The night before the college entrance exam results were released, I redeemed my Peking University ad

(Thanks to the generous donation from the user "Niyao Ganshazizi"!)

"puff--!"

Old Wang, who had just taken a sip of tea, immediately spat it out.

"Take away the young master?"

"Uh... eight thousand is fine too!"

"Eight million... ten thousand?" Old Wang's voice rose another eight octaves.

"Of course, I still have eight thousand dollars."

"Bye-bye! I'm hanging up now!"

After saying that, Mr. Wang was about to hang up the phone.

"Wait, Professor Wang, you can't die! What will happen to the Chinese mathematics community if you die?"

Old Wang: "..."

Am I talking about this cheat?

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone before Old Wang sighed, "Ji Bai, do you think selling me would be worth 80 million?"

"No, you're an academician, and you can't even get funding approved for tens of millions?"

"How much is our School of Mathematical Sciences' annual budget? It's not even 80 million!"

Ji Bai was stunned: "Wait, are you guys that poor? Good thing I didn't go there back then!"

Old Wang: "..."

He was speechless for a long time after being choked by this kid, but finally softened his tone:

"Alright, this is your first time calling me, I can't let you come all this way for nothing."

"Okay, I'll squeeze out a few million from the institute's youth innovation fund and give it to you. I really don't have any more."

Ji Bai was delighted.

"Thank you, Mr. Wang!"

"Don't worry, once I've finished developing this, I guarantee your institute won't lack funding for the next ten years!"

Old Wang became curious and asked, "No, what are you researching? Could it be some kind of alchemy?"

Ji Bai: "That didn't happen!"

That's absolutely true.

Isn't turning stone into gold the same as alchemy?

The value of a room-temperature superconductor is definitely higher than that of an equal weight of gold!

Ji Bai wouldn't try to get something for nothing.

He plans to exchange the 100 million yuan startup capital for a 10% share of the future patent revenue.

This is more than you'll ever give!

This is equivalent to valuing the entire room-temperature superconducting technology at only 10 billion!

Putting everything else aside, if he were to put this technology up for sale now, someone would be willing to buy it for 20 billion!

It has to be Dao Le!

Ji Bai is now exchanging 10% of the patent share for 100 million, which is very generous!

Old Wang was amused by the phrase "not that often".

He leaned back in his chair, gazing at the ginkgo tree outside his office window, rustling in the wind, his voice tinged with a touch of wistfulness:

"Among all research institutes and academies of sciences, our Academy of Mathematical Sciences is the poorest!"

"Mathematicians don't need equipment or labs; all they need is a piece of paper and a pen. That's why we're always put last when it comes to approving funding."

"When the Institute of Physics wants to build a collider, they ask for tens of billions of yuan. When our Institute of Mathematical Sciences applies for a high-performance computing cluster, we have to compete with the Institute of Computer Science for the budget."

"Ji Bai, everyone says you are the holy son of our mathematics community. Now that His Highness says he can ensure the School of Mathematical Sciences has no shortage of funding for ten years, I'm counting on you."

Ji Bai chuckled.

"Wrapped!"

……

After hanging up with Academician Wang, Ji Bai leaned back on the sofa, swiping his finger across his phone screen to find the number of Lin Boqian, the head of the Department of Mathematics at Tsinghua University.

The call was connected.

"Hello, Director Lin, I'm Ji Bai."

"Oh, what a rare guest! What brings you to call me? Are you interested in Tsinghua University? Let me tell you, although our mathematics department at Tsinghua isn't as old as Peking University, we have ample funding, excellent benefits, and the best dining hall in the country..."

"Director Lin, I'm not here to talk about enrollment; I'm here to attract investment."

"……invest?"

"Yes, I've developed something small and need some funding, not much, eight thousand... seventy million will do."

"Could you lend a hand? It won't be for nothing; you'll get a share of the patent revenue later."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Ji Bai, do you know how much research funding our department received last year?"

"How many?"

"After deducting the special funds from the Yau Mathematics Center, our pure mathematics project has 30 million! Your project alone is equivalent to our entire budget for two and a half years."

"...Never mind then, sorry to bother you, Director Lin. The cafeteria is indeed quite good, I'll go eat there another day."

"Hey, don't hang up... How about you come study for your master's degree here? The university offers entrepreneurship support funds for graduate students, up to 100,000 yuan..."

"Thank you, Director Lin. I suddenly remembered I have something to do." Ji Bai hung up decisively.

One hundred thousand?

They can't even afford a shock-proof stage for an atomic force microscope.

Then I dialed the phone number of Director Zhang of the Mathematics Department at Peking University.

"Hello Director Zhang, I'm Ji Bai."

"Ji Bai! Welcome, welcome! Are you here early to register? I heard your dorm has already been arranged at the materials department..."

"Director Zhang, there's no rush to register. I'd like to ask you today if the Mathematics Department at Peking University can approve some research funding?"

"Research funding?"

Director Zhang's voice was noticeably more wary.

How much do you want?

The initial investment will be approximately 70 million.

A screeching sound came from the other end of the phone as a chair slid backward.

"Seventy...seventy million?!"

Director Zhang took a deep breath and said earnestly, "Ji Bai, do you know how much our mathematics department's total funding was last year? Let me tell you, the entire mathematics department, including the statistics center, had less than fifty million!"

"Why don't you write an application and I'll submit it to the materials department for you? As for when it will be approved..."

"Understood, thank you, Director Zhang."

hang up.

He then dialed the phone numbers of several university directors, including the head of the mathematics department at Nanjing University and the head of the mathematics department at Zhejiang University.

Nanjing University Director: "Ji Bai, are you considering coming to Nanjing University?"

Zhejiang University Director: "How much? Seventy million?"

Jiaotong University Director: "Ji Bai, I have something to attend to..."

Ji Bai hung up the phone, tossed it onto the sofa, and looked up at the ceiling.

After making a round of phone calls, I didn't get a single extra penny.

These department heads are only poorer than Academician Wang, not richer.

Old Wang is still the head of the hospital, so he has some real power. Squeezing out a few million yuan already means he's emptied his coffers.

Those department heads have academicians above them, who in turn have vice presidents in charge of research, and vice presidents have presidents above them.

It's a bit presumptuous of a department head to want to approve tens of millions in funding.

Things are more difficult than I imagined.

He originally thought that with his reputation as a "mathematics emperor," he could easily beg for tens of millions in donations.

After making a round of calls, it turned out that these math students were even poorer than they had imagined.

Ji Bai leaned back on the sofa, tapping his knees with his fingers, his mind racing.

If the path of the mathematics department is not viable, then try another direction.

Anyone who does scientific research knows that the bulk of funding never comes from universities, but from the government.

Science and technology departments, development and reform commissions, and industry and information technology departments at all levels hold large amounts of industrial support funds and special science and technology funds, with a single project often receiving tens or hundreds of millions of yuan in funding.

But not just anyone can get this money. You need to be qualified, have a team, have an affiliated company, have a feasibility report, have expert review, and have a budget audit.

He's just a high school graduate, and he can't even get a job at a proper research institution. What makes him think he can apply?

Unless someone helps him make the connection.

A person flashed through Ji Bai's mind.