Top Students All Have OCD!

"I've dealt with Engineer Tian before. He doesn't strike me as the sort to say the opposite of what he means." The president shook his head. "Forget it. Let's not worry about that for now."

The vice president remembered the matter at hand. "Oh, right, President, how are things going with Qi Hao?"

"I told him to find those five Soviet Union papers." The president sighed. "As long as he can find them and produce the originals, this whole thing can basically be put to rest. If he can't... then we're in trouble."

The vice president gave a bitter chuckle. "President..."

"Hmm?"

"We were notified a month ago that the provincial mathematics conference would be held tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes, it opens at nine tomorrow morning at the provincial normal university. The deans of mathematics from more than twenty universities across the province will be there."

"Dean Hu from our mathematics school is probably in for a rough time tomorrow," the vice president said cautiously.

The president suddenly felt relieved.

"Tomorrow's going to be a public humiliation, but luckily Old Hu will be there to shoulder it."

"Better a fellow cultivator die than this poor Daoist. Between the two of us, one sacrifice is enough."

"But President," the vice president said, pretending not to have heard him, "you know what Old Hu is like. He cares an awful lot about saving face. With those online posts causing such an uproar, that bunch of old men will be lining up to make snide remarks at the conference tomorrow. I'm afraid Old Hu won't be able to stomach it and won't go."

The president's hand paused on his teacup, and his gaze sharpened. "You're right to remind me! Call Old Hu immediately! Tell him he absolutely must attend the conference tomorrow. We can't let anyone think our university is too embarrassed to show up. That would make us look terribly guilty!"

The vice president silently lit a candle for Dean Hu of the mathematics school.

The next day, at the provincial normal university.

The annual provincial mathematics conference was neither a particularly big nor a particularly small event in the province's mathematics community.

It wasn't big because it was confined to the province, but it wasn't small because the deans of mathematics from practically every university attended.

Old Hu, the dean of mathematics at the university, had resigned himself to getting up early. As soon as he stepped into the first-floor lobby of the venue, he heard someone calling out to him.

"Oh, Old Hu is here!"

The first person to greet him was the normal university's dean of mathematics, whose face was so full of enthusiasm that Old Hu felt uncomfortable.

Sure enough, the very next moment, the man asked about it.

"Old Hu, your university has been making quite a stir lately."

"I was just talking to my wife about it yesterday. I said your undergraduates are remarkable these days. Publishing in SCI in their first year! They're even more impressive than our graduate students."

Old Hu laughed it off.

Several other deans gathered around.

"Old Hu, I heard those Soviet Union papers your student cited couldn't be found?"

"Oh dear, if this isn't handled properly, it could affect the university's reputation."

"Old Hu, you really ought to talk to the student. Academic work requires rigor. He can't treat his future like a joke."

"That's right. As teachers, we have a responsibility to our students."

Old Hu kept a smile on his face while silently cursing every one of those old bastards.

Old Hu cursed them out inwardly, but he still had to keep up appearances.

"Thank you all for your concern, but I need to make something clear."

"There's nothing wrong with our student Qi Hao."

The deans were taken aback.

"Huh? Old Hu, what makes you say that? The stories online sound awfully convincing. None of those five Soviet Union papers can be found anywhere on the internet."

Old Hu said, "You'll see for yourselves when the time comes."

One dean wore a knowing look. "Old Hu, I understand what you mean. You're protecting your own. Who doesn't have a few prized students?"

"But Old Hu, you can't protect him like this."

Another dean cut in. "That's right, Old Hu. He's only a freshman. There's still time to set him straight."

"It's not worth affecting the whole academic culture over one student, Old Hu."

Old Hu stood there, anger bottled up in his chest.

If he really didn't believe Qi Hao, would he be standing here taking bullets for him?

Qi Hao's performance in the president's office yesterday showed that he hadn't lied.

The key now was those five papers. As long as they could find them, everything else would be easy to handle.

Old Hu gathered himself, telling himself not to get angry as he spoke. "I have no intention of covering for anyone."

"I hate academic misconduct more than any of you, because when it happens in my school, it's my face that gets lost."

"I'm telling you there's nothing wrong with Qi Hao not because I want to protect him, but because I spoke to him myself for over an hour yesterday. He gave clear answers about every citation and every derivation in his paper."

"A student who had committed academic fraud couldn't possibly have performed like that."

With that, he turned and walked into the conference hall, leaving the deans standing there.

The moment he entered the hall, Old Hu was actually in a panic.

Because he didn't know whether Qi Hao could find all five papers within a week, either.

But he had already put those words out there. There was nothing he could do about it.

Old Hu could only repeat silently to himself, Qi Hao, you have to save this old face of mine.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the provincial capital.

Lin Lan sat at her desk at the publishing house, scrolling through Weibo.

She had originally planned to review a new manuscript that day, but as soon as she opened Weibo, she saw an item on the trending list.

[Freshman's SCI paper suspected of academic misconduct; no evidence found for five cited Soviet Union papers]

Five Soviet Union papers?

Curious, she clicked on it. When she saw that someone had posted a photo of the student in the comments, she suddenly stopped.

The photo was probably from his student ID, and something about the person in it looked familiar.

Soviet Union papers!

Lin Lan suddenly remembered that this young man was the one who had pointed out the errors in her new book at the provincial library!

Lin Lan looked at the photo on Weibo, growing more certain the longer she stared.

It was him.

"Qi Hao..." Lin Lan read the name aloud.

She scrolled farther down through the comments.

[A freshman dares to commit fraud like this? He's got some nerve.]

[Kids these days will make up anything to get published in SCI.]

[He's really disgraced himself this time.]

Lin Lan frowned.

She found it hard to believe that the young man who had quickly pointed out the errors in the book would do something as stupid as fabricate references.

Mathematicians valued their reputations. If they had the ability, who would fabricate references?

There had to be a misunderstanding!

Remembering how Qi Hao had helped her find the errors in her new book last time, Lin Lan couldn't sit still. She picked up her phone and found a number.

[Dr. Xu.]

Ever since their last conversation, Dr. Xu had been sorting through his pile of Soviet Union papers.

She remembered that Dr. Xu seemed to have asked her about the young man two or three times afterward.

But since she didn't have Qi Hao's contact information either, the matter had been dropped.

Lin Lan called Dr. Xu.

The call connected after three rings.

Lin Lan got straight to the point. "Dr. Xu, do you remember the young man I told you about before, the one who pointed out the errors in our new book at the library?"

Dr. Xu paused. "I remember. What's wrong?"

"He's in trouble," Lin Lan said. "Someone reported him for academic misconduct, saying his paper cited five nonexistent Soviet Union papers. There's a big uproar on Weibo right now."

"That's outrageous. What's his paper called?"

"Take a look on Weibo. His paper's being shared everywhere now."

"All right. I'll be home in an hour. Let's meet at my place."

"Huh?" Lin Lan was a little slow to catch up. "In an hour?"

"Yes. I've finished sorting that batch of Soviet Union papers at home. If he really cited old Soviet Union papers, there's a good chance we can find them. Are you coming?"

At the news, Lin Lan immediately perked up. "Yes, I'll head over right away."

Rongcheng Radio and Television University, men's dormitory.

At eight thirty that evening, the dorm room door was flung open.

Li Hui, who had just finished eating malatang off campus with his girlfriend, walked in with a smug look on his face, humming Justin Bieber's "Baby."

But he had barely set half a leg inside when he sensed the oppressive atmosphere in the room, and "Baby" died on his lips.

At this hour, Wang Jun would usually be hammering away at his keyboard, playing games, while Chen Yuan read. Instead, both of them were staring blankly into space.

Li Hui looked over at Qi Hao, who was staring at his computer screen.

Well, no need to ask. It had to be because of that popular exposé post online about fabricated Soviet Union papers.

The story had spread like wildfire through the QQ groups for every year at the university over the past few days. Some people were speculating that Qi Hao had punched a hole in the sky this time: not only would he fail to graduate, he probably wouldn't even get a degree certificate.

Li Hui usually thought Qi Hao was a bookworm who spent every day holed up in the library wrestling with textbooks, unable to appreciate the advanced, free academic atmosphere of the United States. But at the end of the day, they were all brothers under the same roof, and he didn't actually dislike the clever Qi Hao.

Seeing his roommates like this, Li Hui decided to put his social talents to use and liven up the mood.

"Oh, come on, brothers, how big a deal can it be? Do you all have to look like your online girlfriends just scammed you out of your money?"

Li Hui pulled out a chair and sat down, deliberately speaking in a relaxed tone. "Everything's just a passing cloud! Isn't it just a little mistake with some citations? Qi Hao, take your brother's advice and don't put so much pressure on yourself. It's actually really common for papers to turn up missing. It's not that serious. The university will give you a verbal warning at most. It definitely won't affect your graduation."

Wang Jun, who had been silent until now, finally couldn't hold back. "Brother Hui, you aren't talking about United States universities, are you?"

"Those people online have already put Brother Hao over a fire to roast, and they've even slapped him with an ugly label like academic fraud. You call that a little mistake?"

"Aren't they just a few Soviet Union papers nobody can find? We'll just insist he saw some surviving fragments at an old bookstall. With no way to prove otherwise, what can the academic affairs office do, eat Qi Hao alive?" Li Hui tried hard to come up with a plan.

At that point, even Chen Yuan, who was usually quiet, joined the ranks of those offering comfort.

"I think Li Hui's idea is pretty good. If you say that, the university probably won't be able to do anything to you. We can just figure out a way to replace them with other references."

Listening to the increasingly absurd bad ideas from the three clowns behind him, Qi Hao, who had been searching for papers, turned around helplessly.

"Stop, stop, stop. Thanks for the kind intentions, you three great lords, but your methods won't work. The teachers at the university are all old hands. They won't believe me."

"Besides, I actually have those papers."

"Really?"

"You should've said so earlier, Brother Hao! I worried for nothing!"

"Exactly, Brother Hao. So there shouldn't be a problem now, right?"

The three roommates breathed a sigh of relief and sat down.

In truth, Qi Hao still couldn't say there was no problem at all.

There was only one reason he was at his wits' end: the one paper he still hadn't been able to find.

Without it, his chain of evidence would be missing a link. That was the only thing making Qi Hao unhappy.

All top students had OCD, okay?!

Imperfect evidence was enough to drive him even crazier than falling one point short of a perfect score on a final exam!

Qi Hao unscrewed the water bottle on his desk and took a huge gulp. He interlaced his fingers in front of his chest and cracked his knuckles, ready to dig up that paper tonight even if he had to spend all night on those old Russian forums!

Just then, Wang Jun called out, phone in hand, "Brother Hao, quick, look at Weibo!"

Qi Hao was speechless.

At a time like this, could those haters have come up with some new trick?

All right, come on, let this lord see what you've done!