Chapter 335 - 259: Watching Your Thesis Grow Up

Chapter 335: Chapter 259: Watching Your Thesis Grow Up

It was 10:00 AM, sharp.

The 2026 Outstanding Individuals Award Ceremony officially began.

The host was a senior from the campus radio station. Her voice was sweet, and her stage presence was steady.

Following her introduction, the first award recipient walked onto the stage.

"Next, let’s welcome our first award recipient—Zeng Jiyang, a third-year graduate student from the Department of Mathematics!"

Thunderous applause rose from the audience.

A young man wearing thick, black-framed glasses stood up from his seat and walked briskly toward the stage.

His gait was a little stiff, a clear sign of nervousness.

But more than that, he was excited.

Because he knew who would be presenting him with his award today.

The host began to read Zeng Jiyang’s list of accomplishments:

"Zeng Jiyang, a master’s student from the Department of Mathematics, class of 2023."

"During his bachelor’s and master’s studies, he has been a key member in two national-level research projects, three provincial- and ministerial-level projects, and four enterprise-commissioned projects."

"He has published a total of six SCI papers."

"Among them, he is the first author of three SCI Q1 papers and the second author of one SCI Q1 paper."

"The total impact factor of his published papers exceeds 30."

"He has received numerous honors, including the National Scholarship, the Principal’s Scholarship, and the Outstanding Graduate Student Pacemaker award..."

The audience burst into applause again, this time mingled with gasps of astonishment.

"Holy shit, six SCI papers?"

"And he’s first author on three Q1 papers?"

"That’s insane..."

"As expected of the math department. He’s the best of the best."

Indeed.

For a graduate student, such accomplishments were nothing short of monstrous.

Most graduate students would be lucky to publish one or two SCI papers before graduation.

Getting a Q1 publication was as rare as hen’s teeth.

And yet, Zeng Jiyang had three first-author publications in Q1 journals alone.

It was like he was using a cheat code.

However—

The moment this monstrously talented student walked onto the stage, he acted like a little fanboy who had just met his idol.

His gaze was locked onto a certain person in the presenters’ seating area.

That person was smiling as he stood up, preparing to present the award.

It was Chen Lin.

"Congratulations, Zeng Tongxue."

Chen Lin smiled as he took the certificate and medal from an attendant and handed them to the graduate student with the thick, black-framed glasses.

"Chen Shen!"

Zeng Jiyang’s voice trembled with excitement.

He took the certificate and medal with both hands, then grabbed Chen Lin’s hand.

His grip was so strong that Chen Lin actually felt a twinge of pain.

"To... to be able to meet you in person, I’m so excited!"

Zeng Jiyang’s eyes were even a little red:

"Your paper on the boundaries of differential manifolds and the control of hallucinations in generative models—I’ve read it at least ten times!"

"Although... although there are still many parts I don’t understand..."

"But... but the sheer beauty of the mathematics is truly breathtaking!"

Chen Lin coughed, a little embarrassed.

’To be honest, he still wasn’t quite used to being worshiped so fanatically.’

"Let’s drop the ’Chen Shen’ thing."

He said with a smile,

"It sounds kind of awkward. I’m a professor at the university, so just call me Professor Chen."

"Okay, Chen Shen..."

Zeng Jiyang nodded subconsciously, then immediately caught himself.

"Oh, no, I mean, Professor Chen!"

His face flushed bright red, clearly realizing his mistake.

Chen Lin’s mouth twitched.

’This kid’s really that nervous?’

But he didn’t say anything more, just smiled and patted Zeng Jiyang’s arm.

’Come to think of it, this Zeng Tongxue is several years older than me.’

’A third-year grad student must be twenty-three or twenty-four.’

’A bit older than me, his twenty-one-year-old ’teacher.’"

But in Zeng Jiyang’s eyes, age wasn’t an issue at all.

In academia, mastery, not age, makes the teacher.

Besides, the person before him was "Chen Shen"!

A figure standing at the very pinnacle of the mathematical world!

"Professor Chen!"

Zeng Jiyang looked as if he’d suddenly remembered something and asked expectantly:

"Could I... could I trouble you for an autograph?"

His tone was cautious, as if afraid of being rejected.

Chen Lin froze for a moment.

’An autograph?’

’Now that’s a new one.’

’It’s not like I’m some celebrity...’

’But then again...’

’Chen Lin didn’t move in academic circles, but from his frequent conversations with Bai Qian and Shen Yan at work, he knew that an autograph from a top scholar was indeed a type of collector’s item.’

"Of course."

Chen Lin nodded, then patted his pockets.

"But do you have a pen and paper?"

Zeng Jiyang was stunned.

’That’s right!’

’Pen and paper!’

’In his excitement, he’d completely forgotten!’

He fumbled around his pockets frantically before shaking his head in dismay.

"No... I don’t."

He hadn’t expected Chen Lin to be presenting the awards in person today.

’If I’d known, I definitely would have brought a pen and paper!’

Just as he was filled with regret, the attendant from earlier quietly approached and handed Chen Lin a pen and an exquisite notebook.

"Professor Chen, you can sign on this."

The attendant said softly:

"This notebook is a souvenir for the award recipients. We’ve prepared one for each of them."

Hearing this, Zeng Jiyang’s eyes instantly lit up.

’Yannan University!’

’As expected of my alma mater!’

’They thought of everything!’

’So considerate!’

Chen Lin was also a little surprised.

’The university was very thorough in its preparations.’

He took the pen and notebook and turned to the first page.

’What should I write?’

Chen Lin pondered for a moment.

His experience in the Imperial Capital that day involuntarily surfaced in his mind—

’That quaint, antique building.’

’That kind and amiable old man.’

’And the praise and expectations from all those seniors...’

Chen Lin lifted the pen and wrote in the notebook:

"A fine-robed youth on a fiery steed, seeing all the capital’s blossoms in one day."

"May you, at some moment in the future, be even more brilliant and spirited than you are today!"

"—Chen Lin"

After he finished writing, he closed the notebook and handed it to Zeng Jiyang, who was so excited he could barely breathe.

"Here you go."

"Thank you! Thank you, Professor Chen!"

Zeng Jiyang took the notebook with both hands, as if holding a priceless treasure.

He eagerly opened it to the first page, and when he saw the elegant handwriting, he froze.

"A fine-robed youth on a fiery steed..."

He murmured, his eyes turning red again.

’This line...’

’It was written just for me!’

’Chen Shen... no, Professor Chen wrote it for me with his own hand!’

’From this day on, this quote is mine alone!’

’It’s my motto!’

"Keep it up."

Chen Lin smiled and patted his shoulder.

"I will!"

Zeng Jiyang nodded forcefully, his voice full of determination:

"I will definitely keep working hard!"

"I definitely won’t disappoint your expectations, Professor Chen!"

Chen Lin just smiled and said nothing more.

He simply pulled back his hand, which had started to go numb from Zeng Jiyang’s grip, without making it obvious.

Just as Zeng Jiyang was about to leave the stage, he suddenly stopped.

He turned his head and looked at Chen Lin with an expression of both hope and trepidation:

"Um... uh, Professor Chen."

"Excuse me... are you still accepting doctoral students?"

As soon as he said this, the audience burst into an uproar.

"Holy shit, he’s asking to be taken on right here and now?"

"That’s bold!"

"But then again, being Chen Shen’s student is something you’d wake up smiling from a dream about..."

Hearing this, Chen Lin gave a helpless smile.

"I’m afraid not, for the time being."

He answered truthfully:

"I have a lot on my plate recently, so I don’t have time to supervise students."

’And it was the truth.’

’Yanhai’s large model was still training, the paper for the solid-state battery project was still being written, and the controllable nuclear fusion project needed him for consultations from time to time...’

’He simply didn’t have the energy to supervise students right now.’

’Besides, he took the matter of supervising students seriously.’

’If he accepted one, he had to be responsible for them until the very end.’

’He couldn’t lead them astray.’

’So, until he sorted out everything on his plate, he had no plans to take on students.’

’He had discussed this with Principal Chang Kai before.’

A flash of disappointment crossed Zeng Jiyang’s eyes when he heard this answer.

But he wasn’t discouraged. Instead, he pressed on:

"Then... then, Professor Chen, could I add you on WeChat?"

"If I have any academic questions in the future, could I ask for your guidance?"

Chen Lin: "..."

’This kid really knows how to seize an opportunity.’

’But...’

’Ah, whatever. I’ll just give it to him.’

’It’s just adding him on WeChat, after all.’

"Fine."

Chen Lin nodded.

"Get your phone out, I’ll scan you."

"Okay, okay!"

Zeng Jiyang was so excited his hands were shaking as he quickly pulled his phone from his pocket and opened his WeChat QR code.

Chen Lin scanned the code to add him, then set the contact name to "Zeng Jiyang - Math Dept, Grad Year 3".

"Thank you, Professor Chen!"

Zeng Jiyang felt like he was floating on air.

’Not only did I get an autograph, I also got Chen Shen’s WeChat!’

’Today is absolutely the luckiest day of my life!’

"Alright, you can go now."

Chen Lin said with a smile and a wave of his hand,

"There are still other recipients waiting."

"Okay, okay!"

Zeng Jiyang nodded repeatedly and walked off the stage, looking back every few steps.

As soon as he was off the stage, he was immediately surrounded by his classmates.

"Holy shit, Old Zeng, you’re the man!"

"Adding him on WeChat on the spot? How’d you manage that?"

"Can you let me see the autograph?"

"Don’t push, don’t push, let me see too..."

Zeng Jiyang was completely swamped by his classmates, unable to hide the smile on his face.

The award ceremony continued.

The second recipient was a doctoral student from the Department of Computer Science.

His name was Zhou Wenyuan, a second-year Ph.D. student.

As the host read his list of achievements, Chen Lin couldn’t help but nod in approval.

This Dr. Zhou had published a paper last year at ICML, a top international conference on artificial intelligence.

The paper’s topic was a novel solution to the vanishing gradient problem in deep learning.

While not groundbreaking work, it was still a solid academic contribution.

Publishing a paper at a conference of ICML’s caliber was impressive in its own right.

When Chen Lin handed him the certificate and medal—

the twenty-five- or twenty-six-year-old man was so moved he nearly burst into tears.

"Pro... Professor Chen!"

His voice trembled.

"I... I grew up reading your papers and the news about you!"

Chen Lin: "..."

’What does he mean, he ’grew up reading my papers and the news about me’?’

’Dude, I’m several years younger than you!’

’The way you say it makes me sound like some ancient, all-powerful being...’

But Chen Lin didn’t correct him.

’After all, the guy’s just excited.’

’It’s understandable.’

He simply smiled and shook Zhou Wenyuan’s hand.

"Keep up the good work. The future is bright."

Then, following the same procedure as before, he took the pen and notebook from the attendant and wrote a few words of encouragement on the first page:

"One day I shall stand on the highest peak, and all other mountains will be small below. May you keep climbing on your path of research and soon reach a peak of your own! —Chen Lin"

Zhou Wenyuan’s hands were shaking as he accepted the notebook.

"Thank you... Thank you, Professor Chen!"

He was so excited he became incoherent:

"This... this is the best gift I’ve ever received!"

"I... I will definitely treasure it forever!"

Chen Lin smiled and nodded.

"Go on."