"Guzman, what are you doing here? Aren’t you in the middle of an important experiment?" The academic world is actually quite small; most people in the field know each other, and everyone is well aware of where their peers stand. Byas had thought his own academic standing would make securing this job a breeze, right up until he saw his formidable rival.
"I’d love to be continuing my experiment, but my precious granddaughter insisted I come to this selection. She desperately wants a photo of the Panda." Guzman shrugged. "Byas, aren’t you applying for a new project at the university? Shouldn’t you be out lobbying for it right now? How do you have time to be here?"
"You have a granddaughter, and I have a grandson." Of course, that was only a small part of the reason they came. Beyond their love for pandas, this was a rare opportunity to gather firsthand data. When else would they get a chance to observe a panda up close? As for being looked down upon by China’s panda authorities, they couldn’t care less. If they didn’t have the stomach for that, they would never have made it this far in academia.
Byas and Guzman were there for academic purposes, but most of the others were there for the same reason as Lunfei’Er and Narcissus: to get a chance to be up close with the panda. After all, who could resist the adorable Panda?
After a fierce competition, the opportunity ultimately went to the authoritative American zoologist, Professor Guzman. He gleefully went back to pack his bags for Shanghai, China, leaving the others dejected. They didn’t give up, however, and began scheming of ways to find a new opportunity.
News of Professor Guzman’s impending arrival soon reached Director Kong’s ears. He had no choice but to halt filming again to wait for him. As soon as Professor Guzman got off the plane, he rushed to the hotel, where he beamed while taking a few photos with Hah’Er. Then, the group went to the Shanghai Zoo to conduct another health assessment on Hah’Er.
When the test results came back, Professor Guzman held the report and occasionally voiced a doubt. "Er... this data point seems a bit high. Should we run the test again?"
"High? What are you basing that conclusion on? How much data in this area have you seen before? I’ve previously published three papers in *The Journal of Animal Ecology* all researching this very issue. Have you read them?" the old professor retorted, his face expressionless. *The Journal of Animal Ecology* is a zoology journal published by Oxford University and has the highest impact factor of any zoology journal in the world. Its standing in zoology is comparable to *Cell* in biology, *The Lancet* in medicine, or the "big four"—*Acta Mathematica*, *Annals of Mathematics*, *Journal of the American Mathematical Society*, and *Inventiones Mathematicae*—in the world of mathematics.
The old professor laid out his hard evidence, and Guzman was instantly speechless. He ducked his head and went back to studying the test results. He then raised two more minor objections, both of which were unceremoniously shot down by the old professor. Professor Guzman’s head sank lower and lower.
"Clearly, Hah’Er is perfectly healthy. The previous filming has had no adverse effects on him." In the end, Professor Guzman reached the same conclusion as the old professor. Of course, he could have chosen to disagree, but doing so would have just led to the old professor refuting him with his superior expertise and academic standing. The final result would only be his own humiliation. When it came to panda research, these foreign scientists were indeed leagues behind their Chinese counterparts.
Professor Guzman had no deep-seated grudge against the film crew, so he certainly wasn’t going to sacrifice his academic reputation to do something that would harm others without benefiting himself. With his approval, the crew was able to resume filming.
Lunfei’Er, Famite, Narcissus, and Charlotte could finally relax. They set aside all their concerns and wholeheartedly embraced their roles as "panda slaves." They doted on Hah’Er with more care than Li Lianying ever showed the Old Buddha, so much so that Shen Yibin sometimes found himself standing on the sidelines with nothing to do.
They also got tons of photos with Hah’Er, which they spammed all over their social media feeds to show off. The follower counts on their four accounts skyrocketed, quickly surpassing one million. They became some of the fastest-rising internet celebrities of the year, with countless people begging for updates under their posts every day.
At the same time, they also attracted endless envy, jealousy, and hate. Countless panda fans schemed about how they could replace these four lucky individuals and get close to Hah’Er themselves.
Soon, the second phase of filming was complete. The third phase was scheduled to take place next month in Yunzhong City, timed with the changing of the seasons. This third phase was also the final one; once it was finished, the film could move into post-production and prepare for release.
Since filming was over, Lunfei’Er and the others had no reason to stay in Shanghai. With great reluctance, they bid farewell to Hah’Er, looking back with every step, and boarded a flight to Los Angeles. The first thing they did after landing in LA was rush to their organization’s headquarters to submit applications for the prep work on the third phase of filming.
"Sorry, I’m all out of application forms." The administrative staff member in charge of the forms shrugged innocently. "As of right now, we have enough volunteers applying for this job to form a line from Los Angeles to New York. I don’t think the four of you have much of a chance."
THUD. Lunfei’Er’s luggage dropped to the floor. ’How can this be!’ The administrator couldn’t help but shake his head. ’Do you have any idea how many panda fans there are in America? Everyone wants to get close to the Panda. Plus, a large portion of the applicants this time are members from our European Chapters. Getting a single spot is almost harder than winning the presidential election.’
Shen Yibin, however, had no idea what fierce competition Lunfei’Er and the others were about to face. All he could think was, ’Filming is finally over! I need to get Hah’Er back to Yunzhong City for a good, long rest. Also... it seems like it’s about time to buy Xiaoliu.’
Director Kong tried to persuade Shen Yibin and Hah’Er to stay and have some fun in Shanghai for a few more days. They had been so preoccupied with filming that they hadn’t had a chance to enjoy themselves. However, Shen Yibin was worried about Xiaoliu and Maphario back home, so he had to decline Director Kong’s kind offer.
Seeing how decisive Shen Yibin’s refusal was, Director Kong didn’t insist. He immediately instructed his assistant to book plane tickets for Shen Yibin. After Assistant Deng left, Director Kong pulled Shen Yibin down to sit. "Bin, about this trip back to Yunzhong City... there’s one more thing I’d like to ask of you."