"I’m willing."
Professor Wang’s two words were crisp and direct.
The smile on Li Dong’s face only appeared after a moment of genuine surprise.
He had been thinking he would have to do some convincing, but that had been completely unnecessary.
"Then welcome to the team, Professor Wang."
Li Dong said as he extended his hand.
Professor Wang also smiled and shook Li Dong’s hand.
Throughout his life, his guiding principle had always been steadiness.
He allowed himself a brief moment of emotion, but once it passed, it was time for a veteran to get back to doing his job.
"Li Dong."
"Tell me about the current situation with your research group."
Li Dong: ???
Seeing that he didn’t respond, Professor Wang continued asking.
"Which school or department is the research group affiliated with? The School of Mathematics? Yuanpei? Or is it an independent project?"
"Have you decided on a name for the group? Will it be funded by a departmental budget or through external projects?"
"How many people are in the group right now? How many doctoral and master’s students?"
"Where are the office space, seminar room, and supporting computational resources? Have you set a schedule for regular meetings?"
"How many recruitment slots have you requested for this year?"
Professor Wang’s questions flowed smoothly, but as for Li Dong...
Although his face still wore an expression of having everything under control.
Inside, however, he was roasting frantically.
’Does a research group really need all this stuff?’
’Shouldn’t it just be a few people sitting around and discussing things?’
’He hadn’t prepared for any of the things Professor Wang was asking about.’
So he could only try his best to maintain his smile as he let out a small cough.
"Um... well, about that, Professor Wang."
"I haven’t had time to sort out the specific details yet."
"Since you’ve joined, I’ll leave this part to you."
Professor Wang: ...
He could pretty much see what was going on.
Li Dong’s so-called "research group" was probably something he came up with on the spur of the moment.
The kind that didn’t even have a name.
The corner of Professor Wang’s mouth twitched imperceptibly.
’So all those questions I just asked were basically addressed to thin air?’
But he wasn’t angry.
’Who could blame him? The kid was brilliant.’
"Fine," Professor Wang said with a sense of resignation.
"I’ll take care of this, then."
"We’ll affiliate the group with the School of Mathematics and register it as a joint project between Yuanpei and the School of Mathematics. As for the name..."
He thought for a moment, then looked at Li Dong.
"How about ’Li Dong Research Group’ for now?"
Li Dong: ...
’Although the name was nice, it felt a little strange.’
’But he couldn’t think of a better name at the moment.’
"Fine, you have the final say."
Professor Wang nodded and took out his notebook again.
"Regarding recruitment, we’ll focus mainly on doctoral students."
"I’ll set a higher bar for master’s students, and as a rule, we won’t accept undergraduates."
When Li Dong heard "as a rule, we won’t accept undergraduates," he subconsciously glanced at himself.
Professor Wang noticed the gesture and quickly added.
"With special exceptions, of course."
Li Dong: ...
Next, Professor Wang went through the regular meeting schedule, office location, and interview process, one item at a time.
Throughout the process, Li Dong’s only responsibility was to nod, occasionally chiming in with a cooperative "mhm."
Finally, Professor Wang closed his notebook.
"So, that’s settled then."
"It will take me about a week to complete the whole process: registering the research group, getting special approval for PI qualifications, and handling preliminary enrollment. I’ll lock in the supplementary doctoral slots for this year and the admission-by-recommendation slots for next year. We can meet up when the list of potential candidates is ready."
"For the actual interviews, you and the other professors in the group will need to conduct them together, but you’ll make the final decision."
"Okay," Li Dong said with a nod.
After confirming everything with Li Dong, Professor Wang didn’t linger.
He stood up, shook Li Dong’s hand, and turned to leave the seminar room.
As he reached the door, he glanced back and mused to himself.
’If this were thirty years ago, who would’ve believed that at my age, I’d be acting as a steward for a freshman?’
Inside the seminar room.
Li Dong let out a long sigh of relief.
"Sigh..."
"You really can’t do research alone."
"Just the administrative work for a group is enough to drive you crazy."
He decided that from now on, he would leave this kind of work to Professor Wang whenever possible.
’Professor Wang seemed like a very steady and responsible person, after all.’
「The next morning.」
Li Dong, for once, was up bright and early.
When he left, it was still a few minutes before seven.
In the dorm room, Liu Qiang and Chen Nan were sleeping so soundly they didn’t even stir.
Wang Hao, on the top bunk, rolled over and mumbled, half-asleep.
"Keep grinding. Grind yourself to death."
Then he rolled back over and went back to sleep.
Li Dong couldn’t be bothered with him.
This morning, Academician E Weinan was holding a small class.
But he wasn’t going to attend the lecture.
He needed to get the book list from E Weinan before his class started.
According to what the old professor, Zhang Lufang, had said, he only had one month before joining Professor Wu Kai’s group.
He was starting almost from scratch in applied mathematics, so every extra day he could spend studying counted.
He first bought four steamed buns at the cafeteria.
He kept two for himself and put the other two in a bag, planning to bring them to E Weinan.
When he reached the third floor of Science Building One, he heard voices coming from inside E Weinan’s office.
Li Dong walked over and saw that besides E Weinan, Gao Wen was also in the office.
Li Dong: ???
’How is Teacher Gao here?’
’Isn’t he still in Peng City?’
Li Dong knocked on the door.
The two people inside turned their heads at the same time.
When Gao Wen saw Li Dong, he reacted incredibly fast, immediately stepping forward and grabbing him.
"Li Dong, your timing is perfect."
Li Dong: ??
Li Dong had wanted to say, "Teacher Gao, let’s talk about the server thing later."
But before he could get the words out, Gao Wen spoke first.
"Quick, send a message to Principal Gong."
"Just say you want me to be your mentor."
Li Dong: ???
"...Teacher Gao?"
Li Dong was stunned for several seconds.
Seeing that he was still standing there dumbfounded, Gao Wen explained the whole situation to him in just a few sentences.
When the university had previously held a meeting to decide on the fifteen rotating mentors for Li Dong, Gao Wen hadn’t been on campus.
Principal Gong had figured that since Gao Wen spent most of his time at the Peng City Laboratory and didn’t show up much at Yan University, it would be awkward if he became a "mentor in name only" for Li Dong.
So, Gao Wen’s name was removed from the list.
The person added to fill his spot was another academician from the School of Information Engineering, Academician Liu, who was also a veteran in the field of low-level algorithms, making him a perfect fit for the vacancy Gao Wen left.
Logically speaking, the matter had been handled quite appropriately.
And Li Dong really hadn’t paid it any mind.
In his "Special Talent Development Program," the mentors were all basically thrown into one pot anyway; it didn’t matter who was officially listed.
But Gao Wen, having finished his work these past couple of days, saw the document as soon as he logged into the university’s internal OA system.
He blew up on the spot.
He immediately flew back to Yan University and went straight to the principal’s office.
But Principal Gong wasn’t there.
He only found E Weinan.
So he ended up venting to E Weinan over tea.
And halfway through his rant, Li Dong himself showed up at the door.
That’s why Gao Wen was having Li Dong tell Principal Gong himself.
This way, it wouldn’t look like he, an academician, was actively demanding to be Li Dong’s mentor.
Instead, it would seem like Li Dong, with his great foresight, had chosen him, a renowned teacher.
Li Dong was speechless, but if he really had to choose, Gao Wen was naturally the better option.
After all, he was more familiar with Gao Wen and could speak more freely with him.
Without much thought, Li Dong pulled out his phone and sent Principal Gong a message.
Seeing that Gao Wen’s business was settled, E Weinan turned to Li Dong and said.
"You’re here for the book list, right?"
"Yes, Teacher E."
Li Dong said with a nod.
E Weinan took out a pre-written A4 sheet of paper from his drawer and handed it over.
Li Dong took it and glanced at it.
’Jeez, there were over twenty books on this single sheet of A4 paper.’
From *Matrix Computations* to *Spectral Methods in MATLAB*, they were all heavy hitters.
E Weinan looked at Li Dong and said.
"Digest these first. Come back to me when you’re done, and I’ll give you the next list based on your progress."
Li Dong looked at the list and figured it would be enough to keep him busy for the better part of a month.
So he said to E Weinan.
"Thank you, Teacher E."
E Weinan nodded.
"Alright, so are you going to sit in on my class today?"
Li Dong shook his head honestly.
"Teacher E, I still have some things to discuss with Teacher Gao today. I’ll come listen next time."
E Weinan waved his hand, not at all offended.
An academician personally invites an undergraduate to his class, the undergraduate declines, and even replies with "I’ll come next time."
Across all of Yan University, Li Dong was probably the only one of his kind.

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