My Study Chat Group is Full of Real Big Shots

Chapter 57: Chapter 54: Going to Shanghai

In late December, the weather in Shanghai was still a bit chilly.

As a top-tier competition endorsed by the domestic semiconductor equipment giant National Power Equipment Group, the ”Huaxuan Cup” Physics Innovation Competition was undoubtedly the pinnacle of high school commercial competitions in the country.

The lineup for this year’s national finals included over a dozen provinces, cities, and autonomous regions, with more than 210 top physics competition students from over twenty prestigious key middle schools.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

Li Dong, wearing a backpack, followed the group from Jiangcheng Sixth Middle School, moving with the crowd toward the exit.

Jiangcheng Seventh Middle School hadn’t sent a chaperone teacher this time, so Li Dong’s accommodations and travel plans were naturally with the Sixth Middle School group.

And the one leading the Sixth Middle School group this time wasn’t Liu Limin, but Elder Chen.

The sole reason Elder Chen had come out of retirement this time was for Li Dong.

This was because Li Dong now had another, more important goal: the Qiu Chengtong Middle School Science Award.

For Li Dong to use his ”dual-beam laser interference maskless lithography” solution from the Huaxuan Cup semifinals to compete for the Qiu Prize, he had to write and publish a standard academic paper entirely in English.

However, Huaxuan Technology had already taken an interest in this solution, which involved the company’s early-stage technical secrets and a patent NDA.

Elder Chen had come to Shanghai this time to personally speak with Director Lin Wei of Huaxuan Technology and secure a ”non-exclusive academic publication waiver” for Li Dong for this technology.

Simply put: ’Your company can take the technology and make money, but the rights to authorship and academic publication must be left for my student to win international awards.’

At the back of the group, Zhao Ziv dragged his suitcase, watching Li Dong walk beside Elder Chen with a complicated look in his eyes.

The words Liu Limin had said to him before the semifinals couldn’t help but surface in his mind.

”Don’t worry about that kid from Seventh Middle School. Your rival is Lin Xiao from Tianli Middle School.”

’But now?’

His first-place provincial ranking had been a slap in the face to everyone.

Now, even Elder Chen was doting on Li Dong, while he, the top student from Sixth Middle School itself, had been reduced to a mere accessory.

This huge disparity left Zhao Ziv with a storm of mixed emotions.

...

The venue for the Huaxuan Cup finals this time wasn’t at Huaxuan Technology’s headquarters, but in the physics building of Shanghai’s Fudan University, which they had borrowed for the event.

”Brilliant are the sun and moon, their light resuming day after day.”

As a perennial powerhouse in the C9 League, Fudan University’s status in the nation’s science community, especially in physics and microelectronics, was unquestionable.

It had produced countless academicians and was a major center for research in basic semiconductor materials.

The bus stopped steadily at the designated hotel near the Fudan campus. After they dropped off their luggage, there was still some time before the afternoon check-in, so Elder Chen let the students wander around the Fudan campus to soak in the academic atmosphere.

Along the way, Elder Chen didn’t give the usual chaperone instructions like ”Pay attention to exam rules,” or ”Don’t be careless.”

In his view, ’If students who fought their way into the Huaxuan Cup finals get so nervous over a commercial competition that they make rookie mistakes, they might as well pack up and go home to study for the college entrance exams. What kind of elites would they be?’

Walking along the tree-lined paths of Fudan in late autumn, the group of top students from Sixth Middle School appeared very composed.

As they watched the Fudan University students pass by, their gazes were more of peers sizing each other up, rather than the worshipful looks of ordinary high school students.

Because for them, Fudan University was just one of their options.

Just as Li Dong was walking along, head down and looking at his phone, a woman’s voice came from ahead.

”Elder Chen! What brings you here leading the team yourself? Long time no see!”

Elder Chen stopped, looked up, and a kind smile appeared on his face.

”Oh, Xiaosu, your team from Rongcheng Seventh Middle School is here too? When did you arrive?”

This was the female teacher leading the team from Rongcheng Seventh Middle School, Su Wan.

The two had crossed paths a few times during the national physics training team selections in previous years, so they were old acquaintances.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Elder Chen looked at the young man standing behind Su Wan.

”This must be Qiao Fan, the one your school has been treating like a treasure this year, right?”

Su Wan glanced back at her student and nodded with a smile.

”Yes, that’s him.”

Elder Chen was a bit surprised.

”Why did you decide to bring him to a commercial competition of this level?”

”The depth of the problems shouldn’t be much of a challenge for him, right?”

Hearing this, Su Wan gave a wry smile.

”Elder Chen, you don’t know, but this kid always lacks confidence. He’s worried there are too many masters out there.”

”So I’m using this competition as a chance to bring him out and let him see for himself.”

After hearing this, a strange look appeared in Elder Chen’s eyes.

’Let him see for himself? To let him know that the competition out there is tough?’

’Or to show him that he can dominate out here, too?’

Su Wan laughed, a little embarrassed.

”Oh, Elder Chen, listen to you.”

”I mean... didn’t a student from Jiangcheng Seventh Middle School beat him in the semifinals? You could say that was a bit of a setback for him.”

Although she said it was a ”setback,” in her heart, Su Wan didn’t really take that so-called ”first place” seriously.

’Qiao Fan may have been second,’ Su Wan thought, ’but a student’s excellence can’t be judged by a single breakout performance in a niche area.’

’That student, Li Dong, perhaps had more theoretical exposure to cutting-edge engineering topics like lithography machines, and the question just happened to play to his strengths. He’s what you’d call a specialist.’

’Qiao Fan, on the other hand, was an all-rounder with no weaknesses, whether in Classical Mechanics, electrodynamics, or advanced mathematical tools.’

’When it comes to the Ossai, facing off against those all-around monsters from Renmin University High School and Modu Middle School, a comprehensive foundation is what truly matters.’

At that moment, Qiao Fan, standing behind Su Wan, was quietly observing the renowned Elder Chen from Sichuan and Chongqing.

He was, of course, aware of Elder Chen’s reputation; even the principal of his own Rongcheng Seventh Middle School had once tried to poach this gold-medal coach with a high salary, but to no avail.

But soon, Qiao Fan’s attention was drawn to the boy behind Elder Chen who was staring down at his phone.

’Huh?’

’This guy looks so familiar. Come to think of it, isn’t he the one who sat next to me during the semifinals and just stared blankly at the final problem for twenty minutes?’

’He made it to the finals, too?’

As the two teachers continued chatting beside them, Qiao Fan’s curiosity was piqued. He quietly moved to Li Dong’s side and slightly behind him, wanting to see what game the guy was playing.

However, when he got a clear look at the content on Li Dong’s phone screen, Qiao Fan froze.

It wasn’t a game on the screen at all, but an original English-language academic writing textbook: *Science Research Writing for Non-Native Speakers of English*.

Li Dong was muttering to himself under his breath.

”This isn’t right... Why does it use the present simple when introducing the derivation of electromagnetic waves from Maxwell’s Equations, but then suddenly switch to the past simple when describing the steps to build the interferometer?”

”They’re both things that already exist or have already happened, so why does the paper’s grammar switch back and forth like this?”

Although Li Dong had managed to brute-force his vocabulary using his 0.2 Memory Attribute, he was now facing the highly rigorous world of SCI-level international academic papers, with all their unwritten rules.

This was on a completely different level from the English reading comprehension on the college entrance exams.

Just as Li Dong was struggling with this...

a voice suddenly spoke up.

”Because the former is a universally accepted scientific truth, while the latter is an independent action you completed in this specific study.”

Li Dong was startled and turned to see...

a boy with a backpack standing next to him.

”According to the writing conventions for international academic papers, when you cite a theorem that is already widely accepted by the academic community in the Introduction or theoretical background, you must use the present simple tense. This signifies that its truth is not limited by time.”

”However, when you’re in the Methodology section describing the specific steps you took to build the experimental setup or manipulate the optical path, you must use the past simple passive voice—for example, ’The beam was split by...’—because it’s an isolated event completed at a specific point in the past.”

Qiao Fan’s logic was very clear; he was obviously well-versed in the rules of this kind of academic writing.

After hearing the explanation, everything instantly clicked for Li Dong.

”Oh, so that’s how you distinguish between objective truths and experimental actions... Thanks a lot!”

Li Dong thanked him sincerely, recognizing the boy at the same time.

It was the young-looking examinee who had sat next to him during the semifinals.

Seeing Li Dong thank him, Qiao Fan actually became a little embarrassed.

”It’s nothing...”

Then, Qiao Fan looked up and asked curiously.

”You’re reading a research paper writing guide this advanced... Are you preparing for the all-English defense for the Qiu Prize?”