Top Student at Their Peak

Unfortunately, the two papers were not able to be submitted to Ann.Math by September as planned, but were delayed until the third day of the National Day holiday in early October.

The main reason was that Qiao Yu always adhered to his principles and would not manually revise Senior Brother Chen's drafts. Instead, he identified the problems and sent them back for revision, and only after the revisions were done would Qiao Yu review them again.

After three rounds of this process, Qiao Yu was finally satisfied.

There was no other way; a little trouble in the early stages would make things easier later. For their first collaborative paper, Qiao Yu wanted to ensure that Senior Brother Chen fully understood the standards, so that next time he could hold himself to a stricter standard.

People's habits are developed through repetition over and over again.

For this submission, Qiao Yu didn't tell anyone, not even Director Tian or Elder Yuan. On one hand, he hoped to give these two elders some surprise; on the other hand, since he was now the leader of the research group, he needed decisiveness and couldn't report everything.

As for Chen Zhuoyang, it was even more certain that he wouldn't mention it. This was his first time submitting to one of the top four mathematics journals; if it wasn't accepted, some people might not only mock him inwardly but also say it out loud.

Based on his internal literature search, Jinzhou University had only published one paper so far in the top four mathematics journal, which was the Journal of the American Mathematical Society.

And that was before Jinzhou University had separated the School of Mathematics from the School of Science to establish an independent Academy of Sciences.

In other words, if his paper could indeed be published in Ann.Math, he would be the first lecturer to publish in one of the top four mathematics journals since the establishment of Jinzhou University's School of Mathematics.

With this achievement, that Dean Zhang who often took a sly tone with him would have to consider the consequences.

Moreover, with a paper published in one of the top journals, at his age, he might even have a chance to compete for the titles of Changjiang Scholar or Outstanding Young Scientist.

Of course, achieving this was not without effort from Chen Zhuoyang. Less sleep naturally made him appear dispirited, and when meeting those who disliked him, he inevitably had to hear a few words.

During this period, Chen Zhuoyang became even more quiet and reticent on campus. Apart from attending classes and participating in some internal meetings, he barely interacted with others.

Mainly because he didn't have the time, after all, he dedicated all his spare time to validation work.

Qiao Yu did not disappoint him; in fact, the results derived by his junior brother could all be verified.

Now, it was just a matter of waiting.

However, this did not mean Chen Zhuoyang could relax. After only having a good rest for two days, he started the next round of work again.

As Qiao Yu put it, the first phase with these two papers was just a starting point, and there was still a lot of validation work to be done.

After all, one top journal paper might only silence some people, but only by publishing more papers could those who want to vent their frustrations on him realize how foolish their thoughts are and feel the stinging slap on their faces!

Regarding these words from his junior brother, Chen Zhuoyang fully agreed. There was no way around it; he also wanted to leave some people's faces swollen red.

And then there was an unspeakable gratitude. After all, he never imagined Qiao Yu would go this far for him.

Really, Chen Zhuoyang initially thought Qiao Yu might get him some second author positions in top journals, but who would have thought Qiao Yu intended to serve him a first author position on a platter.

Although Qiao Yu never mentioned it, Chen Zhuoyang knew that combining the two papers into one would have been completely feasible.

Putting theoretical derivations and validations in one paper would actually make the paper look more complete and easier to review.

At least for Qiao Yu, there was no need to split it into two papers, let alone do so just to let him rightfully take the first author position.

As a result, he didn't even know how to thank this junior brother.

However, from Qiao Yu's perspective, it really didn't seem like a big deal. After all, Qiao Yu always believed that if you want someone to help with work, you should offer them some benefits.

Even in middle school, he told his desk partner Zhou Shuang that if you find that doing something neither brings you happiness nor material benefits, you should withdraw as soon as possible.

Qiao Yu always thought this was a truth. Anyone with rational thinking would surely come to understand it.

So applying this understanding to others, since he wanted Senior Brother Chen to do his utmost to complete the research, naturally he should offer enough benefits.

However, as Qiao Yu didn't have money, he could only give away some reputation. Not to mention, this kind of arrangement was definitely maximizing benefits for him.

The first author of the important paper was still his, and he even gained an additional second author position in a top journal.

While second author positions might not hold much credit domestically, they are recognized internationally. Plus, publishing in the regular issue of Ann.Math doesn't even require a publication fee, making it essentially pure profit.

In conclusion, with this paper submission, no one felt disadvantaged. Even Lott Degen, at least in previous interactions with Qiao Yu, was quite happy.

This was probably what's known as a win-win situation, nearly perfect, a project with no losers. Of course, the premise was that the paper could indeed be published...

...

United States, Princeton, this is a city intertwined with research institutes, universities, and communities.

In this crisp autumn season, Lott Degen was sitting under the sun, enjoying the warm sunlight of the autumn day.

Across from him, his bald-headed friend was seriously reading the paper in his hands. Meanwhile, Lott Degen was leisurely sipping coffee under the sunlight, watching the students on the lawn nearby engage in activities.

It was like appreciating a painting titled "Youth."

Yes, Lott Degen truly enjoyed taking some time to watch these youthful kids do whatever they liked, which was evidently much more interesting than attending those lengthy and pointless administrative meetings.