"Ah? Didn't Xu say anything about it? It's undergrad graduation in three months?"
"No, PhD graduation."
"How was this arranged?"
"After the semester begins, I'll graduate with my bachelor's, get into Li's master's and PhD program, and after finishing my PhD thesis, I'll just directly graduate."
"Eh? Isn't that too rushed?"
"I requested it, for Li's good. During my PhD, I produced too much, which would embarrass Li. But after I graduate, it won't be a problem," Qiao Ze carefully explained.
The bright girl suddenly realized.
This was indeed the best solution.
Not to mention embarrassing Li Jiangao during the PhD, the anonymous whistleblower incident last time and some online comments made Su Mucheng feel quite embarrassed for Li Jian Gao.
But things would indeed be different after graduation.
Once the mentor's child has become independent, any future achievements would not embarrass the mentor but instead could be a source of pride.
They could walk anywhere with their heads held high, saying, "Look, this is the child we raised."
One could only say that Qiao Ze was very considerate for Li Jian Gao.
"You're really too kind and considerate!"
"By the way, Qiao, what's your plan after graduation? Isn't Xu worried you'll leave?"
"Chief Researcher at Xilin Institute of Mathematics."
"Oh, no wonder. The school is so eager to get the institute established. Then Qiao, are you going to teach us after you graduate with your PhD?"
"Researchers aren't responsible for teaching, but they can supervise graduate students."
Su Mucheng sighed, but then she reconsidered and felt that the school's arrangement was actually very considerate.
There really wasn't any need for Qiao Ze to be a professor; making him teach undergraduates would be a torment for both sides. What's the point?
Great scholars don't necessarily make good teachers.
There isn't much to say about the grand banquet.
It was just a large buffet; abroad, it would be called a cocktail party.
Qiao Ze also came to the event as Xu Dajiang had promised.
He did discuss some issues related to Yang-Mills Theory with a few scholars, but that was about it.
Honestly, a five-hour lecture wasn't enough for everyone to have a profound understanding of the new algebra proposed by Qiao Ze, so for him, there really wasn't much to discuss in depth.
It wasn't even a matter that could spark a debate.
As for humbly asking for advice, that was even less necessary.
Apart from Su Mucheng and Li Jian Gao, Qiao Ze lacked patience with others.
Specifically, when deriving a result from a condition, he liked to use the word "obviously." Coupled with Qiao Ze's usual method of thinking, as long as he explained a problem once, no matter how many "obviously" were used, he assumed the other party had understood.
As for the most important aspect of a cocktail party—socializing—after the other party had spoken at length, replying with: "I'm not good at ineffective communication," was enough to make most people keep their distance from Qiao Ze.
A quirky scholar was bound to be unpopular.
Fortunately, it seemed Qiao Ze never needed anyone else's approval.
The biggest trouble was dealing with the editors who wanted to commission articles from Qiao Ze.
Thankfully, Su Mucheng was there to help handle them.
Even though Qiao had no plans to change the journal he submitted to, he didn't need to have a tense relationship with other journals.
In any case, for those not-to-be-offended people, Su Mucheng was always the one to step in.
It wasn't that Qiao liked offending people, but often he didn't realize he had, while others felt offended.
At the end of the banquet, Qiao Ze quickly ate something and then slipped away quietly with Su Mucheng.
For some people, this kind of event could be enjoyable, but for others, it ultimately wasn't a good fit.
"Qiao, 'Science' magazine's Davis said he wants to arrange an exclusive interview with you, to put you on the cover,"
"Did you turn it down?"
"Don't you want to be on the cover?"
"But today you've become a hot topic online, everyone is popularizing the Yang-Mills Theory and the mass gap hypothesis. Some even predict that in two years you're definitely going to win the Fields Medal. Heh, you'd be the world's youngest recipient."
"How can that be meaningless too? You didn't think before."
Qiao Ze replied, "I used to think such recognition was meaningful. But after this lecture, I don't feel the need for others to recognize whether I'm successful or not."
Su Mucheng blinked, catching a glimpse of the mental trajectory of Qiao Ze's perception of the world.
This was problematic...
Qiao Ze had probably realized his uniqueness, and his thoughts had become even more indifferent.
This really wasn't fun anymore.
So on the way back to school, Su Mucheng became serious.
"Qiao, your thinking is flawed," she said.
"Do you feel like you spoke in detail at the lecture, but not many understood you, and even those top scholars in the world aren't as strong as you thought?" Su Mucheng challenged him.
Qiao Ze remained silent.
"Have you thought about this, how long did you study this subject? Over a month, Qiao, it took over a month for you to fill in many gaps and finally reach a conclusion. But how long did you speak to everyone? At most, no more than five hours, right?
For a completely new mathematical framework, even if we expect these great academics to have a deeper understanding, five hours is simply too short, isn't it? Moreover, you didn't progressively explain your understanding of the mathematical framework. Even so, some people followed your train of thought. Isn't that enough?"