Chapter 7 Multiple Tests

George's invitation arrived as promised on the third day.

Lin Mo received an email with a polite and enthusiastic tone: "Dr. Lin, I benefited greatly from my last visit. There's a small academic salon tomorrow evening for a few colleagues to get together. I wonder if you'd be interested in attending? The location is a café near the school, and it won't take up too much of your time."

Lin Mo stared at the screen, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. He remembered Wang Zhenguo's words: "No matter who it is, don't say a word." But an ordinary academic gathering should be fine, right?

He replied with two words: "Okay."

At seven o'clock the following evening, Lin Mo arrived at the café. The shop wasn't large, with a minimalist decor, and five or six people were already seated in a corner. Seeing him, George immediately stood up and waved.

"Dr. Lin! Over here!"

Lin Mo walked over, and George enthusiastically introduced him to those present—an associate professor from the Physics Department, a researcher from the School of Materials Science, and two foreigners who claimed to be visiting scholars. Everyone chatted casually, with topics ranging from the latest papers to academic circle gossip, creating a relaxed atmosphere.

However, Lin Mo soon noticed that whenever the conversation turned to specific research, George's gaze would intentionally or unintentionally fall on him.

"What project has Dr. Lin been busy with lately?" asked the researcher from the School of Materials Science sitting opposite him.

Lin Mo was well-prepared: "Still that same Quantum Entanglement set, optimizing the stability of entanglement sources and trying some applications."

"Quantum Entanglement, huh," another foreigner interjected. "I heard your laboratory recently got a batch of new equipment?"

Lin Mo shook his head: "No, it's still those same old machines. Funding is limited; we use what we can."

George smiled and took a sip of his coffee: "Dr. Lin is too modest. I saw that high-temperature furnace in your laboratory; it looked like a recent replacement, didn't it?"

Lin Mo's heart tightened. That furnace had been bought three years ago and could hardly be called new. But why did George specifically mention it?

"That furnace has been in use for three years," Lin Mo said, trying to keep his tone calm. "It was handed down by seniors who worked on ceramic materials, and we took it over to keep using it."

"Oh?" George set down his coffee cup. "You do materials as well? Isn't your main focus optics?"

Lin Mo realized he had made a slip of the tongue. high-temperature furnaces were typically used for material synthesis and indeed had little to do with optical experiments.

"We do some auxiliary work occasionally," he remedied, "such as preparing certain optical crystals that require high-temperature treatment."

George nodded and didn't press further. But Lin Mo could sense something flickering in those blue eyes.

The conversation returned to academic gossip, and Lin Mo breathed a sigh of relief, silently reminding himself: This man is not simple.

A week later, George sent another invitation, this time for a formal seminar.

"Organized by a few friends, the theme is the frontiers of quantum technology. Would Dr. Lin be interested in giving a report? Just ten minutes would do."

Lin Mo declined the proposal to give a report but agreed to go and listen. The seminar was held in a small meeting room of a hotel, with about twenty people attending, most of whom were unfamiliar faces. George sat in the front row, asking questions from time to time, all of which were very professional.

During the tea break, George walked over to Lin Mo with a coffee in hand.

"Dr. Lin, what did you think of that report just now regarding the stability of entanglement sources?"

"It was quite good; their method is somewhat similar to ours."

George nodded, then changed the subject: "Speaking of which, you mentioned last time that you use a high-temperature furnace to prepare optical crystals. I wonder which kind of crystal? I've also done some crystal growth myself; perhaps we can exchange some ideas."

Lin Mo hadn't expected him to ask something so specific. He casually named two common non-linear crystals.

George smiled: "The growth temperatures for those two crystals aren't that high, are they? Do they require a 1250-degree high-temperature furnace?"

Lin Mo was stunned. He remembered that on the day George visited, the high-temperature furnace had just finished processing a batch of samples, and the furnace body still held residual heat. And 1250 degrees was exactly the temperature at which he synthesized the blue material.

"Sometimes a higher temperature leads to better crystallization quality," Lin Mo said.

George nodded and didn't ask further. But Lin Mo knew he had already caught the other man's attention.

The third time, George suddenly appeared at the laboratory door.

That afternoon, Lin Mo was organizing data when a knock sounded at the door. He opened it to see George standing outside, holding a bottle of red wine.

"Dr. Lin, sorry to disturb you. I just returned from France and brought a bottle of red wine; I wanted to give it to you to try."

Lin Mo took the wine, but his mind was racing: Why would a visiting scholar suddenly go to France? And why make a special trip to deliver wine?

"Come in and have a seat?"

George walked into the laboratory, his gaze habitually scanning the room. He noticed the reagent bottles on the experimental bench—those were all for Lin Mo's routine experiments; the blue batch had long been put away.

"Are the experiments going smoothly lately?" George asked casually.

"They're alright, same as usual."

George walked over to the bookshelf, his gaze falling on several printed and bound documents. He suddenly pulled one out and began flipping through it. It was a collection of Lin Mo's papers on Quantum Entanglement.

"Dr. Lin's papers are very solid," George said while flipping. "However, I noticed that in your recent citation records, there are several articles on superconducting materials. Why, have you become interested in superconductivity?"

Lin Mo's heart tightened. George could even check his citation records?

"I was just browsing," he said. "As a physicist, one is always somewhat curious about superconductivity."

George closed the paper and put it back in its original place. He turned around to look at Lin Mo, the smile on his face still gentle, but there was something in his eyes that Lin Mo couldn't quite decipher.

"Dr. Lin, do you know?" George said. "I've met many young scientists, and they all have one thing in common—when they truly make a breakthrough, they are actually at their most silent."

Lin Mo didn't know how to respond.

George smiled and patted his shoulder: "Don't be nervous, just chatting. Alright, I won't disturb you any further. Remember to drink the wine; it's good stuff."

He turned and left, leaving Lin Mo standing there alone.

The door closed, and Lin Mo set the bottle of red wine aside before walking to the safe. He crouched down, pressing his ear against it, hearing his own rapid heartbeat.

Why was George so interested in his high-temperature furnace? Why check his citation records? Why always ask those seemingly casual but actually precise questions at random moments?

Lin Mo stood up and walked to the window, looking at the road below that led to the school gate. After a while, he saw George's figure appear, slowly walking toward a black sedan parked in the distance.

He stood there, watching the car start, drive away, and disappear around the corner.

His phone suddenly rang. It was a text message from an unknown number: "Dr. Lin, there's another exchange meeting next week with the theme of frontier progress in materials science. Looking forward to your arrival."

Lin Mo stared at the text message for a long time.

He did not reply.