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Chapter 160: Chapter 160 Shengbao’s Fourth Alias - Research Tycoon
On the other side, Lu Sheng had already opened the car door and stepped down from the taxi parked by the roadside.
In front of her stood a vast, stern and modern white building.
Two uniformed armed security guards stood at the entrance, and the sign for "China Biological Pharmaceutical Research Institute" was very conspicuous, exuding a mysterious and solemn aura.
Just by looking at the two armed police meticulously holding their weapons, one could tell that this place was clearly not for ordinary people and was also protected by the state.
An ordinary person would probably just look from afar and hesitate to come any closer. Yet Lu Sheng, wearing a pair of canvas shoes, boldly walked towards the main entrance.
"Wait, stop—"
Seeing Lu Sheng walking toward the institute, the two security guards furrowed their brows and called out to her in unison.
They had noticed the young girl getting off the taxi earlier and thought she was merely passing by; they hadn’t expected her to actually head towards the institute.
"Young lady, are you lost?" one of the security guards pointed at the sign as if afraid Lu Sheng had seen it wrong, "This is the China Biological Pharmaceutical Research Institute."
"I know this is the institute," unexpectedly, the girl remained composed after hearing his words, "I am here to find someone."
—To find someone?
Both guards were taken aback and looked at each other.
"Young lady, do you know what kind of place this is?" 𝑛𝘰𝘷𝑝𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝘮
The guard asked sternly, "Ordinary people are not allowed inside, not even the families of the researchers."
Lu Sheng replied, "I’m not a family member of a researcher. I’m here to find Dean Peng, I am his friend."
—To find Dean Peng?
Both guards were even more astonished upon hearing this.
Professor Peng Hongyuan had just turned fifty this year, famously known for his quirky temperament and reclusive nature, having devoted most of his life solely to scientific research, he never even married.
This institute had been established for about seven or eight years, besides Professor Peng’s students, they had never seen any friends of his coming to visit him.
But more importantly, the young girl in front of them seemed entirely like a high school student.
Professor Peng usually interacted with scholars and professors over fifty in the scientific community; how could a high school girl possibly be a friend of his? This must be a joke!
"Young lady, don’t joke around," the guard frowned and said, "No matter what you came for, this is not a place for kids to just walk into, please leave."
Lu Sheng’s expression remained unchanged: "Brother, could you please notify them for me? Tell Dean Peng that Lan Xing is here to see him."
"If Dean Peng says he doesn’t want to see me, I’ll leave immediately and won’t cause you any trouble."
Hearing this, both guards couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
The girl did not seem to be joking, and even if it was a high school prank, nobody would dare to play a prank in such a place.
Thinking it over, one guard replied: "Alright then, I’ll go in and inform them, please wait here for a moment."
And so, Lu Sheng stood waiting outside.
It was almost noon, and the golden sunlight showered down on the earth, casting large shadows from the trees lining the road, making everything seem languid.
Lu Sheng had been standing for barely three minutes when she saw a somewhat disheveled man with unkempt hair and beard hurry out.
The man was clearly aged, with a decent appearance and graying temples, and his face had many wrinkles.
He wore a somewhat yellowed white lab coat and sported a pair of thick old-school frame glasses; as soon as he stepped out of the main gate, he excitedly looked around.
"Where is he? Where is Lan Xing?!"
Peng Hongyuan muttered while looking around, and after seeing no one but a young girl standing outside, he couldn’t help but frown deeply.
He immediately turned to the security guard beside him and demanded, "Didn’t you say Lan Xing came to see me? Where is he?"
The guard was also dumbfounded.
When he went out to relay the message and named Lan Xing, Professor Peng jumped up, his face showing excitement that the guard had never seen before.
The guard hadn’t expected that the young girl outside was actually telling the truth, that she was indeed a friend of Professor Peng.
Yet when Professor Peng came out, even though the young girl was standing right in front of him, he acted as if he couldn’t see her, standing in front of her asking where she was.
The guard didn’t know what was going on and pointed awkwardly—
"...Uh, Professor Peng, the person who claimed to be Lan Xing looking for you, is this young girl in front of you."
???
At that moment, Peng Hongyuan finally turned to look at the young girl not far from him, and he was completely stunned.
The girl appeared to be only seventeen or eighteen years old, fair and clean-faced, dressed simply, and looked just like a quiet high school student.
She said she was Lan Xing? That’s impossible!
China Biological Pharmaceutical Research Institute was a research facility specially approved by China eight years ago, whose main task was to tackle the world’s perplexing diseases and develop drugs that could alleviate and cure these rare diseases.
About three years ago, Peng Hongyuan hit a bottleneck while researching a drug for acromegaly, unable to break through a theoretical problem and unable to find the right answer.
However, just when he was extremely frustrated, he suddenly received an email from someone named Lan Xing.
The email had no text in the body, only an attachment that contained a scientific research paper of over a hundred pages.
And the primary content of this paper was exactly the theoretical problem that had troubled him for months, which he had been unable to solve!
The moment he finished reading the paper, Peng Hongyuan had an epiphany.
He immediately integrated his previous research findings to solve that problem and then replied overnight with a long email of several thousand words to thank this Lan Xing.
He also asked about the sender’s identity and even directly inquired if the sender had any interest in working at the research institute.
You should know that as a national key support project, not just anyone can work at the China Biological Pharmaceutical Research Institute.
Even the most inconspicuous researcher there is a top-tier talent in the biological medical field selected through rigorous national selection.
Yet Peng Hongyuan, without even asking, extended an invitation to someone whose face he had never seen, whose real name, age, and gender he did not even know.
Because he simply didn’t need to ask what sort of person they were.
Such a talent as Lan Xing could even be called a national treasure.
However, unexpectedly for Peng Hongyuan, this Lan Xing was incredibly low-key and elusive.
The email had arrived without warning, and after he sent his reply, he didn’t receive any response.
Several months later when he faced another problem he couldn’t solve, he tentatively sent an email to Lan Xing.
This time, Lan Xing responded quite quickly, clearly explaining the problem in a few simple sentences.
Peng Hongyuan hadn’t admired many people in his life, but he truly admired this Brother Lan. Over the next few years, he kept communicating with Lan Xing via email.
—Yes, Brother Lan.
Peng Hongyuan had always assumed that this Lan Xing must be a leading expert in the scientific research community and certainly knew him but chose to use a pseudonym to conceal his identity.
Moreover, this Lan Xing had to be at least sixty years old, otherwise, he couldn’t possibly possess such profound theoretical knowledge.
Therefore, in Peng Hongyuan’s mind, the image of Lan Xing was of a slightly stooped, grey-haired, stern, and upright professor who loved his country.
But this young girl—
Could it be, that she is Lan Xing’s granddaughter?
