Reborn in 1977, I will no longer be my brother's blood bag.

The next day, the bulletin board in the Automation Building was packed with people. It was even more crowded than the day the scholarships were announced.

The results of the first internal review of the Qiming Project are out.

The entire Department of Automation is paying attention.

Because everyone knows that this is the preliminary battle for the Beijing Youth Science and Technology Competition. It also relates to who will ultimately be in charge.

"They're out!" someone shouted.

The crowd immediately pushed forward.

Gu Xiaolan stood on tiptoe, almost slipping her shoe off: "Let me see!"

"Don't push!"

"The person in front, please read it!"

The area in front of the notice board was in complete chaos.

As soon as Lin Xiuhe arrived at the dormitory building, Liu Xue rushed over: "You're out!"

"What was the result?"

"Top three!"

Gu Xiaolan squeezed to the front of the bulletin board and suddenly fell silent.

Liu Xue became anxious: "Who's number one?"

Gu Xiaolan turned her head, her voice cracking.

"Lin Xiuhe!"

"Number one! You're number one!"

Several students nearby stopped in their tracks at the same time.

Lin Xiuhe was taken aback: "Me?"

"That's right!" Gu Xiaolan nodded vigorously. "First Lin Xiuhe, second Li Mingyuan, third Zhao Guodong. The rest were all eliminated."

The news quickly spread throughout the Department of Automation.

Some people were convinced, some were envious, but no one questioned it.

Because many teachers attended yesterday's review meeting, the results were open and transparent, and there was no way to disagree.

The Qiming project team held another meeting at noon.

Only three people remained in the meeting room: Lin Xiuhe, Li Mingyuan, and Zhao Guodong.

When we first met, there were more than a dozen people sitting in the room.

Now, only three remain.

Professor Chen stood in front of the blackboard, looked at them, and suddenly smiled: "Not bad, even faster than I expected."

No one spoke. Because everyone knew that the real competition was only just beginning.

Professor Chen took out a document and placed it on the table: "Starting today, the Qiming Project officially enters its second phase, and the competition for the project leader continues."

Zhao Guodong immediately looked up, and Li Mingyuan also became serious.

"The second phase has only one goal," Professor Chen said, looking at the three of them and emphasizing each word: "to develop a plan that can participate in the city-level competition."

"The city-level competition will be attended by students from top universities in Beijing."

In the afternoon, the three of them discussed the plan alone for the first time.

There were no teachers, no senior students, only them.

Things went smoothly at first, but disagreements arose in less than half an hour.

Zhao Guodong frowned after reading a few lines.

"That's too conservative."

Li Mingyuan put the pen cap back on.

"That's not called being bold, that's called joking about the project."

"You call this a joke?"

"I've been very polite."

"Insufficient data support."

That's because you're afraid to try.

Who bears the cost of trial and error?

The sound grew louder, and the atmosphere became tense.

Lin Xiuhe picked up a pen and drew three lines on the paper.

One is safe. One is dangerous. And there's another one in between.

Zhao Guodong frowned: "What is this?"

"The third method."

Li Mingyuan looked down at the picture.

A few seconds later, he pulled the draft paper back.

"We can calculate it again."

Zhao Guodong stopped arguing. He picked up the chalk and added a set of parameters next to the blackboard.

The tension in the meeting room finally subsided.

The meeting ended in the evening.

Li Mingyuan left with the documents in his arms.

Zhao Guodong walked to the door, then suddenly stopped: "Lin Xiuhe."

"Um?"

"I'm not convinced that I lost to you yesterday." The words were familiar, and the tone was familiar.

Lin Xiuhe laughed: "And then?"

"We'll win next time."

After saying that, Zhao Guodong turned and left, his steps much lighter than when he came.

There are hardly any people left in the automation building.

Lin Xiuhe was packing up her materials to go back to her dormitory when she noticed an extra key on her desk. Next to it was a piece of paper with familiar handwriting—Professor Chen's.

[The key to the small laboratory.]

[During the second phase of Enlightenment, you can enter directly.]

Do not take the materials out of the building.

Lin Xiuhe was slightly taken aback.

The lab key—she knew better than anyone what that meant.

Just then, she suddenly remembered the brown paper document bag from yesterday, which she hadn't had a chance to open yet.

Thinking of this, she took out the documents from her bag and slowly opened them.

The first page contains only one sentence: [Project Code Name: Morning Star.]

Below that is a line of smaller print: [Confidentiality Level: Internal.]

Lin Xiuhe's pupils contracted slightly.

She had heard of this name in her previous life.

Moreover, it shouldn't have appeared at this time.