Chapter 25
When the gossip got back to him, Ji Zhixing was more surprised than anyone else, and a mouthful of food got stuck in his throat, almost making him unable to swallow.
How did this get involved with him?
Ji Zhixing recalled his recent itinerary, which consisted mostly of his dormitory, classrooms, library, and office building, perhaps with a visit to the school supermarket. He hadn't even stepped outside the school gates, let alone had any contact with anyone from Hengtai Technology. He had only just heard about the earthquake prediction software mentioned in the news program; how could he possibly have contributed anything to it?
Could it be someone with the same name? But there are fewer than two hundred students in the Physics Department, and there is indeed only one person named Ji Zhixing.
Could it be that he said the wrong name? Thinking about it, he himself felt it was unlikely.
"What's going on?" Lin Lang, who was sitting on the left, asked as he leaned over.
Xu Dongyang was also surprised. They had been inseparable for some time, yet he had no idea.
"I also want to know what happened!" Ji Zhixing thought for a long time but was still confused.
After a brief uproar, the students in the cafeteria stopped eating and began to discuss it excitedly.
"They're from our school!"
"Really? A sophomore? I just heard him say 'Guangling University,' and I thought he was a professor."
"Ji Zhixing? That name sounds familiar."
"What's wrong with your memory? He's that handsome guy who went viral after the sports meet!"
"It's him! Wow! Is this the legendary 'other people's kid'?!"
"Wow, these students are top students! I just heard this morning that their project in the CUPT competition has already secured first place in the province."
"Aren't most of the participants in the CUPT competition juniors and seniors? I used to think they were just a fun group."
"He's been so busy with competitions lately, where does he find the time to help Hengtai Technology develop earthquake software?"
"I'm more curious as to why Hengtai Technology would hire a second-year university student to help them solve problems." There are many examples of university-enterprise cooperation in scientific research, but surely a professor should be involved at least.
The news program continued, and Shi Yanshi's words answered most people's questions.
He recounted the whole story in detail:
"Our earthquake prediction software had been stuck on a bottleneck for a long time. After analysis, we found that the problem was mainly in the processing and application of the Navier-Stokes equations. However, we spent a month trying to figure out what the problem was."
An unexpected incident occurred at that time. My cousin stole the data from my computer to use for a live stream. When I found out, I went to the live stream and found out that he intended to use the data to make things difficult for classmate Ji Zhixing. Unexpectedly, classmate Ji solved the problems summarized in the data on the spot.
We debugged the software according to Ji's plan and approach, and successfully broke through the bottleneck. What happened next is well-known.
The host then asked, "So your collaboration with Ji Zhixing was entirely an accident?"
"Yes." Shi Yanshi nodded. "Because of the time constraints, we haven't had a chance to contact Ji yet. We will express our sincere gratitude to him in person later!"
When Ji Zhixing heard "NS equation", he immediately thought of the live broadcast. He never expected things to turn out this way.
To be honest, if he had known back then that this information was a problem that a professional laboratory couldn't solve in a month, he probably would have had to think twice before even reading the information.
However, he treated it as a problem, and it came from a freshman who didn't have a strong foundation, so he was very relaxed.
This reminded him of something that Gauss, the "Prince of Mathematics," did during his student days.
One day when he was 19, Gauss stayed up all night to solve a difficult problem his tutor had given him. But he learned the next day that the problem was actually a mathematical mystery with more than 2,000 years of history, which his tutor had accidentally tucked into his homework.
Years later, Gauss recalled the incident, saying, "If someone had told me that this was a mathematical problem that was over 2,000 years old, I could not have solved it in one night."
At this moment, Ji Zhixing suddenly felt a profound empathy for Gauss's experience, transcending time and space, and deeply understood the importance of mindset.
However, at this moment, he felt that his mindset still needed to be trained.
As Shi Yanshi recounted the whole story of this "accident," some people had already recognized Ji Zhixing, who was also eating in the cafeteria. The news spread like wildfire, and gradually, everyone turned to look in Ji Zhixing's direction. Although everyone refrained from approaching them while they ate, Ji Zhixing and his two companions were now surrounded by a multitude of gazes.
The feeling of being the center of attention made Ji Zhixing extremely uncomfortable; he couldn't even hold chopsticks properly.
Compared to Ji Zhixing, who is somewhat socially awkward, Lin Lang could be considered a social terrorist. But even he, surrounded by such an environment, couldn't help but chew with a much more refined and elegant manner.
The trio from class 310 finished their meal without tasting it, and under the watchful eyes of everyone, they managed to maintain a semblance of composure before hurriedly leaving the cafeteria.
"My god, being a celebrity isn't easy!" Lin Lang had been stared at earlier and didn't dare to say a word or take a step. Now that he was out of everyone's sight, he wished he could move every joint in his body, including his skull.
Xu Dongyang touched his pounding heart: "Did I move my hands and feet together just now?"
Ji Zhixing also felt uncomfortable, so when he received an interview request from a reporter from the provincial television station, he refused without even thinking.
Ultimately, the earthquake prediction software is the culmination of the hard work of researchers like Shi Yanshi; they built it from scratch. The problem he solved was merely a minor detail. Even without Zhu Bo's unexpected death, Shi Yanshi and his team would have solved it sooner or later, given their skill level.
Having experienced trending topics before, Ji Zhixing had some understanding of the media's habits. To attract traffic, they'd write anything sensational. For example, after he scored a fairly impressive goal at a sports meet, some self-media outlets dared to compare him to Jordan and Kobe, practically elevating him to a future NBA star!
If this incident fell into the hands of these media people, they might exaggerate it into a story where a sophomore undergraduate student outmaneuvered a group of PhDs, single-handedly developing earthquake prediction software, turning the tide and saving the day!
At this critical moment, he was unwilling to be swayed by the media to seize the glory that belonged to researchers like Shi Yanshi.
All night long, Ji Zhixing couldn't get anything done; he was busy declining interviews. His phone was ringing off the hook, his WeChat was flooded with friend requests every few minutes, and classmates who had been indirectly asked to come over kept coming.
Fortunately, Guangling University has a gatekeeper, so these self-media reporters cannot pass the facial recognition test; otherwise, Ji Zhixing would have been trapped in his dormitory.
Ji Zhixing, finally fed up, asked Lin Lang to write a small program to install on his phone. This program would automatically play a pre-recorded rejection message whenever an unknown number called. Then he locked the door, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.
Unexpectedly, the next day, he still couldn't escape the media's relentless pursuit—the principal had invited him.
Xiao Zhang, the president of Guangling University, was a middle-aged man who smiled like Maitreya Buddha. He kindly invited Ji Zhixing to sit on the sofa, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then got down to business.
"I heard you declined interviews with many media outlets, including the provincial television station, is that right?"
Ji Zhixing nodded: "Yes, as a student, I still want to focus on my studies." The principal was, I wondered, acting as a mouthpiece for some media outlet.
Unexpectedly, the principal nodded repeatedly: "I understand, I understand. These days, the media is all about traffic and there's a lot of chaos. You're right to cherish your reputation."
Xiao Zhang first affirmed Ji Zhixing's approach, then changed the subject in his next sentence: "However, we don't need to completely condemn media interviews. For example, CCTV still has principles and a sense of propriety."
"CCTV?" He had refused all media interviews yesterday, but he hadn't expected CCTV to contact him. Of course, even if he had known it was CCTV, he wouldn't have agreed to the interview yesterday.
"Yesterday, I received a call from an old friend. He was so envious and jealous! Our school actually produced such an outstanding student!"
Ji Zhixing, of course, understood the preamble in the principal's words and shook his head, saying, "Principal, you flatter me. It was just an accident."
“You can’t say that.” Xiao Zhang waved his hand. “Zhixing, I won’t beat around the bush. As the principal, for the development of Guangling University, I request that you accept an interview with CCTV…”
What a rare opportunity this is!
Although Guangling University was selected for Project 985, the dozens of Project 985 universities are divided into several tiers. In terms of comprehensive strength, influence and recognition, Guangling University is in the lowest tier.
While overall strength may not improve rapidly in the short term, we can first build up our reputation and influence.
Now that he had such a great publicity opportunity, how could he possibly let it slip by? Besides, when he saw Ji Zhixing, he realized that he was as good-looking as a celebrity—a real-life face of the company! If he didn't make good use of him, what kind of principal would he be? He might as well go work as a gatekeeper!
Ji Zhixing looked troubled; the principal's reason was simply hard to refuse.
During his freshman year, he didn't apply for financial aid because he could support himself by working part-time. However, he would receive an inexplicable 180 yuan every month through his meal card. When he asked his counselor, he learned that this was a hidden form of financial aid provided by the school to students in need.
Guangling University will determine those in need of assistance based on indicators such as the number of meals and monthly spending on students' meal cards, combined with students' overall performance. Without requiring them to submit an application, a hidden meal subsidy will be directly transferred to their personal meal cards.
During his freshman year, 180 yuan was enough for Ji Zhixing to eat in the cafeteria for a month, with a few dozen yuan left over to buy some daily necessities at the school supermarket. Of course, this semester, he no longer just ate steamed buns in the cafeteria, and his spending was similar to that of most students, so he no longer received this kind of hidden meal allowance. But recalling the help he received during his freshman year, he still has a strong affection for the school.
He would be willing to do so for the sake of the school's development, but...
Ji Zhixing laid out his concerns, and the principal laughed heartily.
"It was Mr. Shi Yanshi of Hengtai Technology who took the initiative to suggest that the interview be held at Guangling University. Do you know why?"
"Uh, to thank me?" Shi Yanshi had previously said in the news that he would thank him in person.
“That’s certainly one of the reasons, but it’s not the only one.” Xiao Zhang looked at the naive student. “Do you know how much Hengtai Technology’s stock price rose yesterday? It hit the daily limit!”
He knew this so clearly because of his old friend. His friend called yesterday, not only to express his envy of Guangling University's outstanding graduates, but more importantly, to boast about his skyrocketing wealth. This guy bought Hengtai Technology shares when they were only 14.2 yuan per share, and in just yesterday, his account assets increased by over 100,000 yuan!
"It's certain that Hengtai Technology's stock price will continue to rise for some time to come. This is a golden opportunity for the company to grow. If it hits the daily limit for eight consecutive days, its market value can double. Of course, they will seize every opportunity for publicity. For example, the most attractive gimmick in this news to the general public—you!"
To be honest, most people hear about the operating principles and development process of earthquake prediction software and then forget about it. Apart from a few words of praise, it doesn't leave a deep impression.
This earthquake did not cause too many casualties, so it will not leave a deep and lasting collective trauma on the public. Therefore, although yesterday's news was sensational, it will soon be buried among a variety of other news stories, and the name Hengtai Technology will only be remembered again when the next earthquake occurs.
However, Ji Zhixing's appearance is a vivid memory.
PhDs and post-doctoral fellows are still somewhat distant from the general public, but who doesn't have an undergraduate degree or an undergraduate relative?
A sophomore undergraduate student solved a problem that several PhDs had been unable to solve for a month in just one hour. This kind of grassroots (relatively speaking) underdog triumphing over the privileged is a story that many people enjoy watching and talking about.
"So, Zhixing, you don't need to worry about stealing their thunder. Leaving aside the deeper implications, do you know how much the PhDs in Shi Yanshi's lab own? A total of 38.9%! So, in fact, they can gain even more profit from this!"
Xiao Zhang patted Ji Zhixing on the shoulder: "After saying so much, Zhixing, for the honor of the school, for the development of the school, for the future of the school, are you willing to accept the interview?"
"Well... alright then." Now that things had come to this, how could he refuse? But the principal's words had truly broadened his horizons, making him realize that many things cannot be measured by appearances or common sense. It seems he can't just blindly study books anymore. Cao Xueqin was right, "Understanding the ways of the world is true learning."
The CCTV reporter was very quick; less than an hour after receiving permission from the university president to conduct an interview, he and Shi Yanshi arrived at Guangling University.
The two sides exchanged pleasantries, thanks, compliments, and polite exchanges upon meeting, but Ji Zhixing felt exhausted after only a few minutes.
He grew up with his grandfather and rarely interacted with relatives, even during holidays. He lacked experience in classic social situations like the "red envelope battle." Therefore, he was ill-suited to adult social occasions and etiquette!
During the interview, Shi Yanshi sincerely apologized to Ji Zhixing and expressed his gratitude, since Zhu Bo had obtained the information from him that had been used to embarrass Ji Zhixing. However, without Ji Zhixing, their software would not have been able to break through the bottleneck so quickly.
The reporter also praised Ji Zhixing, saying that his contribution was of great significance to the earthquake.
Ji Zhixing certainly didn't dare to take credit: "I've seen the news before. The Navier-Stokes equations are actually the mathematical part of their software physics principles. Everyone has their own expertise. In the end, it's just that the physics PhD was stuck on the math problem..."
Recalling Ji Zhixing's information, the reporter asked hesitantly, "Is Ji a mathematics student?"
"Oh no, I study physics," Ji Zhixing said.
reporter:……
At the end of the interview, Shi Yanshi sincerely invited Ji Zhixing to work for their company after graduation, and also presented him with a bonus of 1 million yuan on behalf of the company.
Ji Zhixing was unsure whether he should accept the offer. Was one million for a single question too outrageous? He used the excuse of going to the restroom at the end of the corridor to call Professor Yan for advice.
When Professor Yan received Ji Zhixing's call, he assumed it was the same as usual—a call seeking knowledge. He was surprised to find Ji asking about social etiquette. A slightly strange sense of novelty washed over him. The label of "lacking social skills" had been attached to him for over a decade; he never imagined he'd be asked about such matters one day.
He thought for a moment and said, "Take it, you deserve it."
He had seen and experienced more than Ji Zhixing, and knew that one million was a huge sum for a student, but not much for a listed company, especially when the money could generate a huge advertising effect.
He had heard of Hengtai Technology before; it was one of the few domestic service providers that mastered WEFOX two-way focusing pre-stack migration seismic imaging technology and data processing and interpretation. Leveraging its independently developed core technologies, it provided seismic exploration services to major oil companies. The quality of exploration preprocessing and the accuracy and clarity of seismic imaging directly determine the success rate of oil and gas resource exploration. After this incident, major oil companies would inevitably prefer Hengtai Technology when selecting service providers under the same conditions.
Besides, you should know the story of Yan Hui redeeming slaves from the State of Lu and refusing the reward from Lu, which resulted in criticism from Confucius. Although the circumstances are different, the principle is the same. If you refuse the reward, what are future generations supposed to do?
Moreover, with Ji Zhixing as a precedent, it's certain that many students will be motivated to improve themselves in the coming period. Even if he's completely lacking in social skills, he knows that tangible rewards are often the most effective way to inspire people.
So Ji Zhixing accepted the prize money, and the two shook hands and took a photo to end the interview.
The interview program sparked another round of heated discussion after it aired.
"I never expected Ji Zhixing to contribute to earthquake prediction software in this way." (Surprised.jpg)
"This coincidence is too amazing. If it weren't for the streamer's disgusting motives, I would have liked to send a few rockets."
"Sitting in the library, problems come to me from the lab—it's like a gift delivered right to my door!" (Lighting a cigarette.jpg)
"I just checked Whaley Live, and it seems like the entire live stream has been banned."
"It seems the anchor is facing a lawsuit. Not only Hengtai Technology is suing him, but also people who were wronged on his show before."
"Serves them right! I've watched a few episodes, and the streamers often resort to any means necessary. Moreover, the comment section of their live streams is like it's been 'cleansed' of their followers; you can't say anything about it."
"If Ji Zhixing had any conscience, he should send an electronic tombstone to that livestream room as a tribute." (doge.jpg)
"I envy Ji Zhixing. He already has a high-paying job waiting for him even before he's graduated."
"Hengtai Technology is pretty good; they even give out bonuses."
"Indeed, there is a wealth of knowledge in books. The money I earn from solving one problem is equivalent to half of my lifetime's income."
"Stop being sarcastic. He's a physics student, so he must have worked really hard to solve such a difficult math problem."
"He deserves it. Human life is priceless! No one died in this earthquake, which can be attributed entirely to earthquake prediction software. He deserves credit for that software too!"
...
The award from Hengtai Technology was just the beginning. In the following days, Ji Zhixing received a series of awards and commendations from various parties.
Looking back, he's really making a lot of money lately!
Hengtai Technology awarded him 1 million yuan, the provincial government awarded him 500,000 yuan, Guangling City awarded him 300,000 yuan, and Guangning City awarded him 300,000 yuan. In comparison, the award from Guangling University is much less substantial, but it is still 50,000 yuan, enough to cover his tuition and living expenses during his university years.
Seeing the 2,150,000 yuan safely and securely in his account, Ji Zhixing felt an unprecedented sense of peace and security. When money was just a number, as long as the unit wasn't "hundred million," he could remain calm. But when the money was actually sitting in his account, even a "million" brought him immense joy and satisfaction. It could be said that during his studies, he no longer needed to worry about money in the slightest.
Over the next ten days, Hengtai Technology's stock price continued to climb, and Ji Zhixing's name became widely known due to various commendations and news, while Guangling University's reputation also rose rapidly.
The principal instructed the admissions office to include this excellent material in the admissions materials for the next year, and then, beaming with joy, he tallied up the potential funding allocations to Guangling University.
This incident has cemented Ji Zhixing's reputation as a top student. Previously, in the Physics Department, second-year students would immediately think of Fan Yongjie when discussing academic excellence. Now, Ji Zhixing has completely replaced Fan Yongjie as the top student.
Ji Zhixing didn't feel anything about it, but Fan Yongjie, who was fond of good names, was quite upset.
After losing the competition, he didn't want to go to class for a long time. Whenever someone whispered, he felt like they were mocking him. This feeling was so stifling that he was going to get sick if he didn't find a way to relieve it.
Because Ji Zhixing has been enjoying immense popularity in various media channels recently, Fan Yongjie's first reaction was to expose Ji Zhixing's dirty secrets to the media.
He racked his brains, dug up the original post from the school forum, took a screenshot, and wrote a smear article about Ji Zhixing stealing luxury watches, being kept by a sugar daddy, living a life of extravagance, and bribing competition judges. He then added embellishments and sent the article to various places.
Initially, Fan Yongjie targeted various official media outlets with verified blue V accounts, but he received no response whatsoever. Reluctantly, he turned to influential self-media accounts with millions of followers, but that also failed to achieve his goal. Left with no other option, he repeatedly lowered his standards, and eventually only some less reputable self-media outlets were willing to use his content.
However, given that the government, businesses, and schools are promoting Ji Zhixing as a positive representative for various propaganda purposes, how could they possibly sit idly by and allow him to be smeared?
These accusations were quickly suppressed by various parties before they could even cause a stir. After it was discovered that the so-called revelations were completely fabricated, Fan Yongjie, who was subsequently implicated, received severe warnings from all sides and was directly disciplined. In fact, if it weren't for Fan Chuanshuo's strenuous efforts, Fan Yongjie would have been dismissed on the spot!
Ji Zhixing was completely unaware of this matter from beginning to end; he was more concerned about the CUPT competition. Judging by the timeline, the national competition results should be out in the next couple of days.
Unbeknownst to him, at the CUPT competition judging venue in the capital, the judges were arguing heatedly about their zero-gravity seat project.
A note from the author:
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