Reborn in 2011, I am the chief designer of aerospace.

The joke goes like this: Zhao Yuehe's roommate had a yoga battle with another roommate, insisting on trying a difficult pose, and ended up bending her leg up to her head and getting stuck.

After a group of people frantically tried to fix it, they not only failed to restore it, but the pain only got worse. In the end, they could only remain in this bizarre "upward kick" position and were carried all the way to the school clinic.

We stopped to rest downstairs at a restaurant halfway through our journey. My roommate was surrounded by a group of girls, and one of them was about to burst out laughing when my roommate farted.

The girl laughed so hard she almost passed out and fell flat on her face.

So everyone scrambled to save the person who had fainted from laughing, carrying a stretcher and rushing to the school clinic. When they returned after all that, they found their roommate still downstairs in the cafeteria, being treated like a tourist attraction.

From then on, my roommate's thunderous actions were turned into a classic and widely circulated meme...

After the joke was told, Chang Jian was laughing so hard he couldn't stop, and Song Xingye also held his stomach and laughed for a long time.

Before he could even recover from the previous joke, the next one came crashing down on him like a death knell. Cao Que said his London roommate was quite an oddball.

"Once, we went swimming, and when we came out of the shower, I stared at his feet and was stunned—his big toe and second toe were ridiculously long! I asked him, 'Are all Londoners this unusually shaped?'"

Cao Que gestured vividly as he described the name, "That guy shook his head and said it's called 'Greek foot.' Then he did something amazing: he sat down on the changing bench, took off his shoes, and snapped his fingers with his toes right in front of me."

Cao Que laughed and slapped his thigh: "Can you imagine? When I saw those two nimble toes, I almost burst out laughing..."

After this barrage of jokes, no one at the table was spared; each joke brought laughter to the entire table, and finally, the little bit of meat in the pot was all gone.

On the way home to their respective colleges, Chang Jian still lingered, chasing after Zhao Yuehe, wanting the Thunder Emoji meme of her yoga roommate. The two of them laughed mischievously the whole way, giving off a feeling of being kindred spirits who had known each other for a long time.

The two-day holiday flew by.

After Chang Jian moved out of the family compound, Song Xingye enjoyed the luxury of a single room.

Although it's a bit deserted, at least I don't have to listen to Chang Jian grinding his teeth in the middle of the night.

……

The date has arrived: November 8th.

At 8:00 a.m., the remaining 24 students gathered in the multi-functional conference hall.

Today marks the start of the ninth round of assessments. Those who remain are undoubtedly the elite of the elite, so everyone is on edge and dares not relax in the slightest.

The slightest mistake could undo all the previous efforts, rendering the hard work of the first eight rounds futile.

Not long after, the large, heavy oak door was pushed open, and instructor Li Ang strode in.

Song Xingye glanced at the time subconsciously. It was strange that Li Daijiao, who was always punctual, was a full half hour late today.

In addition, Li Ang's face was also very ugly, with obvious anger suppressed between his brows.

He walked onto the stage, his gaze sweeping lightly over the crowd, before turning on the microphone:

"Sorry, everyone, something came up this morning that's keeping me up. It's related to our Starry Sky Summer Camp."

Li Ang's voice carried a chill.

"When I first heard about this, my first reaction was disbelief. How could such a good student make such a mistake? But after contacting the student's tutor, I confirmed the facts."

"So... I'm angry, and I'm also very disappointed. I don't know how to express my feelings right now, but in short, I'm just frustrated that they're not living up to their potential..."

The students in the audience listened with growing seriousness, as if some terrible accident had occurred.

Finally, Li Ang directly revealed the truth:

"Someone reported that there was cheating in the 'track design' question of the fourth round of assessment. After investigation, the facts were confirmed."

"This student who cheated had worked on a very similar project with his supervisor during his third year of graduate school. Instead of proactively reporting it to avoid being caught, he almost completely copied the solution and approach from the project."

"This behavior is not merely 'laziness' or 'cheating'; at Dongyu Group, it constitutes a serious issue of scientific research integrity and potential engineering risks!"

Li Ang suddenly raised his voice and slammed his fingers heavily on the table.

"If you dare to copy previous procedures today, you'll dare to copy previous parameters in a launch mission tomorrow without verification! Spaceflight allows no room for complacency!"

"Therefore, according to the rules of the Starry Sky Summer Camp, this student was immediately eliminated, and 20% of their score was awarded to the whistleblower."

"Given that the other members of the group were unaware at the time, no serious disciplinary action will be taken against them. However, the bonus points for the fourth round of assessments will be cancelled, and the entire team will be re-scored based on a base score of 100 fuel points, with rankings recalculated..."

Song Xingye was stunned for a moment, but quickly deduced more information from Li Ang's words.

In the fourth round of assessment, only the top three teams received bonus points; all other teams, regardless of their performance, received 100 fuel points.

Since it involves "canceling bonus points" and "reassigning points," it means the cheater... is in one of the top three teams!

Could it be Guo Yanyang's or Xu Zhe's team?

Song Xingye was very confident that there was no problem on his side.

Every formula and model in the plan was derived by him and Jiang Mian through painstaking effort. How could there be any cheating?

The students below the stage were in an uproar, never expecting such a bombshell to be dropped so close to the end of the summer camp assessment.

And everyone tacitly suspected the top three.

Seeing the scene becoming noisy, Li Ang slammed his hand on the table on the stage and displayed a new ranking list on the multimedia screen:

"This is the ranking after the rescoring. Please take a look. If there are no problems, I will now read out the questions for the ninth round of assessment!"

Li Ang spared the man's dignity by not naming him in public.

However, the others weren't stupid. After looking at the list, the cheater who had infuriated his mentor came to light.

The whistleblower also came to light.

How could it be him?!

Song Xingye was taken aback.

His own name, of course, still firmly and proudly ranks first.

The second place, which originally belonged to Guo Yanyang, was surprisingly taken by Xu Zhe from Tsinghua and Peking Universities.

Third... Fourth...

The only thing that disappeared was that familiar name.

Song Xingye looked at the person next to him.

The other person kept their head down, not daring to face the gazes or discussions around them.

After a long while, he finally mustered the courage to stand up from his seat. He first glanced at the person who had secretly reported him, his eyes filled with complex emotions: resentment, unwillingness, regret, and disappointment.

More than anything, it was an apology to teammates who had suffered an undeserved misfortune.

If... instead of resorting to these underhanded tactics, and instead focused on studying with their teammates, they might have been able to secure a well-deserved second place, given their abilities.

I never expected that... even though I had put forward a mature plan that I had polished for several months during my graduate studies and even had guidance from my supervisor, and tried to outperform the plans of my classmates who only had a few days to think about, I still failed miserably!

Song Xingye, Jiang Mian, Chang Jian, and Zhao Yuehe wrote a proposal in just five days that was even better than what they had worked on for several months.

We lost. We lost completely.

In any case... people have to pay for the mistakes they make.

Guo Yanyang looked around, first offering an apologetic smile to his strongest rivals, Song Xingye and Xu Zhe, before slowly saying:

"I'm sorry, everyone, I have no excuse. The track design for the fourth round was indeed a mature design from my research group during my graduate studies, and I simply copied the process."

His voice was deep, but every word was clear.

"Before coming here, I thought I was very strong. I thought the Star Chaser Program selected who had more reserves and whose answers were more perfect. But now I realize that I was wrong, and very wrong."

"Aerospace requires rigor, caution, and meticulousness. To put it nicely, my actions were plagiarism, but in a real launch mission, my empiricism and laziness could have led to the crash of a rocket."

"Furthermore, because of my overconfidence, I also implicated my teammates Cao Que and Tao Shuo. I'm sorry."

"I don't blame anyone, because I lost, not only in terms of technology, but also in terms of my character. This is the most profound lesson I've ever learned. Even if I lose my chance with Dongyu Group in the future, no matter where I do research, I will never make the same mistake again."

"Thank you everyone, I'm sorry!"

After speaking, Guo Yanyang bowed deeply.

Under the complex gazes of the crowd, he walked out of the multi-functional conference hall with his head down and heavy steps.

Song Xingye couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

People who were having a lively dinner together just two days ago have become strangers in the blink of an eye.

Guo Yanyang has good talent, but he is too eager for quick success. Although he has gone astray, if he can learn from his mistakes and work harder, there may still be hope for him in the future.

As for the other person... the whistleblower...

Fan Xiaoying.

Although it was unclear how he learned that Guo Yanyang had been involved in similar projects, he chose to keep it a secret until the end of the summer camp when he reported it to Dongyu Group. Song Xingye couldn't help but suspect his motives.

In an instant, it seemed that the things this guy had done a few days ago—like feeding Guo Yanyang cards so attentively and taking bullets for him in paintball—all had a reasonable explanation.

That's not loyalty.

That's... guilt!