A genius? I just love studying.

Chapter 222: A Picture at the Start
School of Physics, Laboratory Building
In the laboratory on the third floor

The lab, which had been busy for several months, finally became quiet.

With the industrialization process of gallium oxide resolved, the temporary team was disbanded, and members of the national team went down to the grassroots level to assist companies in setting up production lines.

Academician E Weinan and Professor Xiao Meng's team gave everyone a week off; they have indeed worked very hard these past few months.

They will certainly continue their research in this area, but for now, they need to enjoy their vacation!

"Deng Ting, where are you planning to go?"

"XJ!"

Deng Ting was clearly prepared, and said enthusiastically, "I plan to travel the Yili loop, including Sayram Lake, Narat Grassland, and the Duku Highway..."

It's summer now, the best time to see the scenery along the Yili loop.

Yang Chi was somewhat tempted, but ultimately hesitated, "That must cost a lot of money, right?"

He's graduating soon, and he plans to marry his girlfriend after graduation. Buying a house will cost a lot of money, so now is not the time to spend money recklessly.

"Probably seven or eight thousand!"

Deng Ting had already planned the trip and budget, so she blurted out, "How about it? Why don't you bring your girlfriend and come have some fun with your senior sister?"

The two were students in the same year, but Deng Ting was a few months older than him, so she always referred to herself as his senior.

"forget it."

Yang Chi waved his hand.

Seven or eight thousand is no small sum for a student like him. He was quite impressed with Deng Ting. He didn't expect his senior sister to be so generous when it came to having fun. It was quite rare to see her being so generous.

"Don't worry about spending money. Professor Xiao said that everyone in the lab will receive a bonus."

Deng Ting said confidently, "With such a great achievement, the prize money should be enough to cover my expenses for this trip, right?"

They knew that Youwei Group and Nvidia had come to discuss cooperation, but they didn't know the exact price of the patent licensing. However, they were aware of the huge potential of gallium oxide and estimated that it would be a deal worth several hundred million to tens of millions of dollars.

"Choi, where are you planning to go during your vacation?"

Deng Ting turned to look at Chloe, who was typing away at the dock. Although Chen Hui was a professor and had students, he never had his own office. Chloe had been using Professor Xiao Meng's office as a workstation, along with Yang Chi and the others.

"I can't go anywhere."

Chloe wore a look of utter despair. "I still have to write my thesis!"

But Yang Chi could read happiness in her expression. That was at least a top-tier journal article, and Professor Chen just gave it to her student like that. Yang Chi was truly envious.

"Pity."

Deng Ting sighed, "I wonder when the bonus will be paid out. When it is, let's go on a shopping spree at MixC across the street!"

Follow your words.

Before Deng Ting could finish speaking, several text message notifications rang out in the teaching and research office.

Even before they opened the text message, everyone had a premonition.

Everyone eagerly picked up their phones and unlocked their screens.

"grass!"

When Deng Ting saw the number in the text message, she couldn't help but swear.

"One hundred thousand!"

Yang Chi held his phone, looking blankly at Deng Ting across from him.

"Me too, 100,000!"

Deng Ting glanced at Yang Chi in a daze, then looked down at her phone again, "Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands..."

"It really is 100,000!"

The entire laboratory erupted in jubilation.

One hundred thousand yuan may not be much to many people, but when have these students ever seen so much money? Not to mention them, even their seniors who have already graduated don't receive one hundred thousand yuan in year-end bonuses every year.

Chloe looked at her senior classmates with envy. She wasn't Professor Xiao Meng's student, and she knew that the professor would definitely not treat her unfairly, but she didn't know when she would receive her bonus.

"Come on, Chloe, your senior sister will treat you to hot pot!"

After a wild celebration, Deng Ting came to Chloe's side and said boldly, "If you come to China and haven't eaten hot pot, then you've really wasted your trip!"

Ding Dong!

Suddenly, everyone's phones rang again.

Such a unified sound made everyone's absurd yet heart-pounding thought come to mind again.

"Twenty-four thousand?"

Deng Ting looked at Yang Chi blankly.

They were right; it was indeed another bank card payment notification.

But this time the payment wasn't made to the same account as before. They were very familiar with the previous account; it belonged to Professor Xiao Meng. So what kind of money was in this new account?

Fortunately, this time, Chloe also received a text message, in addition to them.

There were still two notifications: one for 100,000 yuan and the other for 24,000 yuan.

That makes it easy to guess; Professor Chen must have made the payment.

It was only then that they remembered that this project was a collaboration between Professor Chen and Professor Xiao Meng, so theoretically, they were also entitled to a salary, but it was only now that the entire sum had been transferred to them.

Chloe's bonus was also 100,000. It wasn't that Chen Hui didn't want to give more, but Professor Xiao Meng and the others had only received that much, so it would seem inappropriate for him to step forward.

"Um, Chloe, do you want to ask your teacher which account we should transfer this money back to?"

Deng Ting said to Chloe.

Although they had never experienced anything like this before, Professor Xiao Meng treated them very well, and the money that came into their hands was never returned.

But even if you've never eaten pork, you've surely seen a pig run, right?
They often heard their classmates say that many professors, because they applied for various grants, which are funds that cannot be distributed indiscriminately, could use them to pay students' salaries, which was undoubtedly a good excuse.

So, a student can help him transfer several thousand yuan from project funds to his own pocket every month. This is the biggest use of a student besides being a laborer.

Some teachers will still leave some soup for their students, while others won't leave them any at all.

"what?"

"Turn back?"

Why turn back?

Chloe looked completely bewildered; she had just arrived to study abroad and clearly hadn't heard of such a thing before.

After Deng Ting's explanation, Chloe, still confused, sent Chen Hui a WeChat message.

Although she felt that the teacher shouldn't be that kind of person, what her senior classmates said seemed to make a lot of sense; when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Beijing Capital International Airport

Chen Hui, who had just gotten off the plane, opened his phone and saw Chloe's WeChat message, which made him both amused and exasperated.

After patiently replying, he and the teacher walked towards the exit to greet their team.

"Professor Chen, Professor Yuan." A clear female voice pierced through the noisy crowd, and three middle-aged men in formal attire quickly came forward. Beside them were several young men holding up signs that read "Professor Chen Hui, Professor Yuan Xinyi".

The female cadre in the lead extended her hand: "I am Xiaolin from the Institute of Basic Research of the Ministry of Science and Technology. I came here specifically to pick you up and take you to the hotel."

Her assistants naturally took the suitcases from Chen Hui and Yuan Xinyi, while another person handed them chilled mineral water.

"I can do it myself."

Chen Hui waved his hand and grabbed his suitcase.

"How could I let you carry your own suitcase?"

Xiao Lin stood to the side of Chen Hui and raised her hand to lead Chen Hui toward the underground parking lot.

As soon as we got to the parking lot and stepped out of the elevator, a black minivan came to a smooth stop in front of us.

Chen Hui and his companions, once in the car, didn't notice that many people had noticed them when they got off the plane, and some even took photos and posted them on social media.

[Oh my god, isn't that Chen Shen? I just ran into him at the Beijing airport, but I didn't recognize him. I should have asked for his autograph. Now I really regret it. What should I do?]

The accompanying photo is of Chen Hui posing with Xiao Lin at the exit.

[Chen Shen went to Beijing? Wow, I really want to run into him!]

[Haha, Chen Shen must be giving a lecture at Yanbei University again. Sorry, I am from Yanbei University. I'm starting to wait outside the School of Mathematics.]

Me too, everyone upstairs!

Is everyone now a graduate of Yanbei University?

[Aren't the security guards at Yanbei University considered part of Yanbei University? 'Proud.jpg']

This message quickly caused quite a stir online.

Chen Hui's current popularity has far exceeded his expectations. If he were to open a Douyin account, gaining 20 million followers a day would be no problem.

Because Chen Hui didn't have his own account, his fans started discussing it heatedly after seeing a related message. Soon, this simple rant vlog was pushed to the bottom of the trending topics.

Wait a minute, the guy shaking hands with Chen Shen looks like a government official!

[Holy crap, I just remembered, the National Science and Technology Awards Conference is in a few days, could Chen Shen have won an award?]

Believe it or not, it's actually quite possible!

[An award? What award? 'Confused.jpg']

[Of course, it's the five major national science and technology awards! I didn't expect Chen Shen to get to this point so quickly; he's only seventeen, still a child!]

[Can someone knowledgeable explain this to me? 'Newbie trembling.jpg']

Go check it out yourself at gov.cn/xx.

[What's so fast about that? With Chen Shen's achievements, he should have received the award long ago. The reason he's only receiving it now is simply because the National Science and Technology Awards Conference is only being held now.]

[Speaking of which, given Chen Shen's talent, what level of award could he possibly win? A science and technology progress award?]

[It's definitely at least a science and technology progress award; the only question is whether it's first or second prize.]

Jealousy made me break down. When I was seventeen, I was still in Makka Pakka, while others were already winning national awards.

[It should at least be first-class, and I think with Chen Shen's achievements, he could also win a technology invention award. The country still values ​​young people a lot.]

[The chances of winning a technology invention award are slim. Those in the know understand that these things are based on seniority, and Chen's foundation is still too shallow.]

[Pfft, you're such a cutie. Professor Chen is a candidate for the Philippine Prize, your mentor is a veteran academician, and your grandmaster is Professor Qiu. How can you say your background is shallow?]

[Holy crap, I'm back after reading the introduction. Is Chen Shen really that amazing?]

[Seriously, buddy, you actually believed that? Just one picture to start, and the rest is all made up? You're giving out prizes with just one picture? Don't end up with nothing; that would be embarrassing.]

[They really think national-level awards are as common as cabbages? These people have absolutely no concept of what national-level awards are. Haha.]

While the online discussion was in full swing, Chen Hui and his group had already arrived at their hotel.

It was more like a villa area than a hotel. Under Director Lin's guidance, Chen Hui and Yuan Xinyi settled into separate detached courtyards.

"Professor Chen, please let us know if you need anything."

Two uniformed hotel staff members welcomed Chen Hui and then left the room, disappearing without a trace.

Director Lin also bid farewell to Chen Hui and his companion, saying, "If you two need anything, please feel free to contact me at any time. Or if you have any other needs, you can also make a request to the hotel, and we will try our best to accommodate you."

"Then may I ask, what award am I likely to win this time?"

Chen Hui asked with some curiosity.

Director Lin smiled slightly, but shook his head. "I don't know either. You'll find out when the time comes."

Chen Hui nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

The conference wouldn't start for another three days, so the two of them took the opportunity to visit Yanbei University again and pay a visit to their grandmaster, Tian Yang.

What award do you think you'll win this time?

In the office, Tian Yang looked at his apprentices and grand-apprentices with a smile. The estrangement that had arisen from certain events had unknowingly disappeared.

Yuan Xinyi has already secured the Philippine Prize, at least the first-class prize in natural sciences, and possibly even the special prize. There is no doubt about it, so of course he asked Chen Hui.

"I'll accept any award I can get, whatever award the government gives me."

Chen Hui was quite happy. Compared to the European Mathematical Society Award and the Chern Prize in Mathematics he had previously received, this award presented by Guo Jia meant something more and made him feel more proud.

"You have a good attitude."

Tian Yang was increasingly satisfied with what he saw; this was the advantage of being young!
Being young means having the capital to start over. If it doesn't work this time, you can always try again next time.

He has seen too many older friends who are extremely nervous before receiving awards, too concerned about winning or losing. Such a mindset is no longer suitable for scientific research.

What have you been researching lately?

Since Chen Hui had such a good attitude, Tian Yang stopped worrying about the award.

"Elastic deformation of vortex fiber bundles".

Chen Hui began by saying that he had come to visit his grandmaster with the intention of seeking his guidance, as Tian Yang was highly accomplished in geometric analysis.

"NS equation?"

Tian Yang frowned slightly, "You haven't studied the mass clearance problem..."

Before he could finish speaking, an absurd idea suddenly popped into his head, and he stared wide-eyed at Chen Hui, "Have you already completed the proof of the mass gap?"

Chen Hui nodded, "Yes, the paper has been submitted to the Journal of Mathematics and is still in the peer review stage."

Tian Yang was speechless.

Even though he was the one who asked the question, when he actually received a positive answer, his heart was still filled with turmoil that lingered for a long time.

Yuan Xinyi also sighed softly; he was now finding it hard to comprehend the speed at which his student was growing.

Although the paper is still in the peer review stage, he trusts Chen Hui's judgment.

Now, there is a real chance to see three Chinese mathematicians meet on the stage of the International Congress of Mathematicians and the Fields Medal award ceremony next year. Just thinking about that scene makes Tian Yang, who is over sixty years old, feel excited.

Next, Chen Hui and Tian Yang discussed some fiber bundle-related issues, but Tian Yang seemed somewhat distracted, so Chen Hui had no choice but to give up and wait for his grandmaster to adjust his mindset before coming back.

(End of this chapter)