became critically ill.

Before he died, the teacher confessed to Li Shipei and Jin Zhixun in front of the hospital bed...

If possible, continue research and find that weak fluctuation.

The two agreed and decided to inherit the teacher's legacy.

The two contacted the Institute of Science and Technology through their teacher's friends.

The Science and Technology Research Institute decided to support the two people's project, arranged special funds, and formed a stronger team.

So, the two burned thousands of boilers in three years and obtained a pile of lead apatite crystals, but still did not find the abnormal fluctuation.

The project team is disbanded.

Li Shipei and Jin Zhixun organize their personal belongings in the laboratory.

"Shi Pei, where are you going?" Jin Zhixun asked.

"It's better to go back to my previous school. I contacted them and they are willing to accept me again. What about you?"

"I found a new business."

"Hey, we can't fulfill the teacher's wish."

"Yes, I have been wondering in the past few years whether the fluctuations back then were an illusion?"

"Hallucination? Impossible. It should be that our method is wrong. There must be a flaw in some link, and this flaw caused abnormal fluctuations."

"Maybe, but it's all over now."

"Research is like this. Not every project has results, and more than 90% of projects will be terminated early."

"Yes, it would be great if it could succeed. That would be a Nobel Prize-level discovery."

"Forget it, this is a distant dream. Let's not talk about this sad thing. Let's go have a drink?"

"Okay, let's go have a drink. After drinking, we'll say goodbye."

The two of them packed up their personal belongings, put on their backpacks, left the laboratory, and left the institute.

There were more researchers leaving together.

The Institute of Science and Technology is a research institution supported by the Korean government.

But now the South Korean government's financial resources are tight and it has cut back on all unnecessary expenditures. A large number of projects that cannot see results in the short term have been terminated early.

This termination may be forever.

Li Shipei and Jin Zhixun walked out of the institute and saw the parade on the street, shaking their heads secretly.

In the parade, people wore uniforms with the words "Republic of Korea" printed on them and motivational headscarves. They held high opposition flags, marched in unison, and shouted in unison:

"Down with Japanese imperialism."

"We firmly oppose all products imported by Chinese companies."

They may not know that the clothes, shoes, headscarves and flags they wear... all come from the Chinese companies they boycott.

According to relevant public opinion polls:

Different age groups in South Korea are divided and stratified in their sentiments towards China.

Among them, the middle class aged between 18 and 44 years old lead the sentiment of disgust.

Officials took advantage of this sentiment and deliberately guided the internal conflicts caused by the current domestic economic difficulties to the outside world.

the reason is simple.

As solid-state batteries monopolize the world, the semiconductor industry is basically independent, and the new energy industry collectively goes overseas, South Korea's three pillar industries are under heavy pressure.

Japan's sanctions "added fuel to the fire" again, making South Korea miserable and "the people are in dire straits."

Three days later, Jiangzhou Pingge Research Institute.

"Teacher Zhu, we found it! Truly suspended lead apatite crystals." Zhu Xuewu's student pointed to an irregular substance in a suspended state about a millimeter in size and said excitedly:

"After analysis, it has lattice distortion."

Lattice distortion: The internal structure of a substance changes due to external pressure, impurity incorporation, temperature changes and other factors.

"We found that inside the crystal, smaller copper atoms replaced some of the lead atoms, causing the internal structure to shrink and generate internal stress, thus realizing the Cooper pair effect."

Cooper pair, physics term: There is an attraction between two electrons in a metal through exchange.

"Oh...let me see!" Zhu Xuewu was also very excited. .

He carefully observed the suspended, tiny, irregular lead apatite crystals and said:

"It should be the Meissner effect. What about the resistor?"

Meissner effect, also known as levitation.

The internal magnetization of a substance completely cancels out the magnetic field strength, making the magnetic flux density zero.

"Teacher, the resistance has been significantly reduced by 30%." The student said.

"This shows that our direction is correct." Zhu Xuewu looked at the room temperature - 15°, and continued:

"Continue to optimize the preparation method, and we will definitely be able to reduce the resistance to a minimum."

"Okay, teacher!"

Zhu Xuewu returned to the office and reported the situation to Chang Le immediately.

At this time, Chang Le was at Huahong Semiconductor in Shanghai.

After three months and thousands of processes, the Kirin 9000, a new carbon-based chip based on the Lingxi architecture, was taped out.

Before, it was expected that the performance of the chip would be amazing with the support of carbon-based materials.

He Tingbo named the chip, skipping the code name 990 and positioning it as the 9000 model.

At this time, He Tingbo was introducing the samples to Chang Le and Mr. Ren.

Next to him, Liang Qingsong made timely additions.