Gene Unlocking: I Evolve Every Day

Similar scenes were playing out all over the country.

Especially in Lu Li’s rural hometown, where things were even more lively.

His mom and dad went to the city in the morning to find their son, but to no avail. They returned home at noon, feeling frustrated, and skipped lunch to take a nap.

Just as the two were dozing off, unclear about what time it was, a commotion suddenly came from outside.

Mom was woken up by the noise and slowly awoke, "Why is it so noisy?"

Dad also opened his sleepy eyes, rubbed them, and said, "Could it be that Xiaoli is back?"

Mom got out of bed, slipped into her slippers, and yawned, "Let’s go out and take a look."

Sounds of bustling voices came in waves. Aside from some local Gusu dialect mixed in, the majority seemed to be Mandarin, with both men and women speaking.

As she walked, Mom wondered, "What’s all the fuss about?"

Just as she reached the door and opened it.

With a rush, a large group of people appeared in front of her, all looking like journalists.

Somehow, they had gotten hold of Lu Li’s rural hometown address and tracked them down.

"Hello, Auntie!"

"Is this Mr. Lu Li’s home?"

"May we conduct an interview with you?"

Mom had never seen such a grand scene before. Seeing dozens of reporters, along with dozens of cameramen carrying cameras, she shivered all over, thinking something major had happened. Panic-stricken, she turned her head to shout inside, "Old Lu! Come out quickly!"

Dad was slow at dressing, and when he heard his wife’s shouting, he panicked, too. Not having time to put on his other shoe, he rushed out with one foot bare and the other with a shoe, ready to rescue his wife!

The female reporter near the door quickly said, "Uncle, Auntie, I’m from Shanghai TV station. Don’t be afraid, we mean no harm; we just want to conduct an interview."

"I’m a reporter from Yangzi Daily."

"We’re from Jinling Weekly."

"Auntie, Uncle, may we interview you?"

Mom and Dad still didn’t know what was going on, but seeing that the reporters were being respectful and standing at the door without coming in, they relaxed a little.

Dad mustered up the courage to step forward and said, "What do you want to interview about? I don’t know about my son’s matters; I also learned from your news media."

The female reporter who spoke first said, "Do you really not know what major event happened today?"

Dad, puzzled, asked, "Did my son make a big mistake again today?"

"No, no!" another middle-aged male reporter excitedly said, "Mr. Lu Li recently developed the world’s most advanced super particle collider for the country, and also developed a kind of energy source even more powerful than nuclear fusion. The whole country is reporting on this event."

Mom was dumbfounded, "What collider? What energy source?"

The middle-aged male reporter said, "Super particle collider, and ’Volcanic Ash Rock’ subatomic particle energy."

Dad heard it but still found it hard to believe, "What did you say?"

"I said, Mr. Lu Li developed a super particle collider for the country and developed new energy, ’Volcanic Ash Rock’ subatomic particles!" the middle-aged male reporter raised his voice, "After the success of these two projects, our country’s technological level can leap to the top globally in a short period. Mr. Lu Li has made a significant contribution to the country’s physics career and might even become the world’s top physicist in the future!"

Hearing this, Dad’s eyes widened in shock, knowing his son best. When Lu Li was in school, what level he was at, others might not know, but he and Lu Li’s mom knew well?

He waved his hand in astonishment, "You must have gotten it wrong? I saw on the news that he indeed stirred up quite a commotion abroad, but I’ve never heard that he knows anything about physics. When he went to college, he studied the arts and never took science classes, so how could he possibly understand physics?"

"It’s true!"

"Why would we lie to you?"

"The super particle collider developed by Mr. Lu Li is said to be a hundred years ahead of current technology."

"Yes, and that ’Volcanic Ash Rock’ subatomic particles are said to release energy five times that of nuclear fusion when annihilated. The whole country is hotly discussing it now. You say Mr. Lu Li never studied science and doesn’t understand physics? Could you explain this in detail to us? We’re very interested, and we could sit down and have an interview and then do a few special reports."

"Does Mr. Lu really not understand physics?"

"He never studied science at all?"

"Then how did he develop the super particle collider and discover and synthesize ’Volcanic Ash Rock’ subatomic particles?"

The reporters were particularly interested in this matter, all pointing their recorders.

The cameramen were also afraid of missing any footage, focusing their cameras on Lu Li’s parents’ faces.

The neighbors were standing outside the group of reporters, craning their necks to see what was happening. They had noticed the commotion a long time ago but didn’t know what had happened, so they were listening attentively to see if Lu Li had killed tens of thousands of people abroad again.

Dad, being an honest man, frowned and said, "He indeed studied humanities, so I’m also quite taken aback by what you’re saying..."

Mom waved her hand and cleared her throat, saying, "Let me speak."

"Sure, you have a good talk with the reporters," Dad said, looking puzzled. "Xiaoli indeed hasn’t studied physics; they’re definitely mistaken."

Mom nodded slightly, looked at the reporters, and then glanced at the neighbors pointing at them from outside the crowd and said, "As Xiaoli’s dad mentioned, he didn’t study science."

Dad shrugged, "See, that’s what I said."

Then something unexpected happened.

Mom said astonishingly, "Why didn’t he study science? Haha, that’s because...he already figured it out. It wasn’t worth wasting time studying."

Dad almost fell to the ground headfirst.

Mom began to boast proudly, straightening her posture and saying, "I’m not bragging about my son. He’s been smart from a young age, learning things at a glance. What’s that called? Photographic memory! I thought this can’t do—what if people get jealous of his intelligence? So, I taught him to be modest and not outshine others, to appear as if he wasn’t much different from ordinary people. He’s very filial and listens to me, intentionally lowering his scores for every exam. He could’ve gotten into Tsinghua or Peking University, but just to listen to me, he settled for Su Cheng University and studied humanities. I just wanted him to live quietly without being in the spotlight. But true talent will shine through eventually, and your journalist friends discovered him. Sigh, actually, during middle and high school, he was already capable of things like the super particle collider and the ’volcanic ash rock’ subatomic particles, but he kept a low profile and didn’t reveal it. Now, as the country needs him, isn’t he stepping up?"

Dad: "..."

Nearby neighbors: "..."

Everyone watched Lu Li grow up, knew his personality, his academic performance, as neighbors, how could they not know? Who would’ve thought that earlier rumors said Lu Li had killed tens of thousands abroad, being a murderous demon king, and now he made such significant contributions to domestic research, causing such a sensation. They were all confused, unsure how Lu Li changed so drastically.

Despite the neighbors not knowing Lu Li’s mom was boasting, they thought it was real. Each of them internally screamed, realizing Great God Lu Li wasn’t just amazing now, but had been incredible since high school, just hadn’t shown it?

They were so deceived by Lu Li’s mom’s nonsense that they couldn’t even stand straight!

...

After three in the afternoon.

Lu Li turned into a beam of light and instantly returned to his country home from Gansu.

Before he could step in, he heard bursts of laughter from inside.

"...Impressive!"

"Isn’t it? He’s contributed so much to the country’s research."

"I noticed early on that Xiaoli wasn’t a murderous demon king, all those foreign websites were defaming him!"

"That’s right, Xiaoli is such a good kid, contributing to the country, how could he be a murderous demon king?"

Listening to these voices, Lu Li knew they were all the local neighbors.

He smiled and walked into the house.

Inside, the room was full of people, with Mom and Dad being the center of everyone’s attention like celebrities.

The couple, who were sighing in the morning, looked so spirited now.

Both were all smiles, chatting and laughing with the neighbors.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Xiaoli’s back!"

In a flash, dozens of neighbors turned to the door, and a crowd of people stood up.

Aunt Wu warmly said, "Oh, Xiaoli, you’re finally back. Let us see our national hero."

"Stand up, stand up, make room for Xiaoli to sit!" Aunt Zhu was clearing people away, then turned, beaming, "Xiaoli, come sit here and tell us how you contributed to the country."

"Yes, yes."

"Xiaoli, hurry up and sit over here."

"Tell us about it."

Aunt Zhang, Nanny Xu, and others eagerly stood up and warmly pulled Lu Li to sit on a bench by the table, nowhere near their hesitation to approach his parents a few days ago.

Even though the parents hadn’t managed to speak a word with their son, seeing the neighbors no longer have any fear of their son and being so amicable, they were beaming with joy from ear to ear.

Having grown up with these neighbors, Lu Li naturally didn’t put on airs. He casually chatted with everyone, boasting about a sudden inspiration leading to the research of a super particle collider, or half-joking about having learned from Wu Er Mountain, a leading figure in domestic physics, to develop the "volcanic ash rock" subatomic particle energy.

The neighbors were amazed, marveling repeatedly, praising Old Lu and Cheng Lin for raising such a fine son, expressing their envy!

Seeing the neighbors’ admiration and his parents’ satisfied expressions, Lu Li felt a wave of calm wash over him, happy to have helped his parents solve the "being ignored" issue!