Principal Gong took a sip of tea, then finally asked in an unhurried tone.
"Li Dong, is there... anything else you’d like to ask of the university? As long as it’s a reasonable request, we’ll do our best to accommodate you."
Li Dong already knew what to expect.
He had originally come to collect his prize money. The money had arrived, as had the honors and the mentorship plan, so he didn’t really have any other requests.
He was just about to say no, when he suddenly thought of Xiaohai.
So, after a moment’s thought, he spoke up.
"Principal Gong, does the university have any unused, or temporarily unoccupied, computer labs or empty rooms?"
Principal Gong was taken aback for a moment.
He never would have expected Li Dong to ask for an empty room...
But since Li Dong had asked, he mentally reviewed the options before speaking.
"Yes. In Annex Building Two, behind the Science and Engineering Building, there’s a small computer lab on the second floor, just over forty square meters. It used to be under the jurisdiction of the computing center, but it’s been vacant for the past year."
"If you want it, the university can allocate it exclusively to you. What would you primarily be using it for?"
Li Dong said.
"I’d like to do some algorithmic optimization and deployment."
He didn’t mention "AI" directly.
After all, this reward was for his achievements in mathematics.
If he rashly mentioned AI, there was a chance the university might politely refuse on the grounds that it wasn’t relevant, which wouldn’t be worth the risk.
Of course, he was overthinking things.
This was Yan University, not Jiangcheng Seventh Middle School.
Even if he said, "I want to work on quantum gravity," as long as he laid out a halfway decent plan, the university would listen seriously. There would be no reason to reject it outright.
Principal Gong, however, understood.
"Algorithmic deployment? Will you need to use the university’s servers?"
Li Dong immediately shook his head.
"No, no. I’ll take care of the servers myself."
’Are you kidding me? Use the university’s servers?’ he thought. ’That room is for Xiaohai. How could I possibly dare to use the university’s servers.’
Of course, Principal Gong was unaware of the inside story.
But he was a sharp man. The moment he heard the "I’ll take care of it myself" tone in Li Dong’s voice, he immediately understood.
The algorithm this kid had developed had never been publicly disclosed.
If he were in Li Dong’s shoes, he wouldn’t feel comfortable letting any third party get involved either.
"As for procurement, then,"
Principal Gong said.
"In the future, for any hardware you need to buy, you can use the university’s bulk purchasing agreements with several manufacturers. The prices will be significantly lower than if you bought it yourself."
"And you don’t need to worry about invoices or anything like that. The university will handle the internal paperwork for you."
Li Dong immediately perked up. This was what he truly needed.
His eight hundred thousand, plus the two million that was about to arrive, was just barely enough for what he needed for Xiaohai, based on the prices he’d checked.
Using the university’s bulk purchasing program would relieve a great deal of his financial pressure.
"Thank you, Principal Gong."
Principal Gong waved his hand.
"It’s only right."
Seeing that Li Dong and Principal Gong had finished their conversation, a man in formal attire spoke up.
He rose from his seat and gave Li Dong a slight nod.
"Li Dong."
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Zhang Jie. I am the resident liaison at Yan University for the Huaxia National Natural Science Foundation. I am also the university’s point of contact for the Outstanding Talent Project, which is part of the National Special Support Program for High-Level Talents."
Li Dong greeted the man.
"Hello, Teacher Zhang."
"Please, don’t call me Teacher Zhang. I’m not worthy of being your teacher."
Zhang Jie said with a smile, waving his hand dismissively.
"The university has already submitted your application materials."
"Following the current procedures, it should take another two to three weeks."
"I will personally notify you once the entire process is complete."
"You won’t have to run around to different departments. We’ll coordinate everything from our end."
Li Dong hated dealing with bureaucracy, so hearing he wouldn’t have to run around himself, he offered his sincere thanks.
"I appreciate all your help, Teacher Zhang."
Zhang Jie looked at him, his tone gentle.
"Li Dong, it is I who should be thanking you. If I may speak personally for a moment..."
"In recent years, the number of foundational research talents in our country has grown at a respectable pace."
"But young scholars like you—those who can produce results in the most hardcore fields starting as an undergraduate—are far too rare."
"People like you are the hope of Huaxia."
Li Dong replied in all seriousness.
"And I am proud to be a part of Huaxia."
Hearing this, the professors in the room said nothing.
But the look in each of their eyes softened just a bit.
Outside the principal’s office, Tian Gang and Liu Ruochuan walked with Li Dong.
Tian Gang looked at Li Dong. "You know, Li Dong."
"I actually discussed a simpler plan with Teacher Liu."
"My original plan was to make you a specially-appointed senior research fellow as soon as you graduated."
"It’s the equivalent of one tier below an academician in terms of benefits, and you would have been attached to my research institute."
"That way, you could have directly participated in several of my projects..."
"However, Teacher Liu didn’t quite agree, and after thinking it over, I realized he had a point."
"You seem quite satisfied with the arrangements you proposed to Principal Gong today, so I won’t say any more about it. I just hope for one thing."
"Your academic achievements... to be honest, are already more than enough. They’ve already surpassed what most people accomplish in their entire lives."
"But..." His tone grew more serious.
"I hope you won’t let this cause you to stop moving forward."
Li Dong nodded earnestly.
"Teacher Tian, I understand."
Tian Gang gave him a look, said no more, and clapped Liu Ruochuan on the shoulder. "Let’s go."
And with that, the two of them left.
Li Dong stood at the end of the hallway, watching the two professors’ retreating figures. ’How could I possibly stop?’ he thought.
’Even without the system attributes, the red envelopes from the group chat, and all these other random rewards...’
’Just the thought of settling that century-old debate between Madam Curie and Mendeleev, of building the Langlands program’s grand edifice halfway to completion, of letting old Mr. Fields see, before his death, the path that future generations of young people would walk...’
’...that alone is more than interesting enough.’
He paused for a couple of seconds.
Then he turned and headed for the School of Chemistry.
The door to the elderly Professor Zhang Lufang’s office was ajar.
The old professor was looking down, reading some kind of document.
Li Dong knocked on the door.
"Teacher Zhang."
The professor looked up, and upon seeing Li Dong, immediately broke into a smile and beckoned him over.
"Li Dong! Come in, come in."
Li Dong went inside.
The elderly professor studied him for a moment.
"You’ve been doing very well for yourself, haven’t you?"
By now, there wasn’t a soul at Yan University who hadn’t heard about his major accomplishments.
As a professor with immense seniority, Zhang Lufang was naturally well-informed.
Li Dong gave a sheepish grin. "Teacher Zhang, it’s all because you’re such a good teacher."
The professor laughed and patted his arm lightly.
"What did I teach you? Were your achievements in math because of my teaching? Are you making fun of me? Is that it?"
Li Dong chuckled again.
"You taught me how to be a good person."
The professor huffed.
"Stop your sweet-talking."
Then, she said unhurriedly.
"I know why you’re here."
"Those two academicians working on the project... they’ve found their person."
Li Dong paused, surprised. "Huh?"
The elderly professor smiled.
"Yes. A Professor Mateo Levan, from France."
"In terms of direct relevance to this project, he’s a better fit than you."
Li Dong let out an "oh."
He had already met Professor Levan.
He just hadn’t realized that this Professor Levan was the very candidate the two academicians Teacher Zhang had mentioned were looking for.
He was silent for a couple of seconds.
It wasn’t that he was disappointed. It was more that... he found fate to be a truly marvelous thing.
Seeing him silent, Zhang Lufang smiled and waved her hand.
"Hey, don’t worry. Even though the spot in Hecheng is gone, right here at our university, another professor’s project is about to launch."
Li Dong blinked.
"Who?"
"Professor Wu Kai."

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