The top student must be diligent.

Chapter 234 No Longer Far Away
At nine o'clock in the morning, Xiao Yi arrived at the office building of the School of Mathematical Sciences of USTC.

Xiao Yi's office is on the third floor. It is a single office, and its specifications are not much different from the dean's office.

After all, he is a Fields Medal winner, so of course he receives the best treatment in the School of Mathematics.

However, although the office was nice, Xiao Yi didn't come here very often for a long time. He mainly stayed in the Science Island Laboratory.

Of course, starting from this semester, Xiao Yi will use it more often.

I tidied up the office simply. There is no need to worry about the hygiene situation. The school usually arranges people to come here for regular cleaning.

Finally, he sat down at his desk, took out a pile of experimental materials from his briefcase and began to read them.

After more than a month of experiments, he has gradually mastered the synthesis rules of MHT-7, although there is still a gap in the yield rate. However, for materials with such complex synthesis methods, a low yield rate is normal, and the yield rate is also a key factor that ultimately affects the cost.

In addition, he also optimized it based on MHT-7, and now there are two improved models, MHT-8 and MHT-9. Compared with MHT-7, their performance is closer to the theoretical performance of twisted carbon.

However, the yield rate of these two improved models is even lower, which is a cliff-like drop compared to the yield rate of MHT-7.

The yield rate of MHT-7 can now be guaranteed to be 25%, but the other two generations are less than 10%.

So for now, he is still trying to prioritize optimizing the process of MHT-7, and then optimizing MHT-8 and MHT-9.

As for the twisted carbon itself, it has not yet been perfectly synthesized.

However, he was no longer in a hurry at this time.

When the yield rate of MHT-7 reaches 50%, he will officially launch the controlled nuclear fusion program.

While I was thinking about my next move, there was a knock on the office door.

Xiao Yi came back to his senses, and began to pack up the experimental materials in his hands, and said, "Please come in."

The door was opened, but the voice came before the person appeared.

"Brother Xiao!"

As soon as he heard the voice, Xiao Yi knew who had arrived.

Turning around, I saw Chen Muhua walking in excitedly.

"Brother Xiao, I finally see you!"

Xiao Yi rolled his eyes, coughed twice, and said with a serious expression: "You have to call me teacher when you are in school."

"Okay, okay, Mr. Xiao."

Chen Muhua shrugged and then said, "Let's not talk about it for now. I want to take a photo with you first and show it to the guys in the group."

As he said that, he walked up, took out his cell phone, took a photo with Xiao Yi, and then sent it to the original joint entrance examination group.

"Are you still using that group?"

Xiao Yi couldn't help but say.

He hasn't paid attention to this group for a long time.

"Isn't it?" Chen Muhua said, "Teacher Xiao, you haven't chatted in the group for a long time."

Xiao Yi said: "How can I be your teacher otherwise?"

The corners of Chen Muhua's mouth twitched suddenly.
Well, he couldn't respond to this, so he just used his phone to start a group chat.

Xiao Yi didn't care. He would wait until everyone arrived before deciding.

At this moment, the office door was knocked again, and another person walked in.

"Excuse me, this is Professor Xiao... Professor Xiao!"

Compared to Chen Muhua, this one was more reserved. He asked a polite question when he came in, but he quickly recognized Xiao Yi sitting over there and immediately shouted excitedly.

Xiao Yi looked over and said with a smile: "Is that Liang Qiushi? Come in."

Liang Qiushi nodded and walked in quickly.

"Hello, Professor Xiao!"

Xiao Yi nodded and said, "Just call me teacher from now on."

Professors in domestic universities are generally called teachers by their own students, so calling them professors seems a bit strange.

Liang Qiushi readily agreed: "Okay, Teacher Xiao."

Xiao Yi nodded with satisfaction and said, "Well, so when it comes to recruiting students, it's better not to look for people you already know."

Sun Lina and Luo Mingya were typical examples.

Look at Chen Muhua over there, he is still in the water group, with a smile on his face from time to time.

It seems that I have to give this kid some more tasks when the time comes.

At this moment, Chen Muhua, who was looking at a group of people in the group cursing "Born Out", had a smug smile on his face when he suddenly felt a chill on his back. He turned around and saw that Xiao Yi's gaze had already shifted away without a trace.

After scratching his head, Chen Muhua put away his phone and went up to Liang Qiushi to get to know each other.

No matter what, they are now considered Xiao Yi's first generation disciples, so they still need to get to know each other first.

Moreover, these two people had actually met before. After all, one was from Peking University and the other from Tsinghua University, and they were both in the Department of Mathematics, so there were many opportunities for the two sides to communicate.

Before long, they became familiar with each other and even started talking about games.

"Have you got through to Black Monkey?"

"Yeah, it was fun, so I just speed-run it and booked the best of the year first."

"Awesome, take me with you when the time comes."

"..."

Listening to the conversation between the two, Xiao Yi couldn't help but feel old. He had no idea what they were talking about.

At this time, his third student Sun Yuan finally arrived.

Sun Yuan looks tall and seems to be an honest person.

Compared with Liang Qiushi and Chen Muhua, he seems more dull.

As a physics student, he obviously fits people's stereotype more than Chen Muhua and Liang Qiushi.

"Okay, everyone, come here."

When the three students arrived, Xiao Yi waved to the two people sitting on the sofa.

Soon, two people came over.

"Okay, now that you're all here, I'll tell you about your main goals for this semester and the next few years as a graduate student. Of course, there are also graduation requirements."

Xiao Yi said: "Let's talk about the graduation requirements first."

“As my students, I hope that you can publish at least one top journal article by the time you graduate.”

Upon hearing this request, the three of them immediately looked embarrassed.

For those who have published SCI papers, the difficulty of publishing in top journals is all too clear.

Of course, although they found it very difficult, they did not feel discouraged.

No matter what, they are all more or less people who aspire to become mathematicians and physicists, and sooner or later they will strive to publish in top journals. If they back off now, it would be a bit embarrassing.

Think about those top experts, which one of them didn’t publish top publications when they were students?
Not to mention the mentor in front of them.

Seeing the reactions of the three people, Xiao Yi nodded with satisfaction.

On the premise of ensuring interest, he believes in the educational method of turning pressure into motivation.

Of course, the pressure has to be appropriate, and for these three talented students, the pressure of graduation requirements is completely sufficient.

Then he asked, "This is the only graduation requirement, there is nothing else."

"After all, we are engaged in pure theory, and for most scholars, being able to come up with a theory in their lifetime is already an important contribution to science and humanity."

"Of course, this is my graduation requirement for you. The school's graduation requirements also include exams. If you can't pass the exams, don't blame me."

Xiao Yi shrugged.

Of course, postgraduate examinations are pure fun, and the invigilator most likely won’t care.

"Then the goal for this semester, or your entire first year of graduate school, is to read books and papers." Xiao Yi said, and took out three pieces of paper from the side and handed them to them one by one.

"Here are some books and papers I have listed based on your research direction. Your goal for this year is to finish reading these books and papers and write a short paper."

"The quality of your essays will determine my evaluation of you, so please try to write as good as possible."

"Of course." Xiao Yi smiled: "If you can write your graduation thesis within the first year, you won't need a short essay. I will also write a very nice evaluation for you and directly apply for your graduation."

The three people's eyes lit up, but they soon shook their heads helplessly.

What a joke, they only publish one top journal in a year. They are not the teacher in front of me.

But they knew that because Xiao Yi's undergraduate thesis was so impressive, he didn't even study for a master's degree and graduated directly to get a doctorate.

It’s much better than those who get a doctorate directly.

After all, direct doctoral studies do not provide a master's degree.

"Finally, this is your overall goal during your master's degree."

"Well, the overall goal is of course to be bigger than your graduation goal."

"Master's degree is the time when you officially enter the real scientific research period, so you need to deal with this period well."

"I hope that after you have completed these three years, you will be able to be called a senior mathematician or physicist. You may not be a real mathematician or physicist at this time, but you already have your own way of thinking in your respective research. Having your own way of thinking is the prerequisite for becoming a real 'scientist'."

"And then, as you continue to produce results and publish papers, you will become a real mathematician and physicist before you know it."

"Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't achieve this goal during your master's degree. You still have a few years to complete your doctorate. By then, you will probably understand what I'm saying now. By then, you will have officially embarked on the path of becoming a mathematician and physicist."

Listening to Xiao Yi's description to them, the three of them showed an expression of longing on their faces.

Mathematician!
physicist!

This is the dream goal for students like them when they decide to embark on a path of scientific research.

But obviously, this will also be a road that tests one's patience.

However, when the three of them came back to their senses, Chen Muhua suddenly asked: "Brother Xiao, how long did it take you to become a mathematician?"

Xiao Yi was stunned: "Me?"

He thought for a moment and said, "Maybe... just two years?"

Since he successfully proved the Elliott-Halberstam conjecture, he probably became a mathematician, right?

Of course, now he is more often known as a master of mathematics.

However, there is no need to say this to the three confused young men in front of me.

So as not to hit them too hard.

……

That night, Xiao Yi treated the three of them to a meal to enhance their relationship, and then he spent time alone with the three of them.

The next day, they officially entered the life of graduate students.

Compared to undergraduates, graduate students have more freedom. Of course, this only refers to mathematics and theoretical physics graduate students like them. If they change to other majors...

That's hard to say.

Of course, the main point of such a profession is that a master can lead you to the door, but the practice is up to you.

Xiao Yi can provide guidance for their research and help them complete their projects easily, but it does not provide any improvement for them.

What Xiao Yi could do was to occasionally give them some questions, or recommend some papers that he thought were good, assign them some tasks, so that they could keep up with the time they spent on studying, and so on.

If you want to excel in mathematics and theoretical physics, you must rely on your strength.

There is absolutely no famous mathematician or theoretical physicist who has not produced any results.

As for some other fields...well, for example, the Silicon Valley female celebrity who claimed that a drop of blood could detect various diseases, or the room-temperature superconductivity, Alzheimer's disease, etc., the list goes on.

Life returned to normal, and Xiao Yi once again devoted his time to the research of MHT-7.

Perhaps the only difference is that I have to occasionally pay attention to what my students are doing.

Have you studied today?

Have you read the paper?
Have you thought about the problem?

This went on until a day in mid-September.

……

The entrance of the Plasma Institute.

Xiao Yi came here again.

"Hey, Professor Xiao, how come you have time to come to our institute again today?"

Zhao Zhanyou had already come to the door to greet Xiao Yi.

"I heard that Professor Xiao has started teaching at HKUST and has started to teach students. How does it feel?"

Xiao Yi smiled and said, "That's it. It's my first time teaching students anyway. Apart from giving them some guidance occasionally, there's nothing else that's different."

"That's true. Teaching students is both troublesome and simple. The most important thing is to see how the students themselves are." Zhao Zhanyou nodded.

"Okay, Director Zhao, let's get down to business." Xiao Yi's expression became serious. "I came here today to discuss something very important with you and Academician Li."

"So please prepare a safe enough room. Only the three of us know about this."

Hearing what Xiao Yi said, Zhao Zhanyou was stunned, and then he became serious, "I understand, we will go find Academician Li now."

……

Not long after, they found Academician Li and came to a room that was kept confidential enough. By the way, Xiao Yi also asked Wang Li to check the room. After making sure there were no surveillance devices, he closed the door and there were only three of them left in the room.

"I am ready to officially start the nuclear fusion reactor project."

This was Xiao Yi’s first sentence.

Hearing his words, Li Jiangan's eyes gradually shook.

Zhao Zhanyou hadn't reacted yet and said, "So that's it! We've already prepared for this..."

"Pah!" Li Jiangan, who was standing next to him, slapped Zhao Zhanyou on the head. "I shouldn't have recommended you to be the director in the first place."

Then he turned around and said to Xiao Yi in disbelief: "Do you mean... the demonstration pile?"

Xiao Yi nodded.

"Have you figured out that material?"

Li Jiangan has not forgotten what Xiao Yi said at the induction ceremony of their Plasma Institute.

Xiao Yi did not answer directly. Instead, he took out several documents from his bag and handed them to Li Jiangan and Zhao Zhanyou who was covering his head.

The two men took it and looked at it for a while, and Li Jiangan stood up in disbelief.

And Zhao Zhanyou immediately stopped covering his head and looked at the test results listed in the materials in shock.

Such radiation resistance...

It was completely beyond their imagination.

Li Jiangan: "This... can actually create such a material!"

Zhao Zhanyou: “Fuck!”

After being shocked, Li Jiangan looked at Xiao Yi again and said solemnly: "What is your plan? Our Plasma Institute will fully cooperate with you."

Zhao Zhanyou really wanted to say that he was the director, but when he thought of the slap he had just received, he gave up struggling.

Xiao Yi said: "First apply for the project under other names, such as building a new experimental device facility, and then I will contact them and inform them of the relevant news."

"Director Liu has already informed me of this."

"My old boss will always be there to support me."

"This time, nuclear fusion will no longer be far away from us!"

(End of this chapter)