Only You Could Do It

"."

At that moment.

Facing Xu Yun, whose expression said, What the hell?, Academician Pan's tone suddenly turned serious:

"Little Xu, don't let the committee's impressive lineup fool you. Yang Lao and the others aren't here to support you unconditionally."

"If your defense turns out to be mediocre, you can probably guess what the consequences will be. I'm not talking about the academic world, but the impact on public opinion."

Xu Yun had still been marveling at the names on the list, but at those words, he immediately sobered up.

Indeed.

For Xu Yun—or any master's student, for that matter—this lineup was a shocking honor, the kind of experience one could brag about for a lifetime.

On the other hand.

Having such a lineup wasn't simply a good thing. The other meaning of a top-tier panel was that Xu Yun had to deliver a performance to match it.

After all,

On paper, this review committee was more than qualified to evaluate academicians.

There was no need to say much about Yang Lao, the highest peak in the history of Chinese physics to date. The controversies surrounding him mainly concerned his choices and conduct; when it came to his abilities, even his detractors found them hard to question.

In a sense,

If someone had enough going for them to attract haters, that meant they had something worth hating—ability, fame, or both. Either way, they couldn't possibly have neither.

Aside from Yang Lao,

Old Wang and Zhou Guangzhao were both heroes of the Two Bombs, One Satellite program. In the instance, Xu Yun had interacted with their younger versions—or, more accurately, their middle-aged versions.

Zhou Shaoping was one of the second generation of pioneers in Huaxia's high-energy physics. After Zhao Zhongyao, Wang Ganchang, and the others had blazed the trail, Zhou Shaoping