Unlike the previous Wenhai road trip, this time Li Zheng was driving, and both his mindset and driving skills were much steadier.
Because he knew, on the entire highway, no one’s car could out-collide his.
While driving, he also pointed to the trunk.
"There is also a GPS locator back there. If we flip the car in the mountains, the rescue team can easily find us,"
"In addition, we have a week’s supply of food, an emergency medical kit, knives that are on the edge of being controlled, and a small water purification device."
"Theoretically, we could survive for a long time just by purifying the water our bodies excrete."
"I have also read the guide on eating insects and wild mushrooms, all steady."
"Hmm..." Lin Yujing was becoming increasingly terrified, "Are we really going to Mist Mountain, or are we crossing the Taklamakan..."
"Better safe than sorry," Li Zheng laughed, "This is probably the realization of being the head of a household."
Lin Yujing turned back and saw all sorts of emergency supplies packed in big and small bags. Although it was excessive, she still shook her head and chuckled, "But you really have put in the effort, I thought you would bring a carload of test papers..."
Li Zheng’s eyes bulged, and he almost hit the brakes, "You should’ve said that earlier. There’s still time to turn around, print papers and go to the study room."
"Ah..." Lin Yujing sighed helplessly, "As expected, you’re still forcing yourself... Actually, I’m fine with anything, doing test papers or going camping."
"???" Li Zheng’s expression tensed, realizing that the situation was not simple.
Based on the principle of "when a woman speaks, listen to the opposite," she must have a clear intention.
Considering this, there was no doubt—
This was a trap!
"We agreed to camp, so we will camp," Li Zheng said firmly. "I like camping."
"You really don’t have to force yourself." Lin Yujing leaned against the car window, lazily touching the glass, and sighed.
Li Zheng felt a chill in his heart.
What’s going on, such a low mood?
Is this also a trap?
After weighing out the situation, Li Zheng tentatively said, "If you’re not feeling well...how about we don’t go all out and just find a place to relax?"
"It’s okay."
It’s okay?
With women, there is never ’it’s okay.’
They, by their very nature, are the occurrence of issues.
Li Zheng thought for a moment and decided to take a chance.
Because there was the assurance of vehicle safety, for the first time in his life, he chose to steer with one hand on the wheel, while his right hand quietly rested on Lin Yujing.
Lin Yujing flinched, made a sound, but didn’t push him away.
Li Zheng then felt confident, casually stroking while chuckling, "What’s bothering you? Is the course too simple, or is the teacher too slow?"
"It’s about my major..." Lin Yujing sighed again, "Astronomy... feels a bit like there’s nothing to do..."
"Aren’t there many big astronomy projects?"
"We have to wait, and it’s a long wait. Even if telescopes and satellites are built, we still have to wait a long time to accumulate data, and then find parts worth studying from it," Lin Yujing said, staring blankly at the sky. "Although I hate going abroad, sometimes, I really want to see what Voyager 1 has sent back..."
After a moment of contemplation, Li Zheng gradually returned to steering the car with both hands.
"Can I understand it this way—"
"Considering that our country’s astronomical telescopes lag a generation or two behind Europe and America, the astronomical data you might encounter in the future will be extremely limited, to the point of being things European and American astronomers studied half a century ago."
"Regarding the new generation of large telescopes, although our project has started, it might take 10 years before we can study something substantial."
"Yeah," Lin Yujing nodded, "For a long time, I’ll have less enthralling observation data than what NASA and the European Observatory release."
"So you’ve been worrying about this recently, not even eating with me, just dwelling on it?"
"Not at all, I’ve been studying."
That sounded very perfunctory.
But Li Zheng has a way to find out if she’s really being perfunctory.
Scholar’s Eye—Bankai!
[Lin Yu Jing]
[Academic Power: 2268]
As a contrast, Li Zheng, after his intense studying during the latter half of this week, had an Academic Power of merely 4327.
That progress was already quite exaggerated.
"Uh..." Li Zheng trembled a little as he drove, "After Yellow 2, the intensity of your studying is something I’m not quite used to."
"Then do you know why?" Lin Yu Jing turned her head and grinned foolishly at Li Zheng.
"Ha, I knew it." Li Zheng raised his eyebrows excitedly, "Finally, you’ve also started to like studying."
"Uh…" Lin Yu Jing massaged her forehead with difficulty.
The reason, of course, wasn’t that she liked studying...
It was that she liked Li Zheng, who liked studying.
She just didn’t want to fall too far behind, to go from keeping pace to being simply indulged by Li Zheng
Then...
Wouldn’t that make her the second Zhang Xiaoke!
Lin Yu Jing’s already somber mood was stirred up by this thought, and she angrily turned towards the window, "I’m warning you, never indulge me."
"Eh? How did we suddenly get on this topic when we were chatting just fine?"
"Just, no indulging!" Lin Yu Jing turned her head and glared.
"Okay, okay, no indulging, no anger," Li Zheng appeased.
"You’re doing it right now," Lin Yu Jing instantly regained the feeling of shouting and waving her fists, "Only doggies need to be indulged."
"How did we get here…" Li Zheng laughed and cried at the same time, "Alright, alright, let’s do it the other way around... you do whatever you want, I’ll study on my own, it’s none of your business."
"Mm, that’s more like it." Lin Yu Jing then nodded in satisfaction.
Li Zheng had never encountered such a demand before; this level was already beyond the limits of his emotional intelligence.
But, it seemed to elevate his own status.
So be it then.
Talking about studies was still more enjoyable.
Li Zheng then asked, "Speaking of which, I’ve been focusing my studies on condensed matter recently, have you guys covered that?"
"???" Lin Yu Jing exclaimed in surprise, "I’ve been studying that recently too."
Indeed, studying is joyous!
To hell with emotions, from now on, we only talk about studying.
Li Zheng then got excited: "To what extent have you studied it?"
"Just the level of an average graduate student," she replied.
Laughter escaped Li Zheng’s lips: "Ah ha, then you’re not as good as me, I’m at least at an outstanding graduate student’s level."
"I’m being modest."
"There’s no modesty in studying, you’re just not confident."
"Turn around! Let’s get the papers!"
"No rush." Li Zheng chuckled, "I brought them with me. I went out overnight, how could I not bring the papers?"
"I knew it!"
"Let’s not talk about challenging each other with questions yet," Li Zheng went on to ask, "after studying it, I’ve gained a new understanding of cutting-edge science."
"!!!" Lin Yu Jing seemed to be hit by a realization, her face instantly beaming with light as she gestured excitedly.
"Exactly, before going to college, I always thought that the closer to the cutting edge, the more specialized the disciplines would become, and the further apart they would drift."
"Who knew it would be quite the opposite."
"Parts of cutting-edge science are precisely where different disciplines converge again."
"Previously broadly categorized disciplines like physics, chemistry, biology are now recombining within each field."
"Like the electron microscope you’re working with, invented by physicists for biological research, but it turns out to be very useful for chemistry as well."
```
"Condensed matter too; it has a vast amount of content from chemistry and materials science."
"It feels like the elite of various fields, when they have nowhere else to go, suddenly start dropping in on each other."
"100% agree," Li Zheng added excitedly. "I thought condensed matter was incredibly difficult, but when I started learning it, I bizarrely breezed through. Looking back, it’s just a mishmash of disciplines."
Indeed, the specifics of condensed matter aren’t as highfalutin as the name itself suggests.
It’s roughly equivalent to ’solid-state physics + materials science + physical chemistry + chemical physics’.
At its core, it’s still about studying the structure and properties of matter.
When it comes to applications, it mainly focuses on materials.
Perhaps it was just to distinguish from those disciplines that sound plain and homespun that such a tall, handsome, and physics-flavored name was chosen.
Objectively speaking, 70% of physicists around the world are working on condensed matter.
The reason is simple: it has practical value, it’s easier to secure funding and to produce results.
Meanwhile, this seemingly ’dirty’ specialty also ends up being the final destiny for most ’physics geniuses aspiring to unified field theory’."
Li Zheng and Lin Yujing, however, are relatively more innocent; while theoretical physics is indeed the Holy Grail, they aren’t overly obsessed, and being obsessed would be of no use anyway.
Before they knew it, they had both become ’cast a wide net players’.
The atmosphere on this journey also transitioned quickly from ’emotional adjustment’ to ’learning and discussion’.
Speaking of condensed matter, they quickly moved on to the hottest topic within it, ’topological materials’.
If the concept of condensed matter is something laypeople can just about grasp, understanding topology is almost impossible, as it is inherently a complex concept from advanced mathematics.
But as someone who adheres to the ’Feynman learning method’, Li Zheng has high standards for himself.
For him, the ultimate criterion for fully understanding a concept is—
Being able to explain it to Liu Xin within 50 words.
From the theory of relativity all the way down to Russian elementary calculus.
Of course, based on Liu Xin’s knowledge base, such explanations always have to sacrifice some rigor for more accessible metaphors.
For example, when trying to explain topological materials to Liu Xin, it can only be inelegantly translated to ’durable materials’.
So-called durable materials are those which you can twist, tear, freeze, heat, or shock without changing their properties one bit; they remain perfectly intact.
Theoretically, you could even align its atoms into a one-dimensional straight line, and its essence would still be the same as before.
It’s akin to a strong flavor of quantum phenomena manifesting on the macro scale.
The cutting edge is like this; what was already the communal sport of materials science, physics, and chemistry, becomes even more exciting when quantum physics takes a keen interest in ’topological materials’.
…
By the time Li Zheng parked the car at the base of Mist Mountain, he was drenched in sweat.
It wasn’t the driving that was exhausting, but the exhilarating discussion.
This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.
Indeed, learning is the most sublime pleasure.
While it’s pleasant to research with colleagues in the academy, that pace is too geriatric—nothing beats the thrill of intellectual sparks flying with Jingjing.
Lin Yujing, too, was re-living the suffocating excitement of light perspiration through a thin shirt from her high school days.
The reason university life seemed so dull and boring...
Turns out it was just lacking enough zest!
"Indeed... we got it wrong," Li Zheng said, turning off the engine and nodding assertively. "Forget about all that boyfriend-girlfriend stuff... Learning, I really just want to study with you."
"Hmm!" Lin Yujing was too thrilled to speak, "Don’t stop, let’s talk about superconductivity in graphene."
At the word ’graphene’, Li Zheng frowned.
"Oh ha!" Lin Yujing, on the other hand, was visibly excited, "Yuan Yuan the Second?"
"Shut up…"
"Hahaha!" Lin Yujing couldn’t help but laugh, covering her mouth, "The successor to Yuan Yuan, the pure domestic Yuan Yuan..."
"Having fun?"
"Extremely fun."
No help for it...
```
When it comes to physics, condensed matter, topological materials, superconducting topological materials, graphene.
You can’t get around the young genius Yuan Yuan.
Compared to Li Zheng, he had an even more authentic pedigree, honing his skills in the youth highly talented program at the University of Science and Technology of China and making a name for himself at UC Berkeley.
When Li Zheng burst onto the scene, the media naturally pitted him against Yuan Yuan, who graced the pages of ’Nature’ at the ripe old age of 22.
Li Zheng himself of course had great respect for him, but being called the second XX all day long made him want to hurl.
If he had to choose, he’d rather be called the second Li Yi.
It wasn’t a loss, and even emitted a faint aura of dominance.
The two of them were chatting about graphene while backpacking up the mountain.
This doubtlessly dealt another emotional blow to the families who had set out together in good order and high spirits.
"No one understands graphene better than I do."
"You even get pumped up when they say you’re the second Yuan Yuan, so tell me, what is the one-dimensional structure of graphene?"
"Nanotubes."
"Zero dimension."
"Fullerenes."
"Three dimensions?"
"Three dimensions... What is three-dimensional graphene?"
"Graphite, you fool!"
"Damn it... To lose on such a silly question... But can you list three methods of synthesizing graphene?"
"Chemical vapor deposition, mechanical exfoliation, and molecular assembly, such ignorant questions, fool. Now imagine the hexagonal honeycomb structure of graphene, the distance between two carbon atoms is ’a’, immediately compute its two-dimensional reciprocal lattice vectors in your head."
"Hold on, I need to stop and give you the Scholar’s Eye look... Hmm, a/2(3, +-√3). Since you’ve escalated this to such a level, let’s discuss the Fermi level..."
The family that had been getting along peacefully watched as the two sped past.
Without realizing it, they began to feel inferior.
"Look at them, around your age... What have you learned in school?"
"Lite... Literature..."
"Recite ’The Song of Everlasting Sorrow’ for me."
"Huh? Is that necessary?"
On this journey, they dashed past like fleeting clouds and the setting sun, leaving others unable to get a clear view, only catching phrases like "tight-binding model" and "I-V curves" before being left behind.
By the time they reached the summit, they had thoroughly discussed condensed matter physics.
Although they didn’t intend to take a commemorative photo, they still made their way to the mountain’s peak marked with the altitude stone monument.
Filled with a penetrating clarity, they both felt a desire to shout.
Li Zheng didn’t care anymore and began to gasp for air facing the mountains.
"Don’t, don’t, don’t!" Lin Yujing looked around nervously, "Don’t yell anything strange here..."
"Hey, it’s something very serious." Li Zheng took a deep breath and, with a burst of demonic energy, yelled at the mountains—
"Lin Yujing, I want to research topics with you!!! Isn’t that wonderful?!!!"
Being someone with strong vitality, his shout was full of breath and echoed loudly.
It left the people around him stunned.
What the hell was that?
The ultimate direct nerdy scholar’s self-destructive confession?
Though it should have been embarrassing, Lin Yujing found herself inexplicably ignited.
Pushed by Li Zheng, she framed her hands around her mouth and squinted her eyes as she forcefully responded to the mountains.
"Wonderful! Condensed matter is wonderful!!"
The people around them all slumped down.
Was this... a pair of Wenqu Stars who had fallen into demonic possession?