Chapter 154 Arrangement

The crisp sound of their collision echoed in the air, like an invisible pair of scissors, cleanly severing the tense atmosphere in the office. The rebuttal that Fang Shi hadn't even had a chance to utter was abruptly stuck in his throat.

He paused for a moment with his hand raised in mid-air, then lowered it somewhat awkwardly, letting it hang at his side.

Li Jianming also shut his mouth. He slowly straightened up, his chest still heaving, but his reckless fervor was forcibly suppressed by the light tapping sound.

Zhou Qiping sat in the large leather chair, still holding the heavy cup lid in his hand. He didn't put the lid back on the teacup, but let it hang above the rim.

His gaze didn't fall on the sorcerer or Li Jianming, but rather bypassed them and landed on the boy in the white T-shirt behind them. More precisely, it landed on Chen Zhuo's left forearm.

There was a clear red mark there, which stood out particularly against the boy's fair skin.

Zhou Qiping's gaze lingered on the red mark for two seconds, then he slowly raised his eyelids and looked at the two titans standing in front of the desk. "That's a total of one hundred and twenty or three people."

Zhou Qiping spoke up.

His voice was soft and his speech was slow, without any obvious anger, but this calm statement at the moment carried a sense of oppression that made people's hearts tighten.

"In the administration building office, he was yelling at a sophomore."

Zhou Qiping gently placed the cup lid back on the table.

"They even tried to grab him by hand."

The office was completely silent.

Zhou Qiping turned his gaze to Li Jianming and asked in a calm tone.

"Old Li, look at the marks you left on Xiao Chen's arm. He's only twelve years old; his bones haven't even fully developed yet. Don't you know how strong your hand is, given how much strength you've used for writing on the blackboard all these years?"

Upon hearing this, Li Jianming's body stiffened slightly.

He subconsciously turned his head and followed Zhou Qiping's gaze to look at Chen Zhuo's left arm.

The bright red fingerprints are still there.

Li Jianming was stunned.

He was a pure scholar, his mind filled with nothing but mathematical formulas and logical deductions. When he was engrossed in academic discussions, he was completely unaware of his own physical actions.

In that grab, he felt as if he had grasped a rope leading to the truth, completely forgetting that the rope was a living child.

A wave of obvious embarrassment and guilt instantly washed over the old professor's face, which was already flushed from the argument, turning an even more unnatural red.

His lips moved, as if he wanted to say something to Chen Zhuo, but the usually eloquent master of graph theory was clumsy like a schoolchild who had made a mistake, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

The Taoist priest, who had initially thought Zhou Qiping was mainly trying to put Li Jianming in a bad light, was secretly relieved.

As a result, Zhou Qiping's gaze immediately turned to him.

"And you, Lao Fang."

Zhou Qiping looked at the sorcerer.

"You're usually quite composed during meetings, so why are you spouting nonsense today? What 'major national projects' and 'empty symbols'? Is this the kind of talk you two department leaders should be shouting in the hallway? Where has your dignity as teachers gone?"

The sorcerer coughed lightly and his eyes darted away.

He turned around and scratched his thinning hair in frustration.

Being reprimanded like that by the vice-principal in charge of scientific research in front of the children, he was indeed quite embarrassed.

"Principal, this matter... Old Li came here first to snatch people away. I can't just watch our lab members be forcibly dragged away like this."

The sorcerer wanted to offer a quiet explanation.

"Alright."

Zhou Qiping waved his hand, interrupting the sorcerer.

He stood up from behind his desk, walked around the large solid wood tabletop, and stood in front of the two men.

"I know what you're thinking, and I know why you've thrown away all your dignity today."

Zhou Qiping, with his hands behind his back, glanced at the sorcerer and then at Li Jianming, who was holding draft paper.

"One is a wind tunnel model that encountered a computing power deadlock, and the other is a graph theory conjecture that has been stuck for five months. If it were me, I would also be anxious when I saw a viable path, but that cannot be a reason for you to break the rules."

Zhou Qiping set the tone for today.

"You know the rules of the USTC Junior Class better than I do. The first two years are for general education to build a foundation and broaden horizons. We resolutely do not specialize in any particular field. These are the rules set by several senior academicians when the class was established."

Zhou Qiping looked at Li Jianming, his tone becoming much sterner.

"Chen Zhuo is only twelve years old and a sophomore. He has the right and plenty of time to explore any subject that interests him. Lao Li, don't think that just because he has a talent for graph theory, you have to take over your responsibilities immediately. That's not called nurturing, that's called forcing growth!" Li Jianming held the draft paper, head down, and didn't say anything.

Zhou Qiping turned his head and looked at the sorcerer again.

"You're the same. Don't think that just because someone spent a few days in your physics lab and helped you adjust a few parameters, they're yours. Stop using those big labels to blackmail students. Don't use lab resources for disguised kidnapping."

The sorcerer, having been exposed, awkwardly touched his nose and didn't dare to retort.

Two sentences, and you'll be fair and impartial.

After Chen Zhuo's current status as a freelancer was clarified, the atmosphere in the office eased slightly.

At least the tense feeling of competition has disappeared.

But this is only the first step.

Chen Zhuo was no ordinary student.

Whether it's the discrete algebraic matrix from before or the homology mapping formula I drew on scratch paper today, these are all solid, core contributions that can directly propel key national projects forward by leaps and bounds.

If we don't offer appropriate compensation, we will not only discourage talented individuals, but also go against USTC's original intention of valuing talent.

Zhou Qiping stopped and turned to look at Chen Zhuo, who had been standing quietly behind him.

The boy remained in the same position, holding the softcover notebook and mechanical pencil in his hand.

He just watched quietly, as if everything that had just happened was just a movie that had nothing to do with him.

Zhou Qiping nodded to himself.

This composure is even more valuable than his quick-thinking mind.

"certainly."

Zhou Qiping spoke again, but his tone had changed. It was no longer the stern reprimand he had given his subordinates, but rather a pragmatic and serious tone, as if he were discussing work.

He looked at the Taoist priest and Li Jianming.

"Rules are rules, but contributions are contributions. USTC will never let those who have made contributions suffer, let alone take advantage of students for nothing." Zhou Qiping held up two fingers.

"Since Xiao Chen has demonstrated abilities far beyond those of ordinary people in both physics and mathematics, from today onwards, we will change the rules regarding Chen Zhuo's role in these two national-level projects."

Fang Shi and Li Jianming both raised their heads and looked at Zhou Qiping.

"after."

Zhou Qiping looked at Li Jianming and deliberately slowed down his speech.

"Old Li, what if your graph theory research group encounters another intractable problem, or Old Fang's wind tunnel lab runs into another intractable calculation?"

"You can bring your interim data and 'invite' Xiao Chen to participate in the discussion."

Zhou Qiping emphasized the word "please".

The Taoist priest was taken aback, and Li Jianming's expression also changed.

In the university research system, the relationship between professors and undergraduates is a clear hierarchy: professors assign tasks, and students do the work. But Zhou Qiping is now using the word "please."

This means that, in the face of these two national-level projects, Chen Zhuo is no longer a low-level undergraduate student who can be ordered around at will, but has become a third party with independent voice.

Zhou Qiping didn't give them time to digest the information and dropped another bombshell.

"As long as Chen Zhuo participated in the derivation of your core problem and provided a feasible solution."

Zhou Qiping's voice echoed in the office, carrying an unquestionable determination.

"There's no need to wait for him to choose a major. Just use the highest-level labor fee for specially appointed research assistants from the special funds of your two national-level projects, and pay him monthly!"

Upon hearing this, the sorcerer gasped in shock.

Li Jianming also stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Specially appointed research assistant.

The highest level of labor service fee.

What does this mean?

In universities in 2003, the highest level of labor costs for a national-level project was usually reserved for senior experts hired from outside, or for key personnel at the associate professor level who led the entire team to work day and night.

Now, with just one sentence from Zhou Qiping, a twelve-year-old sophomore has been promoted to a position of equal treatment with project leaders like himself.

"Principal, will the finance department approve this?"

The sorcerer asked a question instinctively.

It wasn't that he was stingy; as long as the wind tunnel model could be completed, he would be willing to pay even his own salary, let alone the highest-level labor fees. He was just worried that such an exceptional application would get stuck in the school's approval process.

"I'll talk to the finance department and ask them to handle this as a special case."

With a wave of his hand, Zhou Qiping paved the road.

He looked at the sorcerer, then at Li Jianming.

"But that's not all."

Zhou Qiping stared at the two of them and said his last request, word by word.

"Besides the labor fee, when your project is completed, or when you compile the results and publish them in a top journal, Chen Zhuo's name should not be placed in the acknowledgments, nor should it be placed in an inconspicuous corner."

"As long as his theoretical support is used, he must be listed as a core contributor and given a separate authorship."

Quiet.

If the labor fee mentioned earlier was a tangible financial benefit, then listing Chen Zhuo separately as a core contributor directly provides the foundation for his academic standing.

One of these two projects is a top-tier applied physics engineering project in China, and the other is a national-level conjecture representing the forefront of pure mathematics.

Leaving a core authorship on these two projects is something any scholar could boast about for a lifetime.

Li Jianming and the sorcerer exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.

"I have no objection."

Li Jianming was the first to express his opinion.

He glanced down at the sweat-dampened draft paper in his hand, his tone quite frank.

"He came up with the idea of ​​homology mapping. Without him, this conjecture would be a dead end. He deserves to be listed as the sole author. As for the fee, I will have the institute go through the process according to the highest standards."

"I'm fine with it too."

The sorcerer then spoke up.

"He was the one who built the discrete matrix of the wind tunnel model, so I know that rule."

The two academic giants demonstrated the magnanimity expected of pure scholars when it came to attributing their academic achievements.

They crave the truth, but they will never take credit for others' work.

Seeing their attitudes, Zhou Qiping nodded in satisfaction.

At this point, the matter had essentially achieved its intended effect: it preserved the rules, retained talent, and resolved the dispute between the two deans.

He turned and walked to his desk, preparing to pick up the cup of tea to moisten his throat.

Just as his hand was about to touch the teacup.

Zhou Qiping's gaze naturally fell on the side of the teacup.

There was a dark blue foreign language journal there.

It was the copy of the fall issue of *Discrete Mathematics* that Li Jianming had slammed on his desk ten minutes earlier when he stormed in. Zhou Qiping had been preoccupied with a headache from the argument between Lao Li and Lao Fang and hadn't paid any attention to the magazine.

At that moment, as he looked at the line of gold-embossed English letters on the cover, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

As the vice-principal in charge of scientific research, Zhou Qiping was intimately familiar with the various reward policies and accounting procedures of the university's research department. He paused his teacup-picking motion and picked up the journal instead.

He turned to the page with the folded corner and glanced at the brief signature below the title.

C. Zhuo.

Zhou Qiping raised his head, his gaze passing over the desk and returning to Chen Zhuo standing there.

The seriousness on his face faded considerably, replaced by the gentle smile of an elder looking at a promising junior.

"Old Li, Old Fang, I was so busy setting rules for you guys just now."

Zhou Qiping held the journal and patted it lightly twice in his hand.

"I almost forgot something important."

Li Jianming and the sorcerer both looked at him with suspicion.

"just."

Zhou Qiping pointed at Li Jianming.

"Old Li slammed this magazine on my desk, and that's when I found out that someone at Huazhong University of Science and Technology had quietly published a paper in discrete algebra as an independent author."

Zhou Qiping looked at Chen Zhuo, his tone becoming more relaxed.

"Xiao Chen, according to the current reward regulations of the Research Office of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, whether you are a teacher or a student, as long as you publish an independent paper in a journal of this level with the university as the first affiliation."

Zhou Qiping paused, then his smile deepened.

"The school offers a substantial cash reward."

Zhou Qiping put the journal back on the table.

"Before, Lao Li was searching all over the world for people with the article, but nobody knew who this C. Zhuo was. The bonus was just sitting there in the research department's account, and it couldn't be paid out for a long time."

Zhou Qiping looked at Chen Zhuo and gave his final promise of the day, which was also the most substantial one.

"Now that the case has been solved and you have been identified, the school has no reason to withhold the money."

Zhou Qiping made the decision swiftly and decisively.

"I'll talk to the head of the research department this afternoon, and at the latest tomorrow, this hefty cash reward will be directly deposited into your account." (In the office.)

Regardless of what the adults were discussing—national strategic assets, imperial thrones, historical status, or even the highest-level service fees—Chen Zhuo's reaction remained remarkably calm.

He simply stood there quietly, his right thumb occasionally tapping lightly on the mechanical pencil whose lead had just been replaced. It was as if all of this combined was less important than the pencil in his hand that could write formulas so smoothly.

but.

When the words "cash reward" came out of Zhou Qiping's mouth, and he clearly stated that the money would be deposited into his account the next day...

Chen Zhuo kept gently pressing the mechanical pencil in his hand.

stopped.

Chen Zhuo raised his head.

Those eyes, which were originally clear, quiet, and even showed a hint of helplessness.

In an instant, it burst forth with an extremely bright and undisguised brilliance.

He was still unsure how much his research assistant would be paid each month.

But he had seen the exact amount of the cash reward the school gave to top-ranked articles when he occasionally browsed the school newspaper in the library. It was a huge sum of money.

The gentle and polite demeanor on Chen Zhuo's face was replaced at this moment by a lively and vibrant youthful spirit.

He looked at Zhou Qiping.

He stopped what he was doing, stood up straight very naturally, and put his legs together.

Then, looking at Zhou Qiping behind his desk, he bowed respectfully in a louder, more solemn, and sincere tone than when he had greeted him earlier.

"Thank you, Principal Zhou!"

Chen Zhuo raised his head, a bright and sincere smile on his lips, revealing his white teeth.

The boy raised his head, a smile involuntarily spreading across his face—a clean, contented smile befitting his age. Then, he turned and bowed slightly to Li Jianming and the Taoist priest beside him.

"Thank you both, teachers. I'll need your help with the payment in the future."

This thank you was expressed with conviction and sincerity.

The Taoist priest and Li Jianming, standing to the side, looked at the polite and smiling young man before them and fell into an eerie silence.

The sorcerer looked at Li Jianming, and Li Jianming also looked at the sorcerer.

The two bigwigs looked at each other in bewilderment.

The two influential figures in China's academic circles were experiencing a complex mix of emotions at that moment, even finding the situation somewhat absurd and laughable. Just minutes earlier...

The alchemist brought up national key projects and major national instruments to explain the laws of the universe—a grand narrative that was enough to get people's blood pumping.

Li Jianming went even further, offering the allure of the throne of pure mathematics, absolute truth, and first authorship in a top-tier journal—a temptation that could drive any scholar mad. The two argued fiercely in the vice-principal's office, their faces flushed and necks red, almost to the point of physical violence, all in their struggle for the child.

The results of it?

The kid didn't even blink, completely ignoring it.

The guy displayed an indifference and apathy that was hard for ordinary people to understand when they were asked about their historical status.

But now.

Zhou Qiping casually mentioned giving out some cash bonuses.

This child is laughing so happily! So brightly! So... down-to-earth!

Li Jianming looked down at the draft paper in his hand, which was filled with echolocations, and suddenly felt a little discouraged.

After all that effort...

Xiao Chen found his own explanations of the beauty of mathematics less compelling than a cash payment from the finance department.

"This kid..."

Seeing Chen Zhuo's happy expression, the sorcerer couldn't help but chuckle and mutter a curse under his breath.

But the affection in his eyes hadn't diminished at all; it wasn't fake, it wasn't pretentious, he knew what he wanted, a good kid.

Li Jianming also shook his head, a rare smile appearing on his lips.

"Alright."

Seeing that the atmosphere had completely eased, Zhou Qiping picked up the ceramic cup lid from the table, placed it on the teacup, and made a soft sound.

"Now that everything is settled, you two shouldn't just stand there. Those who need to take people back to work on the formulas, and those who need to work on the wind tunnel model, should work on the model."

Zhou Qiping started to kick people out.

He glanced at the old-fashioned wall clock hanging on the wall.

"It's almost 12:30."

Zhou Qiping walked out from behind his desk and casually patted the Taoist priest on the shoulder.

"Everyone, go home. Don't keep Xiao Chen from going to the cafeteria for lunch."

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhuo's smile faded somewhat, and he reverted to his usual gentle and proper demeanor.

He was carrying a softcover notebook and a repaired mechanical pencil.

"Principal Zhou, Dean Fang, Teacher Li."

Chen Zhuo politely said goodbye again.

"If there's nothing else, I'll go eat now."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the heavy mahogany door, gently pushed it open, and went out.

The door closed again behind Chen Zhuo.

In the vice principal's office.

With Chen Zhuo's departure, the peculiar atmosphere created by his presence, a mixture of extreme rationality and a touch of absurdity, also dissipated.

The office fell silent.

Only three old men remained, staring at each other in bewilderment.

Li Jianming stood there, reflecting on everything that had just happened.

He clutched the draft paper tightly in his hand, his mind still replaying the scene of Chen Zhuo drawing the echo mapping.

Sudden.

Li Jianming suddenly turned his head and stared intently at the sorcerer as if guarding against a thief.

The sorcerer felt a chill run down his spine from that gaze and took a half-step back.

What are you doing?

The sorcerer asked warily.

"One thing at a time."

Li Jianming's voice was still hoarse, but there was a fierce determination in his tone to protect his food.

He tightened the draft paper around his chest.

"The principal set the rules here today. I won't force him to take sides, but Fangshi, listen to me carefully."

Li Jianming pointed at the Taoist priest.

"When it comes time to choose a major in our junior year, I, Li Jianming, am determined to snatch this kid! If your physics department dares to pull any tricks during this period, I'll make you pay!"

Done.

Li Jianming didn't give Fang Shi a chance to retort. He turned around, grabbed the draft paper that was more important than his life, strode out the door, and rushed out. He didn't want to stay a second longer. He needed to get back to his office in the mathematics department as soon as possible, wake up all the students under him, and get them to work on purely computational problems, following the homology mapping approach given by Chen Zhuo.

"Bang!"

Li Jianming slammed the office door shut.

The Taoist priest rolled his eyes in annoyance as he looked at the slightly trembling mahogany door.

"That old madman."

The sorcerer muttered something under his breath.

But in his heart, he was as clear-headed as a mirror.

The physics department absolutely cannot let go of a brain of Chen Zhuo's caliber. Since they can't openly take it from him, they can only give him more high-end labor fees and let him get more exposure to core data in the upcoming wind tunnel project.

In short, those who are near the water get the moon first.

Just as the sorcerer was secretly plotting how to abduct Chen Zhuo...

Zhou Qiping, who had been standing silently to the side, had completely lost his smile.

He walked back to his desk, picked up the dark blue journal *Discrete Mathematics*, and gently stroked the cover with his fingers. "Old Fang."

Zhou Qiping spoke, his voice low and heavy with seriousness.

The sorcerer turned his head and looked at Zhou Qiping.

"It's about this kid."

Zhou Qiping stared into the alchemist's eyes, his tone carrying an unquestionable command.

"Every word that happened in this room just now, Chen Zhuo's approach to solving deadlocks, and his single work on graph theory." Zhou Qiping gently tapped the journal in his hand on the table.

"Except for a few of you in the core group, keep this to yourself in the Faculty of Science."

The Taoist priest's expression instantly turned serious. He abandoned his casual banter with Li Jianming and nodded.

Zhou Qiping took a deep breath and looked out the window.

"All you know is how to poach talent from between departments. Have you ever considered what this twelve-year-old's mind, capable of switching freely between pure mathematics and applied physics and effortlessly solving national-level hypothetical problems, means to those outside the department?"

Zhou Qiping turned his head, his eyes becoming very sharp.

"If word gets out and those old monsters from Tsinghua University, Peking University, or even Princeton across the ocean come looking for us..." Zhou Qiping gritted his teeth.

"The terms they can offer are definitely not comparable to the labor fee for a specially appointed assistant at our University of Science and Technology of China."

The Taoist priest understood the unspoken meaning in Zhou Qiping's words.

"I see."

The sorcerer answered solemnly.

"Regarding the wind tunnel model, I will personally bring the confidentiality agreement to the core group for signature. Chen Zhuo's signature will only appear on the final internal report submitted to the ministry and will not be publicly released. As for the Mathematical Institute, although Old Li has a bad temper, he understands the rules, and he certainly won't make a fuss about it all over the world." "Okay."

Zhou Qiping nodded, his tense shoulders relaxing slightly.

He looked at the empty office, and the image of the clean-cut young man who had beamed with joy upon hearing about the bonus flashed through his mind again. "That kid..."

Zhou Qiping murmured something under his breath, his tone filled with an indescribable anticipation.