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Chapter 160 Revisiting the Chemistry Laboratory Building

"Xiao Chen, I always think that young people need to have enough experience before they can take on the responsibility. Yes, the Nanjing University next door is indeed good. Since we were established later, their basic mathematics is a little better than ours.

However, you have to consider that the competition at Nanjing University is also fierce. There are more overseas returnees with PhDs, and many of them follow the big names. If you go there, will they really take you seriously?

Yes, maybe you can get the title of associate professor if you go there, and they may have flexible quotas to give it to you directly. But have you ever thought about what to do when you want to go further?
It's very difficult! Xiao Chen! But we know that your potential is far from being tapped, and you are still a little bit away from a real breakthrough. As long as you stick to it in Tianjin University and complete the transformation, you can get more than just an associate professor in the future.

We have less competition, so resources will be tilted towards you in the future. It will be possible for you to apply for general projects, or even young outstanding scientists or Yangtze River projects. It is even possible for you to become an academician in the future.

Think about it, isn't this the truth? We can gather the strength of the entire college to push you to the top, but when you really go to Nanyang University, will they have so many resources to devote to you? "

……

We have to admit that Zhang Guohong, the vice president, definitely did not get promoted by chance. At least he knows how to do organizational work.

Especially, he started off with a sincere apology, showing his full sincerity, and successfully revealed the reason why Chen Zhuoyang was considering terminating the contract, and then he started to make empty promises.

All I can say is that the pie is big and round, and the fact that all the academicians have come out makes Chen Zhuoyang feel dazed.

After all, in a way, what Dean Zhang said makes sense.

There is no doubt that the School of Mathematics at Nanjing University is better than that of Tianjin University. But this does mean that the competition at Nanjing University is definitely greater.

Really, if the two sides hadn’t had a very unpleasant argument when they first came to school, Chen Zhuoyang might have actually believed it.

But when Chen Zhuoyang heard Dean Zhang say this at this time, he just felt that he was being treated as a fool who knew nothing.

Yes, if Tianjin University really puts all its efforts into pushing him, he will most likely be able to climb higher than Nanjing University in the future.

But is this possible?
Judging from his previous treatment, the competition for internal resources at Tianjin University may be even more intense.

It's just something you listen to when people say that they will use all the resources of the college to recommend him. It would be naive to believe it.

But what annoyed Chen Zhuoyang the most was that Dean Zhang was not even willing to offer him the title of associate professor like his counterparts to retain him...

This also made Chen Zhuoyang, who always had a good temper, feel that he really needed to explode.

"Well... Dean Zhang, let me tell you the truth. Cakes can fill you up, but if they are painted cakes, no matter how beautiful they are, you can't eat them. Isn't that right?
Besides, the resources of the college have been pushed to me. What will you do with your future students? So it is better to part ways amicably while I have not used any resources of the school and do not have any projects on hand. Our college does not want a local PhD like me.

But don't worry, I will definitely complete the courses this semester with quality and quantity, and I will definitely be responsible to the students. Um...how about we leave it at that today? I also need to rest."

Although the words were spoken very politely, it was actually very tough to say it to this extent without considering it.

However, the greatest confidence was indeed given by Qiao Yu.

After the professor from Nanjing University talked to him, Chen Zhuoyang asked Qiao Yu about this matter on WeChat.

Qiao Yu’s answer was also very direct.

"Really? Do you still need to ask me this? They are willing to give you the position of associate professor directly. If you don't go, the big guys in Tianjin University will think you are stupid! Will they not treat you like a fool in the future?

Unless Jinda can offer better conditions, I have already started writing my resignation application. They are trying to make things difficult for you, and you are still hesitating whether to run away or not?
Besides, Director Tian knows that you are unhappy at Tianjin University. It is probably because you are still there that Director Tian cannot get angry. If you leave, he will have nothing to worry about!

Really, when I was in Yanbei before, I didn’t think you were so honest! Listen to me, run quickly, it would be irresponsible to be late for a second!"

Yes, seeing this news really made Chen Zhuoyang feel deeply moved.

He is already quite old, and it's okay that he can't do as much scientific research as a sixteen-year-old child, but he also doesn't see things as clearly as the other kid.

Damn...monster!

……

The 2025 Annual Meeting of the Chinese Mathematical Society finally came to a perfect conclusion. This meeting also brought many people many feelings.

There is no doubt that Qiao Yu has become the most prominent rising star in mathematics at this annual meeting. If we take Qiao Yu's age into consideration, many people will feel that he has already grown old.

Even many people have forgotten the winners of this year's Chern Prize and Hua Prize, but they still remember Qiao Yu clearly.

After all, before everyone could have too much impression of the winner, a group of foreign Philippine Award bigwigs, as if by appointment, praised his achievements in public.

In addition, Qiao Yu's memory point is too strong. At the age of sixteen, he is still a minor! He has already stepped onto the podium of top conferences twice to give special reports.

And this time it is a report of groundbreaking research.

Moreover, Qiao Yu's achievements are quite exciting to the theoretical mathematics community.

After all, this era is actually very impetuous.

In a relatively impetuous social context, most people will pursue disciplines that can produce immediate benefits.

But theoretical mathematics is not only far from practical application, but also requires years or even decades of intensive research to achieve results.

Not to mention the risk of someone else solving the problem first, and then finding that your research has gone astray, resulting in nothing in your life.

For example, what happened to Sam and Frank not long ago is an example. They worked hard for several years but achieved nothing. Someone took advantage of them.

In this case, Qiao Yu's generalized modal axiom system is like a shot in the arm for many mathematicians who still insist on theoretical research.

Since this system can solve the problem of the upper bound of prime number intervals, it can naturally be used to solve other number theory problems.

So the meeting was over, but the more difficult situation for Qiao Yu was that he received many invitations for cooperation.

For example, those who study periodic structures represented by continued fractions have a very planned collaboration and even directly asked a thought-provoking question: Currently, this framework has included rational numbers, so what about irrational numbers?
So, can periodic modal points be used to construct a geometric representation of continued fraction periods and use it to classify the special properties of algebraic numbers?

To be honest, Qiao Yu didn't know how to answer this question. He had never thought about it.

As for other topics, there are even more.

For example, the problem of pseudo-primes similar to prime numbers; the geometric representation of the distribution of highly composite numbers; the gap problem of the remainder series; the geometric analysis of the sequence and difference law; diffuse prime numbers; the modal embedding of geometric manifolds; the orbital distribution of the action of geometric groups...

From home and abroad, in number theory, geometry, algebra... the flood of collaboration applications almost filled up Qiao Yu’s work mailbox.

Really, in just two days, more than 800 emails asking for cooperation made Qiao Yu astonished.

He only found out about many of the questions after reading emails. Oh, there are still mathematicians in the world studying these crappy things...

It was like he was suddenly at the center of the world's academic community. Even when he solved the geometric Langlands conjecture last time, he didn't receive as much attention as he did this time.

But Tian Yanzhen was very confident about this situation. After everyone returned to Yanbei, he did not let Qiao Yu rest, but directly called him to his office for class.

……

“Okay, don’t be so proud, because your generalized modal axiom system has been widely recognized, especially those Fields Medal winners are promoting it for you.

So everyone thought that there might be another way to complete the proposition, and then just sent an email to try it out. Most of them just wanted to give it a try, what if it succeeded?

Anyway, they don't have to pay anything. They just have multiple co-authors when publishing articles. So you don't have to be complacent. Instead, you should pay more attention to this cooperative project with Academician Zhang."

Before leaving, at the suggestion of Tian Yanzhen, Qiao Yu had signed a cooperation agreement with Zhang Yuanling's team.

"Um... Director Tian, ​​can you tell me why we want to cooperate with Academician Zhang's team? Is it just because we can get half of the research and development funds?"

Tian Yanzhen shook his head and said, "This is one reason. The most important achievement of Zhang Yuanling when he was elected as an academician was to solve the basis ring conjecture of the bilateral cell of the affine A-type Weyl group.

Similarly, the problem of affine B-type Weyl group has a greater influence in the mathematical community. If you can completely solve this problem, it will be of great benefit to the future promotion of generalized modal theory.

But the most important thing is that Lao Zhang is now easier to control, and his teacher... Never mind, you don't need to know this. Anyway, as long as you have achieved results, you can work together. In short, this cooperation will be of great benefit to your future. "

Qiao Yu nodded.

Although Tian Yanzhen's words were not so clear, he actually understood them. It was nothing more than the inheritance and factions of the Chinese academic world and other messy things.

After all, Shuangdan University's mathematics major was very strong, and was once considered the second best in China. As for the first place, it was naturally the School of Mathematics at Yanbei University, which was completely unshakable.

Especially after the mathematics department led by two top academicians of Yujiang University was merged into Shuangdan University, the mathematics major of Shuangdan University has developed very well.

There is even a mathematics academician from Shuangdan University who has won China's highest science and technology award.

Anyway, we can understand these metaphors, but it is impossible to stay completely untainted by the ways of the world.

"By the way, Director Tian, ​​the American Mathematical Society has invited me to become a senior member. Do you want to agree?"

After solving this problem, Qiao Yu asked again.

"AMS has already invited you?" Tian Yanzhen was a little surprised and confirmed.

"Uh... I think so. Anyway, I took a look at the email and the domain name of the email was @ams.org. I checked and it seems to be their official domain name."

"Find the email and let me take a look at it. Just use my computer." Tian Yanzhen said.

Qiao Yu leaned over, logged into his mailbox, and quickly found the email.

"Yes, it is indeed an official invitation from AMS. You should join right away. There is no need to think about it."

Tian Yanzhen took a glance and immediately gave advice.

Qiao Yu said, "No, it means I still have to pay a membership fee, which seems to be quite expensive. I was wondering whether I should add it or not. Will I have to waste time going to the United States..."

"Membership fee? Are you short of that little money? Forget it, the membership fee will go directly to the project fund! Besides, other people may lose money if they pay, so what's the point of you paying this little money?
AMS will provide scholarships and academic honors to its members! You can get an award based on your ability, and the prize money will be much more than the membership fee you paid!
And you don’t need to go to the United States to become a member. You just need to accept the invitation and pay the membership fee to complete the registration. Join first, and you may even become an honorary member in the future.”

"Oh, so that's the case. Then I agree. I thought before that making money is not easy, and we can't just let the Americans make the money." Qiao Yu said suddenly.

Ok……

In fact, Qiao Yu is very clear about the above basic common sense.

In fact, after receiving the invitation from the American Mathematical Society, he confirmed the authenticity of the email and learned everything about the American Mathematical Society through the Internet...

Including but not limited to membership types, various benefits, ways to join, etc. So he actually already planned to join.

The reason why I asked again was mainly because Director Tian had given him a laissez-faire attitude. Moreover, he really couldn't give him much guidance in academics, and most of the time he just created conveniences for him.

Qiao Yu felt that this would be a very troublesome problem. In the past, Director Tian could still gain the emotional value of teaching students by examining their basic knowledge.

However, as the research work progressed, especially the research and expansion around the generalized modal axiom system, it has gone beyond the research scope of my own mentor. This also means that it will become increasingly difficult to gain this kind of emotional value from him.

Therefore, Qiao Yu had to find a way to let his mentor gain more of this kind of value. This kind of thing that originally requires experience to understand is perfect. At least the mentor's experience accumulated for half a lifetime should have a place to pass on.

Moreover, people cannot always act as if they are smart in everything, especially in front of elders, as that will often make them appear unintelligent.

Well, it was mainly because Director Tian was so good to him, so he still hoped that his own mentor would be happier if nothing happened.

This was indeed the case. After teaching Qiao Yu a lesson, Tian Yanzhen looked much more relaxed. He waved at him and said, "Okay, go ahead. Fill out the application form later. Joining AMS won't do you any harm at the moment."

"Okay, Director Tian." After responding, he walked out of Tian Yanzhen's office obediently.

To be honest, Qiao Yu still felt very tired after coming back from the meeting. He had just returned to his dormitory and was about to take a nap when his cell phone rang again.

Qiao Yu was quite surprised by the person who called. It turned out to be Senior Brother Liu who studied chemistry.

Yes, seeing this name reminded Qiao Yu of this senior. He still remembered that he had just taken on a project at Huaqing University, and felt that he owed a project to Yanbei University.

Then Director Tian asked him to help the chemical laboratory solve a problem with a so-called new cobalt-based catalyst project.

In fact, in Qiao Yu's opinion, it was just a small problem, and he solved it in one day. The reason why he had such a deep memory was mainly because the laboratory opposite was too generous.

After the project was completed, he was paid 2 million yuan in consulting fees. Although he paid hundreds of thousands of yuan in taxes, it was still the largest income in his life. It directly multiplied the family's wealth several times.

So after seeing this call, Qiao Yu felt quite friendly. He even had Liu Hao's handsome face in his thirties with acne on his face in his mind!
It's no exaggeration to say that Qiao Yu really thinks Liu Hao is quite handsome. Of course, it could also be because the other party gave him a lot of money...

Although the money was definitely paid by Professor Liu Hao, it seems likely that other professors would have sought the opinion of the project team supervisor before paying the money. This is enough to show that Liu Hao did speak for him.

So Qiao Yu answered the phone without hesitation and greeted him enthusiastically: "Hello, Brother Liu, long time no see!"

"Yes, it's been a while! By the way, congratulations to you, Qiao Yu. I heard that you were in the spotlight again at the annual meeting of the Mathematical Society. And you published another top journal?"

Qiao Yu smiled and replied, "Hehe, you are too polite, I was just writing something casually, and who knew that it would be noticed by the editor-in-chief Lott of Ann.math."

"I said the same thing again, don't be so modest. No matter how modest you are, I won't be able to call you. Are you back now?"

Qiao Yu replied, "What a coincidence. I just came back from Director Tian's office. Is there anything I can do for you, Senior Brother?"

"Well... to be honest, we need your help again this time... it's extremely urgent."

Well, after hearing this, Qiao Yu suddenly felt less tired.

Last time I helped out, it was two million, and this time I need help again... Oh, by the way, it depends on what the project is.

Qiao Yu remembered that Director Tian had told him that generally, those projects that can make money are horizontal projects.

If it is a vertical or general project, there is usually not much money, and the research team cannot afford to pay too much consulting fees.

So he immediately asked, "Ah, brothers, you guys are so amazing, aren't you? This is one project after another? Isn't this another horizontal project?"

"Yes, it's a horizontal project that our boss took on. Hey, you don't know, our boss doesn't like to compete with others, so he usually doesn't bother to do those superficial projects..."

Hearing the other party's tone seemed a little embarrassed, Qiao Yu quickly said: "No, no, I'm just asking casually. That horizontal project is actually quite good. Is there any problem?"

Qiao Yu probably understood what Senior Brother Liu meant. After all, vertical or general projects are easier to gain academic reputation. Horizontal projects are different. They can only make a little money...

But in fact, Qiao Yu did not value fame that much. After all, he was not a chemist and did not need to become famous in the chemical world.

“Yes, this time the project we took on is a temperature-responsive smart memory gel material. We have now reached the material optimization stage.

The solution we are considering is to improve the temperature sensitivity and memory function of the material by regulating the intermolecular interactions in the gel, such as hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions.

But there are still many problems now. One is that the temperature response performance of the gel often decreases, and even the material no longer responds to temperature changes.

We have been using trial and error to optimize experimental conditions, but as you know, each time we adjust the experimental parameters, the testing and analysis cycle is very long.

Moreover, this thing will produce a lot of by-products. In addition, this project requires a lot of testing equipment, many of which our laboratory does not have, and we have to queue up for them, which is too energy-consuming.

So I want to ask you to come and help. Actually, I wanted to ask you to come two days ago, but you happened to be in Linhai for a meeting. I just heard that you have returned, so I tried to call you. But if you just came back, don’t you need to rest first? "

Qiao Yu's expression became serious: "Brother Liu, what are you talking about? If it were someone else, I would definitely take a rest, but you called me and I still said I wanted to rest. Isn't that too disrespectful of our friendship?

Your project is my project. Besides, you didn't even ask Professor Lu this time, and asked me to help you. You trust me so much, if I don't go and check it out right away, am I still a human being? Wait a minute, I'll be there now!"

"Ah...um, thank you so much. I'll wait for you downstairs. It's still the same laboratory building as last time."

……

After hanging up the phone, Qiao Yu quickly walked out the door, hailed a shared bike and headed straight for the new laboratory building of the School of Chemistry.

In less than ten minutes, he saw Liu Hao waiting for him outside the building.

"Qiao Yu, this way..."

"Nice to see you, Brother Liu." Qiao Yu greeted him warmly, then rode to Liu Hao's side and parked the bike.

I haven't seen you for half a year. I don't think Brother Liu has changed much. His hair hasn't gotten any thinner, but he seems to have more pimples on his face. It's true that studying chemistry can keep him young forever...

But after saying hello, Qiao Yu felt that Senior Brother Liu seemed a little embarrassed...

"Any questions, brother?" Qiao Yu asked enthusiastically and cheerfully.

"Um...well, Qiao Yu, I'm going to tell you the truth, don't blame me." Liu Hao said hesitantly.

Qiao Yu said generously: "We are friends, just tell me what you want to say. Besides, I am here to help you, how can I blame you?"

Liu Hao gritted his teeth and said, "Um... didn't you just say that we contacted you before we contacted Professor Lu? Actually, that's not the case. We actually contacted Professor Lu before and wanted him to help us optimize the model.

Professor Lu also came to see it, but he said that our problem is more complicated because there are many parameters involved, and there are complex nonlinear relationships between them.

You know, in this case, with each additional parameter, the number of combinations that need to be calculated increases exponentially, and there are also strong coupling situations.

When we don’t have enough data, it’s easy to diverge if we use differential equations to describe it. So his suggestion is to let us try and make more mistakes until we have enough data.

Well, it's not that we can't slowly try and make mistakes. But you know, the client of the horizontal project is very tight, and we have to report the laboratory progress to the client every month.

Who would have thought that the previous design was going smoothly. When the early interim results were presented, the client was very satisfied. But it got stuck in the optimization part, and it has been two months now without any progress.

If there is no progress on the report submitted next month, the tutor will be angry again. As you know, it is not easy to get horizontal projects in this environment.

Moreover, it seems that Party A not only commissioned our laboratory this time, but also Huairou Institute took on the task. Their solution is different from ours, and they use block copolymer phase separation and nanoparticle filling to realize this technology.

But no matter what, if the other party really makes it first, not only will the subsequent research and development funds be gone, but you know, our mentor will also lose face. Oh..."

After hearing these words, Qiao Yu suddenly felt relaxed.

He thought that Senior Brother Liu would say that he might not have much money to give for helping out this time...

I feel embarrassed after all this trouble because he was not the first person I thought of.

This was not a big deal to Qiao Yu.

He was just saying it casually on the phone at the time, but he didn't expect that Senior Brother Liu actually took it seriously and felt embarrassed.

There is no way, we can only say that this doctoral fellow may have stayed in the laboratory for too long, causing him to be too honest.

This made Qiao Yu start to worry about Brother Liu's entry into society after graduation. After all, people who are too honest are likely to suffer losses easily.

Qiao Yu felt that he was not a good person, so he hoped that good people would be rewarded, because this would lead to more good people appearing.

In this case, his relatively low moral standards can come in handy...

"Hey, I thought it was nothing. Isn't it just a fight? I'm telling you, Senior Brother Liu, I'm the best at this."

Qiao Yu smiled and said, "And you invited Professor Lu, and when you found that he couldn't solve the problem, you still thought of me. This shows that in your opinion, I am better than Professor Lu! Thank you, Brother Liu, hey, you still think highly of me!"

"Hehe...I should be the one thanking you." Liu Hao showed a simple smile.

"Let's stop talking. Let's go to the lab and check the situation. It will be night by then."

Qiao Yu took the initiative to speak.

"Okay, come with me." Seeing that Qiao Yu didn't care, Liu Hao was really relieved.

After all, young people all like to save face, and he was really afraid that Qiao Yu would know that they had contacted Professor Lu first and would just ignore him.

There was nothing he could do.

In fact, it doesn’t matter if there are no results, but there are not many career options for chemistry nowadays. Liu Hao plans to follow his supervisor directly after graduation.

The supervisor had also expressed this idea. After all, both parties knew each other well, so Liu Hao naturally hoped to perform better during his doctoral studies.

"By the way, Senior Brother Liu, you are almost graduating, right? What are you planning to do after graduation?"

"Just follow the boss. The boss means that after I graduate next year, I will continue to be a junior supervisor in the research group. Our boss is generous and often gets projects.

I am usually very busy and don't have much time, so I can be a small tutor and help my boss take care of students, and I can live a comfortable life." Liu Hao spoke the truth.

"Oh, that's good. It's comfortable to have a good mentor!" Qiao Yu nodded. It seems that Senior Brother Liu has no intention of leaving the laboratory, which is actually quite good.

Otherwise, it is easy to be too open with others when you go out, and you might be cheated at any time.

"Haha, Qiao Yu, your mentor is even more amazing! I have a hard life, but you are the one who has a comfortable life."

The two of them quickly arrived at the laboratory amidst their mutual compliments. Qiao Yu discovered that the people in the research group this time were actually different from the last time. Senior Brother Zhang was still there, but there was one more senior sister, and there were two others he didn't recognize.

However, the person washing the bottles remained the same. Qiao Yu remembered very clearly that the man who was washing the bottles with gloves in the laboratory was called Chen Jiang. He had specially thanked him for helping him buy milk tea last time.

As soon as Qiao Yu thought of this, Liu Hao took the initiative to say, "Oh, I almost forgot, Qiao Yu, I remember you like to drink milk tea. Well, Chen Jiang, don't wash the bottles yet, use my card to buy a few cups of milk tea."

After saying that, Liu Hao turned his head and asked, "Um, Qiao Yu, what flavor do you like?"

"Um..." Before Qiao Yu could say anything, Chen Jiang took the initiative to say, "I remember Qiao Yu likes milkier flavors. The one I brought last time was brown sugar pearl milk."

Qiao Yu looked at Brother Pingzi in surprise. If nothing else, just based on his memory, he felt that Brother Pingzi could become an excellent chemist.

"Yes, thank you, brother."

"You're welcome. Um, shall we first understand the progress of the laboratory like we did last time?"

"Well, okay, let's understand it first, otherwise I will be confused when looking at the data."

"Zhang Haoyuan, take Qiao Yu to understand the situation first."

"Okay, sorry, Qiao Yu, I have to trouble you again this time!"

"Look at what you said. You have to give face to Senior Brother Liu!"

"hey-hey……"

This time, Qiao Yu clearly felt that everyone was much more enthusiastic towards him. Sure enough, if you want to win respect, you still have to make some achievements first. It seems that these guys were shocked last time!

　I recommend this book "Who Stole My Brain" to everyone: Zhou Mo's mind was empty as he pondered over something that was extremely important to him, a person who had just traveled through time. When would he die? And... who stole his brain?
　　Zhou Mo planned to recover his brain before he died completely.

(End of this chapter)