Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Two oral defense judges at an academician level would be coming.
No one else had this kind of treatment.
Lu Zhou could not help but feel the pressure.
Speaking of which, could the outsiders be oral defense judges?
Lu Shenjian was a member of the physics department at the University of Jin Ling, but that Xiang Huanan guy was from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Then again, if one were to think about it carefully, it was not as if the school would refuse a big name.
There was still a week before the oral defense began.
There was an interview waiting for Lu Zhou before the oral defense.
After the interview, Principal Xu would personally award him with one million yuan.
Lu Zhou was surprised to see that Suzhou TV station was the one conducting the interview.
Lu Zhou did not understand this arrangement.
He thought that it would be awkward to see a reporter from Suzhou TV station, but not only did the reporter came, the director of Suzhou TV station also came.
When Director Li met with Lu Zhou, he shook his hand.
“Lu Zhou, allow me to apologize! It was our fault to not verify the program’s content. We’ve found the relevant personnel and fired him. We hope you can forgive us!”
Lu Zhou was a little unprepared at Director Li’s kind words.
To be honest, he held no grudges against the Suzhou TV station.
After the plagiarism problem occurred, the involved personnel were all given the punishment they deserved.
Now the director even personally came to apologize, so there was no need to hold grudges.
Lu Zhou smiled and said, “It’s fine, Director Li, I’m happy with the way your station handled the matter. It’s already over, so let’s forget about it.”
Director Li smiled and said, “On behalf of Suzhou TV station, we thank you for your forgiveness.”
He paused for a second before he said to the reporter.
“Xiao Wang, start the interview now.”
“Okay, director.”
Reporter Xiao Wang smiled and walked over.
Soon after, the interview officially began.
Judging from the interview, Suzhou TV was being quite nice to Lu Zhou. They did not ask any hard questions.
By the end of the interview, Lu Zhou finally knew why the university had arranged this.
This was good publicity for both the school and the TV station.
After the interview…
Principal Xu of University of Jin Ling and Lu Zhou stood in front of the camera and held a one million yuan ICBC cheque.
This one million yuan would be put into Xiao Ai’s new home.
…
At night, Lu Zhou ate dinner at the cafeteria before he went back to his dorm. He then sat in front of his computer and started to edit his oral defense PowerPoint presentation.
He knew that this oral defense would not be easy. Even though he was only an undergraduate student, the two academicians would not go easy on him.
Therefore, Lu Zhou had to practice all possible questions about his thesis.
This process was the most grueling.
His three roommates finally came back from their lecture.
Huang Guangming saw Lu Zhou and curiously looked at his PowerPoint.
“Zhou, what are you doing?”
Lu Zhou thought and replied, “Oral defense powerpoint.”
Liu Rui put his backpack down and said, “Oral defense?”
Lu Zhou nodded, “Yeah, graduation oral defense.”
The dorm became silent.
Lu Zhou felt it and sighed.
He had been deliberately avoiding this issue, but he knew that he had to tell them at some point. This was life and separation was a part of life.
Unfortunately, this separation came too quickly.
Huang Guangming forced a smile and said, “Actually… We kind of guessed it. We were talking about this just a while ago, but anyway, good luck!”
Shi Shang put his hand on Lu Zhou’s shoulder and said, “Good luck.”
Liu Rui did not say anything.
This time, he was not jealous.
He always saw Lu Zhou as an enemy, and he hated his occasional gloating, but in his heart, he still saw Lu Zhou as a friend. This was precisely why he had not expressed his jealousy out loud.
Maybe, this was what a good friend should do?
Still, he could not for the life of him say good luck.
Lu Zhou felt the heaviness in the air. He smiled and said, “It’s just a graduation oral defense, I’m still sitting here. It’s not like I’m dead or something. After the oral defense, I’ll buy you guys dinner.”
Huang Guangming said, “No need, let us buy you dinner.”
Shi Shang sighed and said, “Yeah Zhou, you’ve already bought us so much food over the past two semesters. We’ll buy you dinner on the day you graduate as a celebration.”
Liu Rui nodded and said, “Yeah, we’ve to treat you.”
Lu Zhou replied, “There’s no need, we’re all friends here. You’re stressing me out…”
Shi Shang said, “It’s good to have some stress, so you don’t forget about us. Besides, remember how much stress you give us?”
The other two friends nodded.
The fuck?
Not like this.
Why are they so persistent?
Lu Zhou did not know what to say. Suddenly, his phone rang.
When Lu Zhou saw the caller, he was relieved.
It was his father.
“I have to take this call.”
Lu Zhou turned around and went to the balcony.
He then closed the balcony door behind him.
Lu Zhou took a deep breath and picked up the phone.
“Hello?”
Lu Bangguo’s voice traveled through the phone, “Son, what is the twin prime conjecture?”
When Lu Zhou heard his father’s voice, he felt better.
He smiled and replied, “Dad, you don’t need to understand it, just know that your son is nutty.”
Lu Bangguo, “Oh yeah, I just saw it on TV, so I thought I’d ask. Don’t forget to wear more clothes these few days, it’s getting cold.”
Lu Zhou, “I’m fine, you guys have to watch out for your health as well.”
Lu Bangguo smiled and said, “We’re doing great. Your mom is cooking in the kitchen. Do you want to talk to her?”
Lu Zhou smiled, “Sure…”
“…”
A twenty-minute phone call went by.
Lu Zhou then leaned against the balcony and as he looked up at the dark sky, he was quiet.
He stared at the stars for a long time…