That night, the veil of darkness enshrouded the entirety of Beijing within a mosaic of mottled neon.
Compared to the near-farcical digital carnival of gossip among the students on campus during the day, the corporate winds of the business sector were shattered completely by a thunderous heavy blow only after nightfall. It was a private WeChat Moments post originated from Julian Huo, the absolute helmsman of the Huo Corporation.
It bore zero accompanying images, nor did it feature any superfluous social pleasantries or stylistic modifications. There was merely a single, brief line of text in Song font—rigid and cold in phrasing, yet staggering in weight:
[The Legal Department of the Huo Corporation has finalized a critical contract amendment today: Within the clause defining "Family Members," the phrasing "and Professor Silas Shen" has been newly appended. ——Welcome to the Huo Family, Professor Shen.]
This post resembled a silent depth charge, violently detonated within the historically quiet corridors of capital venture. Lying inside Julian's private WeChat contact list were none other than multi-billion-dollar commercial tycoons, transnational mega-moguls, or top-tier executives of elite scientific research academies.
Within less than thirty seconds, the commentary sector collapsed entirely.
Those chairmen—who perennially appeared in financial news clad in formal suits and devoid of smiles—all cast away their rigid postures, the notification rings of their high-frequency upvotes causing mobile devices to grow scalding to the touch. Before the old foxes of the business arena could recover their faculties from this "hardcore-to-the-extreme" official broadcast, the official Weibo account of the Huo Corporation followed up immediately, forwarding the relevant intelligence with an absolutely high-profile, non-negotiable posture.
The official media outlet went so far as to formally append an editorial note dense with commercial value:
[Our congratulations to Professor Shen. The Bio-Tech sector of the Huo Corporation eagerly anticipates deep operational collaboration with your research team.]
Media outlets across all routes possessing high commercial sensitivity resembled sharks scenting blood, instantly launching a comprehensive follow-up. The absolute headlines of the financial sections, technology sections, and even entertainment sections were entirely reshuffled that night.
Across the midnight internet, the top three trending slots of the hot search boards were near-completely monopolized by the names of these two individuals:
#Huo Corporation Officially Announces Silas Shen#
#The Secret in a Beijing University Professor's Paper Acknowledgments#
#The Proposal Story of the Father of Blocker Patches#
Every single trending slot was punctuated by a deep-crimson, sizzling word: [EXPLOSIVE]. The netizen populace marveled at the legal department of a top-tier powerhouse executing an official broadcast in a fashion so hardcore it carried a touch of romance, while simultaneously chasing every scrap of clue to unearth exactly what holy existence this mysterious "Father of Blocker Patches" truly was.
Yet at this exact millisecond, situated at the absolute eye of the storm, the Life Sciences building maintained the clinical rigor and desolation characteristic of a deep night.
The cool white illumination of the workstation slanted across Silas Shen's elegant profile, outlining a rigid edge along one corner of his trench coat. The landline telephone resting on his desk hadn't ceased its operation since eight o'clock in the evening, the sharp ringing echoing pitch after pitch inside the vacant corridor.
Yet another call dialed in right on the dot. Lin answered it with some frantic rushing, and upon capturing the other party's intent, he instinctively covered the receiver with his palm, looking somewhat at a loss toward Silas, who was bending his head to proofread data sheets:
"Professor... it's a highly authoritative tech-business weekly journal. They desire to conduct an exclusive feature interview with you, querying you regarding this... this matter with the Huo Family. Do you see..."
Silas didn't even lift his head. His long fingers pinched a fountain pen, tracing an exceptionally precise circle across a complex genomic sequencing chart. His voice was cool and flat, stripped of a single ripple of disturbance from the external clamor:
"Inform them that my private life does not constitute research data. It possesses zero repeatability or reference value; consequently, I do not accept interviews of any form."
Lin snapped his spine straight out of habit: "Understood, I shall immediately—"
"Hold on." Silas's motion paused marginally, the phoenix eyes behind his lenses flashing with a rigor and coolness exclusive to a scientist. Shifting his face slightly, he appended, "If those reporters possess interest regarding the latest-generation blocker data engineered by our team, you may instruct them to follow standard protocol and schedule an academic exchange with the Life Sciences Department."
Lin listened with complete stupefaction, and rapidly delivered Professor Shen's "hardcore" refusal—which was stripped of a single error—verbatim into the receiver.
The exact millisecond Lin severed the connection, Hunter Huo, who was huddled within the shadow of the side parlor, could finally contain himself no longer.
This top-tier Alpha—who had wept with red eye rims before the entire university during the day—was currently sprawling across that old leather sofa in the corner with zero decorum. That eye-catching solar golden hair flashed blindingly under the cool light, his long legs interlaced with a touch of nowhere to be properly placed, his entire frame laughing so hard his shoulders twitched in successions, near-unable to straighten his spine.
"What are you laughing at?"
Silas ultimately set down the fountain pen in his hand. He lifted his hand with some helplessness to push his gold-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose, his gaze behind the lenses clearly flashing with the characters for 'Utterly Unreasonable.'
"Nothing, haha..."
Hunter massaged his midriff which had grown a fraction sore from the sheer laughter, while taking a long stride to traverse the brief distance to Silas's side. Utilizing his height advantage, he bent his frame downward with an exceptional sticky sweetness, those sparkling puppy eyes brimming with an overflowing heat and adoration, his voice low and magnetic:
"Professor, you genuinely... even your refusals directed at media interviews are executed with such style. Likening private life to non-repeatable research data—there is truly only you across this entire universe capable of engineering such a thought. I genuinely, truly adore you."
As he spoke, his long fingers rubbed lightly against the edge of the workstation with a touch of un-suppressible energy, his tall physical frame pressing a fraction closer toward Silas's direction without a single trace. That sweet, warm orange pheromone in the air began to stir with an itch to seep outward once more.
Silas's fingertips curled covertly by a millimeter against the smooth paper sheets. He did not rotate his head to return the gaze of the youth's excessively burning eyes; instead, he emotionlessly returned his line of sight across that stack of densely packed charts before his frame.
Subsequently, Professor Shen extended two pale, long fingers, executing a cold clack-clack tap against the desktop, his cool voice carrying an un-negotiable authority:
"...Hunter Huo, that clinical comparative experimental record you lagged behind on last week—did you finalize its writing tonight?"
The large golden dog, who had been wagging his invisible tail moments ago, froze dead-center in original position inside an instant.
Hunter scratched his brilliant golden hair, shifting his line of sight toward the ceiling with a guilty conscience, that triumphant posture of having secured his official tenure vanishing into absolute oblivion without a trace. Shrinking his neck crook, he spilled a weak-spirited, low syllable:
"...Writing it immediately, Professor."