Chapter 58: A Future Without Light?

Su Xin logged into the website, entered his admission ticket number and other information, and clicked to query.

After about half a second of loading, the page displayed Su Xin's college entrance exam scores for each subject:

Chinese: 150 points.

Mathematics: 150 points.

English: 150 points.

Science Comprehensive: 300 points.

Total score: 750 points.

Su Xin calmly took a screenshot, posted it to his blog, and added his own thoughts:

Thanks everyone for your attention. My scores are out. My luck wasn't bad; I didn't lose points in any subject. I don't know if Jing University will accept these scores. I'm a bit worried, seeking comfort.

As soon as his blog post was published, his over thirty million followers received the push notification, and many of them opened it immediately.

Seeing the screenshot, the comment section exploded instantly.

"Holy crap, awesome!"

"It's actually a perfect score! This is definitely the national college entrance exam top scorer!"

"Damn it, he's showing off again!"

"I've already been slapped in the face by him twice. Next time, no matter what kind of show-off act President Su pulls, I will absolutely never doubt him again. Even if he says tomorrow that he built a spaceship with his bare hands, I will believe it."

"I'm convinced, completely convinced!"

"What I'm more curious about is how he maintains such exaggerated academic grades while his programming technology research has reached the pinnacle? Is his brain structure different from ours?"

"In the past, I never believed in the concept of geniuses. I always felt that since we are all human, how much difference could there really be? But now, I understand. Compared to President Su, my IQ is probably not much different from a small pet in a cage."

"Perhaps, in President Su's eyes, we are all uncivilized Homo sapiens from the prehistoric era."

"Don't compare yourself to President Su; you'll just feel inferior."

Su Xin's college entrance exam scores caused a sensation on the internet.

Even many media outlets immediately placed the news of Su Xin's perfect college entrance exam score on their headlines.

Local media in Baohe City even contacted Su Xin's school immediately for interviews, preparing to broadcast it on the local prime-time news channel.

At the same time, some troll netizens began to stir up trouble, taking screenshots of Su Xin's feigned humility and plea for comfort, adding their own commentary:

"Move along, move along. President Su bombed the exam and is asking for comfort."

"Forget Jing University, President Su probably couldn't even get into a vocational school without paying."

"Everyone stop tagging President Su. He's sad right now; let him recover by himself for a few days."

For some reason, these trolling and mocking comments became increasingly popular, sparking spontaneous reposts and upvotes from many netizens. The buzz grew so high that two completely contradictory entries appeared on the blog's trending list simultaneously—

"President Su gets a perfect score on the college entrance exam."

"President Su bombed the exam."

These two strange trending topics aroused the curiosity of even more netizens, and everyone began to browse and search for relevant information.

Yet at this moment, Su Xin paid no mind to the stir he had caused on the internet.

After checking his college entrance exam scores, he took several subordinates to the battery factory formerly known as Wanhua Energy, now renamed Tianqi Energy.

Upon learning that the new boss was coming, the factory manager Li Yongxian and several other executives waited patiently at the factory gate early in the morning.

Under the scorching sun, the executives felt as if they were locked in an oven. In just over ten minutes, they were nearly roasted, and their white shirts were more than half soaked with sweat.

"Did we come out too early? The boss said he'd arrive before nine; there are still over ten minutes left. Should we go inside and sit for a while?"

"Forget it. The boss could arrive at any moment. We've already waited for over ten minutes, let's just endure it a bit longer."

As they pulled at their collars to cool off, they whispered to each other.

At this moment, one of the executives said:

"I searched for information on Tianqi Technology online yesterday and only then learned that our boss, Su Xin, is actually an eighteen-year-old high school student. And he started from scratch; in just over two months, he's amassed a net worth of several billion. It's like a myth."

"Kids these days are truly terrifying!"

Hearing his exclamation, the other executives chimed in one after another.

"Old Wang, you're only hearing President Su's name now? That's too outdated. I've known his big name for half a month."

"You have to admit, even though President Su is only eighteen, two years younger than my son, his entrepreneurial experience is enough to earn our respectful title of 'President Su'."

"You have to admire such a genius."

"However, President Su is a programmer after all, belonging to the software industry. Even if his technology is top-notch, it doesn't have much to do with the new energy battery industry. For him to rashly enter a brand-new industry like this, he has no connections, no technical foundation, and might even know nothing about the industry as a whole."

"His rash acquisition of Wanhua is a huge gamble for him, and for us, it's hard to say if it's a blessing or a curse!"

One person's lament caused the enthusiasm of the other executives to cool down significantly.

Although Wanhua Energy's technology is currently lagging behind the mainstream and its market share isn't high, it can barely be considered a second-tier player among domestic new energy battery manufacturers, and it could survive comfortably for a short time.

But if it is taken over by a complete layman, the future of Wanhua Energy is hard to predict.

At this time, one of them said: "Su Xin is a super genius after all; perhaps he can achieve dazzling success in this new industry as well."

Factory manager Li Yongxian shook his head:

"Famous at a young age, a super genius, possessing a mythical success story, never having experienced any failure, having money when he wants money, having fame when he wants fame—the more someone is like this, the more prone they are to arrogance."

"And arrogance easily leads to failure."

"Even you think Su Xin might succeed, and Su Xin himself must certainly think so too. But if he starts with such confidence and dives headfirst into a completely unfamiliar field, he will surely be hit hard very quickly and become dejected."

"The new energy battery industry is a real industry. Any new technology requires bit-by-bit testing and evaluation, bit-by-bit optimization and improvement, before it's possible to develop stronger technology. It's not something that can be finished just by tapping away in front of a computer."

"Not to mention whether Su Xin truly has the knowledge base in this area, even if he really had a sufficiently rich foundation of knowledge, wanting to develop leading technology in the new energy battery industry is far more difficult than developing a piece of software."

"If he has even a hint of arrogance or impatience, it will be impossible for him to achieve anything, and in fact, he is very likely to ruin Wanhua Energy."

"So, what I'm most worried about now isn't whether he can develop new technology, but whether he will humbly listen to our opinions when he encounters setbacks."

"If he is too stubborn and insists on his own way, drilling into a dead end, then no one will be able to save Wanhua Energy."

"By the way, it has already been renamed to Tianqi Energy, and the signage and factory floor materials will be changed in a couple of days."

Li Yongxian's words cast a shadow over the hearts of the other executives.

After learning that the factory had been acquired, they had all searched for information on Tianqi Technology online and watched some of Su Xin's videos, so they all knew how confident Su Xin was.

If it were in a field where Su Xin excelled, his confidence would be fine.

But if he were just as confident in an unfamiliar field, then that would be arrogance.

Having such an arrogant eighteen-year-old youth take over Wanhua Energy and become their boss made them instantly feel that their future was bleak.