Super God-Level Top Student

He totally didn't expect that Qiao Ze, despite his young age, would have much higher demands than those older mentors; the most unexpected thing was the sheer amount of homework that needed to be completed.

What was even more depressing was that just as he felt overwhelmed by his studies, his former mentor came along.

After Edward Witten's press conference, he saw his former mentor Zhang, along with a bunch of other professors, going out to dinner, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Wang Yu thought he had dodged a bullet, so he hurried back to his dorm, scrolling through his phone amidst the relief of escaping disaster, and just as he saw Dou Dou's Weibo post, his phone rang.

It was a call from Zhang.

Really, the moment he saw the words "Zhang Boss" on the phone screen, Wang Yu had a sinking feeling that it wasn't good news.

No, man, don't the big shots drink a little wine when they eat? Especially since Li had great news to celebrate.

How could dinner be over by nine o'clock?

Indeed, as soon as the phone connected, he heard Zhang's calm voice: "Come over to the guesthouse at the university, building 3, room 207."

Just by Zhang Chunlei's tone, Wang Yu knew it was nothing good.

After all, he was the mentor he had worked with for three years; when one cannot detect the mood of happiness in his voice, it means the big shot is definitely not too happy at the moment.

Most importantly, unless there was something important, the mentor definitely wouldn't call him over at this time.

As expected, when he rushed to the guesthouse, no sooner had he stepped into the room than Zhang's first words left him speechless, "I heard that because you guys can't keep up with the teaching schedule, it's caused Professor Qiao to be unable to publish his papers?"

Look at these outrageous accusations!

He was completely taken aback.

Honest to goodness, Dou Dou was just saying Professor Qiao wanted to focus on teaching, never did she say Professor Qiao wouldn't publish papers.

"No, mentor, how could Professor Qiao not publishing papers have anything to do with us?" Wang Yu immediately cried out in protest.

What a joke, if everyone believed this kind of gossip, they'd have no future.

The hat of hindering scientific progress, Wang Yu felt he couldn't possibly wear it.

"Hmph... What does it have to do with you? Isn't it just because you guys are weak and care about face, unable to learn for yourselves, and yet blame the responsibility on your mentor being too outstanding, putting too much pressure on you. Professor Qiao is just worried you guys can't handle the pressure, and he's put off publishing the papers he'd written! Do you still have the nerve to say it's unrelated?

Why don't you raise your voice a bit more, draw the professors next door over here, and let everyone take a good look at our disheartening student, so that they won't be able to recognize who's causing the shame later on!"

Zhang Chunlei said with a sneer.

Wang Yu was stunned, blinked his eyes, and quickly lowered his voice to reply grievously, "Mentor, the pressure is truly great. But I really never blamed Professor Qiao for being too outstanding. It was just in the group meeting I mentioned that maybe Professor Qiao's demands on us were a bit too high. And it's not just me, everyone can't complete their homework."

Faced with Wang Yu, who looked cautious and had once been a proud and confident student, now humbled to this extent, Zhang Chunlei's anger finally subsided somewhat. He asked gravely, "Everyone can't complete their homework?"

Wang Yu nodded frantically, saying, "Really, mentor, if you don't believe me, I can show you our WeChat chat history."

"No need!" Zhang Chunlei shook his head and frowned, "You can't finish it, don't you know to work overtime? Sleep later at night, don't take a break on the weekends, make time!"

"No, that's what we do. During the day, when we work on projects with the teachers at the institute, we look for any opportunity to consult with them. I never go to bed before eleven at night. And about weekends... I won't hide it from you, there really are no weekends in the institute! Professor Qiao never rests on the weekends, how could we feel good resting?"

He spoke with tears in his voice.

Really, getting to the heart of the matter, Wang Yu's eyes genuinely turned red.

There was no helping it, it was too unjust.

They had worked so hard, and still there were rumors that it was they who stopped Professor Qiao from publishing his papers—was this something his tender young shoulders could bear?

In the end, he spoke with conviction, "Mentor, who started this rumor? I want a face-to-face confrontation!"

Zhang Chunlei curled his lips, "A face-to-face confrontation? Are you sure?"

"Absolutely! Even if Dean Xu said this, I would want to make it clear to him," Wang Yu said with grievance.

He didn't mention Li Jian Gao.

Because Wang Yu knew that Professor Li was a truly good person and would never say such things.

"Oh, this really has nothing to do with your Dean Xu, it was Professor Edward Witten who said it," Zhang Chunlei said calmly.

"Then I'll also... wait, who?"

"Professor Edward Witten, whose report did you listen to this afternoon, have you forgotten already? Actually, when you think about it, it's not too bad, even a top scholar from abroad knows about you guys," Zhang Chunlei glanced at Wang Yu, who was dumbfounded, and teased him.

Having confirmed that his once-prized student was still working hard and had not forgotten his roots, Zhang Chunlei's anger had mostly dissipated.

And he began to realize where the problem might lie.

Zhang Chunlei highly suspected that when Qiao Ze was advising these doctoral students, he was gauging their capabilities against his own with a discount, expecting the students to meet his standards.

It made sense.

The issue was that Qiao Ze probably never had an accurate estimation of his own capabilities, coupled with his lack of experience in advising students, plus his youth...

Thinking like this, he actually felt a sense of relief.

When he first met Qiao Ze, he too was struck by that incomparable shock, let alone Qiao Ze's students.