Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 1511 - 726: More Disappointed than Disappointment

Chapter 1511: Chapter 726: More Disappointed than Disappointment

"These are baked and also deep-fried buns," Old Niu was enthusiastically distributing chunks of yellowed Dry Cake around. Dry Cake is essentially buns sliced into pieces, the entirely golden ones having been deep-fried, with parts golden and parts slightly blackened—those were baked.

This was the dry food that Boss Niu asked the villagers to prepare. Of course, it wasn’t just these; there were also dry cakes made overnight by the villagers, simple packaged cakes from the village store that crumbled upon a single bite, and items like instant noodles and eight-treasure porridge, which were considered the better options.

There were too many people, so, realistically, nothing else could be prepared. The villagers carried over several large kettles, filled with water boiled early in the morning. Some pots contained dandelion root tea or the newly harvested and processed Willow leaf tea from spring.

The best treatment was using a few thermal flasks brought along for boiling water to make instant noodles—but not the bucket kind. The villagers provided large enamel bowls, which worked great for soaking instant noodles, and one bowl could handle several packets at once.

That’s pretty much all the countryside has to offer; anything else was either not feasible, or nobody could think of it.

A group of foreign scholars were actually quite easy to please; nibbling on Dry Cake and sipping cool boiled water, they seemed to relish the meal. Because of this, Yan Fei developed a pretty good impression of them, thinking that this group was indeed quite down-to-earth.

Experts also vary in type. For someone like Professor Qi, it takes a lot of time to work in the fields just like rural farmers, observing, sampling, and recording. For someone like Hofstadter, Yan Fei now knew he was a biologist. Though he had an easy time teaching on campus, he had not shied away from roughing it in the wild.

Even those experts who focus purely on theoretical research sometimes need to sift through old documents to study historical facts, and such materials might only recently have been unearthed, requiring them not to stay indoors all the time.

Only the ’experts’ looking to stand out with shocking opinions, like one proposing to abolish pensions, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and other benefits, claiming it would keep people more motivated at work... Such experts definitely don’t need to work that hard, just lie in bed all day, waiting for that ’brainwave’ in their pig-like head to suddenly make them famous.

There are many experts who have it hard, for instance, those studying dinosaur fossils who often need to carry shovels, chisels, and brushes, squatting in the wilderness to dig soil and rocks. It’s likely that eating buns and drinking cool water is their everyday fare.

Hofstadter was crunching on a piece of the baked Dry Cake, enthusiastically telling Yan Fei about the excellent academic atmosphere at Cambridge University, boasting not only world-class labs but also famous people from around the world.

And his ultimate goal was to convince Yan Fei, a young, talented, and eager learner, to aim for a place like Cambridge University.

Yan Fei timely expressed his longing: "When I graduate from college, I will definitely apply to further my studies at Cambridge University. I really hope to see the legendary Cambridge soon, and to behold the golden willows by the river..."

Hofstadter smiled happily: "In fact, you might not even need to wait until you graduate from college. The opportunity could come up really soon. Don’t forget what I said just now; I believe we will meet again before long."

Yan Fei knew what Hofstadter meant; it was the invitation to join Cambridge University that he mentioned earlier. But just as he had sarcastically thought to himself, coming from a family with two professors and still needing to take exams to get into Agricultural University, now he was supposed to enter a world-famous university just with a word from the man in front of him—it seemed too childish, didn’t it?

While thinking this, his face showed the same delighted longing as before: "I hope so too."

After all, it was all about bluffing, you bluff me, I bluff you, as long as you can take care of the matter at hand, everything else is negotiable. Once my paper gets published, it doesn’t matter which ’bridge’ it is, Cambridge or Gunbridge, whoever wants to go can go...

Hofstadter was clearly unaware of the cunning thoughts within the diligent and studious young man in front of him. Seeing Yan Fei’s expression of longing, he started to regard him as a disciple, speaking with less formality and more of a mentor’s tone.

After quickly taking care of lunch, the group had barely rested for a few minutes when Hofstadter hurriedly urged Yan Fei to continue their trek.

The road ahead was tough, practically no road at all, and with it being the season of dense forestation, only with Boss Niu leading the villagers in turns to clear the path could the group behind them continue to move forward—the most miserable were those in suits and leather shoes, who found it quite unpleasant to traverse the woods and occasionally climb up and down.

The last time Yan Fei came here, he often had to carry his wife on his back. The paths that he could navigate while carrying his wife were not what you’d call ’normal paths’ for ordinary people, often requiring detours and twists.

Thankfully, the general direction was correct. Yan Fei had already heard the sound of water; he knew the place wasn’t wrong—even if it was, it didn’t matter as long as it was by a stream, the exact spot was inconsequential.

However, as they walked and got closer to their destination, Yan Fei’s face started showing a strange expression. A few steps more, and he paused slightly, then his face dawned with realization.