Chapter 320: Determined, preparing for the college entrance exam!

After several days of research, Kong Lingxian's team made a major breakthrough, completing the final piece of the proof puzzle!

Previously, they started with the DON toxin and discovered that the protein encoded by Fhb7 could open the epoxide group of the DON toxin and catalyze its formation into a glutathione adduct (DON-GSH), thereby producing a detoxification effect.

Then, the team conducted further research and discovered that Fhb7 possesses broad-spectrum detoxification functions.

That is, it can perform GSH derivatization on a series of toxins secreted by the *Fusarium* genus, such as 3-ADON, 15-ADON, NIV, T2, HT-2, Fus-X, and Das!

This extensive detoxification ability also gives Fhb7 broad-spectrum resistance to *Fusarium* pathogens, and its transgenic plants show significant resistance to both wheat scab and stem base rot.

After discovering the role of Fhb7, they explored further: where did Fhb7 come from, and where are its homologous genes?

Through these months of research, they discovered that there are no homologous genes for Fhb7 in the entire plant kingdom, but they found a 97% similar fragment in the genome of the plant endophyte *Epichloë*.

What does this mean?

It means that the diploid *Thinopyrum elongatum* may have formed a symbiont with *Epichloë* in the early stages, and through horizontal gene transfer, integrated the DNA of *Epichloë* Fhb7 into the *Thinopyrum elongatum* genome, thereby evolving the function to resist infection by *Fusarium* pathogens!

This discovery also provides, for the first time, functional evidence of DNA horizontal transfer at the nuclear genome level between eukaryotes.

Kong Lingxian could already foresee that their team's research would not only solve the problem of wheat scab but also provide help to researchers dedicated to plant-pathogen interactions, cereal genomics, plant genome evolution, plant genetic modification, and plant breeding (especially disease resistance).

It could even attract widespread attention from policymakers around the world!

Holding the thick stack of proof documents in his hands, Kong Lingxian let out a long sigh of relief. China's agricultural gene research would now make its own voice heard internationally, resounding through the clouds!

"Ding-dong!"

A push notification suddenly popped up on his phone; it was a reminder from the Maozhao live streaming room that Jin Li's study room had started broadcasting.

Kong Lingxian looked at the notification for a good while, then suddenly said "good" several times in a row, his eyes moist.

After Jin Li finished the busy summer season promotion, she began a week of rest and recuperation.

Her plan for herself was to take no work announcements for this week, just eat well, drink well, sleep well, and then focus on doing practice problems.

From initially doing it to prolong her life, doing problems had now become a hobby of hers.

Jin Li was very much looking forward to seeing what kind of results she would achieve if she took the college entrance exam next year.

Yes, after fully entering the study of senior year science knowledge, Jin Li prepared to take next year's college entrance exam.

The three years of high school knowledge had been compressed by her into two years; she didn't know what it would be like when she took the college entrance exam next year.

After making this decision, Jin Li called Sui Lingfang to tell her.

Fang Jie was silent for a while; Jin Li could feel her hesitation, but in the end, she said nothing, instead saying with utmost solemnity:

"The college entrance exam is a big deal. Since you have decided to take it next year, I will adjust your work announcements accordingly so you can go all out!"

Jin Li thanked her: "Thank you for your support, Fang Jie."

Sui Lingfang smiled: "If you had said you didn't want to do work announcements, I could have said you weren't proactive in your work, but since you said you want to take the college entrance exam, I couldn't stop you from studying even if I wanted to!"

Her tone shifted: "But you must have a bottom line. You are an artist after all, and your career in the entertainment industry is your foundation. You cannot abandon your career because of your studies; you are different from a real student."

Jin Li nodded: "Don't worry, I understand. I will still attend suitable work announcements, just like before; I won't really stop doing them."

Sui Lingfang felt relieved. She had been worried about hearing Jin Li say, "In order to prepare for the college entrance exam, I will suspend all work announcement activities," which would have left her in a difficult position.

Having resolved a major matter, Jin Li threw herself back into studying.

She only had two magazines to shoot next week, so her schedule was still quite loose.

As for variety shows, filming "Leisurely Slow Life" once a month was enough to maintain exposure, and as for TV dramas and movies, that depended on the efficiency of Chenxi Entertainment.

Since Chenxi Entertainment would filter them first, it depended on their grasp of the trends in film and television, but on this point, Jin Li trusted Fang Jie.

Except for the drama "Assassination," which was passed through Gu Cheng's channels, every script she had accepted so far had been screened by Chenxi Entertainment first.

The scripts chosen by the company might not necessarily become massive hits, but at the very least, they could guarantee a profit.

Of course, the final decision on which script to perform was always made by her. Having had several consecutive films become hits, Jin Li could only say that her luck was indeed quite good.

Rumors on the internet like "she chooses scripts herself, which is why every one of them is a massive hit, and her eye for scripts is very good" were all nonsense.

An artist's schedule is busy; it's already good if they can pick one script they like out of six or seven. Some people are so busy they can only read three or four and then choose from those.

In most cases, there aren't that many scripts to choose from, which is why artists can read them all.

But for a star like Jin Li, whose film and television works have been hits, she receives dozens of scripts every time; reading them one by one is simply unrealistic.

Not to mention, she learned from Fang Jie that because of the consecutive hits of "And Then There Were None" and "Dream Builder" during the summer season—especially "Dream Builder," where she starred and eventually achieved a box office of 1.6 billion—she had received an especially large number of movie scripts recently, as many as one hundred.

When Fang Jie mentioned this during a meeting, she joked: "I suspect every film crew on the market has sent you an invitation."

Jin Li also smiled, knowing this was an exaggeration.

If there were only one hundred film crews making movies in a year, the film industry would be considered shrunken. With China's current entertainment system, having five or six hundred film crews starting work in a year is normal.

The number of crews dedicated to TV dramas might be more, or it might be less.

China's movies and TV dramas follow two different systems. Movies filmed in China don't have to be released in China; they can be taken to other countries for release.

Even if they don't meet the conditions for release, they can still be sold through various channels.

But TV dramas are different; they carry strong Chinese characteristics. Unless they are massive hits, they cannot be sold in other countries.

This means—

Filming a movie is unlikely to result in a total loss.

Filming a TV drama is very easy to result in a total loss.

Just as Jin Li started her live stream, Sui Lingfang received a call from the person in charge of a magazine for which a shoot had already been scheduled.

She only listened for a moment before her brows furrowed: "You want Jin Li to shoot in advance? Why the rush? Wasn't it scheduled for next week?"

The magazine person in charge's tone was gentle, but what they said was not gentle at all: "The company headquarters adjusted the schedule, so the branch decided to move the shoot up.

You also know that the 'Golden September and Silver October' for fashion magazines is very important. It's already September, and Jin Li's issue is scheduled for release in October, so shooting a month early is normal."

Sui Lingfang: "I know, but scheduling it for next week is also a month early."

The person in charge said helplessly: "I'm sorry, Jin Li's shoot can only be moved up, otherwise it will conflict with the magazine's other schedules."

Sui Lingfang frowned. Chenxi Entertainment didn't have many resources in the entertainment industry, and even fewer in the fashion world.

As one of the four major international magazines, *Huayun* contacted Chenxi Entertainment immediately after the hit of Jin Li's "Dream Builder," wanting to shoot photos of Jin Li to be inserted into the October issue.

There are many pages in the inner section, and where exactly in the inner section is also very important.

Since they couldn't get the magazine cover, choosing an important inner page position was also acceptable.

After some haggling, Chenxi Entertainment secured a front-page position in the inner section for Jin Li. According to the contact person, it would be visible after flipping just a few pages.

If it had been before, Sui Lingfang would have agreed for Jin Li immediately, since Jin Li had no work announcements at the time.

But she had just learned that Jin Li was preparing for next year's college entrance exam, and Sui Lingfang didn't want to disturb her.

Disturbing someone who is studying seriously is a sin!

Sui Lingfang continued to talk to the person in charge, whose attitude was very firm: the shoot had to be moved up, and it was set for the day after tomorrow.

The person in charge said: "I originally wanted to set it for tomorrow, but considering the temporary change in the shooting date, I gave the star an extra day to prepare."

Sui Lingfang said: "I need to communicate with my artist."

The person in charge's tone remained gentle, but their expression was already very impatient.

As the person in charge of one of the four major international magazines, they dealt with international stars every day.

Those international stars knew they could shoot for *Huayun*, and in such a special month as 'Golden September and Silver October,' they would push aside even the most important work announcements to fully accommodate the dates adjusted by *Huayun*.

As the person in charge of the China region for *Huayun*, which is also one of the important international regions, the person in charge was used to being pampered by stars, not accommodating them.

The person in charge said coldly: "If Jin Li cannot adjust her schedule, then we can only regretfully give up on this cooperation."

"By the way, I just flipped through the letter of intent signed with Jin Li and found that it didn't propose exclusivity. The formal contract to be signed before the shoot the day after tomorrow will include this clause."

Sui Lingfang was stunned: "What do you mean?"

The person in charge suppressed their irritation and explained: "The contact person who dealt with you didn't make it clear. If *Huayun* uses Jin Li's photos for the magazine's inner pages in October, then Jin Li cannot appear in any other magazines that month."

Sui Lingfang frowned tightly; she was truly dissatisfied now.

"When we communicated initially, there was no such condition. I even specifically asked the contact person, who said that unless it's a major cover, inner pages generally don't restrict the number of magazine shoots for a star."

The person in charge heard the dissatisfaction in her tone, and their own dissatisfaction spilled over.

As the person in charge of an important branch of *Huayun*, they had personally called to notify them to show respect for Jin Li, but the manager's attitude made them very unhappy.

"*Huayun* did not intentionally deceive you. If you ask any first-tier star with better fashion resources, they will know this is an industry-default rule.

The contact person who dealt with you just started working recently and has already been fired for making a mistake, which is why I personally contacted you to clarify. The contact person was a newcomer; are you also a newcomer?"

Sui Lingfang's face turned ugly. Wasn't this clearly saying that Chenxi Entertainment knew nothing?

She cooled her tone and said: "Understood. I need to communicate with Jin Li. We have also scheduled a print for October with another magazine, so we need to communicate with that magazine."

The *Huayun* person in charge said "Fine" quite bluntly, and then hung up the phone first.

Hearing the busy tone on the phone, Sui Lingfang couldn't help but curl her lip and complain: "If the person in charge is so capable, they shouldn't have called me personally to communicate!

It was clearly your side that didn't make it clear at the beginning, and you called to explain, yet you still want me to act like your grandson? No way!"

She didn't call Jin Li immediately, because Jin Li might not necessarily understand these things.

Jin Li's fashion resources were average; she was only favored in terms of work announcements and endorsements.

Except for the magazine shoot she flew to Country Y for last time, this was the first time she had received an invitation from an internationally renowned magazine, so she had to consider it carefully.

After thinking for a while, Sui Lingfang called Zhang Guang to ask about the so-called exclusivity clause.

Receiving Sui Lingfang's call, Zhang Guang's expression tightened; he thought Sui Lingfang wanted to talk to him about He Yixuan.

But regarding this artist, he felt that they had already talked very clearly in the last communication.

He Yixuan's job-hopping was not something Tianding Entertainment had specifically gone over to poach from Chenxi Entertainment; rather, He Yixuan had taken the initiative to contact one of the agents in the brokerage department and conducted an interview unilaterally.

He wasn't close to that Agent Zhao, only knowing that the other party had always been managing second-tier artists and didn't have a single first-tier artist in their hands.

Having investigated up to this point, he didn't investigate further, nor did he know whether He Yixuan's interview had passed or not.

Whether to let an artist leave, how to let an artist leave... these were all Chenxi Entertainment's affairs, and Zhang Guang didn't want to know about their internal affairs.

If it weren't for the fact that He Yixuan's job-hopping involved Cheng Zhizhi, he wouldn't even have investigated it.

Work is work, and personal friendship is personal friendship; the two must be clearly distinguished. Once confused, things will go wrong.

Although Zhang Guang felt sympathy for Chenxi Entertainment in his heart, if He Yixuan really hopped over to Tianding Entertainment, he would be happy to see it happen.

He had some impression of He Yixuan. Before Jin Li became popular again, she was a second-tier artist that Chenxi Entertainment had tried their best to promote.

If it weren't for Jin Li and Xi Sister Meng Ze, this He Yixuan, according to normal development, would probably already be sprinting towards being a first-tier artist.

But who knew that two great gods would suddenly appear in the company, and she had to be suppressed.

Thinking this, Zhang Guang answered the phone.

Sui Lingfang asked straight to the point: "Do you know about the magazine's exclusivity shooting clause?"

Zhang Guang was startled at first, then quickly entered work mode: "Exclusivity? This clause exists in top-tier magazines. Has Jin Li received an invitation from a top-tier magazine?"

Sui Lingfang: "So this clause is normal? If the magazine uses her photos that month, can she not be on the cover of other magazines that month?"

Zhang Guang: "Normal. This is mainly to prevent top-tier magazines from fighting over stars, so they force stars to make a choice."

Sui Lingfang: "Then what if the magazine printed in the same month is not a top-tier magazine, but just a small magazine?"

Zhang Guang laughed: "That won't work either. And since you've shot for a top-tier magazine, don't shoot for a small magazine anymore; it's embarrassing to say it out loud.

Being able to be on a top-tier magazine already proves a star's influence; why continue to shoot for small magazines?"

Sui Lingfang: "OK, I get it. Thanks!"

Zhang Guang replied politely: "No problem, happy to help."

After hanging up, Zhang Guang couldn't help but touch the tip of his nose.

Strange... it clearly wasn't him who did the bad thing, nor was it him who snatched her artist, so why did he feel so guilty?

Sigh, in the future, don't easily underestimate people; they don't care about the job-hopping of the artists under them at all! ===== CHAPTER 321 =====