Have the Ability

"Son, you're back."

The mother, chatting at the doorway, saw Du Ke return and happily walked over.

She was chatting with a few rural women from the neighborhood. They idled in the morning and played mahjong in the afternoon. Rural life was like that – busy when it was busy, idle when it was idle.

After greeting her with a smile, Du Ke took a large bag of things from the car trunk. It was all for his parents and grandparents, including milk, calcium tablets, and so on.

"Oh my, you buy so much every time you come back. We don't lack food or drinks at home, you just spend money carelessly." Although his mother complained, the smile on her face couldn't be hidden. Especially with the flattery from her mahjong friends, she couldn't stop smiling. "I don't ask for you to have a great career outside, just that you can support yourself. My little Ke is good, he never gave us any trouble since he was little."

His mother carried the things inside and then took out some biscuits to give to her friends.

The mahjong friends praised Du Ke even more, saying things like "young and promising," "talented and capable," and "much better than my son." In short, everyone was polite, and even if they felt jealous or unhappy, they wouldn't say it to his face.

At this moment, Du Ke came down with two bundles of books.

"Little Du, what are you carrying?" a woman asked curiously.

"It's my thesis."

"Thesis? I know what that is. You have to write a thesis to graduate from college. Why did you write so many?"

His mother was also puzzled. "You've been graduated for over a year, why are you still writing theses? Didn't you say you finished your graduation thesis?"

"It's a newly written thesis, published in the Journal of Chemical Physics. I brought some back to give away." Du Ke didn't immediately mention his recommendation for graduate study at Xiake University. Some things sound less impressive when you say them yourself; it's better to let others discover them.

"Oh, that's great, publishing a thesis." The woman didn't really understand what a thesis was, but she was curious. "Can I have a copy to look at?"

"Oh, okay. This is the Journal of Chemical Physics, and this is my thesis monograph."

"What's a monograph?"

"A monograph is when my thesis is published as a separate booklet for academic exchange." Du Ke answered simply. In the era of physical books, monographs were quite formal and often used by authors to give away, giving off a sophisticated vibe. But in the digital age, monographs are not as popular; anyone who wants one can just download it and print it themselves.

The woman didn't understand, but it didn't stop her from praising him. "Oh, that's great. Your thesis is so profound. It's clear you're a capable person."

"Yes, Little Du is a capable person. He bought a car and a house, and now he's publishing papers... Sigh, why are these papers in foreign languages, not Chinese?" another woman suddenly exclaimed.

"The Journal of Chemical Physics is an English publication."

"British? Impressive!"

"It's not British. It's an English journal published domestically, but using English is more suitable for an international audience."

"Being able to write a thesis in English is not something ordinary people can do. Sister, you're so lucky to have such a capable son." A younger woman addressed Du Ke's mother as "sister."

After a round of flattery, the women, holding biscuits and snacks, said their goodbyes and left.

Only then did his mother ask, "Son, what's this thesis about? Didn't you already graduate and start working?"

"Work is work, but it doesn't stop me from continuing my scientific research. Mom, I have good news for you: I've been recommended for graduate study at Xiake University. I'll be going there to study as a graduate student in the fall."

"Ah, you're taking the postgraduate entrance exam? And at Xiake University!" his mother exclaimed.

In the hearts of the people of Anhui Province, the best university was not Tsinghua or Peking University, nor was it any of the "Huawu" universities. There was only one university – Huaxia University of Science and Technology. Du Ke remembered that when he was a child, his parents pointed to Xiake University in Luzhou and said, "If you study hard when you grow up, you'll get into Sci-Tech University," and "If you get into Sci-Tech University, your father and I will die without regret."

Therefore, in Du Ke's mind, Xiake University was also the best university in China.

This was also why he quickly accepted Professor Tao Xun's offer. In reality, a master's degree didn't affect him, but the allure of Xiake University was irresistible. Of course, generally speaking, Xiake University's undergraduates were the core, and graduate students were somewhat mixed, but there was no need to elaborate. Having the name of Xiake University was enough to make his parents happy for a lifetime.

"Calm down, Mom. It's just a graduate student at Xiake University. Associate Professor Tao Xun invited me to be his graduate student because of my good thesis."

"Son, you know associate professors now? You can be an associate professor's graduate student?"

Du Ke smiled and replied, "Didn't I take on private projects from the research institute before? Because my skills were decent, I was planning to start a business with some people in the New Energy industry. Coincidentally, Professor Tao took notice of my research and thought I was a promising candidate, so he recommended me to be his graduate student. I also need to recharge myself and prepare to dedicate myself to the New Energy industry."

"What new energy?"

"The company hasn't been established yet; we're in the preparatory stage. Mom, don't worry about me messing around outside. Could I have written such a thesis if I were messing around? The Journal of Chemical Physics, an English SCI journal. I published not one, but three papers on it, and the cover even featured an image from my thesis. Doesn't that prove it? You know, even a lecturer at a general university might not be able to publish in the Journal of Chemical Physics."

His papers were published in an SCI journal. Although his mother didn't understand what SCI meant, she already believed that Du Ke was engaged in high-level scientific research.

"Okay, my son is capable. Work hard. I'll go to the market to buy some vegetables. Your father is learning to drive at the driving school, I'll go call him back."

"No, no, I'll take you to the market, and then I'll go to the driving school to see how Dad is doing."

"How could he be doing? He can't even ride a motorcycle smoothly. He's learning to drive now. He failed the first subject twice and failed the second subject again. You're also spoiling your father, insisting he buy a car. He's obsessed with cars all day. You don't know this, but one day, your father got drunk and went straight to a 4S shop to look at cars. He insisted on doing a test drive and almost got the police called on him."

"What? No way." Du Ke frowned. "I need to talk to Dad about this. Don't drink and drive, don't drive after drinking. If he wants to buy a car, he must quit drinking, otherwise, I won't buy him a car."

The BYD Han was directly sent to the driving school.

Du Ke knew the coach at the driving school, and the students were all from the neighborhood. After handing out some cigarettes, Du Ke watched his father's driving skills. He had to admit, his driving was terrible, and his hill start was a disaster.

"It's uncomfortable to learn on a manual transmission. Nowadays, everything is automatic. Who drives a manual anymore?" his father complained after failing the hill start for the third time. "It's not keeping up with the times."