What Kind of New Species Is He?

Chapter 20: What Kind of New Species Is He, Anyway? (Please Follow and Favorite)

The WeChat group for the microelectronics major was buzzing early that morning.

"Breeze That Won't Scatter: Did you guys see the errata sheet published on the 'Semiconductor' official website today?"

"Fish Alley: What's up? Any good gossip to dig into?"

"Breeze That Won't Scatter: I didn't go to the library today, so I wanted to check out the electronic version on their site. Turns out the latest errata sheet is already out!"

"Little Calf Rolling: The errata came out that fast? Their editors are quick!"

"Songzhuang on the Road: Probably some big shot raised questions and provided detailed proof, so they reacted this fast."

"Fifty Looks Back: Really? Which paper got the errata? Tell me, I'll skip it for now!"

"Breeze That Won't Scatter: 'Microchip Power Supply Circuit Design Based on Photovoltaic Cell Modules,' written by Professor Ke. Five errors were corrected."

"Little Calf Rolling: It's actually Professor Ke's paper! Five errors? Finding them that fast and providing proof—definitely a big shot!"

"Fifty Looks Back: What's the big shot's name? I want to know, maybe I'll work with them someday!"

"Breeze That Won't Scatter: Yao Luo. Anyone know him?"

Everyone started guessing who this person named Yao Luo was. When they searched online, they couldn't find anyone relevant.

Soon, everyone grew curious about this mysterious big shot.

The domestic semiconductor circle was small. Anyone in microelectronics could name more than half the big shots off the top of their head, but this Yao Luo, who had pointed out Ke Zhan's errors, left no trace of information.

Students lived monotonous lives. Besides studying and gaming, gossip was their best pastime, so many were speculating about Yao Luo's identity.

Meanwhile, Ke Zhan was in his office, holding his thermos cup and boasting loudly about how many papers he'd published this semester, saying he didn't need to worry about this year's performance review.

The other teachers cast envious glances. One young teacher said, "Professor Ke, you're amazing. Your papers got accepted. With skills like that, you'll probably be up for associate professor next year!"

"Haha, Xiao Li, you sure know how to talk. To qualify for associate professor, I need to publish six professional academic papers in core domestic journals or recognized authoritative publications in the field. This latest one is exactly the sixth, so I've met the application requirements."

Ke Zhan was a bit smug.

Once he applied for associate professor and worked a bit more to become a master's supervisor, his path forward would be smooth.

Now the department also had that genius Luo Yao. The kid was arrogant and annoying, but to Ke Zhan, he was a perfect tool to climb higher.

First place in the national math, physics, and chemistry competitions.

With proper training, Luo Yao might just become the next star of the school!

That way, by relying on Luo Yao to publish a few papers, he'd get a professor title easier than others.

As Ke Zhan schemed about how to get close to Luo Yao, his phone suddenly rang.

Ke Zhan answered with a full smile, but halfway through, his expression shifted slightly.

When he hung up, his smile barely stayed on his face.

The other teachers asked curiously, but he said nothing.

After a while, Ke Zhan made an excuse to wash his cup and walked to the garden downstairs. After checking that no one was around, he pulled out his phone and made a call.

"Didn't you say the data was fine? Now the editor called me. Someone found the problems. They've even marked 'Editorial Concern' on the first five papers. What do I do now?"

Ke Zhan tried to keep his voice low, but he still sounded extremely agitated.

Whatever the person on the other end said, Ke Zhan grew furious. He said, "I paid for this. I don't care. You fix everything!"

"Otherwise, I won't pay you the rest!"

After saying this emotionally, Ke Zhan hung up immediately. He nervously looked around, and when he saw no one, he left.

At that time, in Dorm 606 of the male student building, Wu Tianming had just woken up.

He looked down and saw Luo Yao already fully dressed, sitting at the desk reading a book. His head immediately ached.

How come he and Wang Ye were the only ones trapped in their cozy blankets?

What kind of new species was Luo Yao, anyway?

"Luo Yao, there's no class this morning. Why don't you sleep a bit more?" Wu Tianming tried to drag the top student down with them into laziness.

But the top student was completely unmoved, his eyes fixed on the book, not even glancing at Wu Tianming.

Wang Ye, who had been lying in bed, was woken by Wu Tianming's noise. Groggily, he looked down, saw Luo Yao already reading, and flopped back onto the bed, saying, "Tianming, are we too decadent?"

"Not really. We didn't game last night." Last night, just as they were about to start a game, Luo Yao had dissed them.

According to Luo Yao, the time spent on games could be used to learn far more knowledge. He didn't understand what was fun about controlling a little character jumping around.

With the same time investment yielding completely different returns, Luo Yao would naturally choose to spend his time studying.

After Luo Yao said that, Wu Tianming and Wang Ye couldn't get into gaming later.

Helpless, they had to pick up their books and start reading.

"I think we're pretty motivated. If my dad saw me working this hard, he'd be overjoyed." Wu Tianming flopped back onto the bed, praising himself.

"Luo Yao, have you had breakfast?"

Luo Yao finally reacted. "No. There's snacks you guys bought here. That'll do for a meal."

Wu Tianming immediately stopped Luo Yao: "Snacks are for you to eat in the afternoon. Who eats snacks for a proper meal? They've got no nutrition anyway!"

"Wait here, I'll find someone to bring breakfast. Chief Ye, what do you want?"

Wu Tianming instinctively pulled out his phone and opened the big professional group chat to ask someone to grab breakfast, but the next second, he noticed the commotion in the group today.

"Why's it so lively? 99+ messages this early in the morning. Don't these people have morning classes?"

When Wang Ye heard Wu Tianming say that, he casually picked up his phone from beside the bed. As soon as he opened it, he saw the flood of messages in the big group.

"You know how good these guys are at shooting the breeze. They're probably posting pictures of pretty girls again. Let me take a look."

Wang Ye started reading the chat history from the beginning.

When he saw the message after Ke Zhan's paper was pointed out as having errors, he sat up with a jolt.

"Holy shit! Tianming, did you see that?!"