Super God-Level Top Student

```

"I think I'd rather not say anything; this shows hardly any sincerity. Just a mere twenty million spread over four years? We don't lack that kind of money. If there was real intent, they would have signed a contract right away and then we could talk further after the twenty million was in our account," Xu Dajiang gave his opinion.

"Haha, Xu, you've been pretty bold lately. A mere twenty million and you're already reacting? What's on your mind? Are you afraid that someone from Apple will meet with Qiao Ze and lure him away?"

Xu Dajiang laughed, "Ha, Principal Zheng, that's not what I'm worried about. Did you not know? The dean of Princeton Mathematics Institute came personally to poach our guy, and Qiao Ze didn't even agree to go! What's Apple compared to that? I'm worried that after Apple's people meet with Qiao Ze and discuss the money, they won't be willing to follow through with the payment."

"What? Princeton wants to snatch Qiao Ze? How did Princeton get in touch with Qiao Ze?"

Xu Dajiang explained, "I just got the news that the research topic Qiao Ze applied for last time has been completed. He submitted the paper to 'Mathematics Annual', and the editor-in-chief personally reviewed it. Today, they even communicated with Qiao Ze about the paper, and it has now been confirmed for publication next month. That's how they got in touch."

"What? Qiao Ze has completed his project? Wait, Xu, I remember you telling me and Chen that day that the topic Qiao Ze chose, number theory, was very difficult to yield results from, and it might flounder for a year or two. Considering this, the school allocated five hundred thousand for Qiao Ze's research funding. You're telling me now that his project is done? How long has it been?

Barely even a month, right? And this is what you called difficult?"

"That...," Xu Dajiang was taken aback, suddenly remembering the day when he escorted Qiao Ze's mother back to the school, and the two principals pulled him into the principal's office for a talk. His mind unexpectedly went blank for a moment.

Fortunately, Xu Dajiang quickly came to his senses and argued confidently, "No, this topic is indeed difficult. Right now, the paper hasn't been published yet, and the editor is still proofreading. You should take Qiao Ze's proposal and ask the other mathematics professors if it's difficult or not..."

"No need, you don't have to ask anyone. Don't you know what kind of standards the papers published in 'Mathematics Annual' have to meet? How many papers have been published from our country in 'Mathematics Annual' in the past few decades? Would trivial simple propositions be personally vetted by the editor-in-chief? So can this be blamed on me?"

After these words were spoken, silence fell on both ends of the phone.

Both of them had complex feelings.

A moment later, Principal Zheng's voice came through the receiver, "Well, I'll go report the situation to Principal Chen later. You're not wrong; Qiao Ze's temperament is indeed hard to deal with. I was considering having Qiao Ze speak as a student representative at the opening ceremony this year. But now that I think about it, he really isn't quite good at these kinds of things."

"No, Zheng, don't even bother asking about it. With Qiao Ze's character, what would you have him say on stage? Promote his 'useless class theory'? However, I reckon that Qiao Ze would be willing to speak at an academic presentation after his paper is published — that's academic exchange. But as for representing students in speeches, forget it.

We didn't even plan to have him show his face internally at the School of Mathematics."

Xu Dajiang firmly extinguished the other's idea.

He could understand the school's desire to use Qiao Ze as a banner for publicity; he had indeed thought the same before.

Unfortunately, Qiao Ze was just not cut out for such things.

"Hmm, you're right. I'll get ready on my end. Qiao Ze's paper making it into 'Mathematics Annual' really does warrant a dedicated presentation. By the way, it would be best to also reach out to the national School of Mathematics, inviting experts and students to listen. But make sure to confirm with Qiao Ze first, okay?"

"No problem with that. Also, Qiao Ze might apply for a new project after he concludes this one. We'll handle the funding internally at our institute, so we won't bother the school with it, and we won't need to report it either."

"Alright, don't get cocky. The school isn't short on that money. Also, regarding something else, the external audit hired by the school did reveal some issues. How should I put it, not outrageously bad, but there are indeed some problems, big and small, I guess. What's your opinion?"

"Can I even express an opinion? Really now, if there's a problem, just get that Zhang out of here! Why wait for the New Year? How many times has the school's admissions office been audited? If there really was a serious issue, could Director Zhuo still sit comfortably in his position? I simply won't accept Zhang being there," Xu Dajiang stated decisively.

He now stood his ground firmly.

Just two months earlier, he wouldn't have even considered whether the school would seek his opinion on the matter, and even if they had, he would have most likely given a vague response just to muddle through. They all held administrative positions; nobody wanted to offend someone to death.

"Understood, Principal Chen shares the same view. Actually, I also believe that cadres who rise from administrative positions without any teaching or research experience aren't well-suited for managing these kinds of specialized, judgment-required tasks. Often, they can't distinguish the main focus and cause some incorrect decisions and waste, right?"

```

Xu Dajiang chuckled in response, "Isn't that why I admire you the most, President Zheng? You've spoken to my heart, exactly. It's just that some people never understand. Is it that hard to leave the professional work to the professionals? That Zhang Xiaoquan, after doing approvals for so long, can't even clearly articulate the name of a project in mechanical engineering. Isn't that a joke?"

"Alright, cut it out and let it be for now," President Zheng said.

"Alright, goodbye President Zheng."

"Goodbye."

After hanging up, Xu Dajiang let out a sigh of relief, but then his brow furrowed once again.

There was no avoiding it; he now had to meet with Qiao Ze again.

Although having such a genius at the school allowed him to stand tall and proud, every meeting with Qiao Ze made him quite uncomfortable.

Especially after just learning from Liu Chenfeng that Qiao Ze always thought he was idle, this feeling had grown even stronger.

In Xu Dajiang's view, Qiao Ze was good in every aspect except for his complete lack of tact and worldly wisdom.

Of course, this seemed to be not entirely Qiao Ze's fault.

The main culprit was still Li Jian Gao.

Always clamoring about wanting Qiao Ze to have a regular life with no regrets in the future.

It's not like he ever taught Qiao Ze some basic common sense.

Although he mentally complained, when it came to meeting Qiao Ze, Xu Dajiang still decided to drag Li Jian Gao along with him.

No choice; for some reason, Qiao Ze had taken a special liking to Li Jian Gao. With Li Jian Gao, the life mentor, by his side, he could at least relax a little.

Otherwise, it was unbearable when Qiao Ze wouldn't say a word and would just look at him with those clear eyes that seemed to see through everything.

After all, Xu Dajiang was conscious of his own age and still cared about saving face.

So, he picked up the phone again and dialed Li Jian Gao, his voice warm but with a hint of gentle reproach, "Hello, Jian Gao? What are you busy with?... Oh, don't work too hard, okay?... By the way, do you know about Qiao Ze's paper being published in 'Mathematics Annual'?"

"I know? Why haven't you mentioned it before? I'm really at my wits' end with you two, master and disciple, always hiding good news... Okay, let's not talk about that now. Do you have time later?... It's not anything major.

Accompany me to see Qiao Ze, there are some things I'd like to discuss with him... Good things. The school wants to organize a seminar for him and we first want to seek the kid's opinion... Also, there's another matter, but we'll talk about that when we meet."

"That's settled then. I'll wait for you at the new experimental building in half an hour."

After hanging up, Xu Dajiang glanced at the pile of documents in front of him, sighed, and then his expression brightened.

A world-class journal article every month...

Twelve in a year...

What's the Yanbei Mathematics Institute compared to that?!