Chapter 4#
Ding Qi was a doctoral student at a 985 university.
His major sounded very high-end and sophisticated, and in reality, it was indeed very profound and mysterious, enough to make one go bald at a young age—
That’s right, Ding Qi studied nuclear fusion.
He and his fellow students often joked that there were more bugs planted in their school than chewing gum stuck under the tables. Every time they entered or left the campus, they had to swipe their cards for facial recognition, and entering the research lab required a body search and security check. Confidentiality work in all aspects was taken to the extreme.
As a doctoral student under a top national expert in plasma physics, Ding Qi’s daily routine involved soaking in the research lab, forgetting to eat and sleep for the sake of graduation. Occasionally, he would pull out his phone to read web novels, snatching a moment of leisure from his busy schedule to relieve stress.
He favored science fiction and urban novels, but for a doctoral student, most of the science fiction on the market made him wear a “mask of pain.”
Consequently, Ding Qi had also learned to dig for stories on various websites himself.
And just today, he came across a novel called “Song of the Earth.”
The author had only published this one book under their name, but the writing was very experienced and fluent, not looking much like a newcomer’s.
Most importantly, there were no issues with the basic logic of this book, and the research was extremely rigorous!
Ding Qi felt like he had found a treasure. Taking advantage of his supervisor’s absence, he used the “urine escape” technique and hid in the restroom to read over twenty chapters in one breath.
But when he enthusiastically clicked on the twenty-seventh chapter, a newly appeared term dumbfounded him.
“Controlled Nuclear Fusion”—wasn’t this the research topic his supervisor had been working hard on for many years?
It’s over, Ding Qi thought. He had finally found a decent novel, but now he couldn’t go on reading it.
Those who follow web novels year-round know that when you see a high-end novel, you’ll be amazed by the author’s rich knowledge and experience; but if this novel happens to be about a profession you’re skilled in, you’ll only feel that it’s full of nonsense and absolute rubbish.
—That was exactly what Ding Qi was thinking now.
But because he was truly in a “novel drought,” he continued reading without much hope, only wishing the author wouldn’t pull anything too outrageous.
To his surprise, the more he read, the wider his eyes grew, until finally, his eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets.
“Hey, you’ve been slacking off for too long!”
Outside the door, his senior brother impatiently knocked on the stall door. “The supervisor is coming back in these couple of days. Have you finished the task at hand?”
Ding Qi opened the door with a dazed expression and held up his phone: “Senior, have you seen this?”
“What? A novel?” His senior glared at him, gritting his teeth. “What time is it, and you’re still reading novels!”
“No, no, no, this really isn’t a novel… or rather, it’s not just a novel!”
Under Ding Qi’s strong recommendation, his senior also briefly finished those key chapters.
—The result was that there were now two people in a daze.
The two fellow students were silent, standing side by side by the restroom window, each lighting a cigarette.
“Little Ding,” his senior sighed deeply and patted him heavily on the shoulder. “In our country, talent truly emerges from among the people!”
“Yeah,” Ding Qi stared blankly, not even realizing that the cigarette in his hand was about to burn his fingers. “I’m thinking, what on earth have I been learning while cooped up in the lab every day?”
He had a look of grief and indignation: “Working so hard to finally become a PhD, writing papers until my head is about to go bald, and in the end, my total impact factor can’t even compare to someone writing a web novel!”
The two fellow students looked at each other in silence.
Finally, the senior managed to pull himself together and made a decision: “When the supervisor comes back, let’s show him this novel.”
“…Okay.”
Qiao Jing didn’t know yet that he had just shattered the worldviews of two young men, because he had been so disturbed by 008’s voice all day that he couldn’t focus on coding.
“Are you that happy?” he asked, puzzled.
“OF! COURSE! I! AM!”
008 was so excited it was practically spinning, jumping, and closing its eyes in the virtual space.
It never expected that Qiao Jing’s book would actually gain nearly a thousand favorites overnight! And tens of thousands of clicks!
“Favorites went from three digits to four! And for the first time, I’ve gained two reputation points! This is GREAT!!!”
Although these two reputation points were very insignificant compared to a million, 008 felt there was a need to celebrate: “These days, it seems I’ve never seen you go out. With such a big happy event, how about we go out to eat something good and celebrate?”
After binding with Qiao Jing, 008 also gained a physical form.
It was, after all, different from a real cat; it had practically no taboos when it came to eating.
But after following Qiao Jing and gnawing on lettuce leaves, bread, and milk for over a dozen days, even 008 couldn’t hold out anymore.
No wonder Qiao Jing was so thin!
It had also asked the young man why he ate like that, since he didn’t have any requirement to look good on camera.
But Qiao Jing only gave 008 one word in reply:
Lazy.
To be honest, Qiao Jing didn’t really want to go out; at most, he could just order takeout.
But seeing the kitten’s pitiful eyes, he fell silent for a second and then compromised.
“What do you want to eat?” he asked.
“Hot pot!”
—So, after doing some research online, the person and the cat came to a hot pot restaurant that allowed pets.
008 had never been to Earth before, but it felt that watching the steam rising and people coming and going in a hot pot restaurant was a very interesting thing.
Qiao Jing didn’t speak throughout the process of ordering food, just clutching the tablet handed over by the waiter and clicking away. When asked the question “Do you need us to place a plush toy opposite you to accompany you during your meal?”, he just silently nodded.
He was a model of being “sparing with words like gold.”
008 really liked that plush toy because it was also in the shape of a cat.
While Qiao Jing was blanching the meat, it asked curiously: “Host, do you have a reader group?”
“No,” Qiao Jing blew on the piping hot mutton slices and placed a small dish in front of 008. “Distance creates beauty. My own personality is very boring; in terms of fandom circles, I don’t have any points that attract fans. Besides, maintaining a reader group is troublesome; I can’t be bothered to do it.”
“But I see you have so many followers on Weibo?”
Qiao Jing: “Just zombie fans.”
008 was silent for a moment, expressing doubt about Qiao Jing’s words.
Clearly, it’s just because you haven’t posted on Weibo for ages, right?
And…
“I don’t think you’re a boring person,” 008 said.
Although they had only been together for a few days, it could feel that Qiao Jing actually had a charm unique to himself.
His charm wasn’t like a star on stage, shining brightly and showing off, but rather hidden under a pale and quiet appearance, like “still water runs deep,” silent and unassuming.
Like an epiphyllum that only blooms quietly in the middle of the night, only someone truly destined can discover its charm.
“After finishing the meal, I want to go to the bookstore again,” Qiao Jing said. “Coincidentally, I saw a secondhand bookstore nearby when we were coming here.”
Nowadays, it was not easy to see a secondhand bookstore in a big city.
Qiao Jing rarely went out, and each time was basically to buy books.
Although he now had 008’s database, some books were available on the market, so there was no need to use reputation points on credit.
It was already a bit late when he arrived at the bookstore.
Although the bookstore was still open, the owner behind the counter was missing.
There was only a sixty-to-seventy-year-old man with gray hair, wearing a gray Zhongshan suit, with his hands behind his back, carefully examining the bookshelf in the slightly dim light.
Noticing Qiao Jing out of the corner of his eye, the old man turned around, smiled at him, and said, “Young friend, are you here to buy books too?”
Qiao Jing nodded.
“These days, there aren’t many young people who like reading books anymore,” the old man lamented, and then asked, “What type do you like?”
“…Science fiction.”
The old man pondered for a moment, went to a corner, took out a yellowed-cover book titled “War of the Solar System,” and handed it to him: “This one is not bad, but the content is quite difficult to understand. See what you think.”
Qiao Jing flipped through it briefly and found that it was indeed as the old man had said—the author wrote very profoundly. Although it was a novel, reading the words gave a feeling of looking at real historical materials.
This style of writing indeed seemed very obscure at first glance, but delving into it, one could experience a grand romance quite different from traditional literature.
“Thank you,” Qiao Jing said.
This was why he liked coming to bookstores.
Here, everyone spoke in soft, slow voices, and generally, things could be settled in no more than three sentences.
“This one is twenty-five yuan. Because few people buy it, it hasn’t been reprinted, so it’s a bit more expensive,” the old man said with a smile. “There’s a QR code over there; you can scan it yourself.”
Qiao Jing nodded and said thank you again.
Half an hour after he left, Ding Qi, who was on the verge of a breakdown from searching for someone, finally found the old man sitting at the entrance of the bookstore reading a book on the street.
He was sweating profusely with anxiety. Seeing that his supervisor actually still had the leisure to read “Les Misérables,” he immediately felt that his own life was a sequel to “Les Misérables.” “Supervisor, why are you here? We agreed that since the flight was delayed, I’d pick you up at the airport at eight o’clock.”
“I took Shandong Airlines. A delayed boarding doesn’t stop it from arriving on time.”
Academician Gao Xinglu, sixty-seven years old and considered a pillar of the nation’s nuclear physics, closed the book, took off his reading glasses to wipe them, and looked up at his student, who was frantic with worry, frowning with dissatisfaction: “I just came out to browse the bookstore, it’s no big deal. Young man, don’t be so impulsive and rushed.”
If it were a big deal, it would be the end, okay!
Ding Qi had bitterness he couldn’t express. He thought to himself: Supervisor, do you have any awareness of what level you’re at?
For a scientific research big shot like you, it wouldn’t be too much to have a small squad of special forces protecting you when you’re on a business trip. But not only did you go out without even bringing an assistant, you actually bought your own ticket and flew back on a civil aviation flight!
And you didn’t notify anyone, coming to the city alone to browse a secondhand bookstore!
“Let’s just get back to the university quickly,” he wiped his face and said firmly. “Coincidentally, I’ve discovered an extremely professional… novel that I’d like you to look over.”