Sit Down, Stop Making a Scene
In terms of academics, I just do whatever the leaders say.
Director Shen's academic level is evident to all; he has never made a mistake in his academic work. Old Yan immediately revised the experimental procedure section of the paper, modifying it to the level of stream of consciousness according to Shen Qi's instructions.
Cheng Haonan was in charge of pasting the data, and he was able to deeply understand Shen Qi's intentions.
Shen Qi meant that we should just report the synthetic route design and target molecular structure of compound C01C, and list some experimental data; that would be enough to let our colleagues know that we synthesized this compound for the first time in the lab. In short, it's a notification-style report.
To help Shen Qi fulfill his wish, Old Shen took out all the funds he had on hand, Shen Qi and Ou Ye contributed 100 million, Ou Ye's mother contributed 100 million.
Shen Qi and Ou Ye don't have much savings left, just a few million to less than ten million.
You can't live off your parents forever; young people still need to strive, be self-reliant, and work hard.
Shen Qi's 100 million yuan in savings mainly comes from winning bonuses, selling patents, and publishing books.
It's impossible for Shen Qi to save 100 million yuan relying solely on his professor's salary and government subsidies.
A family with hundreds of millions in savings will feel secure.
Overnight, Shen Qi's savings plummeted from hundreds of millions to millions, plunging his sense of security to rock bottom.
In the past few days, Shen Qi has been checking his phone's balance notifications three times a day, once in the morning, once at noon, and once in the evening.
"Your bank card ending in 9748 received a deposit of RMB 382,749.12, leaving a balance of RMB 6,722,301.08..."
Shen Qi received a sum of money today, which was a sales commission for the first edition of "History of Number Theory".
The publishing house settles accounts with Shen Qi once a quarter, paying Shen Qi in RMB.
Last quarter, Shen Qi received less than 400,000 yuan after tax from the sales revenue of the first edition of "History of Number Theory".
The first edition of "History of Number Theory" was not a textbook, and despite being sold for many years, its sales have steadily declined.
Shen Qi earns just over one million RMB, less than two million RMB, a year from this academic monograph.
Including his earlier publications, "Olympic Math Champion Shen Qi's Math Insights," as well as "Review of Condensed Matter Physics Structure" and "Analysis of Solving the Navier-Stokes Equations," Shen Qi has now published a total of four books.
The best-selling book is "Olympic Math Champion Shen Qi's Math Insights," which, although only sold in China, has a large readership.
The second best-selling book is "History of Number Theory," which is sold globally, but it is highly specialized and has a relatively niche readership.
"History of Number Theory" is half history and half specialized knowledge. Readers who like mathematics and have a certain mathematical background should be able to understand most of it.
The academic monographs "Review of Condensed Matter Physics Structure" and "Analysis of Solving the Navier-Stokes Equations" are extremely specialized, and those with only an interest in physics and Mathematical Physics cannot understand them. As a result, these monographs have not sold well, and those without a master's degree or higher in the field simply cannot comprehend what the authors are writing about.
It can be predicted that the four books will bring Shen Qi a maximum of around 6 million RMB in sales revenue this year.
"Let's be frugal." Shen Qi entered a period of thrift and frugality, avoiding unnecessary spending to save money.
In fact, working and living at the university level, to reach Shen Qi's level, doesn't cost him much money.
The government provides him with good food, lodging, and welfare benefits. Shen Qi doesn't have to pay for meals, his house is allocated by the government and he doesn't need to pay a loan, and he doesn't have to spend money on shopping within 10,000 yuan per month, as he has shopping cards. All his medical expenses, car fuel and toll fees are reimbursed, and his business trips are all reimbursed, plus he can earn some subsidies. A professor who does well in academics will definitely not starve in the university and can live a decent life.
Regardless, at least some income has arrived today; a few hundred thousand more is better than nothing.
Shen Qi went to the Yanjing University Academic Committee for a meeting.
Today, the committee has convened experts in mathematics and physics from within the university. The first agenda item is to review several major project applications.
Shen Qi is a standing member of the academic committee, and he is obligated to review projects with funding exceeding 20 million yuan.
The first project was initiated by the School of Physics, and the project leader was Associate Professor Xu from the School of Physics.
Associate Professor Xu presented the project proposal to the committee. "Our project mainly studies a pure rotation lidar system for absolute detection of atmospheric temperature. We will collaborate with China University of Geosciences to conduct scientific expeditions both domestically and internationally. The research aims to explore solutions to the problem of global warming. The entire project is expected to last two to three years, and the estimated funding requested is 46.5 million yuan. Below are the detailed breakdowns..."
"Don't look at the details yet," the Director of the Academic Committee said, succinctly instructing, "The amount reported to the higher-ups should not exceed 20 million."
The director suddenly cut the funding by more than half, which displeased Associate Professor Xu: "Director Cai, over 40 million for three years of research is really not much, only a little over 10 million a year. You are an expert, you know that over 10 million to support a Scientific Expedition Team for a year is already a stretch."
Director Cai, a high-ranking and powerful figure, said expressionlessly, "Unless it's a project specifically designated by the state, the amount cannot exceed 20 million. Associate Professor Xu, could you perhaps raise the remaining funds yourself and seek sponsorship from enterprises? Some companies are very enthusiastic about sponsoring scientific research projects."
Suddenly, Associate Professor Xu snapped, "I'm a university professor, not a prostitute soliciting customers!"
Director Cai was also furious. "Xu Zhou, what are you shouting for? Don't you have any manners?!"
For no apparent reason, Associate Professor Xu and Director Cai started arguing, and the conference room descended into chaos.
Actually, there was no personal grudge between Associate Professor Xu and Director Cai. You could say that Director Cai was a bit bureaucratic, but from another perspective, being in such a sensitive position as Director Cai meant that he considered issues from multiple angles, not just simple addition and subtraction of numbers.
The research funding allocated to Associate Professor Xu did not come from Director Cai's personal pocket. Cutting more than 20 million yuan in funding will not result in the government giving Director Cai any kickbacks or bribes.
Associate Professor Xu is a passionate person, a bit short-tempered, impatient, and outspoken.
In science and technology-driven fields, especially in institutions like universities, particularly top-tier universities like Yenching University, "being good at networking" and "being good at interpersonal relationships" are not the most important performance indicators. This has fostered a hot-tempered and straightforward person like Associate Professor Xu.
Many top tech experts are not good at interacting with people; to outsiders, they may seem aloof or even eccentric.
Of course, top talents who are technically skilled and have good interpersonal relationships are even more successful.
"46.5 million, not a penny less. If it's less, I'm quitting!" Associate Professor Xu's face was flushed, as if he had been greatly wronged.
"The document I signed states a maximum of 20 million. Take it or leave it!" Director Cai was a very stubborn person. In front of so many people, Associate Professor Xu was confronting him. If he backed down, he wouldn't be able to make a living at Yenching University in the future.
Snap!
Unable to contain himself any longer, Shen Qi slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Sit down, all of you! Stop making a scene! This is a university, not a market!"
Holy crap, Old Shen's gone berserk?
Everyone stared in disbelief, and the conference room fell silent instantly.