Study Monster Cultivation System-Chapter 358 - 357 Where is the tranquility of the passing years? It’s just someone carrying the weight and moving forward for you.

The next morning, the Wings of Freedom... oh no, the Science Frontier team took the same route even for breakfast.

Li Zheng was a man of action, especially when it came to studying.

Having thoroughly read the "New Technology Brief," he didn’t even waste the time it took to get out of bed, sending out foundational documents for the project and individual tasks to the group during his morning detox.

With his organization, the content and direction of their project became clear.

Simply put, it was about optimizing a method used in biological studies for protein analysis and expanding it to broader fields like chemistry and physics, thereby sparking a revolution in the field of molecular structure analysis.

Technically speaking, this was not too difficult a task since the basic theories, instruments, and methods were already quite mature.

The only piece missing was a biologist with a deep understanding of chemical research to add the final piece of the puzzle.

At the cafeteria table, the Science Frontier group was still mostly silent.

Some could understand and were using their own knowledge to evaluate the feasibility.

Others didn’t understand but still pretended to get it, nodding frequently.

Others sipped soymilk while gazing out the window, enjoying the start of their free life at university.

A few minutes later, Mo Nian suddenly banged the table and glared, "Don’t chemists use cryo-EM technology?"

Li Zheng nodded in satisfaction.

This man, despite wasting lots of time on bizarre things, indeed lived up to expectations with his knowledge in biology.

Li Zheng immediately explained, "As far as I know, the application of cryo-EM in chemistry is mainly focused on polymers, while our project is targeting small molecules, and no one has done it this way yet."

Mo Nian put down his chopsticks and sank into deep thought, "If it’s small molecules, I’m not sure this technique can ensure resolution and stability… but it’s worth a try."

"So, your task?" Li Zheng asked, raising his hand.

"No problem," Mo Nian confirmed, shaking his phone, "I’ll go see the advisor at the School of Biological Sciences after morning classes to confirm if our school has the equipment you need."

Following that, Lin Moming, chewing on a pork bun, waved her hand, "I’ll have those papers by 10, post them in the group first, then translate them as soon as possible."

"That’s costly," Li Zheng nodded gravely; the task wasn’t technically demanding, it was mainly about spending money, starting at $300.

"Hey!" Lin Moming raised her hand spiritedly, "If money can solve the problem, then it’s no problem at all."

Li Zheng then looked to the leader, "Brother Tu?"

"Easy," Tu Yikou casually, cupping his bowl with one hand, sipping soy milk while stirring it round, "I’ve been in and out of Apple’s production lines seven times; I’ll understand all there is about the School of Biological Sciences before it gets dark."

Li Zheng quickly advised, "It’s okay, you don’t have to go that deep, don’t miss classes…"

"Classes?" Tu Yikou laughed, "I’m never going to attend classes, not in this lifetime."

Li Zheng swallowed, "What would you do if I hadn’t assigned you this task?"

"Maybe head to the Graduate School to find some financial opportunities…" Tu Yikou gestured, "Ghostwriting papers, connections with SCI journals, I can always fool a few suckers."

"Brother Tu, you can’t avoid being advised to withdraw like this…"

"Legally, this isn’t deception," the leader vividly explained, "I help them submit, only charge if it passes, full refunds if not, I treat young and old fairly. Ren University’s best time, even an associate professor came to me. Trust me, as long as I have eloquence and insight, money is so easy to earn."

Li Zheng was certain, even if thrown into a place like the Middle East, he could survive well, and might even manage to run an armed organization.

"What about me?" Chang Keqing waited a long time and asked with a cold face, "Have the application documents been prepared already, and I just need to send an email?"

However, her heart was really screaming.

Hate, hate, hate!!

Look down on me!!!

It should be your senior leading you!!

Don’t be so eager to rise above me!!

Li Zheng chuckled lightly, "Senior, your task is the most challenging."

"Speak."

"I hope that you—," Li Zheng raised his smartphone, nodding seriously, "understand it completely."

"I hope that, apart from me, there is at least one other person who fully understands what we are doing, who knows every phase, every instrument used, so that like a dual-core processor, we can perform parallel computing, covering for each other should one fail."

"Senior, only you have the qualifications and ability to do this,"

Chang Keqing looked at the serious Li Zheng.

Heart.

Thumping furiously, relentlessly pounding.

So much that Chang Keqing turned away, wiping her mouth.

"I got it."

Junior... although low on emotional quotient...

But for relationships and flirting, you’re just right!

I will, junior!

I will completely figure you out!

Understand every one of your likes, every shape of yours.

That way, like a dual-core processor, we’ll operate together, and get hotter and hotter.

Then, everyone headed to their respective classes, with the leader skipping.

Here, the charm of Yingpei became apparent.

Its five major course systems were very intriguing, divided into Western classical civilization, Chinese classical civilization, modern China, the modern world, and modern science and technology.

Among them, except for modern science and technology, were the areas where Li Zheng was relatively weak. Attending these courses to enhance his knowledge in literature, history, and philosophy was also a delightful thing.

The lecturers at Yingpei were also quite extraordinary; the teaching seemed not to emphasize mastering any specific knowledge or skill, but rather felt more like a relaxed academic talk, similar to a TED talk, with frequent interactions.

That morning, Li Zheng also started anew with his understanding of philosophy, temporarily putting aside the sole Marxist world view from high school, and revisiting from the point where "the human first realizes they are a person".

After the morning classes, Li Zheng, alongside Yang Jun and Mo Nian, headed to the cafeteria, already discussing the philosophical origins of "I think, therefore I am."

After lunch, Mo Nian went to find a tutor at the School of Biological Sciences and, if time allowed, to consult an important issue at the university hospital—

To cut, or not to cut.

Last night, unintended by the speaker, keenly heeded by the listener, JOJO seemed to have truly decided to take that step.

"What’s being cut isn’t skin, it’s the past self."

That was the last thing Mo Nian said before he left.

I wish him luck.

And luck to the surgeon as well.

After seeing off Mo Nian, Li Zheng took advantage of the lunch break to accompany Yang Jun to the mobile service center on campus, explaining for an hour until he finally persuaded him to get a subscription plan at 59 yuan per month with almost unlimited data on campus but hardly any off campus.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is frёeωebɳovel.com.

As for the phone, Li Zheng wasn’t too savvy either; buying the cheapest Xiaomi seemed safe enough.

...

In the afternoon, with no classes for new students, Li Zheng alone attended the timetable strictly assigned by Shen Yuecen.

And in this timetable, the sauciest part was undoubtedly—

I choose myself!

Yes, the "Differential Topology Geometry" and "Abstract Algebra" that Shen Yuecen was teaching this semester were all chosen by Li Zheng for the entire afternoon.

Shen Yuecen’s personally taught courses were actually highly sought after, usually necessitating a lottery-like mindset to enroll, with only about a 1/5 chance of getting in. But not getting in didn’t matter much since you wouldn’t understand it anyway.

Li Zheng managed to enroll because Shen Yuecen had given instructions to the academic office.

But in fact, this still wasn’t the sauciest part.

The sauciest part was that Shen Yuecen directly called Li Zheng to sit right in the center of the first row.

Every few minutes, he would abruptly pose a question, staring straight at Li Zheng when he did.

This caused Li Zheng to be highly focused and on reflexive alert all afternoon.

He had never felt such pressure in his over a decade of schooling.

Fortunately, albeit barely, he managed to answer everything.

Seeing that this kid could actually keep up, Shen Yuecen couldn’t help but speed up and intensify his questioning.

One round after another, it was like martial arts combat; you throw a punch, I counter.

This cast a shadow over the limited self-esteem of the other students in the math class.

After an afternoon of classes, both Li Zheng and Shen Yuecen felt as though they had been through a boxing match, having consumed more physical than mental energy.

Even when they entered the instructors’ lounge, they still eyed each other warily, each seeing in the other’s eyes a mix of "You’re quite something" and "You’re not bad either."

Shen Yuecen drank some water and leaned back with closed eyes for a few minutes to recover.

"The intensity of last year’s math competition was decent," he said, sprawling out, "and yet you only came in second."

Only then did Li Zheng fully break into sweat and leaning forward, asked, "Has Gu Jianfeng reported yet?"

"I’m not his counselor; you ask him yourself."

"Hasn’t any of the other professors taken him under their wing?"

"Math doesn’t involve much lab work. No need to rush; let him study solidly for a while," Shen Yuecen said, opening his eyes and frowning. "Why are you so concerned about him?"

"Well..." Li Zheng swallowed and asked, "Has Jingjing grown taller?"

"..."

"I’ll change the question."

"You two really haven’t seen each other for months..." Shen Yuecen glanced at Li Zheng and after a draining afternoon, he was somewhat more pleasing to the eye. "I’ve arranged your courses. You are in the same physics class as Jingjing."

"!!!" Li Zheng was thrilled, "Thank you so much, Grandma! To study and to ask her out..."

"Hold it right there." Shen Yuecen raised one hand, "I don’t want to be involved in your affairs. If you don’t have any academic concerns, we can call it a day."

"Nothing troubling," Li Zheng immediately said. "I saw Yingpei had the conditions, so I started a small project."

"Go on."

In about ten minutes, Li Zheng outlined the project.

It did sound like a reasonable idea to Shen Yuecen.

"It truly is an interdisciplinary matter." Shen Yuecen thought for a moment and said, "However, my knowledge in biology and chemistry is outdated by over a decade, and I haven’t kept up with the updates, so I cannot judge its feasibility. I can only offer verbal encouragement."

"Yes, I was just updating you on the progress," Li Zheng said, then asked, "If it doesn’t go smoothly, do you have any recommended professors at the School of Biological Sciences?"

"I’m not familiar." Shen Yuecen shook his head, half-squinting, "What, thinking of leveraging connections before you’ve even started?"

Li Zheng hastily waved his hands: "No, no, just wondering which professor has a good reputation. You don’t need to intervene, I’ll talk to them myself."

"Hmm..." Shen Yuecen seemed a bit more satisfied, "I suggest you start from the bottom and work your way up. I can help if you can’t push it through, but don’t think about using connections before you’ve even tried. That’s not the right attitude for conducting scientific research."

"Don’t worry, Grandma, it’s just a small project, I can handle it."

Shen Yuecen chuckled.

Lad, thinking Ji University is a shallow pond?

Good, take on a small project to get some practice, suffer a bit, then you’ll come asking for my help.

"Speaking of which, you keep calling me Grandma; I’ve never really responded to that," Shen Yuecen said with a smile, raising his hand, "If you can complete this project without my help, from now on, I’ll respond to it."

Now Li Zheng was even more motivated.

Mom, Grandma is mine.

What do you have to compete with me?

Isn’t it obvious who’s up and who’s down within the family?

With that in mind, Li Zheng slapped his thigh and stood up: "Then, Grandma, just wait to give me my New Year’s money!"

"Good, if you really can do it, I promise to give you a big one," Shen Yuecen stood up too, winking and raising his eyebrows, "but if not, we might have to delay calling me Grandma, and when you come home for New Year, no messing around with Jingjing. She comes first, you follow, got it?"

"Ha!" Li Zheng laughed, "Worst comes to worst, I just won’t come back."

"Hmm?"

"We need to go back, we really should go back during New Year’s..."

"Yeah."

As Li Zheng parted from Grandma and headed toward the dining hall, he realized how serious this matter was.

Thinking about it, the highest authority in Jing Family was none other than Grandma.

If this worked, if Grandma approved, he would enter the elite circle, and from then on, he could converse with Grandma freely and jovially, while Jingjing would have no choice but to obediently follow, serving tea and listening quietly.

If it failed, if Grandma didn’t approve, he would then fall into the category of a dependent son-in-law, forced to speak softly and breathlessly, discreetly following behind, serving them tea.

This Jing Family...

Maybe it’s better not to enter?

No, entering is a must.

It’s just that the threshold is a bit high.

Hold steady.

I have the best team here, this small project will certainly be tackled before the Spring Festival.

By then, I’ll stride into the Jing Family all smiles.

Even Aunt Shen might hold me in higher regard.

Ah, ah, getting a bit ahead of myself here, a bit swollen with pride.

With his spirits high, Li Zheng hastily finished dinner and arrived at the underground discussion room of the academy by 6:30 PM, to attend the first official meeting of Science Frontier.

However, only Keqing arrived on time.

This team is a bit lame...

In the multimedia discussion room, Li Zheng sat opposite Keqing, neither of them feeling very secure.

Keqing was nervous, as this was her first time alone with a man in a room, feeling a thrill of taboo.

Li Zheng, on the other hand, was simply cursing those three unreliable people.

"Ahem..." Seeing that Li Zheng made no further move, Keqing reluctantly coughed and started talking about matters of less importance, "I have looked into the topic, submitted it to the institute, and tomorrow at noon three professors will interview us, listen to our presentation, and ask some questions."

"Okay, do we need to make a PowerPoint?"

"I’ve already made it," Keqing moved her laptop onto the desk, "Shall we take a look together?"

"No need, I trust your work completely."

Keqing felt a bit disappointed hearing this.

Actually, she had planned to "accidentally" open a media player, "accidentally" reveal some viewing history, "accidentally" probe her junior a bit.

Junior, our relationship...

has already... progressed this far...

Someone should pierce this window paper at some point.

But...

Keqing watched as Li Zheng thought deeply.

Her face, flushed red again.

A focused junior... he really is quite handsome...

"What do you think the chances are?" Li Zheng suddenly asked.

Keqing was startled, then pondered before saying, "To be honest, if we were in the School of Biological Sciences, and both of us were graduate students, this project would have a high chance of getting approved. But at Yingpei, the pass rate for such a project would not exceed 40%."

"With your skill and reputation here, still only 40%?"

"That’s including me," Keqing shook her head ruthlessly, "If it were just you freshmen, you wouldn’t even qualify for an interview."

"Yeah, I understand," Li Zheng nodded, "I’ll do my best. If this path doesn’t work, I have backup plans B, C, and D."

"I’m also contacting students from the School of Biological Sciences, getting ready."

"Worthy of being my senior, together, we can definitely make it happen," Li Zheng declared proudly.

"Yeah." Keqing gazed deeply at Li Zheng.

What are you waiting for, Junior??

Now’s the time, break through that barrier!

Just as the atmosphere was building.

Someone holding a beer bottle suddenly pulled the door open.

"5 minutes late doesn’t count as late, doesn’t count as late." The leader raised his arms triumphantly, "All set, the School of Biological Sciences is now my home! Once they get off at 11 PM, I’ll take you guys over the wall for the experiments."

"Brother Tu, calm down..." Li Zheng quickly went forward to help the leader settle down, "This is our last resort, we aren’t that desperate yet."

Tu Yikou sat down, still full of emotions, "I’m telling you, those bio grad students are really miserable. I made a few cry today... Later I drank too much and claimed I was a ’Laboratory Scout’ from University of Science and Technology of China, dedicated to discovering potential research stars, and actually, two girls believed it! As long as I want, Li Zheng, really, as long as I want..."

"Enough, Brother Tu, don’t do this kind of thing..."

In the chaos, Lin Moming also rushed over, carrying a stack of printed documents.

She slammed them down on the table.

Gasping for breath, hands on hips: "Impressive, isn’t it!"

"Impressive, impressive," Li Zheng gave a thumbs up, "Just the printing must have cost a pretty penny, right?"

"Uh..." Lin Moming seemed to hit a sore spot, her face twitched, and she lowered her head, "Why... is it so expensive... all my living expenses for the month are gone..."

"Oh?" The leader hurriedly put down his beer bottle and stood up, "Need money, sister? You can pawn things to me, cash paid immediately at a rate of nine to thirteen."

"Nine... nine what?" Lin Moming, startled, hid behind Keqing.

"The so-called nine is, well..."

But he saw Keqing’s stern face guarding in front of Lin Moming, "Silence."

It was as if a peculiar ecosystem where one creature dominates another had indeed made the leader swallow his words and meekly go back to his seat to pick up the beer bottle.

Keqing hurriedly helped with Moming’s hair, saying, "Eat with me this month, and don’t push yourself too hard in the future."

"Sister!!" Moming threw herself at Keqing, rubbing back and forth repeatedly, "It’s too expensive... Knowledge is too expensive, the next paper costs several tens of dollars... One paper is worth a month of ramen... Who can afford that!"

By the time Moming calmed down, it was already six forty-five.

Mo Nian had still not arrived.

Not only that, but all afternoon, attempts to contact him had gone unanswered, as if he had vanished from the earth.

Li Zheng had thought he was a dependable and punctual person, but it turned out he was the one to let them down in the end.

Even the leader had arrived.

Sigh.

Li Zheng sighed and said, "Let’s not wait any longer, then let’s start..."

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

A heavy set of footsteps resonated in the corridor.

It grew closer and heavier.

It sounded like a patrolling cyclops.

Thinking it over, the only person in this building who could make that sound was Mo Nian.

After many more "thuds."

A JOJO with spread legs appeared.

"Sorry..." Mo Nian’s expression was as stoic as a stone Buddha; carrying a bag in his hand, he awkwardly moved his legs forward and calmly explained, "Just so happens a retired surgical expert was consulting, and the person who was supposed to have surgery didn’t show, and I just so had the need, it’s probably fate..."

Li Zheng and the leader immediately got up, very respectfully helping Mo Nian from both sides.

"So resolute, brother?"

"You should have said earlier… you should be resting in your dorm…"

Mo Nian simply raised his hand and smiled, "Fate has arrived, and I am glad to have taken this step. Don’t worry, I won’t fall behind on the project."

After speaking, he gently placed the large black plastic bag he was carrying on the table and then slowly sat down with the help of the table.

"Before going to the hospital, I first visited the biology mentor, and he told me..."

"Hold on a moment, Brother Mo." Li Zheng raised his hand and swallowed, staring intently at the seemingly heavy plastic bag on the table, "What is this?"

Not just him.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the plastic bag.

"This?" Mo Nian looked at the plastic bag and nodded contentedly, "This is the past me."

A pause followed.

Li Zheng, resisting the pressure, asked, "Is it... the part you gave up?"

"Yes," Mo Nian sighed, "The doctor was very excited, wanted to use it for research, but I insisted on taking it back. I want to keep it to constantly remind myself, never to slacken, never to return to that kind of life."

"Brother..." the leader trembled as he spoke, "May I weigh it?"

"Of course, please."

Only then did the leader shakily lift the plastic bag, his expression growing more tense.

"This... must be at least half a pound..." the leader said tremulously, "Have you... ever bought pork intestines?"

"Haha." Mo Nian waved his hand and laughed, "It’s not that exaggerated, most of it is water. I plan to dry it and make a specimen to give to my dearest companion someday, to give her my all and have her constantly supervise me, so I don’t fall back into old habits."

As Mo Nian spoke, he suddenly remembered something and looked at Moming, "I recall your interest was in making specimens?"

Hearing this, everyone shuddered.

Only Moming herself was oblivious to the situation, happily nodding her head.

"Yes, yes, primarily insect specimens," Moming said energetically, gesturing, "Once I settle down, I’ll start with some dead insects, they’re so pretty."

"Can you make one for me?"

"Yay!"

Li Zheng was already frantically signaling with his eyes.

Do you realize the horror of what you’re agreeing to?

This isn’t a simple biological experiment like dissecting a rabbit.

This is a child who will end up with psychological scars.

"You’re the best, you are a little angel!" Mo Nian, moved, nodded looking around, "I’m so lucky to have met you all! Tu as well, thank you!"

Indeed, it was great that Mo Nian could meet everyone.

Only after meeting Mo Nian, things were never quite so great for everyone else.

Ultimately, after setting the project schedule and deciding to meet for an inquiry the next afternoon, Li Zheng mustered courage and snatched the plastic bag right from under Moming’s eyes.

Moming looked as if she had been greatly wronged, even trying to snatch it back.

Fortunately, Keqing firmly held her down, signaling Li Zheng to leave first.

Exiting the discussion room, Li Zheng, carrying the hefty bag, bore the burden alone.

Moming, there’s no such thing as peaceful years.

It’s just someone else taking the weight on your behalf.

I’ll handle the specimen, it’s better I suffer a little than you get hurt.

Heading back, I’ll bravely start drying it out...

Worst comes to worst, I’ll look up how to deal with dried sea cucumber.