Shanghai Jiao Tong University, postdoctoral dormitory at the School of Materials Science.
Liu Xiaodong lay on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
The school had approved his application to leave the postdoctoral station, and the school had approved it too. But in the end, his advisor still had not agreed or signed off on it.
The condition for signing was that he had to complete the final experiment and hand over the data before he could leave.
Liu Xiaodong had no way to deal with such bandit-like behavior.
He had never experienced this kind of exploitation by an advisor during graduate school, yet he had encountered it as a postdoc.
It made him deeply understand what it meant for choices to matter more than effort.
He had searched online extensively about this kind of thing.
Most people said he should have a proper talk with his advisor, claiming that he must have soured the relationship himself.
He did not know what to say in response to such remarks.
Had he wanted to ruin his relationship with his advisor?
Thinking of his advisors during graduate school, they had all treated him quite well. None of them had been like Zhao Guoqing.
He could only regret being careless when choosing an advisor.
He had chosen Zhao Guoqing in the first place because Zhao was only thirty-two, very young, and the papers in his hands all looked impressive. He appeared more outstanding than many other professors, far above average.
According to academia's definition of the relationship between postdocs and advisors, they were supposed to be collaborators. After all, most people who reached the postdoctoral level already possessed a certain degree of ability.
So, Liu Xiaodong had imagined forming a close collaborative relationship with a young and capable advisor, one that could continue