Chapter 23#

Another sleepless night.

“Midnight snack is here!”

The arrival of the takeout refreshed everyone in the research institute. A student carried a warm beef pie and a cup of black coffee to Han Youpeng’s workbench, carefully put them down, and advised: “Supervisor, take a break for a while. You didn’t go to the cafeteria for dinner again tonight. Your body will collapse if this continues.”

“It’s fine, just leave it there. I’ll eat it later.”

Han Youpeng frowned, staring at the materials on the computer screen without looking up.

Seeing him like this, the student knew that by the time the food got cold, the supervisor probably still wouldn’t remember to eat.

He sighed and said with a hint of concern in his voice: “I don’t understand, Supervisor. Our country’s scientific research foundation was already weak, and now we finally have the hope of overtaking foreign countries. Yet Song of the Earth is a novel published on a public platform that anyone who understands Chinese can read. In that case, won’t all our advantages be gone?”

If it weren’t for wanting to seize every second to gain an edge for the country, the supervisor wouldn’t have to stay up late every day like this.

Hearing these words, Han Youpeng, who was originally focused on thinking, finally turned his head.

He looked at his student and said in an unusually serious tone: “What do you think doing research is?”

The student was stunned: “What did you say?”

“I’m asking you what research is,” Han Youpeng said with a cold face. “Could it be that you all think that as long as you sit here, drink coffee, flip through papers, and at most stay up for a few more nights, you can get the data you want? That those academic achievements and titles will automatically fall onto your heads?”

The research institute fell silent.

The people who were originally happily eating their midnight snacks stopped chewing one after another, looking at Han Youpeng sitting in his seat without even daring to breathe loudly.

“Since you’ve chosen this path, you should be mentally prepared!”

Han Youpeng slammed the materials in his hand down, scaring the student in front of him until his face turned pale.

But Han Youpeng ignored him and continued: “Don’t expect pie to fall from the sky! I understand how difficult this path is better than any of you. If nothing unexpected happens, the vast majority of you will give up on the path of scientific research in the future, hopping to companies or changing professions for the sake of supporting your families; even now, you can’t expect a novel to lead our country across a hundred years and directly into a developed society for everything!”

“Supervisor…”

“You are not geniuses, and of course, neither am I,” perhaps considering the students’ feelings, Han Youpeng’s tone softened slightly. He sighed to this group of young people, “But what does that matter? Geniuses in this world are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. If the scope of human cognition of this world is a circle, then these people are the pioneers who lead us, constantly broadening the boundaries of this circle.”

“You don’t need to feel frustrated or inferior for this, because even for geniuses, energy is limited. And our job is to fill this circle as completely as possible on their basis.”

Han Youpeng asked: “Have you read Yan Heqing’s author profile? You should have all studied this passage before.”

Author profile?

To be honest, although the people in the research institute had read Song of the Earth countless times, not many people had really paid attention to Yan Heqing’s author profile.

The student took out his phone, opened the Liuliu Web app, found the only author avatar in his favorites list, and clicked on it.

“‘Have a portion of heat, emit a portion of light. No need to wait for the torch,’” Han Youpeng said calmly. He had withdrawn his gaze and refocused his attention on the unfinished paper on the computer. “If thereafter there is no torch, I—you all—shall be the beam of light that illuminates the darkness.”

“Continue working, children.”

As for the questions from Han Youpeng’s students, Qiao Jing had actually considered them.

He was barely an idealist, hoping that science had no borders and that everyone could live a peaceful and stable life through technological development.

But Qiao Jing also clearly knew that science had no borders, but scientists have a motherland.

So he asked 008 to control the influence of Song of the Earth as much as possible within the country’s internet. Due to language barriers, cultural differences, and the arrogant attitude of some foreign higher-ups, by the time they discovered the true value of this book, the country had already launched various production and research plans in full swing, and some were even about to be implemented.

For example, the nuclear submarines the country had already begun researching.

For another example, the “Nantianmen Project” and “Project Sun Chaser.”

The M Country, finally sensing that something was wrong, could no longer sit still.

They thought this was another Star Wars project, specifically used by the Rabbit’s (China) insidious and cunning Strategic Deception Bureau to trick them out of military spending (they even believed this department really existed). As a result, after going through great pains to get the intelligence, they found out that this was actually not filming a Hollywood movie?

Hello, may I ask if this is something happening in the 21st century?

Eagle Sauce (USA): Rabbit, what are you doing?

Rabbit: Realizing your dreams, Eagle Sauce.

Eagle Sauce: No, you didn’t build this to hit me, did you?

Rabbit: How could that be, my friend? This is only a defensive weapon. If you don’t believe me, shall we pinky swear?

Eagle Sauce: …

This life is impossible to live!

For a time, both domestically and abroad, countless private individuals, experts, and scholars began to analyze the “root of all evil”—no, the source of all transformation—namely, the magical novel Song of the Earth.

They started from various aspects such as politics, economy, culture, society, and scientific theory, wishing to tear this book apart and chew it up for research. Even Qiao Jing’s casually written line “Yang Liu placed two plants on the desk, one was a cactus, and the other was also a cactus” had to be cited and referenced to demonstrate why the author wrote it that way and what the underlying meaning was.

They firmly believed that under Yan Heqing’s pen, even a mere cactus was not to be underestimated!

Qiao Jing: Actually, I just did it to fill the word count.

It made Legend of the Qilin, which had originally been heavily marketed, look like a foil instead. Even when it finished, there was no major stir—because Sa Yi finished it entirely for the sake of finishing, simply wanting to catch the upcoming selection for the Web Novel Gala.

He looked at the comments on Weibo and shut himself in his room for an entire day.

Wang Cheng couldn’t get through to Sa Yi’s phone and could only report to Yao Jing first: “CEO Yao, look, the current explosive trend of Song of the Earth is not something Sa Yi can stop alone. And actually… even the entire Xingchen Web is the same.”

Yao Jing naturally understood these truths.

He just didn’t understand where this freak Yan Heqing had come from!

“He doesn’t go to academic journals to publish papers, but instead runs to write some web novels to snatch people’s livelihoods?” He simply couldn’t understand this person’s logic. “And why write on Liuliu Web? Is Xingchen Web not good enough?”

Wang Cheng said: “Actually, when the new book was listed, I sent a private message to Yan Heqing’s back end. I don’t know if he didn’t see it or is unwilling to reply; I haven’t received any contact here.”

Yao Jing cursed a few times: “Damn it, nothing is going right this year! Not a single one is useful!”

Wang Cheng thought silently in his heart: The most useful one has already terminated his contract with the website, hasn’t he?

But the word had already been put out, and the Web Novel Gala still had to be held as scheduled.

By then, dozens of websites and thousands of authors would be present with their most outstanding works.

Not only that, but there would also be hundreds of representatives from film and entertainment enterprises and entertainment industry stars attending to discuss the rights and filming of excellent works. They would also select the web novel industry’s first “Annual Masterpiece” award and other various awards on-site.

These awards, personally presented by the leaders of the [Redacted], were of the first rank in terms of both influence and prestige.

“I wonder if Yan Heqing will come…” Yao Jing murmured to himself.

Although he really didn’t want to admit it, it was true that once Yan Heqing appeared, all other authors would become his foil.

Of course, this also included the authors of Xingchen Web.

After thinking back and forth, he was still uneasy and decided to call Liu Huayi to test the waters.

“Ah, what?” Liu Huayi was an absolute master at playing dumb. “Oh, you’re asking about Yan Heqing… Sigh, how would we know about this Great God? Even when the editor talks to him, he doesn’t respond. Will he attend the ceremony? Aiya, CEO Yao, you’re making it difficult for me. They say the Great God is very aloof, and his thoughts are not something we mortals can easily guess…”

Hanging up the phone, the two bosses simultaneously pulled their faces down and let out a “Ptui” at their phones in unison.

Old fox, shameless!

In fact, Liu Huayi had already had Don’t Pigeon ask Qiao Jing long ago. As expected, Qiao Jing’s reply was still that he wouldn’t attend.

But holding a glimmer of hope, he still sent Qiao Jing two electronic tickets to the ceremony.

“Great God, even if you just post a photo on Weibo then to help support us, it would be fine!”

Qiao Jing’s response to this was to send a “.” back.

Liu Huayi and Don’t Pigeon stared at that period together for a long time, almost becoming cross-eyed, but still hadn’t figured out whether he had agreed to go or not.

Sigh, the Great God’s heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea.

Beijing Time, 8:52 PM.

“Ding Xiao, have you thought it over? Are you really going to post it?”

The manager confirmed several times with the young man sitting on the sofa, his brow furrowed tightly: “Even if the company gives you a high degree of freedom, for this kind of thing, you should probably consult with the boss after all. You’re not unaware that the boss has been in contact with that side recently, wanting to buy the rights to Song of the Earth. It’s still up in the air, and yet you’re posting a song for promotion for free…”

“What’s there to fear,” the currently most popular young talented singer gave a laugh and lifted his eyelids. “You haven’t seen CEO Jing’s Friend Circle, have you?”

The manager said in surprise: “The boss still posts to Friend Circle?”

“He does, but he blocks most people,” Ding Xiao shrugged. He only got the internal news because he had a good relationship with Jing Xinglan’s secretary. “CEO Jing is a fanatical reader of Yan Heqing. After I post the song, believe it or not, not only will he not criticize me, he might even secretly download it to his phone for a single-track loop.”

“…” The manager was silent for a moment and asked with difficulty, “Wait, is the person you’re talking about really the boss?”

“The genuine article.”

Seeing that the scheduled time was approaching, Ding Xiao simply logged into his account himself and posted that “character fan song”—which he had written and composed himself and was of the highest quality ever—on various online platforms.

Ding Xiao: “When I left, the willows were swaying (Yang Liu Yi Yi). This song ‘Yang Liu’ is for him and her far away in another time and space, and also for you all.”

Fans: ??!!

One was a popular singer with over ten million Weibo followers whose several singles were still at the top of the hot song charts; the other was the protagonist of an explosive novel whose fame had recently soared online, with enough daily update-chasing readers to crush 95% of the “active fans” of entertainment industry stars—

How on earth did these two cross paths!?

However…

“Hahaha, double-fan ecstasy!!!”

“Holy crap, I stared at this Weibo for a full three minutes before coming to my senses. What kind of immortal crossover is this?”

“Heavens, just hearing the beginning, my tears are about to fall. Amazing, amazing, truly amazing! Ding Xiao is the eternal God!”

“This teenage voice with a hint of raspiness is almost like Yang Liu himself singing it…”

“This is sung for the ‘white moonlight’ Wu Zhining, right?”

“Crying to death, this piano melody is too beautiful! I have to go read the novel from the beginning again!”

Half an hour later, 008, which had been observing the real-time popularity, finally couldn’t help but speak.

It said to Qiao Jing, who was sitting in front of the computer focused on coding: “Host, I’m afraid I really can’t suppress it this time.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re on the hot search.”

008 looked at the skyrocketing data on the hot search/trend list and said with complex emotions:

“—And, it’s more than just one country.”