The middle-aged man who had been caring for Academician Hu immediately stepped forward, supporting her and asking worriedly: “What’s wrong?! Come, breathe—”

The Academician pushed him away with one hand. At this moment, the elderly woman exerted tremendous strength, actually pushing him aside.

With trembling hands, she gently picked up the two sheets of paper, and then, afraid she might damage them, took out the packaging box from the side and carefully placed them back inside.

These two sheets of paper had already been treated, and covered with a very thin film to prevent deterioration and soiling. Only professionals could remove it, and most people wouldn’t even notice it was there.

But the Academician was still extremely careful, afraid of damaging them.

“Is this…” Professor Li looked at the desk, disbelief flashing in his eyes as he tentatively asked.

The Academician’s voice trembled: “Leibniz’s manuscript…”

Professor Tan’s pupils contracted, and he instinctively looked at Xue Jiao.

At this moment, he realized that his student was quite extraordinary!

Others might not know, but as students of Academician Hu, they were aware that their teacher admired Leibniz the most.

Moreover, the teacher had always been dedicated to research in calculus and had praised Leibniz multiple times.

This gift wasn’t just appropriate; it had fulfilled the teacher’s wish!

“What?!” Professor Li instinctively reached out to examine it, but the Academician slapped his hand away.

Professor Tan looked at Xue Jiao: “Is it genuine?”

Xue Jiao nodded. Lin Zhihua wouldn’t use a fake to deceive her.

The Academician didn’t let them look further, carefully packing it back into the box, smiling at Xue Jiao: “Student Gu Xue Jiao, accepting such a significant gift from you is really…”

Xue Jiao smiled gently: “Teacher, for me, this is just a manuscript from a great mathematician; looking at it is no different from looking at a printed copy. Only someone who understands and loves it is suitable to collect it.”

The Academician thought for a moment, beckoned, and the middle-aged man came forward. She turned her head and said softly: “Bring my notebooks.”

The man’s pupils contracted, his face showing disbelief.

“Go,” the Academician emphasized.

“Alright…” The middle-aged man’s eyes were complex as he took out a box from the bottom of the bookcase and placed it next to the Academician.

The Academician gently stroked it, then looked at Xue Jiao: “Student Gu Xue Jiao, these are my notebooks from all these years. Both successful and unsuccessful research are in here. Some ideas I haven’t had time to implement are also recorded. Take them back; from now on, they’re yours.”

Xue Jiao was stunned, sharing the same shocked expression as Professor Tan and the others.

These were the Academician’s lifelong achievements!

Giving them to her was almost like giving her a lifetime of experience and ideas…

“Academician…” Xue Jiao wanted to refuse; the Academician keeping these treasures would also be good.

The Academician interrupted her: “I know what you want to say. You gave me something I wanted, and I’m giving you something you need. I can’t use these anymore, and these old folks have all seen them. I’m giving them all to you. When you no longer need them, give them to someone else or donate them.”

“No, this is too precious…”

“What’s precious is knowledge and knowledge only has value when it’s used.” The Academician smiled. “Once I’ve given it to you, there’s no taking it back.”

Xue Jiao opened her mouth, but Professor Tan nodded beside her, so she accepted: “Alright, thank you.”

“Thank you too.” The Academician smiled. “You all should go now; I won’t keep you for dinner. I want to look at my treasure.”

She stroked the box with trembling hands, her face happy.

Professor Tan and the others could only leave. As they walked out the door, Professor Li glanced at Xue Jiao, then looked at Professor Tan: “You old fellow barely managed to get a good disciple.”

Professor Li looked at Xue Jiao: “Work diligently and steadfastly, and don’t learn your teacher’s mischievous ways.”

With that, he strode away.

Xue Jiao blinked in confusion, and Professor Tan shook his head: “He’s complimenting you, though his jealousy won’t change anything. You’re my student, not his, haha.”

Xue Jiao: “…”

Fortunately, Professor Li hadn’t heard this, or who knows how upset he would have been.

Professor Tan looked at the box she was holding and couldn’t help saying: “Teacher Hu is kind to you. But Xue Jiao, when you had such a good item, why didn’t you let your teacher see it first? Now that it’s in Teacher Hu’s possession, I probably won’t get to touch it.”

He spoke with such disappointment that Xue Jiao, seeing his expression, thought: If I had shown it to you, it might never have reached Academician Hu…

She didn’t say anything, just blinked, looking at Professor Tan.

“Never mind. Would you like to have dinner at my house? Your teacher’s wife can cook a few dishes for you, and by the way, let me photocopy this box of notebooks.”

Photocopy?

While Xue Jiao was puzzled, Professor Tan added: “My teacher was something before. Every time we wanted to read, we could only hand-copy; we weren’t allowed to photocopy. With advanced technology, why should we still copy bit by bit?”

Xue Jiao: “…”

The dinner invitation was just an excuse; the real purpose was photocopying the notebooks!

“That won’t be necessary. I’ll call a car myself. I won’t be going to your house for dinner,” Xue Jiao said with a smile.

Professor Tan: “…You don’t want to let me photocopy them?!”

“These are still considered Academician Hu’s belongings. Since your teacher wanted you to hand-copy, how could I dare to let you photocopy them?” Xue Jiao blinked, looking very sincere.

Professor Tan glared at Xue Jiao, twirling his beard, and after a moment, said dejectedly: “Fine, I’ve already copied most of it anyway. Come on, let’s go to my house for dinner. That’s genuine; your teacher’s wife misses you.”

Xue Jiao thought for a moment, nodded, and added: “Teacher, shall I call a car?”

“Go ahead, go ahead.”

So, Xue Jiao still had dinner at Professor Tan’s house. During the meal, he had some alcohol and called Academician Hu to “report” that Xue Jiao wouldn’t let him photocopy the notebooks.

Naturally, he was scolded by Academician Hu, who also praised Xue Jiao extensively over the phone and invited her to visit more often.

Xue Jiao agreed.

——

Not long after meeting Academician Hu, Professor Tan took her to visit Academician Xi.

Because Academician Hu had already spoken with him, Academician Xi allowed Xue Jiao to be his assistant for a year.

Of course, he had two other assistants and Xue Jiao still attended her classes.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences wasn’t too far from the school, and Chen Yan arranged for someone to take her there every day, making it convenient to travel between the school and the research institute.

Following Academician Xi indeed allowed her to learn many things, but sometimes, there were concepts she hadn’t learned yet. Xue Jiao had to study on her own, reading extensively and pondering.

This meant that when she sat in class, she realized that what the teachers were explaining was material she had already mastered and was using at Academician Xi’s.

Moreover, university classroom knowledge, considering everyone’s foundation, didn’t delve deeper.

Xue Jiao told Professor Tan about this situation. Being open-minded, he took her to speak with the teachers of various subjects, arranging for her to just take the exams while making class attendance optional.

He also made Xue Jiao promise not to slack off, warning that if her end-of-semester grades dropped, she wouldn’t be permitted this arrangement in her junior year.

Thus, for the second half of her sophomore year and throughout her junior year, Xue Jiao planned to commute between home, school, and the research institute.

One day, Lin Zhihua came to the research institute to pick Xue Jiao up and take her home.

“Secretary Chen!” Xue Jiao, holding her notebook, spoke excitedly as soon as she got in the car.

“Hmm? What is it?” Chen Yan turned his head to look at her in confusion. He was sitting in the front passenger seat, while Xue Jiao and Lin Zhihua sat in the back.

Xue Jiao bit off the pen cap, and Lin Zhihua shook his head helplessly, reaching out to take the cap.

She opened her notebook and asked earnestly: “Secretary Chen, how do you help the boss effectively?”

“Huh?” Chen Yan was completely bewildered, instinctively looking at Lin Zhihua.

Lin Zhihua raised an eyebrow, turning on the light above Xue Jiao’s head while smiling: “Are you trying to learn how to be a good assistant to Academician Xi?”

Xue Jiao nodded vigorously: “Sometimes when I follow the teacher, I don’t know what I should be doing. I can only follow Academician Xi and observe. He’s so busy every day, and I feel guilty that I can’t help much.”

Lin Zhihua reached out to hold Xue Jiao’s hand and nodded: “Although you’re there to learn since you’re following Academician Xi, he’s your boss. If you want him to willingly teach you, he needs to be satisfied with you. Chen Yan, teach her.”

“Yes.” Chen Yan nodded and began to share his work experience.

As a senior secretary, Chen Yan naturally had a set of effective working methods. With Lin Zhihua, the boss himself, also present and occasionally sharing his perspective, Xue Jiao gained tremendous insight.

So, from the second day at the research institute, Xue Jiao’s attitude changed somewhat.

While learning from her teacher, she helped with tasks within her capabilities, paying attention to details.

When she first arrived at the research institute, everyone saw her young age and didn’t bully her, but they also didn’t assign her many tasks.

During their research, they were usually silent, and Xue Jiao didn’t dare disturb them, so she could only learn through observation.

But when Xue Jiao positioned herself as a “good assistant,” Academician Xi found her useful and became more willing to guide her.

Occasionally, he would ask for her help, and during these times, he would teach her many things not available at school.

After spending half a year at the research institute, Xue Jiao was thriving. She even found time to take the IELTS and TOEFL exams.

Her entire junior year was probably the most low-profile year since she entered school. Not only were there no more “Goddess Gu” legends, but people rarely even saw her.

Some people rumored that she had gone abroad, as she was rarely seen at school and wasn’t participating in any projects.

Tsinghua University is full of talented individuals. After Xue Jiao disappeared for over a year, many people had forgotten about her.

Especially the new students who had just entered the school. Having just emerged from the enclosed world of their senior year in high school, they had no idea about the talents that had emerged at Tsinghua in the previous two years, which meant many people didn’t recognize Gu Xue Jiao, who had once caused quite a stir.

At the start of her senior year, another batch of new students excitedly entered the campus, and Xue Jiao officially returned to school to begin her graduation thesis project—which was also her key to graduate school.

“You’ve finally come back!” Professor Tan had aged a bit compared to a year ago.

Xue Jiao boiled water to make tea for him, her long ponytail swinging behind her: “Teacher, your health hasn’t been good recently. You should put the project aside for now.”

“Put it aside? For you to do? You’ve been so happy at the research institute that you’ve forgotten about everything else!” Professor Tan glared, his beard bristling.

During the second semester of her sophomore year, Xue Jiao had been quite diligent, returning for many major courses.

But starting from her junior year, she became increasingly busy and stopped attending major courses!

Fortunately, she did well in the final exams, ranking first in her major, so Professor Tan didn’t say much.

Xue Jiao smiled, her eyes clear and bright: “Then I’ll help you at the beginning of the semester, and work on the project afterward.”

“Forget it, your work probably isn’t easy either. I heard from Academician Xi that your graduation project is a major undertaking. You should focus on your tasks,” Professor Tan said.

He continued: “It seems you’ve done very well this past year and more. Academician Xi doesn’t want you to leave and says you should be his student in the future!”

When saying the last sentence, Professor Tan’s voice was quite sour, eyeing Xue Jiao, waiting for her response.

Xue Jiao smiled and shook her head: “Don’t worry, I’ll always be your student…”

Professor Tan drank the tea Xue Jiao had brewed, raising his eyebrows in satisfaction: “By the way, are you going abroad for your master’s or doctoral studies?”

“For my master’s.” Xue Jiao’s gaze paused for a moment.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t dared to tell Lin Zhihua that she would be studying abroad for two years…

That guy had been complaining that she hadn’t spent much time with him this past year. Who knows if he would be angry when he heard this news?

Xue Jiao was a bit worried.

But this was the current reality in China. Studying abroad was an inevitable path for future academic research, a necessary threshold to cross.

Professor Tan supported this and asked her: “Have you decided on a school? With your abilities, it shouldn’t be difficult to apply to any institution.”

“Yes, I’ve decided.”

“Which one?”

“MIT.”