Rejecting Tsinghua and Peking Universities: I Will Lead Harbin Institute of Technology to World Lead

In the early hours of the morning in Shanghai, the airport was deserted and somewhat desolate.

As Lin Feng stepped off the gangway, a damp night breeze carrying the unique scent of the Huangpu River rushed towards him.

"Mr. Lin, the car is ready."

Qingfeng strode forward. Hanren silently followed half a step behind him, his sharp gaze sweeping across the surroundings.

Lin Feng nodded and got into the waiting black sedan.

The car drove out of the airport and merged into the empty elevated road. At two o'clock in the morning, there were still some cars in this city that never sleeps, but it was a world of difference from the congestion during the day.

"Let's go to the Shanghai Medical Research Institute," Lin Feng said.

Qingfeng didn't ask any further questions, but simply whispered the address into his earpiece. The car turned and headed towards Pudong.

Forty minutes later, the car stopped at the Shanghai Medical Research Institute.

Lin Feng got out of the car and walked towards the gate.

The guard had clearly received the notification. He didn't question him, but simply stood at attention, saluted, and then pressed the internal communicator: "Mr. Qi, Mr. Lin has arrived."

The door opened.

Old Master Qi stood personally inside the door.

The nearly seventy-year-old academician was wearing a faded white lab coat, his hair was disheveled, and his glasses were askew; he had clearly just come from the laboratory. But the moment he saw Lin Feng, his eyes lit up.

"Xiao Feng." Old Qi strode forward, grasped Lin Feng's hand, and shook it vigorously. "You rushed over so late, you must be tired."

"Professor Qi, you've worked even harder." Lin Feng looked at the bloodshot eyes of the old man. "Did you pull another all-nighter in the lab?"

"I'm used to it." Old Qi smiled and stepped aside to let him pass. "Come on, let's talk in my office."

The two walked down a long corridor. On both sides were rows of laboratories, and through the glass windows, they could see busy figures inside.

Professor Qi's office was very simple. There was a desk, two bookshelves, and an old sofa. The desk was piled high with documents and papers.

"Sit down." Old Qi gestured to the sofa and personally poured Lin Feng a glass of water. "How's the situation in Qiancheng?"

"It's stable." Lin Feng took the water glass. "The cancer cell clearance rate has reached 100%, and you are expected to be discharged within a week."

Old Qi breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good. Zhao Weiguo has followed you for so many years, it hasn't been easy for him."

"So," Lin Feng put down his water glass, looked directly at Elder Qi, "Elder Qi, what exactly is wrong with the anti-cancer drugs?"

The air in the office suddenly became quiet.

The smile on Old Qi's face gradually faded. He took off his glasses, rubbed his temples, and when he put them back on, his eyes held a hint of seriousness.

"What did you guess?" Old Qi asked.

"If there were no problems, the drug should have been on the market long ago," Lin Feng said. "You approved this drug in Qiancheng very quickly, which means there is still stock. But if there is stock, why not promote it? The only explanation is—the supply can't keep up."

Old Qi was silent for a few seconds, then sighed heavily.

"It's raw material." He walked to his desk, pulled out a report from a pile of documents, and handed it to Lin Feng. "In your theoretical research, there is a core ingredient—starflower alkaloid, which is extracted from a plant called starflower."

Lin Feng took the report and quickly glanced at it.

"Star Moon Grass only grows in high-altitude, cold regions above 3,000 meters, with a growth cycle of up to seven years, and it has extremely demanding requirements for soil and climate." Old Qi's voice was low. "We searched all over the country and only found three wild production areas that met the requirements, with a total reserve... only enough to produce less than 100,000 doses of the medicine."

One hundred thousand.

For a country with 1.4 billion people, this number is a drop in the ocean.

"We've tried artificial cultivation," Professor Qi continued. "We've used tissue culture, gene editing, environmental simulation... every method we could think of. But either the content of active ingredients was too low, or they simply couldn't survive."

He walked to the window and looked at the gradually brightening sky outside: "One dose of medicine can save one person. But if we only have 100,000 doses, but there are millions, tens of millions of patients... who should we give it to? Who shouldn't we give it to? This is not only a medical issue, but also an ethical issue and a social issue."

Lin Feng flipped through the data in his hand.

The report, which details the biological characteristics of the star and moon grass, the optimization of the extraction process, and the failures in artificial cultivation, records countless attempts and failures over the past year.

"Abroad?" Lin Feng asked.

"Even less." Old Qi shook his head. "The main distribution area of ​​Star Moon Grass is in our southwest and Tibet. It is only sporadically distributed abroad. Moreover, this plant is extremely sensitive to environmental changes. Global warming has reduced its wild population by 40% in the past ten years."

Silence fell in the office once again.

Outside the window, the sky was beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

"Professor Qi," Lin Feng suddenly spoke up, "may I see all the research data? Including all the data from the failures."

Old Qi turned around and looked at him: "You have an idea?"

"I wouldn't dare say," Lin Feng said cautiously, "but I want to try. Perhaps I can find a way."

Old Qi's eyes lit up again.

He knew this young man in front of him all too well. From the theory of fighting cancer to the success, it was all thanks to Lin Feng alone.

"Okay!" Old Qi strode to the safe, entered the password, and took out an encrypted hard drive. "All the data is here, from the genome sequencing of plant samples to the complete record of every cultivation experiment."

Lin Feng took the hard drive; it felt heavy in his hand.

"I need a quiet place," Lin Feng said to Elder Qi.

"I've arranged a temporary laboratory for you at the center, with the highest level of security, so you won't be disturbed," Old Qi said immediately. "Just let me know if you need any equipment."

"We don't need the equipment for now," Lin Feng shook his head. "I'll analyze the data first."

That morning, Lin Feng checked into a temporary dormitory at the Biomedical Center.

The room was small but clean. There was a bed, a table, and a high-performance computer.

Lin Feng connected the hard drive to the computer and began downloading data.

Three hours later, all data transmission was complete. He closed his eyes and his consciousness entered the system simulation space.

The genome map of the star-moon grass unfolded in his mind—three billion base pairs, as complex as an astronomical book. But he could see the key gene clusters, the metabolic pathways that control the synthesis of active ingredients.

Then there's the cultivation data. 1,732 experiments, each with a massive amount of parameters such as temperature, humidity, light, nutrients, pH... and the corresponding results—success or failure.

The average person's brain simply cannot process such a massive amount of information.

But Lin Feng can.

His photographic memory allows him to instantly remember all the details, while his ability to apply knowledge to new situations enables him to find hidden patterns in massive amounts of data.

He finished reading all the materials in three hours.

Then, consciousness entered the system's simulation space.

The familiar white space stretched endlessly. With a thought, Lin Feng saw a virtual Star Moon Grass appear before him—slender leaves with silvery-white veins, and fluorescent spots on the back of the leaves, like stars in the night sky.

This is a perfect model reconstructed from genomic data.

"Start simulation."

The 10,001st cultivation experiment.

He adjusted the temperature: from 5℃ to 15℃, in increments of 0.1℃.

Adjust the lighting: from 1000 lux to 10000 lux, to simulate the intensity of sunlight at different altitudes.

Adjusting soil composition: the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium; the content of trace elements; the proportion of organic matter...

Each adjustment simulates the growth process of the starflower, accelerating it from seed germination to flowering and fruiting. The system then analyzes the final plant's active ingredient content.

failure.

failure.

It was another failure.

The content of active ingredients can never reach 30% of that in wild plants—this is the minimum threshold for drug effectiveness.

Lin Feng was not discouraged.

He changed his approach.

Since the growing conditions of Star Moon Grass cannot be replicated in the real environment, why not change Star Moon Grass itself?

"Initiate gene editing simulation."

A three-dimensional model of the genome of the star-moon grass appeared before him. He pinpointed the genes that control environmental adaptation—cold-resistance genes, drought-resistance genes, nutrient absorption genes…

Start editing.

This is not a random modification, but rather based on a profound understanding of plant physiology and a precise grasp of metabolic pathways. Every edit is like walking a tightrope—it must improve environmental adaptability without affecting the synthesis of active ingredients.

The thousandth editing attempt.

The model of the star and moon grass began to grow. The leaves became wider and thicker, the root system became more developed, and its range of adaptation to temperature and humidity significantly expanded.

However, the content of active ingredients is 25%.

not enough.

The third thousandth attempt.

This time, Lin Feng adjusted the metabolic pathway. He enhanced the synthesis efficiency of precursor substances, optimized the activity of catalytic enzymes, and reduced the accumulation of byproducts.

The star and moon grass model grows, flowers, and bears fruit at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Active ingredient content: 68%.

We're getting closer!

The 7,000th attempt.

Lin Feng incorporated symbiotic simulation—in the wild environment, star and moon grass forms a symbiotic relationship with specific soil microorganisms, which help it absorb nutrients and resist diseases.

He added the genomic data of three microorganisms to the virtual soil to simulate the effects of their metabolites on the star-moon grass.

This time, the growth of the star and moon grass was almost perfect.

The fluorescent spots on the leaves are brighter, the plant is robust, and it is extremely resistant to adverse conditions.

the most important is--

Active ingredient content: 102%.

It not only reached the level of wild plants, but also surpassed it!

Lin Feng opened his eyes.

Outside the window, it was already dark.

He glanced at the time—10 PM. After a month, he had finally succeeded in finding a method for cultivation through the system's simulation space.

Lin Feng went to the computer and started typing rapidly.

A complete report is formed:

Artificial Cultivation and Improvement Program for Starflower

Includes: gene editing targets, culture environment parameters, symbiotic microbial formulations, large-scale production processes...

Every step is accurate to two decimal places.

Lin Feng saved the file, encrypted it, and then sent a message to Elder Qi:

"Old Qi, there's progress. See you in the office tomorrow morning."

After sending the message, he leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.