Super God-Level Top Student
Chapter 934 - 353 Harvest Season? _3

Since the joke is already out, naturally everyone should share the embarrassment together. It wouldn't be fair to laugh at only them, right?

As for Qiao Ze not showing up to accept the award…

Whatever. Doesn't matter.

Looking on the bright side, at least they can save the two million US Dollar prize money.

Anyway, it seems like the Americans already covered that expense for them, so that's nice.

People must learn that scientists can have tempers too.

...

Xilin, mid-autumn in October.

For the kids at school, autumn not only signals the arrival of cooler weather but also brings the highly anticipated National Day holiday—the only seven-day break in the entire fall semester.

Unavoidably, the campus starts to feel a bit deserted.

For university students brimming with a thirst for exploration, even if they don't go home during the holiday, they'd likely choose to travel.

However, the Mathematics Research Institute on campus was experiencing an unprecedented level of busyness.

The researchers who passed their evaluations earlier were all arriving one after another to register.

In theory, the National Day Golden Week is supposed to be a vacation. But for those frequenting the research institute, nearly all of them are PhD students.

No need to even mention PhDs—anyone who has pursued a Master's degree in science or engineering knows this well: for those immersed in academia, holidays are purely theoretical. After all, it's research. Dedication is necessary. People can rest, but the lab equipment can't sit idle, right? The progress of the projects can't be delayed, right? And the tasks assigned by the supervisor? You can't just ignore them, right?

If all that could somehow be overlooked, surely you'd still want to graduate, right?

Not to mention, the cost of living subsidies during this period are often insultingly low. The state might provide a few hundred yuan, and a kind-hearted supervisor might add a few hundred more, but altogether, a monthly living allowance of less than 2,000 yuan might be all you have. There's usually scholarship money, of course, but for graduate students from modest families, that money is off-limits—it perfectly covers tuition fees.

Even after earning your PhD and joining a university research institute, as long as you're still ambitious, the concept of a real vacation remains elusive.

"Three-plus-three contracts," "publish or perish"—these are not jokes made at your expense, but your actual reality.

All the academic achievements and published papers—they're mandatory tasks.

Not everyone gets to be Qiao Ze.

Let's set aside the sheer amount of time spent on research; if you aim to submit your work to a top-tier journal, just one paper—for submission, review, revisions, and finally, after much difficulty, securing approval—then still waiting in line for that coveted publication spot can easily take over half a year.

In other words, to meet the school's expectations, you'd almost need to start the next research topic immediately after the paper is submitted. Otherwise, there's simply not enough time.

And let's be frank—anyone willing to give up their previous job to apply for a research position at Xilin Mathematics Research Institute is definitely one of those ambitious and competitive science nerds.

If they can endure all of the above hardships, what's one measly National Day holiday they can't forgo?

So, for these young workaholic researchers, whether to take time off or not really doesn't matter much.

Taking advantage of the National Day holiday to report in, set up their living arrangements, familiarize themselves with the environment, and dive headfirst into work and study—now that's the real priority.

For these young researchers, the announcement of this October's Nobel Prize is another event of great interest. All of them are eager to see who will win it, especially considering that Qiao Ze has already made it explicitly clear that he will not accept any awards from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Nobody knows yet who the Nobel laureate will be this year.

And whether the chosen individual will have the courage to accept the award.

For those who've stepped through the doors of the Xilin Mathematics Research Institute, while it's obvious that none of them are anywhere close to winning the prize, just the thought of the matter is enough to get them a little excited.

After all, the young powerhouse who, fresh on the scene, managed to humble numerous academic titans single-handedly—is right there on the eighth floor. In a way, Qiao Ze is now their pillar of support. A somewhat overly youthful pillar of support...

That's the thing about people—we all like to bask in the shared glory of association.

No one is an exception.

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