127: Chapter 127 Demonstration and Promotion

After handling various phone calls, Chen Youhua washed his face, brushed his teeth, and prepared to head to the laboratory.

However, as he walked along the familiar path, he realized that things didn't seem quite that simple.

In the past, he would walk hurriedly without anyone paying him any mind. Now, even during the short few hundred meters from the dormitory building to the laboratory, he could feel gazes cast upon him from all directions, accompanied by suppressed excited whispers and the stealthy focus of mobile phone cameras.

"Look! It's Professor Chen!"

"It really is him! He looks even... even more handsome than on TV, and his temperament is so calm."

"Ahhh! A living God Chen! I just bowed to his photo in a paper yesterday!"

"I really want to go up and ask for an autograph or a photo... would that bother him?"

Most students were relatively shy, daring only to watch from afar, using their phones to secretly record this campus encounter.

But there were also the bold and outgoing ones.

A girl with a high ponytail and a flushed face, encouraged by her companions, gathered her courage and trotted over to stop a few steps in front of Chen Youhua, her voice trembling slightly:

"P-Professor Chen! Hello! I... I'm a junior in the School of Mathematics! Um... um... could I take a photo with you? Just one! It'll be very quick!"

She pressed her palms together, her eyes full of anticipation and anxiety.

The security personnel following alongside, dressed in plain clothes but with sharp eyes, instinctively moved to step forward and block her.

Chen Youhua raised his hand slightly to stop him.

Looking at the nervous yet energetic student before him, Chen Youhua smiled helplessly and nodded.

"Sure."

"Wow! Thank you, Professor Chen!"

The girl was so excited she nearly jumped, hurriedly thrusting her phone to her equally excited companion nearby.

"Click!" The flash went off.

This moment was like lighting a fuse.

Those students who had originally been watching from afar, hesitant and undecided, saw how approachable Chen Youhua was and instantly surged forward like a tide!

"Professor Chen! I want a photo too!"

"Professor Chen! Can you give me an autograph? Just sign it on my book!"

Someone even pulled out a brand-new copy of Introduction to Partial Differential Equations.

"God Chen! Look over here!"

"Professor Chen, your approach to solving the Navier-Stokes Equation is amazing! May I ask you a question?"

The scene instantly became a bit out of control.

Chen Youhua looked at the enthusiastic young faces crowding around him, his scalp tingling slightly.

He raised his voice and said gently to everyone.

"Students! Thank you all very much for your enthusiasm! However, I really have urgent matters to attend to at the laboratory right now! You are all students of Z University, and we are all alumni, so how about this? Next time, next time I will set aside a specific time and find a place to try and fulfill everyone's wish for photos and autographs!"

After he finished speaking, taking advantage of the moment when everyone was slightly mollified by the promise of next time, he, under the tacit escort of the security personnel, quickly picked up his pace and practically fled the scene.

Behind him, he could still hear the excited discussions of the students and shouts of "Goodbye, Professor Chen!"

...

After finally breaking through to enter the familiar laboratory door and shutting out the noise from outside, Chen Youhua let out a long sigh of relief.

He took off his coat and hung it up, then started complaining to Li Wei, who was buried in data, and Wang Zhe, who was calibrating instruments.

"My goodness, if I had known, I wouldn't have accepted that exclusive interview! Going out now is like fighting a war! I was almost mobbed by enthusiastic students downstairs just now! How am I supposed to travel freely in the future?"

Wang Zhe raised his head, pushed up his glasses, his face full of undisguised disdain.

"Tsk! Starting with the humble-bragging first thing in the morning, are we? You are now the world-renowned mathematician Chen Youhua! Isn't it only natural to be caught for photos and autographs? If you don't want this treatment, trade with me? I'll take on this burden for you! I guarantee I'll be grinning from ear to ear every day!"

Li Wei also put down the tablet in her hand and teased with a smile.

"Exactly, big celebrity. I think you are gifted; if you ever get tired of staying in the lab or tired of doing research, you could totally consider entering the entertainment industry. Just based on your face, this IQ, and these achievements, if you filmed a few variety shows with a 'Top Student' persona, you'd guarantee to be popular all over the country, with ratings crushing those young idols!"

Chen Youhua hurriedly waved his hands, looking like he wanted no part of it.

"Don't! Spare me! The entertainment industry? That's a completely different world from mine! I'd rather study until I'm old, facing these cold instruments and data, than be stared at and asked for photos and autographs every day. It's too uncomfortable!"

After the jokes, the three quickly entered work mode.

Chen Youhua walked over to the specially made observation cage and carefully examined the three experimental monkeys wearing robotic arms.

Li Wei brought up the latest training data records.

"The training progress is even smoother than expected,"

Li Wei pointed to the curve on the screen.

"The movement coordination and signal stability are steadily improving. The basic imitation of daily life actions—grasping, moving, bringing to the mouth—has a very high completion rate. The frequency of occasional uncontrolled tremors is also decreasing significantly. I feel that in at most two to three weeks, these three experimental monkeys will reach the state we envisioned, where we can conduct a stable demonstration."

Chen Youhua nodded, watching a monkey in the cage trying to use its robotic arm to reach a small piece of fruit hanging from the top of the cage. Although the movement couldn't be called smooth or graceful, the goal was clear and the steps were distinct.

He turned around.

"Alright, the timeline is clear. So, the next question: How do we effectively and convincingly showcase the results of this first phase?"

Wang Zhe stroked his chin, his brows furrowed slightly.

"How to showcase it is indeed a problem. The simplest and crudest way is to shoot a video; we choose good angles, film their most successful operation clips, edit them, and post them. It's time-saving and effortless. But I'm afraid... I'm afraid those 'anti-fake' warriors on the internet will jump out again and say we staged, edited, or faked it. After all, they can't see the real-time nature and continuity."

Li Wei continued.

"If we want stronger persuasiveness and to reduce skepticism, a live stream might be the best choice. Let everyone see with their own eyes the real-time process of the monkey from the command being issued to the action being completed; it can't be faked. However..."

She changed the subject, her face showing concern.

"The risks of a live stream are also high. What if the monkey isn't in a good state that day, the robotic arm suddenly lags, or there is interference in the signal transmission? Any accident could turn our carefully prepared demonstration into a disaster, which would backfire. Moreover, the effect might not necessarily be more impactful than a carefully edited video."

"A live stream?"

Wang Zhe's eyes widened.

"I think it's feasible! But who would watch it? Our laboratory doesn't have its own traffic source, and we can't count on the school's official account to promote us, right? That would change the nature of it; it would be like binding the school to it as well. If something goes wrong, the responsibility and pressure would be too great."

As the two discussed, their eyes turned simultaneously to Chen Youhua, who had been silent on the side.

A flash of cunning light passed through Li Wei's eyes, and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

"Ahem,"

Li Wei cleared her throat, looked at Chen Youhua, and smiled pleasantly.

"Actually, don't we have a ready-made big celebrity here who comes with a top-tier traffic source?"

Chen Youhua had been crossing his arms, listening to the two's analysis, and when he was suddenly named, he was stunned for a moment and pointed at himself.

"Me?"

"That's right! It's you!"

Li Wei smiled like a cunning fox.

"Professor Chen Youhua, you are now a household-name top-tier scientist! Do you dare to say that your registered and verified personal Weibo account doesn't have millions or tens of millions of followers by now?"

Chen Youhua subconsciously pulled out his phone to check; he really did.

He had previously registered and verified a Weibo account, and the number of followers was already an astronomical figure; the private messages and mentions were so numerous he couldn't possibly read them all.

"So,"

Li Wei spread her hands, wearing the expression of having found the perfect solution.

"Use your own account to live stream! Promote your own project in your own name! It's reasonable and justifiable! You have the traffic, you have the attention, you have the platform! Besides, even if there are small accidents during the live stream, given your current status, everyone will be more inclined to understand that this is a normal phenomenon in the process of scientific research and won't be as harsh as they would be questioning an ordinary institution. It's simply the perfect plan! Everything will be fine!"

Wang Zhe nodded vigorously from the side, expressing his 120% agreement with Li Wei's proposal.

"Sister Wei is brilliant! Youhua, this job is meant for you! Just consider it a sacrifice for science, and by the way, fulfill the wish of your thousands of fans who want to admire high technology up close!"

Chen Youhua looked at these two partners who could betray a teammate without blinking, then looked at the Weibo icon on his phone, which symbolized both huge attention and huge trouble, and felt a headache coming on.

It seemed... there really was no better way?

He sighed helplessly and nodded in resignation.