Chapter 155: This Can't Be a Joke, Right?

Chapter 155: This Can't Be a Joke, Right?

Chen Xingyuan knew that the high level of attention would benefit his award center, but now there was a critical issue: Liyuan Farm.

He had no idea that Liyuan Farm was also participating in their institution's award program.

If he had known, given Liyuan Farm's popularity, he would have found a way to give them an award. After all, awarding Liyuan Farm would be a form of publicity and would generate attention, which would also benefit his institution.

However, Liyuan Farm's project had entered the competition without his knowledge, which made him uneasy.

If Liyuan Farm's project had any groundbreaking results, that would be a real problem.

He immediately called for a meeting to be arranged.

Soon, several managers from the award center arrived.

He got straight to the point, "Why didn't Liyuan Farm's project even receive a consolation prize?"

This made one of the men tense.

He had seen the online buzz and remembered that a sweet potato project had been thrown into the trash because the applicant hadn't made a donation.

He hadn't realized it was Liyuan Farm's project at the time and hadn't paid attention to it.

If he had known, given the current situation of their institution, he would have definitely given them an award to capitalize on their popularity and use it for publicity.

He understood the logic behind it.

It was purely a mistake.

However, he couldn't admit it, so he quickly lied to Chen Xingyuan, "Brother-in-law, I specifically placed Liyuan Farm's project on the list of potential candidates. I thought that with Liyuan Farm's fame, their project wouldn't fail to win an award. That's why I didn't report it specially."

"But who would have thought they wouldn't even get a consolation prize? That was unexpected, and it was my mistake. Otherwise, I would have reported it and we would have given Liyuan Farm an award during the meeting."

This response prompted the other managers to chime in, "You can't blame it all on Li Tao. As the internet says, Liyuan Farm's project just wasn't good enough."

"Exactly, ten professors reviewed it, and none of them gave Liyuan Farm an award, not even a consolation prize. It's not our problem."

"Besides, a farm that focuses on tourism trying to enter the research field is a bit presumptuous, isn't it?"

Clearly, they had their own pride and looked down on Liyuan Farm's project.

Chen Xingyuan couldn't lash out even if he wanted to.

After all, his brother-in-law hadn't done anything wrong. Liyuan Farm's project was so poor, who would have thought?

The idea of sweet potatoes for skin whitening seemed unreliable to him as well.

Most importantly, the ten professors he had invited to review the projects were all well-known in Fujian Province, representing half of the agricultural professors in the region. They were all part of his long-term network.

If ten professors said that Liyuan Farm's project didn't even deserve a consolation prize, then it must not be worthy.

So, why should they give Liyuan Farm an award?

With the attention coming in, it was time to be firm and assert their authority.

Chen Xingyuan gave a direct order, "Issue an official statement, listing the names of the ten reviewing professors. Tell them we are the authority, and Liyuan Farm doesn't even deserve a consolation prize. They should focus on their agricultural tourism and leave research to the experts."

Chen Xingyuan's decision made his brother-in-law, Li Tao, breathe a sigh of relief.

Li Tao knew he had passed this hurdle.

After all, he had already discarded the application documents, and there was no way to prove otherwise. He was betting that there wouldn't be any issues and that Liyuan Farm's project was indeed subpar.

Moreover, the idea of sweet potatoes and skin whitening seemed unreliable to everyone, so he was confident he would win this bet.

With his brother-in-law's backing, Liyuan Farm would have to take the hit.

Once the matter was over, no one would care anymore, and no one would know that he had carelessly thrown Liyuan Farm's application into the trash with the others who hadn't donated.

So, it was a matter of timing and fate.

In modern society, many people's fates are in the hands of certain privileged classes.

At least in this case, he held the power to influence others' destinies.

Soon, with the announcement from the Fujian Agricultural Research Breakthrough Award Center, the internet erupted.

Suddenly, Liyuan Farm seemed like a clown who had been humiliated for trying to break into the professional field with a hobby.

In Youcheng City,

At the Agricultural Bureau,

Wei Yuan was reviewing the status of agricultural land leases in Youcheng. Excluding Liyuan Farm's lease, the overall leasing situation in Youcheng had improved significantly this year, largely due to Liyuan Farm's influence.

At that moment, Lin Mengxi rushed in, "Director, there's a problem with Liyuan Farm. Look at the news online."

Wei Yuan was taken aback and immediately checked his phone to see the video related to Liyuan Farm.

The video was the announcement from the Fujian Agricultural Research Breakthrough Award Center.

He knew about this evaluation agency.

It seemed to be an awarding body that hadn't yet obtained provincial accreditation, operating under the Provincial Agricultural Bureau. He had heard from his superiors that the head of this institution, Chen Xingyuan, was a notable figure.

But why was this person causing trouble for Liyuan Farm?

He watched the video and heard someone from the agency say, "Everyone is very concerned about the evaluation of Liyuan Farm's projects. Many fans of Liyuan Farm have even left comments here, asking why the farm couldn't even get a consolation prize. Are Linyuan Farm's research projects really that bad?"

"I don't want to explain much to these fans of Liyuan Farm. I just want to say that we are a professional evaluation agency, and we are professionals. We won't give special treatment to any project just because the applying organization is famous. That would be disrespectful to agricultural research."

"I'll also reveal the ten professors who were part of our evaluation panel. They are all well-known agricultural professors in Min Province. If Linyuan Farm's projects were truly good, wouldn't these ten experts have recognized it? Since they all agreed that Linyuan Farm's project doesn't even deserve a consolation prize, it must not be worth it."

The video then displayed the names of the ten renowned professors and their credentials, allowing people to verify their credentials and the legitimacy of the evaluation.

The comment section of the video was unusually lively, but most comments were not favorable to Linyuan Farm:

"Checked it out, these ten professors are indeed well-known in Min Province, representing a significant portion of the province's agricultural academic community."

"To be honest, Linyuan Farm's projects are impressive, but getting involved in agricultural research is a bit presumptuous. It's a desecration of the researchers' efforts."

"Research deserves respect. If they don't have the capability, not giving them a consolation prize is fair."

"Even making fans question it, are they trying to bring fan culture into a farm? Or are they just getting too full of themselves?"

"..."

Wei Yuan's frown deepened as he watched, growing increasingly worried. After all, his Agricultural Bureau had many ongoing collaborations with Linyuan Farm.

He recognized one of the ten professors and immediately pulled out his phone to call him. The person on the other end was his uncle, Xie Zhengye, a well-known professor at Min Province Agricultural University with a high standing in the agricultural community. Wei Yuan had often consulted him on agricultural issues.

When the call connected, he immediately asked, "Uncle, I have a question. Is Linyuan Farm's project really that bad?"

Xie Zhengye's voice was puzzled on the other end, "Wei, what are you talking about? What does Linyuan Farm's project have to do with me, an old man?"

Wei Yuan was taken aback, "Uncle, it's the news online. You and the other ten professors evaluated Linyuan Farm's project and said it didn't even deserve a consolation prize?"

"What?" The other end was still confused, "I have no recollection of that. Hold on, I'll ask the others."

Wei Yuan's expression turned strange as the call ended.

Something didn't seem right. The Min Province Agricultural Research Breakthrough Award Center claimed that ten professors found Linyuan Farm's project unworthy of a consolation prize, but his uncle clearly had no idea what was going on.

Having been the head of Yucheng's Agricultural Bureau for so long, he knew there was definitely a problem here.

Moreover, he felt he should go to Linyuan Farm to check things out.

With such a high level of online attention, it was unusual that Mr. Zhang hadn't made any statements.

With that thought, he rushed out of his office, drove to the farm, and asked Zhang Lin anxiously, "Mr. Zhang, what's going on online? I'm really worried about you."

Zhang Lin could hear Wei Yuan's concern and sighed, "Mr. Wei, I have no idea how this online frenzy started or who's behind it. I'm just as confused as you are!"

Wei Yuan naturally believed Zhang Lin and sighed again, "Mr. Zhang, if you had a project to be evaluated, why didn't you come to me? I have some connections, and besides, one of the ten evaluators is my uncle. If you had told me, you wouldn't have ended up without even a consolation prize."

Zhang Lin, feeling awkward, replied, "Mr. Wei, I didn't expect so much underhandedness in agricultural evaluations. It's just as dark as other fields, and I never thought my project would end up without even a consolation prize. Too bad, they have no idea what kind of storm they're about to face!"

Wei Yuan was taken aback by this, then realized what Zhang Lin meant, "Mr. Zhang, are you saying that the evaluation center is manipulating things behind the scenes, and your product is actually excellent?"

Zhang Lin didn't hide anything from him, smiling as he opened a video on his phone, "Mr. Wei, take a look at the promotional video for our new product. It will be released online soon."

Wei Yuan took the phone and watched the video. It was indeed a promotional video for Linyuan Farm's sweet potatoes, and they had given it a name that suggested it could help with skin whitening.

As he continued watching, his face showed growing disbelief.

The video began with a series of recordings showing several girls eating sweet potatoes and the subsequent whitening of their skin. Within just a week, the girls' skin became noticeably fairer, and even he, an old man, could tell the results were excellent.

At that moment, he instinctively looked at Zhang Boss in front of him. Zhang Boss's skin was clearly much fairer than before. He must have eaten the sweet potatoes too, right?

The video ended with a test report. Seeing the official seal of a national-level testing department, he knew that something big might happen in the agricultural sector of Min Province.

A project product recognized by a national-level testing department would be ineligible for even a consolation prize at the Min Province Agricultural Research Breakthrough Award Center?

This was a joke. Seeing that seal, he knew there was a serious issue with the Min Province Agricultural Research Breakthrough Award Center.

Don't underestimate the testing department in Ming City, a prefecture-level city, compared to the Min Province Agricultural Research Breakthrough Award Center located in the provincial capital and affiliated with the provincial agricultural bureau. It was like comparing a fly-by-night university to a prestigious 211 university.

More importantly, Chen Xingyuan had brought up his uncle and nine other well-known agricultural professors. If this didn't lead to a major scandal, he'd be surprised.

Ten well-known agricultural professors!

With the current attention, the entire agricultural community of Min Province would be under scrutiny. And Chen Xingyuan's words against Liyuan Farm were tantamount to courting death.

Realizing that his uncle seemed unaware of the situation, he immediately called his uncle again.

In an office at a university in Min Province, Professor Xie Zhengye frowned as he read the chat group messages.

The people in the group included the ten professors who evaluated projects for the Min Province Agricultural Research Breakthrough Award Center. His niece had just called him about the strange project from Liyuan Farm.

At the time, he hadn't seen any project from Liyuan Farm, and he thought he might have just forgotten. But when he asked the other nine professors, they hadn't seen it either.

Isn't that strange?

"This seems to be causing a big stir online!"

"Chen Xingyuan has named us evaluators, but I really didn't see any project from Liyuan Farm!"

"If the project from Liyuan Farm is as bad as all this fuss, then fine, but if it isn't, what does that mean?"

"What is Chen Xingyuan up to?"

Just then, Xie Zhengye's phone rang. Seeing it was his niece, he answered immediately, asking, "Xiao Wei, you're the director of the Yucheng Agricultural Bureau. Do you know about the project from Liyuan Farm?"

Wei Yuan replied, "Uncle, I was just about to tell you. If you really didn't evaluate the project from Liyuan Farm, go online and issue a statement to clear things up. It'll be too late otherwise."

"The project from Liyuan Farm has national-level certification, and its effects are far superior to the projects you evaluated, even the gold award."

"Now, it's not even eligible for a consolation prize. This is a joke."

Xie Zhengye, seeing the national-level certification, lost his temper. "Chen Xingyuan, you bastard!"

He didn't hesitate, hung up, and immediately typed a message in the group.

Moments later, the group was in chaos.

Online, as Chen Xingyuan's announcement pushed the issue to higher levels of attention, Qinghua Company also stepped up, promoting their cucumber research project and emphasizing that it had won the gold award, while subtly implying that Liyuan Farm's project couldn't even get a consolation prize.

This pushed the issue to a fever pitch.

In his office, Chen Xingyuan watched the growing attention and realized someone was stoking the flames from behind, likely Qinghua Company.

But he didn't mind. This kind of attention was a blessing from the heavens, and it was normal for everyone to want a piece of it.

With this level of attention, their organization's reputation and authority would rise several levels. It was time to expedite the provincial qualification approval process, preparing for a national-level application.

Just then, his secretary rushed in, "Mr. Chen, something big has happened. Go online and see; the ten professors who evaluated the awards have issued statements."

"What?" Chen Xingyuan was puzzled.

In this kind of attention, it was normal for the professors to issue statements to ride the wave. What was wrong with that?

But when he opened one professor's account and saw the statement, his face changed.

"I, Xie Zhengye, hereby state that I did not see any project from Liyuan Farm when evaluating awards for the Min Province Agricultural Research Breakthrough Award Center. The gold award was not for the project I originally evaluated!"

"What the hell?" Chen Xingyuan muttered, then looked at another professor's statement, his face growing even darker!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end