Top Student at Their Peak
Chapter 104 - 76: A Phone Call that Changed Recognition (Part 2)_2

Chapter 104: Chapter 76: A Phone Call that Changed Recognition (Part 2)_2

So Qiao Yu thought about it and felt that for a professor from Yujiang University to open up so much, the title of corresponding author alone didn’t seem sufficient. It didn’t quite adhere to the principle of equivalent exchange, so he tentatively asked, "Uh, Professor Xue, is it just for the title of corresponding author?"

"Haha, even if I wanted to get more from you now, you wouldn’t have the capability. At least for your first paper, I’m the corresponding author. When you rise to prominence in the future, maybe you’ll remember this favor, and today’s call won’t have been in vain. I also have my academic pursuits."

The voice on the other end was very frank, which Qiao Yu found believable. He sincerely said, "Thank you so much, Professor Xue. After your guidance, I’m not lost anymore."

"I’m just giving you a rough direction. Becoming a closed-door disciple of a senior academician isn’t easy. There will definitely be other evaluations, and you must have confidence in yourself."

Qiao Yu immediately said, "Don’t worry, Professor Xue. I may lack many things, but I never lack confidence."

"That’s good. Do you have anything else you want to ask?"

Qiao Yu certainly wouldn’t miss this rare opportunity, so he immediately asked, "Uh, Professor Xue, Teacher Lan told me that if I become a major professor in the future, I’d enjoy many privileges. Is that true?"

This time, there was a moment of contemplation before the other end replied, "I’m not in a position to say, and I don’t know how ’major’ the professor that Teacher Lan referred to might be. I can only speak from my own experience.

Let’s put it this way: my current position is Associate Professor, but because I was selected for the school’s Hundred Talents Program, I enjoy full professor treatment within the school. For someone my age, this achievement is already considered among the stronger group within academia.

When I go out, whether it’s visiting Xiao Lake University, attending academic conferences, or being invited to industry seminars, everyone shows great respect. But when I return to Yujiang University, even if the campus security gives me attitude, I have to endure it.

Understand? Relative to the school, ordinary professors are actually a weak group. But if you can become an academician in the future, it will be different. So whether professors have privileges also depends on where you stand.

Ordinary professors are like other ordinary people, guiding students, seeking projects, just making a living. But if you become an academician, the resources you can muster are on a completely different level from an ordinary professor. Naturally, the school would also give you more respect."

Today’s style of conversation from Xue Song was entirely different.

If his students heard it, they would probably be very surprised. After all, their mentor usually paid great attention to demeanor, especially meticulous with his words.

Today’s way of speaking could even be described as crude for Xue Song.

But there was no choice when the other party was a middle school student. Xue Song felt he couldn’t express himself as subtly as he would with colleagues or his students. It can be said that in terms of vocabulary and phrasing, Professor Xue can be quite flexible.

And the effect was indeed very good.

Qiao Yu deeply understood that even within universities, professors are categorized into ranks. Those professors who flaunt their identities on forums, acting all high and mighty, actually live quite humbly, even having to endure the attitudes of security guards. Truly pitiful.

It seems that the ’major professor’ Teacher Lan talked about probably needs to have the title of academician.

Now the goal is clearer; it’s a matter of first attending university, then becoming an academician.

"Uh, Professor Xue, one last question. When you were studying in the United States, around 2009, did you ever hear of an MIT student with the surname Feng? I heard he stayed there afterward."

"Surname Feng? I do have a few friends at MIT, but none with the surname Feng. If you could confirm the field he studied in those years, I could ask someone to help you find out."

"Oh, never mind. I was just asking casually."

"If there are no other questions, I’ll hang up first. When I get to the university, I will send you a few articles on WeChat to familiarize yourself with how to write papers. Additionally, I’ll send you a guide on the writing and formatting of mathematics papers. You can study it yourself, and if you have any questions, you can call me at this number any time."

"Alright, thank you, Mr. Xue."

"You’re welcome."

...

After hanging up, Qiao Yu sighed. He didn’t even feel like continuing to engage in forum debates.

He thought he was doing well, but the path that the good guy helped him choose was just a decent starting point.

He knew the world wouldn’t be so simple.

But then again, relying on gaming to lead a privileged life is also quite challenging.

Becoming a professional player requires overcoming many obstacles, and if you don’t perform well, you’ll be criticized online by many people.

The key is that once on this path, there’s no turning back, and Qiao Yu is quite unwilling to give up.

Sitting on the bed, digesting the words of Xue Song for a moment, Qiao Yu simply ignored all these messy thoughts.

The next step would just be to continue studying.

Coincidentally, he was quite good at that.

Twenty minutes or so passed, and sure enough, Xue Song sent several files on WeChat.

Qiao Yu received them one by one on his computer. With the PDF reader already installed, he casually opened a paper and went through it thoroughly, starting to parse its structure.

The key points seemed to be divided into six parts: introduction, background, method, results, discussion, and finally, conclusion.

The logic was strong, and the writing was clear.

Then Qiao Yu opened the article explaining paper formats. Hmm, writing papers involves formats like APA and MLA. Americans are indeed peculiar. Fortunately, for natural sciences, only the APA format needs to be studied.

Then he suddenly thought writing papers seemed simple.

Because format standards specify requirements for titles, line spacing, margins, paragraph formatting, and references. So you just need to memorize these standards and adhere to the format requirements during writing.

Qiao Yu always believed that in learning and writing, anything that is predefined and doesn’t allow creative freedom is inevitably the simplest part.

For example, in middle school math, physics, and chemistry, theorems and expressions are predefined. There’s no room for creativity, so getting full marks is relatively easy.

In humanities subjects like literature, history, and moral and legal education, even though there are standard answers, many questions allow for creative responses, making it very difficult to score full marks.

So after reading these two articles, Qiao Yu had a certain understanding of writing papers.

It’s merely about telling everyone how to solve a problem in a detailed manner according to a logical order and format, then adding some references to show where the inspiration came from.

Seems not too hard.

It’s just that his method of gaining inspiration was through many videos uploaded online by experts, and he may need to find specific sources for the content.

With this understanding, Qiao Yu shut down the computer and lay down on the bed.

The future matters will be dealt with in the future.

Tomorrow, he still had to go to school for an exclusive interview.

...

Qiao Yu fell asleep in bed, but Zhang Tiejun couldn’t sleep a wink.

It wasn’t just because of excitement.

The Star City Morning News wanting to interview Qiao Yu was merely a signal, followed by calls coming into the school one after another, and the phone number of the enrollment consultant listed on the school’s website was almost blowing up.

The consultants, dumbfounded, even took the time to complain to him on WeChat.

Of course, he wasn’t idle either.

Heaven knows how those resourceful reporters got hold of his number, each wanting to do an exclusive interview with Qiao Yu—a blissful trouble.

Overnight, with the amplifier of the internet, Star City Railway First Middle School had become a household name in Star City. What to do about this!