Chapter 235: Above the Inner Demon

"...What can you prove the efficacy of your thing?"

"What about reproducibility? Is there any foreign literature to support it?"

"…What's the harm in using it? It just doesn't have that effect. These unquantifiable results and 'behavioral tests'… Aren't they just deceiving people?"

"...Don't talk to me about that! You are just cheating, academic fraud!... So what if it's harmless?"

"I can't possibly sign for you. There's something wrong with this. Tell that company not to come to me again, and tell those people... You guys are just embezzling the country's funds. What innovation? What scientific research? What product launch? What world-leading breakthrough... This is just fake! Can a fake breakthrough be considered progress?"

"Are you worthy of the country, the people, and your students? Are you worthy of your title of professor and the books you read? The college allocated so much funding and broke so many exceptions for you because you were a 'professor' who returned from a prestigious overseas university..."

"Don't tell me, can you live with your conscience?"

Ning Mingmei took a step back - he remembered that he had taken a step back at first. He walked to the stairs, pretended that he had just come up, and sent a WeChat message to the old professor saying, "I'm on the way, sorry for being late." Then, he ran towards the office, deliberately making a loud noise—

Only in this way can he prove that he did not hear the conversation between the old professor and those people on the phone; only in this way can he prove that he did not hear the name of one of them that the old professor accidentally uttered.

Qu Dao.

The "mediator" who called this time was a young associate professor who was highly regarded in the college. At the same time, he has another identity—one of the small bosses in the big laboratory where Ning Mingmei is currently working.

His laboratory is right next to Ning Mingmei's laboratory. Ning Mingmei’s own boss is another associate professor in the laboratory. He and Director Qu are both under the command of a respected boss. The two people have a good relationship.

Ning Mingmei's own boss also told Ning Mingmei that as long as he performed well and came to the laboratory more often, he would find an opportunity to introduce Ning Mingmei to the big boss of the laboratory. The big boss has many honors and has complicated relationships and exchanges with overseas schools and large companies. As long as Ning Mingmei is sensible enough, the big boss might give Ning Mingmei a strong recommendation.

By then, not to mention Columbia University, even Stanford will be within your reach.

Besides, Ning Mingmei applied for bio, not CS. The big boss still has the final say on such small matters.

So Ning Mingmei didn't want the old professor to know that he had heard their conversation outside. It would just be awkward when we meet each other.

Ning Mingmei wanted to get full marks in the old professor's course and also wanted to excel in the laboratory. These messy things are just between their professors.

When he knocked on the door and entered, the old professor had already finished his call with Director Qu. He sat at the table, his face still showing anger, but when he saw Ning Mingmei, he showed a loving smile: "The final presentation of the course is over, and you made an additional report... bring it here for me to see."

Ning Mingmei nodded and agreed.

He glanced across the old professor's office. The sofa was a bit worn out, and there were many bookshelves filled with years of information and miscellaneous books. The original college building was not here. The college used to be in an older and smaller building. Ever since the big boss's academic and business flourished, the entire college has also benefited from it. Basic disciplines that have never been taken seriously in the school can now be taught here.

Some interesting things also happened when the departments moved. For example, an old professor had too many books and accidentally lost a box during a move. The old professor sighed deeply about this. Later, a few students found out about it and bought a few identical copies and returned them to the old professor.

When Ning Mingmei was making an additional course report, the old professor wore his glasses and searched through the materials for reference bit by bit.

"…Your report is very well written. The ingenuity of this experiment is very good, but it can still be improved…"

"Like here, here, and here..."

The clock slid to five o'clock in the afternoon. The old professor adjusted his glasses and said to Ning Mingmei, "I have taught many students over the years, and most of them just finished their coursework. You are the only one who can make a supplementary report on the questions I raised at the final report after completing the coursework and final report. Student Ning, you...you..."

His voice had a hint of old-fashioned emotion. Ning Mingmei said: "I should thank the teacher for providing me with experimental materials and resources."

He was actually a little impatient and absent-minded. It was already five o'clock in the afternoon and he had things to do at half past five. The west-lit office casts the old professor’s figure in the backlight. The old man took off his reading glasses and lowered his head to wipe them with a glasses cloth. In the past, anyone who saw this scene would only think that there was a lot of dust in the old professor's office and his glasses were scratched, so he needed to wipe them, or they would sigh that the old professor had indeed grown old.

But at this moment, Ning Mingmei saw tears in the old professor's eyes.

Those tears are like the fine and dense ice on the iron railings in winter. If you hold them with one hand, you will feel pain, and then get stuck. Ning Mingmei wondered, the me who saw the tears at this moment, is it the me in college or the me now?

The old professor actually shed tears at that moment. Perhaps it was because of the exhausting quarrel between him and his "old friend", or perhaps it was because the studious Ning Mingmei reminded him of the many passionate students he had met when he was young. In short, the old professor actually shed tears at that moment. The human brain can store a lot of information, although much of it will not be processed and will only be stored deep in the memory... At this moment, Ning Mingmei finally discovered that the old professor had secretly cried that day.

So, the one who sees all this must be me now. At that time, I still didn’t understand many things.

When the old professor put on glasses, he became the kind, knowledgeable but powerless professor again.

Ning Mingmei thought that he would be able to get 98 points in this course this time. He knew that the old professor's classes were very strict and the average GPA was only 84, but for Ning Mingmei, anything below 95 would be a failure.

He bowed and was about to leave. The old professor's voice came from behind: "Hey, Xiaoning, wait a minute. Is it your application season this year?"

"In the second half of this year." Ning Mingmei said.

"I also had students ask me for recommendation letters in the past few years. But I didn't give them a few because they usually just signed in during class and didn't do their homework well. I don't know them, so I can't write them." The old professor said, "At the beginning of this semester, you told me that you wanted to study for a doctorate abroad, right?"

"...Yes." For some reason, Ning Mingmei would always rack his brains to find some other reasons when facing this old professor. He couldn’t say that Haibo’s high recognition would be beneficial to his career development. He could only say, “Overseas technology is more advanced, and I want to learn…”

"Very good, very good! Young people should learn more so that they can produce good things." The old professor said happily, "Do you have any requirements for the paper and format of your recommendation letter?"

This is a bit difficult for Ning Mingmei. He knew that the old professor was a good person, but... the old professor had no output, no overseas experience, and no strong overseas connections, so his letter of recommendation was not "strong" enough.

In the public's perception, such a letter of recommendation is "not worthy" of the offer that Ning Mingmei wants to get.

If you want to go to the best school, you need the best three letters of recommendation. It is a waste of resources to put such a "course teacher" recommendation letter in three letters.

Moreover, Ning Mingmei has now entered the most "promising" laboratory in the school. He already has a recommendation letter for overseas summer research, a recommendation letter from a small boss who is familiar with him, and a recommendation letter from a big boss, which will form a very good lineup for him.

The old professor’s courses are divided into AB. Last fall semester, Ning Mingmei studied A, and this spring semester, Ning Mingmei studied B. Last fall, Ning Mingmei did not have the opportunity to enter this best laboratory. Now that he has established himself in this laboratory, the old professor's letter of recommendation has become a very hot matter.

Ning Mingmei said under the old professor's earnest gaze, "This is filled out online. I'll send it to you when the time comes... There's also a template you can refer to..."

"It's ok to write a recommendation letter by hand, right? A handwritten letter shows sincerity!" The old professor smiled. "How can you use a template? People can tell at a glance if you use a template. Besides, Xiaoning is a very good student. What if I use a template and it hinders your future? I will write it well for you."

Ning Mingmei: "...Thank you, teacher."

The old professor asked, "How many schools do you plan to apply to? Which schools?"

Ning Mingmei gritted his teeth and named a few. The old professor asked, "Do you have a laboratory that you are interested in? Or a topic that you want to study? These few are not very good."

...It was difficult for Ning Mingmei to explain why he mentioned these schools. These schools are not difficult to get into. Ning Mingmei feels that he has the luxury of "sacrificing" the space for a letter of recommendation and using a letter of recommendation from a senior professor.

The old professor has lived a long life and has achieved a lot. But Ning Mingmei's chance to apply for the Bo is only this year...

Ning Mingmei fooled the whole thing with some words. The old professor was convinced by him. He said, "Okay! I haven't written a recommendation letter for a long time. I'll think about it this summer... Are you applying in the fall?"

"right."

"Then come and get it from me in the fall."

Ning Mingmei left the office, left the air filled with dancing dust, and left the setting sun. He ran down the corridor very fast, faster and faster. So he couldn’t hear the old professor’s voice about reporting Director Qu and the company, so he couldn’t hear Director Qu’s “Then don’t regret it” after several times of making peace, so he couldn’t hear Director Qu saying…

"Do you think I am the only one involved in this chain of interests, and only one branch of my department?"

"Do you think I really can't get support from 'overseas data'?"

It turns out that academics are not the black and white piano keys, and academics are not musical instruments. You cannot produce a piece of music even if you talk about it a hundred times. It is a piece of mud - a piece of mud that can be kneaded into various shapes by interests.

It is not truth, it is just mud.

Time jumps back to that afternoon. Ning Mingmei left the office at 5:25. He hurried to the cafeteria to eat a meal, and then returned to his "workstation". Today, he happened to see the young boss.

"Xiao Ning, you came at an untimely time today. The big boss came to the laboratory in the afternoon and said he wanted to see you, but you were not there." said the young boss.

Ning Mingmei's throat was choked for a moment. He smiled and said, "I'm going to do my homework this afternoon..."

"Oh, Professor Yao's, right?"

The old professor's name was mentioned by the young boss. The young boss put one hand on the railing beside Ning Mingmei and said, "Xiao Ning, you have an advantage, which is that you are very serious, proactive, and innovative in everything you do. Our laboratory needs talents like you. The big boss also needs talents like you."

"Thank you, teacher."

"But there is one thing, which is your problem. You can't chew too much, Xiao Ning." The young boss said, "You should know what is the most important and what is not important. Everything should be prioritized, right? Do you agree with me?"

Ning Mingmei said: "I know..."

"No, you don't know." The young boss looked at him meaningfully, "Some efforts are made in the wrong direction from the beginning. The closer you get to it, the more likely you are to get into trouble."

"……?"

"You have to work hard in the lab, but you can't just work!" The young boss patted him on the shoulder, "Everyone knows that you are busy in Professor Yao's lab. In the future, you should work more here."

As he spoke, he pointed to his head and said, "Think more about everything, not only with your intelligence, but also with the wisdom of the world."

…

What did you do afterwards?

"Later, Professor Yao asked me if I wanted to continue my research project with him. I declined. He gave me a score of 98 in the course I took with him. It was the highest score he had ever given me since he started teaching."

So, you achieved your goal?

"Did I do the extra project report because I wanted to know, or because I wanted to increase my grades? Now that I think about it, I don't understand what I was thinking. But at least, when facing my peers, I would say, 'Of course I am doing it for the grades.' It's really strange. The books tell us that it is shameful to fight for fame and fortune. But in reality, we will only feel ashamed for the sentence 'I really want to learn.' We will feel young, ignorant of the ways of the world, and 'pretending'. Therefore, we will use the material reason of 'fighting for fame and fortune' to cover up our true feelings. It seems that this will make us look more mature."

So later on, did you get those letters of recommendation?

"Yes, I got it."

"There is a rumor in the school that something happened to the old professor and he will not come to school for the time being. But no one can tell what it is. I went abroad for summer research in the summer, and it was my young boss who introduced me to it. When I came back, it was autumn, and I was busy with GPA, applications, and publishing papers... At that time, I was so busy in the lab that I didn't know anything. The application season is coming soon, and I hope they can give me a strong recommendation letter."

"Before the old professor left, he came to find me and asked me to go to his office. He was packing his things, but he still faced me and handed me five envelopes."

"They are all his handwritten recommendation letters. They are sealed as required by all schools. The notes are iron hooks and silver drawings, which are very elegant. The old professor asked me that it must be expensive to send these, so he reimbursed me."

What happened to him.

"I have no idea."

What did you do with those letters later?

"I put them in a folder."

What happened to him after the old professor left?

"I have no idea."

You know. Let me ask you from another angle, the old professor’s wife, what did she do?

What did she do…?

Professor Yao's wife and he have a deep affection for each other. She is a kind old lady and is not very good at dealing with the fast-paced modern society. I don’t know much about the academic circle.

Someone claiming to be Professor Yao's junior came to see her and gave her a box of mooncakes. At the bottom of the over-packaged mooncakes are rolls of hundred-yuan bills.

Later, someone reported that Professor Yao had private dealings with the company.

That box of mooncakes is the evidence of the crime.