Super God-Level Top Student

"I want to do my Ph.D. and then graduate as soon as possible," Qiao Ze held up his second finger.

"This... Qiao Ze, how about staying in the undergraduate program for a year? After all, you've just come from high school... Ah, let's not talk about this anymore. Think about it, Professor Li isn't a Ph.D. advisor yet.

You can certainly go directly to a Ph.D. now, but then Li can't be your supervisor. Imagine by early next year, when your Uncle Li gets his Ph.D. advisor qualification, and you start your Ph.D. then, being Uncle Li's first disciple would become a delightful story for the future!"

Qiao Ze thought for a moment, then glanced at the stunned Li Jiangao and nodded.

The suggestion was indeed a good one.

Xu Dajiang then raised his hand to wipe off sweat.

In fact, he still hadn't understood how a simple apology to Qiao Ze had turned into a business discussion...

"My mom always wanted to live in a big house, but she also wants to stay close to take care of me. Help her find a big house near the school, I'll pay for it," Qiao Ze held up his third finger.

"No problem! Leave it to me! I guarantee to find a house that is at least 200 square meters larger than those in the Xiyuan Community and even closer to the school. And you don't need to spend money, as long as you still have needs, you can always live there. Just don't put it on the market,"

Xu Dajiang said, patting his chest.

"My mom said Teacher Yu has been taking good care of her in Xingcheng, can you help Teacher Yu get a promotion?"

"Ah..." Xu Dajiang blinked, and cold sweat began to break out on his forehead.

Now he just hoped there were no cameras in the research group...

How should he respond to such a forthright request?

"That... Yu Chenggong is a teacher in the admissions office, and he's in a different system from us. He needs to make an effort to advance within his own system, but..."

"Oh, I see! So it's about making suggestions to his superiors?"

"Uh, that's more or less what I meant."

"Okay," Qiao Ze replied, then looked at Xu Dajiang and Yang Lichun and said, "We're done here, I'm leaving."

After speaking, without giving the two a chance to say anything more, he turned around and walked towards the inner office.

Xu Dajiang unconsciously looked at Li Jiangao.

Li Jiangao spread his hands and said, "That's Qiao Ze for you, he calls this efficient communication."

"Well... Forget it, Jian Gao, how about we have dinner together tonight?"

"Should we invite Qiao Ze?"

"Let's not, let the kids be busy with their own things."

"Okay."

...

In the United States, at Duke University, "Duke Mathematical Journal" editorial office.

"Oh, My God!" An exclamation early in the morning drew the attention of all the editors in the office, even Joe Berner, who was in the editor-in-chief's office, stood in front of the glass window of his office and looked out at the workstations.

However, he was obviously a bit late because the astonished Laurent Lane had already rushed into his office under the watchful eyes of the editors.

"Joe, you definitely won't believe what I just saw. This is absolutely the most miraculous operation of the year because you can't even imagine there is such a method of paper authentication!"

"Oh? Alright, Laurent, calm down. You're not a new editor anymore; I thought you could be more composed. But now you've piqued my curiosity. The good news is, if this is really worth your amazement, I might consider applying to the board for a bonus for you. The bad news is, if I find it boring, I'll retract that offer."

"That's great, Joe; I'm sure I'll get that bonus. Joe, let me use your laptop, I need to pull up the email and attachments for you, believe me, you'll be wondering how someone could even think of this?"

Joe Berner pushed his computer forward, Laurent Lane immediately started working on it, then pushed it back. Five minutes later, Joe Berner looked up at Laurent, astonished.

"And nobody noticed?"

"Yeah! I was also puzzled just now, but the equation is indeed an indispensable part of the proof. So that excessively young guy recorded the watermark in the paper with his super high mathematical skills. No, it should be more than just one because the letter says there are many such watermarks. So, Joe, do you think this is a miraculous operation?"

"Well, I have to admit it is indeed a very interesting thing. Do you know what I want to do now? I plan to give Sumant a call. In his words, he reviewed this paper twice in one month; I can ask him if he noticed such a fascinating watermark. You can guess what the expression will be like on the face of this proud professor when he discovers this little trick, maybe I should video call him."

"Then I should get going. If his expression is strange, I hope you can tell me."

"Haha, of course, Laurent. Really, the Huaxians have surprised me twice in a row. By the way, add that Ze to the list of key authors, I have a feeling, he might really be a very... how should I put it, a very unconventional mathematical genius."

"Got it, Joe."

...

As Laurent Lane turned and left, Joe Berner immediately opened his MSN with great enthusiasm and sent a video call.

To Joe's delight, after a few rings, the call was answered.

"Joe, what's up?"

"Professor Jer, that little author of the paper you admired just gave me some more surprises. I'm planning to send it to you. Believe me, it's a work of genius."

"Oh? Come on, stop beating around the bush, Joe, what's the surprise this time?"

"Check your email, I've already sent it. But I hope you don't hang up the video call just yet, I promised earlier..."

Before Joe Berner could finish his sentence, the person on the other end closed the video chat interface.

What a pity.

He had wanted to see that guy's expression...

So Joe Berner quickly typed a message on MSN: "That's not very nice, Sumant. Next time I have such fun news, I won't tell you anymore!"

No response from the other side.

Alright then...

That's a professor with character.

With a sigh in his heart, Joe Berner looked over the remarkable method again, estimated the difficulty of implementing such a design, and shook his head slightly.

Well, it's a good thing he was just an editor.

How creative a method it was, he wondered where it came from.

Although it was indeed interesting.

But Joe Berner had many other tasks to attend to, and he quickly got back to work.

Until his phone signaled an incoming MSN connection request.

Glancing over, Joe was surprised to see it was Sumant Jer initiating the call.

Surprised, but that didn't stop him from answering the video call immediately.

"Sumant..."

"Save it, listen to me! Joe, after looking over that watermark proof method, I re-verified the paper the Germans published in 'Pure and Applied Mathematics Communications.' Remember what I told you yesterday? An important lemma in both papers had very similar proofs.

So, I used this method, found similar sets of equations, then ran a segmented verification with the supercomputer, and finally found the same watermark!"

"What?"

"Yes, you heard right. Although the equations aren't the same and some parts have been modified, the watermark is unmistakable! We got the exact same string, didn't even need to convert using ASCII values, because the number sequences are identical!"

"Cough cough, alright, Sumant, let me get this straight. You're saying you found the digital watermark left by the Huaxia kid in Ackerman and his student's paper, right? If I remember correctly, translated, the sentence is 'This paper was jointly completed by Li Jian Gao and Qiao Ze'? So their paper also hides this complete sentence, right?"

"Exactly! Joe! You're spot on!"

"Haha! Oh my gosh! Why are you telling me this! I can already feel my conscience being tortured, but Koen's School of Mathematics is an important partner for our journal, oh... What should I do? But one thing, Sumant, in my eyes, you're different from me.

You've always had the knightly spirit I lack..."

"Joe..."

"What's up?"

"I'm sure someone must have said you're very hypocritical!"

"No, no, no, Sumant, you're forgetting, we're friends! So I support all your decisions! Really!"

"Heh heh!"

"Also, I want to ask, Sumant, how does it feel to hold such a thunderbolt in your hands?"

"Feels good, just a pity I can't use it to hit you."

"Haha... Old Su, I like your sense of humor, really!"