Tian Liangwei

USTC was one of the C9 League universities in Huaxia, and its education and research ranked firmly among the best in the country. Naturally, it had no shortage of cutting-edge laboratories and research talent.

For example, ultracold atom physics. Or the quantum communications lab led by Pan Shuai, USTC's handsomest man. And then there was...

Biomedical research.

USTC's Central Campus, Medical Center Building.

Although USTC had moved its School of Life Sciences to the West Campus several years ago, even shifting the accelerator there slightly to make room for all the relevant equipment,

the Medical Center on the Central Campus still had a stronger research foundation than the West Campus.

The Medical Center Building stood beside Building Eight. Next to Building Eight was an old Sichuan restaurant where the spicy blood curd was one of the best dishes at USTC. The prices were very reasonable, and business was booming.

Farther behind it was the Tsinghua University Guesthouse, where a bunch of young couples showed up every weekend—cough, cough. Never mind, I've said too much.

USTC's Medical Center was a standalone research facility, its exterior a uniform orange-brown. Rumor had it that a bunch of security guards, like Viet Cong guerrillas, were always concealed nearby. For all anyone knew, one of the trees or trash cans might have been a person in disguise. Sadly, though, nobody seemed to have ever actually seen them.

After entering the building, Xu Yun walked up to the reception desk.

"Hello. My access code is USTCXXXX."

It was the weekend, and the receptionist on duty was a petite student worker with a sweet face and glasses. She looked like a quiet, shy girl.

She quickly clattered away at the keyboard, then scanned Xu Yun's face.

"Your identity has been verified. Sorry to trouble you, senior, but could you briefly tell me the purpose of your visit? I need to file a report."

"The immunology lab on the fourth floor. I need to see Dean Tian about something."

"O—cough, cough, okay. You can go up, senior."

"Thanks."

After reporting the relevant information, Xu Yun went over to the elevator and pressed four.

The elevator rose slowly and soon stopped on the fourth floor.

After stepping out, Xu Yun walked about ten meters to the left and stopped in front of an office. He raised his hand.

Knock, knock, knock—

A moment later, a man's voice came from inside.

"Come in."

Xu Yun pushed open the door and entered.

It was a modest office, only about twenty square meters in size.

A desk stood directly opposite the entrance, with a row of bookshelves beside it. To the left of the entrance sat a small L-shaped sofa and a coffee table, forming a little reception area.

A short, round-faced man with close-cropped hair, who looked to be in his fifties, sat at the desk. He seemed very kind.

This was Tian Liangwei, dean of USTC's School of Life Sciences, an academician selected for the Hundred Talents Program—and Xu Yun's doctoral advisor.

Pan Shuai in physics and the heartthrob Tian in biology: after spending so much time and effort earning his degrees, Xu Yun had ended up with the perfect combination of advisors.

It was hard to find an advisor who was capable, willing to support younger scholars, and not eager to take credit.

Of course.

The relationship between advisor and student was often a two-way street. Students wanted a good advisor, and advisors hoped to take on good students, too.

Xu Yun was clearly the latter. So when he walked in, Tian Liangwei's already-kind, round face softened even further.

"Little Xu, shouldn't you be working on your doctoral defense? What brings you here? Don't tell me you're trying to find out who the external examiners are so you can pull strings?"

Anyone who had gone through a doctoral defense knew that the review panel usually consisted of five or six people, at least two of whom were experts from outside the university. They were also one of the biggest hurdles in the defense.

So many doctoral students tried to find out who was on the panel ahead of time and prepare a defense strategy tailored to them. That was even more common overseas.

But Tian Liangwei was obviously just joking. With Xu Yun's abilities, there was no need for such underhanded tactics at his defense.

Xu Yun walked over to the desk and, with the ease of someone familiar with the place, poured a glass of water for Tian Liangwei and one for himself. He gulped his down.

"Don't tease me, Professor. Couldn't it just be that I care about your health and gave up a weekend spent bundled in bed to come visit you?"

Hearing this, Tian Liangwei dramatically clasped his hands together and raised them to his forehead, waving them around as if he were praying.

"Oh, please, Xu God has spoken! How could a mere mortal like me not believe you?"

Then he nodded toward the window with the air of a seasoned old hand.

"Also, here's a piece of advice from your teacher: next time you come by, you could stop at the fruit shop downstairs and buy a four-yuan box of cut dragon fruit. That might make your words more convincing. Oh, and make sure it's white dragon fruit. Red dragon fruit is heresy."

Without a moment's thought, Xu Yun blurted out, "Can I put it down as a research expense? If so, I'll buy two boxes next time."

Tian Liangwei: "..."

Then he gave a light cough and stopped joking with Xu Yun.

"All right, let's get serious. What did you come to see me about?"

Seeing Tian Liangwei grow serious, Xu Yun straightened his expression and brought up the matter.

"Professor, I had an idea while writing my paper yesterday. I spent the night doing some basic calculations and working through the derivation. It seems like it might be feasible, so I came to ask for your help."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Are you familiar with imidacloprid?"

"Imidacloprid?"

Tian Liangwei nodded. Though his main research fields were immunology and chronic diseases, as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, he was naturally familiar with imidacloprid, a neurotoxic insecticide that had been around for more than thirty years.

"The first-generation neonicotinoid insecticide, right? It's now been optimized up to the third generation. Its broad-spectrum effectiveness has gradually declined over the years, and it's even starting to fall behind. What about it—do you have an idea?"

Xu Yun didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked, "Professor, do you think imidacloprid still has potential for research?"

"That's hard to say. Most institutions, here and abroad, are working on it, but progress has been very slow."

Tian Liangwei shook his head and pointed at the floor with his index finger.

"For instance, the Innovation Lab on the third floor has been researching this sort of problem for ages, but there's been almost nothing to show for it so far. Unless imidacloprid can be optimized to the fourth generation, the market will only keep shrinking."

At this point, Tian Liangwei, who knew Xu Yun fairly well, began to suspect what was going on.

"Little Xu, have you come up with a new direction for imidacloprid?"

Xu Yun nodded and took out a sheet of paper covered in notes he had copied and compiled.

"I have a few rough ideas. Professor, take a look at this."

Tian Liangwei took the paper and spread it flat, giving it a light shake. Then he picked up a pair of reading glasses from the desk and studied it carefully.

A little while later, his pupils contracted slightly. He abruptly looked up at Xu Yun.

"Pheromones?"