It must be said that Qiao Ze was really good at spoiling the mood.
When Su Mucheng saw the adulation for Qiao Ze on the internet, she was undoubtedly excited.
This once again proved how precise her judgment was.
However, Qiao Ze extinguished her enthusiasm with just three sentences. There was no helping it; Qiao's words were always so reasonable.
The key issue was that she couldn't refute them.
Maybe those now singing Qiao's praises are the same ones who, without investigation, previously cursed him as a descendant of the academic elite.
She could only end the call sulkily.
But when she looked at Lu Xiuxiu, Su Mucheng put on her sweet smile again, "Ms. Lu, Qiao Ze said we should head back early; he needs my help with discussing something. Oh, and he also asked me to tell you that he can't bear to leave you. He knows you can't settle abroad, so he definitely won't go. He wanted you to be assured."
"I knew it. Although Qiao Ze isn't much of a talker, he definitely is filial. His aunt really got anxious too quickly after reading what people said online. By the way, Chengzi, how far have you and Qiao progressed?"
"Auntie, don't worry, Qiao Ze and I are doing quite well."
"Mhm, I'm quite relieved. You know, although Qiao Ze isn't much for words and is a bit reserved, he's really dependable. He's barely ever spoken to girls since he was little, really."
"I know, Auntie. Shall we head back now?"
"Yes, we've bought about enough clothes. By the way, do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"
"Of course, Auntie, I've been looking forward to your cooking."
In the office, Qiao Ze opened his Dou Dou and typed into the chat box: "Discussions about Qiao Ze."
One has to admit that, although this gadget isn't up to his standards for paper searching yet,
it is quite on par with many talented netizens when it comes to making snarky comments with the big language model AI.
Not only can it quickly pull up the content needed, but it also throws in its own little comments while delivering the results.
"Wow, master, today your status on the Huaxia internet is like a firefly on a summer night, the full moon on the fifteenth of the first lunar month, or that dog during a solar eclipse..."
Qiao Ze glanced at this sentence and for the 107th time recently considered deleting the entire core program of this damned thing to rewrite it.
Really, if it weren't for Su Mucheng's fondness for this sort of nonsensical banter, and the fact that it's quite convenient for conducting smart searches, this AI chatbot named Dou Dou—capable of paper searching and summarizing content—would likely have been abandoned by Qiao Ze already.
Thankfully, if one ignored those unsolicited comments, Dou Dou's capabilities were pretty strong.
It had basically sorted out all of the hot topics on the internet.
Weibo, Donghu, Tieba, forums, including excerpts from popular short videos, were all organized.
Qiao Ze saw Daniel Nomit's original post on Facebook.
He became aware of the heated online debates over his expert application voting process.
He also learned of the various assessments of his first paper on foreign websites.
As for the speculations on various forums about whether he would leave Xilin University of Technology, Qiao Ze merely glanced at them before moving on.
He wasn't planning on leaving, but saw no need to express his thoughts, and he personally felt that going to Princeton would be quite difficult for him now.
Moreover, staying non-committal at this time was better. With the intense debate about whether he would go to Princeton, in Qiao's view, it was a point he could use to his advantage. Although he had no plans to leave, since he had such a great opportunity, it seemed only reasonable that if they wanted him to stay, certain people should pay a price.
One couldn't call it scheming; rather, Qiao Ze had grown accustomed to making the most rational choices and plans based on his strengths and weaknesses.
And this time, Qiao Ze wasn't planning to ask for much.
In fact, the sudden burst of internet fame had left Qiao Ze feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
He had revealed some reasons to Su Mucheng earlier but hadn't spoken so bluntly.
Yes, Qiao Ze didn't quite accept being thrust into the limelight because of an invitation from a foreign professor.
He saw it as an expression of collective insecurity.
This might seem somewhat unappreciative,
yet this point was what affected Qiao Ze the most profoundly.
Given his current situation, many professors at the University had already recognized him; even Professor Zhao Guangyao, who had left Xilin University of Technology, had once served as his backdrop, but all that was ignored by those active on the internet.
It was only Daniel Nomit's sudden public expression of appreciation that triggered the heated discussions.
This was what made Qiao Ze most uncomfortable.
Not to mention, as he had pointed out, his most complete work and academically significant paper was still in the final proofreading stages, not yet officially disclosed, and yet people on Huaxia's external websites began to sing his praises due to someone else's comments, leaving Qiao Ze feeling a twinge of both physical and psychological discomfort.
Of course, Qiao Ze just took a look.
He certainly wasn't going to waste time registering an account and arguing with netizens about this.
Entirely meaningless, something that won't change the opinions of many, it was even beneath him to engage in.
So, after browsing through his so-called popularity, he immediately started asking Dou Dou questions.
"Deeply analyze where the academic influence of Princeton comes from."
"Oh my god, why would master ask that question? No way, you're not seriously considering taking on such a huge task, are you? That's very difficult, like, taller than a hundred-story building! But luckily you have Dou Dou. Do you want me to also analyze how Xilin University of Technology School of Mathematics could level up to Princeton Mathematics Institute?"