Question: What does it mean to "pad" a paper?
Answer: One way is, someone else makes a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes. You swap the tomatoes for cherry tomatoes, make it again, and then come to a startling conclusion.
"Scrambled eggs with cherry tomatoes also have a sweet and sour flavor."
No innovation in the underlying logic, only variable substitution.
And the fields most plagued by this kind of paper-padding are the "four great pits": biology, chemistry, environmental science, and material science.
At this moment, in the library of Jiangcheng Sixth Middle School.
Li Dong was typing up a project proposal.
Cloning and CRISPR/Cas9 Functional Verification of Candidate Homologous Genes for Parthenogenesis in Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum Based on Transcriptome Sequencing.
’First, I’ll use the PpPAR Gene discovered by the team in the Netherlands in the Hairy Mountain Willow Chrysanthemum as a reference clue.’
’I need to find and isolate that homologous gene in the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum...’
Li Dong muttered, a bit obsessively.
For a high school student, writing a proposal of this caliber was actually quite difficult.
WHOOSH...
Li Dong sat up straight and gave a long, lazy stretch.
In truth, he could have just padded a paper.
All he had to do was follow the method published in a top journal by that team from the Netherlands, replace the "medicinal Hairy Mountain Willow Chrysanthemum" they used with the "Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum" that Mendel used back in the day, and run through the same sequencing and comparison process.
Then he could have drawn a conclusion: "The Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum also exhibits parthenogenesis, which is why Mendel was unable to replicate the 3:1 trait segregation ratio."
And that would be that. A standard, perfect, padded paper. While it would be hard to get it into a top journal, Li Dong’s goal wasn’t publication anyway.
He wanted to resolve Mendel’s lingering academic puzzle and prove it wasn’t his mistake, so that approach would have been acceptable.
But that was just how Li Dong was. He could be stubborn, fixated on getting to the bottom of things.
Before his attributes were enhanced, you’d have called him thick-headed, constantly hitting a wall with the wrong line of thinking.
But things were different now. When a genius gets fixated, it’s called having a scientific spirit.
He wasn’t just going to prove why Mendel had failed; he was going to make the descendants of the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum once again show a perfect 3:1 segregation ratio.
He would personally verify and define the boundaries of applicability for Mendelian inheritance, giving that True God of biology the perfect resolution he deserved!
So the real difficulty of this project was finding that regulatory switch within a vast, unknown genome and then using gene-editing technology to completely eliminate it.
Just as Li Dong was about to take a break and continue grinding away in the afternoon,
he looked up and saw Elder Chen watching him with a "kindly" smile.
"Finished with the biology report? How about a little break?"
"Come on, let’s go to the lab and work on that physics project."
Work on physics to take a break?
Li Dong thought that Elder Chen really did understand him.
’This proposal is a real brain-burner. Working on some macromechanics and watching a little ball go in circles doesn’t sound half bad.’
So, Li Dong stood up and said,
"Alright, let’s go. Teacher Chen, let’s go relax."
Watching Li Dong walk out of the library, Elder Chen froze on the spot.
’Holy hell, is this kid for real? Does he really see working on physics as relaxing? What an insult to physics!’
It wasn’t that Li Dong looked down on physics; he just looked down on this particular project.
’The great Newton already did it, and he even described the phenomenon so clearly. How could I not figure it out?’
Seeing that Li Dong was already heading toward the school lab, Elder Chen quickly followed.
As he walked, he added,
"First, use the school’s basic equipment to build a prototype."
"When you get back from Zhejiang University, if you need high-precision equipment, I’ll take you to Sichuan University to work on it."
Then he couldn’t help but take a jab at Sun Xiang.
"Honestly, Xiaosun... he graduated from a C9 League university, for crying out loud. How can he not have a single contact at Sichuan University, right here in our own province, who could lend him a tissue culture lab? Making you run all the way to Zhejiang University is such a waste of time."
Li Dong laughed to himself. ’This old man never misses a chance to take a shot at biology.’
The prototype of the experimental model for the Qiu Chengtong Science Award’s physics division.
It was a concept to visualize an abstract thermodynamic phase transition as a macroscopic mechanical motion.
As long as he could use a simple motor, a ring, and a small ball to demonstrate the spontaneous symmetry breaking phenomenon characterized by a Hysteresis Loop, the underlying logic of the device would be proven sound.
While Li Dong and Elder Chen were in the lab working on the physics model,
Jiangcheng’s education channel quietly released a specially produced feature story.
As it was a local TV station, everyone initially thought it was just an ordinary popular science program.
It was meant to explain just how the student named Li Dong had won the national championship at the Huaxuan Cup and raked in a massive one-million-yuan prize.
However, after they finished watching it, parents and educators across Jiangcheng were stunned.
This was a program about a physics competition?
But if you’re explaining a physics competition, why bring up that incident from a while back where Second Middle School supposedly crushed the competition?
Oh, right, you didn’t do it on purpose. You just wanted to say that student Li Dong was also first place at the time, right...
And so now student Li Dong has transferred to Sixth Middle School...
It’s not because Seventh Middle School stayed silent when his honor was stolen, of course. It’s just because Sixth Middle School has a better learning environment.
To be honest, a documentary that passive-aggressively calls out the local key high schools like this would never have been approved for broadcast back in the era of traditional media.
But what era is this? The era of new media!
Local TV stations had long since upgraded to "integrated media centers." For them, mediocrity was death. Besides, it wasn’t *that* over the line.
That’s all just speculation from you, the audience. We at the education channel are just explaining the process of a physics competition, that’s all.
「Half an hour later.」
Jiangcheng Seventh Middle School, Principal’s Office.
CRASH!
A high-quality teacup was smashed violently onto the floor, sending porcelain shards flying.
Principal Wang was trembling with rage, his blood pressure soaring.
Outside the door, Old Yang pursed his lips at Zheng Hua.
The meaning was clear: ’Principal Wang is smashing teacups again?’
「At the same time.」
Jiangcheng Second Middle School, in the principal’s office.
A similar crisp, shattering sound was heard.
CRASH!
Principal Zhang exclaimed in exasperation,
"Which goddamn director made this film?! Who let them broadcast it?"
He couldn’t stomach it. He had just told Li Yiming that this whole storm would blow over.
Now it seemed the wind was blowing right back at them.
「Meanwhile, in the South Jiangcheng Industrial Park.」
Inside Li Yang’s simple hardware processing factory.
Including Li Yang himself, the small workshop had a grand total of five people.
Though pitifully small in scale, it survived entirely thanks to Li Yang’s gift of gab, which brought in a steady stream of orders.
In fact, a new large order was set to begin production in just a couple of days.
Li Yang took a break, stepping outside the workshop to light a cigarette. He pulled out his phone, intending to relax for a moment.
As soon as he opened WeChat, he saw that several friends on his Moments feed had shared the feature story from the Jiangcheng education channel.
Curious, Li Yang tapped on it and watched the whole thing.
Unlike the other "melon-eating masses" who were just there for the drama, Li Yang felt a sour knot in his stomach watching the report about his own nephew.
But anger was just anger. Li Yang heaved a long sigh and ground out the cigarette butt on the pavement.
He knew his own limits; he didn’t have any power to help his genius nephew.
’The only thing I can do now is not cause any trouble for Xiaodong,’ Li Yang thought to himself.
Just then, a worker from the shop floor also came out for a smoke and greeted Li Yang upon seeing him.
"Boss Li."
Then he asked casually,
"We’re starting mass production again in a few days."
"That computerized barcode inventory system you mentioned you were getting, it’s arriving soon, right?"
Li Yang glanced at the video on his phone’s Moments feed, then shoved the phone back into his pocket and said,
"It’ll be here in a couple of days."

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