Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 232 Apollo Moon Landing Team
"No, no, no, this exam is a selection exam in itself."

We all know that when it comes to mathematical research, there are two types of geniuses: one is like Yau, who relies on brute force calculation, and the other is a genius with keen mathematical intuition.

My exam is designed to select between these two types of geniuses.

Lin Ran said this when he received Xu Xian's call.

He knew that Xu Xian was a Zhihu blogger, and he also knew that the entrance exam for Lin Ran's math class would definitely be widely publicized by students, so he hoped to use Xu Xian's words to give a small explanation to the outside world.

Mathematical intuition, a grasp of theoretical frameworks, and rigor in analytical methods are common traits among mathematicians, but their individual abilities may vary.

Shing-Tung Yau was exceptionally diligent in his youth. Compared to some mathematicians who rely on flashes of inspiration while reading papers, he preferred to use extensive proofs and calculations to painstakingly find a path.

More accurately, this style was basically the same among the older generation of East Asian mathematicians, including Shing-Tung Yau, Shiing-Shen Chern, Kunihiko Kodaira, and Heisuke Hironaka. They were all competing on their fundamental skills.

As a doctoral student in the mathematics department, Xu Xian easily understood Lin Ran's meaning: "The problem is that there are 300 questions, and they can't possibly finish them all, so we need to add a random special question mechanism on top of that."

Lin Ran said softly, "Didn't I already say that in my opening speech? Keep moving forward and don't look back."

Starting directly from the first question, we work our way through them one by one. In this way, the special questions are actually distributed from easy to difficult. If they are smart enough, they will naturally remember what I said.

Actually, all those special questions and complex scoring methods are just smoke and mirrors. There's only one way to get a high score on this exam: maintain a calm mindset from beginning to end, and you do have some natural talent.

Xu Xian shook her head with a wry smile: "As expected of your Ran-ge style, so simple yet unexpected."

This reminded him that when they were in high school, if they encountered a problem they couldn't solve, Lin Ran would use the method of copying books, just like Kunihiko Kodaira, and then copy the answer five times before doing anything else.

"Registration for Professor Lin's moon landing project starts today. This project is credit-worthy, and there will be a detailed breakdown of credits based on the duration of participation. It can be considered a professional elective. If you are interested, please fill out an application form and send it to me privately."

This is the convenient door opened by Jiaotong University.

Participation in the Apollo moon landing earns academic credits.

For students, this is already a great deal.

"Director Chen, I'd like to ask about the grades? If this project is considered an elective, how are the grades awarded?"

"That depends on Professor Lin's arrangements."

That doesn't smell so good anymore.

Since the placement exam for Lin Ran's math class, everyone knows that Professor Lin has very high standards. If you don't meet the requirements, he might give you a very low score, which would lower your GPA and ruin your chances.

Therefore, many students are deterred from pursuing this opportunity.

Senior students were particularly enthusiastic.

But in Lin Ran's math class, it's a completely different story.

In Lin Ran's math class of 20 students, the male-to-female ratio is 19 to 1. The only one who is male is definitely not a sweet girl, and it would be a stretch to say that she is pretty.

"Shen Rui, what do you mean, are you planning to sign up?" Liu Jiyuan asked.

He and Wang Jiarui were both outstanding candidates in Lin Ran's mathematics selection exam. They were both from the physics department, and now that they were in the same class, they naturally became familiar with each other.

Among these 20 people, Wang Jiarui and Liu Jiyuan are the only two from the School of Physics.

Wang Jiarui nodded and said, "Of course we have to go. The class named after Professor Lin has been established for a week, and we haven't even seen a trace of Professor Lin yet."

His moon landing project can also earn him points for elective courses in his major, which sounds like it involves a lot of calculus calculations, so he can just treat it as a different way to do his problems.

"Take the courses—orbit calculation, numerical calculation, and cybernetics—as a way to get used to them in advance."

After thinking for a moment, Liu Jiyuan replied, "That's true. For us, GPA isn't that important."

For this type of class, GPA is never important.

Because of Lin Ran's and Shanghai Jiao Tong University's reputation, they are not hindered in their applications for overseas doctoral programs or domestic postgraduate programs.

In China's top 985 universities, the so-called elite classes are designed to select the best of the best. Because the exams are difficult, the grades are naturally not good. In the subsequent college admission process, they don't look at GPA at all, but at ranking.

In this type of class, a GPA of 3.0 might rank you in the top five.

However, Lin Ran's so-called lunar landing project was completely different from what they thought.

First of all, the project location is not at Jiaotong University at all, but in Kunshan, and even in Kunshan, it is not considered convenient.

Taking the subway from Zizhu Road involves multiple transfers, including getting onto Line 11. Even after getting off at Huaqiao Station, it takes a while to find the address sent by the counselor: No. 189, Xinsheng Road, Huaqiao Town.

"No, is Professor Lin really here?"

Wang Jiarui simply couldn't imagine it.

With such a large campus, does Jiaotong University really not have enough space for Professor Lin to carry out his moon landing project?

Why did you have to come all the way to Kunshan, which is so far away?
“Yes, this place can hardly be considered part of Shanghai anymore.” For locals like Liu Jiyuan, there was a sense of bewilderment at having come from the metropolis of Shanghai to work in the countryside.

"Hello, how can I help you?" The security guard sitting at the first-floor entrance stopped them.

“Oh, we are students from Jiaotong University,” Wang Jiarui said.

Before he could explain his purpose, the security guard hurriedly said, "Oh, are you here for an interview at Apollo Technology Company? Please show your ID card, student ID, and the QR code for the interview. Your counselor should have provided the latter. Finally, remember to scan the health code here."

Wang Jiarui and Liu Jiyuan exchanged a glance, then obediently completed the registration as instructed.

After entering the elevator, Wang Jiarui said, "No, when did elective courses become so formal?"

Liu Jiyuan shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Don't you find it strange?"

Such a dilapidated building, yet it has such a young and capable security guard. He's incredibly efficient, and you can even vaguely see his pectoral muscles. He could earn more doing anything else than being a security guard here.

After Liu Jiyuan finished speaking, he pointed to the elevator floor number in front of him: "There are 20 floors in total. Didn't you notice that there seems to be only one company, Apollo Technology?"

There is a row of transparent hanging railings on the wall behind the lobby.

I know what this is. Companies in office buildings usually hang their company nameplates on it so that visitors can easily find their floor.

Now it's completely blank, clearly indicating that only Apollo remains.

The security guard's reaction also showed that he didn't think twice and went straight for Apollo Technology.

That's really strange.

What they didn't know was that the office building, named Huaqiao Century, was owned by Shenhai State-owned Enterprise and had always been difficult to attract companies.

Compared to old office buildings, people still prefer to go to new, upscale office buildings.

After all, new office buildings aren't that much more expensive.

So in the past month, Shenhai Technology Investment simply negotiated amicably with the remaining three tenants and took over the entire office building, leasing it to Apollo Technology at a low price.

The price of the 20th floor was the same as that of the first floor. After entering the 20th floor, they found that it was not mysterious at all, but rather very simple and unpretentious.

Office desks and chairs, blackboard, printer, computer, and then that's it.

Even the decoration is extremely simple, consisting of just flooring and a few potted plants.

There were no individual workstations; everyone was completely visible, with desks pushed together in twos and threes.

"Hello, may I ask who you are?" A young woman approached, still clearly a student.

Wang Jiarui tentatively asked, "Senior or junior?"

"Wang Susu, a senior student at the School of Economics and Management of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, is this you?"

“We are students from Lin Ran’s math class, and we’re here for an interview,” Wang Jiarui said.

“Okay, please follow us,” Wang Susu said.

As they followed the other party, Wang Jiarui and Liu Jiyuan continued to inquire.

What's special about this place is that there are actually a lot of foreigners here.

Among two hundred people, the 27 foreigners are quite conspicuous.

"No, your design is definitely not good enough."

Our goal is to land on the moon, that's true, but that doesn't mean we have to replicate the Apollo moon landing exactly the same way.

Many technologies are different now, including materials, which have also developed significantly. What we need to do is to use what we can within the framework of the Apollo moon landing, but we are not opposed to better methods.

I know you're going to resort to the same old tricks again: keep running the mountain of bugs as long as it works, don't bother with any optimizations. What you think is optimization might just crash the mountain of bugs.

The problem is, the hardware that was originally compatible with Shit Mountain no longer exists. Now that we've switched to a different hardware environment, we definitely have to rewrite the code based on Shit Mountain's framework.

Wang Jiarui and Liu Jiyuan, led by Wang Susu, waited for quite a long time.

During this time, Lin Ran was heard talking to five engineers surrounding him in both Chinese and English.

After the conversation, Wang Susu walked over to Lin Ran and handed him their resumes. She then whispered a few words in his ear, and Lin Ran nodded.

Then he got up and walked over to Wang Jiarui and Liu Jiyuan:
"Hello, you can go to the orbital calculation group first. Engineer Li will assign you specific work and study tasks. Make the most of your time at school to study. Ask questions if you don't understand anything. As for the work, Engineer Li will be responsible for assigning it."

Welcome to the Apollo moon landing team.

After Lin Ran finished speaking, he shook hands with the two of them.

When Wang Jiarui and Liu Jiyuan sat down at their assigned workstations, they were still in a daze.

"No, is it over already?" Wang Jiarui murmured.

"What happened to the interview?" Liu Jiyuan was equally bewildered.

Wang Jiarui continued, "If this counts as an interview, then I hope all my future interviews will be this enjoyable."

Before they could even turn on the computers assigned to them, a man with gray hair but still youthful skin walked up to them: "Li Rui, I'm also a student at Jiaotong University, but I graduated many years ago."

I am the head of the orbital calculation group, and I am very happy to see that young blood has joined our group.

Your task is to serve that person well.

Li Rui pointed to the elderly white man who was two spaces away from their workstation.

"Service?" Wang Jiarui and Liu Jiyuan said in unison.

"Em, please forgive me for not being clear. To be precise, it is responsible for putting Haines' work results into the computer, then using simulation software to verify and test them, and finally summarizing them into our knowledge base."

It's very simple, just a matter of transferring and verifying data. I'll show you how to do it in a bit.

Wang Jiarui muttered, "No, how come there are still people who use blackboards, pens, and paper to calculate?"

He was shocked to discover that the old white man didn't have a computer in front of him, but instead had paper, a calculator, and a pen, with a large blackboard behind him.

He would sometimes frown, and sometimes write on the blackboard with chalk, then erase and rewrite.

"I'll tell you the details when we have lunch in the cafeteria later."

That's Ebenezer Haines. You can check his resume on NASA's website.

Wang Jiarui and Liu Jiyuan arrived at 11:00 AM, and after finishing all their work, they only had half an hour left before lunchtime.

In just half an hour, Li Rui only said a few words and did not assign any more specific tasks.

Filled with confusion, doubt, and a touch of excitement, the two investigated and discussed in hushed tones.

"No, isn't something a little off?" Wang Jiarui whispered.

“Something’s definitely not right. A moon landing project, an interest group—if it were just an interest group, how could it be such a big deal?” Liu Jiyuan was equally surprised. “Making such a big deal of it costs money.”

Putting aside everything else, just look at our team leader, Li. I looked him up and he's definitely a talented person. He's a Jiaotong University alumnus, with an undergraduate degree in applied mathematics and a graduate degree in aerospace.

He first worked at an aerospace research institute, then went to a private commercial aerospace company, but I don't know why he's here again.

Human resource costs are already a significant sum, and adding in the space and the cost of hiring former NASA employees like Haines probably wouldn't be cheap either.

Wang Jiarui said, "Definitely. I just used a VPN to Google it, and the other person really is a former NASA employee who participated in the Apollo moon landing. He is especially good at various orbit calculations, and his appearance is similar to the photo."

"These big bulls must be even more expensive."

Some of them guessed correctly, and some guessed incorrectly.

The moon landing was indeed more than just an interest group.

These people are also much cheaper than they thought.

Hiring Haines costs nothing; in fact, he might even have to pay you out of pocket.

If it weren't for timely financial support from China, Lin Ran might have even planned to use up the remaining 26 of Old Deng's gold coins.

If one person earns $500,000, then you are also walking $500,000.

When it was lunchtime, Li Rui took them to the 8th floor to eat, and while they ate, he said:
"In short, as you can see, we are not joking. We have a very meticulous plan. When Mr. Lin is not around, you can go behind his workstation and take a look. There is a timeline chart there."

The entire plan was carried out strictly according to that timetable.

If all goes well, we will complete the moon landing in November next year.

　Yesterday's second chapter wasn't intentionally filler... I just wanted to subtly depict it, otherwise Lin Ran's math class wouldn't have much presence. If I wanted to pad the story, I could have written answers on Zhihu or read netizens' reactions; wouldn't that have been much easier?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)