Hearing her mom say this, He Xiaofei’s pretty face turned red immediately. She glanced at Lin Tian and then playfully chided her mom while holding her hand, "Mom, what are you blabbering about? We are just friends."

"The child’s mom, don’t talk nonsense and scare the child." The middle-aged man also pointedly "criticized" her.

The child’s mom rolled her eyes at her husband and complained, "Xiaofei has been like you since she was little, only caring about studying. Now she’s in college and hasn’t dated any boys yet. I’m afraid she’ll become a bookworm like you and won’t know how to date in the future."

"Mom, didn’t Dad marry someone as beautiful as a Heavenly Immortal like you? How can you say Dad doesn’t know how to date?" He Xiaofei retorted, but also complimented her mom.

Receiving her daughter’s compliment, the woman couldn’t help but smile, yet still rolled her eyes at the middle-aged man.

"Stop standing around talking; it’s impolite. Lin Tian, Xiao Manxuan, come in and sit." It was still the dad who noticed Lin Tian’s awkwardness and made a big gesture to end his wife’s "nagging."

Seeing this warm family scene, Lin Tian felt helpless but also quite envious.

After settling in the living room, He Xiaofei introduced, "Lin Tian, Xuanxuan, you can call my dad Professor He or Teacher He, and the same goes for my mom; you can call her Teacher Mei. But if you call her Professor Mei, she’ll feel you’re calling her old, haha..."

"You silly child, how do you talk like that, so disrespectful. Don’t listen to her nonsense, just call me Aunt Mei, it’s not like we’re in class, no need to call me professor." Teacher Mei glared at He Xiaofei, "scolding" her, although the "scolding" lacked any real force.

Lin Tian curiously asked, "Professor He, how did you know our names?"

Earlier on the phone, He Xiaofei hadn’t mentioned his and Xiao Manxuan’s names, and Lin Tian was sure they hadn’t met before.

Professor He smiled and said, "Both of you are top scorers, and when the top scorers come to my institute, of course, I pay attention. Meeting you today, indeed, you are exceptionally talented."

Lin Tian and Xiao Manxuan were slightly surprised; they hadn’t thought they had already been noticed by a major expert. Professor He only mentioned the top scorer thing, without discussing recent school news or Lin Tian’s role in it.

Evidently, the so-called school events are but trivial matters in the eyes of professors, inconsequential compared to a top scorer.

Thinking about this, Lin Tian also found the school’s so-called ’buzz list’ pretty nonsensical, doing a few things that stir the campus only extends as far as campus-wide influence.

Whereas what the professors do drives forward the advancement of scientific civilization and alters the entire world. The two can’t be compared. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Of course, Lin Tian never cared about the so-called buzz list; he always did things according to his own mood.

"You all chat, I’ll go make a few dishes, and soon we can eat." After chatting a few words, Professor He went into the kitchen, wearing an apron, an image that made one completely forget he is a world-class authority professor.

It also turned out his culinary skills were as extraordinary as his professional ones. When Professor He brought out all the dishes, the combination of meat and vegetables was reasonable, with complete color, aroma, and taste.

"Professor He’s cooking skills are truly remarkable." Xiao Manxuan also sincerely praised.

But Teacher Mei laughed, "Remarkable they are, but Old He has been too busy recently, hasn’t cooked in a while. Today being able to enjoy Old He’s cooking is thanks to your presence."

"No choice, recently, many new biological samples have been sent over, requiring lots of experiments." Professor He explained.

"Just a few bugs from the school’s construction site, do you, a major expert, need to handle it?" Teacher Mei was very puzzled, but these words made Lin Tian pause.

Lin Tian looked at Xiao Manxuan, and the little girl also had the same peculiar expression. Neither had expected that the bugs mentioned by the driver uncle had already been sent to the life sciences lab for research.

"Professor He, are the bugs from the construction site particularly special?" Lin Tian took a sip of soup, then casually asked.

"Yeah, Dad, what’s special about the bugs? I heard the driver from the construction site mention that they found strange bugs while digging, didn’t think it was true." He Xiaofei also looked curious.

When talking about professionalism, Professor He didn’t even eat. He put down his bowl and explained to Lin Tian and the others, "Although we have yet to deeply investigate, I have a hunch that this is a new insect species. Throughout my career, I’ve never seen such peculiar bugs."

"But unfortunately, the samples were already dead when delivered, which prevents many in-depth experiments." Professor He shook his head repeatedly, very regretfully.

Lin Tian’s mind buzzed, then he asked, "The bugs are dead? How did they die?"

"Uh, how to say, to be precise, they’re not fully dead; they might have entered a dormant state. However, without reactivating them, this state is virtually the same as being dead."

"As for what caused the bugs to enter the dormant state, the current guess is the change in their living environment. All organisms have a self-protection instinct. When their living environment isn’t suitable for survival, they enter a hibernation-like state until conditions align again for their survival."

"Like bacteria found in a dormant state under polar ice caps on Earth years ago, these bacteria weren’t truly dead. If the environment changes, they could be activated and regain vitality. These bugs are in a similar situation."

Professor He explained in great detail, but he didn’t say what Lin Tian wanted to know, or maybe Professor He didn’t know much about it himself.

Lin Tian continued, "Professor He, you mentioned the change in the living environment involves many factors like soil composition, acidity, temperature, humidity, light intensity, or even changes in air composition. For instance, the ancient Earth’s oxygen levels were different. Which factor do you think impacts the most?"

Hearing Lin Tian’s question, Professor He’s eyes brightened, "That’s a good question. Listing so many factors shows you already have a baseline understanding of biology. The example is particularly good; ancient Earth’s air components differed significantly."

"Back then, it was low oxygen and high carbon dioxide environments. Some organisms were suited to living in such conditions. But the new samples they brought over, I feel the greatest impact might not be air composition since they maintained vitality before being excavated. The most likely affecting factor might be light intensity."

"Ultraviolet or infrared rays in sunlight could have a certain lethal impact on organisms, which can’t be ruled out." Professor He had a contemplative expression.

Lin Tian suddenly thought of the suppression and effect of sunlight on zombies. Could it be related to what Professor He mentioned?