Chapter 81 - 78: Zhejiang University Is Not Lacking in Excellent Students
When Sun Xiang brought Li Dong back to Professor Zhang Minfang’s office.
Professor Zhang was leisurely sipping his tea and only looked up when he heard the sound of the door opening.
He waved them over.
"Sit."
Sun Xiang was surprised to see that his professor actually had a smile on his face.
The two sat down on the sofa. Professor Zhang set down his teacup and began to speak.
"Liu Dong just brought me the results."
Professor Zhang said to Li Dong in a mild tone.
"The DNA extraction from that batch of wild samples... the electrophoresis gel came out beautifully, and the purity data is perfect."
"To be honest, many of the graduate students who have been with me for a year or two don’t have lab fundamentals as solid as yours."
Li Dong felt a little uneasy at the sight of his smile. ’After all, none of the old men who smiled at him like that were ever up to any good.’
Still, he replied politely.
"Thank you, Professor Zhang. It’s all thanks to Teacher Sun’s excellent instruction."
Professor Zhang shook his head.
"I know what he’s capable of. No need to give him the credit."
Sun Xiang: ...
Professor Zhang ignored him and continued.
"When it comes to scientific research, theory is one thing, but being able to execute it precisely on a lab bench is another thing entirely."
"While I’m still not optimistic about your chances, I’ll admit you do have a real possibility of success."
At this, Professor Zhang paused, then casually began to fill Li Dong in.
"Our School of Life Sciences at Zhejiang University is second to none in the country."
"We not only have a National Key Laboratory, but also a complete high-throughput sequencing center."
"Take what you wrote in your proposal, for example: targeting the *True Mountain Chrysanthemum* genus material that Mendel used, in order to locate, clone, and knock out the homologous genes that regulate apomixis..."
Professor Zhang smiled.
"This is a topic with a profound sense of history. If you could really prove that knocking out this gene allows the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum to replicate Mendel’s 3:1 segregation ratio, it would absolutely be a top-tier accomplishment, filling a century-old gap in the field."
"If an undergraduate were to take on this project at our school, the administration would give them the green light all the way, with priority support."
Li Dong: ???
’Professor Zhang, are you really changing the subject this abruptly?’
Sun Xiang, listening from the side, could only roll his eyes.
’Does my professor really think he’s being subtle and sophisticated? He might as well have just said, "Come to Zhejiang University, and I’ll have your back."’
In response to the olive branch Professor Zhang had extended, Li Dong replied with great sincerity.
"Professor Zhang, Zhejiang University’s resources for biology are indeed top-tier, but... I still prefer physics."
The smile on Professor Zhang’s face faltered.
’Again? What’s so great about physics, anyway?’
As a leading figure in the world of biology, Professor Zhang naturally had his academic pride.
He took a sip of tea and began to earnestly "enlighten" the young man.
"Li Dong, the field of physics is, admittedly, the cornerstone of the natural sciences."
"However, you must be realistic about the developmental trends of the discipline and your own opportunities for growth."
"The giants of physics in the early twentieth century completely reconstructed the framework of classical physics, erecting the grand edifices of relativity and quantum mechanics. That was truly a once-in-a-century golden age for the field."
"But fundamental physics today... its framework is already quite complete. The barrier to entry for a revolutionary breakthrough is extremely high. It often requires massive scientific installations costing tens of billions and collaborative teams of thousands. The space for an individual to make their mark is getting smaller and smaller."
"Many young people dive in headfirst, only to end up as a cog in a massive team, finding it nearly impossible to achieve something that is truly their own."
Professor Zhang began to sell the dream.
"But biology is different! The twenty-first century is the century of life sciences."
"From CRISPR gene editing to cell therapy, from synthetic biology to neuroscience, new technologies are emerging endlessly. It’s all virgin territory waiting to be explored."
"A young person with talent and a good idea can absolutely make revolutionary discoveries through their own work, truly cracking the code of life and changing the fate of humankind!"
Professor Zhang observed Li Dong’s expression.
But he discovered the kid was completely unmoved.
Of course, Li Dong was unmoved.
’The barrier for breakthroughs in physics is extremely high?’
’What if I were to gather the titans who revolutionized physics and hold another Solvay Conference?’
Seeing that this tactic wasn’t working, Professor Zhang coughed and switched strategies.
"Ahem... Of course, if you truly have your heart set on physics, our physics department at Zhejiang University has a rich history as well! The Zhejiang Modern Physics Center is quite renowned..."
"But, Professor Zhang..." Li Dong suddenly spoke.
"Didn’t you say just this morning... that Zhejiang University has no shortage of outstanding students?"
The air in the office suddenly went still.
Professor Zhang was so taken aback by the remark that he felt the air catch in his throat.
Sitting beside them, Sun Xiang had to struggle to keep himself from laughing out loud.
’He’d followed Boss Zhang for so many years, and this was the first time he’d ever seen him get shut down so completely!’
Professor Zhang, however, was a man who had seen his share of storms, and he managed to swallow his embarrassment.
The student had used his own words against him. If he kept pestering, he’d truly lose his dignity as a professor.
"Ahem... Let’s get back to the matter of the lab."
"Li Dong, the National Key Laboratory has strict access and security protocols. The university administration would never grant you access."
"However, the molecular workstations and the P2-level plant tissue culture room that belong to my own research group can be made available to you."
Professor Zhang mentally calculated the timeline.
"Liu Dong is still working on his current batch of samples. I estimate it will be a little over half a month before the workstation is free."
"When it’s available, you two can come over and begin the gene-editing procedure on the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum."
Li Dong nodded, listening intently.
Professor Zhang then went on to give Li Dong a few more suggestions regarding the arrangements.
...
"When the time comes, I will contact Sun Xiang and have him notify you."
"Make sure you arrange your schedules before coming over."
After he finished, Professor Zhang seemed to have lost any desire for further small talk, still smarting from Li Dong’s earlier remark.
"Alright, that’s all for today. You two can head back now."
"Thank you, Professor Zhang. We’ll be on our way, then."
Li Dong and Sun Xiang got up to leave.
By the time they walked out of the School of Life Sciences building, the sky had grown completely dark.
As the two walked back toward their hotel, Sun Xiang couldn’t resist turning to look at Li Dong.
"Li Dong, are you really not going to give Zhejiang University any more thought?"
"Honestly, the way Boss Zhang was acting back there... I was green with envy."
Li Dong was about to say, "Let’s talk about it after the college entrance exams."
At that very moment.
The phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.
Li Dong froze. He had become extremely sensitive to his phone’s vibrations.
He immediately pulled out his phone and opened WeChat.
At the very top of his chat list, a private message was marked with a small, red "unread" dot.
The sender of this chat was [John Carl Friedrich Gauss].
’The chat window from the computer... it’s showing up on my phone?’
Li Dong’s heart skipped a beat as he quickly tapped on the private message.
However, there were no new messages in the chat window.
But the unknown file that had been stuck at [Transferred: 11.2%], after nearly a month, had its progress bar now at [Transferred: 34.5%].
’That’s weird. If there’s no new message, why did it vibrate?’
Li Dong looked at the file icon, which pulsed with a faint light. On a strange impulse, he gave it a light tap.
The unknown document, only a third of which had been downloaded, actually opened!
His heart racing, Li Dong stopped in his tracks.
The vast majority of the document was garbled text.
"%&￥#@*!&... Dimensional compilation error... Underlying Logic missing... %￥#"
This was clearly due to the data being severely incomplete.
But at the very top, above all the garbled text, was a single line that had been successfully parsed.
[Young man, I have a student named Riemann...]