Chapter 21 Laboratory Director

Back home, Yu Ziqing slept for a while before getting up at 5 a.m., which is the hour of Mao (5 a.m.) to cultivate.

After finishing his cultivation at dawn, Yu Ziqing felt his internal energy was abundant and his spirits were high, enough to continue making the third talisman, the Slowing Talisman. However, considering his duel with Brother Tiger that evening, Yu Ziqing, being cautious, decided to conserve his strength and postpone making the third talisman.

After washing up, I left home promptly at 7:30. From afar, I saw a sign hanging outside Ah Zhen’s Steamed Bun Shop that read “Closed Today.” Many regular customers looked surprised as they passed by, wondering why Ah Zhen’s Steamed Bun Shop, which was open every day regardless of the weather, was closed today.

However, when Yu Ziqing passed by Ah Zhen’s steamed bun shop, the door opened.

The proprietress’s simple yet charming face peeked out from the crack in the door, giving Yu Ziqing a friendly smile and waving.

“Ziqing, come here.”

A hint of doubt flashed across Yu Ziqing’s face, but she still went inside and asked, “What’s wrong, Sister Zhen?”

While helping the proprietress clean up the steamed bun shop in the early morning, Yu Ziqing learned that the proprietress’s name was Zhu Lizhen. Since Yu Ziqing was only twenty-five years old, at Zhu Lizhen’s request, Yu Ziqing called her Sister Zhen.

“Your breakfast!” Zhu Lizhen handed Yu Ziqing four meat buns and a bag of soy milk, a touching tenderness on her face.

Yu Ziqing then remembered what he had said in the early morning. He hadn’t expected that Zhu Lizhen would still make him steamed buns even though the business wasn’t open yet. A warm feeling welled up in his heart.

“I’m not a pig, I can’t possibly eat that much all at once. Two are enough for me,” Yu Ziqing said with a smile.

“Look at you, so thin. You need to eat more,” Zhu Lizhen scolded, stuffing steamed buns and soy milk into his hands without further ado.

“Hehe, be careful I eat you out of business.” Yu Ziqing said helplessly as he took the steamed bun, munching on it as he left the store.

Zhu Lizhen chuckled and said, “I’ve been waiting for this day!”

When she realized she had laughed, she was stunned; she couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed.

Yu Ziqing arrived at work at 7:45, when the office was almost empty. Remembering he needed to withdraw money for Zhu Lizhen later, he immediately began preparing for the morning’s work. [The previous chapters regarding the laboratory have undergone significant revisions and cuts. Readers who have read the original manuscript are kindly requested to take some time to reread Chapter 2 to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings or confusion.]

As a person, Yu Ziqing has always believed that there’s nothing wrong with being lazy, but one should still do their job well. Therefore, as far as possible, Yu Ziqing doesn’t want personal matters to affect their work.

After preparing the PTFE crucible and tray, Yu Ziqing quietly stayed in the balance room to weigh the sample.

In analytical testing experiments, accurately weighing a sample to 0.0002 grams requires considerable patience and manual dexterity from the experimenter.

For an immortal who has undergone countless years of tedious cultivation, patience is obviously not an issue. As for manual dexterity, it is also much stronger than that of ordinary people due to his cultivation. Therefore, Yu Ziqing weighs samples very quickly, almost finishing one sample in two or three seconds.

Outside the balance room, Cheng Qiuman watched Yu Ziqing skillfully and quickly weigh the samples, her eyes occasionally flashing with surprise and admiration.

Cheng Qiuman is the newly appointed head of the chemistry lab in the first half of the year. She is thirty-six years old, beautiful and dignified, and wears black-rimmed glasses, giving her the air of a highly educated intellectual.

In this long-established research institute, Cheng Qiuman is considered a young mid-level leader, and she is quite pragmatic.

She admired Yu Ziqing, a hardworking and down-to-earth young man. She once mentioned Yu Ziqing’s employment status to Director Liu, but Director Liu said that the institute had a policy that those without a master’s degree could not be easily given a permanent position, so the matter was dropped. However, Cheng Qiuman always believed that Yu Ziqing was more outstanding than some of the older employees and the highly educated talents newly introduced in recent years.

Seeing Yu Ziqing’s near-perfect grass-making skills today, Cheng Qiuman was once again convinced of her judgment that he was a rare talent.

“Xiao Yu, you’re starting work so early! You’re very diligent!” Cheng Qiuman praised as she entered the balance room.

“I wouldn’t dare say I’m diligent. I have something to do and need to go out later, so I’m making some preparations in advance.” Yu Ziqing glanced back at Cheng Qiuman, then lowered his head and continued weighing the samples, not putting down his work at all because of the director’s arrival.

Yu Ziqing’s frankness and disregard for her presence did not diminish Cheng Qiuman’s appreciation for him; on the contrary, she liked his down-to-earth and straightforward manner.

This is how people who do scientific research and analysis should be!

However, despite her appreciation, a hint of regret flashed in Cheng Qiuman’s eyes. In China, especially in public institutions, being too honest in dealing with people is not a good thing for personal development; on the contrary, it can be a stumbling block to one’s career advancement.

However, Cheng Qiuman did not intend to persuade Yu Ziqing. She could see that Yu Ziqing had a scholar’s pride in his bones. In fact, she also had it, but it had been worn down. Subconsciously, she still hoped that Yu Ziqing could continue to uphold this pride.

“Ziqing, come to my office after you’ve finished what you’re doing.” Cheng Qiuman said this and left.

After preparing for the morning’s experiment, Yu Ziqing knocked on Cheng Qiuman’s office door with a hint of doubt.

“What does Director Cheng want with me?” Yu Ziqing asked as he pushed open the door.

“Our department is about to purchase a Lehman Plasma Spectrometer from the United States, and our laboratory will also serve as a cooperative laboratory for Lehman in Zhejiang Province. Their new customers in Zhejiang Province will all receive practical training in our laboratory,” Cheng Qiuman said.

“Oh, we need to buy a plasma spectrometer. That’s great; it can detect multiple elements at once, and it’s very sensitive and accurate, especially for detecting basic earth metals. This should significantly improve our analytical efficiency.” Yu Ziqing’s eyes lit up slightly as he casually remarked.

Cheng Qiuman couldn’t help but show a hint of surprise on her face, and said, “Oh, it seems you have some knowledge in this area.”

“Plasma spectrometers are considered relatively advanced analytical instruments. I’ve looked at some materials on them in my spare time,” Yu Ziqing said dismissively.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Qiuman became even more determined in her decision, saying, “During this time, continue to study more materials in this area. After a while, I will send you to the Tsinghua University Analysis and Testing Center for training. That way, you can start using the instruments as soon as they arrive, and you can also offer your own opinions to the instrument engineers when they are debugging them.”