Study Monster Cultivation System
Chapter 270 - 269, you have to face me!

Late at night, Lin Yujing clutched her phone, fuming and rolling around in bed.

[Lin Yujing: I’m really mad now!]

[Shen Tinglan: What happened? Did you lose in an exam again?]

[Lin Yujing: ???]

[Shen Tinglan: That... I was also watching the livestream. I’m just too sleepy. Don’t blame yourself. (cover face laugh)]

[Lin Yujing: I’m not mad about that.]

[Shen Tinglan: (question mark face)]

[Lin Yujing: Still pretending!]

[Lin Yujing: Tell me, who are you really supporting?]

[Shen Tinglan: Oh... that thing (cover face laugh)]

[Shen Tinglan: It’s almost summer vacation. Li Zheng’s father just asked me if there were any launch plans. He wants to take Li Zheng to see it. What’s the matter?]

[Lin Yujing: ...You’re lying!]

[Shen Tinglan: Why would I lie to you? It’s hard for ordinary people to know the exact launch dates. They’re not part of the aviation enthusiasts’ circle, so of course they have to ask me, right?]

[Lin Yujing: So you mean he already thought about the satellite launch and just asked you to confirm the time?]

[Shen Tinglan: Li Zheng’s father really just asked me for the time. What’s the matter? Is there something I don’t know about? (smirk)]

[Lin Yujing: No... it’s just that you should be on my side!]

[Shen Tinglan: Of course.]

[Shen Tinglan: By the way, our department is group buying a house over there, and we’ve never really managed it.]

[Shen Tinglan: How about we trick them and rent it at a high price for the rocket launch viewing?]

[Lin Yujing: But I want to live there too!]

[Shen Tinglan: Isn’t being a landlady sweet?]

[Lin Yujing: ...Is Li Zheng’s father definitely going too?]

[Shen Tinglan: Wait, let me ask.]

[Shen Tinglan: Oh, he suddenly has hundreds of surgeries and can’t make it. So we can only trick Li Zheng... How about 50 yuan a day?]

[Lin Yujing: Giving it away for free? And you say you’re on my side!]

[Shen Tinglan: Then you negotiate with him. It’s more than 200 square meters, for a square meter... charge him five cents!]

[Lin Yujing: ...Aren’t you staying there?]

[Shen Tinglan: I have to be on site those days. You guys can’t get in, but I can give you a shout-out to go to a secret spot with a great view.]

[Lin Yujing: Hmmm... let’s talk about it then...]

[Shen Tinglan: Don’t rent it out too cheap though, at least 50 a day.]

[Lin Yujing: No way, it has to be at least 100! (angry)]

[Shen Tinglan: Good for you, little landlady (cover face laugh)]

...

Meanwhile, Li Zheng, in the elevator, was also exchanging information with Old Li.

[Li Zheng: Close call! Thank goodness I vaguely remembered there was a launch scheduled for this summer.]

[Li Yi: I remember you mentioned this at the beginning of the year, but it was too much trouble since we couldn’t determine the exact timing, so you dropped it.]

[Li Zheng: Yeah, it’s easier with information from Mother Lin, even if she doesn’t go I will.]

[Li Yi: Oh, right, Mother Lin said she has a house there, but considering Lin Yujing’s feelings, she can only pretend to rent it to you. Lin Yujing will charge you the rent, whatever it is you pay, and then her mom will transfer it to me.]

[Li Zheng: Auntie is too kind!]

[Li Yi: Damn, why couldn’t I have met such a mother-in-law...]

[Li Zheng: ???]

[Li Yi: Never mind, sleep sleep sleep.]

Li Zheng hung up the phone, exited the elevator, and felt a spring in his step.

Not a difficult question at all, more like free points.

Who wouldn’t want to see a rocket launch.

It just lacked a source of information.

This time, it was not only the launch time and the secret viewing location.

Even accommodation was arranged.

From now on, maintaining a good relationship with Aunt would be essential.

Li Zheng thought about how to thank Aunt all the way, bouncing back to his room door, and carded his way in.

But as soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by a stern face.

"Finally done," he muttered.

Inside the room, He Antang got up with a wry smile, "I know you’re tired, I’ll only take a few minutes of your time."

"Not at all," Li Zheng approached respectfully, "please tell me if there’s anything I can do for you."

"Nothing specific, just a casual chat," He Antang gestured with his hand for Li Zheng to sit down.

Qi Yingnan, who had been sitting quietly at the side, knew they were going to talk about the retest, quickly stood up and said, "Then I... will go out for a run..."

He Antang didn’t speak, tacitly agreeing to the arrangement.

Qi Yingnan had no choice but to give Li Zheng a concerned look before changing shoes and going out for a forced run.

Only after Qi Yingnan left did He Antang let out a sigh of relief, leaned back into the chair, tilted his head back, rubbed his eyes, and sighed, "Finally it’s done, I can resign soon..."

Li Zheng poured a cup of hot water and brought it over with a smile, "You gave me a scare, I thought it was about smashing Qin Kaixuan, and I was going to be disciplined."

"That matter… you really messed it up… but never mind, in that situation, hitting him was useless anyway, right? It was exactly right. After that hit, no one dared to talk any nonsense anymore," He Antang laughed and gestured, "Say, have you ever played baseball?"

"No?"

"Then how did you cause a concussion with just one hit?"

"…"

"Hahaha," He Antang laughed loudly, "Don’t be scared, it probably was fake."

After drinking some water, He Antang then talked about what happened next.

At that time, after Li Zheng’s harsh scolding, the conference room was dead silent, even Qin Kaixuan did not get up.

About half a minute later, someone went over to ask about his condition, only to see him rolling on the floor, crying "I can’t get up, I can’t get up."

After two people forcefully helped him up, there wasn’t even a chance to ask about the leak before he clutched his head and cried out to go to the hospital.

They sent someone to accompany him to the hospital, but just after going out the door, he said he could go by himself, then staggered into the elevator, and has not appeared since.

It seems that he had no intention of pursuing responsibility; Li Zheng’s action had given him an excuse to escape.

Afterward, the Competition Committee took out the Huihu exam papers and compared the four leaked questions; 14 out of 15 candidates scored over 80%, in contrast, the average scores of the other two questions were only about 30%.

Yao Xiaoqian, on the other hand, left those four questions almost entirely blank, but scored a few points on the other questions.

Thus, the facts were essentially confirmed, and He Antang led the decision for a retest, unopposed.

But the issue could not just be glossed over lightly; afterward, He Antang summoned another female teacher from Huihu and, using both carrot and stick, produced a report, which was presented to the Physics Association and the Science Association for them to decide on further action.

"That projector, as you wished, serves as a symbol, it will be kept for future use by the Competition Committee," said He Antang as he took out an SD card, tapped it on the table, and pushed it towards Li Zheng, "And as for this, it’s yours again."

Speaking up to this point, he shook his head and smiled, "Don’t worry, I didn’t delete it this time."

Li Zheng also smiled and took the card, "I’ll keep it for a while then. If anyone questions this re-examination later and pursues your responsibility, I will provide it to the investigation team any time."

"Ah…" He Antang sighed deeply, patting Li Zheng, "I appreciate it, I really do."

Indeed, as the director, he had many responsibilities to shoulder.

For one, this retest might lead to some people not performing as well as they did the first time, and the possibility of causing trouble still existed.

Second, there were always those who had conflicts of interest with He Antang, and who knows, they might use his unusual action as a point of contention in the future.

At the crucial time, even a trivial thing could be lethal.

But he himself, it wasn’t appropriate to keep these pieces of evidence, rather it was better in the hands of Li Zheng.

As for Li Zheng, he felt slightly guilty towards He Antang.

After all, He Antang was half pressured by him into this situation.

As an adult in the circle, to make such a move, the cost was much greater than that for a student.

But even if pressured into a corner, he remained a hero.

Li Zheng would naturally help if he could.

"So…" He Antang pursed his lips, "Is this situation within your expectations now?"

"Basically, yes," Li Zheng nodded, "The laws of the adult world don’t vary much, but young people are hard to predict. It’s like observing the universe today allows us to calculate billions of years of changes, but we can’t predict the state of quantum particles in the next second for the microscopic world."

"Haha, that analogy is a bit of a stretch," He Antang sighed and then added, "But then again, who could have imagined Yao Xiaoqian? These must be the so-called youthful quantum states."

"Yao Xiaoqian has nothing to do with this; we were the ones who secretly filmed it."

"I know, I know, ultimately all the responsibility is yours," He Antang said, shaking his head again. "But Li Zheng, if there is a next time, will you be so lucky as to have Yao Xiaoqian coincidentally appear? Will a responsible leader be as easygoing as me? Will the tangled interests behind the scenes be as simple as they are now?"

Li Zheng remained silent, waiting for He Antang to provide guidance.

He Antang spoke indifferently.

"Don’t worry, I have no intention of influencing your thoughts."

"It’s clear, both you and Lin Yujing are committed to scientific research."

"I just want to inform you of some current realities ahead of time, so that in the future, you can make decisions as excellent as the ones you’re making now."

"You are all extremely intelligent kids. I will only mention four key points; with these, you will be able to construct the entire model."

"First: Scientific information is inherently profound."

"Because the threshold is extremely high, it’s very difficult for those outside of the scientific community to distinguish between great papers and foolish ones."

"Second: The direction of scientific research is inherently unpredictable."

"No one knows which research direction is correct, nor does anyone know who will produce results."

"Third: Scientific resources are inherently limited."

"Today’s cutting-edge research all requires a lot of funding, but the annual research budget is only so much. Compared to this, the number of graduate students increases year by year. Let me simply say four words for you to consider— bioscience, environment, materials."

"Fourth: Scientists are inherently human."

"Even Newton and Einstein had human desires; they, too, needed wealth, power, and recognition and could not exist independently of their social environment."

"With these four points, you should be able to understand the current state of the scientific community."

He Antang got up and straightened his T-shirt.

"I hope that both you and Lin Yujing, when facing more complicated environments in the future, can maintain the rationality you have now."

"If you become sacrificial lambs, it would be a loss for the entire nation in my eyes."

"Do not repeat the mistakes made by Jie Qifen."

Li Zheng, who had been reflective, suddenly reacted upon hearing this.

"What happened to Teacher Jie?"

He Antang just waved his hand: "If you are interested in the research of any professor at Ji University, I can introduce you, or you can ask Zhou Yi. But it’s best not to get too close to Jie Qifen—this is not a warning, but advice."

Only then did Li Zheng recall his brief meeting with Dean Zhong during the training camp, including Jie Qifen’s subsequent change in attitude, which also seemed to imply this meaning.

"Since it’s advice, thank you, Teacher He."

"No need," He Antang patted Li Zheng and began to walk out, "Ji University, until next time."

"Ji University, until next time."

At midnight, as Li Zheng lay in bed listening to Qi Yingnan’s snores, his mind still echoed He Antang’s four points.

Although initially perplexed, after calmly reflecting, he could still discern some clues.

[Scientific information is inherently profound]

Because of the extremely high threshold, only top-tier scientific personnel have a say, which essentially means the professors and above.

The rest of the leadership and financial departments, no matter how powerful, must also follow their guidance.

[The direction of scientific research is inherently unpredictable]

Just like the debate over large particle colliders, maybe billions invested might end up without even a splash, or it might change the world.

In the face of such high-risk investment, the authority of scientific bigwigs is undoubtedly deepened further.

[Scientific resources are inherently limited]

Funding is limited, research is unlimited; ultimately, who gets the money, and how much?

Considering the above two points, the decision lies again with the bigwigs.

From this perspective, it could be said that bigwigs have infinite power.

And no one is capable of oversight.

Not that they don’t want to, but it’s simply not possible.

[Scientists, being human]

One must consider that these bigwigs are not all saints,

Compared to the future of science, their own life priorities are naturally higher.

His own decorum in life was entirely dependent on the rise and fall of his research field.

Even though he knew full well that it was a futile expenditure of money, he still had reasons to adamantly maintain it.

After all, only he knew, and only he could decide.

In other words, when a magnate was influential enough, he no longer needed to take action personally; more often, he was engaged in allocating resources, deciding who got the money and how much.

Li Zheng believed that most magnates would base their decisions on analysis and stick to the facts.

But there were always a few who showed nepotism, aiming to maintain their power through selective resource distribution.

This might seem somewhat dark, yet it actually concealed some light.

Because his position of power was largely derived from his research achievements.

If he allocated resources to a group of incompetent favorites, it would actually be akin to destroying his own empire.

Thinking this way, the future still appeared mostly bright.

He Antang had no intentions of dissuading him; the final signal remained a piece of advice—

Do not provoke a magnate.

Although this scientific research ecology map should ideally be a benign cycle.

However, due to the excessive centralization of power, in practice, it more closely resembled a feudal system.

Former feudal lords were monopolists of land.

Today’s magnates monopolize knowledge.

Great Lords delegate to lesser lords, who then employ graduate students.

The competition lies in who can expand territory in the world of knowledge.

It might sound a bit harsh, but as long as those four foundational points exist, this is an inevitable outcome and the best option.

Even for Li Zheng himself, if he had the chance to flourish and set up his own lab, he would inevitably become a knowledge lord, allocating research resources in an autocratic manner.

After all, there were few people qualified to discuss matters with him.

Considering this, Li Zheng had completely absorbed He Antang’s advice.

Keep your temper in check and adapt to the nation of scientific research.

And certainly, do not rashly declare war on the Great Lords.

In bed, Li Zheng laughed and turned over.

He Antang was quite right; however, to him, this matter wasn’t quite so absolute.

Normally, a person could only delve into one frontier field for life, meaning in the nation of science, one’s whole life’s activities would be confined within the territories of a certain Great Lord.

If that were the case, provoking a lord would indeed ruin oneself.

But if there happened to be someone with ample time, broad research interests, who could easily hop from one field to another…

In that case, if a certain lord was disagreeable, changing places wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

On the contrary, it was the lords who were confined within their own territories.

And this person could likely be the only one capable of conquering all and uniting the land, a freak of nature.

On that day, he wouldn’t just be a lord.

He would be a king.

...

Li Zheng fell asleep with kingly ambitions.

But in his dreams, there were neither palaces nor princess consorts.

Only a field of watermelons.

"Don’t prick me… don’t prick me…"

"Can’t prick, can’t prick~~~"

Qi Yingnan suddenly awoke.

Surprised, he watched Li Zheng excitedly murmuring in his sleep.

This guy, dreamt of being pricked by something and still looking happy???

Qi Yingnan swallowed saliva.

What the hell kind of kink was this?