Study Monster Cultivation System-Chapter 363 - 362 So why is it cool and sweet?

The moment I stepped into the School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering.

I really felt that I was a scumbag.

Sincere Zhou Huanhuan had once thrown herself at me so proactively...

Yet I only treated her as a backup option.

Even thinking to myself that Huanhuan was a good person, it was all chemistry’s fault.

Now when I need her, isn’t it shameless of me to stick to her again?

But Chang Keqing couldn’t see this shameful mindset, she just thought I was nervous.

It wasn’t until we entered the office building that Chang Keqing couldn’t help but ask, "You’re really going to talk directly to the Chemical Institute’s deputy dean?"

"He is an extremely approachable deputy dean," I said with a stern face. "Not just me, even high school competitors can get along well with him. He’s probably the most well-liked leader in Ji University at present."

"Dean Zhou does indeed have an excellent reputation," Chang Keqing said as she climbed the stairs. "But... why did you ask me to come?"

"With you present, he will be more restrained," I said in a deep voice.

"Restrained from what?"

"You’ll know soon enough..."

Soon, we knocked on the door of Zhou Yi’s office.

A voice full of vitality and anticipation followed.

"Come in~~~"

I gave Chang Keqing a vigorous nod and then pushed the door open.

At this moment, Zhou Yi was typing on his computer. He just glanced at me and let out a mischievous smile he couldn’t suppress.

This man had changed, become even more flirtatious than before.

This demonic smile of his, he must have been infected by Shi Yang...

[Zhou Yi]

[Academic Power: 2582]

[Scholastic Wealth: 21990]

Fortunately, his Academic Power and Scholastic Wealth were still stable.

Seeing these figures made it hard for me to walk.

"Teach... Teacher Zhou, hello..." I said, my face blushing as I turned away.

"Good, good, good, you guys too~~" Zhou Yi raised his eyebrows and went back to his keyboard. "Have a seat anywhere, pour yourselves some water. I just need to reply to an email, one minute~~"

Chang Keqing and I then sat on the guest sofa nervously.

"Isn’t this quite nice?" Chang Keqing whispered, stealing glances at Zhou Yi.

"Just wait and you’ll see..."

A moment later, Zhou Yi walked over with a thermal cup, all smiles: "You’re here?"

"We’ve arrived..." I stood up to greet him but immediately dropped my gaze in embarrassment.

"How’s university life treating you?"

"Pretty well..."

"Oh, come on, we’re all family here, no need to put on a brave face." Zhou Yi sat down cheerfully, set down his cup, and rubbed his hands together. "I’m not trying to say I told you so, Zheng Zheng, but didn’t I tell you that if you had come to my side earlier, the lab would be your playground, free to do whatever you want?"

"Yes..."

"Hehe~~"

"..." Annoyed and embarrassed, I turned my head to the side. "What’s so funny..."

"I never knew watching you get deflated could be this enjoyable~" Zhou Yi kept looking me up and down, beaming like a happy kid. "No wonder Lin Yujing enjoys messing with you so much, hahaha!"

"That’s... that’s enough..."

"Oh my, I did have a whole bellyful of words, but who would have thought that you brought reinforcements." Zhou Yi then turned to look at Chang Keqing, "I remember you taking my course, and you didn’t score low at all."

"My name is Chang Keqing, Teacher Zhou." Chang Keqing slightly stood up to pay her respects.

"Right, right, right, what a nice name indeed, and you had the courage to take my organic class, too. I wanted to give you a bit of a hard time, but who knew your grades would be better than many from the Chemical Institute." Zhou Yi adjusted his glasses and said, "University is just like this, outstanding people tend to attract each other, and I have high hopes for your collaboration."

Chang Keqing respectfully said, "Thank you for the compliment, Teacher Zhou. Your course is indeed challenging, but as long as one keeps up with the pace and listens, one will feel a strong density and coherence of knowledge."

"Wow." Zhou Yi let out a long sigh of relief, his whole being entering a state of contentment, "Although it’s a polite compliment, coming from your mouth, it’s unexpectedly comforting..."

After speaking, he pointed at Li Zheng mockingly and said, "Not bad, your strategy of calling for backup worked. I won’t make things difficult for you today. Let’s talk business."

Only then did Li Zheng settle down.

Zhou Yi was indeed just joking and wasn’t really angry.

As for why he came to the Chemical Institute, the reason was simple: the task cycle was too tight, just 60 days.

Forget novices, even for veterans, it would be absurd to expect a breakthrough and publish a paper in just 60 days.

If Zhou Xiao from Yingpei had an idea for him and was willing to offer strong support for the project, then naturally Li Zheng would have gone through the proper channels within the institute.

But if it was Zhang Shandong in charge, even if he ran around lobbying and forcefully got the project cleared with a recommendation letter, the process would likely drag on for ages. Let alone producing results in 60 days, it would be uncertain if he could even access the cryo-electron microscope within that time.

Zhou Yi was different, though; he had the ability to directly allocate resources and was sufficiently confident in his own skills.

The only uncertainty was whether he was willing to allocate resources for the key equipment and take on the risk and responsibility that came with it.

Talking with Zhou Yi naturally didn’t require the same kind of word wrangling as at the query session, nor did he have to consider the other party’s capacity to understand.

Sitting there, Li Zheng merely needed to spit out a few keywords, and Zhou Yi would already catch on.

After picking up the project materials, Zhou Yi skimmed through them while providing his comments.

"This isn’t a huge project. Aside from the truly scarce cryo-electron microscope, the other aspects don’t demand much in terms of resources and capabilities, and the experimental cycle can be very short."

"And, how should I put it..."

"Rather than a project, it’s more like an impromptu play after the experimental work is complete."

"To be exact, it’s more of a plaything for the Biology Institute; this technology has a limited application in chemistry, primarily concentrated in the field of materials science. I did come across it when dealing with organic polymers, but the method is entirely different from that used in biology."

After speaking, Zhou Yi put down the materials and said.

"Regarding this specific project, I do have the hardware, but my guidance will be limited. Frankly speaking, it would be more appropriate to conduct this with the Biology Institute."

Chang Keqing’s eyebrows tightened.

In the end, was Dean Zhou also going to push it away?

Just how delicate was the cryo-electron microscope?

However, Zhou Yi merely raised his eyebrows.

"But that’s impossible. I won’t send Li Zheng away even if it kills me!" Zhou Yi followed with a sweep of his arm, "Whatever project Li Zheng works on, even if it falls apart, it falls into my hands, Zhou Yi’s hands!"

Li Zheng’s eyes widened.

Awesome!

Powerful!

Zhou Huanhuan, I’m in love.

Just as Li Zheng was about to jump with joy,

Zhou Yi raised his hand again.

"However, there are a few points I need to make clear." He said, nodding towards Chang Keqing, "Would it be convenient for you…"

"Sure." Chang Keqing immediately stood up, "I’ll head back first."

"It won’t take long." Zhou Yi looked back and forth at the two and said, "How about we all have lunch together later, and then talk things over in detail?"

After Li Zheng nodded, Chang Keqing agreed as well and went out to wait.

With her gone, Zhou Yi let loose.

```

"Who is it, not approving your proposal?" Zhou Yi took a sip of water from his thermos and shook his head repeatedly, "This kind of project won’t cost much."

"Teacher Zhang Shandong."

"Don’t know him, I just know your Dean Niu Gang." Zhou Yi said while crossing his legs and smacking his lips, "Different fields are worlds apart, they who study philosophy simply don’t understand people like you. Indeed, the majority of undergraduates scarcely even get a chance to touch real experiments, let alone work on a project like cryo-EM. But for competition champions like you, just a bit of hands-on opportunity will have you reaching the level of a graduate student within two months."

"Yes, I understand our teachers; I just don’t want to waste any more time."

"Hmm, let’s get to the point," Zhou Yi gradually became serious, "I can help you apply for the right to use cryo-EM and the related consumables, but these things, after all, are not ours to give—they are state assets, managed by the Chemical Institute. Even the biggest leaders can’t just give them to anyone."

"Of course."

Zhou Yi adjusted his glasses and said, "So, if this is to work, when it comes time to publish, the School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering at Jijing University must be listed prominently. Otherwise, I can’t help."

"That’s a given, since we’re using resources from the Chemical Institute."

"Secondly, regarding authorship of the paper..."

"You’re of course the first author."

"No, no, no." Zhou Yi waved his hands repeatedly, "I advocate giving opportunities to the young. It’s important to get known early. What I mean is, there’s no problem with you being the first author, but the second author must be someone from our Chemical Institute. I need to find someone familiar with cryo-EM to join your project team; I hope no one has objections to that."

"No problem at all, it’s only fair."

"Additionally, I can’t give you too much time for the experiment..." Zhou Yi pondered, "It’s not a big project anyway. 45 days, I should be able to get that."

"24 hours a day?"

"As you like, just don’t break it." Zhou Yi pointed to the corner of the office, "There’s a camera there. If there are any violations, they will be recorded. I wouldn’t make you pay for damages, but if you actually break it, we’re both finished."

"Teacher Zhou..." Li Zheng was visibly moved.

So casually assuming risks, trusting oneself.

It’s all trash anyway, should I just dump Grandpa? After all, he won’t let me play with the supercomputer.

"Don’t dawdle." Zhou Yi gestured with a flick of his hand, "Lastly, didn’t you network in the aerospace system? Did they give you any recommendations when you left?"

"I have quite a few." Li Zheng nodded, "What level do you want?"

"Ah... just a few of the topmost ones will do." Zhou Yi pointed next door, "I don’t need to see them, they’re for people higher up to see. With such a critical piece of equipment, we can’t just rely on my word alone. Having those old aerospace folks vouching for it will make things go much smoother."

"Sure!"

"Then..." Zhou Yi said while pulling out his phone and tapping on it, "should I call the person to guide you on using the cryo-EM?"

Li Zheng nodded, "I guess it’s a doctoral senior, right?"

5 minutes later.

A baby-faced man, increasingly resembling Zhou Yi, poked his head through the door.

The moment he saw Li Zheng, he burst into a devilish grin.

"Hehe!"

"Hehe~" Zhou Yi returned a similar smile.

"!!!" Li Zheng jumped up in shock, "Damn, you’ve gotten so fat I didn’t recognize you!"

[Shi Yang]

[Academic Power: 1277]

Not just Academic Power, but he also had a robust 300 or more in Scholastic Wealth.

This year hasn’t been spent in vain!

"Fat nothing!" Shi Yang entered the room gleefully, closed the door behind him, and while walking pointed towards the outside saying, "Old Zhou, there’s a super super super super super beautiful girl waiting outside, is she applying to be your graduate student?"

"She’s from your project team," Zhou Yi said with a smile.

"Ah?" Shi Yang’s interest was piqued, his eyes widened and he rubbed his hands as he took a seat, "Well done Li Zheng, getting trashy as soon as you enter university. I slaved away in the lab for a whole year and it’s not worth two days of your time. The whole building has only one Shen Yiyun, who eats more and still gets fatter than me..."

"Stop it, stop it." Li Zheng looked at Zhou Yi with wide eyes, "So Shi Yang is our mentor?"

```

"He’s super slick with experiments, even slicker than most mentors," Zhou Yi said with a smirk. "At this rate, he’ll probably be slicker than me by the time he graduates."

"Old Zhou, you’re too kind," Shi Yang teased, raising his eyebrows at Li Zheng. "If you’d mentioned having such a pretty girl around, I would’ve offered my guidance for free."

"Ah..." Li Zheng sighed.

He still vividly remembered the nonsense theories of the female academic Shi Yang, which had led him down many wrong paths.

It was time to set him straight.

"Shi Yang," Li Zheng asked, "do you know why a girl’s tongue is cool and sweet?"

"?!" Shi Yang’s face contorted. "Because... a young girl secretes a sweet substance when she’s sensitive."

"No," Li Zheng shook his head firmly. "Because you’re a pervert."

"...You... you..." Shi Yang snarled, "Don’t get cocky here. Every girl tastes different, and you can’t use Lin Yujing as the only example. Is it such a big deal that you’ve kissed her?"

"No, big, deal!" Li Zheng nodded.

"Woo..." Shi Yang hung his head in sullen silence, at a loss for words.

"Hahaha," Zhou Yi laughed heartily. "Alright, you two will have plenty of chances to chat. I’m here to issue three warnings, and you’d better remember them."

Li Zheng and Shi Yang immediately put on serious faces to listen to the instructions.

Zhou Yi raised his hand and said.

"First, you must comply with the rules."

"Especially for old slickers like Shi Yang, who usually skip whatever steps they can. This time it’s different; there are people from other institutes involved. If any violations occur, there will be those who make a big deal out of it."

"Second, you must ensure safety."

"Even if there are no results, and it’s all in vain, it’s still a great learning experience for you. You’ll be much more confident next time you enter the lab."

"But if an accident happens, it will be a big blow to you and to me."

"Third, you must keep a low profile."

"Given the scarcity of resources, not to mention undergraduates, many graduate students don’t get many opportunities either."

"If you go around bragging that Zhou Yi got you access to cryo-EM, then you are ruining my reputation."

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

"Lastly." Zhou Yi stood up and extended his right hand. "No matter the outcome, I will always trust you as I have before, recognize your talent, and thank you for your trust in Mr. Zhou. Enough talk, I wish you the most graceful start to your research career, and it will be my honor if I can help a new star rise!"

"Thank you, Boss Zhou!" Li Zheng said, shaking his hand firmly. "We are the lucky ones!"

"Don’t don’t don’t!" Shi Yang hastily interjected. "It’s not appropriate to call him boss to his face; we only do that in private..."

"Hahaha," Zhou Yi also shook Li Zheng’s hand with equal vigor. "I’m putting it out there. Now that I’ve taken on this project, it belongs to the Chemical Institute. If you have any needs, come to me. If Yingpei changes their mind and tries to snatch it from you, I won’t even give Niu Gang face."

"Definitely," Li Zheng nodded firmly.

Only then did Zhou Yi let go and laughed. "Let’s go have dinner then. Get ready; I’ll treat you to dumplings next door."

"Just a moment," Shi Yang suddenly turned and glared at Li Zheng. "Before we eat, can we...?"

"...I already went this morning."

"Come on, it’ll be quick, we haven’t done it together in a long time."

"Sigh..." Li Zheng sighed deeply and said to Zhou Yi, "Then... shall we set off in fifteen minutes?"

Zhou Yi, trying not to laugh, walked back to his desk. "Make it quick."

"You got it, Old Zhou!" Shi Yang, unable to contain himself any longer, dragged Li Zheng out through the door.

At the door, after giving instructions to Chang Keqing, the two bounced off to the men’s bathroom.

Chang Keqing was shocked.

Girls holding hands and going to the bathroom together made sense in high school...

But two college guys teaming up for this...

Isn’t smelling their own not satisfying enough?