NCCnovel Chapter 166 discusses how to persuade intellectuals using physical means.
Chapter 166 discusses how to persuade intellectuals using physical means.
The most expensive soup Professor Yan Jin had ever drunk in his life was not the boiled cabbage in clear broth served at a state banquet, but the golden, steaming mushroom water poured from a stainless steel bucket in front of him.
With one bite, he felt as if his skull had been opened, and a group of little angels were playing music and singing inside his brain.
The strange urge to turn into broccoli vanished instantly, replaced by an unprecedented clarity.
He even felt that the geological fault model that had troubled him for many years had suddenly become clear in his mind.
"Good...good soup!" Professor Yan wiped his mouth, his glasses fogged up, but his eyes had changed from fear to fervor. "Young Master Wang...no, Boss Wang, what are the active substances in this soup? Alkaloids? Or some kind of unknown enzyme? Could you give me a sample?"
These researchers, as long as they're not completely brain-dead, would want to pry a brick off the street and make a slice even if they were at the gates of hell.
Wang Minyu sat on a large rock, fiddling with the lead box in his hand. Looking at Professor Yan's eager-to-learn appearance, he pondered how to turn this old man into free high-level labor.
"We don't have a sample, but since we've already drunk this soup, we need to settle the score." Wang Minyu pointed to the student who was still frantically gnawing on the dirt. "Your student hasn't even had a sip yet. If word gets out that a top student from the China University of Geosciences has turned into a dirt-eating beast on my mine, where will you, as a doctoral supervisor, put your face?"
Professor Yan snapped back to reality: "Boss Wang, name your price. As long as it can save lives, I'll keep this a secret."
"I don't lack money," Wang Minyu waved his hand. "I lack people. I lack people who understand geology, understand structures, and are tight-lipped."
He stood up and pointed to the dark, gaping mine shaft.
"This place is a treasure trove, but also a powder keg. I want to turn it into a 'special ecological breeding base.' But the well walls are too fragile and could collapse at any moment; the ventilation system is also from the last century. I need a complete reinforcement and renovation plan."
Professor Yan paused for a moment, then adjusted his glasses, his professional instincts kicking in: "I've seen the structure of this mine before; the rock strata are extremely unstable. To reinforce it, we'd need nano-grouting technology and a redesigned load-bearing shaft... This is a massive undertaking, and many of the technologies involved are classified."
"Technology classified?" Wang Minyu chuckled. "That spore that drove your student crazy earlier, if I released it into the ventilation ducts of the university town..."
"That's a threat!" Professor Yan's face turned red.
"No, this is an academic exchange." Wang Minyu handed the thermos to Guan Shan, instructing him to administer the medication to the mad student. "You help me with the mine's infrastructure, and I'll provide you with these mushrooms for research—under my supervision, of course. This is a new species that could win a Nobel Prize; don't you want to be the discoverer?"
Professor Yan fell silent.
On one hand, there's the risk of utter disgrace (or even turning into broccoli), and on the other, the opportunity to encounter unknown creatures and perhaps even achieve lasting fame.
For a science fanatic like me, this multiple-choice question isn't difficult.
"Deal." Professor Yan gritted his teeth, a hint of anticipation in his voice. "But I have one condition. I have the authorship rights to the research data here."
"No problem. Just don't include 'Renxin Pharmacy' in the thank-you list, I don't want the hassle."
Having won over Professor Yan, Wang Minyu was in a good mood.
It's like someone who only wanted to grow some scallions, but not only did they get a free farmhand, but this farmhand turned out to be an academician from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
By the time I got back to the pharmacy, it was completely dark.
The lights in the shop were on. Not only were they on, but they were also dazzlingly bright.
The computer screen controlled by Zero was flashing red lights wildly, and a rapid alarm was blaring from the speakers: "Boss, an unknown data stream is attempting to infiltrate the local network! The firewall is about to break down!"
"What's going on?" Wang Minyu tossed the lead box to Pierre and strode to the counter.
On the screen, countless pop-ups exploded like a virus.
Those weren't random characters, but rather a series of images. The images contained all sorts of bizarre content: there were surveillance videos of deserted streets late at night, footage from a smart TV in someone's home, and even perspectives from a dashcam.
In all the scenes, there is a fleeting glimpse of a little girl in a red raincoat.
"This is... that 'knocking' thing?" Su Qing leaned closer, her face pale.
"No, this is its stepping stone." Wang Minyu stared at the screen, his eyes serious. "Zero, track the signal source."
"Tracking failed! The other party used a quantum jump pad; their IP address is roaming the entire city!" Zero's voice carried a hint of anxiety for the first time. "Wait, it stopped! The signal source has been locked!"
"Where?"
"Right at...the doorway."
"Ding-dong—"
The pharmacy's automatic door emitted a cheerful notification sound: "Welcome!"
The door opened.
There was no little girl in a red raincoat, and no monsters.
The deliveryman who came in was a young man in a delivery uniform, wearing a helmet, and carrying a square cardboard box that was packed tightly.
"Excuse me, is this Mr. Wang Minyu?" The deliveryman glanced at the slip. "You have a same-city express delivery. The sender didn't leave a name, just a sentence."
Wang Minyu gave Guan Shan a wink, and Guan Shan immediately stepped in front of him, his muscles tense.
"What did you say?"
He said: This is the first interest payment.
The deliveryman put down the box, turned around and left, walking very fast, as if a ghost was chasing him.
The shop was deathly silent. Only the cardboard box lay quietly on the floor.
"Scan it." Wang Minyu took a step back.
Su Qing took out a portable X-ray machine and looked it at the box.
The image displayed on the screen stunned everyone.
There were no bombs or biological weapons in the box.
Inside, rows and rows of... old-fashioned cassette tapes were neatly stacked.
"Cassette tapes?" Pierre scratched his head. "Does anyone still listen to that stuff these days?"
Wang Minyu walked over and used a scalpel to pry open the tape.
Upon opening the box, a musty, stale smell wafted out.
They were indeed cassette tapes, and the kind of blank tapes used for recording English listening exercises. Each tape had a name written on it in red pen.
I picked up a plate at random, and the name on it was "Tu Jinshan".
Then I picked up another plate—"Precise".
There was even a plate labeled "Wang Minyu".
"What is this? The Death Note?" Kanzan asked.
"No." Wang Minyu picked up the cassette tape with his name on it, walked to the old-fashioned tape recorder used for background music, and put the tape in. "This is the 'ledger'."
Press the play button.
After a hissing sound of electricity, a heavily distorted voice, as if from the depths of hell, rang out.
"Dr. Wang... *sizzle*... Your medicine... works very well... *sizzle*... But... you took... something that didn't belong to you..."
That was Tu Jinshan's voice. But not entirely.
His tone was stiff and rigid, as if someone had cut up all the words he had ever said and then pieced them back together.
"Is this audio editing?" Su Qing frowned.
"No, this is 'Soul Imprint'." Wang Minyu suddenly pressed the stop button, a layer of cold sweat seeping from his forehead.
He suddenly understood the true meaning of that "knocking sound".
The thing underground isn't going to come out and eat people.
It is "backing up" the people in this city through sound, through vibration, through every medium that can transmit.
Those mushrooms are its tentacles, and these cassette tapes are its hard drive.
Renxin Pharmacy, due to its previous series of questionable actions, has become a "super node" that it is focusing on.
"Looks like we need to get on with our farm business." Wang Minyu pulled out the cassette tape and gripped it tightly in his hand, the plastic casing cracking as it broke. "Not only do we need to grow mushrooms, but we also need to learn how to chop up these vegetable thieves and use them as fertilizer."
He turned his head and looked at the map of Changxiang City on the wall. His eyes, which were originally those of a small business owner struggling to make a living by selling medicine, now became as sharp as a scalpel.
"Zero, upgrade the store's sound system. Since it likes to play with sound, let's give it a real concert."
Outside the window, the night was as dark as ink.
Under the city's neon lights, it seems there are countless unseen ears listening.