Chapter 1382: Consumables and Lou Yu

Chapter 1383: Consumables and Lou Yu

Lou Yu was halfway through his meal when a child hopped over to him.

“Brother Lou Yu! I’m on holiday now, when do you get your holiday?”

Lou Yu put down his pickled mustard greens, smiled wryly, and patted his head. “Xiao Liu, big brother isn’t a student at school, so I don’t get winter or summer holidays.”

“But Mom and the others all have holidays…”

“Hmm… Aunt Xu’s job is different from mine. I’m… considered a scientist, and scientists who do research don’t get holidays.”

“Brother Lou Yu, teach me! I want to be a scientist too!” Xiao Liu’s eyes sparkled. “I told my classmates and teachers at school that I know an older brother who’s a scientist at a research institute, and they were all so envious!”

Lou Yu froze for a moment. Just as he was about to say something, a phone suddenly rang.

“Hello, Dean?”

“Lou Yu, I have good news! Your paper is going to be published in *Science Journal* this time! That’s one of the most authoritative publications in the country…

But as you know, articles published in *Science Journal* are ‘single-authored’ and only the first author’s name can be listed… so we’ll have to trouble you this time by temporarily removing your name.

However, it’s still remarkable that your paper is being published in *Science Journal*. This is a contribution to the advancement of human civilization! Compared to the significance of the achievement itself, a name isn’t that important.

Next time, we’ll definitely include your name…”

Lou Yu no longer had the heart to listen to what the dean said next.

He silently hung up the phone, shoveling a few more bites of pickled mustard greens into his mouth. His gaze suddenly shifted to Xiao Liu nearby… For some reason, Xiao Liu felt a slight shiver when Lou Yu looked at him.

“Xiao Liu, does your family have connections in academia?”

“Uh… my mom cooks at your institute, does that count?”

“No.” Lou Yu spoke slowly. “If you don’t have connections, don’t enter academia. Otherwise, no matter how talented you are, you’ll just be a high-level consumable… This circle isn’t as glamorous as you imagine, and this world has never been fair.”

Xiao Liu didn’t understand Lou Yu’s words. Lou Yu said nothing more, silently finished his lunch, and then got up to return to his lab.

As he reached the cafeteria exit, he hesitated for a moment, then pulled out his phone and sent a message to the dean:“Okay, Dean.”

As the dean said, merely being able to write papers and conduct experiments isn’t enough to get by in academia… He had been navigating it this way for many years. No matter how unwilling he felt, he still had to swallow his pride…

Just like before.

Just as he was about to reach the lab door, his phone suddenly received a message.

Lou Yu thought it was from the dean, but when he opened it, the sender was Qi Muyun.

“Dr. Yang called you too, right? How are you getting to Shennongjia? If you’re taking the high-speed train, maybe we can take the same one?”

Lou Yu was slightly stunned by this puzzling message.

Qi Muyun was a friend he had met two years ago, also a scientist, and they lived in the same city. However, they hadn’t talked much since they last met and exchanged contact information, and they weren’t really close.

Why would he suddenly send him a message? What about going to Shennongjia?

Did he send it to the wrong person?

Lou Yu didn’t know anything about Shennongjia. His phone had been stolen some time ago, and he had only just recovered his number two days prior. During this period, he had been focused on experiments at the institute and hadn’t left at all.

Lou Yu thought about it, decided not to reply, and instead put his phone back in his pocket and pushed open the lab door.

But the next second, he froze on the spot…

In the empty lab, someone was sitting.

Although Lou Yu had conducted many projects, he had no assistants. For years, he had been working alone, day and night, on experiments in this lab. Other institute staff typically didn’t come here… Even the only key was in Lou Yu’s own possession.

“Hello, can I help you?” Lou Yu asked, puzzled.

The person wore a loose black cloak, sitting silently at the experimental bench with their back to the door. Their gaze swept over the familiar equipment, the rustling tree branches outside the window, and the ticking clock on the wall, as if reminiscing about something…

Looking at their back, Lou Yu vaguely felt a sense of familiarity, but couldn’t recall where he had seen them before.

“Hello…?”

Lou Yu tentatively stepped forward.

The figure in the black cloak slowly rose from the seat. A gentle breeze swirled into the lab from the window as they pulled back their hood.

It was a face almost identical to Lou Yu’s.

“You…” Seeing this, Lou Yu was completely dumbfounded.

The next moment, six crimson gems slowly emerged from the person’s forehead. He looked at the young man before him, whose eyes held a hint of naivete and weakness, and a flicker of complexity crossed his own gaze.

“Long time no see, Lou Yu.”

“Damn it…”

“Where on earth is that guy hiding?”

Above the clouds, Xuan Yujun looked down at the city below, his eyes narrowing slightly.

After leaving Shennongjia, he had relentlessly pursued Wuji Jun. Fortunately, Wuji Jun seemed unwilling to fight him within a city, so he had continuously sped along the equator, trying to shake off the pursuit.

They had fought from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, from Indonesia all the way to Singapore, clashing seven or eight times. However, Immortal Wuji Jun’s combat power was truly astonishing; Xuan Yujun could never hold him. When the global nuclear war broke out, Wuji Jun unhesitatingly changed direction and headed towards China.

Xuan Yujun did not possess the Philosopher’s Stone, so his mental power was limited. Thus, he couldn’t constantly pinpoint Wuji Jun’s location. Half an hour ago, he had lost track of Wuji Jun, only able to roughly pinpoint his target to somewhere in the city below.

“What exactly do you want?” Xuan Yujun closed his eyes, carefully sensing the energy fluctuations within the city.

Suddenly, he acutely detected an unusual fluctuation.

Xuan Yujun sharply opened his eyes, his gaze instantly locking onto a certain direction. His body transformed into a streak of lightning and vanished into thin air.

When he reappeared, he was already above a research institute.

“Here!”

His speed was too great, and it was daytime, so hardly anyone noticed his presence. He flickered to the door of a certain lab and forcefully pushed it open…

The energy fluctuation he had just sensed came from inside.

But the next moment, he froze on the spot.

“This is…”

Xuan Yujun’s pupils contracted in disbelief.