Galaxy Award

Chapter 32: Galaxy Award

Once Zhang Yuan finished his entire explanation, Wang Lili simply opened her mouth, swallowing the earnest advice she had originally prepared.

She rolled her eyes in secret and replied, "This student... answered very well. Please sit down."

So he was the legendary academic god; this type of person was actually the most annoying, knowing everything without studying and even ruining the classroom atmosphere.

Ye Kaifu had already recovered his inner reverence and was no longer surprised, as if he had become numb.

"A master is indeed a master; he won't change his essential nature as a powerhouse just because he takes a nap..."

A powerhouse has the right to sleep.

He felt deeply ashamed of his own jealousy.

The rest of the class passed peacefully enough. Zhang Yuan no longer dozed off, but instead wandered off into his own thoughts, the focus of his pupils seemingly fixed on the distant void.

The teacher didn't call on anyone else either; she just droned on like a monk chanting scriptures for the rest of the period until it ended.

"Ding-a-ling," the bell rang.

Wang Lili assigned a few homework problems and signaled that everyone could leave.

When it came time to leave, everyone was surprisingly enthusiastic; how frustrating.

"Let's go, we should head back too."

After sleeping for a little while, Zhang Yuan felt refreshed and wanted to return to the dormitory to continue grinding away at his paper.

Ye Kaifu reluctantly packed up his materials and asked Zhang Yuan, "Mathematical physics equations are too hard. Is there a general framework to make them easier to understand?"

Zhang Yuan thought for a moment and said, "A framework? You mean the problem-solving approach? This course actually doesn't have that many complicated things."

"Solving homogeneous partial differential equations is the simplest; you just need to use separation of variables and follow a four-step process to solve them..."

"Then, when you get to the definite solution problems for non-homogeneous governing equations, the method is to introduce a new function or use something similar to the method of variation of parameters. You treat the non-homogeneous problem as a homogeneous one to solve it, then use a Fourier series expansion to form a new set of definite solution conditions, and you can solve it..."

"Then, for dealing with non-homogeneous boundary conditions later on, you transform them into homogeneous boundary conditions, thereby converting the problem into solving a non-homogeneous governing equation..."

"Stop!"

Ye Kaifu was on the verge of tears and couldn't help but shout.

When he realized there were no shortcuts in the entire learning process, he could only mutter to himself:

Terrifying!

After packing up their things, the two prepared to leave.

"Zhang Yuan, don't go yet!"

Just then, Zhang Yuan suddenly heard a female voice calling him from behind. He turned his head and saw that it was Xu Yunjing, a graduate student under Professor Wang Zhong.

"Senior sister, are you here for the lecture too?"

Xu Yunjing said, "Yeah... I plan to switch to mechanical engineering when I start my PhD, so I'm learning some relevant knowledge now to make the transition easier later."

Zhang Yuan asked curiously, "Switching to engineering? You're studying mathematics now, right? Won't Professor Wang be angry?"

"No, no... he should respect my opinion."

Xu Yunjing thought to herself: I'm not that kind of genius student, so why should I walk the miserable path of pure mathematics? It's hard work and doesn't pay well; why make life difficult for myself?

"...So he is that... junior brother of yours? Your way of addressing each other is so strange." Another pair of bright, rolling eyes looked over; it was the substitute teacher, Wang Lili.

"Yeah, let me introduce you." Xu Yunjing said with a smile, "Her name is Wang Lili, a good friend of mine. She's currently working on her master's degree under Professor Lin in the School of Mechanical Engineering."

"Hello, senior sister!"

"This little junior brother is quite shy, isn't he? Slacking off in class, sleeping, and getting caught red-handed by me." Wang Lili said with a smile.

Her voice lowered slightly: "Even though he completely crushed that problem."

Zhang Yuan felt quite embarrassed: "Senior sister, I'm really sorry. I was exhausted from writing my paper, which is why I accidentally fell asleep. I didn't mean to."

"Writing a paper at such a young age? What's your focus?"

"Using geometric group theory and topology to analyze robot motion..."

Upon hearing the topic, Wang Lili was momentarily speechless: "Are kids these days this abnormal? Group theory, topology... I'm still worrying about publishing papers, and I'd be happy with a third or fourth-tier journal."

Seeing them chatting and turning into senior sisters and junior brothers in the blink of an eye, Ye Kaifu, who was standing on the side, rolled his eyes and lost interest in being a third wheel.

He angrily said his goodbyes: "Zhang Yuan, I'm going to the library, bye!"

"Bye!"

Ye Kaifu turned around with a cool air, his face smiling while his heart was cursing. That whole "people live to study" thing must be a lie.

He hooked up with such a pretty senior sister in the blink of an eye. This kind of technique is simply a role model for our generation.

Since Zhang Yuan is out chasing girls, I should chase girls too. Maybe I can have a chance encounter at the library?

There isn't much of the holiday left; I can't keep living this miserable life.

After chatting for a while, Zhang Yuan asked, "Senior sister, what did you need to see me for?"

Xu Yunjing slapped her forehead. "Almost forgot, there really is something."

By this time, only the three of them were left in the entire classroom, and Xu Yunjing rummaged through her small bag.

She pulled out an invitation and handed it to Zhang Yuan. "In a week, the Xisha University auditorium will host the Galaxy Award ceremony to commemorate the successful construction of the Earth Era. You have an important award to receive, so don't forget it."

An award?

Zhang Yuan felt a jolt. He hadn't done anything, had he? His thesis wasn't even written yet, and he was just an ordinary spaceship worker. What award could he possibly get? On what grounds?

"How could it possibly be my turn?"

"It's your father's award, keep dreaming!"

"Oh!"

Zhang Yuan's heart skipped a beat. He didn't seem to have the right to refuse his father's award.

Xu Yunjing made an exaggerated gesture. "That's the legendary first-place Galaxy Award, it comes with a ten-million prize! As your father's only direct relative, it's not too much to ask for you to accept it on his behalf, right?"

"The Earth Era is about to set off, so all these vanity projects need to be wrapped up. Besides, there will be a fundraising ceremony afterward to get those tycoons to donate; that's the most critical part."

"The foundation is short on money—not just hundreds of millions, but hundreds of billions, trillions! It's good to fleece a little wool from those entrepreneurs."

"Alright, alright, I understand."

Still, it wouldn't be right to call it a vanity project; it was an honor his father deserved!

Zhang Yuan thought about it. He had already donated all his worldly possessions, so he didn't have any psychological burden. He might as well go.

He asked again, "Do I need to give a speech or anything?"

Xu Yunjing smiled and said, "Just go up on stage and accept the award. Who would pay attention to a primary schooler like you? Don't be so vain! You aren't the recipient, just a proxy, so the reporters won't give you a hard time."

"They might ask you to say a few words of 'thanks'—thank the government, thank the foundation, thank the committee, and so on. It's very simple. You don't need to worry about the donation event afterward; we'll handle that."

"That's good." Zhang Yuan hated those kinds of troublesome ceremonies. If he had to give a long-winded speech and write a special article for it, he would rather spend that time grinding away at his thesis.

"Don't you dare forget. I'll remind you again when the time comes."

"Got it, I got it."

After finishing their chat, Zhang Yuan bid farewell to the two senior sisters who were laughing and trying to tease him, and went off alone to ponder his thesis.