"Dong Lao Denies Rumors: Professor Li's Excavation Plan for Bai Qi's Tomb Was Not Plagiarized!"
"What's going on?" Professor Li stared at the headline for a long time, utterly bewildered.
Given the animosity between Professor Li and Elder Dong, Elder Dong should be trying his best to kick Professor Li while he was down, not help him clear his name.
Had the timeline of the world shifted, or had Elder Dong lost his mind?
More importantly, Professor Li had suspected Elder Dong was the mastermind behind this entire affair from the start!
Yet, this news headline struck him like a resounding slap in the face!
"Could this be clickbait? Perhaps Elder Dong's so-called denial is actually a more insidious form of slander?" Professor Li mused.
He immediately clicked on the news article.
Professor Li read the entire piece word by word.
After finishing, he was stunned again.
Because the news article was not clickbait at all!
The main body meticulously detailed Elder Dong's process of refuting the rumors and even included a handwritten statement from Elder Dong!
Elder Dong had rummaged through his belongings and found the original document.
It was indeed a proposal submitted twenty years ago, and it did contain phrases related to the true and false tombs of Bai Qi.
However, that proposal was merely a hypothetical plan!
In other words, Elder Dong had hypothesized the existence of two Bai Qi tombs, one true and one false. If no artifacts proving Bai Qi's identity were found in the false tomb, then the search for the true tomb would commence.
Later, Elder Dong found some artifacts in the false tomb and believed they were sufficient to prove Bai Qi's identity!
Thus, he treated the false tomb as the true one, believing there was only one Bai Qi tomb in the world.
Who would have thought that Liu Bin would dig up this hypothetical plan from some obscure corner and use it as evidence to smear and attack Professor Li!
While everyone praised Elder Dong's foresight and prescience, Elder Dong himself felt his face burn with shame!
Because the truth was nothing like what people imagined!
Elder Dong had initially intended to use this opportunity to suppress Professor Li, to make him taste the humiliation of being exposed before the entire nation.
But as he looked at his own handwriting from twenty years ago, and remembered his ambitions from that era, Elder Dong hesitated.
Ultimately, Elder Dong decided to reveal the truth to the public!
If for no other reason, then for his own peace of mind!
Elder Dong had indeed disliked Professor Li before and wanted to suppress him, but this was based on Elder Dong's belief that he was in the right.
At the time, Elder Dong was unaware of the existence of a true Bai Qi tomb and merely thought Professor Li was trying to step on him to rise.
Naturally, he wouldn't indulge Professor Li and would use his resources to suppress him comprehensively.
But now, Elder Dong knew who was right and who was wrong, and that Professor Li had been wronged.
Elder Dong could no longer act against his conscience by suppressing or framing him.
Moreover, with his advanced age, he valued his reputation more. He didn't want to be exhumed and have his body desecrated after his death when the truth was revealed, leaving him with an everlasting infamy.
At that point, there would be no chance for amends, unlike the current situation.
At that time, he would be doomed to become an object of universal scorn!
"I'm sorry, Elder Dong, I was wrong to misjudge you... I even thought you were the mastermind..." Professor Li murmured as he read the news, his eyes involuntarily reddening.
"Professor, are you crying?"
"It's okay to cry. If it were me, I'd cry too. After all, this is a textbook 'extreme counter-kill' and a 'comeback from behind'!"
Liang Yu chattered on the other end of the phone.
"You have no idea how stunned those people who were cursing you before are now. Many of them have quietly deleted their previous comments."
"And those fence-sitters who canceled your graduate applications are now scrambling to reapply. Some even pulled strings to reach me, wanting me to put in a good word. I spat them right back out, how shameless!"
"Also, several leaders from the Institute of Archaeology just came to see you. They said your resignation letter was accidentally lost, so your resignation is invalid. They'll discuss it with you in person when you return."
"As for Liu Bin, he's been suspended pending investigation and further action. He came by earlier with a box of tea, looking like he wanted to beg for your forgiveness. I sent him packing without hesitation..."
Liang Yu reported all the reactions to Professor Li.
"Good, good, well done," Professor Li nodded repeatedly.
"So... Professor, are you still returning to the Institute of Archaeology?" Liang Yu asked tentatively.
Just as Professor Li was about to answer, someone spoke up, answering for him.
"Of course not. Not only will he not return, but you don't have to either. I have a trillion-dollar project here. Come work for me!"
"What?" Liang Yu on the other end of the phone shivered, almost dropping her phone.
A trillion-dollar project?
She had only heard of such things in international news, never seen them in reality!
Let alone participating in one.
She was just a small graduate student; how could she possibly be involved in such a project?
Suddenly, Liang Yu felt a sense of alarm: Could it be a pyramid scheme?
After all, pyramid schemes always boasted like this, talking about trillions and quadrillions, painting a rosy picture.
Oh no, Professor Li, in his anger after leaving the Institute of Archaeology, had accidentally stumbled into a pyramid scheme!
What could be done?
As Liang Yu fretted, she heard Professor Li's voice: "Yes, Mr. Ying's intention is my intention. We definitely won't be returning to the Institute of Archaeology. I will be working for Mr. Ying from now on. As for you, Liang Yu, I also recommend you come along, as opportunities like this are rare."
"By the way, Mr. Ying, how much did you say the project investment was?" Professor Li turned to look at Ying Chen.
Ying Chen held up a finger: "One trillion."
"Did you hear that, Liang Yu? One trillion! That's not a small sum, this number... this number..." Professor Li suddenly froze.
It was only now that he truly grasped the magnitude of one trillion!
*Clatter!*
Professor Li's phone fell to the ground.
But Professor Li was completely oblivious, his mouth agape, repeating, "One trillion? It's one trillion?"
"Professor! Professor! What's wrong?" Liang Yu, sensing something was amiss, called out anxiously from the other end of the phone.
Unfortunately, Professor Li's phone had already shattered, and he couldn't hear Liang Yu's cries.
This made Liang Yu extremely worried.
It also further cemented her belief – Professor Li had indeed fallen into a pyramid scheme!
Earlier, Professor Li had, under duress from the pyramid scheme, extended an invitation to her.
However, Professor Li seemed to have tried to warn her afterward, only to have his phone snatched by someone from the pyramid scheme, preventing him from speaking further!
As for what happened to Professor Li afterward, Liang Yu dared not imagine!
She had heard that being starved or confined was the least of it. Encountering a ruthless pyramid scheme could lead to beatings, torture, and even murder!
"No, Professor is too old; he can't withstand such torment!"
"I must go and save the Professor!"
"Let me think, where did the Professor go after leaving the Institute of Archaeology? It seems to be the Xiyue Hotel! I didn't expect this pyramid scheme to be so extravagant, using a five-star hotel for their 'classes'."
"Professor, hold on! In thirty minutes, no, in fifteen minutes, I'll be there!"
"I'm coming to save you!"