Outside the Chemistry Institute’s laboratory building, in front of the tree pit, Shi Yang was surrounded.
He couldn’t remember how he got there, it seemed like someone just asked him to step out, and then he was dragged over by two fingers.
In front of him, Li Zheng’s team members were neatly lined up.
Originally, Tu Yikou was wandering somewhere unknown, and even hearing about the paper publication didn’t elicit much of a reaction.
But as soon as he heard there was someone to beat, he appeared out of nowhere.
As for Lin Moming, she only heard there was a celebration party, although her Chinese was quite good, she was still quite far from understanding the pun of "party".
And Shi Yang, looking at Li Zheng and Mo Nian blocking his path, remembered the afternoon he was first "Arubad" by Aruba at middle school.
([Aruba], a male group game in East Asian regions, known along with[Millennium Kill] as "two extreme male games.")
(In the southern provinces, it’s also called "rubbing tree," while in the north, it’s referred to as "treeing" with "tree" being the verb.)
(In the Jijing Area, it’s also said as "sawing people" or "pole people," and in the Northeast, it’s happily termed "chopping big tree.")
(Among the regional names, the Sichuan and Chongqing area stand out, calling it "tearing card!")
Just like that first afternoon when he was "Arubad" in middle school, Shi Yang trembled and asked those three words—
"Why?"
Seeing his face owed a "treeing," Li Zheng and Mo Nian exchanged a glance.
They just intended to give him a lesson, but seeing that expression …
Came back.
A fleeting breeze blew by.
Among boys, that Aruba understanding.
Came back.
Even the veteran Aruba leader, Tu Yikou, couldn’t help stepping forward, spat on his palms twice: "Left leg, I got it."
Seeing this, Shi Yang didn’t think twice, he just turned and ran.
However, the atmosphere was already set.
Mo Nian, tall with a long reach, extended and promptly picked up Shi Yang while Li Zheng and the leader grabbed his legs, one each side.
Without a word, they headed for the tree.
Chang Keqing was slightly stunned and excitedly covered Lin Moming’s eyes.
"What, what?" Lin Moming struggled and said, "Isn’t it only not allowed to watch during a kiss? What are they going to do!!"
Chang Keqing found it hard to explain and just hugged her tighter: "Just listen …"
Speaking of Shi Yang, he was quite a chubby guy, yet under the chief Mo Nian’s grasp, he really couldn’t struggle free, only able to emit screams like a pig being slaughtered: "Why!!! Is this how you guys at Science Frontier celebrate? Randomly sacrificing someone to a tree???"
"More talk is useless," Li Zheng merely grunted, "We’ll talk after the treeing."
Following that, the leader rhythmically started chanting: "One!!!! Two!!!!"
Suddenly, a familiar barking voice came from behind: "Hey hey hey!!! What are you guys doing?"
The three of them cursed under their breath and nervously looked back.
They saw Zhou Yi excitedly lifting his eyes and quickly walking over: "Treeing someone, Shi Yang?"
"Old Zhou!!! Save me!!!" Shi Yang shouted desperately, looking up.
But Zhou Yi suddenly turned, pulled out his phone: "Oh… ah… that thing… listen to me…"
With that, he walked away from Shi Yang, gradually moving farther.
"Boss Zhou!!!" Shi Yang screamed in despair, "After all my dedication…"
"Alright, let’s be serious," Li Zheng said with a raised eyebrow and a smile, "It’s already merciful that Brother Huan isn’t participating."
Mo Nian nodded in agreement: "Really, that expression of his, I almost gave in and let him go with just an arm."
"Come on, let’s do it again!" the leader crooned as he started gearing up again, "One!!! Two!!! ... Go!!!"
All of a sudden.
Martial Monk rings the bell, Sima Guang smashes the vat.
The housewife sorts the garlic, and the robust man chops wood.
Tearing card!!!
"Wow..." Chang Keqing trembled as she watched, subconsciously hugging Lin Moming even tighter, squishing her entire face.
Listening to Shi Yang’s diminishing screams, she felt as if she were experiencing it herself.
One blow down, the leader, still unsatisfied, only asked, "Shall we start with grinding or go for another round?"
"That’s enough," Li Zheng said, shaking his hands. "Any more and his snot will start flying."
Chang Keqing too, just then, let go of her hands.
Lin Moming finally caught her breath.
"Why did you squeeze so hard!!" Lin Moming turned her head and said with two big red handprints on her face, "It’s just a kiss, haven’t I seen that in the park before!"
"Hmm..."
Seeing Chang Keqing’s expression, Lin Moming sensed that things were not simple. She looked at Shi Yang sprawled on the ground and mumbled to herself, "But that sound didn’t seem like a kiss, what happened exactly?"
"I’ll explain it to you later..."
"What?" Lin Moming asked with wide eyes, "Is there something even more evil and unbearable than kissing?"
"Ah... um... no, there isn’t."
"Then it wasn’t a kiss!! A kiss like that... could it be Uncle Mo Nian?!"
"Alright, no more questions..."
Just when it seemed like Aruba was about to finish, Chemical Institute colleagues, drawn by the screams, just started poking their heads out of the window.
Seeing the commotion, they were not very entertained.
"Another one!!"
"I didn’t see!!"
"Can you do it or not?"
Li Zheng, looking up at the hopeful gaze of colleagues from various specialties of the Chemical Institute, couldn’t help but sigh...
Shi Yang’s popularity was really too good.
In such cries, Li Zheng also felt a bit embarrassed and turned to Mo Nian and Tu Yikou, saying:
"Shall we redo the scene?"
"No!!! Weren’t you going to tell me after the deed?" Shi Yang struggled with eyes full of bloody tears, "You’re going to directly kill me this way!"
Thankfully, the kiss was still Zhou Yi’s doing. Seeing that another round was about to begin, he couldn’t stand it anymore, rolled up his sleeves, and stepped forward to help.
Of course, it only appeared he was there to help. When he truly got to the tree and raised his hand, he pressed it down, "Alright, alright, Shi Yang, you really need to learn your lesson, or else you’ll have to come back."
"What the heck!" Shi Yang got up indignantly, spreading his legs and dusting off his pants as he cried, "It’s broad daylight… I was just having fun… and then a few people did this to me…"
"Don’t you understand?" Zhou Yi sighed, shook his head, then looked back at Li Zheng and the others with a grave expression before turning away.
"Ah, I, I, I!! I know now!!" Shi Yang, shocked, hugged the tree tightly, "Is it because of that social media post? I pixelated it, it only showed my name."
"That’s already quite important information," Li Zheng nodded. "Someone intending to spy would know that we had success within a week, thus estimating the experiment’s difficulty and duration."
"But, I mean… even if I didn’t post it, they’d know, right?"
"Still arguing?" Mo Nian stepped forward.
"No, no, no... I was wrong, I was wrong..." Shi Yang, changing his angle, hugged the back of the tree, still very aggrieved, "So... what consequences did it cause?"
"Still not convinced?" Mo Nian pressed on.
"Convinced, convinced! Just explain it to me, will you?"
Thus, the group huddled together, and in about seven to eight minutes, they had explained everything in detail.
"That risky?" Shi Yang couldn’t help but scratch his head in astonishment, "So you mean if not for Old Hu being effective, someone might have published before us?"
"Not might, but were plotting to publish first," Li Zheng shook his head. "We spent the past week in the lab, completely unaware of what was being orchestrated behind the scenes."
"I’m sure it has nothing to do with Professor Bing," Mo Nian stated, making gestures, "She adhered to the principle of avoidance throughout and even warned me to be cautious, it would have been too easy for her to extract information from me."
"I believe so too," Li Zheng nodded confidently.
"Why?"
"Just a hunch…"
"No guys, let’s be rational…" Shi Yang, after his previous scratch, seemed to have regained his energy and analyzed fervently, "This… I must have been a bit too carried away, I’ll definitely be more careful in the future. But the question is, would someone really be confident enough to publish our research based on just one social media post of mine?"
"I share that doubt," said the leader, quietly pulling out a cigarette while sitting on the steps nearby, "It would offend the Chemical Institute to do so without a high probability of success, which is unnecessary."
Shi Yang turned and cursed, "Then why did you thrash me so hard just now!!!"
"Hey, who isn’t frustrated by this," Tu Yikou said as he lit another cigarette and offered it to Zhou Yi, "Want one?"
"Uh… no, thanks…" Zhou Yi was somewhat flustered, feeling as if he was being offered a cigarette by a superior.
Tu Yikou lit his cigarette and continued, "Moreover, didn’t Hu Haibo unintentionally reveal some details? It seemed like he had seen our paper. If this assumption is correct, then there must be another information channel, and Shi Yang was wronged for no reason."
"Exactly!!" Shi Yang suddenly burst into tears, "I’m innocent!!!"
"Don’t pull that; you were correctly accused," Zhou Yi pointed sternly at Shi Yang, "You don’t understand because you haven’t suffered."
Next, they entered Zhou Yi’s "real case studies" theatre.
While it’s not commonplace to have papers maliciously scooped, spending a few years in academia, you’re bound to witness at least one such case—be it your own, a classmate’s, or even a teacher’s.
The most important part of a paper is the idea, followed by the methodology and the experimental data.
Just a glance at these by someone else could risk it being stolen.
Even after submitting your manuscript, you’re not safe.
Here, Zhou Yi spoke about a past case from the Chemical Institute. Two graduate students were working on a project with their advisor which was going well nearing its conclusion. The advisor couldn’t resist sharing some research progress at a conference, resulting in their project being expedited and published by another lab a month later. It took those two graduate students many more years to graduate.
Although everyone knew it was theft, the other party claimed they were independently working on the same research direction and had never attended any conference.
This was actually one of the better scenarios, given the problem stemmed from your own indiscretion.
What’s even more difficult to guard against are the "reviewers" taking action.
Some despicable reviewers could simply reject your manuscript, then tweak and compile your work to pass it off as their own or hand it over to their associates for publication.
Even if they don’t do that, if they find your research overlaps with the interests of their group, they could choose to suppress it, allowing "their own" to work overtime to publish first.
These malpractices are not confined to domestic circles; they are also common in international academic communities, but 99% of the time, no evidence can be found, and reviewers also target based on the author’s reputation, usually picking on obscure teams. If a big name is involved, it’s not worth the trouble.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.
Because of this, Zhou Yi’s strategy is never to reveal any details of the results before publication. If asked how the research is going, just say, "Pretty smooth, waiting for publication."
Of course, a person with normal social skills wouldn’t ask such a question, just as it’s brazen to ask how much money or savings you have upon meeting. Only among close acquaintances, and only in the right atmosphere, does such a conversation take place.
But with Shi Yang, it’s different.
Shi Yang emanates an aura of naivety.
Casually ask him "how’s it going," and he might actually spew all the experimental data in your face.
Zhou Yi finally asked:
"So, Shi Yang, has anyone asked you anything?"
Shi Yang was both anxious and annoyed, "Other than that photo, I really didn’t reveal anything else."
"Teacher Zhou didn’t say you revealed anything," the leader interjected, looking up, "It’s about seeing if anyone had the motive to ask."
"Oh, oh, oh," Shi Yang rubbed his head, "Then a lot of people asked… After I posted that on social media, at least twenty-something people asked me what it was…"
The leader pressed further, "How many of them were from Ji University?"
"About seven or eight… But they are all from the Chemical Institute, unrelated to this matter…"
"Good, it’s fine if Shi Yang didn’t reveal anything," Zhou Yi said earnestly, "Take this as a lesson. Unpublished scientific content is always a core secret, not a single detail should be disclosed, and always be wary of those inquiring, I’ve said this many times already, but I don’t mind repeating it and if necessary, I will say it again in the future."
Everyone nodded incessantly in agreement.
"Hey, having this lesson on the first occurrence is not a bad thing," Zhou Yi then waved goodbye, "Don’t dig too deep into this. 99% of these issues end up going nowhere, and even if you dig something up, it’s merely an attempted violation. Better to spend time learning more and finding new topics."
"We’ll dig for three days, and leave it if nothing comes out," Li Zheng responded, "If there is a result, we hope that Dean Zhou can provide some support."
"…" Zhou Yi was silent for a moment, then shook his head, "I can’t promise that, just advise you to consult with me first if you find something. I’ll make sure we don’t end up at a loss."
"That’s enough, go on with your busy schedule."
"Right, I’ve still got some issues to handle with the paper, keep in touch."
Zhou Yi had just walked a few steps out when he turned back and chided with a laugh.
"Stop playing detective; cycling another round of tree planting on Shi Yang is more meaningful than this."
"Makes sense," Li Zheng chuckled and nodded, "If there’s no result in three days, we’ll just plant Shi Yang again."
"I think that’s fine," Zhou Yi departed laughing.
"Just can’t get over it, can you?" Shi Yang cursed miserably, "At least pick on someone else for a change."
"Grow up, Shi Bao’er," Li Zheng raised his hand, swept it past Mo Nian and the leader, then pointed at himself, "Do any of us look easy to bully?"
"So… it’s still my fault then?!"
"That’s what the slimes in the game also think."
...
After lunch, when Li Zheng returned to the dormitory at Ji University, he could clearly feel the change in atmosphere.
Those familiar looks that resembled seeing a monster made him realize that good old Ji University had once again turned into Lake Ying Middle School for him.
That’s what it’s like to be a loner; you only step into a field when you’re confident enough to dominate it instantly.
The matter of gaining fame early was still fermenting, temporarily no need to pay attention to it.
First, let’s deal with the harvest.
[Congratulations!]
[Barrier exclusive guidance task, Illuminate New Technology, successfully completed!]
The first time this prompt popped up was in the conference room, probably also the moment the thesis was publicly presented.
Now, it seems that this should be a sufficient condition for task completion, whether it is a necessary condition is still unknown.
On the other hand, the system seemed to be very considerate of the barriers, even the speed of the information passing was a bit slower than before.
[Proceeding to settlement—]
[Academic Power: 3577→3586↑]
[Initial Scholastic Wealth: 421]
[Task Reward: +300.]
[Earnings from collaborations with Zhou Yi, Zhang Shilei, Hu Zengwu, Mo Nian, Chang Keqing, and others: +102]
[Gains plundered from Zhang Shandong, Hu Haibo, Wu Yue, and others: +37]
[Accumulated gains from reputation and resources: +213 (will continue to accumulate after settlement)]
[Total Scholastic Wealth change: 421→1073↑↑↑]
[Barrier-exclusive task reward: Choose any skill priced at or below 20 Academic Fortune credits.]
The screen then switched to the "Academic Fortune Store."
Li Zheng rubbed his hands, barriers or whatnot, this was becoming intriguing.
Only...
Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Literature, History, Geography, Philosophy...
From [Biology Prince] to [Mental Arithmetic King], from [Thirty Thousand Daily Words] to [Five Language Package], he wanted them all.
As for whether there is anything he particularly wants...
Because they are all skills priced at or below 20, it is quite difficult to pick something truly outstanding.
If forced to say, [Thirty Thousand Daily Words], writing thirty thousand words of papers per day seems good, but upon reflection, as the Demon Emperor himself, with learning enhancement already off the charts, this thirty thousand may just be improving the endurance of his finger joints.
After much deliberation, the loner still chose to be a loner.
He’ll buy it another day when his level isn’t enough.
Temporarily skipping this reward, the guidance task seemed... to be coming to an end.
[Congratulations, you have completed the first step of the guidance task within 16 days.]
[You have proven yourself, hence you can choose to abandon the guidance task line at any time and study freely.]
[Would you like to return to free study now?]
Should...
he?
Li Zheng hesitated!
Getting a disability certificate to mix into government subsidies was something...
he naturally despised.
But...only in terms of studying...
he was more greedy and unscrupulous than anyone else.
To continue enjoying the benefits of the barrier task line...
or to be a dignified Demon Emperor.
He hesitated!