Xue Jiao looked at her, smiling, calmly meeting Zhang Han’s gaze, confidently facing the other’s sharp eyes.
After a moment, Zhang Han withdrew her gaze and used the ruler to mark positions 5.67 and 9.33.
Then she picked up a larger piece, slightly tilting her head, signaling Xue Jiao to continue.
Xue Jiao’s smile became more apparent as she recited the numbers: “11.3, 15.6, and 21.2.”
Zhang Han took the ruler and marked the lines according to what she said without any hesitation.
As for questioning Xue Jiao’s calculation ability?
Would that be like claiming the Annals of Mathematics paper was fake?
Across from them, Zheng Jiakun, who was also installing magnetic strips, glanced at the two women working in perfect coordination, his smile evident.
Indeed… two capable people who respect other capable people can easily get along.
Sometimes, having a human calculator was quite convenient, especially when this calculator had a brain and knew what you were going to do next, what you needed, and what could be done.
Zhang Han’s previously furrowed brows relaxed, and from then on, Xue Jiao stayed by her side, helping her a lot. It was almost as if whatever she had in mind, the other would place beside her. Any data needed was quickly provided—this was Zhang Han’s most efficient period of the day.
Honestly, Xue Jiao also admired Zhang Han. Her assistant had urged her to eat twice already.
But she worked very hard, pushing through until after seven o’clock without a single pause or distraction.
At half past seven, Zhang Han put down her things and rubbed her brow, “Let’s stop here for today. I’ll continue with the rest when I come back on Saturday. It should be completed preliminarily on another day. The rest will need to be gradually adjusted through future experiments.”
Zhang Han’s voice was calm, carrying a sense of formal seriousness.
“Alright,” Chu Sheng promptly responded.
Zhang Han took off her gloves, noticed Xue Jiao beside her, and paused briefly before continuing, “You all should pay more attention.”
After saying this, she strode away directly. Her assistant smiled at them, then followed after her.
Xue Jiao was stunned for a moment before realizing that Zhang Han’s statement meant they should pay more attention to the project in the future, which was also a way of moving past the fact that she had taken a week off.
Seeing her lost in thought, Chu Sheng thought she was dazed because of Zhang Han’s attitude and quickly explained—
“Xue Jiao, Senior Zhang Han just has that personality, don’t take it personally.”
Zheng Jiakun also put down what he was working on and smiled, “Indeed, no need to mind. Senior Zhang Han has been here all day and barely spoke a few sentences to us. It’s just her nature.”
Xue Jiao smiled and shook her head, “It’s fine, I don’t mind.”
She truly didn’t mind. Zhang Han initially disliked her, but by the time she left, having recognized her abilities, she had accepted her. This girl indeed had a somewhat cold personality because she placed all her interests in science.
For such a person, Xue Jiao had respect.
Chu Sheng let out a sigh of relief and moved his stiff neck, “Well then, let’s go back and rest for today, and continue on Saturday.”
“Continue only on Saturday?” Xue Jiao was surprised.
Chu Sheng heard her surprised tone and turned to look at her, “Yes, Senior Zhang Han will come back on Saturday…”
Xue Jiao’s lips curved slightly, her eyes filled with laughter, “I mean since Senior Zhang Han won’t be here tomorrow, we can work on it ourselves.”
“Huh?”
“Whether we can finish it or not, we can’t just wait for Senior Zhang Han, right? Senior Zheng Jiakun continued with his part, and I somewhat understood what the senior was doing today. Tomorrow we can discuss and continue working on it.” Xue Jiao shook her head.
“You remember it?” Chu Sheng was surprised.
Xue Jiao nodded and smiled, “You’ve been reading books all along. If you had paid a bit more attention, you would have understood the general idea too. Chu, you’re the initiator—shouldn’t you think more about how to do this? It’s just simulating a magnetic field, why does everything have to rely on Senior Zhang Han?”
As she spoke, she patted Chu Sheng on the shoulder, her face full of smiles.
Chu Sheng was taken aback. After Zhang Han said she could do this and finish it in two days, he naturally handed the task over to her…
Because of Zhang Han’s capability, he had naturally come to rely on her!
Chu Sheng’s face turned bright red with embarrassment, but at the same time, he was grateful to Xue Jiao for awakening him.
With a red face, feeling both embarrassed and grateful, he said, “Then let’s continue tomorrow. It was my mistake…”
Xue Jiao’s smile was evident as she shook her head, saying with resignation, “You were just lost in your books. It’s fine!”
“Don’t you have classes tomorrow?” Zheng Jiakun asked curiously after putting away his things.
“I have two classes in the morning, but I’m free at noon, in the afternoon, and in the evening.”
Zheng Jiakun nodded, “Alright then. I have a class tomorrow afternoon, so I’ll work in the morning, and when you come at noon, we can discuss it. I’m going to eat now—you all should eat soon too.”
“Sure,” Xue Jiao nodded, “See you, Senior.”
After Zheng Jiakun left, Xue Jiao also picked up her bag, “Chu Sheng, I’m heading back now. I still have some homework to do. Are you leaving?”
Chu Sheng shook his head, “Not yet. I want to look at our current progress. You go ahead.”
“Alright, I’ll go first then.”
With that, Xue Jiao left with her bag. She indeed had homework to do. Undergraduates doing projects face two main difficulties: one is insufficient knowledge, and the other is lack of time. There are too many courses scheduled, along with many after-class assignments. It’s truly busy to squeeze in time for other things.
She hurriedly returned home, ate dinner, and began doing her homework.
Senior Zhang Han’s temperament stemmed from her abilities. Only when a person becomes increasingly stronger can they become increasingly respected.
Xue Jiao wouldn’t get angry because of Zhang Han’s cold treatment, but she would be motivated by it.
After finishing her homework, Xue Jiao took out the physics materials she had borrowed from the library and began to study.
——
What Zhang Han could complete in just one more day took Xue Jiao and Chu Sheng three days.
They had to research, work, and explore simultaneously.
It was not until Friday that Xue Jiao and Chu Sheng completed the remaining half of Zhang Han’s work.
“Now, it’s time to witness a miracle!”
Zheng Jiakun smiled as he gently placed a piece of paper into the polygonal area in front of them.
The paper floated.
Chu Sheng quickly measured the height with a tape measure and exclaimed happily, “0.53!”
“Error within 0.05, perfect!” Zheng Jiakun clapped his hands.
“Finally completed it! I never thought I could make it myself!” Chu Sheng jumped up with joy.
Xue Jiao was also very happy. Accomplishing anything always gave a sense of achievement.
“We finally got it done. Our abilities compared to the seniors are far behind.”
“Let’s keep honing our skills. After several more years, we won’t be lacking either,” Zheng Jiakun said as he tidied up.
Xue Jiao and Chu Sheng nodded and also began to clean up. She was going to… date Lin Zhihua later.
Also, they had been working on this for the past few days and hadn’t properly studied the materials Yang Zhan gave them. If they didn’t review it well tonight, when Yang Zhan and Zhang Han talked during tomorrow’s project meeting, it would be embarrassing if they couldn’t understand…
The three packed everything up and hurriedly left.
Xue Jiao walked quickly, feeling that Lin Zhihua must be waiting already.
However, as Xue Jiao passed by the Mathematics Department building, she was called out to by two people—
“Gu Xuejiao, wait a moment!”
Xue Jiao paused, stopped her steps, and turned around, “Huh? What is it?”
The two people ran over, one male and one female, with bright smiles, “We’ve been looking for you at Professor Tan’s office several times, but you were never there…”
Xue Jiao scratched her head, “I’ve been a bit busy lately. What’s the matter?”
“We’re your direct seniors in the same department. I’m Zeng Bin, and this is Ge Donglin. We’re juniors now.”
After they finished speaking, Xue Jiao nodded and greeted them, “Hello, Senior Zeng, Senior Ge.”
“It’s like this—Ge Donglin and I have both secured spots for graduate school in our university’s Mathematics Department, both under Professor Deng. Additionally, we want to work on a major project in our senior year, and we’re wondering if you’d be interested?” Senior Zeng Bin extended the invitation.
Xue Jiao was momentarily stunned but quickly responded, “I’m very sorry, seniors, but I’m already working on a project with students from the Physics Department, so I won’t be able to join your project. Thank you for considering me.”
This wasn’t the first time she had faced an invitation from the Mathematics Department, but since she had already agreed to work with Chu Sheng, she wouldn’t casually agree to work with others.
Time was already limited, and it was already quite busy to squeeze in one project. Juggling several at once—Xue Jiao didn’t have that capability, so naturally, she couldn’t do such a thing.
But clearly, others had different thoughts.
The two in front of her were taken aback, and then Ge Donglin spoke urgently, “Won’t you at least listen to our plan? It’s also related to Fermat’s Last Theorem! It’s precisely in your area of expertise.”
Xue Jiao frowned slightly, “Thank you very much for your consideration, but I’m about to enter my sophomore year, there are many courses, and it’s already somewhat difficult doing one project. I can’t take on a second one.”
After saying this, she smiled gently and said, “Goodbye, seniors. I have something to attend to, so I’ll be on my way.”
She turned around, and behind her, Zeng Bin raised his voice, “Our project is about applying Fermat’s Last Theorem, closely related to your paper! And we guarantee it will have very good results. Even if you have many courses and your participation is limited, you can still be the third author. You’re in the Mathematics Department—why are you doing a project in the Physics Department anyway?”
Xue Jiao stopped and turned back, “Seniors, I don’t think being in the Mathematics Department means I can’t do projects in the Physics Department, right? As long as there’s interest and willingness to participate, one can try. Please don’t overgeneralize. Besides, I’ve already agreed to that project, and I can’t go back on my word.”
Ge Donglin quickly explained, “No, that’s not what Senior Zeng Bin meant. He just really wants you to participate in this project! He has good intentions. Every time our Mathematics Department joins Physics Department projects, we’re just filling in numbers, providing minor help at most. Who are the members of your project? If you feel uncomfortable backing out, we can help explain it to you. If they’re undergraduates, it’s easy to sort out! Your seniors still have some influence!”