Chapter 63 Patient 7
In the nuclear physics laboratory, Liang Zhang threatened Xu Shaoqian and Chu Wang with his life at least thirty times, forcing them to submit the abridged three-page paper to the Bulletin of the Royal Society.
Imagine Liang Zhang, a short, dark-skinned man from Southeast China, standing on a wooden chair with a three-page document in hand. He announced with a radiant look in his eyes, "This is a groundbreaking paper! No matter how many words, pages, rhetoric, or nonsense it contains... let alone the people at Peking University, Tsinghua University, or Nankai University, even those so-called 'experts' at the Cavendish Laboratory haven't accomplished anything in 18 years. Which journal in the world would dare to reject such a paper?" He patted the stack of papers and spoke even more passionately, "Who would be willing to reject such an article?"
Xu Shaoqian leaned back in his armchair, his tone strangely flat and his attitude cold and harsh. "Knowing that tens of millions of people will read this paper, you should understand that even your grandmother wouldn't be interested in hearing your nagging, let alone those nitpicking reviewers. If you don't want us to be ridiculed even more, then this article should be more logically clear and concise. Liang Zhang, you have to understand that this paper in your hands is garbage. I can't find a more appropriate word other than garbage."
Liang Zhang: "...This is garbage? Why?!"
Xu Shaoqian added: "Yes, garbage. The first draft you gave me was bullshit. Now it's better, but it's still garbage."
Chu Wang had never expected Xu Shaoqian to become so sharp-tongued once his subject touched upon her field. She recalled her nightmare-like master's degree years, when her advisor, wearing glasses and expressionless, repeatedly probed through her thesis, repeatedly sending her back for rewrites, repeatedly telling her, "I can't understand! Don't use your non-native English background as an excuse! Your word choice and sentence structure are illogical, not a language problem!"
She understood this feeling all too well.
A basin of cold water extinguished the enthusiasm from the beginning, and Chu Wang gave Liang Zhang a sympathetic smile.
"Break up all long sentences—don't repeat yourself. Writing an academic paper isn't about learning to write poetry like Du Fu, it's about learning to write like a poet..."
Chu Wang rubbed his head, wondering what the connection was between Du Fu and the poets who wrote poems with great effort, when Liang Zhang immediately took over the conversation, almost in tears: "It takes three years to write two lines, and tears flow when I recite them?"
Xu Shaoqian felt that the boy was teachable and nodded, "You can say that."
Chu Wang almost knelt down in front of the two men.
——
Because deleting each word felt like a death sentence for Liang Zhang, the entirety of the paper's revisions fell to Xu Shaoqian. Even though he only had to revise three pages, it took him nearly a month—reconsidering the details, repeatedly adjusting for experimental deviations, and performing differential calculations; reorganizing the paper's structure, and deleting long sentences and logically confusing paragraphs...
Whenever Chu Wang and Liang Zhang were in the laboratory, he would definitely be there; when she was not there, if she happened to pass by the laboratory after class, she would always see the light on outside Xu Shaoqian's window.
Therefore, during this month, Mrs. Xu was able to see Xu Shaoqian much less often.
Mrs. Xu often said, "Why do you always accompany me? If he doesn't want to go to school, I will force him to go."
Mrs. Xu often asked Chu Wang to tell her about interesting and fun things that happened in the lab. She'd told her stories twice that she found particularly amusing, but afterward, Mrs. Xu looked bewildered. She asked several questions, but couldn't quite grasp what she'd found so funny. Over time, Chu Wang lost the ability to tell her stories, and Mrs. Xu stopped asking.
Mrs. Xu smiled as if relieved and said, "I still like you to play with me the most. I've been feeling better recently. I've been eating a lot in the past few months and have gained a lot of weight. Look at how much weight I've gained... Ouch."
Winter passed, and Mrs. Xu suddenly became interested in the popular spring fashions.
She was wearing a green pleated silk skirt that day, with a little bit of bright pomegranate red hidden in the green pleats.
Mrs. Xu said, "It's pretty, and it complements my skin tone, but it makes me look a little old-fashioned. It's not as good as the olive green blouse I wore last time with the dark red silk skirt."
Chu Wang smiled and said, "My aunt said the same thing."
Mrs. Xu said, "Your young aunt is quite a wonderful person."
Chu Wang laughed and said, "She really dislikes the way I look at clothes and often scolds me."
Mrs. Xu asked, "So, what does she have to say about the fashions of ladies these days?"
Chu Wang thought about it carefully and said, "Black cloaks seem to be in fashion among ladies these days. When my aunt plays mahjong, she often sees several ladies wearing them. They look particularly imposing. My aunt always says, 'This kind of clothing only looks good on thin, fair-skinned ladies. Unfortunately, after getting married, those ladies get fatter and fatter, and wearing those furry cloaks makes them look even more hunky. But young girls can't wear them; they look old-fashioned.'"
In fact, my aunt's original words were: "A wife who has given birth to a child is blessed." She considered it for a moment and deleted this part. Then she added: "Then it is most suitable for you, Master's wife."
Mrs. Xu was delighted to hear this and asked her to recommend a few tailors.
Chu Wang said, "In early spring, Hong Kong enters summer in the blink of an eye. If you hire a tailor, you won't even have your clothes on before you've even started wearing them, and you'll have to make summer clothes again. So when my aunts and her family go to Shanghai, they often go to fashion stores to try on clothes, and they don't often hire tailors."
Mrs. Xu asked the name of the fashion store again.
Chu Wang thought for a moment and said, "There seems to be a Liuyu store and another Pinfu store... I think that's what they're called, but I'm not sure. Next time I'll ask my aunt when she's going to Shanghai, and have her bring back your size. She heard that you and Professor Xu took great care of me, and she doesn't know how to thank you."
Mrs. Xu couldn't help but refuse. After a while, she asked again, "Is the school very busy these days? Why doesn't Wenyu often come?"
Chu Wang smiled and said, "He has a girlfriend."
Mrs. Xu asked with great interest which family the girl was from.
Chu Wang rolled his eyes and said, "She's from the mainland, a girl from a well-educated family. She's a very nice girl."
Lately, Mrs. Xu has been taking an interest in many things and asking questions earnestly, but she hasn't been particularly interested in Chu Wang's answers. Perhaps it's like someone who has just had a serious illness and when they feel better, all their energy goes into growing cells, so their thinking can't keep up.
Chu Wang chatted with Mrs. Xu for a while, and on his way back, he happened to meet Ye Wenyu who came to visit Mrs. Xu. The two of them met, and after a few casual jokes, Chu Wang let him in.
"Speak of the devil, and he will appear." Mrs. Xu smiled for a while when she saw him coming.
Ye Wenyu asked, "What did my aunt say to her about me?"
"You have a girlfriend, but you keep her hidden from your aunt?" Mrs. Xu scolded.
Ye Wenyu laughed: "Her family has strict discipline. Every time I ask her out, I always bring three or five friends with me. I don't want to ruin her reputation. Aunt, please keep it a secret for me."
Mrs. Xu smiled and nodded.
After a while, she asked again, "What do you think is different between when Miss Lin first went to school and now?"
Ye Wenyu laughed heartily. "She seems to have gotten prettier. The students have been privately selecting a few candidates for campus beauties lately, and in the past few months, she's suddenly made the list like a dark horse. Sometimes in large classes, the boys always like to crowd around her to sit." The campus beauty pageant was a popular after-school pastime for boys her age. While it was just for fun, the final result wasn't entirely unreasonable.
"And her?"
"Her? I guess all she knows how to do is solve ordinary differential equations and do physics experiments? She seems to have never looked anyone in the eye."
Mrs. Xu smiled as she reflected on the changes Chu Wang had undergone over the past six months. They were far more than just growth. Coming from a prominent family, she herself understood the difference between a daughter of a well-disciplined family and a daughter of a lesser family. Her every word, gesture, smile, and expression were characterized by a rare elegance. This elegance, embodying a wealth of modern etiquette, was evident in her bright eyes and confident smile, a departure from the graceful demeanor of the ladies of the rich families of yesteryear. But she understood: these manners were not something one could cultivate in ordinary families. To put it in Mrs. Xu's limited vocabulary, they were the refined and courteous manners of a truly modern aristocratic woman.
Beyond this difference in demeanor, the greater difference lies in her appearance. She's grown taller, her figure becoming more slender. Her hair is jet-black, slightly curled, and her dark eyes, which complement her perfectly, always gleam with a glint of alertness. Her delicate nose has a slightly upturned tip, giving it a playful air, and the corners of her lips are slightly tilted upward. Even when she's not smiling, it feels like she's looking at you with a smile: a smile that carries a hint of sarcasm that's too transparent. Sometimes you'd be annoyed by this "smile," but this slight annoyance wouldn't constitute anger for such a young girl, so it would just turn into a slight resentment. Over time, that resentment would unknowingly transform into genuine affection.
"She is a very good girl. Who wouldn't like a pretty and smart girl?" Mrs. Xu often concluded with a smile. Even when there were people around, she would not hesitate to express her love for Chu Wang.
At such times, Xu Wenjun would often look at her quietly—with his usual gaze, the look of a doctor looking at a patient with a stubborn disease that he could not cure—and silently pack up his textbooks and go to his room.
——
The final draft of "The Existence of Neutrons" was one and a half pages.
On the day the draft was completed, Xu Shaoqian asked both of them to review it, and both of them said that there was nothing that could be modified.
There was only one thing. Liang Zhang frowned: "Why am I the first author?"
Xu Shaoqian smiled and said, "It doesn't matter who it is. I can't get any higher up the ladder, so this empty reputation is useless. As for you, it's time for you to get married and start a family."
Liang Zhang said, "I'm not worried about that. If you say so, why not give the first author title to this little girl? She'll have the credit in the future, and her reputation will be even greater. A genius has emerged from the University of Hong Kong! Everyone wants to come and see him."
"That's absolutely not possible." Xu Shaoqian frowned even deeper. "She's still young and can't afford it. If she gets hurt in the future, can you afford it?"
Liang Zhang chuckled: "I was just joking, why are you so serious?"
However, when the final manuscript was taken to the school printing room for the Russian typist to print, Chu Wang and Liang Zhang both took the initiative and worked together to change the first author to "Xu Lai".
After putting the paper into a paper bag and sealing it, the three began to decide which journal to submit it to.
"Of course it's the Bulletin of the Royal Society!" Liang Zhang said righteously, "Let those arrogant fools from Cavendish, the Copenhagen Institute for Theoretical Physics, and the Leiden Institute keep an eye on it!"
"No! What the hell is the Proceedings of the Royal Society!" Chu Wang almost flipped the table: "It must be Natural Science!"
"Emperor's Notice!"
"Natural science!"
…
Xu Shaoqian smiled and shook his head, explaining to Liang Zhang, "Students from British colonies know more about the British Empire, but I think natural sciences are better."
Liang Zhang held his head and roared, "You European and American students look down on us New England students! I knew it!"
Xu Shaoqian smiled and said, "No."
"You are!"
Xu Shaoqian continued to smile: "I just look down on you."
Chu Wang smiled and clapped his hands.
After finally expediting the paper to the National Science Press, the three of them emerged from the post office. Liang Zhang, overwhelmed with joy, ran up and down the street, laughing loudly, shouting, "Please remember to look up to me when we meet next time! Whether it's Peking University or Nankai University, or Cavendish or Leiden!"
He ran around again with a smile, then knelt on the ground and kissed the earth: "Neutron! I love you!"
Chu Wang and Xu Shaoqian both took a long detour.
Xu Shaoqian had been unusually silent lately, his brows slightly furrowed whenever he was quiet. Chu Wang, however, understood that this was a common state for people lost in thought.
The two walked in silence for a long time. Chu Wang looked at him silently for a while, thinking in his heart: For a long time after the neutron, the first thing that was opened up was the astrophysical situation - compact stars, neutron stars, old stars and white dwarfs... As for nuclear fission, it was not until six years later that the two scientists thought of it while taking a chance walk.
So what Xu Shaoqian was thinking about at this moment was about high-density stars, or the mass difference between the fission products and the mass before the fission after the uranium nucleus fissioned?
If it is the former, then she has more time to hope that this article "The Existence of Neutrons" can not only bring great fame to the University of Hong Kong, but also bring more famous people.
If it is the latter, given the current situation, how can we defeat other stronger players in the sprint race?
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