My Study Chat Group is Full of Real Big Shots

Chapter 78: Chapter 75: I’m More Interested in Physics

Professor Zhang Minfang sat behind his desk, looking at the high school student with clear eyes before him, and for a moment, he was at a loss for words.

”I just want to do it.”

How long had it been since he’d heard such a pure answer?

Forget about people like him; even the new graduate students who had just joined the research group would often ask first:

”Professor, is this project good for getting a paper published?”

”Professor, will the impact factor for this meet the graduation requirements?”

”Professor, will this project be easy to get funding for?”

Their projects, their research—they had long been boxed in by all sorts of real-world constraints.

Funding, deadlines, the pressure to publish, rigid requirements for promotions... These things had long since worn away the initial passion of most researchers.

To risk it all for a simple ”I just want to do it”?

No one could afford it anymore.

But this high schooler before him didn’t understand all the complexities involved. He simply wanted to fill a gap in the history of genetics.

This kind of purity was just like what his generation felt when they were young, seeing cell division under a microscope for the very first time.

A rare smile finally appeared on Professor Zhang’s usually stern face.

He took off his glasses, and his tone softened considerably.

”You’re Li Dong, right?” he asked casually.

”Which university are you planning to attend after high school?”

The question caught Li Dong by surprise.

A few months ago, he wouldn’t have even considered this question.

Back then, it wasn’t a matter of him choosing a university, but a university choosing him. He would’ve been grateful just to get into a second-tier college.

But now, it seemed he really had what it took to choose from the country’s top universities.

However, he had never really given the matter much thought before.

Logically, since he was talking to a professor from the Zhejiang University School of Life Sciences, anyone with a normal level of social awareness would have politely said, ”Of course I want to go to Zhejiang University.”

But... Li Dong loved physics!

Even before joining the Cyan Dragon Study Group, physics had been his best subject.

It was a love that came from a deep-seated interest.

When he was a child, he even had an incredibly cringey dream.

He wanted to catch the Maxwell’s demon that messed with thermodynamics and open the life-or-death box that imprisoned Schrödinger’s cat.

He also wanted to completely blow away the dark clouds looming over the edifice of physics!

What was that saying going around online?

”Without studying physics, your view of it is like looking at the sky from the bottom of a well. After studying physics, your view of it is like an ant gazing up at the heavens.”

And what about physics at Zhejiang University?

To be fair, as a C9 League university, Zhejiang University’s overall strength was immense, and its physics department was in the top tier nationally, but it wasn’t among the absolute best.

Although Li Dong believed that with the experts in the group backing him, he could learn world-class physics anywhere.

But you can’t do physics just by thinking; you need the laboratory hardware and platforms, too!

The national-level platforms in Zhejiang University’s physics department were mostly focused on condensed matter physics.

In fields requiring large-scale scientific facilities like high-energy physics, nuclear physics, and synchrotron radiation, there was still a gap between it and those two ”vocational schools” and that other ”asylum for scientists.”

So, Li Dong fell silent. A deafening silence.

Seeing Li Dong’s conflicted expression, Professor Zhang naturally understood what the boy was thinking.

He grunted softly and shook his head with a smile.

As a top scholar in the country, he had seen far too many arrogant geniuses who would settle for nothing less than Qingbei.

”Alright, there’s no need to feel awkward.”

”Go to school wherever you want. Zhejiang University isn’t short on outstanding students.”

Li Dong looked a bit embarrassed and said apologetically,

”Professor Zhang, I’m truly sorry... Actually, I prefer physics, so when it’s time for university, I probably won’t choose Zhejiang University.”

As soon as he said this, a question mark slowly formed in Professor Zhang’s mind.

He had thought of many reasons why Li Dong might turn down Zhejiang University, but this was the one he had never considered.

He likes... physics?

He quickly ran through his thoughts.

’This building is called the Life Sciences Building, right?’

’The sign on my door says Key Laboratory of Biology, right?’

’And I myself am a professor of plant genetics, right?’

’Then what are you doing here, asking me to do a biology experiment?’

Professor Zhang turned his head and shot a questioning glance at Sun Xiang.

Sun Xiang immediately turned his head to the side, pretending not to see. Inside, however, he was screaming frantically.

’Professor, don’t look at me! I don’t know either!’

’Who knew Elder Chen was feeding him that outrageous nonsense every day about ”biology being the liberal arts of the sciences, not even fit to shine physics’s shoes”! This kid’s already been brainwashed by the physics group!’

Professor Zhang took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to kick both of them out.

”Fine.”

”I can lend you the lab equipment and platform for this project.”

”However, when the paper is published, you have to list him as the second author.”

Professor Zhang pointed at Sun Xiang.

”No problem! Absolutely no problem!”

Li Dong’s agreement was swift and decisive.

For the past month, aside from building that physics Hysteresis Loop model with Elder Chen, Li Dong had spent all his remaining time with Sun Xiang in the lab at Sixth Middle School. Sun Xiang had personally taught him all the basic procedures for plant genetics experiments, step-by-step.

How to use a micropipette for precise micro-volume sampling, how to use the CTAB method to extract genomic DNA from the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum, how to prepare an agarose gel electrophoresis system for nucleic acid quality control, how to complete PCR amplification and product purification...

What was wrong with listing him as second author? Even if Sun Xiang were a co-first author, Li Dong would have felt it was only right.

In truth, Professor Zhang had his own selfish reasons for doing this.

He had already promised to bring Sun Xiang back as a research assistant.

But he didn’t have many disciples to begin with, and he wasn’t satisfied with just having him as a research assistant.

Li Dong’s project on the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum would be a bit of a stretch for a main issue of *Nature* or *Science*; the tone just wasn’t right.

But if they submitted it to a top-tier botany journal like *Nature Plants*, their chances were very high.

Its core value lay not just in its potential application for crop breeding, but more so in how it perfectly closed the loop on Mendel’s century-old genetic legacy. This kind of scientific inheritance and romantic significance, spanning a hundred years, was the key highlight that top journals valued most.

With this paper as an endorsement, Sun Xiang’s path back to Zhejiang University would be completely paved.

Seeing that Li Dong had agreed, Professor Zhang nodded.

”You two are heading back tomorrow, right?”

”Perfect. Go find Liu Dong. His lab is on the third floor now.”

”He’s working on a population genetics project involving a species related to the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum.”

”The samples were collected from field sites across three provinces. He’s at the critical stage of sequencing library construction, and the next step is to send them to the school’s sequencing platform.”

”Go over and help him complete the genomic DNA extraction and full quality control for this batch of samples from the Alpine Willow Chrysanthemum’s relatives. Make sure the Qubit quantification and fragment integrity tests pass the standards for library construction. After that, complete a preliminary library construction experiment on three representative samples to verify the system is stable. Once all that is done, come back and see me.”

Li Dong immediately nodded in agreement and followed Sun Xiang toward the door.

Just as they reached the doorway, Professor Zhang suddenly spoke up.

”Sun Xiang, stay for a moment.”

”Yes, Professor.”

Sun Xiang stood his ground while Li Dong obediently closed the door behind him.

In the office, only the professor and his student remained.

Professor Zhang looked at Sun Xiang.

”Give it to me straight. This kid... how are his hands?”

Anyone who does biological experiments knows that ”having good hands” is what’s known as ”Hand Luck.”

It’s a very mysterious thing.

Some people have solid theory, but the moment they step into a lab, their DNA extractions are all fragmented, and their PCR runs are nothing but primer dimers.

Then there are others who could probably pipette with their eyes closed and still get the most beautiful bands on their gel.

Professor Zhang was afraid the kid was a walking disaster in the lab. If he ended up ruining the precious field samples Liu Dong had spent months collecting across three provinces, it would be too late for regrets.

Hearing his advisor’s question, Sun Xiang’s face turned green.

Scenes from the past month in the lab at Sixth Middle School flashed through his mind.

He stammered,

”Pro... Professor... His luck... it’s very good.”

Then, looking like he was about to cry but couldn’t, he added,

”So good it’s not normal...”