Lin Zhixia stepped into the office and greeted politely: "Hello, Teacher Gu, I am Lin Zhixia."
Teacher Gu had gray hair on his temples and a calm expression. He nodded at her and asked her to sit on the sofa.
Lin Zhixia immediately sat down and listened quietly to the academic discussions of professors and doctors.
Two doctoral students present today are working together on a paper. They have different opinions. Professor Gu asked them to summarize their respective methods and write the key points on the whiteboard.
There is a huge whiteboard in Teacher Gu’s office.
A doctor picked up a marker and wrote furiously on the whiteboard. Teacher Gu called him out: "Yang Shuwen, don't write too much. You are giving us a presentation. Use your own words to explain the phenomenon."
Yang Shuwen is a first-year doctoral student. Like Lin Zhixia, he has just arrived in Beijing. He is introverted and not good at socializing. He often spends the whole day in the library.
Yang Shuwen's master's thesis overlaps with the research direction of Gu Likai's group. He is also a very good student. He graduated from a key university, and his average scores in both undergraduate and master's degrees were over 90. He is talented, hardworking, and willing to work hard. Several senior students in Gu Likai's group admire him very much.
However, Yang Shuwen felt that Gu Likai was not satisfied with him.
Yang Shuwen pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose and said loudly: "When the number of bits increases to 4, there are countless types of quantum entanglement... I have read the paper you gave me last week. The article is about 'entanglement polyhedrons', which divide the system of entangled states. I went back and reread the book 'Quantum Field Theory' written by Jean-Bernard Zuber and Claude Itzykson twice."
Lin Zhixia raised her right hand and wanted to ask a question.
Teacher Gu pointed at Yang Shuwen and said, "Let's listen to him first, then you can ask questions."
Lin Zhixia remained quiet and stared at Yang Shuwen.
Yang Shuwen continued his long speech.
Teacher Gu waited until Yang Shuwen finished speaking the last word before commenting: "You said it very well, with a comprehensive perspective, but that's all other people's work, like a literature review, which doesn't summarize your own method. Why does your senior brother have a different opinion from you? Your senior brother's opinion is right. You haven't touched the experimental level yet. When we first met, I mentioned to you that doing scientific research is not about burying your head in books and working in isolation. We do experimental physics to cultivate your scientific literacy and hands-on ability. You have to read papers and do experiments. There is a balance here, a trade-off... You are good at studying, but you have to keep up with the experiments. I was too busy in the first two weeks and didn't have time to lead you. I heard from your senior brother that you punched in to the laboratory and just read and took notes on the table, and didn't do the basic exercises your senior brother prepared for you."
The door of the office was wide open, allowing for good ventilation. The cold wind blew into Yang Shuwen's collar, making him shiver.
He stood up straight and explained clearly, "I have been reviewing for the past two weeks... It is easy to forget what you have learned."
Teacher Gu opened the drawer, took out a file bag, and said slowly: "Reviewing the old to learn the new is good, the same is true for experimental physics. Your eyes read books, your hippocampus stores long-term memory, your hands store neuromuscular memory... These are basic skills. I often tell students that inspiration and innovation are your future prospects."
Yang Shuwen quickly said, "Yes, that's right."
Teacher Gu held onto the table and stood up from his seat: “Books are the medium of learning, not the goal of learning.”
Lin Zhixia nodded repeatedly. She seemed to have realized a Zen idea and sighed, "Yes, books are the medium of learning, not the goal of learning. For you, your own thoughts are the most important."
Teacher Gu handed Lin Zhixia a file bag. The bag contained several printed academic papers, experimental instructions, and experimental operation procedures. Teacher Gu asked Lin Zhixia to take these things back, read them carefully, and report to the laboratory next month.
Lin Zhixia held the file bag and thanked him repeatedly.
Yang Shuwen interrupted: "Lin Zhixia, did you just... want to talk to me?"
Lin Zhixia ran to Yang Shuwen and asked him about the nesting problem of "entangled polyhedron". He was stunned for a moment and asked her to speak more in detail and faster, because Teacher Gu had something else to do later and they couldn't delay Teacher Gu's time.
Yang Shuwen didn't know that the reason why Teacher Gu said "I have something to do later" a few minutes ago was because Teacher Gu wanted to help Lin Zhixia determine her specific research direction.
Lin Zhixia didn't expect that Yang Shuwen would ask her to speak faster.
She put her hands behind her back and spoke a long string of words quickly like a machine gun. Yang Shuwen only understood one sentence: "quantum bit photon state".
Yang Shuwen was in a trance for a few seconds, but his senior laughed. The senior stood up, walked to Lin Zhixia, and told her: "I am Tan Qianche from the Provincial No. 1 Middle School."
Tan Qianche!
Hearing his name, Lin Zhixia stretched out her right hand: "I've known you since the first grade! Senior Tan Qianche! You won a medal in the International Olympiad. You are one of the best students our Provincial No. 1 Middle School has ever trained. Your name is on the list of outstanding alumni in the Provincial No. 1 Middle School archives."
Tan Qianche shook hands with Lin Zhixia. He answered several of Lin Zhixia's questions and said, "Do you want to find a notebook and write it down?"
Lin Zhixia shook her head: "No, I don't usually take notes."
Teacher Gu was making tea. Hearing Lin Zhixia's words, he seemed to be thinking about something, then smiled and said, "Oh, Shen Zhaohua mentioned to me that you have a very good memory."
As the steam rose and the aroma of tea filled the air, Teacher Gu returned to his seat, holding his teacup. He asked Lin Zhixia to stay and decide on a general research topic.
Several other doctoral students left the office one after another.
Before Yang Shuwen left, he closed the office door, but Teacher Gu called him, "Yang Shuwen, open my door..."
Tan Qianche reminded Yang Shuwen in a low voice: "Teacher Gu is very careful to avoid suspicion. As long as there are students in his office, he will definitely keep the door open."
Yang Shuwen murmured to himself, "What a good teacher." He then said, "Your junior, Lin Zhixia, is really here."
Tan Qianche suddenly reached out and put his arm around Yang Shuwen's shoulders. They walked side by side, and the long corridor seemed to have no end.
At noon that day, after meeting Gu Likai, Lin Zhixia happily walked back to the dormitory holding the file bag.
The campus scenery was more beautiful than usual. Lin Zhixia was enjoying the scenery while thinking about Teacher Gu's words. Teacher Gu was knowledgeable and quick-witted, and she benefited a lot from the brief exchange.
Back then, Shen Zhaohua once said to Lin Zhixia, "Academics need communication, and academic thinking needs exercise." Now, five years later, Lin Zhixia is fourteen years old, and she finally understands Shen Zhaohua's deep meaning.
Lin Zhixia spent a few days reading the materials that Teacher Gu gave her, and then searched the Internet for some related monographs. Throughout September, she studied hard to prepare for the upcoming experimental work.
When Lin Zhixia was in the provincial capital, she had studied with Shen Zhaohua for three years. Shen Zhaohua was respected as the "big boss" by her students. There was also a young female teacher in the group who had rich academic achievements and was respected as the "little boss" by everyone. This little boss and Zhu Chan, a senior in the group, often taught Lin Zhixia hand in hand.
Along the way, Lin Zhixia received help from many people.
Lin Zhixia will not let them down.
She will definitely create her own field.
Under the influence of a positive attitude, Lin Zhixia's daily life is very regular. She gets up early every day, insists on exercising, completes her study tasks, calls her parents at 8 o'clock in the evening, calls Jiang Yubai at 9 o'clock, and turns off the lights before 11 o'clock.
One night in late September, Lin Zhixia was lying on her bed in the dormitory, holding a little penguin toy in her arms, covered with a soft quilt, and talking on the phone with Jiang Yubai.
They chatted for a while and talked about the upcoming National Day holiday. Jiang Yubai asked her casually: "National Day is coming soon, where do you want to go?"
Lin Zhixia asked back: "Where do you want to go?"
Jiang Yubai thought for two seconds and replied, "No plans for now."
"How about we go to the Forbidden City?" Lin Zhixia suggested excitedly, "I've never been to the Forbidden City, and I also want to see the Summer Palace."
Jiang Yubai said: "There are too many tourists during the holidays. We don't have to wait until the National Day. We can go tomorrow."
Tomorrow is Saturday. Lin Zhixia has no classes. She happily crawled into the quilt, covered her head with the quilt, and whispered: "Okay, tomorrow morning, I will meet you at your doorstep, and then we will visit the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace together."
Jiang Yubai told her: "There will be a lecture at our school from 9 to 10 tomorrow morning. After the lecture, I..."
Before Jiang Yubai finished speaking, Lin Zhixia said firmly: "Okay! I'll wait for you at the gate of your school at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning."
After several seconds, Jiang Yubai still didn't say anything.
The international high school that Jiang Yubai attends has strict management and responsible teachers, but the school does not care about students' "premature love problems."
Therefore, among the classmates Jiang Yubai knew, almost one-third were in love. In the past year or so at the International High School, Jiang Yubai had received some subtle or direct expressions of love from female classmates, all of which he rejected on the spot.
If Lin Zhixia ran to Jiang Yubai's school gate and waited for him to finish school... Jiang Yubai suspected that the relationship between Lin Zhixia and him would be misunderstood by a small number of classmates.
Jiang Yubai pondered for a moment, but he couldn't say anything to reject Lin Zhixia, because Lin Zhixia sounded very happy, and as Lin Zhixia's best friend, he should never let her feel disappointed.
He simply said, "Okay."
Lin Zhixia nodded: "Yeah! See you tomorrow!"
Jiang Yubai replied: "See you tomorrow."
The weather was good, and Saturday was a sunny day. At around 10 o'clock in the morning, Lin Zhixia appeared at the gate of Jiang Yubai's school on time. She was standing outside the gate of the International High School with a backpack on her back, waiting patiently for Jiang Yubai.