Super God-Level Top Student

The next day, when Qiao Ze saw Su Mucheng, he noticed the light dark circles under her eyes.

"Didn't sleep well last night?"

"Yeah, it's all Douding's fault." Su Mucheng nodded matter-of-factly.

Great, picking on those who can't talk back.

Without needing much explanation from Su Mucheng, Qiao Ze roughly understood what she had been busy with the night before from the woman's naming convention. From Dou Dou to Douding, it seemed girls liked to mess with beans when naming things. However, she didn't appear to like eating bean products very much.

The conclusion seemed to be that women's thought patterns were strange.

One small conclusion was tossed into a corner of his mind and that was enough.

When the two of them arrived at the lab building as usual, they found out that the school was up to something again. Construction had started next to the originally open lab building; looking at the notice posted outside, they were building a wall around the lab building.

The reason for constructing the wall was evident from the sign hanging at the entrance of the lab building—Restricted Research Unit, No Admittance for Unauthorized Personnel.

The wall wasn't completely built yet, but a temporary guardhouse had already been erected.

But for the moment it was empty, no one was on guard.

Understandable, considering there were already several cars parked outside the lab building, and people were busily moving things out in other parts of the building.

Qiao Ze immediately spotted Xu Dajiang standing at the entrance of the building.

At that moment, Xu Dajiang, who was looking around, also saw Qiao Ze and Su Mucheng. He waved at them and then, without waiting for them to come over, he took the initiative to walk towards them.

"Qiao Ze, I was waiting for you. Let me explain, the Optoelectronics Institute has leased the whole building, and their new lithography R&D department will be moving into this building. But you guys are fine, you'll stay in your original place," Xu Dajiang explained.

Qiao Ze nodded, his understanding of the influence of academicians refreshed once again.

Having been immersed in the environment of Xilin University of Technology, he had come to understand the logic behind the operation of research projects.

First, there needed to be a project proposal.

This step required expert validation. Discussing whether the project was feasible, roughly how much funding was needed, where the money would come from, how long it would take to see results. After preparing a detailed plan, it could then be submitted for approval.

The approval process was extremely complex, each hurdle had its own review logic. Experts would discuss the project plan, its feasibility, the likelihood of success, whether it overlapped with previously approved projects, whether it would waste resources, and a host of other messy issues.

Meanwhile, the applying institution would also need to do as much preparatory work as possible during this phase.

After going through numerous approvals, then the funds would be transferred into the applicant's account in batches.

In such a short time, the Optoelectronics Institute had already started leasing buildings...

Beyond this, Qiao Ze also had a general understanding of what that Academician Zhang meant by "a few people."

A six-story L-shaped lab building could conservatively fit a research team of two hundred people without feeling too cramped.

Indeed, they were all clever people.

After a moment of silence, Qiao Ze nodded.

"Hmm, nothing else then. Academician Zhang was worried you might be upset and specifically asked me to explain things to you. Initially, he even wanted to have you work at the Optoelectronics Institute, but the school rejected the idea. What a joke, you're still a student after all, there's no reason for a student to spend every day at the institute.

Besides, you've applied for a project with the university. Haha..." Xu Dajiang said with a chuckle, his hand subconsciously rising to pat Qiao Ze's shoulder, but upon meeting the expressionless face of the young man, his hand's motion took a turn and landed on his almost bald head, patting it gently.

He didn't dare scratch his head, after all, there wasn't much hair left to spare, and each lost hair would be lamented for a long time.

"Hmm." Qiao Ze responded.

"Alright, I just came to inform you. Oh, and Su Mucheng, maintain the top grades in your year next semester," Xu Dajiang said with a smile.

"Oh, I know, Dean Xu."

"Haha, alright then, I'll be going. School's about to start, and there's a lot to do at the university. You guys keep busy."

Xu Dajiang genuinely liked Qiao Ze, but he also genuinely did not enjoy spending too much time with him.

It couldn't be helped; having a face-to-face conversation with this kid always brought an inexplicable pressure.

If Qiao Ze kept quiet, the atmosphere felt stifling.

And when he spoke, one never knew what sort of pointed comment he might suddenly come up with, causing awkwardness.

Keeping a respectful distance was the ideal state.

Of course, not too distant.

At least he could stay at the university throughout his tenure.

Yes, Xu Dajiang had figured out a way to get along with Qiao Ze.

As long as the kid stayed in the university and he didn't have to meet him, for Xu Dajiang, it was the irreplaceable best situation.

...

Su Mucheng turned to glance at the retreating figure of Xu Dajiang and pursed her lips.

When she first joined the university and attended the big meetings, she thought the dean of the university was a very impressive person.

But now, having interacted with him more, Su Mucheng found this old uncle quite adorable.

Especially the backhanded head-patting gesture just now, she almost couldn't hold back her laughter.

"Let's go," Qiao Ze said.

"Yeah, let's go," Su Mucheng turned around and smiled sweetly.

...

The lab group was unusually lively today.

Even at the door, they could hear the enthusiastic discussion inside.

"Tan, Group Wisdom Assistant has climbed to the top of the hot search list, even surpassing the discussion volume of the CPU."