Chapter 10: Tall Beauty

  Zhang Yang wandered aimlessly around campus. At this moment, tears overflowed from the corners of his eyes, dampening his cheeks. Since his grandfather’s death, he hadn’t felt sadness for a long time, but as those final moments replayed in his mind, a choking grief welled up silently inside him.

  The reason he had asked that question in class was because, if what Academician Zheng said was true—if integrating the NTF chain in Super PCR technology into targeted drug development could create a new kind of super gene-targeted medicine—then perhaps his grandfather’s life could have been saved.

  That question wasn’t something he’d made up out of thin air; he had spent fifty system points to dig it out from the Nuwa System, and it already had a standard answer.

  However, now his system points had dropped to minus fifty-one. His current title was “Vile Scum Overflowing with Evil.” He could no longer use negative points to request system help, and completing another M-level mission seemed like a distant dream.

  Damn, this was too brutal—fifty points gone in one go. How many good deeds would it take to make that up?

  Right now, Zhang Yang really wanted to post a big-character notice that said: “Seeking Good Deeds!”

  But after wandering around campus for half a day and spending some time at the library, Zhang Yang still didn’t find any opportunities. When he finally returned to the dorm, one appeared—a tall girl in a black dress with a ponytail was standing at the door. When she saw him coming, her face broke into a sweet smile as she approached. “Hey, classmate, could you help me with something?”

  “Help?” Was this his lucky day?

  Zhang Yang eyed her cautiously. After confirming that this tall beauty wasn’t carrying shampoo or body wash, didn’t have any insurance pamphlets, didn’t look like a bar scammer, and wasn’t holding a wooden sign begging for two yuan to get home, he finally relaxed. The corners of his mouth curled into what he thought was his kindest, most approachable smile. Squinting slightly, he looked at the pure-looking girl in front of him, about 1.75 meters tall with a model’s figure, and asked sincerely, “No problem. What do you need help with?”

  “Perfect, bro.” The tall beauty patted Zhang Yang on the shoulder, acting as if they’d known each other forever. That instantly made Zhang Yang wary again. Bro?

  Her height… wait, that chest looked real, not fake. Her voice, like an oriole’s song, was perfectly normal. Her slender, delicate fingers didn’t look like those of someone who had transitioned either.

  Seeing the suspicion on his face, the tall girl quickly explained, “Hehe, classmate, here’s the thing—I’m Qiao Xier, a pharmacology master’s student from the Medical School. You can call me Joyce. I’m here looking for someone. Do you happen to know a guy who lives in dorm 306—super old-fashioned, doesn’t even have a phone, wears thick glasses, and mutters weird medical books that have nothing to do with his major?”

  Zhang Yang thought to himself, I live in 306. But this ‘weirdo’ she’s describing doesn’t sound familiar.

  “Uh, Miss Master’s Student, may I ask—what’s that weirdo’s name?”

  “Hmm…” The tall girl brushed her ponytail over one shoulder, bit her pink lips, and said hesitantly, “I think his name is Zhang Yang!”

  “Cough…” Zhang Yang twitched, pointing behind him toward the dorm building. “Beautiful master’s student, are you sure the Zhang Yang you’re looking for lives in dorm 306 of this building?”

  “Yes, that’s right. Do you know him?”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “I really don’t!” Zhang Yang replied firmly.

  “Oh!” The tall beauty looked disappointed. She glanced at Zhang Yang, then slowly stepped back to the door, muttering, “What should I do? The professor’s in a hurry. Could I have written down the wrong name?”

  Zhang Yang saw her fumbling in the side pocket of her dress, pulling out a sticky note. Her large eyes focused on it as she read softly, “Class of 2009, Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Zhang Yang, Lake Building 4, Room 306… that’s right. Could Professor Shangguan have written it wrong?”

  “Professor Shangguan?” Zhang Yang stepped closer and asked, “Beautiful master’s student, may I ask what business you have with Zhang Yang? Maybe I can help you find him.”

  The tall beauty looked at him, pouted, and sighed. “You wouldn’t understand even if I told you. Professor Shangguan Hong is the advisor for the master’s class in Anti-Tumor and Molecular Targeted Drugs. He just got a call from Academician Zheng from the Chemistry Department and sent me running here to find that weirdo. Who knows if that guy’s off chasing girls somewhere.”

  “Ahem… Miss Master’s Student, if you could drop the ‘super old-fashioned, no phone, thick glasses, muttering weirdo’ part, then I might admit I’m Zhang Yang.”

  “You’re… that weirdo—uh, Zhang Yang?” Joyce froze, scanning him up and down like an aunt at a market picking vegetables. After inspecting him, she shook her head and said, “That doesn’t make sense. Your department advisor, Dr. Bai, said Zhang Yang was supposed to be some outdated nerd without a phone, thick glasses, and muttering about irrelevant medical books.”

  “Damn, it’s that bastard Bai Gang again!” Zhang Yang growled. Thank goodness Joyce came to find him in person, or who knows how that guy would’ve slandered him.

  Joyce still didn’t seem convinced. Her delicate nose twitched as she circled Zhang Yang like a piglet sniffing for its mother. Then she decisively ordered, “Student ID, ID card, IC card, transport card—show me all of them.”

  Zhang Yang helplessly showed her his student ID. Only then did Joyce finally confirm that the pretty-faced guy in front of her was indeed the student the professor had been urgently looking for—Zhang Yang.

  Then something shocking happened—Joyce suddenly dropped her pure and ladylike demeanor, clenched her fists, wrinkled her small nose, and cursed out loud, “Motherfucker! That damn Bai Gang! Next time I see him, I’ll beat him so bad he won’t be able to walk straight!”

  She looked at Zhang Yang again, her fierce expression instantly melting into an embarrassed smile. Her lips curved into a sweet grin as she said apologetically, “Ah, junior, I was tricked by that jerk. Let me make it up to you! Anything you want—except my body parts—you name it: a treat, a favor, whatever you like.”

  “Uh… forget it, I’ll keep the favor on credit.” Zhang Yang never would’ve guessed that this pure-looking tall beauty could turn so savage. If he really did ask for something, who knows what price he’d end up paying.

  What disappointed him even more was that after helping this tall beauty, the damn system didn’t give him any points. He was still stuck with the title “Vile Scum Overflowing with Evil.”

  Following Joyce through the corridors, Zhang Yang arrived at the Molecular Pharmacology Research Lab of the Medical School. When the door opened, he was stunned—three academicians were inside.

  They were Professor Zheng Yuntai, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences specializing in Gene Engineering; Professor Ding Pengshan, Academician focusing on Cell Engineering; and Professor Shangguan Hong, an Engineering Academy Academician and expert in Pharmacological Targeted Drug Molecules.

  Seeing such a lineup, Zhang Yang couldn’t help feeling a sharp pain in his gut. What the hell was this about?

  Professor Zheng looked at him kindly and smiled first. “You finally made it! We’ve been waiting for you, Zhang Yang. Come, come, sit here.”

  Such warmth, such enthusiasm—he even offered Zhang Yang the seat beside him.

  Once Zhang Yang sat down, Professor Shangguan Hong eagerly asked, “Zhang Yang, I heard from Old Zheng that you can simulate the NTF chain model. Could you show us?”

  Without waiting for a reply, he slid his laptop toward Zhang Yang.

  Zhang Yang looked at him and understood they wanted to verify whether he was bluffing. Without hesitation, he accepted the laptop and started organizing the data he had received in his mind.

  Everyone watched as Zhang Yang’s fingers flew across the keyboard. Their faces gradually turned serious. Professor Ding Pengshan even walked behind Zhang Yang to observe his simulation process. The moment he saw the complex programs and formulas Zhang Yang was inputting, his eyes widened and stayed glued to the screen.

  Seeing Ding Pengshan so focused, both Shangguan Hong and Zheng Yuntai stood up too, moving behind Zhang Yang. After a few glances, Shangguan couldn’t help but ask eagerly, “Zhang Yang, where did you get this?”

  Of course, Zhang Yang couldn’t tell the truth. What he’d just described was a completely new type of biological immune-targeted drug system designed using key theories from Super PCR technology.

  As an expert in targeted drugs, Shangguan immediately saw the genius behind it. Adjusting his thick-framed glasses, his thin face showed an expression of sudden realization mixed with disbelief.

  “Professor Shangguan, this was based on Academician Zheng’s Super PCR theory and your research papers. I combined and organized them myself. I used your theories without permission, so I hope you won’t mind.”

  “Mind?” Shangguan exclaimed, slamming the table excitedly. Forgetting all composure, he jumped up like a monkey. “We’re thrilled! How could we mind? Zhang Yang, do you have any idea how many lives this could save?”

  He pointed firmly at Zhang Yang’s laptop. “This—once released—will be on the front page of almost every newspaper in the world tomorrow. It’ll mark a historic milestone in both medicine and genetic engineering!”

  “Old Zheng, I think we should report to the Academy immediately, request national research funding, and begin forming a dedicated lab and institute at once…”

  Shangguan fired off words like a string of firecrackers, not giving Zheng or Ding a chance to speak. Only after finishing did he remember Zhang Yang was still there. Embarrassed, he added, “Ah, sorry, Zhang Yang. Of course, we’ll need your consent first—it’s your theory, after all.”

  “Professor Shangguan, I have no objections.” Zhang Yang had personally witnessed his grandfather’s torment at the hands of cancer—a suffering few could bear. As long as this could help those enduring the same pain, he had no objections. In fact, this was exactly why he wanted to bring it up.

  “Good. Then we three will form a research team, with Old Zheng leading it…” Shangguan’s face couldn’t hide his joy. After glancing at Zhang Yang, he paused and smiled. “And since you’re the originator of the theory, of course, you’ll be part of the team.”