As a member of the C9 League in China, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) is at the absolute top tier in terms of education and research level in the country. It has various cutting-edge laboratories and research talents.

For example, there is the cold atom physics, the quantum communication laboratory led by the top student of USTC, Pan Shuai, and...

Biomedical.

In the central area of USTC, there is the Medical Center Building.

Although a few years ago, USTC moved the School of Life Sciences to the west campus, the central area's Medical Center still has a stronger research foundation.

The Medical Center Building is an externally orange-brown standalone research module. It is rumored that there are always a bunch of security personnel disguised as trees or trash cans around, but unfortunately, it seems that no one has ever seen them.

After entering the gate, Xu Yun walked to the reception desk:

"Hello, visiting code USTCXXXX..."

Today is the weekend, and the receptionist is a student from the Student Work Department. She is not tall but looks very sweet, wearing a pair of glasses, giving the impression of a quiet and shy girl.

She skillfully typed on the keyboard a few times and then performed a facial recognition on Xu Yun:

"Identity confirmed. Senior, please briefly state the purpose of your visit. I need to make a report."

"The Immunology Research Laboratory on the fourth floor, I have something to discuss with Director Tian."

"O... OK, senior, you can go up now."

"...Thank you."

After reporting the relevant information, Xu Yun walked to the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor.

The elevator slowly ascended and stopped at the fourth floor after a short while.

After leaving the elevator, Xu Yun walked about ten meters to the left and arrived at an office, raising his hand.

Knock knock knock—

In a moment, a male voice came from inside:

"Please come in."

Xu Yun pushed the door open.

This was not a very large office, with an area of only about twenty square meters.

There was a desk facing the entrance, a row of bookshelves beside it, and an L-shaped sofa and a coffee table on the left side of the entrance, forming a small reception area.

Sitting at the desk was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his fifties, with a round face and short hair, giving a kind impression.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "p𝑎wread.com".

This person was Tian Liangwei, the dean of the School of Life Sciences at USTC, one of the Hundred Talents Program scholars, and Xu Yun's doctoral supervisor.

Pan Shuai in physics, Tian the bio god in biology, this was the perfect combination of supervisors that Xu Yun had spent a lot of effort to obtain.

Capable, willing to support juniors, and not greedy for credit, such supervisors were not easy to find.

Of course.

The relationship between supervisors and students is often mutual. Students desire a good supervisor, and supervisors also hope to receive good students.

And Xu Yun clearly met the criteria for the latter, so when Tian Liangwei saw Xu Yun entering, his already kind round face became even softer:

"Xiao Xu, why did you come to me instead of focusing on your doctoral defense? Could it be that you're planning to find out who the external committee members are and take the backdoor?"

Students who have participated in doctoral defense should know that there are usually 5-6 reviewers, with at least two of them being experts from external institutions. It is a difficult hurdle in the defense.

Therefore, many doctoral students would go to find out the identities of the reviewers before the defense, in order to prepare a defense plan with certain inclinations. This is more common in foreign countries.

However, Tian Liangwei's words were obviously just a joke. With Xu Yun's ability, there was no need for him to use such tricks in the defense.

Xu Yun walked to the desk and poured a glass of water for Tian Liangwei and himself, then drank it all in one gulp:

"Teacher, you're joking. Can't a student care about the teacher's health and give up the time to stay in bed on the weekend to come and see you?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Liangwei exaggeratedly raised his hands and shook them in front of his forehead like worshiping a god:

"Oh, please, please. When Xu God speaks, how can I, a mortal, not believe it?"

Then he nodded his chin towards the window, assuming a posture of an experienced person:

"By the way, let me give you a suggestion. Next time you come, you can buy a box of four yuan cut dragon fruit from the fruit shop downstairs. It will be even more convincing when you say these words. Oh, and it has to be white dragon fruit, the red one is heresy."

Without hesitation, Xu Yun blurted out:

"Can I get it reimbursed as experimental funding? If so, I'll buy two more boxes next time."

Tian Liangwei: "..."

Then he coughed lightly and stopped joking with Xu Yun, asking:

"Alright, let's get serious. What did you come to me for today?"

Seeing Tian Liangwei gradually becoming serious, Xu Yun also became serious and brought up the main topic:

"Teacher, I thought of something while writing my thesis yesterday. I spent the whole night doing some simple calculations and derivations, and it seems to have some feasibility. So today, I came to seek your help."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Have you heard of imidacloprid?"

"Imidacloprid?"

Tian Liangwei nodded. Although his main research direction was immunology and chronic diseases, as one of the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, he was naturally not unfamiliar with imidacloprid, a neurotoxic insecticide that has been around for over thirty years:

"The first generation of nicotine-based insecticides. Now it has been optimized to the third generation. In recent years, its broad-spectrum effect has gradually weakened, and even some have fallen behind. Why, do you have any ideas?""Teacher, do you think there's still a future in researching Pesticide Pyridine?"

"It's hard to say. Most institutions both domestically and internationally are tinkering with it, but progress has been extremely slow."

Tian Liangwei shook his head, pointing his index finger at the floor.

"For instance, our third-floor Chuanzhi Laboratory has been constantly researching these kinds of issues. However, there's hardly any news about it. Unless Pesticide Pyridine can be uniquely optimized to the fourth generation, the current market will only get smaller."

Upon saying this, Tian Liangwei, who had a good understanding of Xu Yun, seemed to sense something and asked:

"Xu, do you have any new ideas about the direction of Pesticide Pyridine?"

Xu Yun nodded, taking out a piece of paper on which he had written his own summary.

"I do have some preliminary ideas. Teacher, take a look at this."

Tian Liangwei took the paper, spread it out, and picked up a pair of reading glasses from the table to read it carefully.

After a while, his pupils contracted slightly, and he suddenly looked up at Xu Yun.

"Pheromones?"

......

Note:

Some readers were worried that the molecular formula in the last chapter would reveal something. So, let me clarify, it's an easter egg. It's actually the molecular formula of a digestive tablet... but it's been slightly modified.

Also, I looked it up, tonsillitis caused by excessive internal heat.