Lin Zhixia stepped into the office and greeted politely: "Hello, Teacher Gu, I am Lin Zhixia."
Teacher Gu had gray hair on his temples and a calm expression. He nodded at her and asked her to sit on the sofa.
Lin Zhixia immediately sat down and listened quietly to the academic discussions of professors and doctors.
Two doctoral students present today are working together on a paper. They have different opinions, so Professor Gu asked them to summarize their respective methods and write the key points on the whiteboard.
There is a huge whiteboard in Teacher Gu's office.
A doctor picked up a marker and wrote furiously on the whiteboard. Teacher Gu called him and said, "Yang Shuwen, don't write too much. You are giving us a presentation. Use your own words to explain the phenomenon."
Yang Shuwen is a freshman in his first year of doctoral studies. Like Lin Zhixia, he has just arrived in Beijing. He is introverted and not good at socializing. He often spends the whole day in the library.
Yang Shuwen's master's thesis overlaps with the research direction of Gu Likekai's group. He is also a very good student. He graduated from a key university with an average score of more than 90 in both undergraduate and master's degrees. He is talented, hardworking, and willing to work hard. Several seniors in Gu Likekai's group admire him very much.
However, Yang Shuwen felt that Gu Likai was not satisfied with him.
Yang Shuwen pushed up his glasses and said aloud, "When the number of bits increases to 4, there are countless types of quantum entanglement... I've read the paper you gave me last week. It was about 'entangled polyhedra', which divide the system in entangled states. I went back and reread the book 'Quantum Field Theory' written by Jean-Bernard Zuber and Cude Itzykson twice."
Lin Zhixia raised her right hand and wanted to ask a question.
Teacher Gu pointed at Yang Shuwen and said, "Let's listen to him first, and then you can ask questions."
Lin Zhixia remained quiet and stared at Yang Shuwen.
Yang Shuwen continued his long speech.
Teacher Gu waited until Yang Shuwen finished speaking the last word before commenting: "You said it very well, with a comprehensive perspective, but that is the work of others, like a literature review, without summarizing your own method. Why does your senior have a different opinion from you? Your senior's opinion is right. You haven't touched the experimental level yet. When we first met, I mentioned to you that doing scientific research is not about burying your head in books and shutting yourself in. We do experimental physics to develop your scientific literacy and hands-on skills. You need to read papers and do experiments. There is a balance, a trade-off... You have to study well and keep up with the experiments. I was too busy in the first two weeks and had no time to guide you. I heard from your senior that you clocked in to the lab and just read and took notes on the table, and didn't do the basic exercises your senior prepared for you. "
The door of the office was wide open, allowing for smooth ventilation. The cold wind blew into Yang Shuwen's collar, causing him to shiver.
He stood up straight and explained in a clear voice: "I have been reviewing for the past two weeks... It is easy to forget what you have learned."
Teacher Gu opened the drawer, took out a file bag, and said slowly: "Reviewing the old to learn the new, good, the same is true for experimental physics. Your eyes, books, your hippocampus, store long-term memory, your hands, store neuromuscular memory... These are the basics, inspiration and innovation are your future prospects."
Yang Shuwen quickly said, "Yes, that's right."
Teacher Gu stood up from his seat, holding onto the table: "Books are the medium of learning, not the goal of learning."
Lin Zhixia nodded repeatedly. She seemed to have realized a Zen idea and sighed: "Yes, books are the medium of learning, not the goal of learning. For you, your own thoughts are the most important."
Teacher Gu handed Lin Zhixia a file bag. The bag contained several printed academic papers, experimental instructions, and experimental operation procedures. Teacher Gu asked Lin Zhixia to take these things back, read them carefully, and report to the laboratory next month.
Lin Zhixia held the file bag and thanked him repeatedly.
Yang Shuwen interrupted: "Lin Zhixia, did you just... want to talk to me?"
Lin Zhixia ran to Yang Shuwen and asked him about the nesting problem of "entangled polyhedron". He was stunned for a moment and asked her to be more detailed and speak faster, because Teacher Gu had something else to do later and they couldn't delay Teacher Gu's time.
Yang Shuwen didn't know that a few minutes ago, Teacher Gu said that he "had something to do later" because he wanted to help Lin Zhixia determine her specific research direction.
Lin Zhixia didn't expect that Yang Shuwen would ask her to speak faster.
With her hands behind her back, she spoke a long string of words quickly like a machine gun. Yang Shuwen only understood one sentence: "quantum bit photon state".
Yang Shuwen was in a trance for a few seconds, but his senior laughed. The senior stood up, walked to Lin Zhixia, and told her: "I am Tan Qianche from the Provincial No. 1 High School."
Tan Qianche!
Hearing his name, Lin Zhixia stretched out her right hand: "I have known you since the first grade of junior high school! Senior Tan Qianche! You have won a medal in the International Olympic Games. You are one of the best students that our Provincial No. 1 Middle School has ever trained. Your name is on the list of outstanding alumni in the archives of the Provincial No. 1 Middle School."
Tan Qianche shook hands with Lin Zhixia. He answered a few of Lin Zhixia's questions and said, "Do you want to find a notebook and write it down?"
Lin Zhixia shook her head: "No, I usually don't take notes."
Teacher Gu was making tea. Hearing Lin Zhixia's words, he seemed to be thinking about something, then smiled and said, "Oh, Shen Zhaohua mentioned to me that you have a very good memory."
As the steam rose and the aroma of tea filled the air, Teacher Gu returned to his seat, holding his teacup. He asked Lin Zhixia to stay and decide on a general research topic.
Several other doctoral students left the office one after another.
Before Yang Shuwen left, he closed the office door, but Teacher Gu called him, "Yang Shuwen, open my door..."
Tan Qianche whispered to Yang Shuwen: "Teacher Gu is very careful to avoid suspicion. As long as there are students in his office, he will definitely keep the door open."
Yang Shuwen murmured to himself, "What a good teacher." He then said, "Your junior, Lin Zhixia, is really here."
Tan Qianche suddenly reached out his hand and hugged Yang Shuwen's shoulders. They walked side by side, and the long corridor seemed to have no end.
At noon that day, after meeting Gu Like, Lin Zhixia happily walked back to the dormitory holding the briefcase.
The campus scenery was more beautiful than usual. Lin Zhixia was admiring the scenery while thinking about what Teacher Gu said. Teacher Gu was knowledgeable and quick-witted, and she benefited a lot from his brief communication.
Back then, Shen Zhaohua once said to Lin Zhixia, "Academics need communication, and academic thinking needs training." Now, five years later, Lin Zhixia is fourteen years old, and she finally understands Shen Zhaohua's deep meaning.
Lin Zhixia spent several days reading the materials that Teacher Gu gave her, and then searched the Internet for some related monographs. She studied hard throughout September to prepare for the upcoming experimental work.
When Lin Zhixia was in the provincial capital, she had studied with Shen Zhaohua for three years. Shen Zhaohua was respected as the "big boss" by her students. There was also a young female teacher in the group who had rich academic achievements and was respected as the "little boss" by everyone. This little boss and senior Zhu Chan in the group often gave Lin Zhixia hands-on guidance.
Along the way, Lin Zhixia received help from many people.
Lin Zhixia will not disappoint their expectations.
She will definitely create her own field.
Influenced by her positive attitude, Lin Zhixia's daily life is very regular. She gets up early every day, insists on exercising, completes her study tasks, calls her parents at 8 o'clock in the evening, calls Jiang Yubai at 9 o'clock, and turns off the lights before 11 o'clock.
One night in late September, Lin Zhixia was lying on her bed in the dormitory, holding a little penguin toy in her arms, covered with a soft quilt, and talking on the phone with Jiang Yubai.
They chatted for a while and talked about the upcoming National Day holiday. Jiang Yubai asked her casually: "National Day is coming soon, where do you want to go?"
Lin Zhixia asked back: "Where do you want to go?"
Jiang Yubai thought for two seconds and replied, "I don't have any plans for now."
"How about we go to the Forbidden City?" Lin Zhixia suggested excitedly, "I've never been to the Forbidden City, and I want to see the Yihe Garden."
Jiang Yubai said: "There are too many tourists during the holidays. We don't have to wait until the National Day. We can go tomorrow."
Tomorrow is Saturday. Lin Zhixia has no classes. She happily crawled into the quilt, covered her head with the quilt, and whispered, "Okay, tomorrow morning, I'll meet you at your door, and then we'll visit the Forbidden City and Yiheyuan together."
Jiang Yubai told her: "There will be a lecture at our school from 9 to 10 tomorrow morning. After the lecture, I..."
Before Jiang Yubai finished speaking, Lin Zhixia said firmly: "Okay! I'll wait for you at the gate of your school at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning."
Lin Zhixia waited for a while, but Jiang Yubai still didn't say anything.
The international high school that Jiang Yubai attends has strict management and responsible teachers, but the school does not care about students' "premature love problems."
Therefore, nearly one-third of Jiang Yubai's classmates were in love. In the past year or so at the international high school, he had received some subtle or direct expressions of love from female classmates, all of which he rejected on the spot.
If Lin Zhixia ran to Jiang Yubai's school gate and waited for him to finish school... Jiang Yubai suspected that the relationship between Lin Zhixia and him would be misunderstood by a small number of classmates. But he couldn't say anything to reject Lin Zhixia, because Lin Zhixia's tone was very happy, and as Lin Zhixia's best friend, he should never let her feel disappointed.
So he said, "Okay."
Lin Zhixia nodded: "Yeah! See you tomorrow!"
Jiang Yubai replied: "See you tomorrow."
The weather was good, and Saturday was a sunny day. At around 10 a.m., Lin Zhixia showed up at the gate of Jiang Yubai's school on time. She was standing outside the gate of the International High School with a backpack on her back, patiently waiting for Jiang Yubai.
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