Super God-Level Top Student

Speaking of these matters, before Chen Yiwen could retort, Gu, who was still in bed, perked up as well. He complained, "That's just a trifle. After all, we know Chen is just showing off intentionally.

The most unbearable part is when you're having a nice chat with him, and suddenly he blurts out, 'Hey, Gu, let me ask you, how do I casually tell my relatives when I go home for the summer break that I've been listed as an author in an international top-tier journal article? I'm afraid they won't understand all this; it's so annoying.

You never do this; it's all a show with him, and it's utterly shameless."

Chen Yiwen glared fiercely at the two of them and said with just indignation, "What's the matter? Are you two not convinced? I've said it's all about showing off, which means I don't have the ability and need to pretend, right! Qiao Ze has the ability, the paper was primarily written by him, of course, he doesn't need to pretend in front of you guys.

But I'm different, I simply don't have that ability, so why can't I pretend?"

With just one sentence, he stunned the two people in the dormitory, leaving them pointing at Chen Yiwen without a word to refute.

They could accuse Chen Yiwen of being shameless, but they couldn't deny that what he said made sense.

The logic was impeccable, with no faults to pick.

Qiao Ze gave the three people a glance, slightly curved his lips as if to smile, and then said, "I do plan to start a new project, but it's different from the previous one, not suitable for you. Once I've resolved this issue, if there's a fitting topic, I'll call you guys over to join."

Indeed, Qiao Ze didn't need to think; he instinctively saw through Zhang Zhou and Gu Zhengliang's ulterior motives.

They talked about this in front of him because they wanted to have the same experience as Chen Yiwen, to be carried along once during their undergraduate stage.

After all, for undergraduates intent on applying for postgraduate studies or direct Ph.D. admissions, having their face shown in an international SCI (Science Citation Index) top-tier journal and including it in their resume would definitely leave a profound impression on potential advisors and could even be the deciding factor in landing a good mentor.

Advisors have limited energy, and if a student tackles knowledge in the undergraduate phase that's typically reserved for postgraduate research, it saves the advisors a lot of trouble.

However, Qiao Ze was well aware that the new project he was undertaking wouldn't be of any use even if he brought the two along.

Even just assisting with literature searches, the three roommates were unqualified.

Although he could add anyone's name to the papers he wrote, Qiao Ze had his own principles in this regard.

His idea was simple: only those who contributed to the project, no matter how small the contribution, could naturally have their names added. If someone made no contribution at all then adding their name would be disrespectful to the academic pursuit itself.

Luckily, although they hadn't been living together for long, everyone knew Qiao Ze was starkly sincere and never bothered with lies, so they weren't too disappointed.

In fact, they were somewhat excited.

After all, Qiao Ze had agreed.

Even if it might be the next project or the one after, Qiao Ze was quick with his projects!

Chen Yiwen had been with Qiao Ze for less than a month, everyone was still immersed in the end-of-semester exam reviews before they realized it, and two top-tier journal articles were published as quickly as lightning, nearly causing an international dispute.

Who knows, by the time they returned from summer vacation, Qiao Ze might have already completed the new project and started preparing the next one that could take them flying?

"Alright, then it's settled, Qiao Ze, we're not in a hurry anyway, just carry me along once before I become a junior, and I'll call you 'Dad' every day in the future," Zhang Zhou said excitedly, getting ahead of himself.

"Damn, Zhang Zhou, can't you keep it together? Already offering to call someone 'Dad'? But trust me, Qiao, I won't be worse than Zhang Zhou. As long as you carry me along, I'll call the class monitor 'Mom' every time I see her," Gu Zhengliang said from his bed, unwilling to be outdone.

"Enough from you two! Gu Zhengliang, get out of bed, grab your stuff, and get to the high-speed rail station now! Are you not embarrassed behaving like this every day? Once I've sent you two clowns off, I have to get busy with the research group tasks with 'Dad'!" Chen Yiwen chided them righteously.

Qiao Ze: "Hmm?"

Alright, the dorm room erupted for the first time into a massive discussion on parent-child dynamics, which was somewhat new and uncomfortable for someone who had never been exposed to dormitory father-son culture.

But watching the three of them bicker actually felt quite relaxing for Qiao Ze.

This was probably the very meaning of the word 'friends,' Qiao Ze thought to himself.

...

After seeing off Zhang Zhou and Gu Zhengliang, there wasn't much of a sense of farewell; after all, their freshman year had just passed, and it wasn't yet time to consider going their separate ways.

After sending the two off in a ride-hailing car, Chen Yiwen silently followed Qiao Ze back to Xiyuan Residential Area.

When there were more people, it didn't feel odd, but when there were only the two of them left, Chen Yiwen suddenly realized how awkward it actually was to walk alongside Qiao Ze alone, especially if Su Mucheng wasn't around.

The reason was simple, he actually wanted to chat with Qiao Ze along the way, but if it wasn't about academic issues, he found he had nothing to talk about with Qiao Ze.

When it came to studying, Qiao Ze could add a bit more to the conversation.

On other topics, at most he would offer a "hm" twice, and such communication utterly lacking in positive feedback made it impossible to sustain a typical conversation.

Many times, even I would start to feel embarrassed as I spoke.

At moments like that, Chen Yiwen truly admired Su Mu Cheng.

That woman, whenever she was with Qiao Ze, could always find endless topics to talk about, and no matter whether Qiao Ze responded or not, she would chatter away with great interest. More importantly, it seemed Qiao Ze wasn't annoyed by her. Unlike me, I started to worry about being too talkative with just a few "hmms" from Qiao Ze.

But if we really said nothing at all, just two guys walking in silence, that would be a different kind of awkwardness.

So annoying.

Who knows what Qiao Ze likes to talk about?

"Ahem, Qiao Ze, I heard from Su Mu Cheng the other day that you turned down the offer to help train engineers for the Group Wisdom project at Youwei, right?"

"Hmm."

"Why's that?"

"Reading the instruction manual improves efficiency more than attending training sessions, there's no need to waste each other's time."

Huh? This topic seems to be eliciting more words.

"Is that so? Although you mean well, I think sometimes you can't put efficiency first. For example, if you go and teach a class, you might actually boost morale, right?"

"Boosting morale is about making people believe that hard work will eventually receive positive feedback. Me giving a few lectures, besides being a waste of time, wouldn't boost morale."

"Uh..." Chen Yiwen suddenly felt like he couldn't connect with Qiao Ze, perhaps due to his lack of general knowledge.

For instance, he couldn't produce the kind of straightforward yet perfectly logical comments Qiao Ze made.

"But if you went, it would show that you have a sense of responsibility towards the country! After all, you know Youwei has had a tough time these past few years."

"Hmm? Why have they had a tough time?"

"You don't know?"

"Should I know?"

"So you never watch any short video apps, don't follow the news and rarely browse websites?"

"I only look at things I find useful."

Hearing this, Chen Yiwen felt he suddenly found an angle to engage in conversation with the big shot, and his spirits lifted.

So this renown genius wasn't concerned with things almost everyone in Huaxia knew about?

No wonder the big shot knew things he didn't; their knowledge structures were severely misaligned!

Finally, Chen Yiwen didn't feel awkward anymore and began to talk non-stop. He poured out everything from the controls of the past few years to the blockages of these years, all the information he had seen on the internet. He even felt that Qiao Ze was actually listening closely.

We were nearly at the Xiyuan Community gates, and Chen Yiwen still felt he had more to say.

"See, Qiao Ze, they really do have it tough, don't they?"

"Hmm, just like Li, they are used to adapting to the rules."

"Ah? What else can you do then?" Stay updated via empire

"Reset the rules."

"Hmm..."