Deep Space Wandering Fleet-Chapter 62 - Doomed!
Chapter 62: Chapter 62 Doomed!
Mo Jianhua was in a particularly good mood.
He had not easily obtained various titles for himself, and they indeed served as a protective umbrella, turning him into a radiant figure, unharmed by all poisons.
He even pulled some strings to delete a slew of unfavorable comments online.
A few dropouts spent all day trying to smear him, an utterly tiresome nuisance. These rambling fools, just shut them up directly.
“Worthless! What can you do to me? If you have the guts, kill yourself!”
Regarding the academic committee, that had been taken care of long ago, an investigation of one’s own people by their own, could anything really come of it?
...
“I didn’t expect that kid to have connections with Xisha University, a bit of a background. It’s my fault for not investigating in advance.”
“However, Xisha University can’t compare with M University, no matter what.”
With that thought, he felt quite relaxed.
Next, as long as he could persuade Zhang Yuan to retract his paper, that would be enough. Once the paper was retracted, the storm would pass, and his reputation would remain untarnished.
“It’s just a matter of how much money it will cost, one or two million should be enough, right?!” The thought of this budget made Mo Jianhua a bit reluctant to part with his money.
Well, never mind, money is something you can always make more of.
It made him feel as if he were at a loss.
However, he would have to be more careful in the future. There’s a saying, ‘Three times and you’re out’; if another scandal broke out, even a fool would see a pattern.
Thus, Mo Jianhua was contemplating retiring from this line of work after being evaluated for Academician of the Academy… he would have achieved success and fame, no need to keep mixing in these circles…
“Professor Mo, representatives from several large companies would like to discuss a project with you!”
Suddenly, his assistant called.
“Good, have them wait for me in the conference room,” Mo Jianhua said with a pleased expression. He was very satisfied with the response of these company representatives.
Everybody acts out of self-interest; the project brought by this paper was out of the ordinary, and this time, he might earn tens or even hundreds of millions!
“Professor Mo, nice to meet you.”
“President Wang, good to see you.”
Ten minutes later, Professor Mo had shaken hands with several company managers.
“Let me first introduce this new theory…”
In negotiations, he had long mastered the art of probing, silence, and mediation to gain the maximum benefit. In some ways, he could be considered talented.
“Professor Mo, this project sounds quite challenging…”
“President Wang, no problem, I have an entire professional team behind me! I’m confident that it will be completed within a year…”
“Heh, we have great faith in Professor Mo’s ability. So, about the contract issues…”
Mo Jianhua nodded in satisfaction.
Anyway, most of the work would be done by the students below him. Otherwise, what was he keeping them for?
This was training!
Students working for their professor was perfectly natural!
During this short time, a basic agreement on cooperation was reached between the two parties. They had collaborated many times before and had few reservations.
For capitalists, whether a mentor exploits his students or not, it doesn’t matter to them as long as the project can succeed…
Suddenly, the phone of President Wang, which was sitting on the table, started ringing.
“Excuse me, Professor Mo.”
President Wang hurriedly stepped out to take the call, then returned with a peculiar expression on his face.
“Professor Mo, I have an important meeting this afternoon. Could we perhaps discuss the collaboration further in a couple of days?”
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.
“Hmm?” Professor Mo’s expression changed.
“That’s fine.”
After seeing off President Wang and his entourage, Mo Jianhua was left feeling befuddled; it had all seemed so urgent a moment ago, and now they had just left.
At that moment, a news alert popped up on his phone.
“New Era, New Fashion, Recording the Youth Who Chase Their Dreams!”
The news article spoke about the cultivation of the academic environment in the “Earth Era,” with rather trite and vacuous wording.
But it listed several young geniuses,
One of whom was Zhang Yuan, and his representative paper was mentioned too, yes, the one that caused the controversy.
A wave of annoyance surged in Mo Jianhua; the media outlet was “Moon News Press,” affiliated with the Deep Space Planning Bureau, and beyond his reach to influence.
However, a sense of impending crisis began to gnaw at him.
He was a man with a keen political sensibility, and the official media had tacitly recognized Zhang Yuan as the copyright holder of the paper. He wondered what that implied.
Then, he noticed various chaotic comments on the internet.
“Young Genius Persona” VS “Prospective Academician of the Academy Persona.”
“The ‘genius youth’ had the clear upper hand!”
Because even when you call someone an ‘almost Academician’, there’s still the word ‘almost’.
There’s a difference between having ‘almost’ in front of your title and not having it at all.
And Zhang Yuan’s blog post was too real, terrifyingly so.
An astronaut about to leave Earth, would he really need to plagiarize someone else?
Even a few big shots from the circles publicly supported him.
“People without shame are invincible. Don’t let one rotten apple spoil the whole barrel.”
“Stomping out academic pests is everyone’s duty. (Solid proof inside!)”
“Support! (Fist) (Fist)”
The self-media love to fabricate sensational news to attract attention – how do they do it?
Obviously, by flipping the narrative, blindly praising the ‘genius youth’ while viciously attacking the ‘famous figure’!
Mo Jianhua felt a cold sweat trickle down his back. This overwhelming wave of criticism felt as if the issue had become a confirmed fact.
Suddenly, he realized he might have encountered a real tough nut, not the kind of putty you could mold at will…
The only solution to this immense public pressure was to contact the relevant departments to have the unsavory comments deleted.
Yes, delete them all!
He quickly picked up the phone, “Hello, is this Xiao Zhang?”
“Professor Mo, I no longer have the authority to delete those,” came the reply.
“Why not?”
“The higher-ups have ordered…”
“Which higher-ups?”
“I… I don’t know. Just the higher-ups.”
After hanging up, Mo Jianhua felt inexplicably panicked and paced anxiously around his office.
When it rains, it pours. Shortly after, Professor Yang, the chief editor of Modern Science, placed a call.
“Hello, Professor Mo, I’d like to consult you on something.”
“What’s the matter?”
Editor Yang hesitated, then said, “About your paper… could you consider retracting it?”
“What… Retract it, how could that be possible?!” His voice unintentionally grew louder.
A retraction was like concrete evidence of his own guilt.
To retract would be to admit defeat, triggering further investigations – it was out of the question!
“Professor Mo… there might be an investigation from above.”
“…Investigation? Who would investigate?” Mo Jianhua felt startled.
If a bunch of politicians were to investigate, he was not afraid.
Those political types didn’t have a clue; could they even understand a single sentence of his paper?
If they couldn’t understand, what would they investigate?
Nothing. That’s what.
He raged internally, with his thoughts in turmoil and sweat breaking out on his back for no reason.
“Just a few hours ago, the Ministry of Education established a new committee to review academic misconduct. Do you know who the president is?”
“Who?”
“Wang Zhong, Professor Wang!”
Mo Jianhua was stunned.
This famous mathematician, known for his fiery temper and numerous prestigious awards in his youth, was definitely someone he was aware of.
Editor Yang continued, “Do you know… who Zhang Yuan is?”
“Who?” Mo Jianhua’s premonition worsened.
“He’s Professor Wang’s direct descendant!”
Mo Jianhua was shocked, his body covered in goosebumps.
It was like falling from heaven to hell in an instant – his opponent even had a stronger backer!
He was finished!
He collapsed onto the floor.
…
(PS: Since so many people are criticizing me, I’ve decided to take a day off during the May Day holiday to adjust my thoughts.)
(This content has already been written and can’t be changed now; it has to be published. Consider this chapter my way of making up for the leave.)
