"This kid must have an IQ of at least 180, right?"
"I think it's more than that, upwards of 200... My IQ is 160, and if I add another 20, I can instantly tell if this system of equations has a solution?"
"This might actually be the real 'strongest brain,' huh?"
"Don't insult the child. Can you believe that show? Anyway, the child's IQ can't be worse than Einstein's... "
...
When Li Jian Gao returned to Zhang Chunlei's room on the 11th floor, the conversation among the six professors indicated they were still in a state of shock and confusion, as well as various feelings of incredulity, from which they couldn't extricate themselves.
For some reason, seeing Qiao Ze's young and tranquil face as he slept had suddenly made Li Jian Gao feel that everything he had strived for all these years was tasteless and dull.
So much so that while his colleagues were infinitely shocked at that moment, his heart was without ripples, and he even felt like laughing a little.
Heh...
Surely, they are all folks who haven't seen much of the world.
Of course, he didn't show these thoughts openly, but at that moment he really couldn't exhibit the same shock as his peers, so he naturally seemed out of place.
"Professor Li, the child's intuition was really correct? You're not surprised? That was an article published in 'Mathematics Annual'!"
"Uh... Maybe you didn't see how confident he looked when he spoke to me this morning? At that time, I believed he was probably right," Li Jian Gao explained.
"Not really... aren't you being too subjective?"
"Enough, it doesn't matter whether Jian Gao is being subjective or not, but the kid is really correct. I feel like I've wasted all my years; my understanding and intuition of Group Theory is not even as good as a high school student's. I won't lie to you, I've been researching this paper for nearly a week and couldn't spot any problems in Lemma 3's proof."
"Don't mention it, Liu. Think about it, this is 'Mathematics Annual' we're talking about. Guess who reviewed this paper? They didn't see a thing wrong with it, so it's normal that you couldn't spot anything in a week."
"Cough cough, but a high school student spotted it in less than ten minutes."
Li Jian Gao silently corrected in his mind: "Less than five minutes."
But he did not say it out loud.
Because he was very clear, at this point, there was no need for him to say any more good words for Qiao Ze.
Sure enough, someone suddenly spoke up: "Jian Gao, I heard your School of Mathematics is reforming the doctoral advisor selection system this year? Has the results for the doctoral advisor designation come out at your school? Can you supervise doctoral students now?"
In mainland China, most universities implement a doctoral and master's advisor nomination system.
To put it simply, if a university has established master's and doctoral programs in a particular subject, the School of Mathematics will designate some professors who can recruit master's and doctoral students, known among everyone as master's and doctoral advisors. Then, each year, the School assigns a certain number of students to these advisors.
Previously, Li Jian Gao had always been a master's advisor and was not yet qualified to supervise doctoral students.
But this had nothing to do with the fact Li Jian Gao was still an associate professor; as long as he was selected, an associate professor could also supervise doctoral students.
"No, I'm currently supervising three master's students," Li Jian Gao said with a smile as he shook his head.
He understood the implications. However, for a promising student like Qiao Ze, these professors would be crazy not to compete for him.
"Tsk tsk tsk, what a pity. If you're not a doctoral advisor, such a good prospect might be snatched away by someone else at Xilin University of Technology. If they secure a bachelor-master-doctoral trilogy early and lock in a supervisor, that would be troubling."
"Yes, and after all, the School of Mathematics at Xilin University of Technology is still a bit lacking. Their doctoral program opened less than ten years ago, right?" Professor Liu said slowly.
```
"Haha, Liu, if you want to poach someone just say so. Don't beat around the bush. Isn't your Hua University of Technology's School of Mathematics rated the same B+ as Xilin University of Technology? At least three professors here work at schools with an A level academic evaluation. Like our university," Li Jian said.
"No, the evaluation rating can't represent everything, right? At the very least, we have a much longer history…"
"Now, let's not fight over this. Let's just get one thing straight, we're all friends here, so let's not turn into a bunch of anxious clowns over this. But to be fair, if we're talking history, then Jiangcheng National University is probably the one with the longest history among us," Zhang Chunlei couldn't help but interject.
He had intended to maintain his composure and keep up the image of a big brother figure, but after looking several times at the final feedback from the supercomputing results on his notebook, he couldn't help himself.
Never mind anything else, if he could have such a student by his side, he'd be especially at ease when passing manuscripts along for Qiao Ze to review. At most, he'd handle the formalities and pass through some face-saving papers without a guilty conscience.
Not to mention, such a student hardly needed any guidance and would certainly make great achievements in the future.
Signing a direct Bachelors-Masters-Ph.D. integrated contract, regardless of whether the student himself could become an academician in the future, as long as he was provided with sufficient resources, Qiao Ze was bound to become an academician.
By then, even if he had retired, with the bonds of teacher-student affection, he would be an unavoidable presence in the mathematical community.
Just thinking about it filled him with pleasure.
As for personality defects, some mental issues, or even not being very capable of taking care of himself…
In front of such talent, those were not issues at all!
"Cough cough, about that, we at Xi'an Jiaotong University, our mathematics once had an A+ evaluation, it's just that in recent years it has fallen to an A. But our School of Mathematics is still ranked within the top ten nationwide, a bit stronger than Jiang University," Xu said.
"Xu, it's not me you should be worried about—don't add to the chaos. Yes, your university produces quality mathematical research, but you're not a Ph.D. supervisor and you don't advise graduate students! You're not letting the 'water flow into others' fields,' right? If you take someone else's kid over there, others will reap the benefits. Is there any point in that? At least Jian Gao is a doctoral advisor!" Zhang retorted.
"Exactly, Xu, you don't chime in today. And when you go back, don't go around spreading rumors," Li added.
"..."
Li Jian Gao watched the doctoral supervisors discuss Qiao Ze's future enthusiastically, feeling somewhat bittersweet.
But he quickly accepted the reality.
True, he was not a doctoral advisor, and Xilin University of Technology's advantages were mainly concentrated in the field of engineering. Pure sciences like mathematics and physics were indeed somewhat lacking.
Yet, he couldn't help but say, "How about we all stop fighting? The kid is already asleep. How about this, after we finish the conference tomorrow, we'll all meet for dinner in the evening. I'll invite the kid's mother too. It's not up to us to decide where he goes to school anyway, we should ask for the child's and the parent's opinions, right? By the way, I forgot to mention that Qiao Ze's father passed away early, the child was raised by his mother alone, it's a single-parent family."
"Tsst... is that so! Then we definitely need to ask the child's mother's opinion. That's it for today, we have a meeting tomorrow, let's all rest early. And remember, keep tight-lipped, tomorrow it's just us for dinner, no extra people allowed," Zhang Chunlei concluded.
The group looked at each other, then began to leave.
As Li Jian Gao prepared to go to sleep, Zhang Chunlei called out to him.
"Jian Gao, wait a second, I have something I want to discuss with you."
"Uh… Zhang, you better not broach regulations! Don't disturb the child's sleep at night," Li Jian Gao said.
"Nonsense, do I look like that kind of person?" Zhang replied.
"Heh heh…"
...
Though reluctant to leave, the room soon emptied until only Zhang Chunlei and Li Jian Gao remained. Only then did Zhang Chunlei carefully begin, "Jian Gao, how about I don't go to the meeting tomorrow? I'll ask the organizing committee for a leave of absence. Didn't you work on a topic recently that was just published in the Mathematics Annual? You sort it out, and at my report meeting, you can go and give a casual talk."
"What?!"
```