Lin Zhixia detected the sarcasm in Tan Qianche's tone.
As Xu Lingbo's advisor, Lin Zhixia naturally had to defend her student. She said, "Xu Lingbo is still a master's student, Teacher Tan, while you've already completed your doctorate."
Then, Lin Zhixia formally introduced her prized student Fang Yiwen to Tan Qianche. She asked Fang Yiwen to speak first and discuss her recent research work.
Fang Yiwen immediately picked up a black marker and stood before a large whiteboard. As she drew diagrams, she explained: "For a general multi-electron system, the tensor product of the individual single-electron Hilbert spaces constitutes the wave function space of the multi-electron system... My project isn't difficult. I'm sure you can all understand it if you think carefully? I've combined machine learning with Quantum Chemistry, using deep learning to create a framework for predicting quantum mechanical wave functions. There's a Nature paper that uses atomic orbital localized basis wave functions to derive other ground state properties[1]..."
Fang Yiwen spoke with great clarity and logic.
Xu Lingbo listened in complete confusion.
When Tan Qianche interrupted Fang Yiwen with several questions, she handled them with such composure that she brought great honor to Lin Zhixia. The three of them—Fang Yiwen, Lin Zhixia, and Tan Qianche—discussed for over twenty minutes, until almost the entire whiteboard was filled with writing. Even Zhan Rui looked completely bewildered.
Surprisingly, the new undergraduate named Cui Yiming could understand the debate between Fang Yiwen and Tan Qianche.
When Cui Yiming expressed his insights, Tan Qianche regarded him with newfound respect.
Tan Qianche said, "Teacher Lin, the students in your group are quite impressive."
Lin Zhixia felt a small surge of happiness.
Although she had suffered a major defeat in her "Quantum Bit and Computer" course, with more than half the students dropping out, the graduate students in her research group each had their own strengths, and Fang Yiwen's enthusiasm for learning was particularly remarkable.
Lin Zhixia was very satisfied.
Next, she invited Zhan Rui to present his work publicly.
Lin Zhixia even stood up from her seat, approached the whiteboard, and personally wiped it completely clean. She was gentle, kind, and completely natural, without any airs of authority. Yet Xu Lingbo's heart pounded like a drum—he had just realized that every student was expected to write something on the board, but what could he possibly write?
His mind was as blank as a fresh sheet of paper.
He nervously swallowed.
Zhan Rui had already taken the stage.
"G-g-good afternoon, teachers," Zhan Rui greeted the faculty members.
Zhan Rui knew Tan Qianche from the physics department—Teacher Tan's reputation was simply too prominent, not just because of his academic achievements, but also because of his appearance and demeanor.
In Tan Qianche's presence, Zhan Rui felt somewhat restrained.
Zhan Rui deliberately slowed his speech, explaining his ideas word by word. He was terrified that Tan Qianche would challenge him as he had challenged Fang Yiwen, but contrary to his expectations, Tan Qianche treated him with considerable gentleness.
Zhan Rui's presentation concluded in a harmonious atmosphere.
Lin Zhixia praised his progress while tactfully offering suggestions for improvement.
But Zhan Rui said, "T-t-teacher, I've actually thought about the issue you mentioned."
Eager to demonstrate his thought process, he directly wiped away the black marker traces on the whiteboard with his palm. His left hand became dirty and stained, but his thinking remained clean and clear.Zhan Rui had written out a lengthy mathematical proof—work that couldn't be completed overnight. In fact, he had pondered it throughout the entire summer vacation, but he had gotten stuck at a certain point.
His mind was completely immersed in mathematics. His equations and spoken sentences became exceptionally fluent: "Distributional reinforcement learning inspired me. I rewrote the traditional reinforcement learning update strategy. Professor, this step I..."
At this point, he snapped back to reality, his brain jolting with sudden awareness, and he uncontrollably began to stammer again: "I-I-I..."
Lin Zhixia patiently gave him some guidance, and he immediately gained inspiration. He even asked his senior sister for a piece of paper and jotted down notes on it.
Tan Qianche couldn't help but remark with admiration, "Professor Lin, I'm a bit envious of you. This is your first-year graduate student, right?"
Zhan Rui sensed the affirmation from Lin Zhixia and Tan Qianche—the recognition from two young professors brought him immense satisfaction. The tense strings in his heart completely relaxed at that moment, and he couldn't find words to describe the joy of being so encouraged.
A smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he returned to his seat.
Then, it was Xu Lingbo's turn to take the stage.
Lin Zhixia turned her head and fixed her gaze steadily on Xu Lingbo.
Xu Lingbo's lips were slightly pale.
Lin Zhixia showed concern: "Are you feeling unwell?"
The meeting room was spacious and bright, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a vibrant campus scene. Xu Lingbo gazed into the distance, steeled his resolve, and stood up clutching a stack of papers: "Professor, my research topic is 'The Study of Reactivity Indices in Quantum Chemistry'!"
Lin Zhixia nodded: "Alright, you may begin."
What should he talk about?
Xu Lingbo held his breath: "I read some papers on artificial intelligence."
Lin Zhixia waited a few seconds, but Xu Lingbo still didn't continue.
So she asked him: "How did you find them? Did you encounter any problems?"
Xu Lingbo hastily applied the "Graduate Group Meeting Loafing Trick." He spouted a bunch of the latest papers, attempting to bluff his way through. He even fabricated a term himself: "Last month's top-tier conference paper introduced an algorithm called 'hahit' that can be applied to my quantum communication network. I plan to use a distributed machine learning framework to train..."
"What is 'hahit'?" Lin Zhixia inquired humbly.
He evaded: "I, I forgot its mathematical expression."
Tan Qianche, with a faint smile playing on his lips, said: "Didn't you bring a bunch of papers? Look it up in the papers."
Xu Lingbo bent his head and frantically searched through the papers.
He grabbed one article published in August of this year, guessing that Lin Zhixia and Tan Qianche definitely hadn't read it. He copied the formulas from the paper onto the whiteboard and haltingly translated the English sentences from the paper, falsely claiming that this was the legendary "hahit" algorithm.
He translated for a full four minutes before stealing a glance at Lin Zhixia.
Lin Zhixia sighed.
Tan Qianche teased her ambiguously: "Professor Lin, this student of yours..."
Lin Zhixia reminded him: "Xu Lingbo, turn to the first page of the paper and see who the authors are."
Xu Lingbo did as instructed.
Lin Zhixia added: "Read out the authors' names."
Xu Lingbo stammered out the English pinyin: "qiwen..."Tan Qianche revealed the secret for him: "This person is called Wen Qi, a doctoral classmate of your Professor Lin. The papers he publishes, not to mention your Professor Lin, even I would read them."
"Junior brother, there are a few places where your translation is incorrect," Fang Yiwen timely reminded.
Xu Lingbo felt chills all over his body and was about to break down.
Lin Zhixia leaned back in her chair, looking directly at him: "Since the semester started, how many papers have you read?"
She clasped her hands together, her expression calm.
Xu Lingbo had long forgotten that Lin Zhixia was actually younger than him. In his eyes, the current Lin Zhixia was more intimidating than the sixty-year-old dean.
He remained silent, so Lin Zhixia said: "I want to hear the truth from you."
The withdrawal incident this morning had dampened Lin Zhixia's teaching enthusiasm. But she still had considerable confidence in the three graduate students in her group. She had also reviewed Xu Lingbo's first-year graduate grades and reports - he was quick-witted, had a decent foundation, and considerable room for improvement. She hadn't expected Xu Lingbo to lie publicly during the group meeting.
She was still waiting for him to speak.
As time ticked by, Lin Zhixia remained silent, and neither other students nor teachers interrupted. In the utterly quiet conference room, the pressure hung over Xu Lingbo's head like thick clouds.
Xu Lingbo felt his back crawling with fear.
He didn't dare look at Lin Zhixia. Turning his face away, he happened to meet Tan Qianche's gaze.
Tan Qianche appeared rather casual: "Professor Lin, why don't we call it a day? It's almost noon, let's go for lunch."
Lin Zhixia felt conflicted. She had eaten little for breakfast and had been lecturing all morning - now she was quite hungry. But she had to resolve Xu Lingbo's issue first.
So Lin Zhixia said seriously: "Graduate school is different from undergraduate studies. Graduate students need to solve specific problems using concrete methods. I won't force you to study hard or make your life too difficult, nor will I require weekly work progress reports, because I understand that learning state is important. If you feel tired and want to relax or travel, you can ask for leave from me. If you haven't accomplished anything this week, you can tell me the truth during our group meeting. My only requirement is: don't lie, don't fabricate things."
Tan Qianche wanted to laugh but didn't.
Unlike Lin Zhixia, Tan Qianche was particularly strict with his students.
He required students to clock in punctually every day - things like "travel leave" would never happen in Tan Qianche's Laboratory.
He mandated that his doctoral students work twelve hours daily, with only half a day off each week - he hadn't worked this hard during his own doctorate, but his students weren't as smart as he was. Back then, he had helped Yang Shuwen overcome many obstacles, but now he didn't have that much free time to hand-hold young researchers, so he could only push them forward relentlessly.
He had originally thought Lin Zhixia was the same type of person as him.
He watched Lin Zhixia with considerable interest, remembering when they first met - she was still a fifteen-year-old girl back then.
Lin Zhixia's tone was particularly formal: "Let me ask you again, please tell me: since the semester started, how many papers have you read?"
Xu Lingbo leaned on the whiteboard, mumbling: "N-none... I haven't read any."
Fang Yiwen pointed out sharply: "Professor Lin, he's stuttering too."Lin Zhixia did not continue questioning Xu Lingbo. Her stomach was too hungry, almost growling. After briefly encouraging Xu Lingbo, she turned to Cui Yiming and asked him to describe his research interests.
Cui Yiming stood up.
He stretched his arms, did some warm-up exercises, and loosened his limbs on the spot. He rushed to the whiteboard as if he were a veteran actor finally getting a chance to appear on the big screen after years of obscurity. He meticulously explained his research field and published papers, with the spotlight of the entire room shining solely on him.
Finally, he suggested, "Professor Lin, it would be best if you implemented a bottom-ranking elimination system in the group. The doctoral degree application at Shanghai Jiao Tong University... uses this system, and the results are remarkable."
After speaking, he glanced at Xu Lingbo.
From his gaze, Xu Lingbo sensed emotions like pity, helplessness, and disdain. Xu Lingbo stuffed his hands into his pockets, his fingertips nearly pinching his thighs red. He felt terrible. He was looked down upon by a genius but couldn't bridge the gap. Even Lin Zhixia seemed disappointed in him.
After the group meeting, Tan Qianche and Cui Yiming left first. Tan Qianche invited Cui Yiming to eat at the faculty dining hall—the dishes there were more expensive and refined. Being taken to the faculty dining hall by a professor from the School of Physics was a great honor and privilege.
Meanwhile, Lin Zhixia decided to go home for a meal. Her residence was close to the campus, and there were shrimp dumplings her Mom had made and frozen last night, along with a box of strawberry yogurt in the refrigerator... Her train of thought was interrupted by a text message from Tan Qianche.
Tan Qianche told her, "Cui Yiming and I had a good chat. He’s joining our group. Sorry, Professor Lin, I’ve taken one of your students. Young people always have their own choices."
I’ve taken one of your students?
Lin Zhixia paused in her steps.
The street was bustling with traffic and crowds.
The shade of trees fell on her phone screen. After a moment of thought, Lin Zhixia considered sending Cui Yiming an email to ask if he was abandoning her project—she had a paid project that suited him well.
But then she reconsidered—what was she doing?
Was she really going to compete with Tan Qianche for a student?
It wasn’t as if she had no students.
What did Tan Qianche have to boast about?
Lin Zhixia looked up at the sky, which was still a clear, bright blue.
After about two seconds, she replied to Tan Qianche’s message: "Okay, I understand. I wish him progress and you smooth work."
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