Break out of the courtyard

After Tang Weiguo left in a hurry, Ye Juan also took the opportunity to say goodbye and leave.

Seeing his third uncle, Zhang Heping, alone by the lake outside the door, Zhang Yi went over to tell him about the leak at their brain-computer interface research institute.

Meanwhile, at the US embassy, ​​far outside the Third Ring Road, people were also discussing levitation technology!

"I don't understand why Anderson brought up levitation technology this morning! If this news comes out, they'll not only be on high alert, but they'll also find the leaker, thus disrupting our plan to infiltrate brain-computer interface research institutes in mainland China!"

"Anderson, as the person in charge of these negotiations, what are your thoughts on this matter?"

"They cannot open up the Lifespan 120 drug, regeneration and repair fluid, and brain-computer interface technology to us because we have not offered equivalent technology in exchange."

"Isn't there still that hammer research? Alex from Hong Kong said Zhang Heping is very interested in it!"

"Interest doesn't necessarily mean cooperation! They possess near-mature technology, while what technology are we offering?"

"How does this relate to your revealing that we know about levitation technology?"

"The mainland possesses intelligence on levitation technology, but it's just a single sentence relayed back by intelligence personnel; there are no photos, videos, or audio evidence to corroborate it. My inclusion of levitation technology in our research and development cooperation was merely a test of the mainland's reaction!"

"Anderson, have you considered that your deliberate exposure might cause these negotiations to fail?"

"If they fail, it will prove that the mainland has truly mastered levitation technology! At that point, we can simply agree to their accession to the WTO."

"Joining the WTO?"

"If the mainland refuses to cooperate with us on scientific research projects, why should we agree to their request to join the WTO?"

"Why? Heh... because we can't reach an agreement on official cooperation, so we can only rely on corporate partnerships to slowly infiltrate all aspects of their operations, and then seize the opportunity to acquire the relevant technology!"

……

While Mr. Hua and Mr. Li were having a meeting in a conference room on the west side of the lake to discuss the leak, the guard, Xiao Qin, knocked on the door, quickly came up behind Mr. Hua, and whispered a few words in his ear.

The smoke-filled conference room quieted down considerably after Xiao Qin entered.

Old Hua frowned and thought for a moment, then simply said "I understand" and let Xiao Qin leave the meeting room.

Despite the probing gazes of the other attendees, Elder Hua did not mention the matter that Xiao Qin had just reported about someone from the central region going to find Zhang Heping.

"Everyone here has experienced brain-computer interface virtual dream systems!" Hua said, changing the subject. "Advisor Zhang's idea is to invite a few more teachers to join the Brain-Computer Interface Research Institute to strengthen the ideological education of the institute's members, especially patriotic education, within the virtual dream system."

An elderly man wearing a white vest and a white short-sleeved shirt leaned back on a solitary sofa and slowly said:

"I still believe that conducting related education in virtual dreams is tantamount to hypnotizing others. We've set a bad precedent; will Consultant Zhang also use similar pretexts to hypnotize others in the future?"

"Elder Kang's words are a bit like throwing the baby out with the bathwater!" Elder Qin, who was close to Elder Hua, Elder Li and others, chimed in: "The fact that brain-computer interfaces and virtual dreams can hypnotize is an objective fact."

"Consultant Zhang is not currently exhibiting any behavior that could hypnotize others, and he has even proactively suggested that we send a teacher into the virtual dream world to do ideological work. I think this is a very good start."

"Old Kang's concerns are not without merit!" another opponent chimed in. "After all, we have no ability to restrict Consultant Zhang's brain-computer interface and virtual dream system; we can only watch helplessly from the sidelines."

"Even if he hypnotizes others in a virtual dream, we won't be able to detect it!"

Old Li frowned and asked, "What good suggestions do you have regarding the confidentiality aspect?"

Although Mr. Li's words were plain, his decision to shirk responsibility regarding the issue of secrecy undoubtedly expressed his dissatisfaction.

Instead, it was Old Hua who started it and then sat there silently, thinking about the person Zhang Heping was meeting at that moment.

"It would be best to explicitly prohibit virtual dream hypnosis!" The short-sleeved Kang Lao spoke again, saying, "Ideological education, patriotic education, and so on should all be conducted in real-world learning!"

"Then, I'll consult with Consultant Zhang again to see if there's any way to prevent brain-computer interface users from being hypnotized in virtual dreams!"

"We asked Consultant Zhang about preventing virtual dream hypnosis before!" Old Li said slowly. "His answer was simple: when you enter a virtual dream and find that anything you encounter does not align with your values, please leave that virtual dream immediately!"

"At the time, he even gave an example!" Old Li said, picking up his teacup to moisten his throat. After the others had processed his words, he continued:

"Nanjing has fallen into a virtual dream world; I'm sure most of you here have experienced it."

"When we identified ourselves as the people and soldiers of Nanjing and fought against the Japanese invasion, despite the various forms of persecution we suffered at the hands of the Japanese, our sense of national identity remained unchanged; we only felt an even deeper hatred for the brutality of the Japanese!"

"During this process, did you feel hypnotized?" Old Li looked around and, seeing many people shaking their heads, continued:

"If the participants were replaced with foreigners, especially Japanese, and they were asked to empathize with the Nanjing soldiers and civilians and experience the brutality of the Japanese invaders, how would they feel? What would they think if they experienced it multiple times?"

"Would they feel deep resentment towards the atrocities committed by the Japanese invaders, and thus stand on our side, vehemently condemning the Japanese invaders' past actions?"

"Is this hypnosis?" Before anyone else could answer, Old Li said slowly, "Yes! Because it changed the foreign participants' perceptions of the Japanese!"

"But I don't think so!" Old Li looked seriously at the opponents on Old Kang's side, "because the virtual dream of Nanjing's fall is a painful and unforgettable part of history!"

The meeting room fell silent again, with the old men smoking in silence, and a few old women joining in the puffing.

After a while, Old Li's voice rang out again, "What I said just now was simply to hope that everyone would be realistic."

"Since Consultant Zhang asked us to send teachers to strengthen education, it shows that he doesn't want to get involved in something that could easily cause misunderstandings!"

"As for whether he will hypnotize others in the future?" Old Li said calmly, "We can naturally dissuade those hypnosis cases that we can detect; we can't stop those that we can't detect, because we haven't mastered brain-computer interface technology yet!"

After Elder Li finished speaking, Elder Hua continued, "The relevant education at the Brain-Computer Research Institute must be strengthened, otherwise it will affect Consultant Zhang's opinion of them, causing Consultant Zhang to refuse to open up further brain-computer technology to them."

……

Capital, north bank of Houhai Lake.

Chang Sheng followed behind Zhang Heping, watching the old man, who was only a few years older than him but of a much higher rank, get into the car and leave. He still couldn't quite believe it.

Just now, while his brother-in-law Zhang Heping was writing a prescription for the other party, the old man actually asked Chang Sheng next to him if he wanted to go to the archives in central Taiwan.

Chang Sheng was in charge of promoting the construction of the capital's smart city system last year, but in the end he only got the position of deputy director of the center, with no change in rank or benefits.

Judging from what the old man said tonight, Chang Sheng felt that he was going to be transferred to be in charge of the archives, or at least become the director.

However, when Chang Sheng turned to look at Zhang Heping, he didn't receive any hints from Zhang Heping, which made Chang Sheng hesitate.

To show his sincerity in inviting Chang Sheng, the old man actually exchanged phone numbers with him on the spot, telling Chang Sheng to contact him after he had thought it over.

No sooner had the old man's car driven away than Chang Sheng couldn't help but ask Zhang Heping whether he should accept the other party's invitation.

"My brother-in-law is 52 this year and has always worked in the public security system!" Zhang Heping said with a smile. "If you feel that there is no hope for promotion here, you may consider changing your environment."

"As the saying goes, a person thrives by moving, while a tree dies if transplanted! It all depends on your choice!"

Chang Sheng hesitated and said, "I am self-aware enough that I am not as tactful as others when it comes to dealing with people."

"If I'm transferred to the archives over there, I'll probably reach my maximum promotion. At most, I'll get a one-level raise when I retire."

In Zhang Heping's view, the transfer that the old man promised Chang Sheng was just an extra bonus.

However, from the perspective of the children's future, it is not a bad place.

Although Zhang Heping had thought of this, he didn't mention the children's perspective in order to help his second sister Zhang Pandi with her promotion plans, and instead let Chang Sheng consider it himself.

The next morning, Zhang Heping returned from running laps around the lake and had just taken a shower when he sensed someone visiting downstairs.

Among the visitors were two acquaintances from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Through their introduction, Zhang Heping finally understood the purpose of the other two foreign affairs personnel's visit: to discuss cooperation with the United States.

Zhang Heping glanced at the materials they had sent. The research cooperation involved uranium, plutonium fission nuclear power plants, and space experiments. There was no research cooperation in the semiconductor field, but they mentioned that they could sell related equipment and raw materials to the United States.

Looking at the models of those devices, Zhang Heping had never seen them before. After asking the four people next to him, he learned that these were devices previously developed by factories in mainland China. Because the semiconductor technology on Zhang Heping's side was updated too quickly, those devices had become obsolete, and now they wanted to take them out and make use of them.

"Instead of selling old equipment to them, you should increase domestic production of low-end chips and export them!" Zhang Heping said casually while flipping through the documents. "The US government wants technology and doesn't want to be controlled by us."

"However, they are not entirely opposed to us directly supplying them with chips at low prices in the long term, thus discouraging them from producing their own chips."

"But..." the male foreign affairs officer, who appeared to be around forty-five or forty-six years old, hesitated, "What if they use those chips in military equipment?"

Zhang Heping laughed, "They're already dismantling our mobile phone chips for military equipment upgrades. Unless we stop selling any electronic products with chips abroad, we can't stop them!"

After reviewing the documents, Zhang Heping found that they did not involve the Lifespan 120 drug, regeneration repair fluid, brain-computer interface, or levitation technology. He then handed the documents back, saying, "This negotiation of yours is going to take a long time. You haven't mentioned a single technology that the Americans want."

The middle-aged male foreign affairs officer said solemnly, "Since the Americans haven't produced any valuable research projects, we don't need to either..."

"No!" Zhang Heping said seriously, "We should try to get their hammer research approved, because it involves space technology and will greatly benefit our future interstellar travel plans."

"Of course, this can be planned slowly, there's no need to rush it."

The middle-aged male foreign affairs officer nodded in agreement, "Okay, we will take Dean Zhang's opinion back and review this document again."

"It's not too late to go back after having breakfast!" Zhang Heping looked at the bodyguards next to him and beckoned them to bring the breakfast over.

After exchanging a few polite words, the four of them, at Zhang Heping's repeated invitations and with steamed buns, mantou, and porridge laid out on the table, had no choice but to stay and eat a little.

Zhang Heping chatted with the two people from the Chinese Academy of Sciences for a while before letting the four of them go.

After his wife and children got up and came downstairs, Zhang Heping discussed the trip with his family.

After receiving Zhang Heping's feedback, the foreign affairs department hurriedly revised the negotiation plan, adding two more tasks that were considered essential: WTO accession and the hammer!

Just as Zhang Heping and his family went to the Summer Palace for a visit, negotiations between the State Guesthouse and the representatives of the United States resumed, though they were not going very smoothly.

The main issue is that the US wants too much, and the mainland doesn't want to give it to them.

Zhang Heping stayed in the capital until July 15th. After learning that Hua Lao and his team had selected five teachers from D School, he took his family and the brain-computer interface for 10,000 people and returned to Shenzhen.

Those ten thousand gaming helmets and stands were all left to Zhang Yi's Brain-Computer Research Institute, but Zhang Heping did not give them the large regenerated brain. Instead, he placed it in the biological brain laboratory of the underground base, allowing his biological experts to slice and study it.

The capital originally wanted to keep this brain-computer interface device for 10,000 people and also wanted Zhang Heping to construct a series of virtual dreams about the War of Resistance against Japan, but Zhang Heping refused.

Zhang Heping's reason for refusing was simple: building those wars would be pointless and would only be seen as a game, which would be a losing proposition!

Even so, some people still wanted to ask Zhang Heping to create some kind of virtual dream for the 50th anniversary of the unconditional surrender of the Japanese on August 15, but Zhang Heping ignored them.

As Zhang Heping began to focus on his brain-computer interface research, he was kept out of the outside world by Professor Hua, Secretary Chen, Vice President Deng, and others.

After the high-speed rail experts left the library and said goodbye to Zhang Heping, the virtual learning dream space here became quite empty.

In response, Zhang Yi's Brain-Computer Interaction Research Institute launched a company-wide learning program, sending staff into virtual learning dreamscapes to receive patriotic education.

As for the researchers who leaked the information, they were naturally taken away, and their punishments have not yet been determined.

As August quietly approached, and the closer it got to August 15th, the more frequently Mr. Hua called Zhang Heping.

It wasn't that Hua Lao was urging Zhang Heping to build a virtual dream world about the War of Resistance against Japan, but rather that he was working with Zhang Heping to finalize a research project in cooperation with the United States.

The negotiations between the two sides only entered the formal stage after the Americans released some so-called secret research projects.

However, many of the studies proposed by Americans are merely theoretical.

To be precise, the Americans came up with the idea, provided some initial funding, and created a preliminary research model, and then that was it.

It's obvious that this was a last-minute attempt to fill a quota.

It was precisely because the authenticity of some of the projects was difficult to verify that Professor Hua frequently called Zhang Heping to confirm, which often interrupted Zhang Heping's research...