Chapter 468: Only You Survived Three Days

Yu Dazhang had been nearly worried to death these past two days.

He had thought that with a doctorate, he'd just be doing odd jobs here.

He never expected that even odd jobs required professional knowledge as support.

A person who'd completely forgotten even the Pythagorean theorem, lurking in this kind of environment — it was pure torment.

If it weren't for Ying Xuelian teaching him step by step how to do things, he'd have been exposed long ago.

Couldn't he start with something simple first?

Like serving tea and pouring water... Yu Dazhang thought the scientists here were way too serious.

Look at them — every single one is a big shot in academia.

Having a fresh little doctorate serve them tea and clean up — isn't that the most normal thing in the world?

There's really no need to jump into research work the moment you arrive.

Yu Dazhang had heard before about the so-called "chain of contempt" in academia; now it seemed that was all just rumor.

He felt this deeply now — this Institute 53 really doesn't keep idle people around.

Another day passed.

Yu Dazhang had already started having nightmares at night.

The dreams were full of scenes of him working in the experimental hall.

In just three days, the knowledge points he'd memorized might even exceed the total of three years in school.

What if he really couldn't learn it?

Then he'd just force himself to memorize it.

Apply it mechanically, using his super-strong memory to operate.

At the same time, he also discovered that his brain was simply too easy to use — anything he wanted to remember, he only needed to hear once to have it down pat.

This struck him as incredibly miraculous.

So this life wasn't just about sharper senses — even his brain was far more nimble than in his previous life.

After three days, though it was torment, he was slowly adapting.

Some tasks Yu Dazhang could even operate independently, no longer needing to ask Ying Xuelian.

Even more miraculously, in these three days he'd also made two good friends.

One was a PhD, the other a postdoc — both newcomers who hadn't been here long, also assigned to Ying Xuelian's group.

Probably misery loves company.

Yu Dazhang had just met these two, and they already looked like they'd known each other forever, quickly becoming friends who could talk about anything.

That day, while work wasn't busy, the three of them gathered together again.

"Dr. Liu, you've been here over half a year and haven't taken a single day off?" Yu Dazhang asked, looking at one of them.

"Just call me Liu Hai directly," that man said with a bitter face:

"In this place, I always feel like 'doctor' is a curse word."

After venting that, he then answered:

"I have taken leave, just not allowed to leave Institute 53 — I could rest over in the living area. Since coming here, I've cut off contact with my family."

Speaking of this, his face showed a hint of helplessness; he really did seem to be homesick.

"Dr. Chen, what about you?" Yu Dazhang looked at the other person:

"Last time you said you'd been working here a year and a half and never gone home either?"

Hearing Yu Dazhang call him that, that man also waved his hand:

"Just call me Chen Yang directly from now on. Hearing Liu Hai say that, I also feel like the title 'doctor' doesn't sound that great."

This postdoc named Chen Yang had a hint of helplessness in his eyes:

"Last year I planned to go home for New Year's, but the approval process was too much trouble, and once you left, getting back in was hard. In the end I had to give up."

A classified unit of this level certainly couldn't let people come and go freely.

Yu Dazhang had also discovered that the research projects here were kept secret internally too.

For example, Ying Xuelian's group only needed to complete the work assigned to them; what the entire project actually was, the group members had no idea at all.

Can't guess it?

Let me give an example.

You all know Tesla, right?

There are many companies worldwide that manufacture for it, yet not a single one has mastered Tesla's car-making technology.

And that's with them openly letting you build it. Scientific research is even more so.

If you're only asked to do one module, you'll never guess what all the modules look like when combined.

It's like an ordinary red brick placed in front of you, and you're asked to guess where this brick will ultimately be used.

Building a house, paving a road, constructing a room...

That's normal-person thinking.

In the eyes of people who like to fight, a red brick is also a handy weapon.

So an auxiliary group like Ying Xuelian's also couldn't know the specific content of this project for certain.

"What about those who are married?"

Yu Dazhang's face wore a gossipy smile as he stole a glance at Ying Xuelian, who was focused on her work at the instrument:

"Their other halves staying home alone long-term — that's going to cause problems."

The moment those words left his mouth, he startled Liu Hai and Chen Yang.

The two immediately made shushing gestures.

"Keep your voice down." Liu Hai said in a low voice:

"Talking about a topic like this here is the biggest taboo. For those who are married, it's like pouring salt on a wound."

These researchers really have it tough… Yu Dazhang sighed and didn't press for more information.

That evening.

Yu Dazhang returned to another living area.

Compared to where he'd stayed before, this place was more concealed, the guards tighter, and there were even security personnel set up inside the building.

Moreover, he noticed that everyone living here was a researcher.

After dinner, just as Yu Dazhang was about to head back to his room, a guard came up to him:

"Someone wants to see you."

Yu Dazhang said nothing, just nodded.

He knew perfectly well that in this place, the only person who could send a guard to find him was Li Mingzhao.

Three days had passed; there should be some movement from the State Security side by now.

He followed the guard outside and got into a military vehicle.

Five minutes later.

Yu Dazhang arrived at the place he'd stayed before. Li Mingzhao was waiting for him there, and to his surprise, Ye Lin was also present.

"Is your injury healed?" Yu Dazhang looked her up and down.

"Nothing major." Ye Lin answered with a smile:

"With external wounds like this, as long as the inflammation isn't too serious, recovery is very fast."

Yu Dazhang nodded, then walked over to the bed and sat down.

"How's it going?" Li Mingzhao asked eagerly:

"Any leads?"

"Yes." Yu Dazhang smiled, a confident expression on his face:

"If I keep working with them for a while longer, I feel like getting a doctorate wouldn't be much of a problem."

This wasn't a joke on his part. After three days of study and practice, he'd found himself gradually adapting.

He'd also slowly gotten the hang of it, and now he could complete most of the work independently.

"Be serious!"

Li Mingzhao naturally didn't believe him. A doctorate—is that something just anyone can pursue?

Without even a master's degree, wanting to go for a doctorate is simply a pipe dream.

"Alright." Yu Dazhang wiped the smile off his face and replied seriously:

"No discoveries yet. These three days I've been studying the whole time—I really didn't have any extra energy to observe the others."

"Besides, I can't even make conversation with those people at the professor level."

Class is everywhere… he now deeply understood the meaning of that saying.

"Indeed." Li Mingzhao said in agreement:

"Of everyone we've sent in, you're the only one who's lasted three days."

Yu Dazhang:!!!!

He let it slip!

He let it slip!

(End of chapter)