Elder Chen, standing to the side, was clearly taken aback by Sun Xiang’s proposal.
But he didn’t object immediately. Instead, he thought for a long while before asking.
"Xiaosun, competing for the Qiu Prize in biology? What are the chances of this project actually succeeding?"
In his own field of expertise, Sun Xiang was exceptionally meticulous.
He quickly ran through the experimental procedure in his head.
"Elder Chen, if we could really take the True Mountain Chrysanthemum that Mendel used, successfully clone it, knock out the HpPAR gene, and restore its sexual reproduction, it would represent a perfectly closed loop in the history of genetics!"
"I’d venture to say this achievement could be submitted to authoritative life science journals like *Cell Research* or even *Molecular Plant*."
At this, Sun Xiang grew a bit frustrated.
"But time is the biggest problem."
"The natural flowering period for a plant like the True Mountain Chrysanthemum is as long as seven to eight months."
"If we want to get results before the Qiu Prize submission deadline, we’ll have to forcibly shorten its growth cycle."
"We’d probably need photoperiod induction combined with regular spraying of gibberellin to promote flower bud differentiation. Plus, we can’t use traditional soil cultivation; it would have to be rapid propagation through tissue culture in a sterile environment."
Sun Xiang sighed.
"And the real killer is, there are tons of requirements for doing CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing."
"Constructing vector plasmids, Agrobacterium transformation... Forget our Sixth Middle School, you can’t even find a single lab in all of Jiangcheng that’s fully equipped for this kind of sterile tissue culture."
Li Dong listened from the side, dumbfounded.
He’d never actually thought about using this to compete for any Qiu Prize.
His goal was very simple—to let the True God of biology have no regrets!
’As for how I’ll be repaid, that’s Mendel’s business. It has nothing to do with me, Li Dong!’
’Of course, if I could publish in a core journal along the way and pad my future academic resume, that would be fantastic too.’
After listening to Sun Xiang’s analysis, Elder Chen nodded in deep agreement.
"Xiaosun, your analysis is very thorough."
Elder Chen said earnestly.
"You see, since the objective conditions are so demanding and the timeline is completely uncontrollable, there’s no need to get hung up on using this for the Qiu Prize."
"Li Dong currently has his physics project on the Hysteresis Loop."
"We can gather the experimental equipment from our school or by borrowing it from Sichuan University. It’s highly controllable."
"Having him register for the biology competition as well, aside from sounding a bit more impressive, won’t be of much help to him, unless he plans to pursue a double major in physics and biology in college."
Finally, Elder Chen concluded.
"Besides, if one person applies for two subjects, it’s easy to run into scheduling conflicts during the final global defense."
"So, let’s focus on securing the physics one first."
"As for this biology project, it is indeed a good idea."
"I think it’s better suited as a long-term research project for direct journal publication. There’s no need to wade into the muddy waters of the Qiu Prize."
At first, Sun Xiang nodded repeatedly as he listened to Elder Chen.
He felt that Elder Chen truly lived up to his senior status. His analysis was logical, well-founded, and objective, all for the student’s best interests.
But... as he kept listening, Sun Xiang started to realize something was off.
’It all sounds so grand and noble, but why do I get the feeling you’re subtly trying to suppress our biology department?’
’What’s this "focus on securing the physics one first"?’
’What’s so special about physics? Is it the golden child?’
However, despite feeling a little wronged, Sun Xiang also understood that Elder Chen was speaking the hard truth.
So, Sun Xiang turned to look at Li Dong.
"Li Dong, if you really want to see this project through and get it published, I can help you."
"My mentor is at the State Key Laboratory at Zhejiang University."
"He can provide a high-spec, constant-temperature cleanroom for tissue culture, high-throughput sequencers, and he can even help you design the transgenic vector plasmids."
"With him listed as the corresponding author, our chances of getting accepted by *Cell Research* will increase dramatically!"
Li Dong was a little tempted upon hearing this.
’Forget about publishing for now. As long as I can get the experimental data as soon as possible, that’s all that matters!’
So, Li Dong said with great "sincerity."
"Thank you, Teacher Sun."
"I’m not afraid of how long it will take. I just feel that... with the stumble Mendel took back then, the academic world knows why he fell, but no one has ever used the very same materials he worked with to fill that hole and give him proper closure."
"Someone has to do it."
But what he was really thinking was...
’Who knows if the Mendel of this space-time won’t have a flash of insight and crack the secret of apomixis himself? It’s not like he hasn’t pulled off absurd things like that before.’
Watching this unfold, the corner of Elder Chen’s mouth twitched twice.
’What the hell? I just spent all that time earnestly explaining the pros and cons, and you didn’t listen to a single word, did you?!’
’You haven’t even finished modeling the ’Hysteresis Loop’ for physics, and now you want to go find a university professor to do plant gene editing?’
As for what Li Dong had said, Elder Chen had known him for some time now and didn’t believe a single word of it. Li Dong was definitely up to something else.
Meanwhile, listening to Li Dong’s words, Sun Xiang was filled with a strange sense of being moved.
’Student Li Dong doesn’t care about awards or fame at all! He truly loves biology from the bottom of his heart!’
"Alright! I’ll go contact him for you right now! Even if my mentor chews me out for it, I’m determined to help you with this!"
Sun Xiang was so moved his blood was boiling with passion.
Meanwhile, outside the gates of Jiangcheng Sixth Middle School.
Zhang Ye, a director from Jiangcheng TV Station, was rubbing his temples in frustration.
He was truly at his wit’s end.
The student was busy memorizing classical Chinese and had no time for an interview. What could he do?
"Seriously, for a task assigned by the Education Bureau, you’d think you guys would at least give the school administration a heads-up! If you don’t clear it with the higher-ups, how are we supposed to conduct an interview?"
"And he’s clearly from Seventh Middle School, so why is he still at Sixth Middle School?"
Zhang Ye didn’t get it. If the kid were at Seventh Middle School, the school would be begging them to come for an interview. He sighed.
But the main subject wouldn’t be interviewed, and the show still had to be made...
Zhang Ye sighed again and decided to stake out the school gate, hoping to get some information on this Li Dong from a different angle.
Just then, a boy who looked like a first-year high school student walked out of the gate.
Zhang Ye quickly pushed open his car door and went to meet him.
"Hey! Excuse me, student, hello! Could we have a minute of your time? We’re reporters from the Jiangcheng Education Channel."
"I’d like to ask you about someone."
"It’s about the student from your school who just won first place nationally in the Huaxuan Cup physics competition, Li Dong."
"I saw on the official website that he’s from Jiangcheng Seventh Middle School, but when we called them, their principal not only said he’s here at your Sixth Middle School, but it also sounded like he was smashing cups."
"What’s going on with that?"
The cup: ...
The boy who was stopped happened to be Migo.
Migo answered casually.
"Oh, you mean Brother Dong? Yeah, he just transferred from Seventh Middle School to our Sixth Middle School’s honors class. He only got here a few days ago."
"Sir, I have to run and make some copies for class, so I gotta go!"
With that, Migo scampered off and vanished in a flash.
Zhang Ye stood frozen in place, holding his microphone.
"Transferred from Jiangcheng Seventh Middle School... to Sixth Middle School?"
He instantly recalled a special feature his program team had produced not long ago.
The story was about student Zhang Zeyu from Second Middle School triumphing over his rivals.
"Well, I’ll be!"
Zhang Ye was suddenly energized.
’Since I can’t get the main subject for an in-depth academic interview, don’t blame me for rehashing an old story!’
A commoner genius from a third-rate middle school stuns everyone by winning the national championship in a top-tier commercial competition.
Along the way, his honor is stolen by a key high school, but Sixth Middle School righteously intervenes...
If this gets broadcast...
Zhang Ye hurriedly pulled out his phone.
"Hey? Xiaosun! Find me the raw footage from that interview you did with Zhang Zeyu from Second Middle School a few days ago!"
"That’s right! The part where he says his ’breadth of knowledge is just a little bit wider than the average student’s’!"

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