I cultivate the Purple Mansion Golden Elixir Dao on Earth

"If I have said anything wrong, please forgive me, Senior Brother Zhang, because this is just my guess after all."

"...Although I am confident in the truth of my guess, it may not be the absolute truth."

Let's start from a few months ago.

"A few months ago, around the time of the Chinese New Year, I had just finished writing and submitting my thesis. As I was leaving the biotechnology building, I passed by the Institute of Physics building."

"At that time, I saw Senior Brother Zhang come out from inside, and at the same time, a figure returned to the building... If I'm not mistaken, that figure was Professor Gu."

"Although it might just be a coincidence, I kept it in mind."

"However, it's ultimately none of my business, and I don't want to investigate what kind of connection Zhang and Professor Gu have in secret."

"But this morning, because of the interferometer, I was thinking about how to get in touch with Professor Gu, and at that moment I thought of you, Senior Brother Zhang, and your chance meeting with Professor Gu."

"Then I thought back carefully and realized that during these two months, when Zhang was in the lab, he seemed to frequently look through a lot of materials on the frontiers of physics."

"...But this is very strange. Although my senior is a graduate student in biophysics, Professor Fang's team is more inclined towards biology."

"Moreover, my senior is doing wet experiments every day. Neither my previous research direction nor Professor Fang's research guidance required this kind of complex mathematical and physical knowledge... What could be the reason that made you start studying cutting-edge physics materials?"

"Therefore, doubts arose in my mind."

Then I remembered something.

"Once, when Professor Gu was having a dinner party in the lab, he boasted that his child had won the first prize in the Jingzhou Youth Scientific Research Award... but my senior brother's expression wasn't very pleasant at the time."

"So I looked it up."

"Then I discovered that the paper that Professor Gu's child won the award for... could absolutely not have been written by a high school student."

"The most crucial point is a certain experimental step in the paper—although not explicitly stated, that step requires a dangerous chemical reagent to treat the cell tissue."

"As a biophysics professor with a background in biology, how could Professor Fang not be aware of the risks of this reagent? Is it possible that he would allow his child to come into contact with such a highly carcinogenic chemical?"

"So... by the time I got to this point in my recollection, I had basically confirmed it."

"But, the most crucial part is yet to come."

"I searched for that first prize-winning paper from the youth scientific research competition again."

"Then, something was discovered immediately."

"—Although the model and conclusions of that paper are very sophisticated, practically worthy of being submitted to a Q2 journal… there's just one problem: the data presented is too crude!"

"And it's the kind of thing that doesn't seem suspicious at first glance, but upon closer inspection you can see flaws everywhere, and once exposed, it becomes clear that the data is fabricated!"

"So, I started to wonder... given my senior's skill level, would he really handle this so carelessly? Could it be that he doesn't even have this much data sensitivity?"

"Then, the details of my senior's meeting with Professor Gu, his sudden start to review physics materials over the past few months, and this paper that is very easy to spot as fabricated..."

"Suddenly, all the clues connected in my mind."

"...Senior, if I remember correctly, the approval period for the 'Top Young Scholars Fund' is coming soon, which is the time for professors and scholars to show their talents."

"So... I suppose my senior brother and Professor Gu have already made an agreement to use Professor Fang's child's award-winning paper as a hidden bombshell, to undermine Professor Fang's chances of winning the 'Top Young Scholar' award and force him to withdraw from the competition."

"After all, although there is no absolute batch restriction for the 'Top Young Scholars' program, at most one spot can be allocated to the same school and the same research direction within a certain period of time... This is almost an unspoken rule in the domestic academic community."

"Since both Professor Fang and Professor Gu are engaged in research in biophysics, even if one has a background in biology and the other in physics... as long as they can eliminate each other as competitors, they will almost certainly remove the biggest obstacle on their path forward... This should be something that is easy to figure out, right?"

"Of course, you will also be rewarded for doing this, Senior Brother Zhang—that is, you will be able to escape from Professor Fang's supervision and join Professor Gu's team. From now on, you will no longer be troubled by your cold and ruthless mentor, and you can graduate in peace and get your degree."

Yang Xiyi spoke softly and gently, yet she pieced together a complete blueprint of conspiracy from just one meeting and some fragmented information.

The way Zhang Xuyan looked at her was not the way he would look at a naive and ignorant young girl from a prestigious family.

...It was a look of shock and fear, as if they were looking at a ghost or a god!

Despite the air conditioning being on in the cleanroom, beads of sweat still seeped from Zhang Xuyan's hair.

"You...you've said so much, but you haven't provided any concrete evidence..."

"...Besides, if I really did make an appointment with Professor Gu, why don't I announce it now?! The approval process for 'Sharp Youth' is imminent!"

Yang Xiyi responded quietly:

"Although the 'Top Youth' selection will be announced soon, there is still a crucial public announcement period."

"If I'm not mistaken, that paper that won the first prize in youth scientific research... is basically a ticking time bomb." "Given the qualifications of both professors, they both have a chance of being selected, and it wouldn't be too surprising whoever gets chosen."

"Under these circumstances, Professor Gu and your intentions are naturally obvious."

"...If Professor Gu is selected, then everyone will be happy and all will be well; but if Professor Fang passes the approval process and his name is on the public list, then it will immediately be your turn to put your design to use..."

"And... if I remember correctly, the announcement period for this batch of 'top students' was right after the college entrance examination."

Upon hearing this, sweat poured down Zhang Xuyan's forehead like rain, and his eyes were filled with fear and horror.

But Yang Xiyi ignored him and continued:

"...After the college entrance examination, students and parents will pay hundreds or thousands of times more attention to topics such as college entrance examination scores, admission quotas, and independent enrollment than usual. Once the facts of fraud are exposed, the resulting issue and the subsequent attention from netizens to the independent enrollment problem will be a torrent of public opinion."

"At that time, even if Professor Fang is selected as a 'top young talent,' it will be impossible to hide, and he will have no choice but to resign."

"So this... is actually a winning strategy, nothing more. It's the same for Professor Gu and for you."

"After all, regardless of the outcome, you'll be rewarded. So it's safe to say you're about to join a team of 'top-tier' professors who can be considered 'junior academicians'... isn't that right?"

Having said all that, whether out of desperation or with a plan in mind, Zhang Xuyan had calmed down.

He seemed to have thought a lot, but in the end he still looked at Yang Xiyi with a strange look in his eyes.

"...I never imagined that my junior sister would be so skilled in intrigue and scheming, in addition to her scientific research."

"Those born into nobility and wealthy families are indeed different from us small-town test-takers. They are even more talented than us in calculating people's hearts."

His voice gradually lowered, yet it still carried a hint of sternness:

"But... Junior sister has said so much, what can you do if I just refuse to admit it?"

This is going to be a shameless act.

However, Yang Xiyi remained calm and composed, simply staring at him with her deep eyes and quietly saying:

"Senior, since you want to switch to Professor Gu's side, he used to have a background in particle physics... Let's use the professional knowledge of particle physics to talk about it... As we all know, in the microscopic world, the motion of electrons is in a probability cloud state."

"So, knowing that I want your help, senior, and I already have the above guesses... then senior, why don't you use the probability formula to calculate it?"

"...What are the chances that I will tell Professor Fang the above guess in order to achieve my goal?"

"At the same time, what are the chances that I will tell Professor Gu my guess?"

"And considering the probabilities of both events, what is the probability that you, senior brother, can withdraw safely without incurring hostility from either side?"

"Of course, I will make it clear to my senior that none of the events I mentioned above are absolute events; each possibility is just a matter of probability, nothing more."

"...However, whether or not to treat them as three independent events, or whether there is a conditional probabilistic correlation among them, is up to you to imagine, senior brother."

After saying this, Zhang Xuyan looked at Yang Xiyi, remained silent for a long time, and then said heavily:

"It seems that if I continue to deny it, my junior sister will never let me go?"

Yang Xiyi did not answer the question directly, but simply said:

"I really appreciate my senior's hard work... and after understanding the whole story, I also admire his ambition and inspirational spirit."

Since that's the case, what else is there to say!

Zhang Xuyan sighed, half hesitant and conflicted, yet half willing, and said to Yang Xiyi:

"Since my junior sister has said so... alright, I'll go see Professor Gu now."

"Thank you, senior brother."

A faint smile finally appeared on Yang Xiyi's face.

That smile was as fleeting as a flash in the pan.

Even so, in Zhang Xuyan's eyes, it was even more dazzling than the rising sun.

As if his eyes had been burned by that fleeting smile, Zhang Xuyan's heart pounded, and he couldn't help but lower his head.