In less than an hour, Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin finished discussing the experimental design.
They planned to select five experimental plots and place different lamps in each.
Plot No. 1 would feature an ordinary tungsten filament lamp;
Plot No. 2 would feature an LED lamp;
Plot No. 3 would feature a medical ultraviolet lamp;
Plot No. 4 would feature a vehicular halogen lamp;
Plot No. 5 would feature a Black Light.
As for the culling method, they decided to use electric grids across the board.
Compared to things like sticky boards, electric grids offered better light transmittance on the one hand, and on the other hand, they wouldn't fail due to an accumulation of insect carcasses.
This would maximize the accuracy of the experimental results.
The two searched online shopping malls for some portable electric grid products, but regretfully, none of them were particularly suitable.
"It looks like we'll just have to make our insect-catching grid ourselves." Lin Fangxin frowned as she thought about the grid design plan.
"No need, semi-handmade will do." Yan Xiao replied.
"Semi-handmade?" Lin Fangxin didn't quite understand Yan Xiao's words.
Yan Xiao explained, "What I mean by semi-handmade is that we buy some iron window screen mesh, and then connect these screens to a high-voltage rat zapper using conductors.
Doing this is much safer than designing the whole thing completely by ourselves."
Lin Fangxin imagined the method Yan Xiao described in her mind, and after a moment, she nodded in agreement.
"There's still one problem now, and it's rather tricky to solve." Yan Xiao wore a somewhat solemn expression.
"What problem?"
"It's how to get our hands on an ultraviolet lamp with a wavelength range around 330-390nm."
"Huh? Don't you have one at home?" Lin Fangxin tilted her head, assuming Yan Xiao had done similar experiments and should have a Black Light bulb at home.
Seeing Lin Fangxin's confusion, Yan Xiao lied, "The bulb I used for my experiments before was left at home and I can't find it anymore."
"Do you still remember the shape of that lamp?"
"It's..." Yan Xiao paused, recalling the pictures he had seen in books, "transparent, long and strip-like, very much like one of those fast water-boiling heaters. Compared to regular bulbs, there's no coating whatsoever on the glass."
"Glass?"
"Right." Yan Xiao nodded.
"Then let's search and see if anyone sells them." With that, Lin Fangxin opened the Taobao mall once more and typed in '360nm ultraviolet lamp'.
The search results came up empty...
There were plenty of ultraviolet lamps for sterilization, though.
"Won't this kind of ultraviolet lamp work?" Lin Fangxin asked subconsciously.
Yan Xiao shook his head, "The wavelength range of this kind of UV lamp is too short, and insects can't perceive it either. It definitely won't work."
"What on earth are we going to do." Lin Fangxin looked somewhat anxious.
Without the kind of ultraviolet lamp bulb Yan Xiao mentioned, all other preparations for this experiment, no matter how thorough, would be completely useless.
"Let's each go back and look around."
"That's the only option."
Just as they were speaking, Wu Xiaohong pushed the door open and walked in.
Seeing that Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin were discussing a problem with serious expressions, he joked, "Well, well, you two started chatting away on the very first day."
Wu Xiaohong's words made Lin Fangxin's face flush bright red to the roots of her ears.
"Dean Wu, you're teasing me again."
"Hello, Dean Wu." Yan Xiao stood up.
"It's fine, sit down. What are you two chatting about?" Wu Xiaohong asked.
"We're talking about the 'agricultural science essay competition'." Yan Xiao replied.
"You're preparing to enter?"
Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin nodded together.
"What direction?"
"A study on the economic viability of the Black Light pest control system." Yan Xiao casually fabricated a title on the spot.
"What on earth is a blacklight? A lamp that emits black light?" As a heavyweight in the field of archaeology, Wu Xiaohong clearly didn't know what a blacklight was.
"It's just an ultraviolet lamp, only with a light wavelength of around 360nm." Yan Xiao provided an explanation.
Mentioning ultraviolet lamps, Wu Xiaohong wore a look of sudden realization.
He was no stranger to ultraviolet lamps because they were a very commonly used tool during archaeological excavation.
Many fake antiques with colorful paintings would reveal their true colors the moment they were illuminated with an ultraviolet lamp.
This was because many ancient colored paints did not contain phosphorus elements.
"An ultraviolet lamp? We seem to have one in the lab."
"Ordinary ultraviolet lamps won't do."
"Here's what we'll do: later I'll ask Old Gao and see if he has one in his lab. Don't you contact him yourself; you'd better forget him and just pretend you never met the man."
When Wu Xiaohong brought up Old Gao, it took Yan Xiao half a day to realize he meant Dean Gao Yuanning.
He had met him over at Teacher Cao Ruiying's place in that teahouse...
"Are you talking about Dean Gao Yuanning? If you hadn't mentioned him, I really wouldn't have remembered."
Yan Xiao's look of sudden realization made Wu Xiaohong wish he could bash his head against a wall.
Why on earth did I bring him up?...
To keep Yan Xiao from bringing up Gao Yuanning any further, Wu Xiaohong said, "Right, the reason I came to find you today is because there's something else."
"How much longer until you two are finished here? Why don't we chat over dinner tonight?"
"We're pretty much done talking." As she spoke, Lin Fangxin closed her laptop, then turned to Yan Xiao and said, "Let's chat again tomorrow. I'll go back and prepare the relevant materials first."
"That works too, we'll talk tomorrow then." Yan Xiao knew that since Wu Xiaohong wasn't saying it in front of Lin Fangxin, there must be something rather private that wasn't suitable for outsiders to hear.
Thus, he didn't say anything like "it's fine if we eat together."
Yan Xiao followed Wu Xiaohong out of the school.
It was right at the evening rush hour, and the road was packed with bustling vehicles, their honking horns rising and falling in succession.
The two crossed the road, walked 500 meters east, and entered the Jida University campus.
The environment instantly quieted down a lot.
Wu Xiaohong spoke up:
"I actually didn't come to you for anything particularly important. I just wanted to ask if you're interested in joining the Archaeology Department?"
Here it comes...
Yan Xiao feigned contemplation for a moment and replied, "Dean, you've invited me twice, and I truly feel deeply flattered and uneasy."
"You deserve such treatment." Wu Xiaohong kept a poker face while wailing inwardly.
Usually, whenever this sentence structure popped up, there had to be a 'however'.
For instance, someone might praise you by saying your composition was written exceptionally well, and it was great.
However, I think you could do even better.
You dressed very trendy today, looking very handsome with great style, however, I don't think school is a good place to wear night-club style clothing.
It was the same logic...
"However..."
Sure enough, it came...
"However, I haven't figured out yet what I actually want to do in the future. As you know, my full scores across all subjects were actually just a stroke of luck.
Besides, a mock exam isn't the gaokao. No one can say for sure what kind of score I'll be able to pull off when the gaokao arrives.
Don't you agree?"
Wu Xiaohong shook his head and said in a serious tone:
"You don't need to sell yourself short. I trust Bureau Cao's eye; out of everyone she has looked after over all these years, you are only the second person she has cared about this much.
As for the other person, you might not believe me when I say it, but he is only 45 years old this year, yet he is already a world-class 'scientist'.
He has made major research achievements in the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biological sciences."
"Who?" Yan Xiao asked this purely out of curiosity as to who could produce achievements across so many fields.
As for being one of only two people favored by Teacher Cao, he didn't view it as all that great of an accolade for himself.
Of course, this didn't affect Yan Xiao's respect and gratitude toward Teacher Cao.
"Lin Wushu. You should have heard of him. The saying 'lack of learning and no skills' is actually a pun on his name."
Lack of learning and no skills?
Was that some kind of exceptional moral character?
I can lack learning and no skills too...
Yan Xiao nodded with a quirky expression, indicating that he understood.
"Right." As if suddenly remembering something, Wu Xiaohong added, "Lin Wushu happens to be Lin Fangxin's father.
Fate is truly magical. Teacher Cao previously discovered and nurtured Lin Wushu, and as a result, Lin Wushu became her son-in-law.
Now she has discovered and helped you. Might you become her ladyship's future grandson-in-law?"
Yan Xiao: "..."
Seeing that Yan Xiao didn't speak, Wu Xiaohong remembered that now wasn't the time for jokes.
He had serious business to talk about today.
Since direct invitations didn't work very well, he decided to play the pity card...
"Yan Xiao, I know that with your grades, making you enter the Archaeology Department might indeed be a bit much to ask. By nature, our Archaeology Department isn't exactly a popular department, and our admissions scores at the school are also in the relatively lower tier.
If you hadn't missed the early-batch admissions, I believe it would have been impossible for even knowing you.
Old Heavens played a joke on me, letting me know you're such a fine sapling.
I can't help wondering almost every single moment whether a 'super prodigy' might ever choose our Archaeology Department.
I'm not asking you to promise you'll definitely come to our department.
I just hope you'll consider making our department your second degree.
What do you think?"
Yan Xiao didn't nod; he wasn't the type to make hasty promises easily. "Dean Wu, I really can't give you an immediate answer right now, and I hope you can understand.
However, I will definitely treat the Archaeology Department as one of my directional choices. How does that sound?"
Wu Xiaohong nodded, sighing inwardly. The road to snatching a prodigy was long and arduous...
The two crossed Weiming Lake, reached the cafeteria next to the auditorium, and went up to the faculty dining hall on the third floor.
Wu Xiaohong called over a waiter, let Yan Xiao order a few dishes, and began making small talk with him.
In less than ten minutes, the dishes were all served.
"Eat, let's chat while we eat." As he spoke, Wu Xiaohong picked up his chopsticks and dug in.
The conversation during the meal was like an archaeological promotional event.
Wu Xiaohong introduced new archaeological discoveries, shared interesting anecdotes from the excavation process, and casually recounted many stories about picking up treasures in the antique markets.
Yan Xiao listened with rapt attention.
When Wu Xiaohong talked about discovering a large pile of Oracle Bone Script inscriptions and shells in Hexi Province,
Yan Xiao didn't even have time to stuff the piece of braised pork belly hanging mid-air into his mouth before he blurted out, "Dean Wu, is the Oracle Bone Script you mentioned also researched by our college?"
Our college...
This young man's words were just so endearing...
Wu Xiaohong said happily, "The subject that studies Oracle Bone Script is 'classical philology', which is a major in the Chinese Department at our school.
Our college focuses more on things like the time period when Oracle Bone Script first appeared.
Are you also interested in 'Oracle Bone Script'?"
Yan Xiao shoved the pork belly into his mouth, chewed a few times, swallowed it, and only then asked, "If one can provide the meanings of some Oracle Bone Script characters that haven't been deciphered yet, is there prize money?"
"Of course there's prize money." Wu Xiaohong nodded, feeling that Yan Xiao was great in every way, except that he seemed a bit obsessed with money.
Pausing for a moment, he asked, "Do you know how many Oracle Bone Script characters have been discovered so far? How many have had their pronunciations and meanings confirmed?"
"Of course. A total of over 4,000 have been discovered, and those with confirmed pronunciations and meanings number a little over 2,000."
Yan Xiao casually rattled off the knowledge from his past life.
The reason he said this was actually based on a logical judgment.
He had roughly read the history of this world, and it was on par with Earth's stage of development. Most importantly, the economic level and people's living standards were similar.
This meant that in a relatively fixed social environment, the number of characters people needed to use would be roughly the same.
Ancient people might have had the characters for 'add oil' (come on), but they would never have the three characters for 'internal combustion engine'.
This was the basis of Yan Xiao's judgment.
"Mm, I didn't expect you to actually know quite a bit. The number of Oracle Bone Script characters currently discovered is 4,726, and 2,103 of them have been successfully identified."
Wu Xiaohong stated the specific numbers, though in truth he still didn't believe Yan Xiao knew anything about Oracle Bone Script.
After all, everything Yan Xiao mentioned was available on the news.
You could just search on Baidu and the content would pop right up.
"Roughly how much is the reward?" Yan Xiao clearly had his own clear objective, so he wasn't prepared to discuss academic matters at length.
"That depends on the specific value of the deciphered characters."
"Do frequently used characters have a higher value?"
"Not necessarily." Wu Xiaohong shook his head. "Unique Oracle Bone Script inscriptions, or those lacking other burial artifacts as accompaniments and rarely appearing on other bones and shells, yield higher rewards.
You know, the study of Oracle Bone Script generally still requires tombs or other ancient cultural relics unearthed at the same time to serve as proof and judgment.
To determine the specific meaning of an Oracle Bone Script character, one needs to consider the 'context' of its application.
Some unearthed 'bones and shells' are rather isolated, making them very difficult to research.
That's also why unique Oracle Bone Script inscriptions carry larger cash prizes."
After a moment's thought, Yan Xiao understood what Wu Xiaohong meant. There was no way to study the sounds, only the meanings of the characters.
And determining those meanings came down to figuring out what people were doing, or what they intended to do.
What could ancient people have done?
Nothing more than lead troops into battle, produce offspring, kill people as sacrifices to Heaven, or misunderstand some natural phenomenon.
Yan Xiao thought for a moment, then took out his phone and searched for news about Oracle Bone Script.
He opened the latest article, which contained a large image of a turtle shell.
Hmm.
I know them all...
"Professor Wu, if I could decipher the Oracle Bone Script in this picture, roughly how much prize money would I get?"
Wu Xiaohong glanced at the turtle shell on the phone Yan Xiao held up and immediately recognized it. It was a newly unearthed shell from an ancient tomb his students had recently discovered.
"You can read them?"
Yan Xiao nodded. "I know all of them."
"Really?" Wu Xiaohong clearly didn't believe him, and his expression soured a little as well.
"I really do. I can even describe some of the scenes these characters recorded at the time."
Hmm... a chapter of my past too painful to revisit...
That fierce girl...
At least...
You can make me some damn money...
Yan Xiao understood Wu Xiaohong's expression. He knew the professor must have taken him for someone who spouted wild, unfounded nonsense.
But that was only natural.
After all, no one would believe a high school student who claimed to have studied Oracle Bone Script in depth.
For one thing, some books and reference materials on Oracle Bone Script simply weren't available on the market.
So this kind of research really was the domain of professionals.
Yan Xiao smiled and asked a server for a pen and a sheet of white paper.
Yan Xiao smiled, asked the waiter for a pen and a sheet of blank paper,
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