Super God-Level Top Student

Su Mucheng brought about the most significant change in Qiao Ze, probably making this naive young man a bit gentler toward the world.

For instance, he at least became willing to waste some time, patiently listening to various voices, rather than just living in his own world.

In this regard, Li Jiangao and Su Mucheng deserved enormous credit.

The friends from dorm room 408 also played a helping role.

Yet even so, for students like Wang Yu and Li Chengcheng, the weekly routine group meetings still felt tense and oppressive.

This was despite the fact they were acutely aware that countless people wanted to snatch Qiao Ze's time but couldn't.

Not to mention the other day, when the heads of several key laboratories and research centers in the school came for a meeting and didn't even get a chance to see Qiao.

Moreover, there were many who wanted to visit but were directly stopped by Dou Dou at the door.

From inside the school, from outside, from afar, from nearby...

If Qiao Ze just gave a nod, no one doubted that the quiet courtyard of the Mathematics Research Institute could become busier than a market.

The only issue was that what they needed to learn was truly difficult, and Qiao Ze's expectations were very high; as a result, even basic assignments were hard to complete on time, not to mention papers.

So during the month when Qiao Ze was on leave, everyone was eagerly hoping that he would hurry back.

Now that Qiao Ze had returned, they had their pillar of support. But everyone started to hope that Qiao Ze would go out to attend some conferences, preferably not be in the Institute during the Monday group meetings, so that they could catch a breath.

Unfortunately, that wish never came true.

Invitations to various meetings surely never stopped, but the boss never stepped out the door.

Not just during the weekly group meetings—this was the case on normal days as well.

He even worked diligently on weekends, clocking in as usual, as if he didn't need rest at all.

How should one put it, having such a mentor is both a blessing and a misfortune for the students.

This isn't about rolling up the sleeves and grinding away; it's despair.

It's one thing to not compare in talent, achievements, capability, and wealth with a mentor, but when the mentor is younger and works even harder, that's insufferable.

Where can you even go to make sense of this?

Although they wouldn't dare slack off on weekends either, that's because they were forced to. With assignments incomplete and weekends off, how could they even think of attending Monday's meeting?

And to mention the mentor who, without anyone pushing him, conscientiously goes to the Institute to check in on weekends—how could they, as students, dare to feel at ease resting?

...

Five people nervously made their way to the third floor, knocked on the door, and entered the office after hearing a response.

"Next door, in the conference room, the meeting starts in seven minutes," Qiao Ze said, looking up as the group filed in one after the other.

"Understood, boss," said Wang Yu, who was in the lead, and then obediently walked into the adjoining office.

...

The building used by the Mathematics Research Institute for offices was originally an old building used by the school's logistics department. The office that belonged to Qiao Ze used to be a director in charge of various sports equipment, complete with a small side room for napping.

But Qiao Ze didn't need rest at noon, so he simply had it converted into a conference room for group meetings.

Aside from being a bit small, it had no other flaws.

Actually, there was a more suitable room downstairs, but Qiao Ze didn't want to go down.

It wasn't that he was too lazy to even walk those few steps; rather, several people were on the second floor, and everyone would greet him, which he found annoying.

Qiao Ze always felt that when people are not too familiar with each other, a nod of the head is sufficient interaction.

But others clearly didn't think so; standing there respectfully, bowing their heads, and calling him Professor Qiao didn't bring him any joy, just hassle.

With Su Mucheng present, it was fine. She could help him respond to a few words. If he was alone, it would be very troublesome.

Li Jian had specifically mentioned to him that if someone greeted him, he should try to respond.

But he was still only comfortable with a nod of his head.

So the simplest solution was to minimize contact with the outside world.

As long as he rarely left his office, reducing the chances of bumping into other people, he could ignore such advice.

If others came to his territory, then of course, they had to follow his rules.

Isolate and thrive—perfect.

...

While Qiao Ze was busy finishing off a problem at hand, the students gathered in the meeting office and began chatting in hushed tones.

"Xu Yue, why don't you ever reply to messages on WeChat? Did you complete last week's homework?"

"If I had finished, I'd have replied. The fact is, I haven't finished. I don't even dare to look at my phone. What about you? Have you all finished?"

"Don't even bring it up; I'm still two problems short, Wang Yu's in the worst shape, only halfway done."

"What are you talking about? Everyone got different problems, alright? If you had gotten mine, you might not even have finished half."

"Really? You're boasting now? I've seen your problems, aren't they all roughly the same difficulty? Just included a transcendental curve intersection problem."

"Just? Why don't you try it?"

"I'll have to eventually, right? You were the one who performed so well last time, praised by the instructor. It's only right you get harder questions."

"Ha ha..."

"Okay, you both just stop. Better think about what you're going to say for the summary later!"

Li Chengcheng, the most mature among them, called a halt to their argument.

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes.

The five of them were no exception.

Although they all attended the group meeting together, three of them were actually Li Jian Gao's students and were psychologically closer.

As for the two students under Qiao Ze's name, Wang Yu and Fan Yuming, they preferred to argue.