A Promising New Star
Team 1 of the Shen Qi Mathematical and Physical Research Center won the runner-up title in this year's Weiming Lake Half Marathon Relay Race thanks to their strength, tactical design, and various clever maneuvers.
With only fourteen people, the Shen Qi Mathematical and Physical Research Center was the smallest department in Yenching University, but their operations were the most outrageous. Overnight, this department became famous throughout Yenching University.
Shen Qi previously gained popularity through academic achievements, but this time he won over fans with his relay race. He said that our center will showcase more interesting things in other fields in the future, and welcomes researchers with special skills to join the center so that everyone can have fun and do research together.
Cui Xiaoyi, Yang Ding Tian, and Xiao Junlong became campus stars.
Cui Xiaoyi, a busty cutie who's quick to lift her shirt at the drop of a hat; Yang Ding Tian, a physics genius with an eccentric personality; and Xiao Junlong, a masked PhD student who came all the way from the Dabie Mountains to study at Yenching University—the three of them inexplicably received a lot of friend requests on WeChat.
"I admire you!", "Please carry me!", "Crazy fan checking in!"—these are the most common application messages used by applicants.
After the relay race, Shen Qi called a meeting with all the researchers and reminded them that at Yenching University, being a bit outrageous is a must. You can be outrageous in sports, you can be outrageous in the arts, you can be outrageous in flirting, but I, Shen Qi, hope that the most outrageous things will be done in academic research.
Xiao Junlong was the first to produce research results. Although he was ugly, he was talented. Although he was short, he could run very fast.
Xiao Junlong's research project, "A Study of Moran Set," was the earliest project approved by the center, even earlier than Shen Qi's 973 Program.
Xiao Junlong submitted his paper to Shen Qi for review and asked Shen Qi if any revisions were needed.
As Shen Qi reviewed the paper, he remarked, "The structure of packing homogeneous Moran Set with intermediate dimensions was previously unclear in the Mathematics Community. Colleagues in Dynamical Systems considered it a topic related to Hyperfractals, while those in the field of Hyperfractals believed it leaned more towards Quasi-homomorphism. However, I believe it is an interdisciplinary topic within the field."
"I said in a public report that the future trend of mathematics development will definitely be interdisciplinary and the boundaries will be blurred. In a few decades, there will be no more or no new Millennium Prize Problem, because mathematics will have been unified. I don't know if this is a great achievement for all time or the grave of mathematics." Shen Qi also encounters mathematical problems that he can't understand. He took a sip of coffee and said that he couldn't see through the future of mathematics.
"The unification of mathematics may mean the complete instrumentalization of mathematics. This is the best of times, this is the worst of times." Xiao Junlong and Shen Qi discussed the future of mathematics, exchanging their opinions.
After discussing for an hour, Xiao Junlong suddenly remembered something. "Well, Director Shen, we've gotten off-topic. Let's talk about my paper first. Do you think it's suitable for publication?"
Shen Qi gave the instructions. "Revise this part, add a constructive proof of the intermediate value theorem for homogeneous Moran Set, and once the proof is complete, publish it directly to a top ten mathematics journal in the world. You don't need to show it to me again."
"Received." Xiao Junlong appeared relaxed and at ease.
Academically, Xiao Junlong is elegant, agile, and full of confidence. Last year, Shen Qi first interviewed Xiao Junlong because of his academic characteristics.
Although Xiao Junlong has many shortcomings in his personal life, that's not the point. No one is perfect, and no one in the world is absolutely flawless. Shen Qi noticed Xiao Junlong's radiant expression and asked, "Junlong, you've been in pretty good shape lately. Did you go on a blind date with a girl?"
"Hehehe." Xiao Junlong took out his phone and glanced at it, laughing incessantly.
Shen Qi snatched the phone, his eyes lighting up. "Wow, not bad, a girl from Peking University?"
"The girl from the Cat Association that Director Shen introduced me to before thought I was ugly, and we broke up after just one meal. Recently, I met a girl who said I have a unique look. Director Shen, you are a person of taste, someone who has transcended vulgar tastes. What do you think of me? Am I ugly or unique?" Xiao Junlong asked expectantly.
Shen Qi operated Xiao Junlong's phone to enter shooting mode, pointing the camera at Xiao Junlong: "Don't you have any idea what you look like?"
Xiao Junlong took back his phone. "That's really discouraging, Director Shen."
"Let me tell you, Xiao Junlong, whether you're ugly or have a unique personality, the girls who want to date you won't care about your looks. You need to know your selling points: a brilliant math PhD, the legendary story of traveling halfway across China to study at Yenching University... Although I don't know if this story is true, that's what everyone's saying."
"I did run quite a distance, but not nearly half of China. I'm going to revise my paper with Director Shen now. Goodbye."
"Hey, you haven't given me any details about the girl you're meeting on a blind date."
"She is a graduate student at Yenching University. Other information is confidential for now; we will announce it once the deal is finalized."
"Get it done soon, I'm telling you." Shen Qi saw that even the least attractive and shortest man in the center had arranged to date a female graduate student who was fairly good-looking. As the center director, Shen Qi thought this was a good thing.
Xiao Junlong said his family was poor, but his personal salary was not low. After joining the Shen Qi Mathematical and Physical Research Center, he was assigned to a research position by the university.
University positions are generally divided into three categories: research and teaching, research, and teaching. Teachers who only teach and do not conduct research generally have lower salaries.
People engaged in front-line scientific research are highly valued. Xiao Junlong is one such person. Their salaries and bonuses are slightly higher, they have research funding, and after working for a few years and achieving some results, they accumulate seniority and are even allocated staff housing by Yenching University.
In academia, it doesn't matter if you're not good-looking; as long as you have talent, projects, funding, and a house, you can always solve your marriage problems.
The researchers under Shen Qi are all in research positions; they are promising talents.
After Xiao Junlong left, Shen Qi left the Director's Office and headed to the Yanjing University Physics Department.
Yang Ding Tian has been spending the last few days at the Physics Department conducting experiments. He needs to borrow the experimental equipment from the Physics Department to study the ZnCdO/ZnO single quantum well structure and its fluorescence emission characteristics.
This experiment is crucial and will provide important data support for Shen Qi's 973 Physics project.
Shen Qi entered the physics laboratory, changed into a full-body lab coat, and put on a hood, mask, and goggles. He didn't do any work; he supervised Yang Ding Tian's work.
The experiment was conducted in an ultra-high vacuum environment of 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ Pa. Yang Ding Tian used an excimer laser as the ablation laser to ablate a ZnCdO ceramic target with a CdO content of 30% (mol).
Yang Ding Tian focused intently on operating the equipment and watching the data changes. The aluminum oxide single crystal substrate achieved its optimal interface state after annealing at 650 degrees Celsius for 60 minutes.
Perhaps he was too focused, Yang Ding Tian didn't notice Shen Qi entering the laboratory.
The key operation is to use reflected high-energy electron beam diffraction to monitor the interface state and epitaxial growth state. Shen Qi is not very proficient in this operation because he does not practice it often.
In terms of specific experiments, doctoral students who deal with experimental equipment every day are definitely more proficient than their busy supervisors.
Yang Ding Tian was a troubled youth outside, but he was an all-around academic genius in physics. His undergraduate major was astronomy, and he got first place in every exam. He switched to Condensed Matter Physics, which has almost nothing to do with astronomy, and he was quite good at it.
"Done." Yang Ding Tian revealed a rare smile, a genuine joy at this moment.
After saving the data and turning off the device, Yang Ding Tian turned around and saw someone. "Director Shen, why do you walk so quietly, just like my cat?"