Sudden Hot Search

In the laboratory.

Upon hearing that the nucleophilic substitution step had issues, Xu Yun didn't even frown. He calmly asked, "Xiao Zhao, there are many reasons why a substitution reaction might fail. What exactly is the situation? Are the substances not reacting?"

"They are reacting."

Xiao Zhao scratched his head, a bit confused, his eyes flickering with bewilderment. "Logically, the reaction balancing should be fine, but there's no product being generated. Uh, not even a crude product."

"How much bipyridine?"

"3 eq%."

"I understand, wait a moment."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yun immediately picked up a pen and paper and started calculating on the table, his expression unperturbed. He wasn't deliberately acting profound; he genuinely felt this wasn't a big deal. In his previous life, he had participated in many large-scale physics research projects. Some major ones cost millions in just over ten seconds (including equipment depreciation), and a slight mistake could lead to complete failure. The current project's total funding was less than a million, with only fifty thousand yuan disbursed in the first cash flow. It would be strange if he felt nervous.

A moment later, Xu Yun lightly tossed his pen aside and looked at Xiao Zhao. "CuI at 4 eq%, increase bipyridine to 4 eq%, 170 degrees. No, try refluxing at 180 degrees for 3 hours."

Before the experiment, Xu Yun and the others had made thorough preparations to avoid light, so they didn't need to worry much about the decomposition of the iodinated raw material. Therefore, the lack of product in the substitution reaction was most likely due to an issue with the ring.

After dealing with Xiao Zhao's problem, another female student in the research group, Zhou Peiyao, besides Tang Yiqiu, raised her hand. "Senior, the epoxide ring opening is also having problems!"

"Don't worry, explain it in detail too."

And so, for the first half of the research group's experimental day, Xu Yun was basically occupied with resolving team coordination and compound balancing issues. After all, except for Qiu Sheng, the other five "tools" were all in their second year of graduate studies or below. For example, Xiao Zhao, whom Xu Yun mentioned earlier, was a second-year graduate student. Li Yi, Zhou Peiyao, and another male student were first-year graduate students, and Tang Yiqiu was only an undergraduate in her fourth year. They might be able to solve problems on paper with ease, but when it came to practical experience... they had almost none. Thus, Xu Yun guided and corrected them, and time ticked by.

"Phew--"

A few hours later, Xu Yun let out a long breath and glanced at his watch. It was eleven-thirty in the morning. The preliminary steps he had set had a total of 22 steps. The morning passed, and the research group had sluggishly progressed to the step of catalytic hydrogenation with nickel acetate/sodium borohydride, with about 36% completion. At this pace, they might reach about 60% completion today. If they were lucky tomorrow, they might finish all the preliminary work. The laboratory usage period was two weeks, meaning Xu Yun had about 12 days for the core synthesis. This was a bit faster than he had anticipated. After all, the mission reward was the formula for the fifth-generation Imidacloprid. The fourth-generation he was working on, apart from the cyclization idea, required him to put in effort at almost every step.

He then quickly scanned the laboratory and, seeing that all the steps were entering the observation phase, cleared his throat and said, "Alright, everyone, stop what you're doing. Let's go have lunch first before continuing. Old Qiu, you're a good sport, stay in the lab to keep watch. I'll take a few junior students to eat at Food Square, and I'll relieve you when we're done."

As the deputy leader of the research group and one of the only two doctoral students present, Qiu Sheng was the most suitable person to stay on duty. He readily nodded upon hearing this. "Understood. You guys go ahead and eat, I'll take care of the lab."

With the duty person confirmed, the group changed into their casual clothes according to laboratory regulations and headed towards USTC's Food Square under Xu Yun's lead. Food Square, or "Mei Guang" as it was abbreviated, was a well-known food gathering spot around USTC. In Xu Yun's previous life, he attended a regular undergraduate program. A classmate's uncle owned a barbecue restaurant near Food Square, and her boyfriend was in the biology department. So, every week, he and his roommates would sneak a few rabbits from the lab and drag their girlfriend and her roommates to the barbecue restaurant to use their grill and seasonings. In the end, six out of the eight people from the two dorms became couples. This tradition continued even after Xu Yun graduated. However, it was rumored that one time, a goofball accidentally brought out a rabbit that had been given medicine, which resulted in the whole group suffering from diarrhea and ending up in the hospital. From then on, USTC's labs became much stricter.

Xu Yun and his group walked along, chatting and laughing, finally arriving at a grilled fish restaurant. At some point, many single-serving grilled fish restaurants had appeared locally. The average cost was less than thirty yuan per person, which was indeed friendly for office workers or those with social anxiety. Upon entering, the six of them each ordered their preferred flavors and then took their seats... and started scrolling through their phones. It couldn't be helped; this was the standard social mode for contemporary young people. They couldn't live without their phones. Tang Yiqiu and Zhou Peiyao, being typical netizens, immediately focused on the trending topics list after opening Weibo. "Huh? Three Mice's poster is a flop. I actually quite like their snacks." "The comments below said it's a poster from 2019, and someone dug it up to stir up trouble now." "What, so they've been causing trouble since 2019?" "Uh, I guess you could say that."

"Look at this one too. Novice Angler, a writer on Qidian, is struggling with his new book and is so hungry he fainted at home. How pitiful is that?"

Seeing his juniors chattering away, Xu Yun couldn't help but smile.

He actually quite liked the lively atmosphere of a group of people bustling about. It was just that after graduation, various pressures and real-world problems came flooding in, causing gatherings with colleagues to lose that same flavor.

He really missed these days without scheming and backstabbing.

Just then, Li Yi, who was beside him, suddenly let out a long "Hmm?":

"Everyone, look at number eight on the trending searches. Is this a joke or what?"

Li Yi's exclamation immediately drew the attention of everyone at the table. Seeing that a few people hadn't downloaded Weibo, Li Yi simply turned his phone around and displayed the page.

"You guys look."

Xiao Zhao, who was closest to him, leaned in immediately, reading and repeating, "#Newton Portrait, Anta#? Uh, what kind of trending topic is this?"

Li Yi chuckled upon hearing this.

"A very famous collector in England just passed away. Before he died, he donated all his collections to a British museum. Today, the museum held an accession ceremony and invited a bunch of media to visit.

Among them was a portrait of Newton, said to have been painted in 1701. However, on the table behind the portrait, someone spotted a pair of sneakers."

"Sneakers?"

Li Yi nodded vigorously, his mouth splitting into an even wider grin.

"That's right. They look like Anta's winter collection this year. Now, some people are saying Newton was a time traveler from Huaxia, while others are accusing Anta of malicious marketing. But the problem is, Anta just withdrew from BCI during the Xinjiang cotton issue, and the broadcast partner for the accession ceremony was BXC. It's impossible for them to cooperate with something like this, logically or ethically."

Zhou Peiyao thought for a moment and asked, "Could it be news fabricated by domestic marketing accounts?"

Li Yi shook his head.

"Impossible. Some juniors studying abroad have confirmed this. I heard foreign media are going crazy over it. No matter how this ends, John Bull has completely lost face. What do you think, Xu God?"

Facing Li Yi's question, Xu Yun gave a mechanical "Mm," his mind feeling like a thousand eardrums were pounding:

The sneakers in the portrait... could this be a bonus Easter egg from the reward?

Things that happened in the instance...

Are actually reflecting in reality?!