Sail across the sea

Chapter 465: Defeating ten societies with one force
The story of publishing an article in Science was told to Yang Kai by Gao Fan last year.

The initial motivation was indeed that several teachers in the department were dissatisfied with Gao Fan's habit of skipping classes for many years and raised their concerns with the department. The academic affairs secretary, Zheng Xiuhua, suggested that Gao Fan produce some decent grades to silence the critics.

Zheng Xiuhua's original intention was for Gao Fan to find a decent publication in China, or, if that didn't work, to use his connections in the Ministry of Chemical Industry to publish an article in an industry journal within the chemical sector.

Few undergraduates are able to publish papers. If Gao Fan can publish one paper, it would be considered a good achievement, and the department would have a reason to protect him.

But Gao Fanqi wasn't the kind of person who would just publish a paper to fool people. He discussed it with Yang Kai and they decided that some of the research they had done together in the past could be written into a few good papers and published in internationally renowned academic journals.

Among them, the population control model for continuous culture of *Glucobacterium oxysporum*, which they studied when designing the vitamin C device, was assessed by Yang Kai to have the potential to be published in *Science*. Therefore, Yang Kai was responsible for conducting in-depth research on this model and wrote a paper, which was indeed submitted to *Science*.

In this era, very few domestic researchers can publish in *Science*. There are two reasons for this:
First, China's scientific research level is relatively backward, and its experimental conditions are far inferior to those of research institutions in Western countries, so it is inherently difficult to produce high-level research results.

Secondly, Chinese scholars are not yet accustomed to submitting articles to international journals, especially journals of the caliber of Science. They have a certain fear of submitting their work, and even if they have good results, they dare not try to publish them.

Yang Kai was a skeptical person, but after being encouraged by Gao Fan, he felt that publishing a paper in "Science" might not be an impossible thing.

As for Gao Fan, he had even less of a psychological barrier. It's commonplace for Chinese scholars to publish articles in journals like *Science* and *Nature*, and Gao Fan had quite a bit of experience in this regard.

Gao Fan was well aware of the topic of *Glucobacterium oxidans*, a result that was more than ten years ahead of its time. It shouldn't be too difficult for him to publish a paper in *Science*.

This was something planned last year. Two months ago, a paper co-authored by Yang Kai and Gao Fan was actually published in Science, which shocked the entire Peking University. It is said that the vocational school next door was also envious, because they had not appeared in Science for a long time.

With an article published in Science, Yang Kai immediately gained admission to a doctoral program without taking the entrance exam, and Gao Fan also gained admission to a master's program without taking the entrance exam.

Furthermore, according to Zheng Xiuhua, those teachers in the college who used to speak sarcastically to Gao Fan are now too afraid to utter a word. This is a classic case of overwhelming force; I can produce a paper in a top international journal, what can you? If I were ignorant and incompetent, wouldn't you be ashamed before humanity?
"Victory cannot be won without force."

Sitting in the archives, sipping the tea Yang Kai had brewed for him, Gao Fan said smugly.

Yang Kai commented, "This can't be considered an unfair victory. The theoretical framework you proposed was indeed brilliant. After reviewing the literature, I felt that your thinking was at least ten years ahead of the academic world."

"Gao Fan, I'm getting more and more curious about you. You're busy making money all day long, and you only have time to read a few papers when you come back to school. How come you're able to come up with such brilliant theoretical ideas?"

Gao Fan said, "Our company's General Manager Gu said several years ago that I have special abilities. I have a special sensitivity to chemical issues. What do you want me to do?"

“This might be the only explanation,” Yang Kai nodded.

Scientific research is sometimes like trying to understand a thin layer of paper. Once you break through it, everyone thinks it's all going smoothly, but before you do, nobody knows how to proceed.

The theoretical innovations proposed by Gao Fan are all traceable. It is entirely plausible to say that he was inspired by a certain theory to generate these ideas.

Normally, theoretical innovation doesn't happen easily; it often involves taking many detours before the right path is discovered by chance. Gao Fan's performance was that while others were still taking detours, he casually pointed out the correct path.

This ability could be considered a kind of special power.

"Have you chosen a mentor yet?" Yang Kai asked.

Gao Fan said, "Teacher Hai said he's willing to mentor me. Anyway, I didn't plan to study hard, so I'm content as long as someone is willing to mentor me."

Yang Kai smiled helplessly, "The department can't do anything about you. It wouldn't make sense not to recommend a student with a paper in Science for graduate school. But you've been applying for exemptions every year for your four years of undergraduate studies, so letting you go to graduate school would be a waste of a spot."

“The department isn’t losing out either. Grandma Zheng told me that the department requires me to publish one SCI-level paper every year during my three years of graduate studies, which is even higher than the requirements for doctoral students. The papers I publish can also be counted in the department’s achievements, so the department is making a killing,” Gao Fan said.

“That makes sense,” Yang Kai said, then changed the subject, asking, “By the way, is that girl from the geology department also going on to graduate school?”

"Geology Department?" Gao Fan was stunned for several seconds before he reacted. "You mean Xia Shihui? Why are you concerned about her?"

Yang Kai said, "It's not that I care. Don't you know, your sister got to know her really well when she was in Beijing during the summer vacation."

"Oh my god..." Gao Fan slapped his forehead somewhat belatedly, "I was saying that after my sister went back to Ruizhang, my mom kept subtly asking me if I had a girlfriend. Turns out it was all a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?" Yang Kai asked curiously. "So, you and Miss Xia really aren't dating?"

“I swear by the school badge, absolutely not.”

"She doesn't feel the same way about you?"

"...I don't think so, right?"

"Did you see Miss Xia when you went back to school this time?"

"Not yet," Gao Fan replied, then, realizing something was amiss, added, "I don't usually go out of my way to see her. Our relationship is really just professional. For example, last year when I went to the Ministry of Chemical Industry to discuss rare earth matters, it was because Xia Shihui saw some irregularities while conducting a rare earth survey in Maolin and brought them up with me. That's all there is to our relationship."

“Xiaomin did tell me that she felt Xia Shihui might not be interested in that aspect yet. She originally had her eye on a student council member named Yuan Xiaoyan, saying she thought Yuan Xiaoyan was pretty and more suitable for you,” Yang Kai said.

"Is she here to sell paint, or to find a match for her brother's wife?"

Gao Fan looked up at the sky and sighed deeply.

(End of this chapter)