Chapter 340: Chapter 329 Good Uncle Zhou_1
After the meal ended, Zhou Ning was so full he could barely move, much to the horror of his second aunt, who shooed him out to support his grandpa while walking several rounds around the lake outside the neighborhood, helping digestion. After he escorted his grandpa back, Zhou Ning finally returned to his own home.
The room was very clean, obviously, his second aunt had been coming over to tidy it up when she had nothing else to do. Even without the presence of his parents, Zhou Ning was not lacking in love—the way his second uncle and aunt treated him, it was truly as if he were their own.
After taking a bath, Zhou Ning sat on the edge of his bed, intending to take off his long-sleeved shirt to sleep, but as he lifted the long-sleeve T-shirt, a large screen that had not appeared for a long time popped up, displaying a sentence.
[Congratulations, bound person, you have successfully advanced two levels, unlocking a new round of permissions, all rewards have been doubled, please see the details page for reward contents, does the bound person wish to see the detailed contents?]
Zhou Ning, with his head covered, was startled. Just as he was about to touch the little speaker on the screen, he lost his balance and fell directly onto the bed. He scrambled up in a panic, tossed aside the T-shirt, and then looked at the details page.
Bound Person: Zhou Ning
Age: 28
Forensic Doctor Level: 4
Overall Evaluation: Good learning ability
Reward Utilization: 51%
Accumulated Upgrade Value: 170 (requires 30,000 for upgrade)
To his surprise, he had leveled up!
And it was a jump in levels too!
Previously, he was always pressed by a countdown, advancing at a slow pace. Now, without paying attention to it, by ignoring it, he had seen such a progression, which brought waves of joy to Zhou Ning.
In fact, for a long time, he had forgotten about the existence of the system since it had turned off notifications. It was almost as if it did not exist, and Zhou Ning was even more engrossed in handling cases, with no room left to think about anything else. By keeping himself busy, he was able to avoid thinking about matters related to his parents.
Zhou Ning put his thoughts aside and clicked on the details page. The rewards he received were astonishing. The knowledge content that was originally grayed out had all become rewards, covering three whole pages. Of course, much of the knowledge was what he had originally acquired, but the level had increased.
Randomly clicking on a forensic anatomy subject, it indeed showed a publication date of December 19, 2022.
Zhou Ning browsed contentedly, looked at the time required to acquire the related knowledge, and felt much more settled. He turned over, closed his eyes, and just as he was dozing off, he did not appear in the small black room equipped with a dissection table.
He found himself thrown back into the room without doors or windows, with various books strewn all over the desk and floor.
After looking around, Zhou Ning felt much calmer. These books were all contents from the recent rewards. It seemed he wouldn’t be put through intensive training for a short while. He would have to finish studying these books to unlock the next round of intensive training.
He opened the top book, "Overview of Crime Scene Reconstruction," and started studying seriously...
...
The next day.
A series of urgent rings from a phone call pulled Zhou Ning out of the small black room. Staring at the ceiling for a long time, he finally remembered that he was back at his home in Qidong. He grabbed the incessantly ringing phone and saw Xia Momo’s name on the display before quickly answering.
"Hello, Mr. Xia?"
"You’re still in bed, aren’t you? I’m sorry to disturb your rest."
Zhou Ning looked at the time, and it was already past nine. It seemed he wasn’t particularly a bad student, as he had been so engrossed in reading "Overview of Crime Scene Reconstruction" that he had lost track of time.
"It’s okay, I was just sleeping in. Is there something you needed by calling at this time?"
"I heard from Doctor Lu that you reported a chemistry teacher named Zeng Like, who seems to be manipulating things covertly and even provided screenshots and such. Do you know that student?"
"That girl is Cui Liwen, Mrs. Cui’s niece. She came to me yesterday to ask if it’s possible to take the graduate entrance exam for another major while still maintaining her recommendation. That’s when I talked about Cui Liwen’s experience. I think Zeng Like has questionable character and is trying to lure female students with the promise of reserved spots for admission without exams. I went to Doctor Lu to verify this."
On the other side, Xia Momo obviously breathed a sigh of relief and quickly spoke,
"Got it, Doctor Lu has already had the school start an internal investigation, and Zeng Like has been suspended. I’ll go find Cui Liwen in a bit."
Zhou Ning blinked, not immediately understanding what that meant.
"Doctor Lu mentioned yesterday that there’s an internal selection for recruiting forensic graduate students. I told Mrs. Cui to inform Cui Liwen to study up on that aspect."
"Don’t worry about it, I’ll go find her. Also, when you have time, come to the lab at Qin University. After the software modification, you can check it for any issues with its application."
Zhou Ning looked at the time again before replying,
"Okay, I’ll drive over in a bit. It’s been a while since I last visited, and I should indeed check on the modifications."
Xia Momo laughed.
"All right, see you in a bit."
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Ning got up, washed, and only then noticed two covered bowls on the dining table. Lifting the lids, he found two large bowls padded with towels underneath. One contained millet porridge and the other seven or eight small buns that were unmistakably made by his second aunt, still warm at the time.
Zhou Ning quickly sat down and swiftly devoured everything. Waking up to food ready to eat gave him such a sense of home comforts that he couldn’t help but smile.
After cleaning the dishes, Zhou Ning went downstairs, drove to Qin University, and called his second aunt on the way to compliment her on the consistently delicious flavor of her pork and celery buns. He knew they were freshly made that morning but suggested not to bother so much next time.
Of course, this brought on a cascade of mild chiding from his second aunt, who scolded him about not eating properly in the mornings and not touching the food she sent over in the fridge. She also admonished him to drink fewer soft drinks and went on and on, but Zhou Ning listened with a smile the whole drive. This kind of concern warmed his heart.
When Zhou Ning drove up to the west gate of Qin University, the guards didn’t stop him upon seeing the car’s number, letting him through directly, which suggested that Doctor Lu had already given instructions. The smooth entry without a pass made Zhou Ning somewhat relieved.
He went straight to the R&D building, and just as he parked, he saw Mr. Qu waiting for him at the entrance.
"Why are you here? Didn’t you rest?"
Mr. Qu shook his head with a smile.
"Doctor Lu said you might come today, so he asked me to hurry over and wait for you downstairs."
Zhou Ning realized that Xia Momo must have informed Doctor Lu about his schedule.
"Let’s go up then, it’s still a bit cold outside."
The two went upstairs together and headed straight for the R&D office. Doctor Lu came over with a smile when he heard the door open.
"I’ve been looking forward to your arrival. Come in, I’ve had everyone gather in the meeting room. We can do a demonstration to see how the latest improvements work and whether they meet our practical application expectations."
Zhou Ning nodded with a smile, feeling somewhat sheepish. The money kept being transferred into the account, but as the designer, he had taken a hands-off approach and busied himself and the lab team with clearing backlogged cases and following up on major ones, accomplishing nothing substantial—it wasn’t fair not to contribute.
"Alright, let’s go take a look. Mr. Xia called me just now. She seems to want to talk to that Cui Liwen. I didn’t see Mr. Xia just now, though?"
Doctor Lu slapped his forehead, realizing:
"I asked her to take care of it. This Zeng Like daring to do such a thing makes me feel disgraced. But since we started an inquiry and accepted anonymous complaints yesterday, we’ve received a lot of allegations. Now, we’re checking them one by one. It’s surprising what you find when you look—this isn’t an isolated case.
However, I’ve looked at Cui Liwen’s records, and this girl’s academic performance is quite exceptional, with high praise from all teachers. I think with her grades, there’s no need to wait. She can directly be fast-tracked to start graduate courses.
Moreover, I’ve discussed with the school’s leadership, and for our software, we have already applied for international patents. These developments are cutting-edge technology, and we’re not rigid about completing coursework in a set number of years. We need to keep up with the times and select courses based on students’ abilities.
We should increase the weight of practical applications, but this requires discussing with your city bureau. We need places for our interns to really learn while on the job—this is the true meaning of nurturing talent, isn’t it?"
Zhou Ning nodded continuously, agreeing that the direction was correct. Their technical department truly needed people, like Sun Gaotie, who grew through their internships.
However, making such a decision was beyond Zhou Ning’s authority. One, it was up to what Mr. Hu thought, and two, Mr. Peng’s opinion mattered. After all, according to Zhou Ning, students from the computer science department could also intern at the city bureau—having one or two talented individuals like Mr. Qu in the technical department wouldn’t restrict their work.
"Later, I’ll communicate with Mr. Hu about this. We must report to the provincial department and also see what Mr. Peng thinks. I believe it’s not just the forensic department that needs forensic science talent but also a large number of computer science professionals.
If our software is well applied, it will require professionals. Such complementary services would also solve employment issues and meet the technical staff needs of various provincial and city bureaus. Otherwise, even if the software is bought, its practical use and promotion could be affected."
Doctor Lu nodded non-stop and patted Zhou Ning on the shoulder.
"I always say, I should talk with you more often; you’ve just broadened my thinking. We can directly offer an elective course for this batch of computer science graduate students, train them with a targeted focus, and accompany the software. Wouldn’t our Qin University talent be in high demand, haha!"
Doctor Lu suddenly felt his spirit lifted, laughing more heartily than before, and while laughing, he took out his phone.
"Can’t waste time, let me give Mr. Liu a call. You probably don’t know, but the appointment has just been announced. Mr. Liu is now the dean of our Qin University. This reflects the recognition of our research center’s development and the five-year plan’s direction. You just wait; I’ll have Mr. Liu join us for our progress meeting."
Saying this, without waiting for Zhou Ning to respond, he turned away to call Mr. Liu.
After making arrangements, Doctor Lu pulled Zhou Ning along, heading toward the meeting room on the third floor.
When they reached the stairwell turn, they happened to see Xia Momo talking to a young girl, who appeared to have just cried. Xia Momo was comforting her tenderly.
Doctor Lu called out to Mr. Xia, and only then did Xia Momo turn around, seeing Zhou Ning and smiling warmly. She patted the girl beside her and pointed at Zhou Ning, saying.
"Alright, no more crying. Look, this is the forensic doctor Zhou Ning you admire so much. It’s largely thanks to him you weren’t deceived. Say hello to him, okay?"
With those words, Zhou Ning immediately knew who the girl was and hurried over to Xia Momo’s side.
Cui Liwen’s face still had tear stains, but her expression went from surprise to disbelief, and finally excitement. She wiped her hands on her clothes and bowed deeply to Zhou Ning.
"Hello, Uncle Zhou. I’m Cui Liwen!"
