Chapter 16 is not fun at all!
At dawn at the base, there were no roosters crowing, only the resounding bugle calls.
"Drip-drip-drip-"
Zhao Di was awakened by fright.
She groggily crawled out of bed and found herself sleeping in an unfamiliar place.
The walls were plastered with cement and looked dusty.
The windows were quite large, but the glass was covered with a thick layer of sand and dust.
The house was warm and cozy with a stove burning inside.
"Father? Brother?"
Zhao Di called out twice.
No one agreed.
There was a bowl of still-warm millet porridge on the table, with a note next to it.
That was left by Lin Jianguo. He said he was going to take care of some paperwork and told her to eat properly and not run around.
Zhao Di obediently climbed out of bed, picked up the bowl, and slurped down her porridge.
It tastes so good.
Although there was no meat, it was thick and had rice oil in it.
After finishing her porridge, Zhao Di was looking for something to do.
The door was pushed open.
Two women in white coats came in.
Wearing a mask, only his eyes were visible, and he looked quite serious.
"Little Lin Zhaodi, come with me."
One of the women was holding a notebook and spoke in a curt tone.
This was arranged by the base's research department.
Since Commander Zhang and Old Chen both say this child is a genius, there must be some data to support it, right?
Therefore, they worked through the night to develop a detailed testing plan.
From IQ tests to psychological assessments, and even physical function tests.
Zhao Di was a little scared.
Although these two women didn't carry guns, they smelled bad.
That smells like disinfectant, just like the place where you get a shot.
"I'm not going... I want to wait for Dad..."
Zhao Di shrank back a little.
"Listen to me, your dad will come to pick you up soon."
Without saying a word, the aunt grabbed Zhao Di's little hand and led her outside.
In those days, collective interests took precedence over everything else.
Cooperating with the investigation is a matter of course.
No one thought there was anything wrong with this for a three-year-old child.
Zhao Di was led to a very large room.
It's colder here.
Everywhere there were cold, metallic instruments and various flashing lights.
Several old men wearing thick glasses were huddled together, whispering something.
When they saw Zhao Di arrive, their eyes lit up, as if they had seen a lab rat.
"Come, sit here."
Zhao Di was lifted onto a tall iron chair.
An old man took out a pile of colorful building blocks and several cards with strange patterns.
"Little friend, tell Grandpa, this shape is missing a piece. Which one should it be?"
Those are Raven's IQ test questions.
For an average three-year-old, this is like reading gibberish.
Zhao Di blinked, looking at the card.
The system was ranting and raving in her head.
These foolish humans!
Is this some kind of low-dimensional plane geometry problem meant to insult the host system?
[Host! Choose C! The one that looks like a donut!]
Zhao Di obediently pointed to C.
The old men exclaimed in surprise and quickly took notes.
"Next question!"
Testing is getting harder and harder.
Time passed little by little.
Zhao Di couldn't sit still any longer.
That iron chair was too hard; it hurt my butt.
Moreover, the room was too quiet, with only the scratching of the pen tip on the paper and the beeping of the instruments.
Suppression.
It's so depressing.
Zhao Di felt like a bird trapped in a cage.
"I'm not playing anymore... I want to go home..."
Zhao Di twisted her body, wanting to go down.
"Don't move! There's one last test!"
A young researcher held Zhao Di's shoulder and put a helmet full of wires on her head.
That's an electroencephalogram (EEG) monitor.
The cool contacts were pressed against my scalp, along with a slightly sticky conductive paste.
Zhao Di was terrified.
She thought it was something that Lai Tou Li used to electrocute people.
"Wow--!!!"
"No! Don't wear this! It's a monster hat!"
"Dad! Help! There are bad guys!"
Zhao Di finally couldn't hold back anymore and burst into tears.
This cry was earth-shattering.
She kicked and thrashed, sweeping all the building blocks and cards off the table and onto the floor.
The young researcher was kicked, and his glasses were askew.
"Oh dear! Why is this child so uncooperative!"
"Hold her down! The data isn't finished yet!"
Several adults rushed over in a flurry, trying to control the crazed little dumpling.
The system was furious.
He was furious.
[Warning! Warning!]
[Host's emotional state has been severely disrupted!]
[Mood level has plummeted below the warning line!]
[If this is not stopped immediately, the system will initiate a self-destruct sequence and, incidentally, blow up the laboratory!]
The system can't actually blow up the lab (that's illegal), but it can cause damage.
[Sizzle sizzle—]
The lights in the laboratory suddenly started flickering.
The screens of those operating instruments suddenly became filled with static, and then a plume of black smoke appeared.
"What happened?! A short circuit?!"
"Turn off the power immediately! The equipment is about to burn out!"
The laboratory was in complete chaos.
Just then.
"Bang!"
The laboratory door was suddenly kicked open.
Lin Jianguo, like an angry lion, rushed in, leaning on the cane he still hadn't thrown away.
He was handling some paperwork outside when he heard his daughter crying, and he was terrified.
As soon as I entered, I saw several big men in white coats holding down their daughters.
Zhao Di cried until her face turned purple, and she was still wearing that strange-looking wire hat on her head.
"Let her go!"
Lin Jianguo let out a loud shout, which shook the dust off the roof.
He rushed over and shoved the young researcher aside.
His movements were rough, even menacing.
"father--"
When Zhao Di saw her savior arrive, she clung tightly to Lin Jianguo's neck with both little hands, hanging on him and crying uncontrollably.
"Father...I'm afraid...to go home..."
Lin Jianguo ripped off that damned helmet, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it until it was a complete mess.
He held his daughter tightly, gently patting her back with one hand.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Dad is here."
Then, he looked up.
Those eyes were frighteningly red, staring intently at the group of intellectuals in the room.
"What are you doing?!"
"Is she a criminal?! Are you interrogating her?!"
"She's only three years old! Three years old!"
"You're parents too! If someone treated your child like that, how would you react?!"
Lin Jianguo's voice was hoarse, carrying the most primal anger of a father.
The experts in the room were all stunned.
The old professor in charge of the test blushed and paled in turns.
They were too impatient.
I really want to know where the limits of this "genius" are.
But they forgot that a genius is first and foremost a child.
She is a child with flesh and blood, who feels pain and fear.
"Comrade Jianguo...we were also doing this for the sake of our work..."
Someone offered a quiet defense.
Screw your job!
Lin Jianguo swore.
"I entrusted my daughter to the state so that you could protect her, not so that you could use her as a guinea pig!"
"If this is how you treat geniuses, then we're not going to be geniuses anymore!"
"I'll take her home to farm!"
After saying that, Lin Jianguo picked up Zhao Di and turned to leave.
The room was left full of experts, looking at each other in bewilderment, overwhelmed with shame.
In the corridor.
Chen Zhiyuan ran over, panting.
He had just heard that the research department had taken Zhao Di away, and he knew something bad was going to happen.
"Jianguo! Jianguo, calm down!"
Chen Zhiyuan stopped Lin Jianguo.
Seeing Zhao Di sobbing on Lin Jianguo's shoulder, Chen Zhiyuan stomped his feet in heartache.
"These bookworms! They've botched everything!"
He turned and yelled into the laboratory:
"Listen up, all of you!"
"If anyone dares to bring Zhaodi to a place like this without my permission again, I'll fight them to the death!"
"Want the data? Sure!"
"Trade it for candy! Trade it for toys! Trade it for sincerity!"
"She's a human being! Not a machine!"
This day.
The research department of Base 091 learned a heavy lesson.
They finally understood.
I want to open the heart of this wonderful girl.
It doesn't rely on cold instruments and test questions.
Instead, they should treat her like the apple of their eye, pampering, coaxing, and loving her.
Only in the soil of love.
Only then can this miraculous flower bloom most beautifully.
Meanwhile, the system silently gave Lin Jianguo a thumbs up in Zhao Di's mind.
Well done, cripple dad.
This display of fierce protection deserves full marks from this system.
Looks like we're not fighting alone in this wretched place.
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