Chapter 33: A Sensation in the Market

"He Xingzhou?" Upon hearing this name, the executives all wore expressions of confusion.

They had truly never heard this name before. Only an assistant to the president, who was in charge of information gathering, spoke up: "Leaders, according to our investigation, this He Xingzhou is currently a junior physics student at Beijing University of Science and Technology."

"He once created a video online about how to build a micro-nuclear reactor. This metal-air battery is a piece of supporting technology he developed for his stated goal of building an electromagnetic levitation vehicle."

"Other information is extremely limited. It is said he has already joined a national research institute. He is an absolute genius."

"Is that so?" The executives were deeply skeptical. If He Xingzhou were a scholar of forty or fifty, or even eighty or ninety, they could accept it. But the fact that he was merely a student was truly astonishing.

"Where is the video?" asked one of the presidents.

The assistant immediately played the video He Xingzhou had posted online. Once they finished watching it, everyone was stunned.

"He certainly has a bold imagination. Our BYD company is a major automaker, and even we couldn't possibly build a vehicle like that. Our peers—whether in Japan, the United States, or even Germany—would never succeed! A student like him claims he is going to build an electromagnetic levitation vehicle?" one executive laughed.

"Don't underestimate him!" someone interjected. "I had the same thought as you at first. But this battery—didn't he actually manage to create it?"

"This..." The others were struck dumb. It was true; he had already completed the first step of something that seemed impossible.

"Information about him online is scarce, and there is no contact information whatsoever. Regardless, we must get in touch with him!"

"We must obtain the licensing for the metal-air battery technology. It would be best to recruit this He Xingzhou to our company. Whatever money he wants, we pay it!" the chairman decided.

...

In China, major battery companies, new energy enterprises, and automotive firms were all urgently searching for He Xingzhou. This also included the electronics industry and new forces in the automotive sector.

"We must contact this He Xingzhou. It would be best to poach him for our company!" At Xiaomi Technology, founder Tian Jun issued instructions during an emergency meeting.

"This kind of metal-air battery will not only increase the competitiveness of our company's electronic products, but it will also be a vital part of our Xiaomi electric vehicles!"

"I don't care what methods you use; you must find him!"

At Huawei Technologies, the CEO had already received the news. Like the other companies, he immediately called a meeting and ordered, "We must obtain the metal-air battery technology!"

"Everyone take action! Find the person, find the technology!"

"We must beat the other companies to it!"

...

It was not just China; other countries also received the news.

In Japan, companies like Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Sanyo, and Sony were urgently contacting their representatives in China, demanding they immediately gather relevant information.

In South Korea, groups like Samsung, SK, and LG were doing the same. In Germany, Volkswagen, BMW...

Enterprises from every country were in motion. In the United States, at Tesla, founder Musk had just finished a television program, his face full of excitement. Recently, he had been killing it in the cryptocurrency market and had made a significant fortune.

"Mr. President, something major has happened!" his assistant sent an urgent message.

"What's wrong? Did the coin I just mentioned go up again?" Musk asked with a smile.

"No, it's about battery technology. China just announced that they have achieved a breakthrough in metal-air battery technology. This is a challenge to our position in the electric vehicle field!" the assistant said.

"What? How could their battery technology have a breakthrough so suddenly? Is the news authentic?" Musk jumped up. Electric vehicles were one of his core businesses, and battery technology was absolutely vital!

"It was announced by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Based on their habits, if a technology is announced in the news, it is basically already mature!" the assistant replied.

"I want detailed information, now!" Musk’s good mood vanished instantly, and he shouted.

At the same time, at Apple's headquarters in California, the current CEO, Cook, also heard the news and was calling the president of the China division, demanding they immediately learn more.

...

These companies and enterprises were all looking for the developer of the metal-air battery or the person in charge.

They wanted to contact Yu Xing or the research institute he belonged to, but there had been no reply so far. Rumors circulated that the patent for this technology was in He Xingzhou's hands.

Suddenly, everyone wanted to find He Xingzhou.

But they discovered that they couldn't find any information on the internet. Try his family? All harassing calls were intercepted by officers from the information security department.

Try finding He Xingzhou himself? His phone number could not be found, and when they approached his school, the school stated they could not provide contact information.

At this point, the executives of every company were dumbfounded.

It was the 21st century, communications were so advanced, and yet they couldn't find one person!

"Who exactly is this He Xingzhou? The authorities won't even let us look up his detailed information!" The people in charge at these companies were going crazy; they were in a race against time.

Whoever could get the licensing for this battery technology first would lead the other enterprises, but they simply couldn't find the person.

Someone had a flash of inspiration: "Didn't He Xingzhou post this video on a video website? Why don't we just contact him through the website?"

"That's right! Since he posted the video there, the website must have his contact information!"

The heads of the major enterprises all swarmed the video website.

"Hello, Mr. Wang!" Feng Rui, the founder of the Bilibili video site, was answering calls with a helpless expression.

For the past hour, his phone and WeChat messages had not stopped.

"I really cannot contact this He Xingzhou. His information is backed up by relevant departments; it cannot be disclosed!"

"Really, I'm not giving it to other companies! I swear on my reputation!"

"I want to contact him too, but I can't!"

Feng Rui had never imagined he would have a day like this! In the past, when his website wanted financing, he had to pull every string just to get a meeting with these big shots, but today, they were all calling him voluntarily.

But they weren't looking for him; they were looking for a video creator!

"A video creator is more powerful than the website founder—this is truly a headache," Feng Rui thought to himself, then answered the next call. They were all big shots; he didn't dare not to answer.

...

These people still couldn't find He Xingzhou, so they had to resort to the most primitive method to reach him.

Beneath He Xingzhou's video, a slew of verified official corporate accounts suddenly appeared.

Xiaomi Technology: "@PlanetBuilder, congratulations on developing the metal-air battery technology. Do you have contact information? Our Mr. Tian would like to meet you!"

Huawei Technology: "@PlanetBuilder, congratulations on your technological breakthrough. Do you have time to visit us at Huawei?"

BYD Auto: "@PlanetBuilder, are you there? Are you there? Are you there? Please, we beg for your contact information!"

Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL): "@PlanetBuilder, me too! (Real official account, just registered, currently applying for corporate verification)"

...

A bunch of similar comments followed, all from famous large enterprises, including many foreign brands.

This wave of comments left the netizens stunned!

What was called prestige? Throughout the entire video website industry—Bilibili or otherwise—no video creator had ever received such treatment! A swarm of corporate accounts begging for contact information; if this were any other creator, they would likely wake up from their dreams laughing!