Lin Zhixia possessed an extraordinary memory.
In her mind, she almost relived the scene from that night. Just as Jiang Yubai was about to ask if she wanted to play another round, she took a step back and ran out of his bedroom without looking back.
Why did she run?
She didn't know either.
After all, she had trained herself to be quite brave.
Lin Zhixia's mind was filled with random thoughts. As she sat at a desk, her phone screen suddenly lit up—it was Han Guang sending her a WeChat message. The paper she had reviewed for him had been successfully published.
He told Lin Zhixia: "After much thought, I feel I must thank you once more."
Lin Zhixia immediately replied: "No need to be polite, this is the result of your own hard work. Congratulations! You can start applying for MIT's PhD program now."
The WeChat chat box displayed the words: "The other party is typing..."
Han Guang typed for a long time. He would write a line only to delete it, then start over from scratch, carefully weighing his words as if answering an exam question. After several minutes, he finally sent a message: "Let me treat you to a meal."
Lin Zhixia flatly refused: "Hahaha no need, don't be polite. You should focus your time on contacting MIT professors and strive to get your PhD admission letter this year."
But Han Guang asked: "Have you had dinner?"
Lin Zhixia glanced at the wall clock—it was just past one in the afternoon. Who would be eating dinner at this time?
Han Guang continued on his own: "The Quantum Computing course has ended. You're not my advisor, I'm not your student. I'd really like to treat you to a meal. There's not much worth visiting around campus—how about Hakka Seafood Chinese Restaurant?"
Lin Zhixia grew somewhat alert.
She stopped talking to him.
Han Guang held his phone, checking it repeatedly, but received no response from Lin Zhixia. He knew his attempt had failed before it even began. He opened his laptop and pulled up a folder—this contained all the assignment feedback Lin Zhixia had written for him, totaling tens of thousands of words combined.
He couldn't find the exact words to describe that special feeling—when he proposed an idea based on a few papers, Lin Zhixia could cite more literature to further broaden his perspective. She always managed to describe extremely complex theorems and inferences using very simple and concise language. Reading her summaries first before consulting the relevant papers yielded twice the result with half the effort.
She was gentle, intelligent, and knowledgeable.
Last semester, Li Zirui had also been one of Lin Zhixia's students. Li Zirui was Han Guang's classmate, and even Li Zirui said that with Lin Zhixia's help, his average grade had improved by over ten points this semester—an unprecedented major improvement.
Han Guang held his phone, scrolling through Lin Zhixia's Moments. He saw her latest post: "I'm developing a Quantum Algorithm system and would like to ask for everyone's help. If you know the answer to the physics problem below and are interested in quantum programming, could you please contact me?"
Han Guang picked up paper and pen from his desk, quickly drafted a page of calculations, and solved the problem. He took a photo and sent it to Lin Zhixia, who finally responded: "Do you have time? Don't let this interfere with your important matters."
"I do," Han Guang said.He told a harmless little lie: "I'm treating you to a meal because I wanted to ask about the quantum programming development."
Lin Zhixia didn't comment on this. After some consideration, she added Han Guang to the WeChat group and introduced him to everyone. It happened to be afternoon break time, so most group members were available, and Han Guang initiated a round of self-introductions.
The group consisted entirely of top students, all from world-class universities—some specialized in technology, others excelled in theory. The most impressive was senior Wei Ruoxing, who hardly ever spoke. However, through others' introductions, Han Guang learned that Wei Ruoxing was an associate professor at a 985 university in Shanghai.
This WeChat group could truly be described as gathering hidden talents.
Lin Zhixia sent another message in the group: "Thank you all for trusting me and being willing to join this project. I've always wanted to make a small contribution to the 'Quantum Computing' community, and I'm very happy to have the opportunity to collaborate with everyone. I'll first outline the entire project's components, then divide them into several smaller tasks."
Duan Qiyan suddenly sent a hand-raising emoji.
Lin Zhixia was amused and responded: "Do you have a question?"
Duan Qiyan said: "With all these small tasks you're creating, are you letting us choose freely?"
"Yes," Lin Zhixia explained, "I hope everyone can find tasks suitable for them. We'll divide the work and cooperate, aiming to complete everything by next year."
Duan Qiyan circled "Jiangjiangjiangjiang" and asked: "Jiang Yubai studies economics, right?"
Jiang Yubai directly confronted him: "What about it?"
Duan Qiyan voiced his confusion: "Lin Zhixia's project has nothing to do with economics, so why are you in our group? Did you solve that physics problem?"
That physics problem...
Jiang Yubai had seen it too.
But he hadn't attempted to solve it.
Because he knew Lin Zhixia would let him into the group. Having achieved his goal, he didn't care about the process. Unhurriedly, he asked Duan Qiyan: "Did you solve it?"
Duan Qiyan immediately fell silent.
Just then, Lin Zhixia uploaded a group file. She had completed the task planning and sincerely invited everyone to participate.
Soon, Feng Yuan, Luo Ying, and Wei Ruoxing claimed the three most difficult parts—all three belonged to the "quiet but formidable" type. They wouldn't speak in the group for half a day, but when they did open their mouths, they impressed everyone with their capabilities.
Duan Qiyan, Shen Fuxuan, Han Guang, and Wen Qi were all deeply awed by them.
Only Lin Zeqiu couldn't distinguish which tasks were difficult and which were simple.
In Lin Zeqiu's eyes, those professional terms completely exceeded the scope of computer science.
He knew that Lin Zhixia was obsessed with "interdisciplinary studies."
Lin Zeqiu's professional skills weren't quite suitable. He could only watch from the sidelines with Jiang Yubai. This was quite embarrassing—if we're talking purely about relationships, Lin Zeqiu was undoubtedly closest to Lin Zhixia, yet he could provide the least help to his sister.
In the end, Lin Zhixia secretly private messaged Lin Zeqiu, quietly telling him: "Brother, the last task is for you. Can you work on some underlying framework? I'll handle most of it, and you take a small part."
What did "I'll handle most of it, and you take a small part" mean?
Lin Zeqiu frowned with deep dissatisfaction.This summer vacation, Lin Zeqiu did not return home. He stayed in the school dormitory and interned at the company for at least six days a week. Leaving early and returning late, working tirelessly day and night, he gained considerable knowledge. At the moment, he was sitting at his workstation in the company, holding a boxed meal in his hands. The food was almost cold, and he had little appetite, speaking somewhat bluntly: "What do you mean, I can only handle a small part?"
Lin Zhixia retorted: "Didn't you say you were very busy?"
Lin Zeqiu claimed: "No matter how busy I am, I'm not as busy as you."
Lin Zhixia rarely sought help from Lin Zeqiu.
In Lin Zeqiu's memory, the only few times were when she was a child. For example, when she was five years old and returned to her hometown, her cousin snatched her cloth doll. She cried bitterly, ran to find Lin Zeqiu, and said with tears and runny nose: "Brother, brother, I'm so sad, cousin bullied me, he took my things..."
That was many years ago.
As if guided by some inexplicable force, Lin Zeqiu wrote: "You're venturing out there alone, the whole family supports you. Don't bear everything by yourself, talk to me about it."
Lin Zhixia felt warmth in her heart. She said: "Okay, okay."
Lin Zeqiu immediately asked: "Is your dormitory really fine?"
Lin Zhixia instantly became fully alert. She said with full confidence: "Of course!"
After saying this, she felt very guilty. She put down her phone, stopped looking at the screen, and instead opened the computer on her desk. She carefully checked her email and happened to come across a postdoctoral recruitment notice from MIT.
A major interdisciplinary physics and computer science research group at MIT was recruiting postdoctoral researchers from top global laboratories, offering excellent benefits.
As is well known, a postdoctoral position is equivalent to a job, generally requiring applicants to hold a doctoral degree.
Lin Zhixia casually browsed the job requirements and work content... When she flipped to the last page, her eyes immediately lit up, and she became intrigued. Just then, Jiang Yubai knocked on her bedroom door, and she quickly said: "Come in!"
Jiang Yubai entered Lin Zhixia's room, holding a glass plate filled with bright red, juicy Strawberries.
Lin Zhixia exclaimed joyfully: "Jiang Yubai, look at this, MIT's postdoctoral recruitment notice! Come quickly and help me analyze it!"
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