Chapter 297 Public Debate?
"This...isn't this the strain improvement protocol that our lab just developed last month? How could he..."
Zhang Huilan was a true expert; she spotted the problem at a glance.
The "multiple mutation screening method" that Fang Jianxing talked about at length in the report is a confidential achievement that his team has spent months working on. It is currently still in the technology reserve stage and has never been made public.
This is no coincidence.
This is blatant technology theft.
"Mom, don't worry." Su Yue put down the newspaper, helped Zhang Huilan sit down in the wicker chair, and poured herself a glass of water and handed it to her.
There was no trace of panic on her face; her calmness was somewhat unusual.
Especially in times like these, it's crucial to stay calm and avoid making a rash decision.
Su Yue quickly went through all the key personnel who had been in contact with this technology in her mind.
From her mother-in-law Zhang Huilan to the members of the expert group in Beijing, and then to Gu Nanxing and Chen Xinyue, all of these people were handpicked by her or were her own people who had undergone numerous tests, so their loyalty is beyond question.
The source of the leak is not at the core.
So the problem lies on the periphery.
Just then, Gu Beixiao rushed in from outside, also holding the same newspaper in his hand.
"Sister-in-law! Who is this grandson surnamed Fang? How dare he steal our things! I'm going to skin him alive right now!"
Gu Beixiao was filled with righteous indignation and rolled up his sleeves to walk out.
Since becoming the director of the "Diversified Business Office," he has toned down his reckless attitude quite a bit, but when it comes to issues concerning his family, he immediately reveals his true colors.
"Stop right there," Su Yue called out to him. "This is a society governed by law, not a time for violence."
"What can we do? Just watch him use our stuff to swindle people?" Gu Beixiao asked anxiously.
“You,” Su Yue looked at him, “use the connections in your office to thoroughly investigate Fang Jianxing’s background. I need to know what his ancestors for eighteen generations did.”
Upon hearing there was work to be done, Gu Beixiao immediately perked up. "Alright! I guarantee I'll complete the task!"
Just as he was about to leave, Chu Jingya rushed over from outside. She had just returned from rehearsals with the performing arts troupe, and her forehead was still covered in fine beads of sweat.
"Bei Xiao, cousin, I just heard from people in our group that Fang Jianxing in the newspaper seems to be the husband of Nurse Wang from the health station."
One sentence made Gu Beixiao, who was about to leave, stop in his tracks.
This also instantly shattered Su Yue's chaotic thoughts, as if struck by lightning.
Nurse Wang.
That woman who used to be sarcastic and sarcastic towards me in the courtyard, but was later humiliated by my mother-in-law.
Nurse Wang's sister-in-law is Qian Fen.
The woman who had been peeking out from outside her own yard not long ago, using the excuse of raising chickens, but actually looking around suspiciously.
A complete chain of clues instantly formed in Su Yue's mind.
Qian Fen eavesdropped and watched outside the hospital, noting down bits and pieces of conversation between laboratory staff and the herbs she was drying, and then embellished them as she told Nurse Wang.
Nurse Wang then told these things as some important secret to her husband, Fang Jianxing, a lecturer at Qiongzhou University who was eager to climb the corporate ladder.
I see.
Su Yue returned to her study and unfolded a drawing.
This drawing shows an extremely complex molecular structure model of a penicillin strain.
While she was reviewing experimental data at home, her daughter Gu Ningjing, who was less than a year old, woke up at some point, climbed out of her cradle, and wobbled to the desk.
The little guy stared curiously at the intricate blueprint with his big, dark, grape-like eyes, as if it were some kind of novel toy.
Suddenly, she stretched out her chubby little finger and, without the slightest hesitation, pointed precisely to an extremely tiny, almost negligible node in the picture.
That node was a "pseudo-node" that Su Yue deliberately set up when drawing the final map to prevent the technology from being leaked.
It seems structurally reasonable, but once the strain is induced to undergo mutagenesis based on the data at this node, its stability will be greatly reduced, and it may even collapse during the mass production stage.
This was a poisoned trap known only to Su Yue.
Gu Ningjing pointed her little finger at the fake node, opened her mouth, and giggled at Su Yue, as if to say, "Mommy, this is not right."
Her daughter's unintentional act gave Su Yue a huge surprise.
She understood completely.
What Fang Jianxing stole was not the complete core technology at all.
What he took away was a "half-finished product" riddled with flaws and even fatal errors, after being "artistically processed" by two laymen, Qian Fen and Nurse Wang.
He thought he had struck gold, but little did he know that it was a ticking time bomb.
Su Yue picked up her daughter and kissed her on her rosy cheeks.
"My dear daughter, you are truly my lucky star."
She handed her daughter to her grandmother, who had come upon hearing the commotion, and then picked up the encrypted phone to the capital.
On the other end of the phone, Gu Nanxing was extremely anxious about this matter.
"Sister-in-law, the news is spreading all over Beijing that our lab is just seeking fame and fortune and suppressing young scientists. Our reputation is ruined! What should we do?"
"Nanxing, don't rush." Su Yue's voice was calm and firm. "On behalf of the laboratory, submit a formal appeal to the Provincial Science and Technology Commission immediately."
"Appeal about what?"
"We have proposed that Comrade Fang Jianxing's research findings are highly similar to our ongoing project, which raises academic concerns. To prove our innocence, we request the Science and Technology Commission to organize a public academic debate, so that Comrade Fang Jianxing and I can present our respective findings in front of experts from across the province. Whether they are genuine or not, original or plagiarized, will be clear in a single debate."
Gu Nanxing was stunned: "Public debate? Sister-in-law, isn't this putting us in a very dangerous position? What if..."
“There’s no ‘what if’,” Su Yue interrupted her. “Do as I say. If he wants fame, I’ll give him a chance to become famous throughout the province.”
Fang Jianxing soon received a debate invitation from the Provincial Science and Technology Commission.
He accepted the challenge almost without hesitation.
In his view, this was not a challenge at all, but rather Su Yue's side fighting like cornered beasts, a stepping stone delivered to his door for him to step on to rise to power.
He immediately contacted a journalist he knew and publicized the matter extensively in the newspaper, portraying himself as a genius scientist who dared to challenge authority but was ruthlessly suppressed by a laboratory with a "military family background," which garnered him a great deal of sympathy.
An academic showdown that will attract province-wide attention has begun.
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