A genius? I just love studying.

Chapter 312, a scrapped proposal? This is clearly a top-tier publication.
Senior Brother Tang and several junior brothers and sisters in charge of this area were also sitting in the conference room. This data was the result of their all-night work yesterday. They looked at each other, wondering what their teacher was up to, as he even seemed a little obsequious.

Does the teacher really intend for this undergraduate student to solve this problem?

Chen Hui was unaware of what the others were thinking; he was simply focused on the projection screen.

The screen displays a dazzling array of charts and data matrices.

“This is our devil,” Song Chaoming said with a wry smile, pulling up a heat map showing the phosphorylation levels of hundreds of proteins, alternating between red and green, seemingly regular yet chaotic.

"These are the phosphorylation sites that we screened out with significant changes by comparing mutant cells treated with osimertinib with the control group using phosphorylated proteomics technology."

Song Chaoming pulled up another complex network diagram, but many of the connecting lines were dotted lines or question marks. "We tried to use existing bioinformatics tools and databases to construct interaction networks, but the results... as you can see, were full of guesses and uncertainties. We lacked a strong mathematical framework to support these scattered data points."

Song Chaoming's tone gradually shifted from pride in introducing data and ideas to helplessness and longing in the face of difficulties.

“We’ve done a lot of experiments, knocking down this gene, inhibiting that protein, and looking at the downstream effects, but it’s like groping in the dark in a maze. It’s extremely inefficient and we often end up in dead ends. We need a compass, a model that can tell us where to strike next.”

He looked intently at Chen Hui, full of anticipation, "Young man, we are good at generating data and verifying hypotheses in cells and mice, but we are not good at digging out the deepest, true causal logic from such high-dimensional, high-noise, massive amounts of data."

"That's why I asked you to come; we need your help with the modeling!"

"It's not about simply fitting curves, but about building a computational model that can truly reflect the dynamic process of intracellular signal transduction. We want to use it to tell us what this damned, unconventional pathway is most likely to look like, where its key nodes are, and which target we should validate next."

Song Chaoming laid out all the data and placed his greatest hopes on this young foreign aid. At this moment, all the sophisticated and expensive instruments in the laboratory seemed to be rhythmically beating, and the data they generated were waiting for a brain that could decipher their secrets.

Chen Hui's gaze swept across the complex data stream on the screen, his eyes focused and sharp, as if he had already pierced through the apparent chaos and begun to construct that invisible mathematical model in his mind.

For him, this was not pressure, but a highly engaging puzzle game. The reward of the game was not only to help Song Chaoming break the deadlock, but also to seize a key piece of the puzzle for his own ultimate goal.

Tang and his fellow students in the conference room stared wide-eyed. They had initially assumed that this undergraduate had a powerful background and was there to gain experience in the lab, based on the teacher's attitude towards Chen Hui.

But judging from the teacher's introduction and the expectation in the teacher's eyes...

Does the teacher really want this undergraduate student to help them solve their problem?
Even Senior Brother Tang felt somewhat confused. He really wanted his teacher to listen to what he was saying, to dig out the deepest, true causal logic and the computational model of the dynamic signal transmission process within cells from massive amounts of high-dimensional, high-noise data...

Is this something an undergraduate student could understand?
Let alone them, if Song Chaoming hadn't seen the model Chen Hui built in the library, he probably wouldn't have believed that an undergraduate could complete this task.

But now, he is full of anticipation.

"I need some time."

Chen Hui was already sitting in front of Song Chaoming's computer, and the experimental data of their project was displayed to Chen Hui without reservation.

However, faced with such a massive and complex dataset in a completely unfamiliar field, Chen Hui needed some time to sort through the data and adjust his thinking.

"No problem, this conference room is yours. If you need any help, feel free to ask me anytime. If I'm not here, ask Tang Jian; he's the senior student in charge of this research."

Song Chaoming understood that this model couldn't be completed in a day or two. On the contrary, the fact that Chen Hui didn't immediately refuse after hearing the question gave him hope.

"Yes, I do need some help."

Chen Hui seemed to suddenly remember something and looked at the senior brother that Song Chaoming mentioned, "I need to help bring him meals for the next few days."

"?"

Tang Jian was taken aback at first, but then he came to his senses.

Is this guy really planning to do research here?

This forced him to re-evaluate Chen Hui; if this guy really wanted to do research here, he might actually have some skills.

However, he really couldn't figure out how an undergraduate could solve this problem; he couldn't even imagine the scene in his mind.

"I asked you to bring me lunch, is there a problem?"

When Song Chaoming saw that Tang Jian had not responded for a long time, he frowned.

Seeing his worthless students and comparing them to Chen Hui, he became very angry.

"no problem."

Tang Jian answered without hesitation, his voice firm and resolute.

"Then I'll leave it to you, young man."

"This computer contains all the experimental records, raw data, and analysis reports of failures. If you have any questions about the specific contents, you can contact Tang Jian."

When Song Chaoming looked at Chen Hui, he was all smiles, clearly treating Chen Hui as the second-in-command of the laboratory.

He didn't know if Chen Hui could solve the problem, but judging from the abilities Chen Hui displayed this afternoon, if Chen Hui couldn't solve it, perhaps they really would have to come up with other solutions.

Soon, only Chen Hui remained in the small conference room.

Instead of rushing to build a model, he opened the folder that Song Chaoming had pointed out and started looking at the data from two years ago, studying it one by one.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and Chen Hui finally finished reading all the data.

After concentrating on his thoughts for a long time, Chen Hui began modeling.

He used more advanced multivariate statistical methods, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares regression (PLSR), which had not been used by Song Chaoming's team, to reduce dimensionality and extract features.

After completing the modeling, the model and actual data were imported into the simulation software. The results improved slightly, and some clustering trends could be seen, but the causal relationship could not be clarified.

After thinking about it for several more hours, he began to work on building a nonlinear interaction model that included all the abnormal proteins, this time introducing differential equations.

The model has a large number of parameters, and the fitting results seem very good, but it is overfitting. The model perfectly replicates all the data, including noise, but it does not have predictive ability and cannot be validated with new data.

Looking at the final result, Chen Hui frowned.

He realized that the problem was not so simple. Even he was confused by the complexity and noise of the data and got stuck in a quagmire of massive noise.

He needs to sift through all that noise and extract the crucial, real data!

Chen Hui's sharp gaze fell upon the data on the screen.

The temporary setback did not discourage him. He was best at finding the truth from the fog, and his level 9 insight gave him confidence.

Boom boom boom!
There was a knock on the conference room door.

"Come in."

Chen Hui rubbed his forehead, glanced at the time on his computer, and saw it was already past noon. He decided to have lunch and rest for a while.

Tang Jian walked in carrying a lunchbox, placed it on the conference table, and said with a smile, "I brought you sizzling beef today. We usually enjoy eating it ourselves. The beef is tender and juicy, and with the secret sauce, it goes very well with rice."

"Thank you."

Chen Hui was truly grateful. The meals Tang Jian had brought these past few days had been quite plentiful. Several times, he had even gone out of his way to buy local specialties. In the past five days, Chen Hui hadn't eaten a single dish twice. This senior brother Tang had clearly put a lot of thought into it.

Chen Hui was quite satisfied; he had been eating well these past few days, and of course, he wasn't a picky eater. "You're welcome."

"Our lab is counting on your achievements, so we can't afford to slack off."

Tang Jian said with a smile.

He had been in contact with Chen Hui quite a bit these past few days, and for some reason, he felt that this young man gave him a very reliable feeling. This feeling came out of nowhere, but it unceremoniously overwhelmed his other thoughts.

Chen Hui smiled but didn't say anything.

His research did encounter difficulties, and he was somewhat hesitant to speak.

"You've finished modeling?"

Suddenly, Tang Jian saw the simulation results on Chen Hui's computer screen. His smile froze on his face, and his wide eyes looked like goldfish, almost bulging out.

He never expected that this undergraduate student would actually complete the data processing. This perfect result was something that several doctoral students had been working on for months without achieving.

"Not even close."

Chen Hui ate a piece of beef, shook his head, and said, "It's overfitted; we can't use this model for predictions anymore."

The beef was indeed as Tang Jian described—tender and juicy—but Chen Hui felt that the essence of the dish lay in the sauce. Even though he was used to eating delicacies, he found the dish quite delicious.

"what?"

"Overfitting?"

Tang Jian stared wide-eyed, leaned close to the screen, and studied it carefully for a long time before finally discovering the problem Chen Hui had mentioned.

But this problem wasn't a problem at all in his eyes. Unlike theoretical mathematics, which requires the result to be absolutely correct, ideally something like an axiom or theorem that is absolutely correct.

In actual experiments, however, this is not necessary; it is sufficient to meet a certain level of accuracy.

If he could produce such results, he would have already published a paper.

"This result is perfect enough. I'll go and inform the teacher now."

Tang Jian walked out of the laboratory, his face full of excitement.

"No rush, this model can still be improved. Let's wait for the final results."

Chen Hui waved his hand, saying that he couldn't bear to lose face by trying to fool people with such a result.

Tang Jian stood at the conference room door, looking at the computer screen displaying the model results, then at Chen Hui, unsure of what to say.

On the one hand, he was filled with anticipation when he heard Chen Hui say that the results could be improved.

He thought the result was perfect enough, and he found it hard to believe that it could be improved.

In his view, the model is already fully ready for practical application and does not need any further improvement, so there is no need to waste time.

However, after some hesitation, he decided to listen to Chen Hui. He had already waited for several months, so waiting a few more days wouldn't hurt.

……

As soon as Tang Jian stepped out of the conference room, a junior female student approached him and whispered, "Senior Brother, that guy hasn't left the lab for almost a week. Is he really doing research or just freeloading here?"

Not only this junior female student, but all the other junior male and female students in the lab also looked over here, they were also very curious.

It wasn't just curiosity; their feelings towards Chen Hui were also complicated. If it were them, they definitely wouldn't be able to stand being in the conference room for a few days, even though they sometimes had to stay up all night doing experiments, so there was a cot in the conference room.

But if they had a choice, they would choose to go back to their dorm room and enjoy their own big bed rather than suffer here.

This spirit deeply moved them.

However, they simply couldn't imagine that an undergraduate student could solve such a complex problem, so they suspected Chen Hui's behavior was somewhat of a show.

"Shut up."

How could you talk about Junior Brother Chen like that?

That's so rude.

Tang Jian's expression hardened, and he angrily rebuked his junior sister.

Everyone else in the lab was stunned, their pupils dilated, and they stood there dumbfounded, momentarily bewildered.

Where had they ever seen their senior brother's wrathful Vajra face before?

The senior brother was always a nice guy in the lab. He never said a harsh word to his junior brothers and sisters, let alone such a stern reprimand. Even if his junior brothers and sisters caused trouble, he would not scold them too harshly. Instead, he would go to the teacher to take the blame and let his junior brothers and sisters avoid punishment.

"So that you may know,"

Tang Jian looked at his fellow students in the lab, each with their own distinct expressions, and said, "Junior Brother Chen has already achieved results!"

"The model's fit is almost perfect. Such results are enough to publish in a top journal. If we add our complete research project, it would be no problem to publish in Cell, Nature, or Science."

woohoo...

A gentle breeze swept through the laboratory.

Everyone in the lab was stunned. The undergraduate student had actually completed the model?

They thought their senior brother might be possessed by an evil spirit today.

"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and write the paper! Where is his model?"

A junior student suddenly said, "I'll go and inform the teacher right now!"

"no need."

Tang Jian waved his hand, "Junior Brother Chen is still improving the model. Let's talk about it again when a more accurate model comes out."

Upon hearing this, the junior students in the lab looked at each other with suspicion, feeling that the credibility of their senior brother's words was greatly diminished.

If the results are truly published in journals like *Cell*, *Nature*, and *Science*, then how can they be improved?
To usher in a new era? To dominate the field of cancer research and become a figure like Gauss or Euler in the world of mathematics?
Even if they are top doctoral students in China's top laboratories, they are not arrogant enough to think that way. They have never even dreamed of such a thing. How could an undergraduate student really do something they wouldn't even dare to think about?
Nonsense!

Tang Jian shook his head and didn't say anything more. Anything he said now would be meaningless. Only by placing the model in front of these guys would he change their minds.

Regardless of whether Junior Brother Chen can ultimately improve the model, even his current model is enough to make these guys feel ashamed of their current ideas.

He believed that day would not be far off.

(End of this chapter)