Li Zheng was brilliant, but apart from Li Zheng and Lin Yujing, everyone else was in a dire situation, even Min Jianzhong, who had just asked the question, found himself momentarily at a loss.
Thirty years of career had sufficed for Min Jianzhong to navigate conflicts big and small.
There were conflicts between students, between students and mentors, between professors and academic leaders...
This time, it was not the biggest issue, but it was certainly the most difficult to decide on.
One was Li Zheng, a team leader whose achievements were soon to be written into textbooks.
The other was Chu Youhua, whose reputation almost turned him into a poster child for Ji University.
Min Jianzhong began to regret asking that question directly.
At the same time, a surge of frustration built up in his chest.
An entire half-day, a whole morning of investigation.
And yet no one had mentioned any conflict between Li Zheng and Chu Youhua.
Instead, at this moment, they silently complained through their gazes.
Min Jianzhong glared at Zhong Ping immediately.
Is this School of Physics still under your management??
You figured out the lock change, but you didn’t know about Chu Youhua?
Zhong Ping was utterly baffled.
He truly did not know.
He knew nothing about Chu Youhua’s issue, and he even had no idea why Min Jianzhong was glaring at him now.
He was a physicist working on high energy physics, not God!
Moreover, Ji University couldn’t afford a collider, and the resources he had were less than half of Chu Youhua’s. Of course, he could manage overt matters, but he had no sway over the implied ones.
In this mysteriously awkward moment.
Liu Qi bit on his old teeth and firmly stepped forward.
"Principal Min, regarding the transfer of Jie Qifen and the lock change..."
"It was all my decision."
Lu Dongsheng clenched his fists and followed suit.
"I am also responsible."
"Both for making a wrong judgment and for acting alone, delaying scientific research and disheartening the students."
The two of them together managed to pull back the focal point of those accusing gazes.
"Hmm..." Min Jianzhong took a deep breath, "Please submit a written report on this matter as soon as possible. The school leadership team will discuss it this afternoon. Be mentally prepared."
The two men nodded tremulously, saying no more.
Min Jianzhong then turned to Li Zheng and hesitantly said, "Then, let’s leave this matter to the school to handle. Please trust the school, it will surely provide a fair outcome for Teacher Jie Qifen and the student team. Unless there are any objections..."
"Hmm!" Lin Yujing suddenly raised her hand.
"......."
The whole room was shocked and then panicked.
Li Zheng was also in a panic.
She had been silent from the beginning, and now suddenly she spoke up.
Under everyone’s gaze, Lin Yujing herself panicked and quickly pointed at Li Zheng: "He... he has an objection!"
"I have an objection?" Li Zheng was stunned, feeling the pinch under the table from Lin Yujing’s hand, and finally managed a smile, "Alright, I have an objection."
Min Jianzhong felt an old surge of frustration rising again.
This damn thing was going on...
Under everyone’s gaze, Li Zheng pondered and then spoke.
"It’s the same as before, I’m really thankful for the school’s attention."
"Principal Min personally coming to solve these minor issues, we are indeed flattered."
"Regarding the school’s handling, we naturally have confidence in it."
"However, if, I mean if," Li Zheng emphasized as he looked up intensely at Min Jianzhong, "if the current situation only represents part of the truth and has not explored the core issues, what’s the meaning of a so-called fair handling?"
Having said this, he swept a composed gaze over the faculty members.
"Distinguished teachers, given my status and understanding of the world, I am not qualified to have you listen to me here."
"My further words only mirror what you teachers already know deep down, yet find inconvenient to discuss."
"To put it simply, from the beginning of my schooling, what concerned me the most was the ’environment’ word. Hence, I tried to collaborate more with others and generously offered first authorship, second authorship, and corresponding author roles. My hope was to encourage capable and sincere scholars and students to receive what they rightfully deserve, thus creating a more positive cycle for the entire environment."
"As for the so-called topics, inspirations, theories."
"Allow me a moment of arrogance—the Magic Angle Theory is just the beginning."
As Li Zheng spoke, a Demonic Nature gradually emanated from his eyes.
This Demonic Nature slowly overshadowed the halo of his handsomeness and genius.
The real him appeared.
"I still have a lot more, and so does Teacher Jie."
"From today onwards, many experimental areas will undoubtedly verify the ’tunneling paths’ in the Magic Angle Theory, acting like anchors to help us pinpoint the mathematical coordinates. This will allow us to locate the accurate parts amid the vast research of Jie Qifen."
"In the upcoming year, scientific institutes around the world will operate at full capacity, providing massive amounts of data to help us locate more quickly."
"During this process, many quantum theories will face supplementation or reconstruction, and their significance will inevitably transcend physics, radiating into various disciplines."
"This is the first line of our future research—fully exploiting Jie Qifen’s achievements."
"As for myself, I have some humble insights into interdisciplinary research, mainly dedicated to initiating the second thread—expanding interdisciplinary cooperation comprehensively. In these collaborations, I will continue to uphold my own principles; competence and sincerity are my primary benchmarks for choosing collaborators."
"Beyond this, I don’t care how many resources my collaborators have."
"After all, my name itself is the greatest resource."
With that, Li Zheng slowly spread his hands, a demonic smile on his face.
"As it is now."
"My name has never appeared first."
"But everyone’s first reaction is to look for me, isn’t it?"
In that moment, Li Zheng was no longer disguising anything.
Everyone read two words in his demonic gaze—
Scholar faction!
Broad daylight, a scholar faction standing tall!
Indeed, in those three Magic Angle papers, not only had his name not been writtenfirst, sometimes it was even absent.
Even in that most sensational "Magic Angle Theory," the order was actually like this—
Jie Qifen.
Gu Jianfeng.
Lin Yujing.
Li Zheng.
Yang Zhenhua.
But no matter how names are arranged or whether the names appear or not,
everyone’s first reaction always includes only the words "Li Zheng."
Jie Qifen = Li Zheng (his teacher), Lin Yujing = Li Zheng (his daughter-in-law), Gu Jianfeng = Li Zheng (his…son?), and even Zhou Yi equals Shi Yang approximating Li Zheng.
This fucking thing is a scholar faction if I’ve ever seen one!
Li Zheng sensed the atmosphere was off and hurriedly wiped his mouth to retract.
"I’ve digressed..."
"The above is to explain a question you all must have been wanting to ask—"
"Why I haven’t collaborated with the School of Physics."
"What stands between me and the School of Physics is definitely not that lock."
"So what if we switch the lock back, or if that lab was given to me?"
"Even if we moved Teacher Liu Qi to the subsidiary and even if you gave me more employment positions and funding, so what?"
"If we’re not supposed to collaborate, we simply won’t."
"And if we are to collaborate, even if he were squeezed into Ji University Broadcomm’s mailroom, I would still collaborate with him."
Eventually, Li Zheng and Min Jianzhong nodded to each other from afar.
"These words, I wasn’t originally planning to say them, as they’re too offensive and too embarrassing for you."
"But the fact is, whether I said it or not, I would act the same, and from now on, the research involving condensed matter and quantum experiments will continue to collaborate with Jinghua and Zhongke labs, they are already starting the projects."
"I have a temper, but this matter ultimately has nothing to do with temper."
"I hope you understand."
With that, he was virtually reprimanding Chu Youhua.
Condensed matter... quantum experiments.
It was only short of standing on the table and cursing at him.
As for Chu Youhua himself,
the sweat was already uncontrollable.
Interestingly, the very moment he became the sole focus…
the quantum gaze disappeared.
No one really looked at him anymore.
In this lengthy and strange atmosphere, an unexpected person spoke up.
Professor Zhang Qi spoke calmly and steadily, "Each school has its specialization, and intercollegiate collaboration is nothing but normal. Whichever side is convenient and the people there are easiest to collaborate with, that’s the side to choose. There’s no need to feel any pressure. While I may have limited understanding in terms of quantum experiments, but..."
The old professor shifted his tone, aggressively nodding at Li Zheng, "but in theoretical physics, I assure you that our institute is more convenient, always welcoming discussions and learning. As for our level and sincerity, you could ask Jie Qifen; after all, he spent five to six years here."
"I’m flattered." Li Zheng hurriedly responded modestly, "Teacher Jie once mentioned you, and Teacher Shen Yuecen mentioned you too. It was about time I visited you for a discussion and learning; it’s just that before producing any results, I felt too insignificant to match you."
"No problem, now we are well matched," Zhang Qi smiled, extending his right hand towards the middle-aged scholar beside him, "This is Professor Ling from the Modern Optics Research Institute. We regularly discuss cutting-edge articles and academic progress. I vouch for their level and sincerity."
"It’s too much praise..." the professor beside him quickly adjusted his glasses and said to Li Zheng, "But I specialise in optics, only producing my first Nature paper at the age of 40, nothing but a hard-working mediocre talent."
"I am the one who is merely hard-working," Li Zheng quickly nodded and bowed, then, like a younger brother, asked, "When the two teachers discuss academic progress next time...may I sit in and learn?"
"Of course you can, a thousand times yes," Professor Ling said, introducing the two people beside him, "We usually have discussions among four people, together with Professor Li from the Heavy Ion Physics Research Institute and Associate Director Liang from the Technical Physics Department. We have been having these types of scholarly discussions for seven or eight years now, and their level and sincerity are definitely above mine."
"Too kind, too kind."
"Misplaced praise, misplaced praise."
"Li Zheng, this is Director Huang from the Astrophysics Research Institute...The level and sincerity are top-notch in our School of Physics."
"This is Professor Liu, who researches in atmospheric and oceanic sciences..."
"Li Zheng, I’m just an ordinary researcher, speaking merely to say, your girlfriend is really adorable."
"Yes, why don’t you let Lin Yujing speak for a bit, how do you deal with those Zhongke people who won’t take no for an answer?"
"Um..."
"You mean... speak less and act more?"
"Makes sense indeed."
"We still have much to learn about communication techniques with them in the future."
"Um, um, um..."
...
For a moment, the conference room seemed to turn into a large educational meet-and-greet.
In the course of about ten minutes, except for those engaged in quantum and condensed matter... nearly everyone surely vouched for each other’s expertise, and everyone became acquainted with Li Zheng and Lin Yujing.
Although it was mainly off-topic, the atmosphere finally eased somewhat, and Min Jianzhong didn’t stop it but instead used the opportunity to ponder while giving Chu Youhua an incomprehensible look—
[Li Zheng, what the fuck is wrong with you?]
Chu Youhua frantically wiped sweat.
[I fucking don’t know, he just started attacking me out of nowhere.]
Min Jianzhong glared again.
[He’s sick, so he attacks you! And just because he attacks you, why do you have to react??]
Chu Youhua shook his head innocently?
[It’s not like that, I didn’t do anything, it’s just him attacking me consistently.]
Min Jianzhong turned away angrily.
[At least show some attitude, I’ll try to smooth things over as much as I can.]
Chu Youhua nodded distressingly.
[Forget it... I am scared.]
Min Jianzhong glared yet again.
[You’re already here, I fucking came here too!]
Chu Youhua pursed his lips, looking aggrieved.
[Then... then I’ll try...]
Li Zheng was busy getting acquainted with many greats from the School of Physics and didn’t have time to pay attention to Chu Youhua’s situation.
But inexplicably, as the Scholastic Wealth kept increasing substantially, he noticed the agitated Chu Youhua.
[Scholastic Wealth: 148385→147229↓↓↓]
[Scholastic Wealth: 147229→146080↓↓↓]
[Scholastic Wealth: 146080→145361↓↓↓]
Wow!
What a turn of events!
Chu Youhua, at this moment, also steeled his heart and, seizing the warm and jocular energy, finally spoke up during a very harmonious moment.
"Li Zheng, there have been some misunderstandings between us; it’s my fault," he started, pointing to his left and right, "but our Quantum Institute and the teachers of Condensed Matter are top-notch... like Professor Zhang..."
He had intended to laugh it off with some heat of the moment.
But the very moment he began to speak, Li Zheng’s expression suddenly changed.
The venue also suddenly cooled down, instantly reverting to its original atmosphere.
Everyone quietly listened to him speak.
This was really awkward.
Chu Youhua frantically started wiping his sweat again.
"On our end... we also have both the level and sincerity..."
!!!
Li Zheng was now excited.
Chu Bao’er, do you know how long I have been waiting for you?
You think I actually love socializing?
"Oh?" Li Zheng looked excited, "So, did I misunderstand you? You actually have the level and sincerity, and it was just a preconception on my part that was wrong?"
"Ah... Um..." Chu Youhua wiped his sweat and nodded, "It might be possible... I’ve always been very proactive in wanting to collaborate with you and have been most concerned about your projects... all of these you..."
"Very proactive? Which time?" Li Zheng stared at him again, "Was it the time you found out that my mother was the Director of Asset Management, yet claimed you didn’t know about it and insisted on taking me as your disciple?"
In this originally joyful atmosphere, Li Zheng’s accusation was unexpected.
And it was about such an extremely embarrassing matter that shouldn’t be brought up in public.
In this stark contrast, not just Chu Youhua but almost everyone shivered as if they had heard nails on a chalkboard.
"..." Chu Youhua was stunned, brewing excuses in his mind, continuing to wipe his sweat.
[Scholastic Wealth: 147229→145804↓↓↓]
And Li Zheng’s journey into awkwardness had only just begun.
"Or was it when you tried to help Liu Yuwei, accused of plagiarizing a paper, by attempting to use 500,000 in funds to dissuade me?"
Wow!
Many people widened their eyes, also inexplicably excited.
So there was this scene too?
At this point, Chu Youhua could no longer care to wipe his sweat, only trying his best to appear innocent: "I don’t know... I don’t know what you’re talking about..."
[Scholastic Wealth: 145804→144633↓↓↓]
Even though it was already extremely awkward, Li Zheng still took the opportunity to go on the offensive: "Or was it when you told Jie Qifen that you’d help him get an associate professorship if he sold me out to become your disciple?"
Wow!
The audience almost brought out melons to munch on the spot.
Bribing Jie Qifen with a position?
You really know how to pick people!
[Scholastic Wealth: 144633→143258↓↓↓]
"..........."
By this awkward triple hit, Chu Youhua was so bewildered that he froze from mouth to brain.
"Apart from these, we haven’t had much interaction, have we?" Li Zheng abruptly continued with a triple-bluster stare, "In our previous interactions, it seemed to be all about benefits, money, and connections. Where were the level and sincerity? Clearly, manipulating relationships to discuss benefits has been your only approach, right?"
"Li Zheng..." Chu Youhua steadied himself against the table, forcibly stabilizing his voice, "I don’t know where you heard all this from... We should discuss our issues privately; Principal Min is still here..."
"No need, if there are any misunderstandings, let’s clarify them face to face. Isn’t that exactly why Principal Min invited us here?" Li Zheng caught the opportunity when it was ripe and boldly added insult to injury, "I’ve always been very hardworking in understanding your level and sincerity, like in your quantum computing paper, the Merkle-hash tree part, I didn’t quite understand. Now that we have the chance, I’d like to ask you face to face, how is the hash value transmitted?"
Chu Youhua furiously glared and trembled back, "Li Zheng... we are having a meeting..."
"What about the optimization of the M value for McEliece’s algorithm? Why was the value chosen as 10?" Li Zheng said as he raised his hand, "Hurry up, everyone is waiting, and I am waiting too. Show your level and sincerity, that’s the only thing I care about. Why is it 10?"
"This is... this is..." Chu Youhua quivering, reached out to the person beside him, "This part was handled by Professor Sun..."
[Scholastic Wealth: 143258→139477↓↓↓]
"Then I’ll change the question." Li Zheng completely ignored him, and immediately asked, "You should at least understand the basic quantum logic gate matrix transformation, what is the matrix that performs the computation on the input called?"
"......"
[Scholastic Wealth: 139477→130002↓↓↓]
"Unitary matrix..." someone beside whispered while half-covering his mouth, resembling a grade school student whispering the answer to a classmate during a lesson.
Before Chu Youhua could react, Li Zheng waved his arms again.
"Forget it... how about Schrödinger’s equation then?"
"Li Zheng!" Chu Youhua heard this and was filled with vigor, sternly scolded, "Do you really think I can’t answer? Asking a university professor these questions is simply an insult; I disdain to answer!"
"Then please." Li Zheng raised his hand, "If you can write out the Schrödinger Equation, I will apologize to you right here, and unconditionally include your institute’s name in subsequent papers."
"Madman!!" Chu Youhua angrily raised his hand, pulled out a notebook, snatched up a pen, and began to write furiously.
Li Zheng realized something was off.
Damn, I forgot.
This guy does have an undergraduate level of knowledge and is still lecturing...
In that instant, Chu Youhua was already furiously writing down the expressions, teeth gritted.
Just as he was about to elegantly finish, Li Zheng raised his hand again.
"Not just the one-dimensional equation; there’s also the three-dimensional and the stationary state equations. You have to write all three sets."
Chu Youhua froze, his hand stiffening.
In that moment, he reluctantly lifted his head, his face blank with confusion.
But he quickly realized something was off and lowered his head again.
Yet that simple moment was already enough.
Who in the room hadn’t taught over a thousand students?
That expression.
Wasn’t it just like the look of a student confused in class?
Oh my!
The audience gobbled up this quantum melon right then and there, swallowing their saliva audibly, wishing they could swallow whole all at once.
Everyone knew Li Zheng had accidentally gone too far and was bluffing here.
One-dimensional, three-dimensional, stationary state—these were fundamentally similar, just a change of form, any graduate student... no, undergraduate... no, a competition student might be able to write them.
At that moment, seeing Chu Youhua pause with his pen, wanting to say something but hesitating, trying to write but failing to do so, only large beads of sweat dropped one by one.
"Hmm..."
This sound was not made by Lin Yujing.
It was almost everyone else.
Many had heard that Chu Youhua was terribly sloppy with technical detail, but no one would usually challenge him directly.
In the occasional necessary discussion, Chu Youhua would always elevate the topic to a very high level. Once it reached a realm that no one could decipher, no one could out-talk him with all those quantum concepts.
That’s why his rhetoric worked flawlessly when dealing with social capital and superior leaders.
Otherwise, old scholars one more precise than another, one more detail-oriented than another, having them talk with outsiders isn’t just about comprehension but about how long it takes before they begin to fall asleep!
Indeed, some people suspected Chu Youhua of being a pretender, but this matter could not be verified.
He was already such a high-standing figure, it was not possible to force him to admit his knowledge by pressing down on his head, was it?
No, no, no...
Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.
Possible.
Li Zheng had done it.
At this moment, to the people in this room, watching Chu Youhua who was completely silent, tightly grasping his pen.
It was like seeing a high school physics teacher who knew F=ma, but didn’t know that a=F/m.
This time, Li Zheng finally witnessed what it was to plummet off a cliff.
[Scholastic Wealth: 130002→111087↓↓↓]
Even Li Zheng was a bit stunned.
The Schrödinger Equation had been questioned...
Next question...
It really was about Newton’s three laws...
By then, Min Jianzhong finally reached his limit.
"Okay... let’s dismiss the meeting for now," Min Jianzhong, no longer knowing whether to cry or laugh, weakly gestured with his hand, "Li Zheng, give me some time, I will come to talk to you later tonight."
"There’s no need, Principal," Li Zheng nodded, seemingly even burping, "I... I’m fine, thank you for the payment... your concern."
"That’s it for now," Min Jianzhong said as he rose from his seat.
Suddenly.
Bang!
A pair of hands slammed down on the table.
A man who had been silent throughout the whole meeting stiffly stood up.
"No..." Sui Miao, his face covered with sweat, not knowing how long he had been agonizing, murmured with his head down, "No matter what... I still firmly believe in my principles... I was looking forward to the possibility that Principal Min’s coming today could bring about some change... I anticipated it more than anyone, more than Li Zheng... but now nothing has changed... So what if Director Chu is embarrassed..."
"I don’t care anymore... I have to speak out..."
With that, he trembled and turned toward Min Jianzhong.
"I attest, Li Zheng is lying."
The whole room was shocked.
Even Chu Youhua was shaken.
After all this... what... what is going on?
"Li Zheng... Li Zheng did not refuse to cooperate with our School of Physics," Sui Miao said firmly, word by word, "On the night of December 31, he clearly told me that his theory still needed final verification, hoping to collaborate with our institute’s quantum materials and condensed matter labs."
"President Liu!" Sui Miao suddenly turned and shouted, "Did I not ask you?!"
"......" Liu Qi instantly fell silent, his head bowed.
"Professor Lu!!" Sui Miao then turned and yelled at Lu Dongsheng, "Did I not ask you?!"
"......" Lu Dongsheng didn’t even have the energy to wipe his sweat.
"We had a chance, we always had a chance, Li Zheng still considered himself a part of the School of Physics, he only collaborated with other schools out of sheer disappointment!" Sui Miao shook his head vigorously, inadvertently staring at Chu Youhua, staring hard, as if he wanted to bite his teeth out, "Liu Qi couldn’t handle it, Lu Dongsheng couldn’t either, only one person was capable of sabotaging this cooperation, only one person!"
This time.
Min Jianzhong’s expression completely darkened.
He was always hesitating, weighing his options.
Even the decision to end the meeting was meant to give himself and other school leaders more time to decide.
But the blow he had just received was the final spit that broke the camel’s back.
"Sui Miao, I fully understand your frustration," Min Jianzhong now got up and walked over, patting Sui Miao on the back and looked at Li Zheng, "Li Zheng... why didn’t you mention this matter?"
"... What Teacher Sui mentioned, I only just found out about," Li Zheng sighed, then smiled, "Why bother, what would my saying it change? It would only make things difficult for Teacher Sui and Dean Zhong, and of course, for you too."
"I’ve already said, I came here to solve problems," Min Jianzhong pat Sui Miao earnestly and said, "Good, having come this far, I finally see the problem with the School of Physics. Teacher Sui, you are right, you are the only person who is right in the entire School of Physics, don’t hesitate any longer, all situations can be explained exactly as they are, why bow your head? Stand up straight! My backbone is your backbone, and furthermore..."
He said, looking significantly at Li Zheng.
Sui Miao, whether this is a true declaration or a bold gamble...
You have already won the favor of this school’s most powerful authority.
After comforting Sui Miao and just as Min Jianzhong was about to make follow-up arrangements, Zhong Ping suddenly froze in place with his phone in his hand, astonished.
"They found Jie Qifen!"
After Zhong Ping shouted, he immediately gazed at Li Zheng, his eyes filled with fear.
"He entered the operating room this morning..."
"Liver cancer..."
Boom.
The world seemed to shatter.
Li Zheng’s whole mind seemed to have been struck by God from inside his skull.
He staggered and fell into the chair.
In that moment, many trivial matters connected together.
His mother, seemingly healthy yet frequently visiting the hospital...
Quitting smoking... quitting drinking... not eating late-night snacks...
Stupidly smiling at the photo on his phone screen... yet not adding even a single friend...
Taking leave from Broadcom, requests all made, yet also barely answering his own calls or participating in the project...
How could this be.
I had done everything, after all...
How could you not see...
We had agreed to share your theory, your life, everything about you with the world, in the lecture hall, at the press conference, in the academic report hall!!!
Zhong Ping struggled to catch his breath for a long time, and finally managed to say, "It shouldn’t be terminal... Jie Qifen’s brother said that as long as the surgery is successful, the chance of recovery is high, with only a very small risk of a complication..."
?!?!?!
Stare!
Li Zheng almost glared Zhong Ping to death.
What the hell with your heavy breathing??!!
Li Zheng, as if he had grasped the speed of light, half-stumbled out of his seat, grabbed his phone and rushed outside.
Old Li!!!
Stop messing with the model!!!
Grab your scalpel!!
Get moving, NOW!!!