Chapter 405: The Die is Cast

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Compared to the probability of genetic mutation, genetic inheritance is obviously far more consistent.

Take the Wuxi Qian Family, for instance. They alone have produced ten academicians.

Qiu Yuexin was clearly not some prodigy from a humble background. Her parents, therefore, were in all likelihood high-level intellectuals—and probably the top-tier kind.

Even a genius needs fertile soil in which to grow.

For the many prodigies from humble backgrounds, it is only when they step onto the campus of a top university that they find the soil truly suited for their growth.

However, compared to those blessed individuals who were born into the right environment, they were getting a much later start.

The reason was simple: they had wasted too much time and energy in a compulsory education system obsessed with the “bucket effect” of shoring up weaknesses. Meanwhile, the top-tier scientific talent the country needs has always been the cream of the crop who exemplify the “long-board effect”—excelling by maximizing a single, great strength.

Looking back at history, the great scientists whose names are remembered almost all dedicated themselves to a single discipline, pushing one core strength to its absolute limit. Only a rare few could do this in two or even three disciplines at once.

Take Qiu Yuexin, for example. To have achieved what she had at her age, it’s likely that while her peers were still struggling to memorize their first English vocabulary word, she had already found the one strength she wanted to pursue for life and had firmly planted both feet on that path.

Jiang Man searched for Qiu Yanfeng’s Baidu Baike page and handed her phone to Gu Heng. “Qiu Yuexin’s father is named Qiu Yanfeng. This is his profile. Take a look for yourself.”

The majority of Gu Heng’s bandaged injuries were on his chest and abdomen. Although the two burns on his arm were also dressed, they were minor and didn’t affect his range of motion.

He took the phone from Jiang Man and looked.

“Holy shit!”

“An academician for a father-in-law?”

When Gu Heng saw the information on Qiu Yanfeng’s Baidu Baike page, he couldn’t help but curse, his eyes going wide as saucers.

Qiu Yanfeng, born in 1964, PhD from the University of Science and Technology of China, an academician of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the current Director of the CAS Institute of Physics. A pioneering figure in China’s research on lithium batteries and related materials, he was the first in the country to conduct research into the physicochemical processes and the design, synthesis, characterization, physical and electrochemical properties, and application of related materials in lithium-ion batteries, all-solid-state lithium batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, lithium-air batteries, and room-temperature sodium-ion batteries…

Gu Heng stared at the Baidu Baike page. The list of Qiu Yanfeng’s personal achievements, academic accomplishments, and honorary titles was so long it made his head spin.

Just a moment ago, after learning about Qi Guowei’s status, Gu Heng had subconsciously assumed that the Qiu Family had married up. Now, seeing who Qiu Yuexin’s father was, he belatedly realized it was the Qi Family who had married into a family of higher standing.

“Now search for Zheng Hanliu.”

“That’s Zheng, as in Z-H-E-N-G. Han, as in H-A-N. Liu, as in L-I-U.”

“It’s not too late to be impressed after you’ve searched.”

Jiang Man prompted Gu Heng.

As he heard this, Gu Heng started searching based on her instructions and asked tentatively, “You’re saying this is Qiu Yuexin’s mother?”

“The very one.”

Jiang Man nodded, a trace of wonder in her voice.

Thinking back to that day outside the emergency room, she recalled feeling that something was unusual.

Qi Guowei and Tang Jinghui certainly held lofty positions in the province, but strictly speaking, they weren’t in the same league as Chen Qiweng, the Dean of Jilin University’s Bethune Medical Department and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Not only had Chen Qiweng called personally that day, but he had continued to call her three times a day—morning, noon, and night—for the next three days. The calls only stopped after Gu Heng was transferred out of the ICU.

Later, by asking around and piecing things together, she finally learned the identity of Qiu Yuexin’s parents.

Following Jiang Man’s instructions, Gu Heng quickly found the Baidu Baike page for Qiu Yuexin’s mother, Zheng Hanliu.

“Holy cow!”

Staring at the Baidu Baike page, Gu Heng was utterly stunned.

Another standard-issue PhD, also a top-tier research talent in materials science and chemical engineering. She was the Dean of the School of Materials Science at Yanjing University of Science and Technology, awarded the title of Yangtze River Scholar in 2018, and selected as a “Leading Talent” in the “Ten Thousand Talents Plan” in 2020, with significant achievements in research fields like electrolyte composites and high-energy cathode development.

“A true family of scholars.”

“It would be no exaggeration to say that Qiu Yuexin’s parents have students all over the world.”

Jiang Man remarked with heartfelt admiration, seeing the shocked look on Gu Heng’s face.

“Oh…”

“By the way.”

“You probably don’t know this.”

“You didn’t actually save four people that day. To be precise, it was five.”

Jiang Man suddenly remembered something and spoke up again.

“Five?”

Gu Heng froze for a second, his eyes widening slightly. “Are you saying…”

“That’s right.”

“Qiu Yuexin is over three months pregnant.”

Jiang Man reported the situation to Gu Heng matter-of-factly. “Fortunately, she wasn’t showing much yet. Plus, the heavy truck hit the side opposite from where Qiu Yuexin was sitting. So, all in all, it was a close call, but the baby was unharmed.”

“That’s incredibly lucky.”

“I was there when it happened.”

Gu Heng said with a sigh, “I saw with my own eyes how that Li Auto L9 rolled at least ten times after it was hit before finally coming to a stop. For Qiu Yuexin to come out of that completely unscathed, and for her baby to be fine too… that’s a true miracle.”