n

n

n

n

n

nTranslator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

nIn Professor Wang Xi’s office, the printer rattled endlessly.

n

n

nChen Chen sat on a couch arranged on the side of the room. He had his arms crossed as he silently stared out the window. He was looking at an old man whose ashen hair was illuminated by the auburn ray of the evening sun.

n

n

nAt the same time, Professor Wang Xi, who was in front of him, wore a pair of reading glasses and was flipping through the printed material. Apart from that, the entire office was eerily silent.

n

n

nThis sort of silence was unnatural. Chen Chen began looking at the walls and the sections of the door frame.

n

n

nAt the edges of the door frame, the walls that were thicker than ordinary walls could be seen. It was a good thirty to forty centimeters thick.

n

n

nWhich was to say, this room, that was twice the size of Zheng Jian’s office, was soundproof. Perhaps it was even heat proof and bulletproof.

n

n

nYou had to admit that the senior academics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences enjoyed greater benefits.

n

n

n“Sigh…”

n

n

nAfter god knew how long, Professor Wang Xi suddenly sighed after reading through the final page of the thesis.

n

n

nChen Chen perched up as well.

n

n

n“I’m getting old.”

n

n

nProfessor Wang Xi turned toward Chen Chen and smiled as he looked at him. “I’m really getting old. Back in my day, it wasn’t until I was thirty years old when I was able to write a thesis of your level.”

n

n

n“Professor Wang, you’re a pillar of our nation, I wouldn’t dare compare myself to you.” Chen Chen quickly noted.

n

n

n“Have you checked the thesis for a duplicate?” Professor Wang Xi smiled. He did not speak more than he needed to.

n

n

n“Not yet.”

n

n

n“Then I’ll check it for you, save you some money too.”

n

n

nProfessor Wang Xi opened CNKI as he spoke. He submitted the two theses together.

n

n

nAfter a moment, the duplicate verification results were out. Between the two theses, the highest repetition rate was only fifteen percent, the lowest was only five percent.

n

n

n“Not bad.”

n

n

nProfessor Wang Xi nodded contently. There went his final strand of worry.

n

n

nIt was not because he did not trust Chen Chen. It was more so that he could not fathom the fact that these two well-constructed theses with such sharp analysis were penned by a mere freshman.

n

n

nTruth be told, even the Ph.D. students under his wing were not able to achieve such standards.

n

n

nIt was a shame that he could not see the source material.

n

n

n“I originally thought that perhaps I could help you make some amendments if there are any shortcomings in the thesis, but I didn’t expect…”

n

n

nProfessor Wang Xi shook his head. “Which journal do you plan to submit this to?”

n

n

n“I’ve already discussed this with Xia Yin and Wang Wei. We plan to submit it to Cell,” Chen Chen answered.

n

n

n“That’s good. Between these two, ‘Rebuilding Immunity System with Stem Cells’ can make the cut for Cell. The other one might have a smaller chance, I wouldn’t count it out.”

n

n

nProfessor Wang Xi jested. “It’ll be a great badge of honor for the Institute of Biological Sciences if both of your theses are published on Cell. Small wonder that Zheng Jian brat started getting ideas.”

n

n

n“It was all thanks to your teaching.” Chen Chen followed up quickly.

n

n

n“I can do without the sweet talk. You think I wouldn’t know whether I have taught you before?”

n

n

nProfessor Wang Xi shot a look at Chen Chen. “Alright, if you want to submit it, you can just do it here. I’ll cover the publication fees for now.”

n

n

n“Professor Wang, I have a favor to ask…” Chen Chen spoke after pondering for a moment.

n

n

n…

n

n

nWhen Chen Chen had exited Professor Wang Xi’s office, he had an additional form in his hands.

n

n

nIt was a copy of “University Student Business Loan Application Form”.

n

n

nProfessor Wang Xi was truly astounded and could not comprehend it when he heard that Chen Chen wanted to drop out of school to start a business. He then settled down when he considered the fact that Chen Chen had displayed an understanding of biology which was far superior to even postgraduate students.

n

n

nIt was true that there was very little left that the school could teach Chen Chen.

n

n

nAfter a slight hesitation, Professor Wang Xi made an offer to take in Chen Chen as his disciple. He would let Chen Chen follow his guidance. It was going to be a position more esteemed than the Ph.D. students.

n

n

nThis sort of royalty treatment was indicating that he would one day be the one to receive the passing of the torch.

n

n

nIf Chen Chen had agreed, then he would have one of the most esteemed scholars in the academic world serving as his guide. Within less than twenty years, Chen Chen may be promoted to associate professor or head professor. He would also have a shot at entering the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

n

n

nUnder the circumstance where he did not have NZT-48, this step would take him right to the top.

n

n

nHowever, Chen Chen clearly understood his current situation. All he could do was turn down the offer while apologizing profusely.

n

n

nProfessor Wang Xi was noticeably disappointed at the rejection of his offer. However, he still signed Chen Chen’s “University Student Business Loan Application Form” without any hesitation.

n

n

nOn the application form, Chen Chen applied for the highest possible limit – one million.

n

n

nChen Chen made sure to remember Professor Wang Xi vouching for him.

n

n

nThe “University Student Business Loan Application Form” was a source of collateral-free credit loan issued by the bank and other fund-issuing institutions to finance college students.

n

n

nTo assist university students in kick starting their business, the Mainland China government specifically sectioned out a large portion of funds. Anyone above the age of eighteen was eligible for the application whether they were still in school or had already graduated.

n

n

nOf course, eligibility was one matter. Whether it would be approved or not was an entirely separate matter.

n

n

nWith that said, as Professor Wang Xi vouched for him, it had made a world of difference.

n

n

nAfter that, Chen Chen began running errands left and right to get the subsequent procedures underway.

n

n

nAfter submitting the application form to drop out, Chen Chen swung by the dorm to say hi to the others. After that, he began working on the loan procedures.

n

n

nTo attain the loan, Chen Chen would first have to start a company.

n

n

nSo, Chen Chen registered his firm “Blacklight Biotechnology Co. Ltd.” under the Industry and Commerce Bureau.

n

n

nAs for its meaning, he did not have any significant meaning in mind. He only chose the name because it sounded cool.

n

n

nChen Chen originally planned to go with “Morningstar Biotechnology”. Sadly, the name “Morningstar” was already taken. He had to change the name to “Blacklight”.

n

n

nFortunately, as a gesture of support for students trying to start their own business, the government had simplified the loan procedure. Chen Chen had also got the trickiest part, getting the signature, out of the way.

n

n

nIt only took two days before he got a call from the finance bureau.

n

n

n“It’s credited already?”

n

n

nChen Chen immediately shot up, his face was full of delight. “Thank you, I got it!”

n

n

nChen Chen quickly opened his phone after hanging up.

n

n

nAs expected, he had received a notification in the company bank account noting a transaction the sum of a million.

n

n

nLooking at the million renminbi balance, even Chen Chen, who was under the influence of the drug, could not resist smiling.

n

n

nAccording to Chen Chen’s initial plan, he would first submit the thesis which would take three to four months before it got approved. By then, the school would be informed, which would make it easier for him to apply for the loan.

n

n

nDue to the incident with Zheng Jian, he was more than three months ahead of schedule!

n

n

nFrom here on, it would be very easy to accomplish what he wanted to do.

n

n

nWhen he thought of this, Chen Chen suddenly booted up the computer and typed in “Shangdu Industrial Park” into the search query.

n

n

nShangdu Industrial Park was a municipal industrial park approved by the municipal government in the early establishment years of Shangdu. The total area of the park was 20.54 square kilometers. It hosted hundreds of enterprise factories of varying sizes, spread across dozens of production industries.

n

n

nWhat Chen Chen needed to do now was to find a factory that could be rented out. He would then use industrial electricity to charge the USB drive.

n

n

nIt took Chen Chen half a day before he finally selected a medium-sized oxygen plant.

n

n

nThis particular oxygen plant had to reduce its operating costs due to recent steelmaking technology innovation in the sector, causing a domino effect of decreasing demand for industrial oxygen. They had no choice but to undertake a series of actions including layoffs.

n

n

nAs it turned out, this technological innovation had very quickly spread through the region. The facilities of this oxygen plant were outdated and the oxygen production quality was on the lower end. Due to the lack of funds needed to modify their equipment, they resorted to halting operations on the verge of bankruptcy.

n

n

nThis was the exact kind of factory Chen Chen had his eyes on – a cheap factory with high energy consumption.

n