Steal the enemy's base at the start and build a technological empire.

Chapter 174 Nanjing University Lecture

At 2 p.m., the auditorium was packed with people.

All three hundred seats were occupied. People were standing in the aisles, and the seats against the walls were also packed.

Ling Yun walked onto the podium. He was wearing a simple white shirt and dark trousers, and holding a folder in his hand. A microphone was on the podium, and next to it was a projector with the screen already lowered.

"Hello, students," he said into the microphone.

The audience quieted down a bit, but some people were still talking. A few boys in the back row were passing around some documents, while a few girls in the front row were flipping through application forms.

"I am Ling Yun from Spark Technology. Today, I am mainly here to introduce our laboratory in cooperation with Nanjing University."

He opened the folder and took out the first page.

"The lab plans to recruit twenty students. Each student will receive a monthly stipend of 800 yuan, with additional bonuses for project participation. Research areas include hardware design, system development, application software..."

While he was speaking, most people in the audience were listening, but some were doing their own thing. One boy was doodling in his notebook, and another was yawning.

After Lingyun finished explaining the basic situation of the laboratory, he began to talk about the technical direction.

"The lab will focus its efforts on two areas. First, the next generation of optical mice, which will focus on wireless transmission. Second, the optimization of the Starry Sky operating system, especially the kernel scheduling algorithm..."

When he mentioned the "Starry Sky Operation System," a boy wearing glasses in the audience looked up.

"Wait a minute." The boy raised his hand. "The Star System you're talking about, is it the open-source system on the official website?"

"Yes."

The boy's eyes widened. He nudged the classmate next to him, and the two whispered a few words.

Lingyun continued. He talked about the kernel's memory management mechanism, the self-developed file system, and the changes made to optimize performance.

The audience gradually quieted down. The boy who had been doodling stopped writing, and the boy who had been yawning sat up straight.

The boy with glasses raised his hand again.

"Teacher, what you're talking about... there are corresponding code commit records on the official website." His voice trembled slightly. "The committer's name is 'Ling Yun.' Is that you?"

The lecture hall fell completely silent.

Everyone was looking at Ling Yun.

"It's me," Ling Yun said.

The silence lasted for three seconds.

Then someone in the back row stood up.

"Those tutorial videos on the official website!" the boy who stood up shouted. "Did you record those ones about kernel architecture and process scheduling?"

"Yes."

"Holy crap!" the boy exclaimed.

The entire lecture hall erupted in chaos.

The whispers turned into loud discussions; some people stood up to look ahead, while others began rummaging through their bags for notebooks. People in the aisle pushed forward, trying to get a better look.

Director Wang, who was standing next to the podium, stood up in an attempt to maintain order, but he was unsuccessful.

A girl ran up from the third row, holding a notebook in her hand.

"Teacher Ling, could you please sign my autograph?" She handed over her notebook and pen. "I watched your videos three times before I finally understood virtual memory mapping."

Ling Yun took the pen and signed his name.

Even more people flocked over. Notebooks, textbooks, and even printed code sheets were handed out.

Director Wang said into the microphone, "Students, please sit back down! Please sit back down!"

Nobody listens to him.

A boy in the front row asked loudly, "I looked at the code for the slab allocator you explained in the video, but there are still parts I don't understand..."

Which part?

Why is cache alignment calculated that way?

Ling Yun picked up the chalk from the podium, turned around, and began writing formulas on the blackboard. He wrote the Five Elements formula and then began to explain it.

The audience fell silent. Everyone was watching what he had written; some were copying it, others were repeating it in hushed tones.

After I finished explaining that question, another student raised their hand.

"Professor Ling, regarding file system log recovery, which solution do you think is better?"

"It depends on the usage scenario."

"For example, a database?"

"That would require writing logs, but be aware of the performance overhead."

The Q&A session lasted for forty minutes. The questions were varied: some asked about kernel lock optimization, some about driver development techniques, some about choosing open-source licenses, and some about career development advice.

Lingyun answered each question one by one. When a drawing was required, he would draw on the blackboard. When code was needed, he would write pseudocode. When a concept was involved, he would give examples.

An hour later, Director Wang checked his watch and walked to the podium.

"Students," he said, "it's almost time."

A chorus of voices rang out from the audience, "Speak a little longer."

Director Wang looked at Ling Yun.

"Look..."

"Answer three more questions," Ling Yun said.

The first question was asked by a girl in the front row.

"Professor Ling, do you think what we're learning now will still be useful after graduation?"

"The fundamentals are always useful," Ling Yun said. "Algorithms, data structures, operating system principles, computer organization. These will never become obsolete. Specific technologies may change, but the principles will not."

The second question was asked by a boy in the back row. He was standing and holding a Walkman cassette player—it was for recording.

"Do you have a chance of winning against Microsoft?"

The lecture hall was so quiet you could hear the air conditioning.

"It's not a matter of chance," Ling Yun said. "It's a matter of necessity. Operating systems are the cornerstone of the information world, and this cornerstone cannot be entirely controlled by others. We may not be able to do it perfectly, but we must do it."

The third question was asked by the boy with glasses.

What do labs look for most when hiring?

"Curiosity," Ling Yun said, "and perseverance. Eighty percent of the time in technical problems is spent failing, debugging, and searching for that bug that you don't even know where it is. You can't keep going without curiosity, and you can't finish without perseverance."

The Q&A session is over.

Director Wang announced the time and location for the lab interviews. The students began packing their things, but many stayed and lingered around the podium.

Ling Yun was asked more than a dozen questions. Some asked about the size of the Starry Sky System development team, some asked about his experience running a company in the United States, and some asked about the patent layout of the optical mouse.

People gradually dispersed around 4 p.m.

The last to leave was the boy with glasses. He walked up to Ling Yun and bowed.

"My name is Zhang Ming," he said. "I will definitely get into the lab."

"I've got it," Ling Yun said.

The boy ran out.

Only Ling Yun and Director Wang remained in the lecture hall.

"You should have said you were 'Ling Yun' earlier," he said.

"What's the point of saying this?"

"It's useful for the students," Director Wang said. "They need a tangible goal."

They packed up their things, turned off the projector, and shut down the microphone. As they left the lecture hall, a few students were still discussing the questions they had just heard.

"The slab allocator he mentioned..."

"I need to go back and review the code again..."

"I want to register for the lab..."

The sound gradually faded into the distance.

Lingyun and Director Wang walked on campus.

"The number of applicants will continue to increase," Director Wang said.

"Um."

"We'll need to add a few more interview sessions."

"Add it."

They walked to the school gate. Director Wang stopped.

"Thank you," he said.

"What are you thanking me for?"

"It taught the students a very good lesson," Director Wang said. "Technology can be built; it's not something you can only learn from books."