"Hmm, so Professor Han, you're really not interested?"
"Really not. An old-tir like , just forget it. Opportunities should be given to the younger generation."
"Alright then."
...
"Director Li, co on, you know I did my doctorate at Humboldt University. Going for another exchange would be completely aningless. How about you let soone else go? Besides, if I leave, what happens to the 'Probability Theory' class for the Qiao Class next sester? That's a teaching task set by Dean Xu, and I wouldn't dare hand it over to anyone else. You know the importance of the first Qiao Class."
...
"Director Li, it's like this—I think I'm still young. There will be plenty of opportunities to go abroad for exchanges in the future. Opportunities like this should really be given to the more senior professors. Besides, even if I go, I honestly don't know what I could exchange about. Really, it's not that I'm being modest; I genuinely don't have much confidence."
...
After roaming around on the sixth floor, Li Jiangao confird it: the first batch of core researchers who got into the Mathematics Research Institute through rit were all virtuous and upright comrades. Every one of them belonged to that kind of humble, courteous type—the kind who, when given good opportunities, didn't want to keep them for themselves but selflessly give them to others.
The only question was, once the institute's talent housing project was completed, and houses were being assigned to senior researchers, would these professors still uphold this humble spirit?
If they did, Li Jiangao felt he could probably keep this director position until retirent. After all, with everyone being so brotherly and harmonious, the general atmosphere in the institute was peaceful, and there wasn't much to fret about...
And if real troubles arose, he could still hand them over to Qiao Ze.
That's how Li Jiangao was thinking, and that's how he acted.
So after visiting everyone on the sixth floor, Li Jiangao went straight up to the eighth floor, explained the situation to Qiao Ze, and then asked, "I was worried there might be so disputes about the single spot, but surprisingly, no one wants to go. What do you think we should do?"
Qiao Ze furrowed his brows slightly and thought for a mont. If the scope of consideration was broadened to include the assistant researchers who had just been recruited and were still in their probationary period, there might be soone willing to go. However, considering it was the University of Bonn that initiated this activity, and knowing their intentions, Qiao Ze was quite clear—they were hoping the visiting professor would bring so of the latest findings in new mathematics.
Those assistant researchers were still in the learning phase, and sending them for the exchange would indeed co off as too perfunctory. So he asked, "Is it mandatory? It doesn't necessarily have to be Schultz."
Indeed, Qiao Ze always had a straightforward way of thinking.
If soone was willing to go, that would be great.
If no one wanted to go, then it might as well be left undone. As he said, there wasn't anything that absolutely had to be done.
Li Jiangao shook his head slightly and responded, "It's not that simple. This application ca through from the departnt. Everyone is hoping to facilitate this cooperation. Hmm, you can think of it this way—this situation with Bonn University is supposed to be a breakthrough in academic exchanges on the school level after so many years."
"And it's Bonn University applying for it. If it succeeds, it's not just about our international academic influence. The most crucial point is that Bonn is effectively disobeying that prohibition. Well, you get what I an."
Qiao Ze imdiately understood and nodded. He'd already figured it out when Li Jiangao ntioned that so many people internally in Huaxia wanted to push forward such a minor cooperation.
He just didn't like interrupting Uncle Li's explanation, so he chose to hear it all out. Then, after pondering for a mont, he offered his suggestion: "How about drawing lots?"
"Drawing lots?" Li Jiangao was a bit surprised to hear such a suggestion coming from Qiao Ze.
"Isn't it the fairest thod?" Qiao Ze was sowhat surprised at Li Jiangao's reaction.
"It is pretty fair; I just didn't expect you to propose sothing that's not very scientific." Li Jiangao shook his head and explained.
"Actually, I used to draw lots quite often when answering multiple-choice questions." Qiao Ze replied, deadpan.
This remark made Li Jiangao suddenly feel like laughing.
It's true the matter itself wasn't exactly funny—plenty of students rely on drawing lots to decide multiple-choice answers during exams. But if this particular student happened to be Qiao Ze, it brought about an inexplicable sense of amusent.
"Alright, lots it is. But since nobody wants to go, there should be so proper incentives. How about this—instead of just drawing lots, whoever gets selected to go this ti will have priority in choosing a unit in the talent housing project when it's completed. As for future cases... maybe we can ask Dou Dou to add so contribution points."
The talent housing project for the Mathematics Research Institute was specially approved, and not many units had this kind of privilege anymore.
"Uncle Li, you're the director; it's your call." Qiao Ze nodded in agreent, seemingly giving Jiangao a pep talk.
At least for now, Qiao Ze had no intention of taking over the directorship.
The administrative chores and ssy affairs—just the thought of them made Qiao Ze feel stifled, let alone the fact that he was still concurrently serving as the Director of the AI Charter Bureau.
"Alright, that's settled. Let's not waste any more ti; I'll go deal with it right away." Li Jiangao made a quick decision.
After all, discussing such trivial matters with Qiao Ze was always stressful.
And the stress wasn't due to Qiao Ze's attitude—it was mostly self-imposed.
This ti, even Qiao's recent visit to the Capital to et with him was well-known. Combined with Qiao Ze's current honors, it always gave off the impression that wasting Professor Qiao Ze's ti was akin to committing a cri against all humanity.
"Alright." Qiao Ze nodded indifferently.
Spending a year at the University of Bonn—nothing too significant, and it certainly ought to be settled quickly.
After all, a few more days and it would be New Year's.
...
"What... you're kidding, aren't you? Uh, Professor Xu, the slip you wrote—no cheating involved?"
"Everyone who hasn't opened their slip, bring it to Professor Han so he can check. Otherwise, he might not believe his luck is that good, drawing the sole winning one." Xu Changshu said, holding back laughter.
Li Jiangao directly notified everyone to co to Xu Changshu's office to draw lots, a process simple enough: thirteen slips of paper—twelve marked "not going," one marked "going."
The slips were crafted by Xu Changshu.
To say there was no cheating wasn't entirely accurate.
At least Xu Changshu didn't cheat for others; he rely ensured he wouldn't draw the "going" slip himself.
In other words, the remaining twelve slips were absolutely fair.
This, of course, didn't escape Li Jiangao's sharp eyes.
But Li Jiangao chose to turn a blind eye. While he understood that pushing for this academic collaboration would benefit his side, if Xu Changshu didn't want to go, so be it. It wasn't like they could just tell Bonn University that they could make anyone go on command.
The Mathematics Research Institute's reputation wasn't that cheap.
Besides, Jiangao had thought it through—while the academic collaboration would last a long ti, the difficulty of selecting people was likely confined to just this year.
A year later, when the institute's few hundred posts had probably been allocated, there would be more options. By then, with the institute upgraded to a research academy, and with hundreds of young official researchers, soone would surely want to go for a year's exchange. There might even be several contenders vying for a single spot...
"Professor Han really is lucky. Everyone's aware—our institute's talent housing land plot has already been approved. I've talked it over with Qiao Ze, and whoever goes to Germany for this exchange will be eligible to prioritize a housing unit upon their return. Han will get first pick of the best floor and largest unit."
Admittedly, this remark could lift spirits even if just slightly. After all, Huaxia people still placed high value on housing.
But only slightly.
They were all smart folks, all part of the inaugural batch at the institute. Once the talent housing was completed, it was highly likely they'd be the first to choose anyway. Whether one chose earlier or later wasn't all that crucial.
"Alright then, I'll start preparing in the coming days."
"No rush; you can go after the New Year holiday. Prepare the materials I've sent, and I'll forward them to help Bonn get your visa sorted."
"No problem. By the way, which professor from Bonn is coming over for the exchange?"
"Oh, Professor Schultz."
At the ntion of this, the room suddenly fell silent.
The na Schultz carried considerable weight in the mathematics world. After all, he was a Fields dal laureate; many believed he should have won his first Fields dal as early as 2014.
Especially with his innovations in using p-adic geotric thods to address arithtic geotry challenges, which had greatly influenced many.
If it weren't for Qiao Ze, hearing the na would indeed bring a certain amount of pressure.
Reviews
All reviews (0)