Jiang Yubai printed out the "Operation Guide for Robot Lin Jiang" and put it in a file box.
The file box contains the first volume of "Human Observation Diary", the notebook given to him by Lin Zhixia, and the first edition manuscript of the "Exploring the Universe" series of comics - for Jiang Yubai, these things are full of commemorative significance.
After the winter vacation, Jiang Yubai returned to Beijing with his file box. He placed the box on the table in his study, accompanying him in his studies every day. He will take the college entrance examination in May this year, get the test results in August, and submit his college application in September... If everything goes well, Jiang Yubai will receive his college admission notice in January next year.
Jiang Yubai did not dare to slack off at all and reviewed seriously every day.
For three whole months, even though he and Lin Zhixia lived in the same city, they had not met and only had brief exchanges through QQ video. Lin Zhixia seemed to be busier than Jiang Yubai. Her laboratory work was not going well, and the chip design for quantum computing had encountered obstacles.
The latest chip that Lin Zhixia and her seniors developed together could not be manufactured, and could only exist in computer software and be simulated in a virtual environment. The existing chip manufacturing technology could not meet Lin Zhixia's needs, and she didn't know what to do for a while - it was like, she focused on problem A, came up with solution B, but B required C, and she was powerless to do C.
Scientific research in cutting-edge fields is more difficult than she imagined.
She suddenly wanted to change her career and study chip manufacturing.
Lin Zhixia did not tell Jiang Yubai about her worries. During every video call, she claimed that everything was going well and encouraged Jiang Yubai to keep going and move forward courageously.
In mid-May, Jiang Yubai took the college entrance examination.
His father and mother specially put down their work and flew to Beijing to visit their son. The whole family reunited in Beijing, and even his uncle and aunt came.
During the exam days, his father acted as a driver and personally sent Jiang Yubai to the exam room. Jiang Yubai carried his schoolbag and walked into the exam room, moving forward resolutely without looking back.
Jiang Shaoqi looked at his nephew's back and couldn't help laughing: "Hahahaha, is Xiao Jiang a little nervous?"
Jiang Shaoqi's elder brother looked back at him, and he immediately changed his words: "Xiao Jiang is not nervous, but determined. An exam of this level is a piece of cake. Xiao Jiang can get all A's with his eyes closed."
Jiang Shaoqi had great confidence in Jiang Yubai, and Jiang Yubai also performed well.
Jiang Yubai answered all the questions steadily and even dared to check answers with his classmates after the test. His classmates asked him, "Did you do well in the test?"
Jiang Yubai admitted: "It's OK."
The classmate asked again: "Can you apply to the college you want to go to?"
Jiang Yubai said, "Not necessarily."
He wanted to go to Trinity College at Cambridge University, which was always very competitive. He was not completely sure, so he could only try his best. Strangely, he did not feel too much pressure, and was even mentally prepared for failure.
Jiang Yubai once thought he was a perfectionist. However, after so many years of Lin Zhixia's constant attacks, he accepted the fact that "he was just an ordinary person." It would be great if he could go to Trinity College, but it didn't matter if he couldn't go, as he would not be left without a place to study.
On the night when all the exams were over, Jiang Yubai felt relaxed physically and mentally. He soaked in the bathtub filled with warm water, like a fish returning to the sea. He turned on the TV in the bathroom and watched an excellent program called "Man and Nature" on CCTV10.
On the marble table beside the bathtub, there was a goblet filled with freshly squeezed orange juice. Jiang Yubai picked up the goblet, and suddenly, his cell phone rang.
He accidentally pressed the answer button.
Lin Zhixia said happily: "Jiang Yubai! I just came out of the lab, and I saw your text message. Congratulations! You will definitely be admitted to the school you want to go to! What are you doing now? Let's video chat later? I'm going back to the dormitory soon..."
Jiang Yubai panicked for a moment, but soon calmed down. He replied calmly, "I'm watching TV."
"What TV?"
“Man and Nature.”
Lin Zhixia asked again: "Are you free to video chat?"
The mist in the bathroom obscured Jiang Yubai's vision. He raised his head slightly, his vision was no longer clear, his heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and he said the wrong thing without any precautions: "Let's do it another day."
"Some other day?" Lin Zhixia was a little confused.
But she quickly agreed: "Well, let's not talk about it for now, I have to climb the stairs, bye."
After Lin Zhixia hung up the phone, Jiang Yubai only heard a series of "beep beep" sounds. His fingertips slipped and the phone almost fell into the water.
He put down his phone and turned off the TV.
Water vapor filled the air, the lights were dim like a dream, and the pool water flowed in the dim light. Such a quiet environment was originally conducive to thinking. However, Jiang Yubai's thoughts became confused.
He lay on the built-in backrest of the bathtub, and realized that his words "Maybe another day" were too cold and impatient... That was not what he meant. He stood up, put on his bathrobe, and called Lin Zhixia.
To his surprise, Lin Zhixia turned off her phone.
Jiang Yubai waited for a while and called Lin Zhixia again, but her phone was always turned off. Jiang Yubai logged into QQ again and checked the QQ contact panel - the avatar of "Xia Xia" was gray.
In fact, Lin Zhixia's cell phone was out of battery.
She doesn't have time to play QQ either.
She went out to attend classes at 7:30 in the morning, attended a seminar in the afternoon, and went to Gu Likai's laboratory in the evening to work. She hardly had any rest that day. She returned to the dormitory at around 9 o'clock in the evening, took a shower, fell on the bed and fell asleep.
Lin Zhixia slept very soundly and had a dream. She dreamed of the chip she, her seniors and teachers designed. She put the chip into the machine and immediately collected the data results that everyone wanted most. Professor Gu Likai told her that this chip can be mass-produced, greatly improving the operating capacity of traditional computers and bringing about epoch-making changes to human society.
Lin Zhixia's dreams are always very clear, and all the pictures have perfect details, enough to deceive her senses and make her wonder whether she is in an illusory imaginary world.
The next morning, after Lin Zhixia woke up, she sat on the bed for a minute.
Her roommate Deng Shasha asked her, "What's wrong with you?"
Lin Zhixia replied: "I dreamed that the problem of our group was solved and I promoted the progress of human society."
Deng Shasha held a cup of coffee in both hands and said with emotion: "Xia Shen is Xia Shen. He is solving puzzles even in his dreams. I was like you when I was in my third year of high school. My mother asked someone to tell my fortune. The old fortuneteller said that I could be admitted to the best university in the country..."
Lin Zhixia held onto the railing of the bed, still thinking silently. She felt that she could definitely find a solution, she just forgot something crucial.
She recalled the papers she had read and what her teachers and seniors had said to her, and the morning hunger was no longer obvious. She hurriedly washed up, changed her clothes, took out a pack of biscuits and a bottle of mineral water from the cabinet, picked up her schoolbag and ran to the quantum computing laboratory.
Lin Zhixia didn't contact Jiang Yubai the entire weekend.
Jiang Yubai had just finished his exams and could rest for a few days. But he couldn't get through to Lin Zhixia on the phone, nor could he find her through QQ. He sent her a text message: Are you free recently
Jiang Yubai didn't say anything extra.
Jiang Yubai was always reserved and introverted. He couldn't just tell her that he was waiting for her call.
His wait was long.
At around 4 o'clock on Sunday afternoon, Jiang Yubai was sitting in the garden reading a book called "The Practice of Management". He was absent-mindedly turning the pages when his cell phone suddenly rang. He hurriedly answered the call and heard the long-lost voice of Lin Zhixia: "I've been too busy these two days and haven't had time to charge my phone. Are you okay?"
Jiang Yubai threw away the book in his hand: "Fortunately, my grandfather has been teaching me how to do my job these two days."
"What job?" Lin Zhixia asked.
Jiang Yubai patiently described it in detail. He also said that he would prepare for university interviews this summer and that he would go to study in the UK in September next year.
Lin Zhixia's tone revealed reluctance: "We are going to separate again."
Jiang Yubai said: "I will return home during the holidays."
"Yeah!" Lin Zhixia responded.
Jiang Yubai wanted to meet her, but he knew she was very busy recently and might not have time to hang out, so he casually asked, "Are you reviewing for the final exam?"
"No," Lin Zhixia said, "I never review."
Jiang Yubai murmured to himself: "You really don't need to review."
Lin Zhixia was thinking about her work in the laboratory. She chatted with Jiang Yubai for a while, but she didn't ask him to come out for a meeting.
Lin Zhixia devoted herself to scientific research and was even less active than usual in eating. She and her senior were working hard to simplify the chip design in order to make a successful experiment.
Last October, Lin Zhixia handed in her first paper draft to Teacher Gu, who praised her and asked her to continue studying with senior Tan Qianche for a while. So far, she has studied for more than seven months and still hasn't produced a paper. Although she doesn't say it, she is a little anxious in her heart.
In two months, Lin Zhixia will follow her teacher and seniors to Los Angeles to attend a quantum academic conference. Quantum computing is her future development direction, so how can she not have a paper
For the first time in her life, Lin Zhixia understood the anxiety of ordinary people.
Yang Shuwen in their group was relieved. Yang Shuwen and Tan Qianche worked together on a paper and successfully published it, which was somewhat fruitful. Yang Shuwen's spirit was different from before. He worked steadily and peacefully in the laboratory, always with a focused expression on his face. No one could tell that he had blown up the laboratory before.
He also suggested to Lin Zhixia: "Say a few nice words to Tan Qianche, ask him to give you an innovative idea, and then lead you to publish an article to practice."
Lin Zhixia refused straightforwardly: "Thank you, I can publish the paper on my own."
"Experimental physics cultivates intuition," Yang Shuwen advised her in return, "No matter how smart you are, you don't have as much experience as Tan Qianche. You are younger than him, and your intuition is not as strong as his..."
Lin Zhixia remained silent.
Yang Shuwen said with emotion: "Have you read "Inferiority and Transcendence"? This book enlightened me."
"I've seen it." Lin Zhixia nodded.
Yang Shuwen nodded slightly: "Read it again, it will be useful."
Lin Zhixia sat on a chair in the laboratory, listening to Yang Shuwen's self-narration: "I just entered school last year and met a doctoral student from the next group. Every time we met, I asked him, have you made any progress? Have you made anything? Did your supervisor push you? That person always told me that he didn't read books, but played games every day. His supervisor didn't push him, so he was very relaxed..."
"Really?" Lin Zhixia asked suspiciously.
"It's fake!" Yang Shuwen sighed repeatedly, "He lied to me. I still don't understand why he lied to me. Tell me."
Lin Zhixia guessed: "He's afraid that you'll feel pressured?"
Yang Shuwen waved his hand: "No, he said that to everyone else in our group."
Lin Zhixia tapped the table with her fingertips: "Are you trying to tell me that some voices from the outside world are true and some are false, and I shouldn't be influenced by others."
"Right," Yang Shuwen scratched his head, "You know a lot. If I can figure it out, there's no way you can't figure it out."
Lin Zhixia said to herself, "I have read a lot of philosophy books. Philosophy is like a mathematical formula. Even if you understand the formula, you may not be able to apply it to yourself."
"Isn't that right?" Yang Shuwen agreed.
Lin Zhixia looked up at him: "No one can have smooth sailing, I will continue to work hard."
Yang Shuwen gave her a thumbs up.
From May to June, Lin Zhixia's frequency of calling home decreased. She stayed in the laboratory until about nine o'clock every night, then went back to the dormitory to take a shower, clean up, and it was almost time to go to bed.
The night before June 6, Lin Zhixia received a call from home. Her mother asked her, "Xia Xia, what are you busy with recently?"
Lin Zhixia described it honestly: "I encountered an academic problem. I really want to solve this problem..."
"Your brother will take the college entrance examination tomorrow," her mother reminded her.
She asked back: "Brother, do you want to talk to me?"
Lin Zeqiu was sitting on the sofa, eating an apple. His mother handed him the phone, but he didn't answer it.
Lin Zhixia called out, "Brother?"
He lowered his head and put his ear to the receiver: "What's the matter?"
Lin Zhixia said excitedly: "I wish my brother success in the college entrance examination!"
Lin Zeqiu asked her: "Are all your classmates among the top 100 in the province's college entrance examination?"
"No," Lin Zhixia introduced seriously, "Our college has many students recommended by competitions."
Lin Zhixia wanted to ask Lin Zeqiu about his class ranking and total score in the mock exam, but she didn't dare to ask. She said a lot of encouraging words and kept cheering Lin Zeqiu up. Lin Zeqiu acted very calm, which reminded Lin Zhixia of the Russian player in the Romanian Mathematics Masters Competition that year.