Chapter 119: Educated Youth Who Abandoned His Wife and Child – 51

Fortunately, Shen Xiuyan emerged from seclusion the next day.

At that moment, a crowd of eager talent-seekers had gathered at his door, among them Dean Qiu, blinking hopeful eyes at him.

Shen Xiuyan let out a long sigh, then rubbed his messy hair. “Go on, all of you, look at the state I’m in. Come back in the afternoon—I need a wash first.”

“Alright, alright,” the crowd began to disperse, but Shen Xiuyan called out, “Dean Qiu, wait a moment.”

Dean Qiu immediately stopped in his tracks and approached Shen Xiuyan with a kind, expectant smile. “Xiuyan, is something the matter? Have you made another breakthrough?”

After nodding, Shen Xiuyan pulled a small device from his pocket and handed it to Dean Qiu.

“This is a new communication device I’ve made. I call it a ‘mobile phone’. It solves the problems of the bulky ‘Big Brother’ phone and its inability to get signal in certain areas.”

As Dean Qiu listened, his hands began to tremble as he held the device.

His breathing quickened. “This tiny thing… it can make phone calls?”

Shen Xiuyan nodded. “Yes. But you need to insert a SIM card into it and connect it to an established communications base station.”

Though Dean Qiu didn’t understand all the details, it all sounded very high-tech to him.

He asked cautiously, “Then… about the SIM card and the base station you mentioned…”

He trailed off, not daring to continue. What was he thinking? It had only been just over half a month, and creating something like this phone was already heaven-defying. How could he expect him to have developed SIM cards and base stations too?

But if Shen Xiuyan could bring it up, it must mean he had a solution.

Dean Qiu felt full of confidence in the future of communications.

He didn’t even need to say it—Shen Xiuyan spoke again. “Of course I made them. Otherwise, why do you think I’ve been held up so long? This phone alone wouldn’t have taken that much effort…”

Dean Qiu: “……”

His face hurt. His heart was thumping wildly. As expected, the world of a genius was beyond a mere Dean like him.

Forcing himself to calm down, he asked, “So where is everything?”

Shen Xiuyan casually pointed to the lab. “Inside. All scaled-down versions. We’ll need professional calibration before putting them to use.”

“I understand, I understand.”

Clutching his chest, Dean Qiu thought this was just too much excitement. From now on, whenever he saw Shen Xiuyan, he’d bring fast-acting heart pills—he was afraid one day he might actually get too excited and keel over…

So he quickly called in people to seal off Shen Xiuyan’s new lab, determined to make it more secure than Fort Knox.

Seeing this, Shen Xiuyan sighed—well, there goes his lab again…

Just as he turned to leave, Dean Qiu once more transformed into a sly old fox and called out enthusiastically, “Xiuyan~~~”

His tone was all ripples and waves. Shen Xiuyan rubbed the goosebumps on his arms. “Talk properly.”

Dean Qiu straightened up and asked seriously, “Do we follow the same process as before with this phone?”

Shen Xiuyan nodded. “Sure. But with one new condition. My wife gets to use it first.”

“Huh?”

Shen Xiuyan shot him a sideways glance. “If it weren’t for her needing it, would I have gone through all this trouble to make a phone? She misses her parents—this lets her call home. Oh, and my in-laws get to use it first too, otherwise, no deal.”

Dean Qiu thought this was technically against protocol… but at this point, he no longer cared about protocol.

Indeed, in his mind now, heaven and earth were nothing—Shen Xiuyan was everything.

He quickly agreed, “No problem at all. I’ll handle the coordination.”

This was a big deal. He’d have to report it to the higher-ups right away and negotiate next steps.

He looked at Shen Xiuyan with fatherly affection. “Let Xiao Wang take you to freshen up. Then have a good rest. Whatever you want to eat, just say the word—the private kitchen will prepare it for you specially. Don’t overwork yourself!”

A brain this valuable had to be well-protected.

Once Shen Xiuyan had left, Dean Qiu carefully cradled the phone and went straight to report to the top leader.

Upon hearing the news, the top leader was overjoyed. Due to prior incidents, he had a deep impression of Shen Xiuyan.

He had thought Shen Xiuyan was only a genius in one field—now it was clear he was far more than that.

The leader laughed heartily, eyes gleaming. “Someone like this must be protected at all costs. Nothing can be allowed to happen to him.”

Dean Qiu nodded vigorously. “Absolutely. But there’s one thing I need to discuss with you. Xiao Shen wants the phone to go to his wife and in-laws first—everything else is negotiable.”

“Oh?” The leader looked puzzled.

Dean Qiu chuckled sheepishly and explained, “To be honest, Shen Xiuyan is smart—no doubt about that—but he’s a bit of a love-brain. His wife comes first in everything. That new computer, the microwave, even this phone—all of them were made because she needed them. From the way he talks, if his wife didn’t need it, he wouldn’t bother, even if he could do it.”

Top Leader: “……”

Seeing the leader silent, Dean Qiu wiped the sweat from his forehead in shame.

As a citizen, one should serve the country. He felt guilty about Shen Xiuyan’s behavior, but guilt was guilt—the brain was Shen Xiuyan’s, and how he chose to use it wasn’t for anyone else to say.

But a great leader is a great leader. The top official, experienced and broad-minded, recovered in a heartbeat.

He didn’t dwell on it and smiled with good humor. “That’s understandable. Geniuses always have their quirks. Spoiling his wife isn’t a bad thing—it shows he’s responsible. Just make sure his wife is secretly protected too. If something were to happen to her, I’m afraid…”

Dean Qiu beamed, “No worries—after graduation, she’s set to join the research institute. That’s already confirmed.”

The leader was very pleased and patted Dean Qiu on the shoulder. “Old Qiu, you’re really dependable. Planning ahead like this, locking things down early.”

Dean Qiu accepted the praise with shame. It wasn’t foresight on his part—it was Shen Xiuyan who brought it up on his own…

Oh well, better not say anything. In the end, they’d all be part of the same institute. No need to quibble among family.

The top leader finally made the decision with delight. “We’ll go with your plan. The country’s short on talent right now. As long as we keep someone like him, we’ll accommodate what we can.”

“Understood.”

“Oh, one more thing—I’m just curious: if his wife happened to need an armed helicopter or a missile system, could he develop that too?” the leader asked, smiling kindly.

Dean Qiu: “……”

After a brief silence, Dean Qiu thought to himself: You sure dare to imagine things. He didn’t even know how to respond to that.

Seeing Dean Qiu’s silence, the leader realized he’d gone too far.

He chuckled, “I was only joking, Old Qiu—don’t take it seriously.”

Dean Qiu thought: Your face didn’t look like you were joking at all…

And honestly, how could he dare take that kind of thing lightly…