Reporter Chen said, "Okay, I hope this matter won't drag on too long. I need to go to the hospital to visit my colleague. Goodbye."
Zhang Zhen led his fellow students back to the lab. Everyone was seriously injured, except for Zhao Qiang, who was unharmed. However, he certainly hadn't been idle; if Zhao Qiang hadn't rushed back from the lake, they would probably be the ones lying on the ground right now.
Zhang Zhen was furious because Lan Mei had tricked him into going out. He was so angry that he almost smashed all the equipment in the lab, but Zhao Qiang stopped him: "Senior brother, there's no need to get angry with a woman like her. This time it's my fault."
Volume 2 [339] Whose Responsibility?
Zhang Zhen said, "How can you blame yourself? It's all that girl's fault! I was going to forgive her. After all, who doesn't like money? We're no exception. It's not that she's materialistic, but helping Zeng Kefan against us is a huge mistake!"
Zhao Qiang initially didn't have any particularly bad intentions towards Lan Mei. Her liking for money was her personal freedom, and Zhao Qiang even felt a bit sorry for her. But now that she's aiding and abetting evil, Zhao Qiang can no longer forgive her.
Li Tianwen said to Ni Hong, "Sister Hong, you are too kind. If I had been on top of her back then, I would have killed her on the spot!"
Han Chao cursed at Li Tianwen, "You think you can kill him without facing criminal charges? You idiot!"
Zhao Qiang said, "Everyone, stop talking. If the teachers and the school investigate this matter, don't say anything nonsense. From the beginning, I was the one trying to extort money from Zeng Kefan. It has nothing to do with you. You are also victims. I was beaten and you stepped in to help. You have nothing to do with what just happened!"
Zhang Zhen was furious. He grabbed Zhao Qiang by the collar and yelled, "What did you say? It has nothing to do with us! What kind of hero are you pretending to be? This is clearly a dispute between me and Lan Mei! If the teachers and the school investigate, I should bear the main responsibility. You all get out of here!" Zhang Zhen's eyes were red and swollen; he had been thoroughly provoked by Lan Mei.
Ni Hong stepped forward and separated the two: "What are you arguing about! You're going to your death and you still want to argue!"
Li Tianwen said, "Sending ourselves to our deaths? What kind of talk is that? Are we just supposed to stand there and let them beat us up? Do they really think we're bookworms? I was a bully in school back in the day, and I was never afraid of anyone in a fight! If you're not convinced, let's have another match!"
"Who do you want to fight!" Someone pushed the door open and entered. Zhang Zhen hurriedly released Zhao Qiang, Ni Hong also stood aside, Li Tianwen immediately shut up, and Han Chao touched the blood seeping from his nose without saying a word. The teacher had arrived.
Gu Yu was furious. He never imagined that his students would openly fight on campus, and make such a huge scene that the entire school knew about it. Not only that, but they even got caught on camera by a TV reporter. And to make matters worse, they smashed the reporter's camera and knocked out the cameraman. This was nothing short of banditry!
Gu Yu glanced at the five people in the lab. Zhang Zhen was in the worst shape, practically shirtless with his clothes torn to shreds hanging from his shoulders. His neck, back, and chest were covered in injuries, and his glasses were shattered somewhere. Li Tianwen was next, with the most serious injuries, possibly even more severe internal injuries than Zhang Zhen, as he frequently had to wipe the blood seeping from his nose and mouth, likely from a head injury. Han Chao was next, having been hit on the back and unable to straighten up. The only ones unharmed were Zhao Qiang and Ni Hong. Zhao Qiang was the most unscathed, not even a speck of dirt on his face.
Gu Yu's furious aura terrified Zhang Zhen and the others, but Zhao Qiang was not afraid of him. So, before Gu Yu could speak, Zhao Qiang interrupted, "Teacher, I did this. I wanted to extort 30,000 yuan from Zeng Kefan, so he came to retaliate against me. My senior brothers and sisters were just trying to break up the fight and got caught up in it. This has nothing to do with them."
Gu Yu snorted, clearly disagreeing with Zhao Qiang's words. Zhang Zhen, realizing what was happening, immediately interjected, "Teacher, it's not Zhao Qiang's fault, it's mine. If it weren't for my relationship with Lan Mei, Zeng Kefan wouldn't have come to retaliate. So, if anyone should be punished, it should be me. I'm the senior brother, and I haven't set a good example. I beg you to punish me severely, even expel me, I don't care."
Zhao Qiang scolded Zhang Zhen, "What are you doing, grabbing things like that! You're a full-time employee of the school now, we're different, we're just students. We can just quit school, we can find a job anywhere."
Li Tianwen wiped the blood from his nose again. He was dizzy and his head was spinning, so he naturally didn't speak as respectfully as before: "Damn it, what's the big deal? I quit, I'm going home to help my dad collect scrap!"
Han Chao suddenly coughed and spat out a mouthful of blood. He followed behind Li Tianwen and said, "Let's go. Let's not wait for the school to punish us. Let's take the initiative. We've been at the university for so many years, we're fed up with it."
Ni Hong didn't say anything, but she started tidying up her belongings in the lab. This incident had blown up; the school would definitely not let it go easily. Rather than waiting for some kind of punishment, or even expulsion, it was better to leave voluntarily. That would look better. Students who could get into the university and be noticed by Professor Gu Yu were all ambitious and determined.
Gu Yu's hands trembled with anger: "What...what are you trying to do? Come with me!"
Ni Hong glanced at Zhang Zhen, and Li Tianwen and Han Chao also looked at him. He was the senior disciple, and these people had to listen to him. Zhang Zhen grabbed his work clothes from the table, put them on, and said, "Let's go, don't let the teacher get angry again." As for where we went, who cared?
The principal had just seen reporter Chen off and hadn't even settled in when there was a knock at the door. A vice-principal, who had been waiting in the office for the principal's orders, immediately ran to open it. Gu Yu walked in with a grim expression and called out, "Come in, everyone."
Upon seeing this, the vice principal immediately said, "Well, you lot have really got some nerve, doing something so heinous! Don't you want to study anymore? Fine, then you're all expelled!"
Zhang Zhen was about to retort, but before he could even open his mouth, Gu Yu spoke first, "Vice Principal Wang, did I say I came to see you? You should go wherever you want!" Don't underestimate Gu Yu just because he's a professor; he doesn't take these vice principals seriously at all! He's in a bad mood right now, so he's not going to give the vice principals a friendly look.
The principal stood up from behind his desk and took two steps to greet him, saying, "Old Gu, what's going on? The school is in a very passive position right now. The hospital called and said that two people might have serious aftereffects; they'll probably become mentally impaired or even insane. The social reaction is terrible, and the media coverage is putting a lot of pressure on me."
Gu Yu snorted coldly: "I don't care what you say, Principal. Today I'm just here to tell you that you have hindered the implementation of the national scientific research plan! Because of your mistakes, there is a high possibility that important national scientific researchers will be lost!"
The principal glanced around, then waved to the vice-principal. The vice-principal, knowing that several of the university's research projects were highly classified and not something someone like him could access, quietly closed the door and left.
Gu Yu yanked off Zhang Zhen's work clothes and said, "Principal, the most urgent research project on the purification of 'G' substance currently being undertaken by my student Zhang Zhen is now being beaten like this. Look at him, and this is the least of his worries. Another important researcher, Li Tianwen, may also have suffered a concussion, and this Han Chao was beaten until he vomited blood. I will report the situation truthfully to the Central Committee. Currently, our laboratory is the only one that has made progress in purification research. Just yesterday, the Central Committee issued a document praising us, but from this moment on, our laboratory may be disbanded. Before I came here, I already called the Chinese Academy of Sciences. I have resigned from this task. I am old and incompetent. You should find someone else."
The principal was sweating profusely. How could he not know the gravity of the situation? When he saw the horrific state of Zhang Zhen and the others, he couldn't believe his eyes. These people, who were nominally affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, had been beaten like this. If another one of them suffered memory loss and couldn't conduct research, he would be guilty of a grave crime—damaging the country's development!
"Old Gu, let me speak first..." The phone rang, and the principal could only answer it after starting to speak.
The call was coming directly from the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, something rarely seen in the history of the university. "...Comrade President, we have a brief understanding of the situation. The Premier personally issued instructions that this is highly likely a premeditated attempt to sabotage the progress of our national scientific research projects, possibly a deliberate murder targeting our important researchers. It is a significant incident endangering national security! The Ministry of State Security will investigate this matter. This incident exposes the university's extremely inadequate security measures for its researchers. Such a heinous act occurred on campus, and no security personnel arrived to stop it, resulting in the injury of our important researchers. You must provide an explanation for this incident and find those responsible to be held accountable!"
The principal was already trembling and sweating before he even hung up the phone. It was obvious that this wasn't premeditated murder, but the higher-ups had directly classified the case as a crime of endangering national security. That meant the few people still lying in the hospital, who were said to be at risk of post-concussion syndrome, were doomed. Whether they lived or died, their future would be bleak. It was likely that their sons and grandsons would also be implicated. Being a farmer or a worker might be fine, but with this criminal record, their entire family lineage could forget about getting promoted or becoming officials. As for him, if this matter wasn't handled properly, he would probably be demoted, which would be the least of his worries. These days, no official can clean up their messes, and they might even dig up past issues and deal with them all at once!
The principal put down the phone, wiped the sweat from his brow, and said, "Old Gu, it's all my fault. These students are all brave comrades who fought bravely. I've decided to first give them verbal praise, and then I'll promote their story widely..."
Upon hearing the principal's words, Han Chao asked, "Is everything alright?"
Zhang Zhen wasn't stupid; he naturally saw through it and said, "It should be alright now, right?" It seemed the country still valued people like them.
Upon hearing that everything was alright, Han Chao relaxed, but suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood onto the principal's desk, splattering the principal as well. Han Chao then collapsed to the ground. Zhao Qiang caught him, kicked open the principal's office door, and ran outside. Just as he stepped outside, Li Tianwen also felt dizzy and stumbled to the ground, startling the principal. He rushed over and personally carried Li Tianwen on his back, shouting, "Quick, quick, to the hospital! If he dies, his sins will be immense!"
The vice-principal, waiting outside the principal's office, was startled. What was going on? But he didn't dare waste time asking questions and immediately called the driver downstairs, ordering him to bring the car over right away. And so, the campus, which had just quieted down, was in an uproar again, and it wouldn't be quiet for several days.
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Volume 2 [340] Changing the Topic
A week later, in a ward at Donghai City People's Hospital, Zhao Qiang peeled an apple for Li Tianwen. Han Chao, who was standing next to him, said, "Peel one for me too. It's really weird. Before, I always looked forward to having time to lie in bed, but now I feel uncomfortable all over after lying down for just one minute."
The door creaked open, and Ni Hong and Zhang Zhen came in carrying lunchboxes. Zhang Zhen said, "Comrades, I have good news to tell you all. This morning, Zeng Kefan's father brought over the 30,000 yuan he owed us!"
Han Chao hurriedly tried to get out of bed: "How do I get that dog? We don't need the money, I'll go after him!" Being beaten to the point of vomiting blood was no small matter; Han Chao was still weak.
Zhao Qiang grabbed Han Chao and said, "Can't you just shut up? Do you want to vomit blood again?"
Han Chao chuckled: "I never thought that one day..."
He vomited blood all over the principal, but was completely unharmed.
Zhang Zhen said, "Don't be so smug. You all need to take good care of your injuries and try to get back to the lab to help as soon as possible. Zeng Kefan and the others are in trouble. It's said that the Municipal Public Security Bureau has put them under surveillance, and they and their families are not allowed to go out. Now his steel business has completely stopped. It's said that he used to supply some steel to Haifeng Group, but now Haifeng Group has issued a statement saying that anyone who dares to take even a penny of his steel is an enemy of Haifeng Group, and he has no place to stand in Donghai City."
Li Tianwen cursed, "Look everyone, I told you that if someone angers Heaven, everyone will punish them. Our extortion of Zeng Kefan's money was just a joke. We didn't even say anything when he didn't come to deliver the money, but he still dared to send people to beat us up? Now we've suffered a huge loss!"
Zhao Qiang said, "Since Zeng Kefan has been punished, and you are all full of energy again, let's ignore him. It's not worth it. Let's think about how to produce some substantial results as a way to repay our teacher."
Zhang Zhen said, "That's right. Our teacher has put in so much effort for us behind the scenes this time. If we don't work hard, we'll be letting him down."
Li Tianwen scratched his scalp until it bled: "But Director, you know that purification method is simply unrealistic. We've done so many experiments and theoretical demonstrations over the past few days. I think Zhao Qiang is right. Instead of getting stuck on this, we should change our research topic."
Zhang Zhen said, "But can I make the decision on this? The central government is urging us to purify it, but none of the laboratories across the country have made any real progress. After so many days of research, they've all come to the same conclusion: purification is impossible with current technology."
Zhao Qiang said, "You all need to take good care of your injuries. My senior brother and I will go talk to our teacher later."
Li Tianwen jumped out of bed and said, "Why bother with recuperation? I'll be discharged this afternoon. Let's eat first."
Han Chao also said, "Yeah, I'm so bored. Let's eat, eat, then get discharged and go back to work."
Zhao Qiang glanced at Zhang Zhen, who said helplessly, "Let's eat. If they don't want to stay, then they don't have to. They can go back and be cared for there."
Ni Hong had already laid out the food, so they began to eat lunch. After lunch, they hurriedly packed their things and, ignoring the hospital ward's attempts to stop them, the five of them left. As for the hospitalization expenses, that would naturally be handled by the school; whether to seek compensation from Zeng Kefan or for the principal to pay out of his own pocket was no longer Zhao Qiang and his group's concern.
The next day, around noon, in Gu Yu's office, Zhang Zhen was the leader, followed by Ni Hong, Han Chao, Li Tianwen, and Zhao Qiang. Xu Xiaoya was too busy and not very interested in scientific research, so she hadn't come in for a long time. Gu Yu naturally understood the relationship between Xu Xiaoya and Zhao Qiang, so he didn't say anything. He had only managed to bring Zhao Qiang to the university because of Xu Xiaoya, so he let Xu Xiaoya, this meritorious contributor, do whatever she wanted.
Professor Gu was leisurely reviewing his materials when the five students started to get restless. They had been called to the professor's office early that morning, then made to stand against the wall. Gu Yu didn't say anything, so they couldn't ask anything and could only stand there as punishment. This was the professor's way of disciplining them; regardless of who was right or wrong, they had gotten into a fight and caused trouble.
With a creak, the door to Gu Yu's office opened, and Gu Xuemei peeked in. Upon seeing Professor Gu, she whispered, "Dad."
Professor Gu looked up and said kindly, "Xiao Mei? What's the matter?"
Gu Xuemei said, "I...I have something to talk to you about." Judging from Gu Xuemei's expression, it seemed inconvenient for her to speak in front of the other junior disciples.
Professor Gu glanced at the five students standing against the wall, then got up and left his office: "Let's talk outside."
Before closing the door, Gu Xuemei glanced at Zhao Qiang. Zhao Qiang secretly gestured to her, meaning that she should persuade Professor Gu that standing for a while as punishment was enough, since it had been almost two hours and her heels were aching!
Gu Xuemei nodded to Zhao Qiang, then closed the door. Li Tianwen sighed, "Oh my god, I'm exhausted!"
Zhang Zhen glared at Li Tianwen: "Be serious!"
Han Chao said, "Alright, Director, the teacher is just putting on an act. Since he's been standing for two hours just to pretend, that should be enough. My back is killing me."
Ni Hong, who rarely speaks, asked Zhao Qiang, "Do you know your junior sister?" She had just witnessed their silent exchange.
Zhao Qiang said, "We used to eat at the teacher's house, so we all know each other."
Zhang Zhen said, "I wonder if our junior sister will plead on our behalf?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Definitely, but I don't know if the teacher will allow it. We'll hold Zeng Kefan accountable for this."
The office door creaked open, and Gu Yu led the way, followed by Gu Xuemei. As Gu Yu entered the office, she said, "Go home and have your mother cook something nice. Your junior brothers should all come over for lunch."
Gu Xuemei hummed in agreement, then secretly gave Zhao Qiang a cute "K" sign before closing the door and leaving.
"Alright, everyone go sit over there," Gu Yu said, pointing to the chairs in front of the desk. Zhang Zhen and the other four finally sat down on the chairs, looking completely exhausted. Their bodies ached all over; it was even more tiring than standing at attention during military training.
Gu Yu said, "This is a lesson for you. From now on, no matter what happens, you must let me know first! Do you understand?"
Zhang Zhen took the lead and said, "Understood, teacher."
Gu Yu nodded: "Good that you understand. Now let's get down to business. How's the purification research going? That's your main task, not fighting with a bunch of hooligans!"
Zhang Zhen glanced at Zhao Qiang, worried that his words might not be effective. Zhao Qiang had promised to speak to the professor with him, and although Zhao Qiang was just a graduate student who had just joined the lab, Zhang Zhen didn't dare to underestimate him now.
Zhao Qiang nodded to Zhang Zhen, indicating that as the deputy director, he should speak first. Zhang Zhen said, "Professor, we've already analyzed it; purification is simply unrealistic. All our efforts on it are completely wasted."
Gu Yu didn't slam his fist on the table in anger as expected. In truth, he was well aware that he had no idea how to purify the material. Otherwise, why would he have been guiding his students all this time? He had originally hoped to rely on Zhao Qiang to solve this problem, but now it seemed that if Zhao Qiang wasn't keeping things under wraps, then Gu Yu himself was probably clueless about the matter.
Zhao Qiang followed up Zhang Zhen's words, saying, "Yes, teacher, I think it would be better to put our energy into other research projects. That's better than wasting time."
Gu Yu hesitated for a moment: "But this task was assigned by the Central Committee to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the higher-ups have very high expectations for us."
Zhao Qiang said, "Teacher, this has nothing to do with expectations. It's not that the higher the expectations, the more likely we are to succeed in the research. Before the overall technological level of the country is significantly improved, purification is just wishful thinking."
Gu Yu said, "You mean to give up? Does that mean you have other research topics?"
Zhao Qiang said, "I just glanced at the materials the teacher was looking at. Can we take a look?"
Gu Yu picked up the documents on the table and said, "Look, it's about compression guns. This thing is very interesting. It doesn't need bullets; it just relies on the sudden release of a ball of highly compressed air to generate firepower. I've seen the actual combat power of this kind of gun, and it's truly astonishing. The only drawback is that reloading takes time, but this reloading time is still advantageous compared to firing ordinary artillery. Moreover, it doesn't require carrying a large amount of ammunition, so its military application prospects are extremely broad."
Zhang Zhen and the others flipped through the documents, while Zhao Qiang pretended to be engrossed as well. Gu Yu was unaware that Zhao Qiang was the one who invented the compression gun. The documents in his hands contained classified information, and it was only for his students, Zhang Zhen and the others, to look at them for research purposes.
After quickly reviewing the relevant performance parameters and measured results, Zhang Zhen said, "Teacher, but as far as we know, the super-energy batteries that our country can currently manufacture are completely inadequate to meet the requirements of this type of gun."
Gu Yu said, "The weapons research institute is trying to combine the power of dozens of batteries, which should be feasible, but they currently have no clue how to manufacture a miniature air compressor motor that is more powerful than a tank engine."
Zhao Qiang chuckled: "Teacher, if that's the case, why don't I make this topic my research objective?"
Gu Yu said, "But I think this problem is much more difficult. It's simply impossible for a motor the size of a ping-pong ball to compress such a powerful and destructive air mass. Even if the super-energy battery can supply enough power, it cannot withstand such high compression force and will burn out immediately, or the components of the compression motor will break due to reaching their limits."
Zhao Qiang said, "Teacher, if high-strength micro-compression motors were so easy to research, we wouldn't have had the chance, would we?"
Gu Yu was pleasantly surprised: "Oh, Zhao Qiang, do you have a good idea?"