abcnovels
Chapter 121 - 118: Joy is Futile
Chapter 121 - 118: Joy is Futile
Chapter 121: Chapter 118: Joy is Futile
“Where did you get this picture from? Is it from a movie or a TV show? Is it made with special effects? Tell me quickly!”
In the hallway, Gu Qingyuan strode forward, immediately calling Wu Gang, bombarding him with questions.
A security guard carrying a flashlight and checking the lab greeted Gu Qingyuan warmly, “Yo, Mr. Gu, working late again today, huh?”
But what he didn’t expect was that Gu Qingyuan didn’t even respond and just breezed past him.
And in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
“Huh…”
The security guard was stunned, but not angry. Professor Gu was like that; as soon as something crossed his mind, he became completely focused. External matters couldn’t disturb him; he could even forget to eat. People familiar with him were used to this.
It looked like today’s research had made some progress.
The security guard shook his head and, while feeling happy for Professor Gu, continued his own work, checking if the lab doors were locked properly.
“Tell me, where did this picture come from? Is it real? Isn’t it a screenshot from a movie?”
Gu Qingyuan was very excited. This was a living Tiktaalik, the most powerful supporter of the theory of biological evolution.
If one could be found alive, it would definitely be the most significant discovery in evolutionary biology this year—no, not just this year.
It was the most significant discovery in the past decade!
Wu Gang, who was just about to wash up and go to bed, was startled by the excited voice of Gu Qingyuan on the phone, and hurriedly said, “I saw it during a live broadcast.”
“Live broadcast?”
Gu Qingyuan frowned, and his excitement instantly evaporated considerably.
Gu Qingyuan wasn’t the kind of old man out of touch with the times. On the contrary, he enjoyed surfing the internet and interacting with young people. He knew that live broadcasting was a new form of entertainment.
But it had very low standards, the kind that would stoop to anything.
Discovering a new species during a live broadcast?
Gu Qingyuan shook his head, was the likelihood of such an event comparable to the actual existence of Aotuman?
Probably just some internet celebrity looking to get famous, who randomly found a rare creature online, crafted a model, then took a few blurry pictures and claimed to have discovered a new species.
If handled well, it could create a sensation like the Loch Ness Monster—an even bigger phenomenon.
Technology was advancing, and it was not like the old days when information was spread through newspapers and television.
He had a clever mind, a different way to get famous than others, but it was utterly unethical, a deception against a septuagenarian comrade.
Poor Gang Zi was deceived.
Gu Qingyuan looked at the partly bright, partly dim, and somewhat blurry photo on his phone, and the more he thought, the more disappointed he became. Yet, he didn’t vent his roller-coaster emotions on his student.
It was normal for young people to be deceived due to a lack of social experience.
As a teacher, his job was to educate him so he wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
“Although the photo is quite blurry, and it looks a bit different from records, this creature does resemble a Tiktaalik.”
“Tiktaalik?” Wu Gang got excited on the other end of the line. Was there really such a creature?
“Yes, it looks very similar, from the fin limbs to the head, almost identical. This creature is older than sturgeon, almost from the same era as the lamprey,” said Gu Qingyuan, nodding. He wouldn’t mistake it; from its form to its appearance, it was almost identical to the fossils they had excavated before, but sadly…
“This creature has been extinct for over 300 million years. You’ve been fooled, GangZi.”
“No, teacher! It’s real,” Wu Gang hurriedly contested upon hearing Gu Qingyuan’s words.
“Mm-hmm, I know it’s tough to realize you’ve been tricked, but that’s the reality…”
Gu Qingyuan thought it was necessary to console his student, but who would have thought that the other party would just hang up the phone!
Gu Qingyuan couldn’t help but be dumbfounded, even a little angry.
This kid, not only did he refuse to listen, but why did he hang up on him?
Just as Gu Qingyuan was about to call back, a video suddenly popped up from their chat box; its thumbnail was the monster from the screenshot sent by Wu Gang.
Is it the live streamer who discovered the organism in the video?
Out of curiosity, Professor Gu Qingyuan downloaded the video.
Three minutes later.
Professor Gu Qingyuan’s roar shook the entire building.
“Wu Gang, where is this live stream? Tell me! Now! Quick!”
The sudden shout startled the security guards into thinking someone was in danger, and they rushed out of the building in a panic, only to see Gu Qingyuan riding a shared bike towards the graduate dormitories.
Swift as the wind, fierce as electricity.
This night was destined to be restless.
At Shenhua Group, Lin Chang was also talking with Wang Yongbo and Yao Jun.
At the same time, the secretary pushed open the door and whispered something into Lin Chang’s ear.
On the other end, Yao Jun also received a message from Brother Long almost simultaneously.
Only Wang Yongbo, who had no other sources, was nervously listening to the phone.
“How is it, did anyone die?”
“No,” Yao Jun was the first to reply. Although those people were in bad shape, no one died.
“Phew! Good, good, if nobody’s dead, that’s a relief!” Hearing this, Wang Yongbo breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a tissue.
But today really scared the life out of him; despite it being autumn, Wang Yongbo, sitting in his office, was sweating more than Bi Fang who was out in the desert, fearful that one wrong move could end his newly acquired cash cow.
It was one thing for someone to lose followers, but he never expected Bi Fang’s counterattack to be so fierce, to actually lead people into quicksand!
Fortunately, the groundwork was well laid; there was no loss of face, and if a battle of public opinion broke out, both sides could argue back and forth, losing at most some popularity with bystanders.
If the behavior of riding on others’ popularity weren’t stopped, the losses would have been greater; overall, they still came out ahead.
But the question remained, how could a perfectly good jeep suddenly catch fire and explode?
Thankfully, thankfully, no lives were lost—the problem wasn’t too big, after all, there were two big shots here.
For them, as long as no one died, everything else was trivial.
“They got off easy,” Yao Jun’s face showed dissatisfaction.
Things came to a head, and Brother Long, who originally intended to teach a few people a lesson, ended up becoming a firefighter!
Who could’ve expected that?
Rushing over in a hurry, instead of breaking his legs, he only encountered a raging fire!
Uncle Long, who understood the bigger picture, of course knew what was more urgent, and led a few people down to fight the fire.
More crucially, the dashcam was saved as well.
It just so happened that Du Chuan was sitting on the hood of the car when the incident unfolded, capturing everything clearly!
“Alright, we also owe you one this time, Yao Jun. If not for the fact you had people there just in time, a death would have been difficult to handle; we would have had to go to some trouble,” Lin Chang said with a chuckle, shaking his head. He and Yao Jun had known each other since they were kids and was well aware of his character; he was someone who wasn’t afraid of trouble.
Of course, Lin Chang wasn’t scared either; he just found it bothersome.
This time, they reaped all the benefits of the good news; the audience didn’t see anything and only knew that Du Chuan and the others were trapped in quicksand but safely waiting for rescue.
As for what happened later, Lin Chang had more than enough to handle it smoothly.
Not to mention, an even more powerful player had entered the game.
The real boss.
With him involved, there was no way this incident could make it online.
Even if the families made a big fuss, it would be futile.