"Xiao Qin, I don't know how much you know about master's and doctoral degrees."
"A master's isn't so bad. It doesn't take long, and you won't be entrusted with major responsibilities. Doctoral students, on the other hand, often carry their advisors' expectations of breaking new ground in a field. Most of them don't exactly have an easy, fulfilling time. Do you know why?"
Qin Siyang recalled the senior doctoral students from his previous life. They always seemed to be sitting in front of their computers, agonizing over papers and experimental data, scratching their heads in frustration.
He hadn't thought much of it back then, but Li Tianming's explanation finally made him understand. "Was it because they didn't know whether their methods were right, or whether their hard work would ever pay off?"
"Exactly. When their advisors set their research directions, they didn't know whether anything would come of them either. They simply thought those directions were worth exploring."
"After all, it's the unknown that makes something worth researching."
Hearing that, Qin Siyang couldn't help feeling a little helpless himself.
"But when the apocalypse came, everything changed."
"What changed?"
"The circumstances of researchers changed. Though the apocalypse was humanity's darkest hour, it opened up a whole new frontier for researchers."
There was a touch of dark humor in Li Tianming's smile. "I never imagined that one day I'd find a blessing in disaster and make it this far."
"After the apocalypse, everything was unknown, and all the changes in the world urgently needed exploring. Researchers' work received unprecedented respect and attention."
"And people like us, who'd studied biology, nature, and related disciplines before the apocalypse, had an easier start than everyone else. We soon became professors at prestigious universities."
"But even then, plenty of professors weren't doing research on the front