What? You're a notorious bandit? What a coincidence, me too!

In a university chemistry lab, several students are scattered around their respective workbenches, busy with their research experiments.

in the corner.

A young man in a white lab coat stood bent over the table, his expression unusually focused, his eyes fixed on the changes in the liquid inside the flask.

Just then, my phone in my pocket suddenly vibrated.

The young man seemed to be disturbed by the unintentional tremor, and his brows furrowed instantly.

He didn't take out his phone, but instead glanced at the classmates around him.

Seeing that everyone was engrossed in their experiments and no one noticed what was happening on his end, he took off his gloves and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

On the small screen of the phone was a string of unfamiliar numbers.

He thought for a moment, his hands trembling slightly, and didn't answer the call. After a while, the call ended automatically.

The young man seemed relieved and breathed a sigh of relief, but after a short while, the number called again.

He gritted his teeth, took a few deep breaths, composed himself, and pressed the call button.

Two seconds after the call connected, a middle-aged man's voice came through the receiver:

"I've inspected your goods; the purity is fine."

The young man tried to remain calm and simply snorted.

Seeing that the young man did not respond, he continued, "Let's meet sometime today. I need 5 kilograms of goods first."

After a few seconds of silence, the young man finally spoke, his voice trembling slightly: "Wait for my call."

"Okay! I'll wait for your message."

Before the middle-aged man on the other end could finish speaking, the young man hung up the phone.

On the other end of the line, Ming wasn't annoyed at being hung up on; instead, a smile appeared on his lips: "Interesting."

…………

In an old, dilapidated lecture hall, an elderly man is giving a public lecture.

His hair was half white, with the white hair at his temples being particularly noticeable. He wore a pair of old gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and a faded blue shirt.

Standing behind the podium, chalk in hand, writing dense, sleep-inducing chemical equations on the blackboard.

There were fewer than ten students in the classroom, scattered sparsely in the back row.

Some students were chatting quietly, while others were sleeping on their desks. Only one or two students would occasionally glance up at the blackboard, their eyes showing little focus.

The old man, however, seemed not to notice and continued explaining the dry theoretical knowledge in a steady tone.

The voice was loud, but it lacked variation, making it sound somewhat like a machine in the empty classroom.

"The key to this nucleophilic substitution reaction lies in the stability of the leaving group."

He tapped the equation on the blackboard, his gaze sweeping across the audience.

"Can anyone explain why iodoalkane has the highest reactivity among halogenated hydrocarbons?"

The audience remained silent; no one responded.

The sleeping student raised his head slightly, then lowered it again to continue sleeping.

The old man's eyes darkened, his lips twitched, he sighed softly, and without asking any further questions, he continued his explanation.

He was used to this scene. Over the years, his topics were unpopular and his teaching style was not pleasing, so his public lectures were always deserted.

When the bell rang, the students rushed out of the door as if they had been injected with adrenaline.

The old man closed his lesson plan and was about to pack his things when a school staff member passed by the door, carrying a stack of documents. He glanced into the classroom and casually called out to him:

"Teacher Gu."

Gu Yanbai stopped what he was doing and turned around: "Director Li."

"The results of this year's professorship evaluation are out."

Director Li glanced through the documents, then said without looking up, "You didn't pass. There are limited spots, and priority was given to a few professors with popular research topics who could secure funding. You... wait for next time."

These few words, spoken lightly, struck Gu Yanbai's heart like a stone.

He has endured more than twenty years, from youth to half-gray hair. No one questions his professional ability, yet he remains stuck in the position of associate professor.

The reasons are nothing more than that the research topics are unpopular, they don't know how to cultivate relationships, and they can't attract funding.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something in his defense, but in the end he only clenched his fists and whispered:

"I see."

Director Li grunted in acknowledgment, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

The students below the stage had long since left, leaving only Gu Yanbai standing by the podium in the empty classroom.

He sighed deeply, then walked out of the classroom with his lesson plan.

Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket.

Gu Yanbai took out his phone, glanced at the caller ID, and his eyes instantly changed from dejected to sharp.

He walked to the corner of the classroom and pressed the answer button: "Speak."

A young man's voice came through the receiver: "They've contacted me..."

See you in the lab.

Gu Yanbai interrupted the young man, hung up the phone, and walked out of the classroom.

At this moment, the expression on his face was an almost icy calm.

A dozen minutes later.

He pushed open the door and walked into the laboratory.

It was already break time, and the place was no longer as lively as before; most of the students had left.

Only one young man remained standing in front of the lab bench, intently observing a sealed reaction flask, watching as a slight boil slowly occurred inside.

Hearing the door open, the young man turned around, saw Gu Yanbai, and immediately went to greet him, lowering his voice: "Teacher."

Gu Yanbai nodded, walked to the lab bench, glanced at the liquid in the flask, then at the experimental record beside him, and said calmly:

"Speak."

The young man nodded. "They've already inspected the goods and said there's no problem. They want to meet and want 5 kilograms of the goods."

Gu Yanbai paused slightly, gently adjusting his glasses with his fingers.

"We don't have that many; this time we can only give him less than 3 kilograms."

The young man paused for a moment: "Less than 3 kilograms? What if he disagrees?"

"Our goods are unique, and he has no choice but to agree."

Gu Yanbai's voice was calm and composed. He looked up at the young man with a sharp gaze.