Rong Yu paid no mind to the gazes of the others.
Her expression was placid, her gaze falling on Lu Jiaojiao's head like an intangible blade.
"In extreme environments, the surface of the Shi crystal will develop nanopores due to atomic oxygen erosion, with a one-in-a-thousand probability of causing quantum state collapse. Why did Researcher Lu's paper avoid this issue?"
"NASA confirmed as early as last century that reactive hydroxyl groups on interstellar dust surfaces accelerate material aging—why was this item omitted from your control group?"
As soon as she posed these questions, everyone present was stunned.
Wasn't she a celebrity?
Why did she know so much about scientific research?
Her consecutive questions were not without logical structure; on the contrary, they tightly grasped the most core issues of Lu Jiaojiao's research paper, which were also the key points of public skepticism towards the paper.
Lu Jiaojiao bit her lip.
This Rong Yu was indeed here to cause trouble.
She took a deep breath and said, "Regarding this issue, we previously discussed it in the lab. Rong Yu, if you don't understand, I can explain it to you slowly in private. There's no need for you to ask these questions in public; it's rather pointless."
Some onlookers in the hall were immediately swayed by this narrative.
"A big celebrity dabbling in the entertainment industry asking these questions really is pointless."
"Researcher Lu has already publicly apologized, and she's still nitpicking here. Isn't she deliberately making things difficult?"
"Researchers dedicate themselves to science, while female celebrities are busy building their personas. The difference is clear."
"Tsk tsk, just kick her out already."
"..."
Lu Jiaojiao looked at the crowd with an apologetic expression. "It was my oversight that led to such serious consequences. I apologize once again to the public. Let's end here for today. Please leave in an orderly manner."
"Researcher Lu is in such a hurry to end the event. What are you worried about?" Rong Yu casually pulled a notebook from her backpack.
Ji Mohan quickly connected via Bluetooth to the large screen in the hall.
Key data from the control group experiments appeared on the screen.
First set of data: Atomic oxygen extreme environment test.
Second set of data: Cosmic dust catalysis experiment.
Third set of data: Solar storm extreme simulation.
Several pages of data, not a single superfluous word; even the punctuation was essential.
Most shocking was a real-time recording—under simulated CME (coronal mass ejection) conditions, the Shi crystal underwent chain disintegration in just three hours, its fragments forming a deadly metallic cloud within the vacuum chamber.
Lu Jiaojiao's face instantly turned deathly pale.
Professor Li had suspended the lab's usage privileges that very day. She had thought Rong Yu and Ji Mohan's experiment was interrupted and yielded no results, which was why she dared to hold this public press conference.
In such a short time, just the two of them had completed three sets of highly challenging control experiments?
How... how was this possible?
It was absurd.
The professors seated in the hall looked utterly shaken, rising abruptly to their feet.
"This... this is in-situ observation using synchrotron radiation? Our country just recently broke through this technical bottleneck; very few can achieve this!"
"She actually replicated the quantum tunneling effect at the interface between solar wind plasma and the material! As an old hand, I might not succeed once in a hundred attempts."
"The design of this control experiment is too perfect—temperature gradient, particle flux, dust, even cosmic ray fluctuations were considered..."
"..."
Everyone looked at Rong Yu with disbelief.
Was such a flawless experimental demonstration process her work?
Was... was this even possible?
Rong Yu lifted her eyes. "This is the complete risk assessment report. The blame should not be placed on the instability of the Shi element."
Lu Jiaojiao, her face pale, adjusted her glasses and said, "Excellent. With this supplemental experimental data, this paper can truly become an innovative milestone in the industry."
Saying this eased her tension considerably, and she immediately smiled. "These past few days, there have been many voices online questioning my team member, Rong Yu. Now, everyone has seen that Rong Yu is not what many believed her to be. She is a highly capable individual, fully qualified to be the third author of this research paper."
The looks directed at Rong Yu in the hall did indeed change.
In the face of genuine ability, all rumors and slander are paper tigers, collapsing on their own.
"Is that so?"
Ji Mohan, who had remained largely unnoticed until now, suddenly spoke.
His skin was very dark, and standing next to the strikingly beautiful Rong Yu, he was easily overlooked.
However, when he straightened his back, drew himself up, raised his head, and fixed his intense gaze on Lu Jiaojiao, people finally noticed him.
He raised his voice. "Lu Jiaojiao, do you truly believe Rong Yu is only qualified to be the third author?"
Lu Jiaojiao's heart was suddenly gripped by panic.
She reached up to adjust her glasses, inadvertently brushing aside her bangs and revealing a scar. Her gaze at Ji Mohan held a trace of annoyance, but also a plea.
She had saved him.
Did he have to embarrass her publicly?
"Your silence is because you dare not face this question squarely." Ji Mohan walked step by step onto the stage, stopping beside Lu Jiaojiao, standing under the spotlight.
He looked at the audience below, then at Rong Yu's gratified expression, and found courage within.
A life-saving debt was one thing.
Academic plagiarism was another.
The two should not be conflated.
"This is the project initiation document." Ji Mohan pressed a remote, and the screen changed to show an approval document from the Fourth Aerospace Institute and the Institute of Materials Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The field for "Initiator" clearly bore Rong Yu's name.
"She's the initiator?"
"The Aerospace Institute actually let a female celebrity be the project initiator? You must be joking."
"Doesn't this sufficiently prove she indeed has the capability? Should we deny her ability just because she's a public figure?"
"..."
"Yes, Rong Yu is the project proposer." Ji Mohan enunciated each word clearly. "She is the primary responsible person, the one who finalized the research plan. All experiments were first framed by Rong Yu... As for Lu Jiaojiao, she joined only on the fifth day of the experiment. The work she did isn't even sufficient to warrant her being listed as the third author."
Lu Jiaojiao's face was ashen. "You're lying! I am the discoverer of the Shi element. All experimental demonstrations related to this aspect in the study were conducted by me..."
Ji Mohan did not look at her.
He clicked to the final page on the large screen.
It displayed his chat history with Lu Jiaojiao, line by line, laid out before the public like ironclad evidence.
"Mohan, the oxidation behavior of ultra-high-temperature ceramic matrix composites in thermal protection systems for aircraft—this argument is insufficient. Can you help me supplement it?"
"Mohan, my advisor wants me to research topological insulators. You're more skilled in this area. Could you help me with the preliminary work?"
"Mohan, I just can't figure out the key technical points of this research. Could you help..."
All the chat records were one-sided requests for help from Lu Jiaojiao.
