Chapter 65
After finishing a series of award ceremonies, commendations, and interviews, Ji Zhixing finally found time to complete the Level 3 task, which was 99% complete.
It took Ji Zhixing more than a year to complete the Level 3 task, and now that he has finally been promoted to Level 4, he feels that his joy is almost comparable to winning the Fields Medal.
He opened the task panel, wanting to see what tasks were available in the five branches of the new stage, only to find that the original five-column table had been reduced to one column, with the column name "Comprehensive Abilities".
Ji Zhixing asked, "System, will all tasks related to improving learning ability be integrated into one in the future?"
Yes, after three stages of learning, the host has developed a basic learning ability that is well-rounded. The fourth stage of learning ability training will focus on comprehensive tasks.
"I see," Ji Zhixing said.
This trend toward integration was already evident in the third stage. Compared to the first and second stages, where each of the five branches had its own task, the third stage integrated memory, attention, and coordination. Further integration in the fourth stage was to be expected.
Ji Zhixing was about to click to see what kind of comprehensive tasks were available when he noticed a horizontal bar at the bottom that could be dragged to the left. Ji Zhixing tried dragging the bar and sure enough, he saw a new section.
This is……
The words "integrated curriculum" made Ji Zhixing's heart flutter. Could this be a knowledge curriculum from the future?
Yes, starting from the fourth stage, the system will grant the host access to comprehensive courses. However, adhering to the principle of being wary of "getting something for nothing," the content of the "comprehensive courses" has been adjusted to reflect the host's era, ensuring that all knowledge is at the current academic level.
Oh, Ji Zhixing understands now. This is because his great-grandchildren were afraid that he would simply enjoy the fruits of future knowledge and neglect his own exploration and learning, so they set such a restriction.
However, this is for the best. Since a learning system that can transcend time and space can be created more than a hundred years later, the level of technology must have developed to the point where it can easily surpass modern science. If future knowledge were directly given to him, he might only focus on passively accepting knowledge and neglect to actively push his own limits.
He eagerly opened the integrated courses, and various disciplines such as "physics", "mathematics" and "chemistry" came into view. This was exactly the scene he had imagined when he first came into contact with the system.
Ji Zhixing thought about it and felt that this arrangement was quite reasonable. "To do something well, one must first have the right tools." By fully improving various learning abilities in the first three stages, one can learn subject knowledge more efficiently in the fourth stage.
Seeing the words "Q&A" in the upper right corner, Ji Zhixing couldn't help but ask, "Does this mean I can ask questions if I have any doubts during the learning process?"
Yes, this system includes a Q&A module that can provide helpful hints or a range of references for the host's questions. However, all answers are limited to current academic level; questions that are outdated will not be answered.
"I see," Ji Zhixing thought, "this Q&A mode is very well designed, as it can effectively prevent users from developing mental inertia by directly receiving answers."
Looking at this page, Ji Zhixing felt his heart was filled with knowledge.
At this stage, the learning system truly demonstrates its value.
All knowledge within the current academic level is here, which means that this is actually a comprehensive university. All the knowledge that can be learned in all higher education institutions and research institutes around the world is here.
The Q&A function is like providing an all-knowing tutor covering all disciplines!
Furthermore, the system space also houses a laboratory.
He accidentally lowered the laboratory level to the lowest setting, but now that a year has passed, he has regained a world-leading, ultra-advanced laboratory!
You can learn any subject at any time, get inspiration whenever you have a question, and put your ideas into practice in the laboratory at any time.
With such learning opportunities, why would he need to travel across the ocean to study abroad?
With such a goldmine of knowledge waiting to be mined, Ji Zhixing was so excited that he forgot everything else. It was only when the system reminded him that he remembered there were still rewards to claim for advancing from level three to level four.
Ji Zhixing waited anxiously for the system to announce the prize. He prayed in his heart, "Please, please be as practical as the seasonal clothing items that were given out before, and don't go for that flashy, nouveau riche style again..."
[Friendly Reminder: The reward for this task is a property with full ownership rights.]
Ah, real estate! That's really quite useful, Ji Zhixing thought.
He sold his house in his hometown and has been living in the school dormitory for years. During winter and summer vacations in high school, the teachers took care of him and didn't force him to leave the school. After entering university, he made the dormitory his home.
After accumulating savings, he was so busy with one thing after another that he didn't have time to really think about buying a house. Now that he owns his own property, he is very happy.
"Where is the house located?" Ji Zhixing asked.
Genting Highlands in all four seasons.
Ji Zhixing nearly vomited blood. Even in his ignorance, he had heard of the city's top-tier luxury residences, where the smallest unit was said to be 366 square meters. But that wasn't the point; the point was that the property management fees alone amounted to over ten thousand yuan a year!
Keep in mind that the Fields Medal he received this time, with a prize of 15,000 Canadian dollars, is less than 80,000 yuan, which isn't even enough to pay for a year's property fees! Even if he has other savings, this is still not how you spend money!
Ji Zhixing clutched his chest, heartbroken, yet he couldn't blame his great-grandchildren. After all, he only needed to pay the property management fees, while they had paid hundreds of millions for the houses!
But thinking about it, it still hurts. Back then, the Zero Gravity Society would occasionally spend hundreds of thousands, even millions, on equipment for experiments, and he felt it was all worthwhile. But the property management fees are over ten thousand…
Oh well, it's not like he can't afford it now. After all, it's his great-grandson's gift, and it's not worth selling the house in Four Seasons Cloud Top just to save on property management fees.
Seeing that Ji Zhixing was sighing over the property management fee of over 100,000 yuan, the system silently deleted the friendly reminder it had just printed. Anyway, the host would know the details once he went to see the house or received the bill at the end of the year.
Ji Zhixing had already adjusted his mindset and happily accepted the property. He reviewed the rewards from his past tasks: the first was "clothing," the second was "food," and now the third was "housing." Could the next one be "transportation"?
Generally speaking, if a person has sufficient food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, then they won't have to worry about material things in their life. Ji Zhixing deeply felt the comprehensive and thoughtful care from his great-grandchildren.
After withdrawing his consciousness from the system space and returning to reality, he realized something very real: he still needed to continue his studies in order to find a pretext for the knowledge he had learned in the system space.
When news broke that Ji Zhixing had rejected all offers from prestigious foreign universities and decided to stay at Guangling University to pursue his master's and doctoral degrees, everyone was shocked, including the university president and Zhu Ren, who had always hoped he would stay.
Yan Anjin called Ji Zhixing to her office with a phone call.
Upon seeing Ji Zhixing arrive, his first question was: "Have you replied?"
"Are you referring to official letters from those universities?" Ji Zhixing replied, "Not yet."
Yan Anjin breathed a slight sigh of relief and gestured to the chair next to her, indicating that Ji Zhixing should sit down: "Come on, let's have a chat."
After Ji Zhixing won the Fields Medal, he anticipated that top universities would extend offers to him, and indeed, that was exactly what he expected. The only thing he didn't expect was that Ji Zhixing would reject them all.
It's not that he's a Western-worshipper, but rather that there is indeed a gap between domestic universities and top academic centers like Harvard, Cambridge, and Princeton. Besides this, there are other very practical factors at play.
Yan Anjin was afraid that Ji Zhixing was making a hasty decision because he was ignorant of the ways of the world, so she thought for a long time and gave him an example.
He asked, "Do you know Terence Tao?"
“I know.” Ji Zhixing nodded. He had heard long ago that his IQ was as high as 230, even surpassing Einstein’s 165. He had met him at the ICM conference, and although they only chatted briefly, he could tell that he was a very pure mathematician.
“He earned his bachelor’s degree at 16, his master’s degree in just one year, and after obtaining his doctorate, he was hired as a full professor at the University of California at the young age of 24.” Yan Anjin looked at the young man in front of her. “And now, a similar smooth path awaits you.”
Judging solely by universal values, Terence Tao received the Fields Medal at the age of 31, while Zhixing Ji received the award a full ten years earlier, setting a record for the youngest recipient. This demonstrates that Zhixing Ji is in no way inferior to this "Mozart" of the mathematics world.
The fact that top universities have offered Ji Zhixing full scholarships signifies their recognition of his academic level and achievements. If he continues his efforts during his studies and makes breakthroughs in his research field, his chances of staying on as a faculty member after graduating with his doctorate are almost 100%.
Even if he has no intention of settling abroad and wants to return to China to seek a teaching position, then a full professorship at Yenching University or Tsinghua University is within his grasp, and the title of academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering is just around the corner.
"So, are you sure you want to reject such a smooth life?" Yan Anjin looked at his student calmly, recalling his own past.
The word "smooth sailing" was almost non-existent in the first half of his life, so he really hoped that Ji Zhixing's future path would be smoother.
Ji Zhixing did not answer the question directly. He said, "Teacher, I saw a news report a while ago that a university spent 18 million yuan to recruit 23 Filipino PhDs. Do you think those PhDs are really worth it?"
Yan Anjin scoffed: "Just a self-produced and self-sold water museum!"
Sending them abroad for two years to participate in crash courses that don't even require writing papers is considered a way to gild their resumes. Bringing them back not only increases the proportion of PhDs in the faculty to improve the university's image and rankings, but also allows them to fraudulently obtain government subsidies.
However, when it comes to real research ability, or even the ability to teach students, these PhDs are probably not even as good as Ji Zhixing, who just graduated with a bachelor's degree.
Ji Zhixing recalled his feelings when he first saw the news. The development anxiety faced by universities was not something he needed to consider; he was concerned about something else.
"Why is it that having overseas study experience guarantees better treatment?" Ji Zhixing asked.
Yan Anjin understood; this wasn't a simple question. He said, "Are you trying to rectify the 'praising the powerful and belittling the weak' mentality in domestic universities?"
Ji Zhixing rubbed his nose: "It's not really a 'rectification,' just something we want to make a little effort."
There has long been a trend in Chinese universities to praise "overseas PhDs" and belittle "domestic PhDs." "Overseas PhDs" are those with overseas study experience, while "domestic PhDs" are those trained by local universities and research institutes.
These two titles themselves carry a sense of self-deprecation, as if domestically trained talents are inferior to foreign monks in their ability to chant scriptures.
There is indeed an objective gap in the average educational quality of top universities at home and abroad, and Ji Zhixing can understand employers' preference for the best candidates.
However, the word "excellent" should be based on personal ability rather than overseas study experience. Yet, the current emphasis on overseas doctorates has gone to an extreme, to the point of "a hero's origins don't matter." In some places, an overseas doctorate graduate from a third-rate foreign university can easily outshine a domestic doctorate graduate from a prestigious institution.
Even with equal academic achievements, the starting salaries and benefits for domestic and foreign doctoral graduates are vastly different. The difference in settlement allowance, professional title, and salary can be several levels higher from the very beginning, not to mention subsequent promotions.
Just like Yu Zhuli, a nationally recognized mathematical genius, who has made world-renowned achievements in partial differential equations and geometric analysis. However, due to the limitations of his doctoral degree, he has only served as an assistant professor since joining Yenching University, and it will take at least ten years to be promoted to full professor.
Meanwhile, a foreign professor who was recruited at the same time as him was directly appointed as an associate professor.
Ji Zhixing compared the academic achievements of the two from various perspectives and could only say that they each had their own strengths, and Yu Zhuli's papers were even slightly better.
This kind of employment discrimination is reflected in everything from the Ministry of Education's talent introduction system to the different policies of various regions and universities. Many talented individuals, dissatisfied with this differential treatment, have chosen to travel overseas and settle there permanently.
Of course, while the unhealthy trend of judging people based on whether they have studied abroad still exists, as domestic academic standards improve, more and more people are recognizing this prejudice and injustice. Some universities have already taken the lead in eliminating overseas experience requirements when recruiting talent.
Ji Zhixing felt that he was already luckier than most domestic scholars to receive help from the learning system. He should not only think about his own future, but also wanted to do his part to promote the reform of the hiring practices in domestic universities.
As the first Fields Medal winner from China, it's entirely possible that he could persuade domestic universities to make an exception for his domestically earned doctorate. If this breaks the mold of prioritizing merit over overseas experience, then soon there will be a second and a third exception, until it becomes the new normal.
While pondering how to rationalize the knowledge he gained from the system space, he also considered that using a prestigious foreign university as a front would be more convenient and easier to conceal his true intentions. However, it was precisely because of this consideration that he ultimately decided to stay in China.
After listening to Ji Zhixing's story, Yan Anjin sighed deeply. He himself was also interested in promoting the reform of the distribution model of scientific research benefits in universities, so he naturally understood Ji Zhixing's motives and choices.
“If you’ve made up your mind, then I won’t waste any more words,” Yan Anjin said. “However, there’s one thing: if you decide to stay in China, you should carefully choose your university.”
Without being immodest, his academic ability is no less than that of Gao Xiao at Yenching University and Wen Zhengyang at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, but the resources and connections that different environments can provide for students are completely different.
"You won't be able to officially start your graduate studies until September, which is a whole semester away. In the meantime, have you considered studying abroad at Peking University or Tsinghua University?"
"Study abroad?" Ji Zhixing was puzzled. Does the current education system still have such a system?
Yan Anjin explained, "It's not a formal system; it's roughly equivalent to an 'internship,' and there are no learning certificates or licenses involved."
Ji Zhixing understood that this was actually Professor Yan using his connections to get him into another school to broaden his horizons.
He knew that although Professor Yan acknowledged his reasons for staying in China, he still didn't approve of him staying at Guangling University. Sending him on a study tour was intended to give him more opportunities to see and experience different things, so he could truly understand the difference between a top-tier university and a typical 985 university.
Ji Zhixing hesitated. He chose Guangling University because the environment there was relatively simple. He had heard that academic cliques and factions were deeply entrenched in many universities, and he found these complicated interpersonal relationships extremely annoying. He did not want to scatter his energy and time on such tedious things.
Furthermore, by becoming Professor Yan's student, Professor Yan would certainly be willing to grant him ample autonomy. However, under another professor at a prestigious university, he would inevitably be constrained by the professor's research topics. In that case, how much time would he have left to learn the vast knowledge within the system?
For the past year or so, he has been constrained by the zero-gravity seat project, forcing him to allocate his time with difficulty, which has slowed down the progress of the Level 3 mission. Of course, he has put in his own efforts for the zero-gravity seat, but his mentor's project is beyond his control.
However, Professor Yan meant well, and it would be ungrateful to refuse so easily. After all, it was just a study tour, not formal enrollment; he could leave anytime if anything went wrong. Ji Zhixing thought it wouldn't hurt to go and see for himself; after all, it had been a dream of his since high school.
Yan Anjin was pleased to see that Ji Zhixing wasn't too insistent: "Okay, then you go back first. I'll contact them and see what channels are available. You can decide for yourself then."
A note from the author:
This chapter was a bit difficult to write. The protagonist's life has entered the second stage, and I hesitated for a long time about how to make a reasonable transition. In the end, I decided to start from this point - the post-00s generation is reorganizing the workplace!
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