Deep Space Wandering Fleet

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So, Wang Zhong absolutely did not allow this kind of "back door" nonsense to pollute the entire human environment of the spaceship from the very beginning.

Fifty million people, equivalent to a small city's size, any minor flaw would quickly amplify. Humans are profit-driven creatures; at that time, everyone would follow suit, constantly trying to pull strings to open back doors, and then what kind of strong civilization could be built?

Thinking of this, Wang Zhong said calmly, "How about this, you first complete a set of test papers. If your grades are good, I can help you see if there is a suitable mentor."

But the underlying message was, if you don't measure up, just get lost!

"Huh?" Zhang Yuan was surprised.

"We'll just test some mathematics. Regardless of the major, mathematics is a must."

Zhang Yuan scratched his head, feeling somewhat puzzled. He originally just wanted to visit this mentor and describe some future ideas; how did it suddenly turn into doing test papers?

But... whatever, just take it as a test from a senior to a junior.

"Little Xu, go fetch a set of test papers for him to do. I've sent them to your email." Wang Zhong instructed.

"Alright... follow me."

Following this "senior sister," Zhang Yuan retrieved three test papers in total, namely "Introduction to Algebraic Geometry," "Lie Algebras," and "Modular Forms and Number Theory."

Xu Yunjing certainly didn't know any grand "Millennium Plans." True idealists only appear after experiencing chaos; she couldn't figure out why her teacher had thought of so many things in such a short time.

She smiled and comforted, "Don't take it to heart. Professor Wang is just like this. He's not very patient; as he's gotten older, his thoughts have become more erratic that most people can't keep up. He might just want to check your level."

Zhang Yuan nodded, taking these exam papers.

Xu Yunjing also said, "However, for young people with talent, Professor Wang would love to hand over everything to them. Anyway, he's a pretty good teacher who doesn't allow slackers."

Wait a minute, has Old Wang gone senile?

Glancing at the printed papers, Xu Yunjing turned pale. This was... wasn't this her exam content?

She was a graduate student, after all, and nearly failed. How could the test papers be given to an undergraduate?

It wasn't that she didn't work hard; it was because Professor Wang's requirements were too high.

Especially "Introduction to Algebraic Geometry," an abnormal subject.

What level is "introduction"?

Well, it's telling you "1+1=2" and then directly asking you to solve ∫{[arctanx]/(1+x^2)^2}dx…

Anyway, for the average person, it's like seeing a heavenly book.

"Do what you can first. I'll go ask about this test paper... it seems a bit strange." Xu Yunjing felt a bit sorry for this junior brother and ran off in a hurry.

When she rushed to Wang Zhong's office, she suddenly found this old man frowning while on the phone, his voice unusually loud.

Then Wang Zhong looked up, "Come with me, we're going to a meeting!"

"Oh, okay!"

Seeing his stern face, Xu Yunjing felt a bit panicked and forgot the words that were hanging on the tip of her tongue.

...

The two of them had a meeting all afternoon, leaving only Zhang Yuan racking his brains in a small room.

Each difficult problem seemed like a steep mountain; the process of climbing was hard, but the scenery was beautiful.

He enjoyed it so much that he couldn't stop, even forgetting to eat dinner.

...

At eight in the evening, Wang Zhong and Xu Yunjing finally returned to the office.

Professor Wang sighed, "... The Foundation must be prepared for danger in times of peace. Although there is no lack of money right now, who knows in the future. Utilizing the astronauts' residual heat is also good. Well, it's okay like this, people have to be squeezed a bit to create greater value..."

"Fifty million people, if each generates an income of one hundred thousand yuan, that's 50 billion..."

Wang Zhong sat in silence for a while; a retired scientist like him still had to worry about money, what was this even about?

"Go open the door."

"Oh, alright."

Professor Wang was a very orthodox person; when female students were in his office, he habitually kept the door open. In his words, this practice reduced some unnecessary gossip. Although at eighty-something years of age, there really couldn't be any rumors.

"Forget it, forget it, you should head back and rest early too. In the future, it's better not to attend such activities; besides arguing with people, it doesn't have much meaning. Spend more time reading literature."

Xu Yunjing sighed as well, organizing the meeting notes.

Wait a minute.

Seems like something was forgotten!

Oh no!

My poor junior... Senior sister apologizes.

Xu Yunjing coughed and brought up that Zhang Yuan was still taking an exam, but she dared not mention anything about "graduate mathematics," or she would have to take the fall.

"Professor Wang, um..."

"... How long has it taken him and he's still not done? It's just three math papers."

Professor Wang Zhong blew his nose and glared, already in a bad mood. Remembering this matter made him even more irritated, "Go call him over."

He thought to himself, if Zhang Yuan got onto the spaceship through his father's connections, he must thoroughly investigate...

Even if he was Zhang Qiming's son, it would not do. If he needed to go, he should go quickly.

Xu Yunjing went to the small classroom and asked softly, "Well, well… junior, have you finished the papers?"

"Just finished." Zhang Yuan felt a bit embarrassed. Based on the two-hour time frame for each paper, he had actually taken longer.

Finished? Was it scribbled?

Curious, Xu Yunjing peeked at the papers.

The writing was neat, and the format was fairly normal, likely not scribbled...

Whoa, the first few questions seemed right; not bad...

Graduate education isn't like undergraduate, with communal meals; it begins to cultivate real research abilities. Math papers are all made by professors themselves, without multiple choice questions; they're all proof questions. You either can do it, or you can't.

Just from a few glances, sweat began to drip down Xu Yunjing's forehead.

"Senior sister... um, senior, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing."

What was written here?

Why didn't she quite understand?

With a head full of question marks, Xu Yunjing walked into the office, carefully presenting the papers to Wang Zhong.

Wang Zhong frowned, put on reading glasses, and with a rigorous attitude, began reviewing the papers.

The old professor had a habit, the first few questions on the paper were foundational.

If you couldn't solve them, sorry, this graduate student, bye-bye! If you can't even do the foundational questions, why are you even studying? Better to drop out early, don't waste everyone's time, okay?

The middle questions were moderately difficult. If you couldn't do them, sorry, this fellow's fundamentals were not great, not likely to have any research ability, so just be an Outer Disciple.

Only a master student, if you graduate, you graduate; if not, then leave quickly.

As for the ones further back, those were the high-difficulty questions, his Inner Sect Disciples had to solve these, otherwise, he'd be very disappointed and scold them thoroughly.

Inner Sect Disciples, well, they're those with hope to advance to PhD level.

The last question was of a monstrous difficulty.

Whether Academic God or academic ace, just lie down; the purpose of this question was to make you understand the reverence for knowledge!

In the old professor's eyes, scientific research was far more difficult than doing exams, at least the math questions in papers have solutions. Using tools already created by others and inventing tools yourself are two different concepts, doing research is like finding a needle in a haystack, not only requiring effort but also talent.

Wang Zhong glanced at it, the first few simple questions were correct.

...

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