The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 418 is incredibly exciting.
"So, I didn't mention it before the leader asked me. I thought there would be more additions in the next batch, so I suggested to the relevant departments that we conduct trials in Africa first. If it works, I will nominate her when we make the next batch of additions."

"Professor Tu's papers are not enough."

Liu Hua immediately retorted: "I have even fewer papers, and many projects don't even require papers. Papers shouldn't be a hard requirement for academician selection. If this requirement were added, I believe many people would write meaningless papers. Papers combining science and philosophy are considered good; he could even include Marxism-Leninism."

The organizing committee leader nodded thoughtfully: "We cannot generalize from a few cases, but it is quite difficult to find a universally applicable method. The requirement of a paper is universally recognized, so I don't think it needs to be changed. However, we can add a clause that allows for a relaxation of the paper requirement if an outstanding contribution is indeed made."

Liu Hua nodded in agreement and continued, "There is another one, Ms. Li Aizhen from the Shanghai Metallurgical Institute. Ms. Li's contributions are also evident to all, and I think we can add her this time."

Some objected, saying, "Her background has some issues."

“What’s the problem? She’s patriotic and has made contributions to the country.” Liu Hua said irritably, “She has no problem with her professional research or her grades. You insist on using all sorts of conditions to block her. You might as well block me too. I’m just a high school graduate.”

The leader comforted him, saying, "Professor Liu, don't worry. This is our first academician selection, and mistakes are inevitable. We will gradually improve the various mechanisms in the future. Regarding your proposal about Mr. Tu and Mr. Li, we will consider it carefully, as we still need to report to the higher authorities for approval."

“That’s right, Lao Liu, why are you in such a hurry?” Another professor, who was much older than Liu Hua, said with a smile, “You are considered young among our group. Young people have their advantages. You have a long life ahead of you and can serve as a mentor.”

Thanks to Liu Hua's insistence, the two gentlemen were elected as new academicians two years later. It is unknown whether this resolved their grievances, but it certainly resolved Liu Hua's grievances.

It wasn't just Liu Hua who felt wronged; many netizens felt that Mr. Tu had been wronged. With such great ability, he couldn't even be promoted to an academician. Netizens also felt that these rules were too dogmatic.

In October, the official report came out, and Liu Hua was elected as an academician, and an academician of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. According to Liu Hua's understanding from his previous life, there were only about thirty such people in total.

After the celebration banquet, Liu Hua went home and discussed with his wife: "It seems that I should devote more energy to scientific research and teaching in the future. After all, the honor of being an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering is too great. I can't not make contributions."

Liu Feifei smiled and said, "Haven't you been making contributions all along?"

"I always feel that it's a bit of a waste of an academician's energy to do business."

Liu Feifei joked, "When have you ever done any business? When have you ever been in charge of the company's operations? You've always just focused on research, leaving the rest of the trivial matters to others."

"So, my work priorities don't need to change?"

Liu Feifei thought for a moment and said, "You should pay more attention to your graduate students. They chose you as their advisor because they hope to learn real knowledge. Don't just let them study and research on their own and be a hands-off manager."

Liu Hua's dozen or so students have been finding it hard to adjust lately. Before, their teacher would come at most one day a week, but since becoming an academician, he's been coming three days a week. He not only gives them more guidance on their research but also shows concern for their well-being, which has made some of the students feel a bit uncomfortable.

Several people whispered among themselves, "What's wrong with the teacher? Shouldn't he be busier after becoming an academician? Why does he seem to be doing nothing?"

"Just a couple of days ago, my teacher asked me if I had enough living expenses. The teacher has already given us private subsidies. Does he think we haven't graduated yet and he's a little anxious?"

"That's impossible. We've only studied for two years, and we haven't even learned one ten-thousandth of the teacher's skills. It would be such a waste of opportunity to graduate like this. After graduation, it won't be so easy to learn from the teacher again."

"If you ask me, two years is enough to graduate. Although the teachers didn't teach much, they pointed out our learning difficulties every time. In two years, I feel that I learned more than other graduate students who take three or four years. If we dragged our feet and didn't graduate, the teachers might think we were too useless."

"Don't you feel that we don't have any outstanding achievements? In the past few years, the projects we have been researching have all been assigned by our teachers. Shouldn't we take the initiative and find a project to research on our own?"

After the students finished discussing it, they felt it was time to show their teacher what real ability was, so they would have Liu Hua correct their papers every few days.

Some people even asked Liu Hua to review their new projects. Liu Hua approved all of them if he thought they were feasible, and he would also actively help them apply for funding. If they couldn't get funding, Liu Hua would pay out of his own pocket.

Seeing the students working so hard they were practically running around, Liu Hua took the opportunity of a group meeting to persuade them: "Aren't you all working too hard? There's no need for this. You're still students now. Relax a bit. You'll only realize how hard you need to work when you go out to work and enter enterprises and institutions. That's when you'll need to work hard, because your superiors will be watching you, and your colleagues will be competing with you in speed. To support your family and for your future development, you have no choice but to work hard. So take advantage of these few years of leisure and enjoy the last bit of leisure in your student days."

"Teacher, you've been so concerned about me lately, isn't it because you think we're not living up to your potential?"

"How could that be? Think about it, I haven't paid much attention to you, and you've all become successful." Liu Hua said with a smile, "I was just thinking, if I paid more attention to you, could I also train you to become academicians?"

The students breathed a sigh of relief: "Teacher, you've been so kind to us all of a sudden. We felt pressured. We expected to feel pressure, but we didn't expect it to be this much. Becoming an academician is such a high compliment you've ever given me."

"Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?" Liu Hua said deliberately. "You must have lofty goals and dreams, otherwise what's the difference between you and those who dropped out of junior high or high school?"

In 01, Stephen Chow said that if a person has no dreams, what's the difference between them and a salted fish? Liu Hua, who doesn't want to play, said that some of his words weren't particularly funny to science students.

But the effect of stimulation seems to be even greater.

(End of this chapter)