At the age of 38, he went to college and his children were classmates.

Chapter 235, Shen Qiushan, the Great Hero! (Please Subscribe)

"Second prize?"

"Old Zhao, do you have so little confidence in your team?"

Zhang Ziran, also a professor at the School of Electronic Information, smiled and shook his head.

"If it's not second prize, could it be first prize?"

Zhao Ruihai put down his study materials, his expression turning serious. In principle, the National Undergraduate Electronic Science and Technology Competition only awards one first prize per year, with very rare exceptions where there may be two winners.

There are at least three universities in China that are stronger than Sanjiang University in the field of electronic information. Therefore, in past competitions, Sanjiang University's best result was only second prize.

In any case, the second prize was already the best result in the past ten years, and as for the first prize, Zhao Ruihai didn't even dare to think about it.

Did Tsinghua, Peking University, and USTC all underperform this year?

A thought flashed through Zhao Ruihai's mind: if he won first prize, he would definitely have to defeat all his powerful opponents!
But this seems somewhat unbelievable!

The project submitted by Sanjiang University for this competition is "Application of Electron Lasers in the Military Field".

This project is not new; some top universities and institutions have had similar projects in recent years.

The project that Sanjiang University sent to the competition was led by team captain Shen Qiushan. Zhao Ruihai glanced at it and found that the idea was not particularly novel; it was merely conventional.

Because he had been sidelined at school for a long time, Zhao Ruihai didn't take this competition seriously and left it almost entirely to Shen Qiushan.

So he just glanced at the thick project proposal casually.

As Zhao Ruihai was silently making plans in his mind, the phone on his desk suddenly rang.

He composed himself and picked up the phone.

"Professor Zhao?"

"I am Zhu Qidong."

"Huh? Principal Zhu?"

Zhao Ruihai was shocked that Principal Zhu Qidong had personally called him, a treatment he had never received before.

"Professor Zhao, you have done a great service to our school this time!"

"Special Prize in the National Undergraduate Electronic Technology Competition! This is the best result in our school's history in this competition!"

"This is an unprecedented achievement!"

Zhu Qidong's voice came through the phone.

"The grand prize?!"

Zhao Ruihai nearly dropped the phone; his face was filled with shock.

"Professor Zhao, if you don't have any work to do right now, please come to my office."

Zhu Qidong spoke again.

"Uh, okay!"

Since the principal personally summoned him, Zhao Ruihai had no reason not to go.

But after hanging up the phone, he still felt like he was dreaming.

He muttered to himself, "The grand prize!"

"We actually won the grand prize!"

"Old Zhao, now you're finally going to take off!"

"If we become rich and powerful, let's not forget each other!"

Zhang Ziran sighed with a smile.

"You really won the grand prize?"

Zhao Ruihai still looked incredulous. You know, the National Undergraduate Electronic Technology Competition has a history of more than 20 years, but in those 20 years, there have only been four special prize winners.

If Sanjiang University wins the award this time, it will be their fifth time!
This achievement is something I can brag about for a lifetime!
Of course, the honor is only one aspect. As Zhang Ziran said, Zhao Ruihai is probably really about to take off this time. Winning the top prize in the competition means that this project will likely receive an immeasurable amount of research funding.

Although these funds couldn't be pocketed directly, as the project leader, Zhao Ruihai had the authority to allocate them and could receive a huge reward.

So aside from the empty title, winning this grand prize brings real benefits.

"I'll go ask Principal Zhu about the situation first."

"The organizing committee must not have made a mistake!"

Zhao Ruihai stood up and strode out of the office.

Walking down the corridor, he was still a little dazed, unable to believe that the team he led had actually won the grand prize.

It's important to know that although he organized the competition team, the person actually doing the project was Shen Qiushan.

He's a freshman, and even if he's older, he shouldn't be able to come up with a project that could win a top prize.

But the fact is, he really did win the grand prize!
Even though he still found it unbelievable, Principal Zhu Qidong had called to inform him, so it couldn't be fake.

The judging panel for the National Undergraduate Electronic Technology Competition consists entirely of members from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, making the competition highly authoritative and unlikely to produce any blunders.

Moreover, this award is the "Special Prize," which only comes around once every few years, so there's no way it could be a mistake.

With a sense of doubt, Zhao Ruihai arrived at Zhu Qidong's office.

"Professor Zhao, please have a seat."

"I just brewed a pot of Longjing tea, you can try it."

Zhu Qidong was very enthusiastic and even poured Zhao Ruihai a cup of tea.

His move left Zhao Ruihai somewhat at a loss. After all, Zhu Qidong was the president of Sanjiang University, which was a university directly under the Ministry of Education. As the president, Zhu Qidong was at the vice-ministerial level in terms of rank alone.

"Principal, did we really win the top prize?"

Zhao Ruihai asked, holding a teacup in his hand.

"This is still false."

"The good news has even been sent to our school."

Zhu Qidong spread his hands with a broad smile: "Professor Zhao, you really deserve a lot of credit this time!"

"I have just spoken with Secretary Su and we have decided to prioritize your award-winning project as a key project of the university, and give it priority in terms of funding, manpower, and venue support."

"Whatever you need, you can directly ask the school, and the school will do its best to meet your needs..."

Zhu Qidong offered Zhao Ruihai very generous terms, with the obvious aim of winning over this professor who was recognized by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Previously, Zhu Qidong had never taken Zhao Ruihai seriously, thinking that he was just an inflexible "old scholar".

But now the situation is completely different. Projects that win the top prize will definitely receive strong support from the higher authorities.

The funding that will be poured in will be in the hundreds of millions, and Zhu Qidong certainly wants a piece of that incredible wealth.

"Principal, there is something I need to report truthfully."

After a brief hesitation, Zhao Ruihai decided to tell the truth: "Although I am nominally in charge of this project, Shen Qiushan is the one in charge of the actual operation and preparation!"

"He is the biggest contributor to winning this award!"

"Shen Qiushan?"

"Are you telling the truth?"

Upon hearing this name, Zhu Qidong raised an eyebrow. As the president of Sanjiang University, he naturally knew Shen Qiushan, this elderly college student.

I've met him in person before, but we haven't had much interaction.

In the past two days, Shen Qiushan's name has been trending on social media because of his participation in "Voice of China," and his popularity is obvious.

(End of this chapter)