Study Monster Cultivation System-Chapter 304 - 303 Do you want to absorb? Absorb!

In the garden behind the teaching building, Fu Xuefeng grabbed the arm of the professor’s assistant.

"Let’s go, have a smoke over there."

The assistant looked back at Li Zheng, who was approaching the professor, with a slightly tense expression, "The school requires me to stick close to him..."

"Everyone needs a bit of personal space," Fu Xuefeng pushed the assistant and said, "Give them twenty minutes, that’s enough."

"It’s not... Why does it feel like matchmaking..." the assistant scratched his head, "Just over there, I need to keep an eye on the professor at all times."

Meanwhile, the professor, watching Li Zheng closing in, felt equally urgent.

It was usually him who took the initiative to approach the young students, but this time, he just couldn’t bring himself to move.

Fortunately, although Li Zheng looked intimidating, when he actually came closer, he merely took the professor’s arm like the other students and even shyly lowered his head, "Sorry, professor... It’s a rare opportunity, so I insisted on seeing you with Teacher Fu."

"Ah, no worries, I could use a bit more Sun," the professor smiled and adjusted his sleeves, "We might still retain that part of plants in our bodies, needing sunlight to promote the synthesis of some vitamins."

"Exactly, exactly, we just learned about that," Li Zheng stuttered, "Specifically, it’s the 7-dehydrocholesterol under the skin, which can be converted into vitamin D3 when exposed to ultraviolet or sunlight..."

"Ah... is that so..."

In this awkward atmosphere, Li Zheng and the professor sat down together on the bench.

Nervous, Li Zheng was truly nervous this time.

In fact, he had been thinking about how to start the conversation all along.

For instance...

"Oh, it’s all your fault, professor, you’ve done all the work, now those in theoretical physics can only mess around with Quantum Mechanics and string theory."

This opening brilliantly displayed his emotional intelligence; though superficially blaming to foster closeness, it was actually praising the professor’s great achievements.

But it seemed a bit too extravagant.

So perhaps...

"Why exactly does parity not conserve, have you had any conjectures about it?"

Starting with the professor’s renowned theory seemed alright, but it always felt like he wasn’t quite qualified to discuss this issue with the professor.

Or maybe...

"How do you address your father-in-law when you meet him?"

Forget it, that was courting death...

Although very curious about this question, it seemed necessary to be as familiar with Zhang Xiaoke to make such jokes.

What should he say, after all?

The professor seemed to notice his discomfort and simply smiled and patted Li Zheng’s hand, "Don’t be nervous, take it easy, when I was as nervous as you, he said the same thing, though he said it with a straight face."

"Who?" Li Zheng asked subconsciously.

"Einstein."

"..." Li Zheng’s knees went weak, feeling a surge to kneel, luckily he was sitting on a chair.

"Hahaha." the professor laughed, "Back then, I was a young postdoc, and after publishing a small paper, Einstein, having read it and finding it overlapped with the Unified Field Theory he pursued, invited me to his office for a talk. I was almost in a pilgrim’s mindset when I went, and also very greedy, hoping to gain some wisdom."

Listening, Li Zheng lowered his head somewhat ashamedly, "No no, I’m far from that, I don’t have any paper, just pure greed..."

The professor said with a laugh, "I can see that. But wisdom isn’t like something in martial arts novels that can be passed on or sucked away."

That... actually is a bit hard to say...

Though holding some small ideas, Li Zheng still steadily nodded, "Did you get it back then?"

"The only thing I received was the ability to now use this experience as a talking point," the professor spread his hands, "Einstein was not in the best of mental health in his later years, spoke a lot in German, and we talked for an hour and a half. He probably expressed many incredible ideas, but I hardly understood anything. I could only pretend to nod, just like the students do in my classes, so..."

Relaxing back into his chair, the professor continued, "I don’t have any direction for future physics here. I also don’t know which major would have better prospects and I’m even unsure why parity is not conserved. In fact, outside my narrow field, my knowledge is almost certainly less than yours, like that Cholesterol thing you just mentioned... I only know I need to control my own cholesterol level, otherwise my cardiovascular health will be doomed."

"You’re being too modest..." Li Zheng replied with a smile, "You say you don’t know anything, but you at least oppose the construction of high-energy particle colliders, right?"

"To correct you, I don’t oppose colliders, I just oppose China building colliders now," the professor clarified meticulously.

He began to elaborate with care,

"First, it’s a money pit. Whether the budget is $10 billion or $20 billion, it will inevitably be forced to increase exponentially. In 1989, the people of Magnesium Country did this, and eventually, the budget escalated to a point they could not afford, culminating in the project’s cancellation in 1992. The lesson is right before our eyes; we are far from having the capital to be so reckless."

"Second, our country is still a developing nation with so many places in need of funding. From the perspectives of political science, economics, or mathematical expectation, betting big on a super project that is unlikely to yield results at this stage is not a smart thing to do."

"Third, if we proceed with this, then funding for life science, condensed matter physics, and astrophysics will inevitably be significantly squeezed. You will see high-energy institutes filled with people, while students of other specialties have nowhere to go. It’s great to seek major advancements in fundamental physics, but I wouldn’t like to see a particle collider consuming half of the scientific research budget, although the high-energy institutes would certainly like to see that."

"Fourth, the core purpose of large colliders is to search for supersymmetric particles, something the whole world has been doing for many years, to no avail. Most physicists, including myself, think that the existence of these particles is merely a hypothesis. Expecting a massive collider to discover particles from this hypothesis is just a hypothesis within a hypothesis, much like someone firmly believing in the existence of hell and hoping to find it by drilling to the core of the Earth."

"Fifth, among the important high-energy physicists in the world today, our country makes up less than one percent. If our country insists on building a massive collider, its design, operation, and analysis after completion will mostly be dominated by foreigners. Do you believe that these achievements will honestly be handed over to the Chinese? Do you believe that a Chinese person will win the Nobel Prize in the future?"

"Lastly, does it mean high-energy physics has no future without building a super collider?"

"Of course not."

"We can search for new accelerator principles, or explore the beautiful geometrical structures, like string theory."

"Must we really build a barbaric machine, gambling-like, in an uninspired era, expecting it to explain everything?"

"Cough..." the professor coughed several times toward the end and shook his head, "Take these words with a grain of criticism; they might just be the stubborn beliefs of an old man. I know you young people all like colliders, sorry for saying too much..."

"Not at all, please continue," Li Zheng insisted with wide eyes, "You clearly have a lot of thoughts."

"Hmm..." the professor asked with some doubt, "Usually, young people are opposed to my stance on this matter, you’re just pretending to agree, right?"

"No, I haven’t agreed, nor opposed," Li Zheng nodded, "I am just... as you said, critically absorbing."

"So, which part did you absorb?"

"About... giving up my own personal stance and considering the overall way of thinking," Li Zheng gestured, "A significant portion of your academic achievements have already been verified by high-energy physics experiments, and continuing on would likely verify more. Plus, with your status, you should be inclined towards high-energy physics. But you have set aside these personal feelings and interests, and considered the issue from the perspective of the entire field of scientific research and national strategy—a mindset I admittedly lack... If power were in the hands of someone like me, the entire population might have to eat coarse grains, with all funds directed to scientific research."

"Hahaha... hahaha..." the professor laughed long and hard, slightly exhausted, patting Li Zheng, "Just for your self-awareness, this scenario will definitely not happen."

"Ha." Li Zheng scratched his head, "Honestly, before hearing your words, I was a 100% supporter of colliders. Now, maybe I’m left with... 37%. Plus considering my recent experiences, perhaps these things are really just the high-energy institutes insisting for more funding and resources..."

"The high-energy institutes are not wrong. Even if they have some disputes with me, they have the right to strive for the status of their field," the professor said and chuckled, tilting his head, "After all, not everyone is over ninety years old, having the best free medical care and inexhaustible subsidies."

"Speaking of which..." Li Zheng clenched his fist, feeling the atmosphere was right, and ventured, "What... how do you address your father-in-law?"

"..." The professor’s expression instantly turned serious.

"..." Li Zheng panicked.

It’s over, messed up.

To his surprise, the professor laughed and smacked Li Zheng’s forehead, "That younger by over twenty years old fella dares not let me call him dad. The first time we met, he made it clear that everyone in the family just calls him by his name. But in practice... I actually did call him by his name, yet he still calls me professor, still mixing it with what I said..."

"Ah." Li Zheng opened his mouth wide, "That must be awkward."

"That’s actually not so bad," the professor pursed his lips, "The truly awkward moment was when my nearly seventy-year-old son met his not even thirty-year-old stepmother for the first time. My granddaughter, on the other hand, took it quite naturally."

"After all, they are peers..."

As they spoke, the assistant and Fu Xuefeng hurried over.

"Sorry, professor... Did you catch a cold from the coughing just now?" the assistant said remorsefully, pushing the wheelchair, "Shall we head back for you to take some medicine?"

"No, not at all, it’s just that I laughed a bit too hard," the professor raised his hand, "Go get the medicine, I’ll sunbathe a little longer."

"Ah..." the assistant looked at Li Zheng in astonishment.

Li Zheng was also startled, "I’m sorry, professor, I delayed your medication."

"It’s okay, it’s okay," the professor waved his hand and laughed, "When I first saw your face just now, I thought you were going to ask why parity is not conserved."

"That question is indeed on the list."

"Too bad I don’t have a standard answer, just some… immature little guesses," the professor raised his eyebrows, "Interested in critiquing them?"

"I am!"

"Then take a seat."

"!!!"

The assistant and Fu Xuefeng kept looking back, and it took them a long walk before they returned to the car.

"They actually… started chatting…" the assistant asked blankly, "Is God Zheng really as socially adept as the rumors say? Even the professor is falling for it?"

"Don’t ask me, I have no clue," Fu Xuefeng looked at the two deep in conversation just as puzzledly, "I only know that Lin Yu Jing would probably be really angry seeing this."

"Don’t drag Quiet God into this too, the professor can’t handle that," the assistant warned.

Meanwhile, several members of the training team in the teaching building were also leaning out of the window watching the scene.

"Damn it, that’s too fucking much…" Qi Yingnan clenched his fists tightly, "It was already too much with Jie Qifen giving private instructions... Now even the professor is giving him special treatment?!"

"The professor seems quite happy… He’s laughed quite a few times," Du Zicheng said with a drooping face, "Compared with this, it feels so insincere when he shakes hands with us."

A stern rebuke from Zhang Tao suddenly came through.

"What are you all doing? Are we doing the experiments or not?"

Everyone hurriedly returned to their positions, briskly resuming their tasks.

Zhang Tao then approached the window, and his eyes widened in shock.

This is too much!

I’ve never even talked to the professor like this!

And Li Zheng looks so deceitful.

What is this, maliciously acting cute?

…

An hour and a half later, Li Zheng bowed deeply, watching as the professor’s car drove away.

"You little rascal… what exactly did you do to the professor?" Fu Xuefeng asked from the side.

"Ah… well, with his status, the professor has a lot of thoughts that are not convenient to discuss," Li Zheng stood up straight, his face glowing, exuding a Buddha-like perfection, "We ordinary folks, can talk freely and discuss our views on the world and the universe with no one caring, but the professor can’t easily speak out, a single cough from him is an academic earthquake."

"He wanted to talk to you about all that?"

"What about me?" Li Zheng straightened his collar and said, "Knowledgeable, innocent, trustworthy, what an ideal conversation partner."

"I’m knowledgeable too! I’m innocent too! I’m trustworthy too!" Fu Xuefeng cursed, "Why didn’t the professor even give me a glance during the whole time?"

"Hmm… maybe..." Li Zheng patted Fu Xuefeng, "People like younger folks, especially those with a physical advantage, you know, the professor is genuinely like that."

"Damn!" Fu Xuefeng glared, "Did he even discuss personal matters with you?"

"We didn’t talk much about that, mainly physics topics."

"Cut the act!" Fu Xuefeng looked around, leaned over, and asked, "That… just wondering, the professor and his wife..."

"Shut up, you shameless fellow," Li Zheng glared back, "That’s classified."

"Damn it, Yellow 2, keep your secrets then, keep them all!"

"Oh, right…" Li Zheng quickly ran to the car, pulled out an official document, and handed it to Fu Xuefeng, "Here, this is it."

"Hmm…" Fu Xuefeng glanced at it, then looked back at the teaching building, "Are you leaving directly, or are you going to say hello to everyone?"

"Since I’m already here, we might as well chat a bit."

Soon, the two arrived at the lab upstairs.

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Everyone in the room stared at them, looking not only respectful but also mixed with grief.

Li Zheng waved his hand in greeting like a leader inspecting work.

It was Qi Yingnan who dropped his experiment and ran over, "Are you really making rockets now?"

Li Zheng laughed jovially, "Hardly, just some engineering optimization."

That instantly set the room abuzz, and both acquaintances and strangers dropped their experiments and crowded around.

"Was the Yellow 2 incident really as reported in the news?"

"Is it true that it can be launched again next year?"

"God Zheng, sign an autograph!"

The noisy atmosphere quickly drew Zhang Tao.

"What’s going on here?"

"Hey, Li Zheng is here," Fu Xuefeng said as he handed the official document to Zhang Tao, brushing off his hands, "Brace yourself, it’s double the surprise."

Zhang Tao took the document, bewildered, and just glanced at it and his head started spinning.

"I just boasted that we had the individual and team championships in the bag this year."

"Forget it, Yellow 2 is more important," Fu Xuefeng nodded towards Du Zicheng, "Let Du Zicheng bear a bit more."

"Did you tell him about the Russian guy named Ivan who’s also a jack-of-all-trades?"

"Is that his name…" Fu Xuefeng quickly took out an envelope, pulling out a medal from inside, "Li Zheng asked me to bring this to some Ivan."

"??? When did they hook up?" Zhang Tao scratched his head, "I was counting on him to motivate Li Zheng."

"The situation has changed, boss," Fu Xuefeng sighed, "This guy is no longer part of this battlefield. Let it go."

Zhang Tao looked at Li Zheng surrounded by people and finally sighed.

"Keep an eye on him, maybe we can pull him in during his postgraduate phase..."

"Sure thing," Fu Xuefeng raised his hand and pointed at his ring, quite grandly saying, "My fiancée is his physics teacher."

"Wow!" Zhang Tao was about to congratulate him but then suddenly got angry, "Then why did you let him go to Ji University?!"

"This... let me explain…"

…

After saying goodbye to his training classmates and returning to the car, Li Zheng finally sighed in relief.

The professor truly lived up to his title, reinforced with a robust foundational knowledge.

Throughout the hundreds of Academic Fortune topics, they had discussed forty or fifty in one go.

Just as he was preparing to check the interface, about to refine the Heavenly Demon,

he was caught off guard and widened his eyes.

Shit!

I forgot to take a group photo!!