“And right now, you need such an identity; it's your protective shield…” Huang Anping glanced at the three girls still unconscious beside him: “If you want to stay in university, fame is a kind of protection. Although it might affect some of your private life, don't worry, I'll talk to the media and make sure they don't interfere with you in the future. If you want to protect yourself and the people around you… and don't want to leave school, I think this is the best way.”
Chen Xu hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded slowly: "Alright, what's your identity?"
"Awarding of medals!"
Chapter 281 Returning the Jade Intact
This summer is destined to be an unforgettable one.
On August 28, 2007, an otherwise incongruous day, the usually serious and expressionless female anchor of CCTV-1's News Broadcast finally announced with excitement: "Now broadcasting an important news report. The Imperial Seal of the State, a national treasure lost for over six hundred years, has reappeared. This seal was indeed crafted by Qin Shi Huang's master craftsmen using the legendary He Shi Bi jade, a national treasure, during the founding of the Qin Dynasty, and a symbol of imperial power throughout Chinese history! It has a history of over two thousand years."
The Imperial Seal of the State was a symbol of imperial power in ancient China, and countless stories revolve around it. However, the seal was lost after the Ming Dynasty and disappeared from public view for over six hundred years. Now, the Imperial Seal of the State has been recovered. It's worth mentioning that the person who found it is a young man of only 20 years old named Chen Xu. According to him, he found the seal thanks to guidance from his mysterious teacher. This student then generously donated this priceless treasure to the nation.
The handover ceremony will be broadcast live tomorrow afternoon at 3 PM on CCTV-1 and CCTV-4.
Following this news report was an introduction to the Imperial Seal of the State, starting with the He Shi Bi jade and continuing until the seal's loss. After the news, major television stations and online portals rushed to report the news of the seal's recovery.
Inevitably, Chen Xu became a celebrity overnight, not only in China but also in the world!
In today's society, the significance of the imperial seal is no longer that of a symbol of imperial power in feudal times, but rather represents a historical significance.
The value of cultural relics lies in their historical significance.
To reiterate, aside from the legendary compass chariot of the ancient Yellow Emperor and the Nine Tripods of Yu the Great, there is probably no treasure more valuable than the Imperial Seal of the State.
This is truly a priceless treasure!
Indeed. Many netizens are curious about the exact value of the Imperial Seal of the State.
The official response was: "Priceless! Any attempt to sell the Imperial Seal of the State is illegal. The seal does not belong to any individual, but to the entire nation and people. Of course, Chen Xu's willingness to hand over the seal to the state without hesitation after finding it is commendable and worthy of national recognition. Therefore, the state has decided to award Chen Xu the Silver Star Medal for Outstanding Contribution."
The Silver Star Medal for Distinguished Contribution (the authenticity of this medal in reality is not being evaluated) is a national medal awarded to individuals who have made outstanding and significant contributions to the country. Above the Silver Star is a Gold Star, but the Gold Star Medal is so prestigious that only a select few have received it, such as… Yuan Longping, the father of hybrid rice, and Deng Jiaxian, who spearheaded China's nuclear and space programs…
Even the Silver Star medal is impressive enough. Recipients of the Silver Star medal receive a monthly government allowance, ensuring their financial security for the rest of their lives. They can also directly contact the central government to offer their opinions and suggestions… This is at least equivalent to the status of a National People's Congress representative!
Of course, this medal wouldn't be used to make calls to the central government or find people outside the circle. To many, it's just an ordinary medal, but to those in the know, it holds immense significance!
While this isn't a get-out-of-jail-free card, it's practically a royal decree! The recipient of the medal can directly communicate with the central government. Special agents are available to listen to their advice. So think about it, what a powerful backer that is! Which ordinary person, which ordinary official, would dare offend the imperial envoy?
Those in the know understand that this medal was awarded to SMMH rather than Chen Xu.
While the Imperial Seal of the State is valuable, a token reward is sufficient… Everyone knows Chen Xu's father owns a pharmaceutical factory, and that rabies-fighting drug is selling like hotcakes worldwide. After all, monopolies bring the greatest wealth. Think about it, SMMH's products—the liquid bulletproof vest goes without saying; Western countries have long been catching on, unable to develop their own, they turn to China for supplies… The military's prices are outrageous! And that "Translator of the Tower of Babel," five thousand US dollars! That's tens of thousands of RMB, while the cost per disc is only two yuan… Hmm, if that's the case, Chen Xu is SMMH's apprentice, so this rabies-fighting drug might very well have been given to him by SMMH!
Therefore, if the country really wanted to reward Chen Xu for his contributions, providing some policy and economic support and sponsorship to Chen Xu's father's pharmaceutical factory would be enough. There was no need to go to great lengths to award him a medal. Doing so would probably mean that Chen Xu was being treated as a spokesperson for SMMH.
Moreover, he is not just an ordinary spokesperson, but a full-fledged agent!
Since SMMH couldn't be found, the only option was to turn to Chen Xu! Moreover, those in the know understood that SMMH absolutely deserved the Silver Star Medal. Putting aside everything else, just considering his three inventions—bulletproof vests, translators, and the Chinese language—one was a coveted treasure for the military, and the other two directly propelled national development. With these two inventions, while he might not be qualified for the Gold Star Medal, the Silver Star was certainly sufficient.
Moreover, some of these medals are recognized by the military and public security systems.
This is of great significance!
To put it in a cliché way, seeing this medal is like seeing SMMH in person!
Of course, many people don't know that this was just an idea Huang Anping gave Chen Xu, an idea to enable him to protect himself.
In the few days since Chen Xu returned to China, mainland intelligence agencies have launched a sweep of Hexie City. This sweep was not a simple crackdown on illegal activities, but a search targeting foreign spies. In the end, a total of seventy-two people were arrested, from the United States, Japan, South Korea, and several European countries.
This finally made Chen Xu realize his crisis.
In fact, given his current situation, Chen Xu is indeed no longer suited to stay in school. Originally, he wanted to keep a low profile, but due to various unexpected events, he ultimately confirmed his identity as SMMH's apprentice. Now, it's difficult for him to remain low-key, so he can only become high-profile, which is also a strategy.
Although this will have some impact on his life... but honestly, if you have too many lice, you won't be afraid of being bitten. Can Chen Xu still keep a low profile at school now?
Since the "Martial Arts Master" incident, Chen Xu has become the most famous person at Hexie University. With even more accolades, it's like having too many debts to bear. As long as Huang Anping maintains good relations with the media and prevents them from harassing Chen Xu, that will be enough.
Besides the director of the Palace Museum, the mayor of Beijing was also present, along with numerous National People's Congress deputies. Essentially, this was a chance for Chen Xu to get acquainted with these people, making things easier for him in the future.
The moment has finally arrived for the imperial seal to be revealed!
The Imperial Seal of the State, a symbol of supreme imperial power in ancient China, disappeared after the fall of the Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang often lamented this, wondering why Xu Da wasn't Li Jing. When Emperor Taizong of Tang ascended the throne, there was no Imperial Seal either. Taizong could only carve a few radishes for fun in his spare time. However, later, Li Jing brought back the Imperial Seal after his campaign against the Turks, which greatly pleased Taizong.
So at this point, we can understand Zhu Yuanzhang's frustration.
Look at this jade seal, it's square and no more than five inches in size, its color is green like blue, warm and lustrous, with a glass knob on the back. On this jade seal, below is Li Si's inscription "Received the mandate of Heaven, may it live long and prosper," while on one side of the jade seal is engraved "The Imperial Seal of Wei, Passed Down from Han"... This was engraved on the jade seal when Cao Pi became emperor, meaning that the establishment of our great Wei was not a rebellion, but a legacy from the Han emperor.
On the other side of the jade seal is engraved "Heaven's Mandate for the Shi Clan," which was engraved on the jade seal by Shi Le of the Later Zhao after he destroyed the Former Zhao in 329 BC... However, Shi Le's descendants were eventually killed by Ran Min, the first hero of China, so the so-called Heaven's Mandate was nothing but a joke.
The handover ceremony was public, with at least a hundred media outlets reporting on it, and several channels broadcasting it globally... It is said that more than 500 million people watched the handover ceremony, as many people wanted to witness the true splendor of the Imperial Seal of the State.
In front of so many cameras, when the director of the Palace Museum received the imperial seal from Chen Xu with tears streaming down his face, the entire audience erupted in the loudest applause.
The old curator's excitement is understandable. To be able to see a national treasure return in one's lifetime, especially the Imperial Seal of the State, is enough to drive all cultural relics workers and historians in China crazy!
Although the government has stated that selling national treasures is an unforgivable crime, when it comes to individuals, how many could resist the temptation if they accidentally discovered a priceless treasure?
The old curator was absolutely grateful to Chen Xu. He immediately grasped Chen Xu's hand, his lips trembling with emotion, unsure of what to say.
Fortunately, an official nearby stepped in with a smile to smooth things over, preventing the atmosphere from becoming too tense.
After the handover ceremony and the officials' speeches, Chen Xu was surrounded by reporters.
Many reporters had received advance notice that they shouldn't disturb Chen Xu's daily life, so how could they not give him a proper interview today?!
Besides, this was also Chen Xu's idea. This time, the publicity should be more intense. So Chen Xu was not intimidated by the camera and used the prepared lines to deal with the reporters.
To put it bluntly, the reporters had already decided on the definition of this interview: "A good young man who returned lost property, a good role model for everyone to learn from."
Although Chen Xu wasn't particularly interested in this kind of mainstream stuff, he still had to maintain proper politeness.
After the interview, Chen Xu, exhausted, went to the back room. At that moment, a tall, dark-skinned man in military uniform walked over and said, "Have you finished resolving your business? Well then, we can set off now."
Chapter 282 Limits
Chen Xu arrived at a military base surrounded by mountains in a military helicopter.
When Chen Xu told his superiors about obtaining the imperial seal, one of the leaders asked him, "Young Chen, your achievement is truly immense. We really don't know how to reward you. Tell us, what do you want?"
Chen Xu's answer at the time was: "I want to train at the Oriental Divine Sword Academy for three months."
The Divine Sword of the East!
The Eastern Divine Sword is an elite unit under the Beijing Military Region, one of China's seven major special forces! Although the entire brigade has only three thousand members, they are all elites selected from across the country, making it the "ace unit" among China's special forces!
When Chen Xu made this request, the leaders were stunned; they didn't understand why he wanted to make it.
"I want to be stronger," Chen Xu said. "I've provoked a very formidable enemy. If I don't desperately improve my strength, I'll die a horrible death."
One of the leaders forced a smile and said, "Little Chen, what's with all this talk about dying? You need to know that the country is backing you up now, who would dare to touch you?"
Chen Xu shook his head: "That's not the issue. If an assassin really wanted to kill me, one bullet would be enough. You can't be a thief for a thousand days without being on guard against them for a thousand. If the enemy really makes a move, I'm afraid the country will be the only one who can avenge me. I don't want that to happen."
This statement made the leaders quite embarrassed, but they all knew that this young man was no ordinary student. His mere status as an SMMH student had already attracted the attention of many organizations.
Finally, Chen Xu boarded the armed helicopter bound for the Eastern Divine Sword.
It was Huang Anping who suggested going to the Eastern Divine Sword. The military agreed not because of the Imperial Seal, but because of SMMH.
Of course, Chen Xu did not go to the main base of the Eastern Divine Sword Brigade, but to a field training base.
Although some information about China's special forces has been declassified in recent years, all special forces in the world maintain strict secrecy measures. Chen Xu wanted to train and improve himself. Even though he was an apprentice of SMMH, he couldn't just open that back door casually; after all, the military is a place that emphasizes discipline.
Therefore, Chen Xu received special treatment, with three elite instructors responsible for guiding him and teaching him combat skills and survival techniques over the next three months.
The military made this concession because he was a protégé of SMMH, whose liquid body armor is now widely used in police and military systems, receiving high praise and positive feedback. It was because of this immense favor that the military made an exception. This special forces unit is unlike some ordinary lower-level military units where some princelings can simply join to gain experience.
Why did Chen Xu join the special forces for training? Because after returning from Dubai, he felt an unprecedented sense of crisis.
Yes, a sense of crisis!
Although Mivad is dead, he still has an avatar wandering the network, an artificial intelligence that is still growing. That is indeed Chen Xu, the god of the network, SMMH's biggest enemy and target... at least for now.
His identity has now been exposed… in fact, it's practically exposed. For those eyeing SMMH, SMMH's apprentice is definitely a target. Moreover, Xu Jiang mentioned that there seems to be a large organization plotting some kind of world-conquering plan… Chen Xu can't concern himself with these things. If they want to conquer the world, the first opponent they'll face will undoubtedly be the United States. It's quite possible that China will seize this opportunity to profit from the war.
However, such an organization must have incredibly powerful backing. Therefore, Chen Xu felt he needed to become stronger! At the very least, he needed to have sufficient ability to protect himself!
The fighting experience learned in a virtual world is still quite different from that in reality, because a major drawback of virtual worlds is that they cannot train the body, and physical strength is the key to determining a person's true quality.
Therefore, Chen Xu volunteered to train in the special forces.
Three months isn't a long time. But in these three months, Chen Xu only needs to understand the training methods so that he can continue to train diligently even after returning to school.
Chen Xu had three instructors, all of whom were elite veterans who had participated in the Vietnam War... and were even special forces soldiers back then. They had personally fought against the Vietnamese special forces and won every battle! Looking into their cold eyes, Chen Xu knew that it was a look of indifference to life and death; only those who had hovered on the brink of death could have such a terrifying look.
The names of these three people were not given to Chen Xu, as that was also part of the confidentiality agreement. Their task was to teach Chen Xu everything they knew over the next three months; how much he learned was up to Chen Xu himself.
They only mentioned the surnames of these three people: Zhang, Wang, and Qin.
Of course, not all three teachers stayed for three months. After all, their time was also precious. One month was enough for each of them to train Chen Xu.
However, when Chen Xu first arrived at the base, all three teachers were there to see this student who had "gotten in through connections."
"I don't care how you got in here." On the plane, Teacher Wang, who was there to pick up Chen Xu in Beijing, said coldly. He had a scar on his face that made him look very unpleasant, and his words were equally icy: "Once you're here, you're a soldier! You must obey orders! Hmph, judging by your appearance, although you're a little stronger than the average person, you're still nothing but a piece of trash. If you can't hold on, then get out of here as soon as possible! Don't waste our time!"
A warning stick!
Chen Xu understood what he meant. Soldiers like them, who had fought their way to victory, looked down on those princelings who got their positions through connections. So Chen Xu wasn't angry at all at what he said, and compared to them, he really was a good-for-nothing.
Before me are China's most elite soldiers!
Seeing Chen Xu's calm expression, Instructor Wang's tone softened slightly: "The army isn't child's play. We'll demand the strictest training from you. Of course, we won't let you die, but we won't let you have it easy either! If anything happens to you, don't blame us; blame yourself for overestimating your abilities." Then his tone softened a bit: "However, I still want to thank your instructor. That liquid body armor is like an extra life for our soldiers. On behalf of all our soldiers, I express my gratitude to your instructor for that."
This guy isn't so rigid after all, is he?
However, once he got off the plane and started his first day of training, Chen Xu thought differently.
Chen Xu's most important task right now is to improve his physical fitness, so on the first day, Instructor Wang assigned him a task... to run around the track!
This task doesn't seem difficult, but it's not about running 500 meters or 1000 meters. It's about... making Chen Xu run while carrying a heavy pack that weighs a full 50 kilograms!
Fifty pounds. Most people could lift it without any problem, but carrying it on their back feels like it's going to crush their entire body.
Chen Xu felt like a tortoise or a snail, having to keep his head down to maintain his balance.
Moreover, the distance they run isn't short. They have to run twenty laps around this training track!
That lap is 300 meters!
"Run! Are you running or walking?!" Chen Xu gritted his teeth and kept going ahead, while the instructor followed behind him at a leisurely pace, whipping him whenever he slowed down even a little!