Part 2 Hello, Mr. Major General I'm Gu Nianzi

253. Trembling with rage?

The manufacturers, scientists, and technicians in attendance had been watching the events unfold in utter bafflement, but now they erupted into raucous laughter. They could not help it.
The Americans had messed up, big time. How ridiculous and shameless of them to have claimed that they had cracked the password, when it had already been made public for a good 15 minutes!
Even if the Americans had actually cracked it by themselves, they could no longer prove it. They should have swallowed their pride and kept quiet.
Instead, they had offered themselves up for a very public smackdown.
"How do we know they cracked it? Maybe they just copied the password"
"Copied it? Plagiarized it, you mean!"
Gu Nianzhi quickly posted all that had happened to social media, using an anonymous account.
All at once, satirists from all over the globe pounced upon this piece of juicy news; they began to ridicule the US and their "cracking" methods.
The Americans were, understandably, fuming with rage. They had not expected the Huaxia Empire to be this cunning: the Huaxia delegation had not only refused to acknowledge the breach by the American team, they had turned around and milked it for publicity and exposure.
The Americans were not about to let the Huaxia delegation steal their thunder. The Harvard University press conference was still being broadcast live, all over the world; they immediately seized the opportunity to turn the spotlight on Xin Xinggao.
The massive LED screen at the International Telecommunications Conference was still showing the Harvard University press conference, which was now building up to the show-stopping climax.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it is our honor to introduce you to the leader of the team that cracked the password for the Nandou System. She is an exceptionally talented student, hailing from the Huaxia Empirewe could never have done it without her."
Xin Xinggao's pretty, dignified face appeared on the LED screen; this was also broadcast, live, to every corner of the world.
A hush fell over the guests at the International Telecommunications Conference. Everyone stared at the young woman on the screen, unsure of what to think.
Gu Nianzhi had turned on the TV and was watching the live US coverage of the conference.
She felt a chill run down her spine when she saw that the Americans had deliberately directed all attention to Xin Xinggao. She clenched her fists, her palms sweaty with dread.
She looked at Xin Xinggao's proud face on the TV screen, and shook her head sympathetically.
The Americans had stealthily removed themselves from the equation by doing this. They had pushed all responsibility onto Xin Xinggao's shoulders.
The Americans no longer cared whether Xin Xinggao admitted to treason, plagiarism, or shamelessly attempting to take credit for information that had already been made available for free; whatever she did, she had done it herself. The "true" Americans had had nothing to do with it.
Xin Xinggao had come to the United States on a Huaxia Empire passport. She was still a citizen of the Huaxia Empire, and was legally nothing more than an international student in the US.
Every single face in the Huaxia delegation to the International Telecommunications Conference had turned gravely serious. The scientists, especially, were trembling with rage.
At that moment, Xin Xinggao received a phone call, and finally realized she was in big trouble.
At the awards ceremony that followed, Xin Xinggao defended what she had done with an agitated speech: "Science has no borders! I never wanted all this attentionI just wanted to do my research in peace, and scale the summit of science!"
After hearing this, Gu Nianzhi no longer had any sympathy for Xin Xinggao.
Scale the summit of science? Watch out, you may have just slipped and fallen to your death.