Chapter 14

Inside, upon hearing the commotion, the recording officer came to open the door. "What brings you here?"

Lin Shuicheng nodded slightly. "I'm a member of Professor Wang's team. I took today off earlier and didn't attend, but after seeing the news tonight, I came for the defense."

Standing beside him, Fu Luoyin caught the recorder's attention. Upon realizing he was from Section Seven, the recorder dared not ask any questions and let him in.

Fu Luoyin casually chose a small sofa seat by the side and sat down to listen in.

For some reason, he suddenly wanted to see how Lin Shuicheng would fare in his defense. Besides, since he was already here, it was impossible for him to wait outside with a group of teary-eyed students.

Scanning the defense room, he saw four supervisors seated around a square conference table, while the students whose defenses were postponed sat at a circular discussion table at the back. The supervisors showed no particular reaction; their expressions were relaxed, and there were a few neatly packed plastic food containers on the floor, indicating they had spent quite some time there.

His gaze landed on Ou Qian. With reddened eyes, she seemed to have spotted him too, looking slightly stunned.

Fu Luoyin nonchalantly shifted his gaze away.

Ou Qian's fingers trembled slightly—she knew that Lin Shuicheng was Fu Luoyin's lover, but Fu Luoyin had actually accompanied him to the defense?

This was more than just concern!

She didn't have much of a relationship with Fu Luoyin, despite being in the same circle. Fu had never been particularly fond of playing with girls since childhood, and even after dating Xia Ran, their interactions were minimal. Fu barely gave her a second glance.

When Ou Qian saw Lin Shuicheng, she felt the urge to cry again but held it back.

She had cried enough for today.

Before Sunday, she and the others had meticulously gone through their papers and PowerPoint presentations. Everything Lin Shuicheng produced was impeccable, clearly written without any fluff. Everyone had memorized the theoretical parts, but when it came to the data, Lin Shuicheng had frequently used phrases like "easily proven," "readily obtained," and "results derived from modeling based on Equation XXX." They had an almost blind trust in Lin Shuicheng's data, so much so that not a single person among them thought to run the experiment again in the quantum lab or recalculate using his methods during the three days of preparation.

Given that the data and calculations were laid out explicitly, Ou Qian never imagined they would stumble during the defense.

Yet, this time, he happened to run into Xu Kong.

Xu Kong is a front-line tool specialist, concurrently serving as the president of the Alliance University of Science and Technology. He teaches courses in both the Physics and Mathematics faculties, and he personally led the development of the third-generation quantum computer.

Due to previous circumstances, he had been stationed in another branch and hadn't returned. This time, Star University went to great lengths to recruit him, hoping he would take on the role of president, but he declined, stating that "too many administrative tasks would hinder my research." He agreed only to become the vice dean of the Mathematics Department. Xu Kong was also notoriously known as a "Tiger Star." His strictness manifested in both his research and academic pursuits. More than 80% of the undergraduate students under his guidance failed their courses, and few graduate students managed to complete their studies without delays. As a new leader, he made his presence felt by setting his sights on the project team in the Mathematics Department. With his influential status, no one dared to defy him. The defense had been going smoothly until Ou Qian's group, who were the last to present. Hearing that the previous two groups had encountered difficulties, they were quite anxious. However, after presenting their PowerPoint, the questions raised by the other professors were ones they had thoroughly discussed and prepared for, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief. The problem lay with Xu Kong.

Xu Kong had been silently reviewing their thesis, but his expression was fairly satisfied. After the other supervisors had finished posing their questions, he immediately asked, "There aren't any issues with the rest of the content. The report is well-presented, and I don't have any further inquiries. Let me see... How did you calculate the T value of 3749.565 on your third page?"

Ou Qian immediately panicked, as this number corresponded precisely to the section where Lin Shuicheng had written "Easily Obtained."

How could she possibly know what "easy-to-obtain" method they were referring to!

Seeing her confusion, Xu Kong smiled kindly, assuming that she had simply forgotten due to nervousness. He then turned to look at her teammates.

During the defense, if the first speaker couldn't answer, other team members were allowed to provide additional information.

However, sitting below were An Ruyi, Lv Jian, and Meng Yi, all equally clueless. They hadn't done the work themselves, so how could they know how these numbers were derived?

Xu Kong's smile faded as he flipped through the thesis further. He quickly found the second instance of "easy-to-obtain": "And this? The proof for the substitution coefficient 37 on page five? No need to elaborate, just explain the method used."

Ou Qian: "..."

She was utterly lost.

The atmosphere in the room froze, and Xu Kong's demeanor grew increasingly intimidating, his face visibly darkening.

She had no idea why these two numbers held such significance that Xu Kong abruptly withdrew his praise, throwing the thesis to the ground. "Nonsense! Complete nonsense! Who wrote this thesis? Was it supervised by Wang Pinyuan? What is he doing? I'm going to dismiss him. None of you leave until you tell me how these data were obtained!"

His face flushed red with anger, almost to the point of raising his blood pressure. He took a few pills from his pocket to stabilize himself.

Ou Qian burst into tears, pleading, "I'm so sorry, Professor. We didn't prepare adequately beforehand. Someone from our group couldn't make it today, and he was in charge of calculating these figures. We'll call him over right away—"

"Baloney!" Xu Kong's voice boomed like a gong, causing the windows to rattle. "A mathematics student who did the research personally doesn't know how these two numbers were derived? Is that a difficult question? None of you knows the answer? That's the problem! If you had someone else write your thesis, I won't leave until you confess. I've taught for so many years and presided over countless defenses, but students like you, Lin Shuicheng, are truly a first!"

Xu Kong was prone to losing his temper, and none of the other professors dared to intervene.

It being Sunday, there was no issue with work being disrupted. Once Xu Kong got worked up, he sat down and refused to budge, eventually settling into a composed state as he even ordered takeout for the students to deliver.

Ou Qian discreetly messaged another associate professor from the mathematics department, even alerting the university president, but none could persuade Xu Kong.

Determined to put an end to such dishonest practices, Xu Kong was resolute.

This was an absurd matter, one that a postgraduate from the top academic institution in the entire Alliance, Star City Alliance University, would engage in!

Upon seeing Lin Shuicheng arrive, his teammates perked up, their previously lifeless wooden toys suddenly wound up, dispelling the gloomy atmosphere.

Perhaps due to the number of people entering and exiting, the professors didn't notice Lin Shuicheng when he entered. It wasn't until he spoke softly that everyone's attention was drawn back.

"Ah, you've brought reinforcements?" Xu Kong snorted noncommittally, nodding at him. "Well, go on up then."

Lin Shuicheng glanced at the projector screen, which still displayed the slides from the previous group. He lowered his head to exit the screen and search for his team's presentation on the desktop, but a female mentor intervened. "It's so late; you should be familiar with your own data. There's no need for the slides—just present directly."

The female mentor crossed her arms and looked at him with a teasing smile. Her name was Yang Shen, in her early thirties, and she was also a renowned mentor in the Mathematics Department, sharing a similar academic stance with Xu Kong.

Ou Qian and the others could tell that this was an intimidating gesture. The mentors had clearly lost faith in the authenticity of their presentation and intended to use this situation to test Lin Shuicheng's mettle.

Without prepared slides, the impromptu presentation was akin to a speaker receiving a one-minute notice before delivering an unscripted speech!

Lin Shuicheng paused, then said, "Okay."

Turning to the presentation recording team, he asked, "Do you have a marker?"

The recorder handed him a marker.

Lin Shuicheng then turned to write on the whiteboard.

Seven key data points, twelve theoretical equations, and three data modeling diagrams.

These were the essence of the slides and the foundation supporting the entire thesis proposal, demonstrating the feasibility of the project.

Lin Shuicheng's handwriting was elegant and pleasing to the eye. By the time he finished writing the final crucial data point, all the supervisors had adjusted their posture and were now fully focused.

This student had substance; his familiarity with this set of data indicated that he was indeed the real contributor to the thesis!

After finishing his writing, Lin Shuicheng didn't pause for even a moment. He smoothly continued according to the structure of his PowerPoint presentation, elucidating the entire report. His enunciation was clear, his logic coherent, without any stumbles. In just two or three minutes, he concisely summarized the report.

At this point, the difference between preparation and lack thereof became evident. Ou Qian had read from her slides, whereas Lin Shuicheng had elaborated on key points, directly addressing the essence. When he encountered sections likely to prompt questions from the professors, he provided extra detail, as if he were lecturing rather than defending his thesis.

Upon concluding his presentation, Lin Shuicheng put down his marker pen. "I'm done. Please feel free to offer any corrections."

The room fell utterly silent.

"Um... That was quite good. You've covered everything we wanted to ask," Yang Shen's demeanor softened, and he gave Lin Shuicheng an approving glance. "Given such a remarkable precedent, what do you think is the significance of this project?"

This was a theoretical question. Essentially, it was a gift.

Lin Shuicheng replied, "Hmm... I don't think there's much significance to it. It probably isn't more meaningful than cracking the electrical fuse box password for the administrative building. But since the military requested this project, we went ahead with it."

His words elicited laughter throughout the room, even drawing a smile from Xu Kong. Lin Shuicheng had made a joke well-known within the data community. Since the advent of quantum analysis technology, the military had made all sorts of demands without fully understanding its applications. Requests like "cracking an electrical fuse box password" had emerged, becoming a common meme in the data world to mock clients' impractical demands.

The tense atmosphere suddenly eased with this comment.

After everyone's laughter subsided, Lin Shuicheng softly spoke, "The military wants this project to enhance national defense. Through it, we can establish a quantum security wall that is currently known to be unbreakable. I believe the significance of this project is both significant and far-reaching."

It was already evening, with chaos outside and sparse attendance from the students. The professors were relaxed and casual. Papers were scattered on the ground, marked with footprints. There were no slides or draft papers, but under these circumstances, Lin Shuicheng delivered his presentation with utmost seriousness. The dim light and his exhaustion couldn't conceal the brilliance he exuded. It was Xu Kong's turn to ask a question. Everyone held their breath in anticipation. Xu Kong cleared his throat, carefully observing Lin Shuicheng. "My question remains the same as this morning. If no one in your team can answer it, I'll expel all of you, including your mentor." "On your third page, how did you calculate T=3749.565?" Lin Shuicheng was taken aback. Seeing him pause, the students below felt their hearts race to their throats.

In the tense silence, Lv Jian strained his ears to hear Lin Shuicheng's seemingly innocent response, "Well... we just calculated it."

What an odd answer!

Lv Jian's face paled as he turned to Meng Yi, whispering, "Oh no, could it be that Lin Shuicheng's data was also randomly sourced?"

Meng Yi was too nervous to speak. He buried his head in his arms, almost in tears, "Now we're really done for..."

Surprisingly, Xu Kong didn't lose his temper. Instead, he continued, "How did you calculate it? You know that reversing such data would result in infinite possibilities. With only one source frequency number, did you actually enumerate all possibilities?" "Professor, that's exactly what we did," Lin Shuicheng replied. "I applied for the quantum lab, and it took two hours to enumerate through all possibilities. It's a computation done by a computer." "Alright, I have no more questions." Xu Kong picked up his water cup. "You can go now. The rest of you, take responsibility accordingly. If necessary, change the first author. I trust you understand?" "..." "..." Meng Yi was utterly confused. He asked Lv Jian, "What just happened?" Lv Jian frantically shook his head. In contrast, An Ruyi's face had drained of color. He murmured softly, "That was a giveaway question... It's like reverse-engineering a bank machine's random mask. Brute force is the fastest method. Lin Shuicheng used a quantum computer to brute force the solution, so he said he directly calculated it. On the PowerPoint, it even says 'trivial to prove.' We... never thought of that." Essentially, Xu Kong's question to Ou Qian was as simple as asking what 1 + 1 equals. Had anyone in the team run the data, they would've known the answer! However, since none of them personally participated in the research process, none could answer this straightforward question.

This was a genuine loss of face. Every member's level of commitment in their group was crystal clear to their mentor!

Yang Shen packed up and left, uttering a cryptic remark, "The military doesn't take kindly to such behavior. If you were my students, I wouldn't allow you to continue with this project. The team leader will receive severe disciplinary action, and apart from the student who just spoke and the one who didn't show up, the rest of you will also be disciplined and subjected to public criticism across the entire school. Your mentor will also face consequences."

Lin Shuicheng was asked to stay back by Xu Kong while the others left. Fu Luoyin waited outside the door.

Xu Kong inquired, "Lin Shuicheng, from the Quantum Analysis Department? Have you participated in any projects before?"

Lin Shuicheng replied, "This is my first project from the Mathematics Department."

Xu Kong acknowledged with a soft "Mm." "The math department was your first choice, which means other departments have also had projects. What did you study before? Who was your mentor?"

"I studied chemistry, and I worked under Professor Yang Zhiwei for my undergraduate degree."

Xu Kong, who had been scanning his profile, looked up at him. "Yang Zhiwei?"

Lin Shuicheng nodded.

"That's a shame. But studying data is good too – it's all about practical work." Xu Kong glanced through Lin Shuicheng's background and understood. "You've got your master's supervisor, but have you considered pursuing your PhD with me? Now I realize why your name sounds familiar – you're one of Old Yang's students. No wonder."

Lin Shuicheng replied, "Thank you for your kind words, Professor. I'll do my best."

"Should you encounter any professional issues in the future, feel free to consult me at the vice dean's office," Xu Kong said. "For now, I don't have much assistance to offer. However, there's a TFCJO review recommendation qualification available. You can fill out the relevant information for me when the time comes."

...

By the time Lin Shuicheng left, most others had already departed.

Fu Luoyin looked at him with a half-smile. "Did you offend all your classmates just now?"

Lin Shuicheng pondered the question, but before he could respond, Fu Luoyin pulled him close and embraced him. "Your department is relatively new, and it hasn't been more than five years since it started extensive collaboration with practical fields. It's inevitable that there will be some inconsistencies. Don't worry about such matters. But remember,

he paused, lowering his voice to a husky, magnetic tone, "next time if someone bullies you, tell me obediently, and your husband will take care of it, alright?"

Fu Luoyin gently stroked Lin Shuicheng's cheek with the hand resting on his shoulder, his voice soft like a siren, mesmerizing as if it could lull one into a trance. "Do you know what I was thinking when you stepped up there?"

Lin Shuicheng turned around to write on the blackboard, the room warmly heated. As he spoke, a subtle smile played in his eyes, exuding a restrained elegance. Whenever his gaze briefly swept across Fu Luoyin, it would sparkle like shimmering stars.

Lowering his eyes, Lin Shuicheng's face flushed slightly, the redness extending to his ears.