Chapter 67
A few days later, Yan Anjin summoned Ji Zhixing to her office again and handed him a piece of paper.
"Here, take a look."
Ji Zhixing took a look and saw a table on the paper listing the main research directions of some professors at his university.
Ji Zhixing felt that if he were going to formally pursue graduate studies, he could choose freely without any hesitation. But since he was only going for an internship and it was uncertain how long he would stay, he didn't want Professor Yan to owe him too many favors.
He asked, "Teacher, which professor do you have a good personal relationship with?"
Yan Anjin understood that Ji Zhixing asked this not because he was afraid no one would look after him, but because he was afraid of putting him in a difficult position. She comforted him, saying, "You don't need to feel guilty. They are all very welcoming to you, knowing that the Fields Medal winner wants to study abroad."
Ji Zhixing scanned the names in the leftmost column and saw a familiar name—Gao Xiao.
He remembered meeting this professor at the CUPT competition defense session; they seemed quite familiar with each other during their conversation. Moreover, it seemed that Professor Yan had previously helped him avoid academic discrimination issues in his paper submissions through Professor Gao Xiao. Clearly, the two had a close relationship.
Ji Zhixing didn't pay much attention to the research directions of others before making a decision: "Would it be appropriate to go to Professor Gao Xiao's place?"
“Okay.” Yan Anjin didn’t argue. Although she understood that Ji Zhixing’s choice of Gao Xiao might not necessarily be because he was interested in Gao Xiao’s research direction, Gao Xiao’s projects were indeed excellent, his laboratory was of high standard, and his projects were well-established. Ji Zhixing could learn a lot from him.
Because it wasn't a business transaction but purely personal, things were arranged very quickly. Ji Zhixing packed his bags that very evening and headed to the airport the next day.
Two hours later, the plane landed in the capital.
As Ji Zhixing approached the exit, he began looking around. Professor Gao Xiao had previously stated that he would send someone to pick him up. Then, in the terminal hall, he saw a… brightly colored LED sign.
The sign was rectangular, with the three large characters "Ji Zhixing" in the center, each stroke a different color, creating a flamboyant effect. A row of small light bulbs around it blinked, making it even more colorful than the spotlights in tourist attractions. In short, the visual effect was more vibrant than Ji Zhixing himself had ever experienced in his life.
Ji Zhixing froze for two seconds, then quickly dodged behind a large pillar. Good heavens! He thought the principal's taste in red flowers was already outrageous enough, but it turns out there's always someone even more outrageous.
He cautiously peered out; the light sign was so dazzling that he completely overlooked the person holding it at first glance. The man hid most of his face behind the sign, only his eyes showing. His eyes darted around, scanning the entire area frequently.
The sign attracted everyone's attention, and passersby walked by with smiles. Children, led by their parents, walked a long way while frequently looking back, and even long-separated couples, forgetting their tears, embraced each other affectionately, pointing at the sign and smiling from the bottom of their hearts.
Ji Zhixing hesitated and dawdled behind the pillar, still unable to muster the courage to approach the man.
However, his repeated peeking out was quickly detected by the radar. When the sign came hurtling towards him, Ji Zhixing only managed to restrain himself from turning and running away on the spot thanks to his strong willpower.
"Quick! This is for you!" The man eagerly shoved the source of all evil into Ji Zhixing's arms, then grabbed the suitcase next to him. "I'll take your luggage, you're welcome!"
...Thank you so much. Ji Zhixing turned the light board over and leaned it against the pillar, only then realizing that the onlookers who had been focused on him were gradually dispersing.
The man breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then remembered to introduce himself: "Hello, sir, I'm Deng Yu, Professor Gao's graduate student. He specially sent me to pick you up. Shall we hit the road?"
Ji Zhixing waved his hand: "I wouldn't dare call myself a big shot, just call me by my name. Um... how do I turn off this light sign?" He couldn't possibly carry it all the way here, could he?
Deng Yi was on the verge of tears, saying, "That's how I got through it all! There was no switch!"
Yesterday, his supervisor called him out of the lab and told him he had a glorious task to give him—to pick up the newly awarded Fields Medal winner from the airport.
He readily accepted the task; picking up someone was a simple matter, right? However, his mentor's later warning gave him a sense of foreboding.
"If anyone asks along the way, just say it's from Tsinghua University next door!"
The mentor made a swift retreat, disappearing without a trace, giving him no chance to ask a single question. The next morning, an advertising shop delivered a light board, and he realized that picking someone up required this kind of "socially awkward" equipment.
Normally, he would cling to his supervisor's leg, cry and whine, and refuse the task, but he was recently named the lab's number one slacker, so he's been keeping a low profile and hasn't dared to let loose too much.
He knew that this was actually a light punishment from his mentor for slacking off, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and swallow his pride to come and pick him up.
Ji Zhixing was both amused and exasperated, but now that the person had been received, the signboard had completed its task and could be retired. He bent down and examined the back of the signboard for a while, and could see the wires inside through the seams.
He said to Deng, "Could I borrow your glasses?" He had no other tools on him, not even a key.
“Sure.” Deng took off his glasses and handed them over. The world blurred for a moment, but it was still colorful—the light sign, even facing the pillar, still stubbornly shone brightly in all directions!
He vaguely saw Ji Zhixing seemingly holding his glasses and moving them back and forth along the light sign. After a while, the world returned to normal. He took the glasses and put them on, and saw an electric wire being pulled out from the edge of the light sign. This wire must be the one connecting to the battery; if the wire broke, the light sign wouldn't light up.
Without the dazzling lights, the sign became less noticeable. Ji Zhixing then tied it back to his suitcase, perfectly averting his social crisis.
The two of them breathed a sigh of relief before walking outside.
Once in the taxi, Deng Yi started talking non-stop, telling Ji Zhixing about everything that was happening in the lab, though the focus was mainly on gossip about his fellow students.
"When you see Ye Shi, stay away from him. He's gone completely mad from practicing the Ip Man squat these past few days. He even practices it while squatting on the toilet. With his skill level, how could he not fall into the latrine?"
Ji Zhixing listened and laughed. As an uninvited guest in a new environment, he was somewhat uneasy, worried that the people in the lab would be difficult to get along with. But after meeting Deng Yi and listening to his gossip, he felt relieved. Professor Gao Xiao's lab was indeed full of interesting people.
Although Deng Yi described his fellow students, including himself, as unreliable, Ji Zhixing had done his research beforehand and knew that Professor Gao Xiao's lab was highly sought after by companies. Countless clients were eager to secure projects, and even then, they had to wait for Professor Gao Xiao to select their candidates. This showed that not only was Professor Gao Xiao outstanding, but his master's and doctoral students were also exceptionally talented.
Deng talked about gossip with great enthusiasm and emotion, and then the topic turned to his mentor.
"You have no idea how cunning our advisor is! When he had us fill out those forms, I thought they were just documents for the school to use, but I never expected there to be a hidden agenda!"
He said, opening his phone and showing Ji Zhixing the form: "Can you see anything?"
Ji Zhixing took the phone and saw a table on the screen, which was a normal multiple-choice question with checkmarks.
The left column lists names, and the top row contains sections such as "Who would you most like to do experiments with?", "Who would you most like to partner with to analyze data?", and "Who would you most like to play games with?".
Ah! Ji Zhixing understood. According to the statistics in this table, the one with the highest score in the "Who do you most want to have fun with" column and low scores in other categories is the most advanced slacker in the lab!
"That's it!" Deng Ji slapped his thigh. "Our mentor figured out the lab's underground fishing operation just by using this chart!"
He outshone everyone else and won first place in the group, becoming the undisputed king of the lab! Although his supervisor didn't really say anything, he had been consciously avoiding the supervisor these past few days, and today he finally got his comeuppance.
Deng muttered that his mentor was cunning, and then began to boast about his great achievements, adding, "Do you know what projects the lab is mainly working on right now?"
Ji Zhixing shook his head; he only knew the general direction.
Deng Yi's eyebrows shot up, and he said smugly, "This is really interesting! It's telekinesis!"
Huh? Ji Zhixing didn't react for a moment. The phrase "telekinesis" could only make him think of magic or Taoist secret arts like Qimen Dunjia.
Deng gestured with his hand: "It's a technology that sucks people up like a UFO's beam of light!"
The taxi driver couldn't help but glance at the rearview mirror. He had initially thought the student was a top student from Yenching University, but it turned out to be a lunatic.
But Ji Zhixing understood: "Optical tweezers? Quantum manipulation?"
Deng snapped his fingers: "That's right!"
That's really interesting, Ji Zhixing thought. Just like the tractor beam in Star Trek, if we could achieve "telekinesis," it would have wide applications in many fields.
Doctors can perform surgery on diseased organs without cutting through the surface skin and muscles, astronauts can collect samples remotely without leaving the spacecraft, and even point defense of warships can be accomplished using this technology, which is equivalent to an alternative energy shield.
If this were applied to daily life, lazy people could get their phone chargers without even getting out of bed...
Ji Zhixing was quite interested in this project, and he asked, "What stage has the experiment reached now?"
Deng spread his hands: "It's been more than a year and it's only just begun. Its application is limited to the micrometer level, and it can only be achieved using Bessel beams and Doppler beams."
Ji Zhixing pondered, "Micrometers? That's dozens of times smaller than the diameter of a human hair."
Furthermore, using Bessel beams and Doppler beams only achieves movement by changing the focal point, which inevitably produces a heating effect. Micrometer-level heating is negligible, but if this technology is used to transport large-scale objects, such as people, from the perspective of momentum conservation, the person would have already vaporized due to the highly concentrated beam of light before being moved.
While discussing the project's progress and technology, Ji Zhixing felt that it hadn't taken much time to get to Yenching University.
As soon as we got out of the car, Deng said, "Let's go to the administration building to complete the formalities first, such as accommodation, access control, and meal cards. My supervisor just sent me a message; he happens to be in the administration building too, so we can run into him if we go there now."
Ji Zhixing naturally had no objections. Upon arriving at the administration building, the first stop was the office, where Professor Gao Xiao was signing several documents.
Deng rushed to his mentor and saluted: "Reporting, I have fulfilled my mission!"
Gao Xiao looked up and mercifully waved his hand: "Alright, his crime of slacking off is wiped clean. You can handle his paperwork."
He then beckoned to Ji Zhixing: "Little Ji, come here."
Ji Zhixing stepped forward and greeted him.
Seeing his serious expression reminded Gao Xiao of Old Yan when he was young, and he couldn't help but laugh.
"Hahaha, isn't this light board interesting? You little brat, you kept making excuses and wouldn't come. I'll teach you a lesson if I don't vent my anger!" He laughed again.
Ji Zhixing laughed too. Although he was a bit awkward at the airport, at least he wasn't awkward for too long. Now that he thinks about it, it was quite funny. Consider it a free birthday service experience at Haidilao.
The office director of Yenching University, surnamed Zhu, noticed that Professor Gao Xiao treated this young man very kindly, so he couldn't help but take a few more glances at him, and the more he looked, the more familiar he seemed.
"Oh my, isn't this Ji Zhixing!"
Ji Zhixing turned to Director Zhu and said, "Hello, Director."
Director Zhu was very polite to China's first Fields Medal winner, asking, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
Gao Xiao answered quickly: "He came to complete the transfer procedures."
"Huh? Really?" Director Zhu was taken aback and excitedly rushed to the filing cabinet to retrieve the relevant forms.
"Uh... Professor, Director!" Ji Zhixing extended Er Kang's hand, "I'm just here for study tour."
Gao Xiao laughed and said, "You'll definitely want to stay after you finish your studies abroad. Let's get the paperwork done now so we don't have to go through all that trouble later."
"I've already spoken with Professor Yan." Ji Zhixing had no choice but to invoke Professor Yan's name, as he couldn't deal with this old rascal.
Director Zhu then realized that he had been tricked by Gao Xiao, and he complained, "I was so happy for nothing."
He exchanged pleasantries with Ji Zhixing for a while, and then Deng returned after completing all the formalities.
Ji Zhixing thanked him and then asked, "Professor, when can I report to your office?"
"Let's go tomorrow. I'll have Deng Yi show you around later," Gao Xiao said. Although he really wanted to ask Lao Yan about his recent situation at Guangling University, he wasn't in a hurry.
Seeing that Professor Gao Xiao was still holding several documents, Ji Zhixing said goodbye to him.
Deng first took him to the dormitory to put down his luggage, then showed him the cafeteria, and then the laboratory.
The laboratory is located in the northeast corner of Yenching University.
"Look!" Deng pointed to a five-story white building. "That entire building is our supervisor's laboratory. Our main laboratory is on the first floor, and the other floors are used for our respective research projects and commercial projects."
It was almost noon, and there were hardly any people left in the lab. Deng led him on a quick tour.
Ji Zhixing's most striking impression was that he was incredibly wealthy, with all sorts of cutting-edge instruments worth at least several hundred million yuan.
Ji Zhixing spent his first day at Yenching University studying. He didn't know much about quantum physics, and to understand it, let alone participate in experiments, he had to fill in a lot of gaps in his knowledge.
A note from the author:
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