Super God-Level Top Student

```

"Xilin is also a very beautiful city, but its style is completely different from Linhai. Also, Xilin University of Technology... Right, this university became famous recently. Those days, it was often on short video platforms, they mentioned there was an impressive math genius, his name seems to be... Right, Qiao Ze."

"Oh? You know about Qiao Ze too? He really is quite an impressive guy."

"Haha, it's the internet age now, believe me, the speed of development of all kinds of internet technologies in Huaxia is even faster than urban construction. At least during that time, Qiao Ze nearly became the calling card of Xilin University of Technology online, everyone was discussing the papers he wrote.

I don't understand the academic stuff, but from what I hear, the journals where he published his articles are very famous, with high standards for submissions. Many professors' articles might not even be accepted by those journals, yet he was just a high school student."

"What? Wait a minute, did you just say Qiao Ze is only a high school student? Shouldn't he be a PhD? Or at least a graduate student?"

"Where did you get that news? Our local internet has already dug up almost everything about Qiao Ze. He's actually just a recent high school graduate, just admitted to Xilin University of Technology this year, and he didn't even go through the college entrance exam. His math theories, according to his classmates, are almost entirely self-taught.

Right, there's also talk on the internet about how he often had to stand as punishment during math class in high school. If it weren't for the fact that he was just a high school student, how could he possibly cause such a high volume of discussion online?"

A few words from the driver completely overturned Hanna's understanding.

At least before she came to Huaxia, there wasn't too much information about Qiao Ze's identity on foreign internet, and Hanna had only vaguely heard that Qiao Ze was young, not realizing that he was actually just a high schooler who had just started at university.

It was probably just as well Hudson didn't know; otherwise, he might have gone crazy.

It was one thing to master all sorts of knowledge in Advanced Mathematics on his own without any formal teaching, but for that young guy to play with papers, adding a bunch of annoying watermarks to them... It made the 22-year-old girl suddenly start to doubt whether the praises she usually received from her teachers were a bit too much.

For a moment, even the scenery outside the window lost its appeal.

However, the driver, now keenly engaged, began to talk incessantly to Hanna about the stories behind each skyscraper outside the car window.

Thanks to the driver's enthusiastic effort, Hanna's mood eventually improved a bit.

When she turned her attention back to the outside, Jiangtan was almost in sight.

...

When the taxi pulled up steadily in front of the hotel, Hanna took out two hundred-yuan notes and handed them over.

The fare shown on the taxi meter was 173 yuan.

"Hey, giving change is too much of a hassle, just give me a hundred for the fare. Since it's your first time in Huaxia, consider it my treat for a fast food meal. You're about the same age as my daughter, and I've enjoyed our chat along the way. I suggest you quickly get a SIM card and set up WeChat and X-Pay, we mostly use mobile payments here, and hardly anyone uses cash."

"What?"

The taxi driver's words once again refreshed Hanna's understanding.

In her life, it was the first time to get undercharged in a taxi.

To round down the fare because giving change was troublesome?
Stay updated via empire

More often, when she paid, drivers would complain that she should tip more—except with Uber or Lyft.

Of course, what Hanna didn't know was she was lucky. The first taxi driver she encountered in Huaxia was actually a native of Linhai, owning six apartments in the city center. He chose to drive a taxi simply because it was too boring to stay home every day and wanted to find something to do.

The feeling of bewilderment lasted until the kind-hearted driver not only accepted only part of the fare but also got out to help her with her luggage from the trunk, then got in the car and drove off expertly, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

The scenario she imagined where he might ask for her contact details never occurred.

This really was... such a magical country!

Shaken, Hanna stood at the hotel entrance for a good while before dragging her suitcase into the lobby. Just as she approached the front desk to check in, she suddenly overheard someone nearby mention a name she recognized well.

"What? Qiao Ze published two papers in 'Science'? When did that happen?... Last night? I had no idea... No, I seriously didn't know...

How come in 'Science'? Wasn't he recently researching something about non-Abelian gauge fields?... Ah? About photolithography machines and chips?... Didn't you ask Qiao Ze directly?... What did he say?...

Uh... He just replied don't ask? Well, okay, I'll ask Qiao Ze after hanging up."

Hanna looked curiously at the man next to her wearing a light blue shirt.

Even though she didn't quite understand what the man was talking about, she was certain he mentioned Qiao Ze's name several times.

Is Qiao Ze that famous in Huaxia?

The driver knew him, and now a man she just encountered in the hotel knows him too?

Finally, after the man ended his call, Hanna could not suppress her curiosity, she approached and said, "Excuse me, sir, but do you know Qiao Ze?"

...

Li Jiangao, completely puzzled and about to call Qiao Ze to ask about the situation, suddenly heard a crisp voice and looked up to see an exotic young girl standing right in front of him.

```