Chapter 345 - 290: Joint Training

Chapter 345: Chapter 290: Joint Training

"The next step is the clinical translation of single-atom catalysts for cardiovascular diseases."

"Principal Gong..."

"This is the exact direction Li Dong is heading in right now."

When Gong Qi heard the word "cardiovascular," it suddenly clicked.

He remembered who this Principal of Shuimu sitting across from him was.

He was the man who worked in neuromodulation, a first-prize winner of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, a developer of brain pacemakers, the Dean of the Shuimu Medical and Engineering Cross Research Institute, and the lead researcher for Huaxia’s first implantable deep brain stimulator.

If that kid Li Dong was heading toward the clinical translation of single-atom catalysts for cardiovascular diseases...

There was no way for him to bypass Li Ming!

Gong Qi felt like he’d been hit over the head with a club; his vision sharpened with the realization.

He subconsciously glanced at the other principals.

Renmin University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University...

They were all looking down.

None of them looked up at Gong Qi.

Gong Qi understood... He was being targeted by poachers!

This meeting today—

’This whole damn thing was set up just for me.’

...

「Three days later.」

In Academician E Weinan’s office at the Yan University School of Mathematics.

When Li Dong pushed the door open and went in, Liu Ruochuan was also there.

Li Dong nodded to both teachers.

"Teacher E, Teacher Liu."

Liu Ruochuan smiled at him.

"Kid, come have a seat."

Li Dong sat down in the chair opposite the two teachers.

He looked at E Weinan, then at Liu Ruochuan.

Neither of them was in a hurry to speak.

The office was quiet for a few seconds.

In the end, it was Liu Ruochuan who spoke first.

"Kid."

"Get ready."

"You’re going to Shuimu tomorrow."

Li Dong let out a surprised "Huh?"

The first person he thought of was Mr. Qiu.

After his open lecture at Fudan University, Academician Shen Wei had told him...

"Mr. Qiu invited you to give a lecture at Shuimu, and you still haven’t gone."

So Li Dong instinctively asked,

"Teacher Liu."

"Is it for Mr. Qiu’s open lecture?"

"I’ve already prepared for that one. I was planning to go after the semester starts..."

Liu Ruochuan shook his head.

"It’s not to give a lecture."

"It’s to go handle some paperwork."

Li Dong: "...?"

’What kind of paperwork?’

Liu Ruochuan pulled a document from the desk and pushed it toward Li Dong.

Li Dong lowered his head and glanced at it.

The first page of the document was printed with the red letterheads of two universities.

On one side was Yan University.

On the other was Shuimu.

Below them was a line of text.

[Resolution on Expanding the "Joint Inter-University Program for Cultivating Top Talent" Pilot to the Field of Mathematics]

Li Dong stared at this line of text for several seconds.

He didn’t understand it.

Liu Ruochuan slowly explained.

"Kid."

"The higher-ups held a meeting a few days ago."

"At the meeting, they decided to apply the ’Joint Center for Life Sciences’ model to the field of mathematics."

"The mathematics departments of our two universities are going to be integrated."

"And you’re the subject of this pilot program."

Li Dong: "..."

Liu Ruochuan continued.

"The specific policies are more or less the same as the previous Life Sciences Center."

"Your student registration will remain with us at Yan University."

"But Shuimu will also have to go through a formal set of procedures for you, so you can go back and forth between both campuses from now on."

"The resources of both universities will be open to you."

"Including the fifteen supervisors that we at Yan University originally assigned to you..."

"Wait, Teacher Liu."

He interrupted.

"Shuimu is assigning me supervisors too?"

Liu Ruochuan nodded.

"Mhm."

"Shuimu will also be assigning you fifteen supervisors."

Li Dong: "..."

Li Dong cursed silently.

’Another fifteen?’

’I’m speechless.’

’That’s thirty supervisors between the two universities. How am I supposed to learn from all of them?’

But he also understood...

’If Yan University assigns fifteen, Shuimu can’t assign any fewer.’

’It’s a matter of face.’

’Pure formalism.’

’It’s all just a formality.’

Li Dong cursed silently to himself.

But for all his complaining,

he actually felt pretty damn good.

’Huaxia’s two most prestigious universities were fighting over me.’

Any young person in this situation would feel at least a little bit of vanity.

Li Dong nodded at Liu Ruochuan.

"Alright."

"I’ll go tomorrow, then."

Liu Ruochuan nodded as well.

Academician E Weinan, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke up.

"Li Dong."

Li Dong turned his head to look at him.

E Weinan placed his teacup on the desk.

"That paper of yours on arXiv, ’A Counterexample for Gikhmanov Iteration with Cyclic Weights Under Boundary Conditions’."

"Right now, out there, about half the people support it."

"And half oppose it."

Li Dong: "Mhm."

E Weinan looked at him.

"How about we hold a seminar here?"

"We could invite some of those who oppose you to come and hash it out?"

Li Dong shook his head.

His reply was swift and blunt.

"Teacher E, no."

"Definitely not."

E Weinan: "Hm?"

Li Dong said with a hint of disdain,

"If they can’t understand it, that’s a problem with their own abilities."

"They expect me to answer their questions? My time is valuable, too."

"Besides..."

He paused for a moment.

"This paper wasn’t written for them anyway."

...

「North Building of the School of Chemistry.」

When Li Dong pushed open the door and entered, the room was even emptier than it had been last week.

Lu Mingyuan wasn’t there, Teacher Su wasn’t there, and Zhang Yan wasn’t there either.

Only Wu Kai was sitting at a desk, staring at the main console while jotting something down on a sheet of A4 paper.

He saw Li Dong come in, looked up, and smiled.

"Hey, Li Dong."

Li Dong smiled and nodded back.

"Teacher Wu."

"Where is everyone?"

Wu Kai put down the pen in his hand.

"Old Lu went to a meeting."

He smiled.

"The next round of our government funding should be secured."

"Old Lu is in a meeting with the review experts right now."

"As for the other students..."

He pointed to a few empty spots in the lab.