A male student from the School of Computer Science delivered a passionate speech: "Lin Zhixia finished her undergraduate degree in three years and her Ph.D. in two. That's brutal. If she's that harsh on herself, imagine how she treats her students? Damn, taking her class would be the end of me. This semester, I still have to juggle an internship, TOEFL, and GRE—how am I supposed to manage my time?"
His roommate remained hesitant: "Ah, but Professor Lin... she's so beautiful, so beautiful."
Lin Zhixia was wearing a black tailored dress that day, cinched at the waist with a hemline below the knees, exuding an elegant and captivating charm. Standing quietly in the corridor with her back to the students in the classroom, she evoked idioms like "slender and graceful" and "radiant beauty." Several students passing by couldn't help but glance back at her.
Dropping Lin Zhixia's course...
It was truly a difficult decision!
A group of students in the lecture hall discussed the matter for a while.
Although Lin Zhixia was a responsible and highly competent teacher, the difficulty of her assignments and exams made students hesitant. The male student from the School of Computer Science even advised everyone: "If you want to see Professor Lin, just audit the class. Or schedule a meeting with her in her office on Fridays. That's better than stubbornly sticking with this course."
As soon as he finished speaking, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and waved to the crowd: "I'm heading to the library to study, and I'm dropping 'Quantum Bit and Computer' on the way."
He took a group of followers with him.
The back rows of the lecture hall were almost empty.
Most of the male students from the School of Computer Science had left, while many students from the interdisciplinary college were still struggling to hold on.
Looking across the entire classroom, fewer than forty students were genuinely interested in the course. The most enthusiastic among them was the "God of the Interdisciplinary College"—his full name was Cui Yiming, and his peers respectfully called him "God Ming."
Cui Yiming adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, gazed at the notes Lin Zhixia had left on the board, and revealed a daunting smile. He abruptly stood up from his seat, packed his bag, slung it over his shoulder, and hurriedly took a few steps.
His roommate asked in shock: "God Ming, are you dropping the course?"
"Drop my ass," Cui Yiming explained. "There's an empty seat in the front row. I'm moving to the front row."
After the class bell rang, Lin Zhixia walked back into the lecture hall.
She froze for a few seconds.
Her class had shrunk by half.
Why was this happening?
Every student Lin Zhixia had taught spoke highly of her.
Even now, she frequently received emails from Han Guang and Wu PinYan—both undergraduates she had mentored at Cambridge. Currently, one was pursuing a Ph.D. at MIT, and the other was at Cambridge, both determined to dedicate themselves to the world of scientific research.
Lin Zhixia's undergraduate roommate, Deng Shasha, sent her a message every Teacher's Day: "Happy Teacher's Day, Professor Xiao Lin! Your student Shasha will always love you."
Lin Zhixia had never imagined that the drop rate for "Quantum Bit and Computer" would exceed fifty percent.
"Quantum Bit and Computer" included a weekly lab session, and Lin Zhixia had already prepared the group assignments and schedule. Suddenly losing half her students, she faced her first setback in teaching. If too many students dropped the course, it would be suspended by the academic affairs office.
But she had prepared for a long time and invested so much effort.Lin Zhixia leaned against the lectern with her left hand, reflecting on her performance in the previous class—there had been no academic errors. She had even introduced several of the most fascinating algorithms in "Quantum Computing" and outlined the future direction of this field. Next door, in the Physics School, many students were happily attending extremely challenging courses like "String Theory" and "Quantum Spin Simulation." So why had Lin Zhixia suffered a crushing defeat on the battlefield of "Quantum Computing"?
Countless thoughts flashed through her mind.
She had to admit she felt somewhat frustrated and disheartened.
Even though she understood many principles, when negative emotions arose within her, she couldn't dispel them in just a few minutes. She took a deep breath and said calmly, "Alright, let's continue with the lecture... Last class, we mentioned entangled states and density matrices. Quantum states are inseparable from probability issues, and we must also consider the Heisenberg uncertainty principle—position and momentum cannot be simultaneously determined[1]..."
Hearing this, two students by the window in the fifth row suddenly picked up their backpacks and tiptoed out of the classroom. One of the boys felt somewhat reluctant, glancing back at Lin Zhixia from time to time.
Lin Zhixia paused momentarily.
"Quantum Bit and Computer" had opened enrollment to six schools. Compared to the Interdisciplinary School and Physics School, students from other departments—such as Software Engineering and Computer Science—likely had little exposure to concepts related to quantum mechanics. Thus, even when Lin Zhixia was merely explaining simple definitions, it could intimidate some young students afraid of failing.
Steadying her composure, Lin Zhixia continued the class.
She deliberately slowed her pace and interspersed two jokes to lighten the classroom atmosphere.
Finally, relaxed laughter echoed through the room.
A first-year auditor sat with her chin in her hands, gazing intently at Lin Zhixia with sparkling eyes. Lin Zhixia felt that her teaching style must have some merits after all.
After class, Lin Zhixia pulled out her phone, about to call Jiang Yubai, but then remembered he had been very busy lately and might not have time to chat. She put the phone back into her backpack.
The "God of the Interdisciplinary School" stopped her in her tracks.
She turned around and asked, "Are you Cui Yiming? Hello."
Cui Yiming raised his eyebrows slightly. "You know me, Professor?"
Lin Zhixia knew all the students in the Interdisciplinary School. She had seen their group photos, with each person's name written on the back, allowing her to memorize their appearances and names.
She didn't answer his question, instead asking him, "Are you interested in research?"
Cui Yiming smiled. He said that during his sophomore year, his undergraduate advisor had mentored him, and he had published a paper in a Q2 SCI journal. Last summer, he had also conducted research at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. He wanted to ask Lin Zhixia about her most specialized theoretical research direction.
Lin Zhixia walked and talked with him.
He followed closely behind her, accompanying her to the laboratory.
His roommates stopped in the hallway.
Everyone watched Lin Zhixia and Cui Yiming's retreating figures, their expressions subtly shifting.
In the Cutting-edge Quantum Laboratory, only Fang Yiwen and Zhan Rui were present.
The operation room was well-lit. Fang Yiwen, dressed entirely in white, was bent over her desk, writing furiously. Her hands moved rapidly as she derived formulas, her expression intensely focused.Zhan Rui stood before a whiteboard, marker in hand, organizing his thoughts for the "Distributional Reinforcement Learning" paper.
When Zhan Rui first received this paper and glanced at the title, he initially thought it was related to "Distributed Reinforcement Learning." It turned out he was mistaken—the two algorithms were fundamentally different, with the former's implementation being more innovative.
The most interesting part was that the authors of the "Distributional Reinforcement Learning" algorithm admitted in their paper that they didn't understand why this new method outperformed traditional approaches in gaming applications.
Zhan Rui fell deep into thought.
Just then, he heard footsteps.
Turning his head, he spotted Lin Zhixia and Cui Yiming.
Lin Zhixia introduced Cui Yiming to him, then asked, "Where's Xu Lingbo? Didn't he come to the Laboratory today?"
Indeed.
Xu Lingbo hadn't come.
At that moment, Xu Lingbo was lying on his dorm room single bed. Playing with his phone while thinking about his senior female colleague, he casually set an alarm, planning to head to the cafeteria early to buy lunch and deliver it to her at the Laboratory.
Unexpectedly, his senior female colleague called him.
Xu Lingbo immediately answered, hearing her say, "Professor Lin wants you to come to the lab building. A new male student has joined the group to work on a project with Lin Zhixia, so we're having an impromptu group meeting. Come quickly."
An impromptu group meeting?
What was that?
Xu Lingbo panicked and scrambled off the bed, not even fully dressed, immediately seeking external help: "Qiang Ge, hey, Qiang Ge, my advisor called an impromptu group meeting because a new student joined the group. What should I do?"
The "Qiang Ge" Xu Lingbo was calling out to was his master's degree roommate.
Qiang Ge had strong mental fortitude.
He was reading a book. Turning a page without changing expression, he said, "What to do? Use the Graduate Group Meeting Loafing Trick I taught you."
"Is that really okay?" Xu Lingbo felt uncertain.
Qiang Ge turned, looked at him, and pointed at his pants, signaling him to get dressed properly first.
But Xu Lingbo misunderstood Qiang Ge's meaning, suddenly exclaiming, "Qiang Ge, are you trying to say I should relax and live in the moment... live in the present?"
Qiang Ge remained as steady as an old dog: "Brother Bo, your advisor taught a 'Quantum Bit and Computer' class this morning. That new person in your group must be an undergraduate. You've been in the master's program for a year, and you're scared of a junior undergrad? Don't be ridiculous."
After hearing Qiang Ge's analysis, Xu Lingbo straightened his posture. He pulled out notes from last semester and several pre-printed papers from his cabinet—each page densely marked with colorful highlighter underlines, all deliberately created illusions by Xu Lingbo.
Carrying these materials, he rushed straight to Lin Zhixia's Laboratory.
Lin Zhixia's Laboratory suddenly became lively.
In addition to the newly joined Cui Yiming, Tan Qianche happened to be at the interdisciplinary college's lab building on business.
The experimental machine Tan Qianche had reserved was mistakenly delivered to the interdisciplinary college. To retrieve his equipment, he first needed to notify the interdisciplinary college's administration.After finally finishing his tasks with the leadership, Tan Qianche figured it was time for lunch and decided to drop by to see Lin Zhixia—his junior fellow student. His doctoral advisor, Professor Gu Likai, had called him some time ago, urging him to focus on research and mentoring students diligently at the university, and if possible, to look after his junior sister as well.
Tan Qianche understood the underlying message in Gu Likai's words.
Gu Likai believed that Lin Zhixia was pure-hearted and kind, having never stepped into the real world, always working and studying within the university. She had also found time to collaborate with an internet company on a Quantum Technology Platform—which was certainly a good thing. However, Lin Zhixia needed to be cautious, making sure not to fall into any pitfalls. Getting entangled in commercial disputes could damage her academic reputation.
Tan Qianche thought to himself, Teacher Gu still didn’t know that Lin Zhixia’s company was funded by her boyfriend.
After meeting Lin Zhixia, Tan Qianche tactfully conveyed Teacher Gu’s concerns to her. They were sitting in a conference room, casually chatting, when Xu Lingbo finally arrived late.
Carrying a stack of papers, he pushed open the conference room door and confidently called out, "Teacher Lin!"
Before Lin Zhixia could respond, Tan Qianche chuckled and said, "This student of yours is quite interesting. His papers are covered in highlighter marks—looks like he really loves studying. What’s his research focus?"
Lin Zhixia proudly introduced, "His work overlaps with your doctoral research."
"That impressive?" Tan Qianche’s smile widened. "He’s already doing doctoral-level work as a master’s student?"
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