Chapter 97: Chapter 92 Killing Begins!
Two days later.
After nine in the morning.
The entire USTC was enveloped in an atmosphere completely different from the usual.
South Campus of University of Science and Technology of China, Guo Moruo Square.
Southeast area of the square.
A group of staff was gathered in front of a tripod, doing the final equipment adjustments.
The crew included both men and women, each wearing a press pass on their chest, and their work uniforms had the words "Red Star" printed on them.
A few minutes later.
An individual who looked like a photographer, a tall man, stood up from the ground, screwing something in place as he asked the person beside him:
"Hey, boss, do you think USTC will mess up once this big setup they’ve planned goes live?"
The person he referred to as ’boss’ was a fair-skinned chubby guy named Zheng, a manager from Red Star’s news department and also their team leader for this trip.
Slightly pondering at the question, he replied:
"Hard to tell, although from what we’ve gathered from Bayer, this is likely to be fake.
But judging by Director Lin’s demeanor yesterday, it seems USTC is quite confident. Maybe they do have some black technology we don’t know about."
The Red Star crew had arrived in Lu Prefecture the afternoon before yesterday, and USTC had organized a meeting last night, where a director named Lin hosted it.
Although Director Lin was very hospitable, he didn’t give many hints during the meeting, and the food was quite ordinary.
It seemed like they just wanted everyone to eat and drink well, without any orders to silence the facts or anything like that.
This confident attitude left Manager Zheng and others puzzled, yet somehow more expectant of today’s live broadcast.
Then, as if suddenly reminded of something, Manager Zheng sighed lightly and said:
"I just hope USTC isn’t overextending itself out of pride, because the current domestic scientific community and media environment is already bad enough. If even USTC messes up... Sigh!"
The tall man beside him nodded in agreement, sharing a similar sentiment.
Around seven or eight years ago, along with the advancement of the internet, discussions about various scientific news in the country increased as well.
All sorts of true and false scandals became rampant.
Such as the liquor academicians that everyone is familiar with, Goddess Yan, etc., or the incident with Dr. Zhai.
But in reality,
Many issues involve complex human relations behind the scenes that are far from simple.
For example, the 2016 incident with Han Chunyu, or the grudges involving Mr. Shi — especially the latter, which is basically a murky affair.
Mr. Shi has always been criticized by Fang Zhouzi. By logic, those criticized by him should be outstanding domestic scholars, right?
But domestically, Mr. Shi, Grandma Tu, and Mr. Yao never really got along.
And their discord was not just about academic results, but more about other types of conflicts.
So behind many rumors, there are complex relationships like an iceberg under the water, not necessarily black or white.
But the problem is that public opinion doesn’t care about these hidden truths; it only sees the scandals of varying truths.
And with the occasional factual incident, the entire public opinion has turned towards belittling domestic scientific research and universities.
The trending narratives have become so absurd ever since—a 2020 news piece reported that Ludong University established a company in 2007, and after 13 years, its stock price had only risen by 20%.
Initially, Ludong University was slammed for cashing out and running away, prompting them to release a desperate statement denying any cash-out in all those years.
Then the narrative shifted the next day, accusing Ludong University of achieving nothing while running a company for so many years.
Ludong University explained that it is a small-scale company and that not making losses every year was already good, saying it hadn’t required subsidies for many years.
Upon seeing this, critics immediately changed their stance, claiming Ludong University’s lack of achievements led to the cancellation of state subsidies...
Who can you reason with for this?
Therefore, as conscientious media personnel, Manager Zheng indeed carries some hidden worry:
What if USTC messes up?
The ridicule would not just be directed at USTC but would undoubtedly ignite a new wave of criticism about domestic universities’ research levels!
And just as Manager Zheng was feeling worried, a few USTC staff members suddenly approached from not far away, each carrying some tools.
The leader among them was none other than Director Lin, whom they had met yesterday.
Upon arriving at the Red Star news station, Director Lin glanced at the already fixed tripod and asked Manager Zheng:
"Manager Zheng, is your equipment all set? As required, you need to evacuate the site within twenty minutes."
Manager Zheng nodded at the words, pointing to the cables already connected on the ground:
"The transmission cables are all set, and USTC’s anti-bite coating has been applied.
We just need to do the final camera focus, and it will be done in ten minutes."
"What about the drones?"
"The drones are ready too; we’ve brought six drones this time and can rotate them to seamlessly broadcast the scenes."
Director Lin listened quietly, a slight look of satisfaction appearing on his face.
Suddenly, he thought of something, pointing to the banners not far away and lowering his voice:
"By the way, Manager Zheng, do ask your technical guys to kindly capture those banners if possible.
They are our enterprises under USTC, and it’d be great to gain some visibility."
Manager Zheng’s gaze lingered on the banners reading ’Ke Da Xunfei/Guodun Quantum/Luzhou City High-tech Zone Congratulate USTC on Successful Cockroach Extermination!’ for a few seconds before she agreed confidently:
"Director Lin, rest assured. We’ll ensure it’s done!"
Director Lin nodded slightly, then waved the syringe in his hand:
"Since that’s settled, I’ll leave it to you, Manager Zheng. Time is tight; I must lead my team to apply the insecticide. Let’s have a nice drink after we’re done!"
Manager Zheng exchanged pleasantries in return. After Director Lin’s team left, he exhaled with a mix of feelings and resumed his own tasks.
Another ten minutes passed.
Manager Zheng and his team finished adjusting their equipment and began to evacuate the site.
Not far from them,
Director Lin, along with a few security personnel, set up a barricade and started applying bait onto several 1X1 meter whiteboards.
Similar scenes could be seen at places like the sports field, basketball court, and Glasses Lake in the South District, with no students visible in the related areas except for USTC staff.
With a broader view, one could see that the campus was sparsely populated, with some buildings even temporarily sealed off.
Several fire trucks were stationed on campus as contingency measures for any uncontrollable situations.
Above the sky, over ten drones were conducting flight tests, creating an atmosphere that could even be described as...
Solemn!
For this live cockroach extermination broadcast, USTC had specifically set up a temporary command center.
The command center was established in the first teaching building of the East District, between Guo Moruo Square and Glasses Lake.
The original space of the command center was a multimedia office, now filled with over ten people, including Tian Liangwei.
Xu Yun sat by Tian Liangwei’s side, his expression slightly grave.
After all, this extermination involved cockroaches lurking in dark corners with too many uncertainties that even Xu Yun could not guarantee there would be no mistakes.
The person in charge of the extermination area deployment today was Director Guan from the USTC security department, who had led Xu Yun to clear the deceased cockroaches in Building 14, previously a retired special forces soldier.
He had been continuously coordinating information exchanges with various departments for over an hour.
A few minutes later,
Director Guan seemed to receive a message.
He put down the communication device and walked directly to Tian Liangwei:
"Dean Tian, all media units have adjusted their equipment, and apart from a few reporters in protective suits, the other personnel have retreated to a safe position. Should we proceed to the next stage?"
Upon hearing this, Tian Liangwei turned and exchanged glances with Xu Yun, nodding heavily:
"Begin!"
.......