62

With Lei Qiuping's inner energy finally stirring, Lei Zhengyang breathed easier. He'd spent days lurking near the cave mouth, watching over his uncle. Compared to his own brutal training, this was child's play, but safety demanded vigilance. For anyone else, he wouldn't have bothered with such fuss.

Back home, he wolfed down a feast and was about to crash when his phone buzzed. To his delight, it was Ye Qingcheng. "Well, well, gorgeous, pigs flying today? Calling me for a date?" he teased, grinning. Stuck in the wild with Qiuping, prank-calling Qingcheng had been his only fun, riling her up for days. Her calling him at dawn? A miracle.

"Lei Zhengyang, cut the nonsense," she snapped, her voice dripping with barely contained rage. "Mentor sent me to summon you to the Eastern Studio. We're waiting in the lab." She despised any link to Zhengyang, but fate had cruelly made them senior sister and junior brother. Wang's orders were non-negotiable, and this call was pure agony for her.

Zhengyang smirked. "Senior Sister, sorry, I pulled an all-nighter. I'm dead tired and hitting the sack. No classes today, yeah? I'll drop by later."

He knew the score: his equations had worked, and Academician Wang Liangeng was likely champing at the bit for deeper research. This project would turn heads at the national level. Antimatter—pseudo or not—was the toughest, most stable material known, a tech breakthrough that'd reshape the game. Qingcheng's anger boiled. She'd charmed countless men, none daring to refuse her, even with her frosty tone. Yet this punk dismissed her, forcing Wang to step in? Failing this simple task would dent her mentor's trust.

"Lei Zhengyang, what's your deal?" she hissed.

"How about you treat me to lunch?" he drawled. "Food tastes better with a stunner across the table."

"You—fine, lunch is on me. Get here now." The line went dead, and he could picture her shaking with fury.

Zhengyang freshened up, chuckling to himself. "Thinks she's all that, huh? Call her 'gorgeous' a few times, and she's queen of the world. Women—pamper them, and they get uppity. Let 'em run wild, and they forget their own names. Gotta keep 'em in check."

He'd seen Wang's reaction coming. Using Wang to pioneer antimatter research would quietly boost the Lei family's clout, so skipping this was never an option. Teasing Qingcheng? Just a bonus. Did she really think she was some celestial goddess?

Thirty minutes later, he cruised into Tsinghua's Science Park, a hub of dozens of standalone labs for approved projects. This was Tsinghua's trump card: talent could launch ventures mid-studies. Spotting Qingcheng, a vision in a flowing white skirt, her dark hair cascading over one shoulder, she stood out like a swan in a flock of ducks. At 1.65 meters, her graceful poise was magnetic. A pretty woman who knew how to dress was a walking work of art.

While Zhengyang flashed a cheeky grin, Qingcheng's face was a thundercloud. Before he parked, she marched over, voice icy. "Move it. Mentor's waiting. Quite the big shot, making your teacher cool his heels for you."

Zhengyang shrugged, unfazed. "Can't help it—my charm's just too much."

She scoffed, spun on her heel, and stormed toward the lab. Zhengyang's grin turned sly. As she turned, he noticed her true allure wasn't her peach-blossom face but her slender waist and shapely hips. That sway—perfectly curved—was pure magic, worthy of one of Beijing's four beauties.

"Zhengyang, hurry!" Wang Liangeng called from the lab, eyes glued to a dark substance shifting in the experimental furnace, his excitement uncontainable. Zhengyang strolled over, noting the condensing pseudo-antimatter. Not the real deal, but coaxing a third of its properties from this setup was a coup.

"Teacher, how's it going?" he asked, though Wang's glee said it all.

Wang beamed. "Zhengyang, your equations are gold. We can't make true antimatter, but this proves it exists. The pseudo-antimatter's lightness and proton density blow my mind. This is your win."

Wang's fairness stood out—he didn't swipe Zhengyang's credit, unlike some glory-hogging mentors. Zhengyang played humble. "Teacher, I just threw out wild ideas. You turned them real. Dreams are cheap; results take skill. If we get X-matter, it's your triumph."

"Teacher, we can cool it now," a student at the controls said. "Half an hour for a full structure map." He shut the furnace, tongs extracting a thumb-sized black lump, dropping it into a cooling tank. Steam hissed, and the team swarmed.

Soon, the X-matter sat on the lab table, looking like hardened melted plastic—mundane. But Wang, hands trembling, lifted it with tweezers. "I'll run the analysis myself. If it hits Zhengyang's numbers, this changes everything."

Analysis was grunt work, usually for assistants, but this substance's birth screamed revolution. Wang, giddy yet anxious, feared it was too good to be true. "Qingcheng, assist me."

Qingcheng, too thrilled to snipe at Zhengyang, stepped up, buzzing with anticipation, helping Wang with the final tests. The computer screen flickered, revealing structure maps and component ratios. The substance's main element—30% of its mass—was unknown.

"Teacher, it's got an element not in our database—30% of the material. Is this the X-element?" a student gasped.

Wang, focused, barked, "Run utility analysis. I need stability stats, now."

Half an hour later, the X-matter's report filled a large sheet. Wang pored over it, shock mounting, too gripped to explain. He dialed the Research Academy, urgency in his voice. This discovery was too big—leaks could be catastrophic. "Students, this material is a historic leap. For security, I've alerted the Academy. They're sending people. Stay calm and await state orders."

Turning to Zhengyang, he declared, "Zhengyang, you're getting top credit."

Wang's solemnity erased all doubts about Zhengyang's equations. Qingcheng, still reeling, asked, "Teacher, is this really antimatter?"

"Not quite," Wang said. "Zhengyang's right—pure antimatter can't exist, though it's real. This is 30% antimatter, a rare material with unmatched military potential, set to skyrocket our nation's defense."

His tactful words landed clear: this stuff would supercharge weapons.