Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Academician Wang Zengguang was applauding as he looked at Lu Zhou, who was on stage. He then spoke.
“Old Li…”
Academician Li Jiangang was still clapping when he stared at Wang Zengguang and said, “What?”
Wang Zengguang said emotionally, “I think we can brag about controllable fusion for the rest of our lives.”
“Of course,” Li Jiangang smiled and said, “we’ll brag about it until the end of time.”
“I think so too.” Wang Zengguang sighed and said with a sullen voice, “It’s not easy to achieve something earth-shattering in one’s lifetime.”
Li Jiangang: “Of course, how many earth-shattering things do you want to achieve?”
Wang Zengguang sighed and said, “I don’t know, but look at this kid. Maybe there really are true geniuses on Earth; those that are uncommon among uncommon people. Those that do things people don’t even dare to think of.”
Li Jiangang went silent for a while. He then spoke emotionally.
“He’s an exception… Forget about him.”
After the commendation conference finished, a grand celebration dinner was held in the same venue. The dinner started as a formal event, but it became more and more lively. In the end, everyone walked around drunk as they socialized.
Lu Zhou didn’t plan on drinking, but there were too many people who were enthusiastically forcing him to drink… So enthusiastic that he couldn’t refuse. Therefore, he ended up getting wasted.
He didn’t control himself and drank too much. He felt dizzy and could barely stand up straight. Fortunately, a beautiful young waitress brought him hot towels and took him to the back of the venue to rest.
Lu Zhou wiped the hot towel on his face while sitting down on the sofa. He felt sweat coming out of every pore in his body. Because of his fast-metabolic abilities, he quickly recovered.
The beautiful waitress stood next to him as she spoke softly.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “Thanks, I feel a lot better. You can go now.”
“I’ve been told to take care of you. If you need anything, please tell me.”
“I don’t need anything. I’ll sit here for a bit, then go back to the hotel.”
If he went back to the conference hall, he would be fed alcohol again.
Academician Wang was the biggest culprit. Lu Zhou didn’t know why, but Academician Wang kept feeding him alcohol. In the end, Academician Wang collapsed first.
The waitress said softly, “I don’t feel safe letting you stay here alone. How about I drive you home?”
Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.
Even though he knew she had good intentions, he already had a ride home.
“No, it’s fine, I have a driver.”
Waitress: “…”
…
The banquet continued to go on. The guests were still having a blast, but Lu Zhou was exhausted.
After Lu Zhou said goodbye to his friends, he walked to the main entrance of the Great Hall of the People and got in Wang Peng’s car.
Lu Zhou let the wind blow on his face during the drive back. He could feel himself getting sober again. He took a hot shower in his hotel room, changed his clothes, and lay on his bed.
However, the moment he lay on his bed, his phone started to ring.
Lu Zhou picked up the phone from the nightstand and yawned. He answered the call.
“Hello?”
A voice traveled through the phone.
“Hey, Professor Lu, I didn’t wake you up, did I?”
Lu Zhou scratched his head and rolled on his bed.
“Who are you?”
“It’s Director Qian!”
When Lu Zhou heard this name, he paused for a second.
“Director Qian?”
Emm…
Who is that?
He contemplated for a while, but he didn’t remember meeting this person.
Lu Zhou hesitated for a while and tried to ask politely.
“Who… are you?”
Director Qian was baffled, and he said, “I work in the Chinese Academy of Sciences…”
Lu Zhou was probably the only academician election candidate who didn’t know who Director Qian was.
Director Qian’s role at the Chinese Academy of Sciences was directly related to the academician elections. He was responsible for coordinating the standing committees of various academic departments. His a*s was kissed by every single scholar who wanted to become an academician.
After all, if a scholar could become an academician, then they would receive the highest academic honor possible. They would be at the top of the “academic food chain”, and they would be able to receive enormous amounts of research funding!
However, Director Qian wasn’t angry at Lu Zhou for not knowing who he was.
He cleared his throat and spoke in a congratulatory tone.
“Oh… Professor Lu, I’m calling you to inform you that your name has passed the academic review!”
“Academic review?” Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, “I thought that is in early July?”
If he recalled correctly, the academic review results would be released in June. It wasn’t even March yet, and the deadline for the application was still in a month. Some people hadn’t even finished writing their applications, but Lu Zhu somehow passed?
More importantly, Lu Zhou didn’t even apply…
Director Qian smiled and said, “The results are announced in early June, but we have already started the review process! The results would be made known to the candidates after the review is completed, so we don’t have to wait until June.”
Lu Zhou said, “But I didn’t submit the three-thousand-word application essay…”
“It’s fine, we are well aware of your achievements and medals. Taking into account your contribution to our country’s aerospace industry, I asked my office secretary to write it for you.”
“Okay… Thanks,” Lu Zhou said. He didn’t know what else to say.
It’s not like I can ask him out for dinner…
It’d be fine if I were friends with him, but this might count as bribery.
But speaking of which, is ghostwriting the application essay even allowed?
Even those nutty professors wrote the essay themselves, right?
Lu Zhou was very confused by what the Chinese Academy of Sciences was doing.
Director Qian pretended like nothing weird was going on. He smiled and said, “You’re welcome! If that’s all, I’ll talk to you later?”
Lu Zhou: “… Oh, okay, talk to you later.”
“Okay then, bye!”
Click.
The phone call ended.
Lu Zhou looked at his phone screen and muttered, “This is weird.”
However, he didn’t take this too seriously.
He was a bit hungover, and he just wanted to sleep.
Not to mention that the title of an academician was just the icing on the cake…
Lu Zhou placed his phone on the bedside table and closed his eyes, and he fell asleep soon after…
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