Chapter 294 Is a Nobel Prize Possible?
On October 3rd, Su Yuanshan boarded a flight back from the capital with his father.
While on the plane, he revealed for the first time to his father that he had published a paper in Nature—and that he might have pioneered a completely new field.
At ten thousand meters above the ground, Academician Su Xinghe stared at his son as if he were seeing a ghost.
"Explain clearly—what exactly is this about?"
There were only four people in the first-class cabin: the Su father and son, Zhou Xiaohui, and Qi Youguang, one of Su Xinghe's doctoral students from 1992.
"Hehe, it's just a new carbon-based material," Su Yuanshan said lightly.
"Something like fullerene?" Qi Youguang immediately asked, eyes shining.
"Or a buckytube?" Su Xinghe added, also full of hope.
They both knew—if Su Yuanshan said it was a "new material," it obviously wouldn't be one of the already-discovered forms.
But still, fullerenes and carbon nanotubes were legendary new carbon materials of the last decade and hot contenders for future Nobel Prizes.
If what Su Yuanshan had discovered was comparable to those...
Su Yuanshan smiled and shook his head.
"Neither.
Fullerenes are spherical, and carbon nanotubes are tubular.
Theoretically, you could think of it as slicing open a carbon nanotube..."
"A two-dimensional material?" Qi Youguang gasped.
"Exactly. A two-dimensional material.
And its electrical, optical, and mechanical properties are excellent."
Su Yuanshan then briefly explained to his father how he had isolated graphene, and the experimental performance metrics he had obtained so far.
After all—just yesterday, he had received the finalized acceptance email from Nature.
If he didn't tell his father now, it would seem... inappropriate.
"Technically, this material could one day replace silicon in chips.
But the methods and costs for producing it at scale still need a lot of development.
It might take ten or even twenty years before we see widespread application."
By the time the plane landed, Su Yuanshan had finished his explanation.
Though he had spoken casually throughout, Su Xinghe could see it clearly in his son's eyes—
that quiet, confident joy.
As they stepped out of the plane and breathed the provincial city's familiar air, Su Xinghe turned to his son and asked:
"Is there a chance for the Nobel Prize?"
"Dad, I'm still young," Su Yuanshan said with a grin.
He was young—
which meant he had time to wait.
"Hahahaha!"
Su Xinghe burst into hearty laughter, throwing an arm around his son's shoulders as they strode toward the exit.
...
After leaving the airport, Su Yuanshan didn't return to school or Yuanxin.
Instead, he headed straight for the Jin Du International Building—where his uncle's headquarters were located.
Today was already the third day of the National Day promotion event.
Although he had been in regular contact with Duan Yongping and had a rough idea of vidoo phone sales, he needed to see the real numbers—and for that, he had to come here.
"Sister Xiaohui, notify Old Wan.
Have him bring a few people over to Jin Du International."
"Just the marketing team, or should I call the brand promotion department too?"
"Just the marketing team. Bring one or two people, that's enough."
"Got it."
Zhou Xiaohui pulled out her phone to make the call, while Su Yuanshan closed his eyes to rest.
The mobile division was one of his major focuses.
At Yuanxin's tech park, any department involved with mobile communications tended to enjoy a slight "elevation" in status.
In this environment, even without explicit statements, a kind of natural "speculation" had taken root inside Yuanxin—
about the future of mobile internet.
These guesses weren't yet revolutionary.
But they weren't far off from what the world would soon become.
—It helped that Yuanxin had been "importing" all sorts of sci-fi films from overseas for years.
Many people had already realized that although we might not soon reach the era of holographic interfaces activated by a simple button press,
turning a mobile phone into something resembling a miniature computer was definitely within reach.
Wan Yongliang arrived quickly.
Just as Fu Zhihua parked their car, Wan's Audi also pulled into the lot.
As soon as the cars were parked, Wan and He Wei stepped out.
"President Shan, Secretary Zhou," He Wei called out as she jogged over, folding her hands neatly in front of her and giving a slight bow.
Although she had only been at Yuanxin for a few months, and hadn't interacted much directly with Su Yuanshan or Zhou Xiaohui,
the entire marketing department knew that she was Su Yuanshan's chosen recruit.
To repay that favor and not embarrass her patron, He Wei had been working herself to the bone—
in just three months, she had personally visited nearly every mobile phone retailer in the region, providing marketing training to frontline salespeople.
"He Wei, good work," Su Yuanshan said, smiling as he noticed she had slimmed down a bit—and grown even prettier.
"Come on, let's head up."
...
Taking the elevator up to the eighth floor of Jin Du International, they found Su Yuanshan's uncle, Zhang Ke, waiting at the door.
He led them briskly into the conference room without wasting time on pleasantries.
Compared to his old days as a two-bit trader, Zhang Ke now carried himself with the calm authority of a real businessman.
Even during the hectic National Day promotion, he remained composed, directing the nationwide operation from headquarters.
After exchanging brief greetings with a few of the vice presidents present, Su Yuanshan sat down next to Zhang Ke.
"So—how's it looking?" he asked.
"Pretty good so far," Zhang Ke said, smiling as he tapped the table.
A tech employee turned a laptop around to face Su Yuanshan.
On the screen was a very basic real-time sales dashboard, updating every half hour.
This system had been Su Yuanshan's idea—
allowing executives to easily monitor sales of major product categories in near real time.
"Who made this software? It's so crude..." Su Yuanshan muttered, frowning as he clicked around.
There was no way to customize the sort order; everything was just listed alphabetically.
The tech guy blushed.
Fortunately, Su Yuanshan just grumbled a little without dwelling on it.
He quickly scrolled down to the mobile phone section.
"Phones are the best sellers."
Zhang Ke grinned at him, offering a much-needed reassurance.
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