After Paris Saint-Germain was removed from the list, I led England to victory!

(As the romance between the male and female leads progresses, Yan Yuan suddenly loses interest in Lin Jianwei, while Lin Jianwei becomes curious about Yan Yuan again.)

(Their current relationship status can be described, to borrow from Liu Yuxi's poem "Bamboo Branch Song": The sun rises in the east while rain falls in the west; it seems there is no sunshine, yet there is.)

In September, autumn was in full swing in London.

The euphoria of Yan Yuan's resounding victory over Spain in the UEFA Nations League was still lingering, but his life had already quickly shifted back to a high-speed rhythm.

With the Premier League match just five days away, the training intensity remains undiminished.

Physical recovery, tactical drills, group exercises... every minute is precisely calculated.

Beyond this packed football schedule, Yan Yuan's studies at Imperial College London, another equally important path, have never been put on hold.

Furthermore, his contact with his senior, Lin Jianwei, seemed to have completely cooled down as he deliberately distanced himself from her.

After their previous private messages, Yan Yuan sensed Lin Jianwei's "indifference" and stopped contacting her proactively.

For almost a month, their chat window has remained stuck on a brief Q&A about a common issue.

The two tacitly refrained from sending each other any new messages.

Yan Yuan was not without turmoil.

When he first met Lin Jianwei, her cold and beautiful appearance, her aloof temperament, and her curvaceous figure were indeed the type of mature woman he admired.

Yan Yuan initially took the initiative to contact Lin Jianwei, partly out of academic necessity, but also partly out of affection.

But Lin Jianwei's response to him was always polite but distant. The two were like separated by a layer of ice, seemingly transparent but difficult to melt.

Yan Yuan was no nobody; he had his own ways of dealing with people.

He is used to equal respect, rather than trying to win someone's favor.

When it comes to matters of the heart, it's all about fate; you can't force it.

Forcing a relationship will only result in a combination of Boiling Sheep, Two-Faced Turtle, and Talking Tom—a pure simp and a clown.

Since the senior student has no intention of doing so.

Yan Yuan then stopped worrying about it.

Therefore, for any academic problems that Yan Yuan would encounter, he would either directly consult Professor Chris or try to solve them on his own.

He completely forgot about this vague, almost romantic feeling.

He continues to focus on the more important challenges at hand.

……

After today's training session, Yan Yuan sat on a bench in the locker room, applying an ice pack to his sore calves while quickly browsing emails on his phone.

The time between training sessions is a valuable window for him to handle his studies.

The screen lit up, and a mass email from Professor Chris, the head of the Computer Science Department, popped up.

Eye-catching title: [Important Notice] Special Lecture by Professor Barbara Liskov from MIT.

Yan Yuan's breath hitched slightly.

Barbara Liskov!

This name is legendary in the computer science community!

A 2009 Turing Award winner, one of the founders of object-oriented programming and distributed systems, a true academic giant!

The email detailed the lecture topic.

The focus is on her team's latest groundbreaking research in deep learning architecture optimization and fault-tolerant distributed system design.

Professor Chris emphasized in bold at the end of the email: "This lecture is cutting-edge and extremely valuable; all undergraduate and graduate students in the Computer Science Department are strongly encouraged to attend!"

Yan Yuan understood, of course, that this was no ordinary academic report, but an excellent opportunity to directly engage with the world's top wisdom and absorb the essence of cutting-edge ideas.

This lesson is far more valuable than any regular class.

He barely hesitated before marking the lecture time on his training schedule and quickly replied to the email to confirm his attendance.

Over the next few days, Yan Yuan's time was squeezed to the limit.

During the day, he worked hard at the Kearney training base, practicing tactics with his teammates, building strength in the gym, and recovering in the physiotherapy room.

In the evening, back in his quiet apartment, he was no longer the "English supercar" on the football field, but an ordinary undergraduate student in the Department of Computer Science at Imperial College London.

The desk lamp often stays on until late at night.

Professor Chris shared several of Barbara Liskov's representative papers and research reviews in advance.

Yan Yuan was overjoyed to have found such a treasure.

He used every spare moment late at night and during training breaks to immerse himself in documents filled with mathematical symbols and complex logic.

The system only granted Yan Yuan football skills, but not academic talent; his academic talent was entirely due to his own abilities.

Yan Yuan studied the text word by word, and when he encountered obscure or difficult concepts, he would repeatedly consult reference materials, draw diagrams, deduce, and make annotations in his notebook.

He gained a deep understanding of the core ideas of the "Liskov substitution principle" in building reliable software systems and studied her team's latest papers on novel fault-tolerant algorithms and efficient distributed consensus mechanisms.

During his studies, Yan Yuan even took detailed notes on several key algorithms or system design challenges, recording his thoughts and questions.

Under the light, his brows were furrowed, his pen scratching on the paper. Occasionally he would pause, gazing at the formulas on the screen, lost in thought, his eyes focused and bright.

Yan Yuan has the same attitude towards studying and towards football.

He was definitely not just going through the motions.

……

Soon, on the morning of the lecture, Yan Yuan reported to Professor Wenger.

Seeing the rare, different kind of fervent light in Yan Yuan's eyes compared to his passion on the court, the professor readily approved it.

"Go on, Yan. Studying is an important investment. Just don't miss the afternoon training. Be careful on the way." Wenger patted him on the shoulder.

"Okay, Coach!"

One hour later.

Yan Yuan arrived at the Imperial College London lecture hall ahead of schedule.

Instead of choosing a corner seat in the back row, he found a seat near the middle with a good view, where he could listen to the lecture and clearly see the projector.

He took out his prepared notebook and pen and waited quietly.

The lecture hall gradually filled up.

In addition to undergraduate students from the computer science department, many graduate students, doctoral students, and even some young lecturers came to visit.

Today, Lin Jianwei, as a teaching assistant, dressed in simple and appropriate business attire, assisted in debugging equipment and organizing materials next to the podium.

Soon, Professor Barbara Liskov entered the lecture hall, accompanied by Professor Chris.

There was thunderous applause.

The female scholar, with her gray hair, refined demeanor, and sharp eyes, stood in front of the podium and, without much small talk, went straight to the point.

The lecture began.

Professor Liskov's language was clear and his logic rigorous. He explained complex and profound theoretical concepts, such as gradient optimization strategies for new neural network architectures and large-scale distributed systems.

Her analysis was insightful yet easy to understand.

She showcased the team's latest research findings, including ingenious algorithm designs, rigorous experimental data, and amazing practical application results.

It's all practical information.

Yan Yuan listened attentively to the lecture.

His eyes were glued to the projection screen, and his ears caught every word the professor uttered.

The brain works at high speed, verifying and supplementing the content explained by the professor with the understanding gained during the pre-study.

He would sometimes quickly jot down key formulas, core ideas, or flashes of inspiration in his notebook;

Or sometimes he would stop writing, his brows furrowed slightly, as if he were digesting a particularly difficult point;

His focused expression, the pen moving swiftly across the paper, and his immersion in the ocean of knowledge surprised some of the students who had come expecting to see a sports star.

A few undergraduates were discussing quietly.

"Hey, see that? That's Yan from Arsenal, he's here today too."

"Can he understand?"

"Who knows? I think he's just putting on an act."

"He's already so good at football, don't tell me he's even better at academics."

The interactive session made the atmosphere even more lively.

The graduate students raised their hands to ask questions and discuss the details.

Professor Liskov also posed some open questions, inviting everyone to think about the trade-offs behind certain designs or to explore the boundaries of theory.

When she mentioned a new type of fault-tolerant mechanism being applied in ultra-large-scale real-time systems.

A brief silence fell over the lecture hall when a challenging question about how to balance low latency and high reliability was raised and the audience's opinion was asked.

This problem is very complex because it involves many factors such as underlying architecture, network latency, and algorithm efficiency.

Just then, a hand was raised.

It is Yan Yuan.

Professor Liskov was somewhat surprised, but still gestured for him to ask a question.

Yan Yuan stood up, his voice clear and steady, carrying a hint of barely perceptible tension, but more so a resolute certainty born of careful consideration:

"Professor, thank you very much for your excellent report. I have some thoughts on the performance bottleneck issue you just mentioned when applying this fault-tolerant mechanism based on the 'virtual synchronization core' to ultra-large-scale real-time systems."

Yan Yuan paused briefly, organizing his thoughts:

"When I was reviewing your paper, I noticed that the experimental environment was conducted on a controlled cluster of thousands of nodes."

When the number of nodes expands to the millions, intercontinental network latency becomes the dominant factor.

The optimistic locking mechanism you proposed might become a new performance bottleneck in conflict detection and state management due to… this. Does this mean that at extreme scales, it might be necessary to… or combine it with a predictive state machine… Does your team have any follow-up research plans in this area?

The question is raised.

The entire room fell silent!

This problem not only accurately captures a potential weakness in the paper that only becomes apparent in extreme scenarios.

Furthermore, it proposed constructive solutions and even cited specific terms from the paper.

This question demonstrates depth, professionalism, and insight into real-world application scenarios.

Far beyond the level of an undergraduate freshman!

This is already very close to the graduate level.

A low gasp of surprise rippled through the auditorium.

Many graduate students looked at each other in disbelief.

Professor Chris sat in the front row, a satisfied and proud smile on his face, and nodded slightly.

Chris: See that? That's my student.

A hint of surprise flashed in Professor Barbara Liskov's eyes, followed by intense interest and admiration.

She listened attentively to Yan Yuan's question, adjusted her glasses, and smiled.

"Excellent question."

She answered Yan Yuan's questions in detail, frankly acknowledging that this challenge does indeed exist on an extreme scale.

She also introduced several directions her team is exploring, including the hybrid model approach mentioned by Yan Yuan, and shared some preliminary experimental results that have not yet been published.

Barbara even turned the tables and asked Yan Yuan for his opinion on one of the prediction models.

Based on his own understanding and thinking, Yan Yuan raised another concern about whether bias in model training data might affect the accuracy of predictions.

The two engaged in a high-quality and inspiring academic dialogue!

Oblivious to their surroundings, they were immersed in the clash of ideas.

Everyone in the lecture hall was stunned.

Lin Jianwei stood to the side and behind the podium, her pen already put down as she was taking notes.

Looking at this scene, her previous perception of Yan Yuan as "just a smarter football player" was completely overturned at this moment.

Lin Jianwei realized that this junior's seriousness and dedication to academics were genuine.

After the exchange concluded, Yan Yuan politely expressed his gratitude and sat down.

Professor Barbara Liskov looked at the young man, then suddenly smiled and said:

"By the way, Yan, I also watch the Premier League often. I've seen your games, both for Arsenal and for the England national team. You play very well."

A burst of good-natured laughter and applause filled the auditorium.

Many students who like football whistled and clapped.

Professor Chris laughed and said, "Yes, Barbara, Yan is our only student athlete in the computer science department. He's a star both on the court and in class."

Yan Yuan smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

He stood up and responded with high emotional intelligence:

"Thank you, Professor, but sitting here and following your train of thought for 90 minutes is more challenging for me than running on the field for 90 minutes, but it is also more exciting."

Yan Yuan's words drew even more laughter from the audience, creating a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.

Professor Barbara Liskov also had a big smile on her face.

……

After the lecture ended, the crowd surged toward the stage.

The graduate students eagerly surrounded Professor Barbara Liskov, hoping to receive more guidance.

Lin Jianwei, as a teaching assistant, helped maintain order, guided questions, and quickly organized the key points of the discussion that had been recorded.

Yan Yuan did not leave immediately.

He quietly packed up his notebook and waited for a while on the outskirts of the crowd.

Seeing that Lin Jianwei had a moment to spare, he went over to her.

"Senior Lin, excuse me." Yan Yuan asked politely and clearly.

"When the professor was answering my question about the 'hybrid consistency model,' he mentioned a research group we were collaborating with, but I can't quite remember the name."

It seems to be... the Atlas Group? Or something else? Do you have any records of it? Or, if it's convenient, could you tell me the exact name of that group or the contact information for the person in charge?

Yan Yuan's attitude was very specific and his goal was clear: to seek key information.

This time, Yan Yuan's initiative to communicate was not for any other purpose than purely academic discussion, without any involvement in any other matters.

Lin Jianwei raised her head and looked at Yan Yuan in front of her.

Up close, she could clearly see the thirst for knowledge in Yan Yuan's eyes, as well as a few dark circles under his eyes.

As a fellow academic, she naturally knew where Yan Yuan's dark circles came from—it was all from preparing lessons.

The sense of alienation I felt before has gradually dissipated.

"Oh... okay, just a moment." Lin Jianwei's tone softened unconsciously.

She quickly flipped through the notebook in her hand.

"Yes, it's the 'Atlas Group,' the Atlas research group at MIT, led by Dr. Chen, a student of Professor Michael Stonebraker."

Lin Jianwei not only provided the name, but also added:

"Their main research areas are ultra-large-scale distributed databases and novel consensus protocols."

Several related preprint papers can be found on the MIT CSAIL website; searching for "Atlas Group" and "Geo-Distributed Consistency" will bring them up.

Lin Jianwei's answer was very detailed.

Yan Yuan's eyes lit up, and he sincerely thanked him:

"Thank you, senior. This information is very important. Thank you for your help."

Looking into his sincere and bright eyes, Lin Jianwei recalled her previous coldness and possible prejudice towards him, and a complex mix of emotions welled up inside her—surprise, approval, and a little...

Guilt?

Lin Jianwei hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't help himself and said in a tone much gentler and less distant than usual:

"...Yes, that's certainly cutting-edge content. Your question was excellent, and it really inspired me."

This was Lin Jianwei's first truly meaningful experience.

He expressed his academic recognition of Yan Yuan.

Yan Yuan was slightly taken aback, then gave a polite smile and said.

"Thank you, senior. I mainly did some preparation beforehand, otherwise I definitely wouldn't have been able to keep up with the professor's pace. You can continue with your work, senior. I'll head out now; training time this afternoon is almost here."

Yan Yuan pointed to his watch.

"Okay, you go ahead and get busy." Lin Jianwei nodded.

Yan Yuan thanked him again, then turned and quickly left the lecture hall.

His figure quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Lin Jianwei stood still, holding the notebook in her hand.

As Professor Barbara left, the noise in the lecture hall gradually subsided, and Lin Jianwei couldn't help but get lost in thought while organizing the lecture materials.

Yan Yuan's words, "I did some homework beforehand," were still echoing clearly in her ears.

Lin Jianwei suddenly recalled how Yan Yuan calmly took out his report card and proof when she questioned him at the consultation desk;

I recall his clear and logical replies to emails late at night when he asked questions; I also recall his focused note-taking during the lecture and that amazing question that amazed the entire audience…

A strange sense of shame welled up inside me.

She suddenly realized that she might have been viewing Yan Yuan with a biased view, as if he were just a "sports star dabbling in sports."

This cannot be entirely blamed on Lin Jianwei.

Because after Yan Yuan added Lin Jianwei's private contact information, they did talk about a lot of trivial matters.

As a top student from Zhejiang University, Lin Jianwei had no time to answer his question, "Is West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce delicious?"

She would rather spend that time reading more papers and conducting more experiments.

Therefore, Lin Jianwei subconsciously believed at that time.

It's impossible for a professional football player to dedicate the same amount of effort to their studies at a top university as they do to football.

Her previous coldness and aloofness towards Yan Yuan.

To a large extent, this stems from this preconceived notion.

Today, Yan Yuan demonstrated to her with irrefutable facts what true dedication and excellence across fields really mean.

He did his preparatory work more thoroughly than some graduate students, and the depth of his questions was astonishing.

Behind the phrase "did some homework in advance" lies late-night study and a level of self-discipline that is hard for ordinary people to imagine.

Thinking about this...

Lin Jianwei felt her face getting hot.

Looking back now, her previous attitude was indeed a bit... excessive.

She underestimated not only Yan Yuan's academic abilities, but also his efforts.

This sense of guilt was mixed with recognition of Yan Yuan's true talent and a hint of indescribable appreciation.

It lingered in her heart for a long time, making it difficult for her to find peace.

She looked in the direction Yan Yuan had left.

For the first time, I felt a sense of curiosity and respect for this junior who was three years younger than me.