Chapter 1124 - 836: All Doctors Are Advanced Talent_2

The kind of scheming and plotting appearing in the Ivory Tower gives a sense of chaotic harmony; however, now that it’s been pointed out, Mo Kai understood it immediately.

"Besides that," Weng Pinting looked around, grabbed a can of coffee from Bai Qinghua’s desk, and opened it, "there are other possibilities."

Nan Zhubin glanced at Mo Kai and followed up in a very academic manner: "Her intentions aren’t singular. When someone repeatedly crosses boundaries in a conflict situation and suddenly changes their attitude after being countered, this behavior itself is a set of signals, not just one signal."

Weng Pinting gave Nan Zhubin an appreciative look; having someone support the theoretical basis after saying a short sentence feels quite delightful.

Even though she always admired, and could even say indulged, Nan Zhubin, it didn’t stop her from continuing to infuse goodwill towards him.

Bai Qinghua felt the same way.

Occasionally, Weng Pinting regretted introducing Nan Zhubin to Bai Qinghua. When traveling all over the place for business and projects, having an assistant like Nan Zhubin by her side would be truly excellent.

But such thoughts were quickly suppressed by Weng Pinting.

Weng Pinting continued, "Besides the first possibility just mentioned, the student she sent out also has some implications."

Nan Zhubin looked over, slightly increasing his attention.

"I’ve inquired about the composition of her research group. Previously, a teacher with the surname Yang from our faculty switched jobs, leaving a large group of students, most of whom were absorbed by Bi Yanling—she was obviously willing to take them, given the lack of support."

Weng Pinting said, "This Ph.D. student named Jie Nianzhou is one of them."

Nan Zhubin hadn’t yet mentioned Jie Nianzhou’s situation to Weng Pinting, since she had just returned; plus, concerning Jie Nianzhou’s case, Nan Zhubin’s direct supervisor was Director He.

Nevertheless, Weng Pinting managed to gather a good chunk of background information about Bi Yanling’s research group, including Jie Nianzhou, in her own way.

"I’ve heard from Qian Qian that this semester, Bi Yanling has been having this student named Jie Nianzhou do miscellaneous tasks."

"Having a student who isn’t central to the research group come to borrow a lab from us with such a gentle demeanor, as if nothing’s wrong after our conflict..."

Weng Pinting concluded, "The intention to explore becomes quite evident."

Nan Zhubin calmed his thoughts, looked at Mo Kai, and explained, "This is a case of [boundary testing]."

When an individual is uncertain of the other’s tolerance limits, they first send a low-value agent or executor to initiate an interaction to gather information about the other’s reactions.

"The key to this strategy is that whether the outcome is positive or negative, the tester can extract valuable information from it." Nan Zhubin said to Mo Kai.

Shi Qianqian simplified the explanation: "If I refused Jie Nianzhou, not letting him use the lab, teacher Bi Yanling would know our research group’s attitude towards her has entered a very systematic rejection; and because her request is very reasonable this time, she can determine that our rejection targets her personally, rather than issues with the experimental schedule."

Mo Kai looked back and forth between Weng Pinting, Nan Zhubin, and Shi Qianqian.

Finally, after some thought, he drew an analogy: "If, like now, that senior brother manages to borrow the lab successfully?"

Shi Qianqian replied as a matter of course: "It shows we are magnanimous and don’t make things difficult for students."

Mo Kai blinked, finding this answer a bit unexpected.

It was indeed the truth, but Shi Qianqian smiled, feeling amused by her junior brother before getting serious again: "If we were to calculate it, this also leads to a conclusion—that is, our conflict remains at an individual level. The teacher doesn’t intend to escalate matters to a group level."

Bai Qinghua chuckled lightly aside.

Judging others by one’s own measure.

"So whether she succeeds in borrowing or not, it’s useful for her." Weng Pinting unusually added.

"Even if Jie Nianzhou is troubled and bullied by us—it doesn’t matter to her, she even gains more."

"Using the personal expense of a non-core member to satisfy our emotional release."

This possibility made Mo Kai feel a bit uncomfortable.

This means Jie Nianzhou was purely used as cannon fodder by Bi Yanling.

For such a situation, including Mo Kai, everyone understood.

It’s just that when it appears so blatantly in front of them, and is used against them, a sense of disgust like seeing something filthy inevitably arises.

Bai Qinghua looked at his constantly speaking, continuously exchanging opinions, and changing expressions apprentices, feeling somewhat gratified inside.

At the moment, it’s not just a teaching session for the new apprentice Mo Kai but also a discussion session about Bi Yanling.

Bi Yanling’s little cleverness wasn’t a secret to anyone present except Mo Kai. If it were a teaching session, leaving one person to mentor alone would be sufficient.

However, each person’s way of analyzing and understanding things is different, and discussing with everyone together often yields gains beyond one’s own cognitive framework.

The collision of knowledge can spark a flash and then blaze.

From this perspective, instead, Bi Yanling was using herself as a source to add bricks and tiles to Bai Qinghua’s research group.

"Alright." Seeing that the students had nearly finished their discussion, Bai Qinghua clapped his hands, "Whatever Bi Yanling does, our original planned tasks remain unchanged."

"Of course, you should prioritize your studies. If you have an experiment at hand, focus on your tasks first," Bai Qinghua added.

For Bai Qinghua, if students were delayed due to Bi Yanling, it would be counterproductive.

Fortunately, among the current Inner Sect Disciples in position, Shi Qianqian had already started direct Ph.D. studies, Nan Zhubin and Mo Kai were still in the phase before the experiment began.

Having a task like Bi Yanling’s in the mix was more like a form of adjustment challenge in scientific research life.

Leaving the study, everyone began their work as usual. Mo Kai first went to Blue Tie to ask for the paper package.

"Why do you need these?" Upon hearing this request, Blue Tie displayed a slightly amused look, showing an expression suggesting rekindled traumatic memories.

"Recently, I’ve been interested in this research direction." Mo Kai smiled flawlessly.

"I’ve deleted them all." Blue Tie said reasonably, "But I still have that PPT, with a reference list at the end..."

That works, just adds one step of finding the references, not a major issue.

"Wait, this many?!" Upon seeing the list sent by Blue Tie, Mo Kai couldn’t help but widen his eyes.

"Yes..." Blue Tie’s response was weak.

Mo Kai’s eyes turned sympathetic, even patting Blue Tie’s shoulder in a comforting manner: "It’s okay, it’s all in the past..."

Now he could understand why Blue Tie seemed exhausted every day during those weeks.

If not for the fact that such sect battles can’t be escalated to include Outer Sect Disciples, Mo Kai would’ve wanted to pull Blue Tie along for a revenge match.

Nan Zhubin turned to look at the screen: "Were these all used when he made the PPT?"

He was a bit surprised too, not to mention the number of items on this list, most were foreign papers.

Looking at it this way, Blue Tie’s document reading ability is quite solid.

"Yes." Mo Kai had already started using the campus network to log into the university library account.

He took a deep breath, ready to fight through the night or even pull an all-nighter. After all, this was his first battle after entering the Inner Sect, and he couldn’t afford to be less efficient.

But as time passed—

"Hmm?" Mo Kai suddenly snapped back to reality, reexamining his progress in a daze. "Am I reading papers this fast?"

Beside him, Nan Zhubin’s pupils gradually adjusted back to focus, closing the window of the paper he just finished reading.