Tian Liangwei

USTC, as a member of Huaxia's C9 League, ranks among the absolute top tier in education and scientific research within the country. Consequently, it naturally boasts a significant number of cutting-edge laboratories and research talents.

For instance, there's cold atom physics, or the quantum communication laboratory led by Pan Shuai, the most handsome guy at USTC, and then there's...

Biomedicine.

USTC's central campus, the Medical Center building.

Although USTC moved the School of Life Sciences to the west campus several years ago, with related equipment even causing a slight relocation of the west campus's accelerator, if one were to discuss R&D foundation, the central campus's Medical Center still holds more weight than the west campus.

The Medical Center building is located next to Building 8, and beside Building 8 is an old Sichuan restaurant. Their Mao Xue Wang is simply a masterpiece at USTC, affordable, and incredibly popular.

Further back is the Shuimu Hotel; every weekend, a bunch of young couples... cough cough, I've said too much, too much.

The USTC Medical Center is a standalone research module, entirely orange-brown on the exterior. Rumor has it that a horde of security personnel, like Viet Cong soldiers, are constantly hidden around it, with any tree or trash can potentially being a real person in disguise. However, it's a pity that no one seems to have ever actually seen them.

Upon entering the main door, Xu Yun proactively walked to the reception desk:

"Hello, access code USTCXXXX."

It was the weekend, and the person on duty at the reception was a junior student from the work-study program. She was short but very sweet-looking, wearing glasses, and appeared to be a quiet and shy girl.

She skillfully typed on the keyboard a few times, then performed facial recognition on Xu Yun:

"Identity verified. Senior, please briefly state your purpose for visiting; I need to file a report."

"The Immunology Research Laboratory on the fourth floor. I need to see Director Tian about something."

"Oh, my... cough cough, OK, Senior, you can go up."

"...Thank you."

After reporting the relevant information, Xu Yun walked to the elevator and pressed '4'.

The elevator slowly ascended and stopped on the fourth floor shortly after.

Exiting the elevator, Xu Yun walked about ten meters to the left, arriving in front of an office door, and raised his hand.

Knock knock knock--

Less than a moment later, a male voice came from within:

"Come in."

Xu Yun pushed the door open and entered.

It wasn't a very large office, only about twenty square meters.

Facing the entrance was a desk, with a bookshelf beside it. To the left of the entrance was an L-shaped small sofa and a tea table, forming a small reception area.

Sitting at the desk was a small old man who looked to be in his fifties, with a round face and short hair, appearing very kind.

This was the Dean of USTC's School of Life Sciences, one of the "100 Talents Program" recipients, Academician Tian Liangwei, and also Xu Yun's doctoral supervisor.

Pan Shuai for physics, Tian Nan Shen for biology – this was the perfect supervisory configuration Xu Yun had painstakingly assembled through his extensive efforts in pursuing his degree.

Having the ability, willingness to support juniors, and not seeking personal credit, such a supervisor is truly hard to find.

Of course.

The relationship between supervisor and student is often reciprocal; students desire a good supervisor, and supervisors equally hope to receive good students.

And Xu Yun clearly fit the latter category. Thus, upon seeing Xu Yun enter, Tian Liangwei's already kind, round face softened even further:

"Little Xu, aren't you supposed to be preparing for your doctoral defense? What are you doing running over here? Don't tell me you're looking for me to inquire about the external examiners so you can use backdoor channels?"

Students who have gone through their doctoral defense should know that there are generally 5-6 reviewers for a doctoral defense, with at least two being experts from outside the university. These external experts represent one of the more challenging hurdles in the defense.

Therefore, many doctoral students inquire about the identities of the review committee members before their defense to prepare a tailored defense strategy. This is actually more common abroad.

However, Tian Liangwei's words were clearly a joke. Given Xu Yun's capabilities, his doctoral defense didn't require any underhanded tactics.

Xu Yun walked to the desk and, with practiced ease, poured a cup of water for Tian Liangwei and himself, downing it in one gulp:

"Teacher, you jest. Can't your student just be concerned about your health and come see you on a weekend instead of staying in bed?"

Hearing this, Tian Liangwei exaggeratedly clasped his hands together, raising them to his forehead and shaking them as if worshipping a deity:

"Oh my, please, please, Xu God has spoken, how could I, a mere mortal, not believe you?"

Then, he nudged his chin towards the window, adopting the posture of someone who has been through it all:

"Also, your teacher offers you a piece of advice: next time you visit, you could buy a box of four-yuan dragon fruit slices from the fruit shop downstairs. When you say such things, it might be more convincing. Oh, and make sure it's white dragon fruit; red dragon fruit is heresy."

Without thinking, Xu Yun blurted out:

"Can it be reimbursed as experimental funding? If so, I'll buy two more boxes next time."

Tian Liangwei: "..."

He then cleared his throat, ceasing his banter with Xu Yun, and asked:

"Alright, let's get serious. What did you come to find me for today?"

Seeing Tian Liangwei gradually becoming serious, Xu Yun's expression also turned solemn as he got to the main point:

"Teacher, I was writing my thesis yesterday and suddenly thought of something. I spent the night doing some simple calculations and derivations, and it seems potentially feasible, so I came to you for help today."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Are you familiar with Imidacloprid?"

"Imidacloprid?"

Tian Liangwei nodded. Although his main research focus was on immunity and chronic diseases, as one of Huaxia's academicians, he was naturally not unfamiliar with Imidacloprid, a neurotoxic insecticide that had been around for over thirty years:

"It's the first-generation neonicotinoid insecticide. It's been optimized to the third-generation now. Over the years, its broad-spectrum efficacy has gradually weakened, and it's even fallen behind. What's up, do you have an idea?"

Xu Yun didn't answer his question directly, but continued to ask:

"Teacher, do you think Imidacloprid still has research potential?"

"That's hard to say. Most institutions domestically and internationally are working on this, but progress has been very slow."

Tian Liangwei shook his head, pointing his index finger towards the floor:

"For example, our third-floor Chuangzhi Laboratory has been researching this issue, but there's been almost no progress. Unless Imidacloprid can be uniquely optimized to the fourth-generation, its market share will only continue to shrink."

As he said this, Tian Liangwei, who understood Xu Yun fairly well, vaguely sensed something and asked:

"Little Xu, do you have any new ideas for Imidacloprid?"

Xu Yun nodded and took out a paper he had copied and summarized from his person:

"I have a somewhat rudimentary idea, Teacher. Please take a look at this."

Tian Liangwei took the paper, spread it flat with a slight shake, picked up a pair of reading glasses from the table with his right hand, and began to read intently.

After a while, his pupils contracted slightly, and he suddenly looked up at Xu Yun:

"Pheromones?"