Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The chemistry department at Jin Ling University had gone through some changes.
The first class meeting of the semester was held by the chemistry department supervisor. He threw a stack of documents to the school committee leader and signaled him to pass it around.
“… Internship document for Jinling Research Institute? Why are you giving us first years this thing?”
“Oh sh*t, there’s a salary?”
“10 hours of work a week. A thousand yuan a month, not bad. My living expenses are only 800 yuan.”
The applied chemistry class one students started to discuss the matter intensely.
Han Mengqi was the same; she felt strange about the content of this leaflet.
However, some people didn’t feel strange at all.
A tall slim girl who sat next to Han Mengqi poked Meng Qi’s arm and asked her curiously, “Meng Qi, Meng Qi, are you interested?”
The applied chemistry class one cohort only had eight female students who were split into two dorms. This young girl, Li Fang, was Meng Qi’s best friend and roommate.
“Not interested…”
Han Mengqi shook her head and stuffed the leaflet into her drawer.
First of all, she wasn’t interested in an internship with a thousand yuan pay for a month. Secondly, she was about to transfer majors anyway, so she didn’t need this on her resume.
To be honest, she didn’t understand. Most of the first-year classes were all general classes; they could barely memorize chemistry equations. What could a first-year do in a chemistry experiment?
“Okay, everyone, please quiet down and listen,” said the supervisor as he clapped his hands and signaled everyone to quiet down. He cleared his throat and spoke with a loud voice, “In order to cultivate research talents and to adhere to the national new energy strategy, our department has cooperated with the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials.
“I believe you have all read your leaflets, so I won’t waste my time. Simply put, this is an internship opportunity for you to research in materials science.
“The work you have to do is simple and elementary. The minimum working hours per week is 10 hours; this is mainly done on the weekends. If you are interested in research or want to do a master’s, take this opportunity seriously. Undergrad students don’t have a lot of research opportunities, so you guys should take this opportunity seriously as well.”
Suddenly, a student raised his hand and asked, “Teacher, is this internship legit?”
The supervisor was amused, and he replied, “The director of this project is an alumnus. Do you think it’s legit or not? It’s at least more reliable than finding an internship elsewhere.”
He’s an alumnus?!
The voice of people chattering could be heard in the classroom as the students were trying to figure out who this nutty alumnus was.
Finally, someone couldn’t resist and they raised their hand to ask, “Teacher, what kind of student is this nutty?”
The supervisor smiled and said, “Of course it’s Lu Zhou. It’s computational materials science, who else could it be?”
Suddenly, the students in the classroom held their breath as excited expressions appeared on their faces.
God Lu!
Of course, when these students enrolled in Jin Ling University, God Lu was already in Princeton. However, they were well aware of the legacy that God Lu left here.
From Zhou’s conjecture to Goldbach’s conjecture, from Cole Number Theory Prize to Crafoord Prize. As the youngest professor at Princeton University, this 23-year-old had already achieved more than what most people could ever hope for.
They didn’t expect the director of the Institute of Computational Materials Science was this legend.
Maybe this legend was unsatisfied with mathematics and wanted to jump ship to chemistry?
When Han Mengqi heard this name, she froze.
The supervisor told the students that if they were interested they could tell the class leader. He then said some ending words, and the meeting was over.
Once again, the classroom was filled with intense discussion from the applied chemistry students in Class One.
“An older student I know said that it is good to participate in these things as it’d be useful on your resume. This counts as a scientific research experience. Also, this research institute seems to be one of the major national projects.”
A guy couldn’t help but ask, “Then is the competition very fierce?”
“It’s mainly about participation.” Another guy patted him on the arm and said, “They obviously won’t give us the internship, but there’s no harm in applying.”
“But I think that we have to take two more mathematics classes if we get in.”
“Who cares? Anyway, it doesn’t count as credits, so your score won’t matter.”
Han Mengqi had her head down while she thought for a long time.
She was thinking of a different problem than her classmates.
She had been struggling to catch up with her tutor’s footsteps. Even though she had been trying her best, she hadn’t improved much. She was far from a Crafoord Prize or Cole Number Theory Prize.
Even though in her classmates’ eyes, she was a genius student, but she was nothing compared to Lu Zhou.
In fact, after her college entrance examination, she sent her resume to Princeton. However, she didn’t receive a reply from the admission department of Princeton. She didn’t even tell her sister about this thing.
At least, in mathematics, she knew that it would be impossible for her to follow her tutor’s path.
But it could be possible outside of mathematics…
Han Mengqi squeezed her tiny hands; the confusion in her eyes gradually disappeared.
Li Fang saw that her good friend wasn’t talking, so she asked with concern, “Meng Qi? What is wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable…”
Han Mengqi’s suddenly looked determined.
“I am going to apply!”
Carbon nanomaterials research institute.
Professor Li looked at the graduation application document and sighed.
“You are the most talented among all my students, it’s a waste not to study a PhD. To be honest, I don’t want you to leave.”
Qian Zhongming shook his head and insisted, “There are places other than the university where I can do research. Plus, I am very interested in the emerging field of computational materials science, I hope you can fulfill my wish.”
Although Professor Li didn’t want to let him go, he sighed in the end and signed the document.
“Just remember to write a self-assessment and prepare your graduation oral defense. You still have to go through the official procedure.”
The salary and benefits from the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials were pretty good. They offered full-time contracts in addition to internships. Their master’s student base salary was 8,000 yuan per month and it came with bonuses and other benefits. This was much higher than the industry standard.
Originally Li Rongen planned to wait for Qian Zhongming to graduate, then get him a research and development position at Zhongshan New Materials. But now it seemed that wasn’t possible anymore.
Professor Li looked at his student and paused for a second before he said, “Go ahead, Professor Lu is a brilliant person. You will be able to learn many things from him.”
Qian Zhongming said sincerely, “Thank you.”
Professor Li nodded and didn’t respond.
Saying anything more would be superfluous.
Liu Bo, who was standing silently by the side, suddenly spoke.
“Professor, I want to apply for graduation as well.”
Professor Li looked at him and smiled.
“Give me the application, I’ll sign it.”
Liu Bo was hurt, and he said, “Professor, you don’t plan on convincing me to stay?”
Professor Li joked and said, “Oh, you don’t want to graduate? Great, stay here for another year.”
Liu Bo panicked and said, “Oh, please don’t! I already got the offer.”
Professor Li smiled and waved his hand.
“Fine, stop bothering me here.
“You two can screw off together.”