Super God-Level Top Student

"No, no, just wasn't sure if Su Mucheng had arrived yet. You know, Qiao Ze isn't really interested in business cooperation. If it's about cooperation for Dou Dou, I guess it would still be you who'll have to talk with Su." Li Jiangao said sincerely.

"Oh? I also spoke with President Su on the phone before I came, and Licheng Technology hasn't mentioned any technical authorization for Dou Dou?" Yu Hongwei asked, puzzled.

"Uh... President Su is President Su, Su is Su; how should I put it... often times, you can't mix the two together. After all, Qiao Ze and Su Mucheng are still kids; sometimes their thoughts are very naive, not like the thought patterns of businessmen or adults," Li Jiangao cautioned Yu Hongwei as they walked up the stairs.

He had no choice, having just met Qiao Ze that morning, and learned from him that Dou Dou was just a toy Qiao Ze had designed for Su Mucheng.

But he really couldn't just blurt that out to Yu, right in front of him.

To say it would seem like they took the trouble for a toy meant to cheer up a girl, which would be somewhat disrespectful.

One couldn't just say that the kids were playing around, and here you are, flying a thousand miles for a personal visit...

Qiao could say such things, but he certainly didn't have the standing to do so.

"Oh... Thanks for the reminder, Professor Li," Yu Hongwei replied, still not quite understanding.

He always felt like Li Jiangao had more to say, which was puzzling.

Li Jiangao just felt tired.

Thankfully, they had arrived at Qiao Ze's lab.

...

"Qiao, good to see you, it's been a while," Yu Hongwei greeted enthusiastically as he entered.

"Yes, President Yu, good to see you," Qiao Ze replied, glancing at Li Jiangao who had brought Yu to his office, slightly puzzled.

"President Yu is here for Dou Dou. He informed me when he reached Xilin," Li Jiangao explained briefly.

Perhaps it's the influence of close association; Li Jiangao nowadays spoke less and less. If he could say it in one sentence, he didn't bother saying two.

"Oh." Qiao Ze nodded and then said to Yu Hongwei, "Just talk to Chengzi about it." Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire

Yu Hongwei frowned slightly, confirming that Qiao Ze's reaction was indeed as Li Jiangao had described.

"This..." Yu Hongwei felt a bit at a loss.

But it seemed to be like this every time.

Luckily, Qiao Ze had a good impression of Yu Hongwei and added, "Dou Dou is a failure, but Chengzi liked it, so I gave it to her."

"Oh..." Yu Hongwei nodded, the excitement he had nurtured on the plane began to cool down.

All the arguments he had thought up beforehand, he couldn't utter a single one when facing Qiao Ze.

"When is Su coming? Didn't she say?" As the lab stirred with awkwardness again, Li Jiangao hurriedly asked.

"She's on her way, said she's bringing me lunch... Hmm, can't join you for lunch today," Qiao Ze replied.

"That's fine, come on, President Yu, let's take a seat," with Su Mucheng not around, Li Jiangao could only stand in for Su, taking care of the guest.

This was not something one could hope for from Qiao Ze.

"Sure, sure." Once seated, and looking at Qiao Ze who was still engrossed, not knowing what he was writing, Yu Hongwei felt he should say something, "But Qiao Ze, aren't you too demanding of the products you design? I think Dou Dou is quite successful, isn't it?"

"An illusion," Qiao Ze replied.

"An illusion? You mean Dou Dou has a major flaw?" Yu Hongwei asked, surprised.

"Yes, it doesn't work well, talks too much," Qiao Ze answered off-handedly.

Yu Hongwei blinked, feeling the heavy pressure. He sensed Qiao Ze wasn't talking about Dou Dou but was hinting at people, which was a bit awkward.

"Is it possible that the vast majority of people actually like Dou Dou's chattiness?" Yu Hongwei laughed twice, trying to lighten the mood, and then asked, "By the way, Qiao Ze, what have you been busy with lately?"

Qiao Ze answered, "Proving that for any compact simple group G, there exists a massive Yang-Mills field in R^4 with G as the gauge group, and that there's a mass gap Δ (delta) > 0."

"Hmm..." Yu Hongwei fell into thought.

"It's about the mathematical proof for the mass gap hypothesis," Li Jiangao clarified.

"Right, if you're not familiar with it, it's hard to discuss," Qiao Ze nodded, adding.

"Cough, I actually do know about it. It's one of the Millennium Problems," Yu Hongwei said with a wry smile, being a graduate of the Huaxia college Huaqing with a master's in engineering. Although he hadn't followed these mathematical theories in recent years, he was indeed aware of these famous problems.

"Haha, Qiao Ze, you probably don't know, but President Yu studied for his master's degree at Huaqing," Li Jiangao added quickly.

"Oh, Professor Yao from Huaqing just called me, inviting me to give a lecture there," Qiao Ze said, looking towards Li Jiangao.

"Professor Yao? Yao Yuanzhi?" Li Jiangao asked.

"Yes," Qiao Ze confirmed with a nod.

"So, are you going to accept?" Li Jiangao asked further.

Qiao Ze shook his head, saying, "Not sure what to talk about."

"Of course, it's about the mathematical framework for group theory causal decoupling. Qiao Ze, you can definitely agree to it. It's good for you," Li Jiangao urged.

Being invited to speak at top-tier Huaxia universities like Yanbei and Huaqing was something Li Jiangao supported; he knew the university would also be in favor.

"But isn't all of this written in the paper?" Qiao Ze furrowed his brow, "At the moment, there's nothing new."

"No, Qiao Ze, it's not a conflict. Think of it this way: a paper is a paper, a lecture is a lecture. On one hand, papers aren't something you immediately understand upon reading; many people know them in principle but don't grasp their underlying reasons.

So a lecture allows you to elaborate on your thought process while writing the paper more clearly and can solve other people's doubts," Li Jiangao explained.