As a mage, I just want to pursue the truth

Chapter 20 Public Opinion
"What do you think of Zheng Li dropping out of school to start a business, and his company receiving a 50 million yuan investment from Lei Jun?"

Compared with Weibo, the audience on Zhihu is more interested in this type of topic, and this question was pushed to the top of the hot search list.

“Thank you for the invitation, I can only say that it’s great to be young.

I am a student of the School of Mathematics at Jiangcheng University. I can be considered as Zheng Shen’s senior. Zheng Shen is well-known in the School of Mathematics and everyone regards him as the number one genius in the School of Mathematics.

In addition to Nature, he also published a paper in ARMA, which is roughly equivalent to CNS in biology. It is not the top journal but it is also very impressive. Not to mention that he is only 18 years old and a freshman.

It can be said that Zheng Shen is very talented in academics, and he has a good future if he develops along the academic path. At least he will have no problem becoming one of the Thousand Young Talents, and he can also become a Yangtze River Scholar with some effort. As for academicians, it is hard to say.

But he chose to drop out of school to start his own business. Maybe this is what youth is all about.

Here's an interesting story from the School of Mathematics at Jiangcheng University. When Zheng Shen first came to college, he told the freshman group that he had no problem he didn't know how to solve, and that everyone could ask him anytime, but they had to pay. I remember the fee was 100 yuan for half an hour.

At the time, his classmates thought he was bragging, but later they found out that he was really good. Then he felt that making money this way was too slow, so he organized a postgraduate entrance examination cram school for his seniors who were in their fourth year of college.

I know more about the cram school because my roommate went there. Mr. Zheng also said that you can ask any question and if you can stump him, the tuition will be waived. My roommate asked Mr. Zheng the final question from last year's Yenching University postgraduate entrance examination. Mr. Zheng took a look at it and wrote it out, which stunned my roommate.

The first thing he said to us when he came back was: Zheng Li is awesome. This is the first time I’ve seen someone solve a problem as easily as drinking water.

Based on these things, it is obvious that in addition to his talent in scientific research, Zheng Shen has an extraordinary desire to make money, so his choice to start a business is completely understandable.

But I didn’t expect that Zheng Shen’s entrepreneurship was so successful that he directly attracted an investment of 50 million.

From my point of view, there is a possibility that Zheng Shen’s entrepreneurship will succeed. Even if it fails, there is nothing to worry about. He should just come back and continue his academic studies.”

“Thanks for the invitation. I was the senior who went to Zheng Shen’s cram school. As a senior, I felt quite ashamed to go to a freshman’s cram school. But after hearing Zheng Shen’s article published in Nature, I felt that it was not so embarrassing.

Later, I heard that Zheng Shen published in ARMA, a top journal in mathematics. I felt that it was not shameful at all, as those who are academically accomplished come first.

Until now, Zheng Shen started his own business and received 50 million venture capital from Mr. Lei. I guess Zheng Shen doesn’t care about the tutoring fee of more than 1,000 yuan. I realized that I made a lot of money!
I can be considered as the direct disciple of Master Zheng, and I can brag about this identity in the future!

Having said that, Zheng Shen’s tutoring class has given me a lot of inspiration, whether in terms of problem-solving ideas or the overall understanding of the mathematical system. Zheng Shen’s casual remarks often give me a new understanding of the subject.

For example, he said that the essential difference between mathematical analysis and advanced algebra is that mathematical analysis studies the trend of gradual changes, while advanced algebra studies the transformation of space.

This sentence reveals the essence of the two basic courses very well.

Because I have taken Zheng Shen's class, I feel very sorry that he started his own business. It is a loss to the mathematics community and to Jiangcheng University that such a top scientific research and teaching talent has started his own business. "

The above answers are those from stakeholders.

“I think it’s just a show of Lei Jun’s capital, using 50 million to invest in his junior, who is a top genius who published a paper in Nature at the age of 18.

No matter how you think about it, it's not a loss. If the business is successful, it will be the best for Lei Jun. If the business fails, Lei Dashan will also gain a reputation as a good man who spends a lot of money to buy horse bones, which will be beneficial to the future talent introduction of rice."

In 2019, Lei Jun and Dami's reputation on Zhihu was mainly negative.

At that time, a large number of Mi fans who used real money to support Mi's listing on the Hong Kong stock market were badly hurt by Mi's stock price being halved. Coupled with the failure of Mi's self-developed chip Pinecone, Lei Jun was basically scolded on Zhihu.

What a young person’s first time was cut short. For the sake of his dream, the great philanthropist Lei Pengpai made it as bad as stopping the use of fake medicine.

Naturally, he had nothing good to say about Zheng Li.

“Thank you for the invitation. I think it’s a good thing. From the name of the company founded by Zheng Li, we can tell that it is a biopharmaceutical company, which is in the same direction as the Nature article he published.

There are many such companies in the Yangtze River Delta. Zheng Li’s talent in scientific research is unquestionable as he was able to publish in Nature. Combining the industrial advantages of the Yangtze River Delta and Lei Jun’s personal connections, I personally am very optimistic that Kechuang Biotechnology will become an innovation-driven new drug research and development company.

Suzhou's high-tech park also has many preferential policies for innovative enterprises, with an additional deduction rate for R&D expenses of 75%.

Our country has no shortage of Internet companies, but we are still in great need of talent in the biomedical field. I personally think it is a good thing that top talents like Zheng Li are joining the biomedical field.”

The disturbances in the outside world had no effect on Zheng Li. He was busy purchasing the necessary instruments from abroad and building a laboratory that belonged entirely to him.

Various equipment such as ultra-low temperature refrigerators and constant temperature air conditioners, centrifuges, pipettes, microscopes, PCR instruments, etc. have arrived one after another, and Zheng Li feels like he has returned to the Mage Tower.

Taking a breath of filtered air, Zheng Li found it so fascinating. Although the functions of the instruments here were so primitive, this was where his career started.

In China, the cost of Phase I clinical trials is roughly between 800 million and 4200 million. Endorphins have a wide range of uses, and Phase I clinical trials can be compared to morphine.

Therefore, the sample size is not as difficult to find as for some rare diseases, and the cost of Phase I clinical trials is relatively lower.

Moreover, before conducting human experiments, sufficient pathological and toxicological studies need to be conducted on animals before the drugs can be applied to humans.

Before the patent is registered, endorphins need to be synthesized using the method mentioned in Zheng Li's paper published in Nature, and then these endorphins are used to experiment on animals.

Clinical trials can only be applied for after sufficient experimental data is available.

Endorphin is a long-chain organic compound containing a large number of amide bonds. Zheng Li has already carried out moderate optimization of the synthesis steps, but its laboratory artificial synthesis method is still very complicated.

Therefore, when recruiting laboratory personnel, experienced people are needed, and such people can only be recruited in large numbers in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta.

Before recruiting people, Zheng Lixian had to carry out the synthesis of endorphins by himself. His efficiency had to be equal to that of five ordinary operators.

Zheng Li's hands were steady. He was already able to fully control his body and drip the aminopeptide he had just made into the test tube.

(End of this chapter)