The editorial office of *Science* in the United States.

Adam sat in a chair in the editorial office, yawning as he glanced at the wall clock.

It's 5 p.m.

It's time to leave work!

He stretched and dragged the mouse to close the file on the computer desktop.

As a science editor, he reviews a large number of manuscripts submitted from all over the world every day.

Of these submissions from around the world, conservatively estimated, only 10% are truly valuable!

As for the reason... it's very simple.

Science is a top-tier journal worldwide.

Countless researchers hope that it will include and publish their papers.

This is not just an affirmation, but also a symbol of status!

This has led to a very frustrating situation.

Besides established researchers, many "amateur" researchers also contribute to the journal *Science*.

These "wild" researchers have a name that belongs to them.

Amateur scientists.

Abbreviated as "folk science".

It's no exaggeration to say that at least half of the emails Adam receives every day come from these amateur scientists.

The conclusions inside are even more outrageous than the last.

Water-powered blades cutting atomic atoms, anti-gravity devices, perpetual motion machines...

It's fair to say that Adam's inbox is overflowing with papers—if you can imagine it, you can find it.

Adam sighed deeply as he dragged a file from his computer into the trash can.

This article is a typical example of a pseudo-scientific paper.

The paper's authors claimed to have solved Goldbach's conjecture.

But when he opened the file and began to examine it closely, he was horrified to discover that the author didn't even understand what Goldbach's Conjecture was!

“God… Michelle, you really should have taken a look at this paper.” Adam muttered to himself as he deleted the paper.

As Adam finished speaking, a blonde, blue-eyed female editor sitting next to him smiled and turned to look at him: "What? What bizarre paper have you come across this time?"

Adam stopped what he was doing, spun his chair around, and turned to Michelle to complain, "The author thinks that Goldbach's conjecture is a proof of 1+1\u003d2."

Michelle paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"My God... Adam, I really don't understand why you always manage to review these bizarre papers!"

Adam shrugged helplessly: "Who knows?"

"Ding-dong!"

Just as Adam was about to get up and leave his seat, a crisp notification sound rang out from the computer in front of him.

"Damn it... another submission!" Adam glared angrily at Michelle, who was idly sitting next to him. "This isn't fair!"

"I reviewed fifteen papers all day today!"

"Of these, fourteen were rejected drafts!"

Michelle smiled, shut down her laptop, and shrugged, saying, "Really? I also feel it's pretty unfair every time I get paid. How about we switch?"

Adam: "..."

"Then let's forget about it..."

He chuckled awkwardly and sat back down in his seat.

The moment he saw the title of the paper, his eyebrows shot up.

"Wow! It's a paper about controlled nuclear fusion!"

“Michelle, let’s make a bet. I bet this paper is scrap!”

Hearing Adam's words, Michelle raised her eyebrows and dragged her office chair to sit next to Adam: "What's the bet?"

"A dinner?"

As Adam spoke, he clicked the mouse to open the file.

“If it’s Michelin, I’ll bet you!” Michel glanced at the email subject and said after a moment of contemplation.

Adam paused slightly as he manipulated the mouse.

Michelin...that costs a lot of money!

However, thinking about the experience of having fourteen rejected drafts in a row today, Adam felt a strange sense of confidence.

"Okay! A Michelin-starred restaurant it is!"

"I refuse to believe that I'll still be able to see a normal paper near the end of the workday!"

As they were talking, the file in the email was opened.

Adam quickly dragged the mouse to the author's name field.

"……hiss!"

The moment Adam saw the signature, he gasped in shock!

"The second author of this paper is actually from the Nuclear Physics Laboratory of Sandaokou University in China?!"

Adam's lips twitched slightly.

“You owe me a Michelin-starred meal, don’t forget!” Michelle’s eyes were practically overflowing with laughter.

Adam shook his head helplessly: "Michelin it is... What I'm more concerned about is the first author of this paper."

“This Lv Yongchang… I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this name in the nuclear physics community.”

Michelle's expression turned serious.

She frowned and thought carefully for a long time before slowly shaking her head.

"I've never heard of this name before."

"Could it be a newcomer?"

Adam shook his head solemnly and jotted down the string of letters in his notebook: "Probably not. Do you think a newcomer can get first authorship on a paper like this?"

"The second author of this paper is from the nuclear physics laboratory at Sandaokou University in China!"

Michelle slowly shook her head: "I don't know either... Let's take a look at the paper first!"

Adam nodded solemnly.

Upon learning that the paper came from Sandaokou University in Xia Country, his expression became much more serious.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!