I'm a scientist, why can't I have faith?

At the Advanced Technology Research Institute of Yanda University, Su Tiangong, sitting behind his mahogany desk, suddenly sneezed for no apparent reason.

Did you catch a cold...?

He glanced at the central air conditioning display and silently increased the temperature by two degrees.

He then continued browsing through the applications in his hand, but after only reading the name section, he ruthlessly threw the application onto the discarded files on the ground and picked up a new one.

Throughout the office, there were many similar scenes where people simply glanced at the age and eliminated the vast majority of applications.

Even so, the initial screening process took a full day.

At the Institute of Advanced Technology, all documents and reports are paper-based. For some reason, electronic office work is not widespread here.

It was almost 5 p.m., time to leave work, and the initial screening of the applications was almost complete.

Su Tiangong was also preparing to go back to rest. Screening was not an easy task and had to be done slowly.

Although students have already started their winter break and are happily waiting for the Chinese New Year, teachers still have a lot of finishing work to do.

And those who contribute the most are often young teachers who have just started their jobs.

Wu Songyan was one of them. As a newly hired staff member, even though the Spring Festival was just a few days away, he had to wait until the very end to leave.

University faculty and staff are mainly divided into three categories: professional and technical positions, management positions, and support staff positions.

Professors and lecturers, whom we are familiar with, belong to professional and technical positions, while staff members like Wu Songyan belong to management positions.

Compared to the teaching and research of professional and technical personnel, the work of management personnel is to maintain the operation of the entire school. Both are important positions.

If there's any difference, it's that those in management positions rarely experience summer and winter vacations, unlike lecturers and professors who take holidays with their students when they don't have research pressure.

And it's paid leave.

In fact, Wu Songyan also wanted to apply for a professional and technical position, but the competition was too fierce. Even though he had a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Yenching University, he didn’t have a doctoral degree and didn’t even get an interview.

However, he did not want to pursue further studies. To be honest, Wu Songyan's entire master's program was extremely painful.

He admitted that he was simply not cut out for research, and that he wouldn't even want to pursue a master's degree if it weren't for employment.

Fortunately, the school was very humane towards its own graduates, and after several twists and turns, he finally became a junior staff member in a management position.

That means we've finally settled down in Yanjing.

As Wu Songyan walked out of the gate of the Advanced Institute and headed to a corner, he silently took out a cigarette to relieve the fatigue of the day.

Unexpectedly, I ran into Su Tiangong, who was also preparing to smoke a cigarette to relax.

"Ah, Brother Su, you haven't left yet?"

Upon seeing that the visitor was Wu Songyan, Su Tiangong nodded as a greeting.

"Just finished, about to have a smoke before I leave."

Strictly speaking, the two should be in a superior-subordinate relationship, but after spending the last few days with Su Tiangong, Wu Songyan felt that Su Tiangong didn't have any airs of a leader at all.

It's always a bit awkward for two grown men to stand together silently smoking; they definitely need to talk about something.

Wu Songyan naturally started talking about his recent work.

"Hey Su, isn't filtering applications by age a bit too much?"

Wu Songyan couldn't understand why the application screening for the University of Tokyo required a 20-year age limit.

Upon hearing this, Su Tiangong simply smiled and remained silent, instead changing the subject.

"I'll get the results again tomorrow for a second screening, and then my work will be almost done. You can all go on vacation then."

"Oh? What about Professor Qian..."

"Don't worry, he won't say anything."

Upon hearing this good news, Wu Songyan completely forgot his earlier curiosity and didn't notice Su Tiangong's hurried departure.

The next day, just as Su Tiangong had said, after completing the re-screening of the results, he gave all the laborers a day off.

However, in reality, the number of remaining applications still far exceeds the number of applicants for the exchange program.

However, the subsequent screening process still requires Su Tiangong himself. Even if the helpers that these teachers find can be completely trusted, this step still has to be done by Su Tiangong himself.

After all, this is not just a simple exchange program; it also involves the final candidate list for Project Hidden Dragon.

For the next three days, Su Tiangong stayed at the Advanced Institute and finally managed to narrow down the number of people to more than fifty.

As long as these students have a clean background and no issues, they should all be able to go to the University of Tokyo for exchange programs.

He was writing the report on this selection process when a knock on the door suddenly sounded.

"Please come in."

Then a familiar face appeared in the office.

"Teacher, you've arrived."

Qian Xiuyuan nodded, walked over to Su Tiangong and sat down, then picked up the application next to him and began to examine it.

"You eliminated such outstanding people?"

Su Tiangong glanced at the application in the teacher's hand and quickly recalled why it had been rejected.

"The teachers should be able to tell that there's a lot of padding in these grades."

"Especially the third and seventh awards, I remember they were both related to Academician Zhao, right?"

Su Tiangong had an excellent memory; he could remember even worthless information.

Upon hearing his student say this, Qian Xiuyuan recalled the circumstances of those two times. It seemed that the ranking was led by Lao Zhao's student, and the applicant's surname also happened to be Zhao.

"Moreover, this application is a bit too perfect; it fits my screening logic perfectly."

"It's like it was tailor-made for you."

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, Qian Xiuyuan understood what his student meant.

In fact, Lao Zhao has indeed become more blatant in recent years, but considering his past contributions to Daxia, they have always turned a blind eye to it.

After all, these are matters concerning the younger generation, so they are not considered major mistakes.

But this matter concerns the Hidden Dragon Project, so it must be strictly implemented.

"That old fellow Zhao Bojun is really willing to invest in the younger generation..."

"Alright, just do the screening as usual, I'll explain it to you."

Qian Xiuyuan paused for a moment, then continued:

"But is it really necessary to go to Japan? Aren't there other selection methods? This invitation from the University of Tokyo is a blatant trap..."

"Teacher, practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. Even if someone has a perfect background, it doesn't mean that they are like that in person."

"Betrayal is something no one can predict, especially since...we've already been infiltrated, haven't we?"

Su Tiangong put down his pen and pushed up his glasses.

"The invitation from the University of Tokyo seemed like a trap to us, but it was also an opportunity."

He shook his watch.

"I'm confident I can make the foxes show their tails."