Han University, East Campus.
Lush green grass.
Su Xiu, who had just obtained Ling Neng · Premonition and temporarily resolved the sophon crisis, looked up at the teaching building marked B13 in front of him and took a deep breath.
If his previous memory was correct, Ye Wenjie, the leader of the Earth-Three Body Organization (ETO), was currently in the building before him.
Feeling the safe assessment given by Ling Neng · Premonition, it was clear that the sophon's detection was not lingering near him at the moment.
Although sophons possessed the technology for reversible low-dimensional unfolding and high-dimensional folding, this did not mean that the computing power of this super quantum computer was infinite. According to the original work, even for high-ranking United Nations officials, sophons could not achieve 24/7, all-angle surveillance.
So... Su Xiu walked into the office building before him.
The tiles on the floor and sides were polished to a shine by the school janitors, almost reflecting one's shadow.
With a week still to go before the official start of the semester, there were few people in the office building, only duty staff and students who had returned early to prepare for make-up exams.
Su Xiu went up to the second floor and knocked on the office door with Ye Wenjie's portrait hanging above it.
Knock knock knock!
"Come in, the door isn't locked."
A gentle yet firm female voice sounded beside Su Xiu. Pushing open the door, Ye Wenjie, wearing a light yellow top with graying hair, put down the pen in her hand. Su Xiu noticed that her eyes held the unique gentleness and intellect of an intellectual.
Even at fifty-two, Ye Wenjie did not give Su Xiu any sense of an elderly person's decay. If not for the occasional wrinkles on her forehead and graying hair, Su Xiu might even have thought she was a young counselor newly hired by the school.
"Teacher Ye."
Su Xiu suppressed his emotions. He took out his make-up exam application from his pocket and handed it to the female professor in front of him.
"Only thirty-three points?"
Ye Wenjie put on her glasses, held Su Xiu's transcript in both hands, and pursed her lips, saying,
"Even if it's not for physics, you shouldn't have scored so few points, right?"
"..."
Ye Wenjie's tone carried a hint of chiding. Su Xiu looked up and saw a pair of eyes with a slight smile.
Clearly, Ye Wenjie was just joking with him.
"I'm sorry, Professor Ye, I will strive to pass this make-up exam."
Su Xiu lowered his head and answered sincerely.
"It's nothing. This year, at worst, I'll take you to explore the shallows of physics again... Oh, by the way, has the foundation's subsidy for this semester been disbursed?"
"Not yet."
Facing Ye Wenjie's slightly teasing gaze, Su Xiu replied.
"Is the money still enough?"
As a transmigrator in this life, Su Xiu naturally got the protagonist's template.
No car, no house, parents both deceased. Fortunately, in elementary school, due to his excellent grades, he received the Pei Ji Foundation, established by Ye Wenjie and other scientists for students from difficult family backgrounds. Coupled with the insurance his parents bought before their deaths, he was able to continue his studies.
Ye Wenjie, as the founder of the foundation, and having been rehired to teach at Han University after retiring in '04, naturally knew his background.
"To be honest, it's a bit short."
Considering his upcoming plans, Su Xiu replied.
"How much more do you need?"
Ye Wenjie stood up and took out a gray wallet from the ladies' briefcase hanging on a nearby coat rack.
With his enhanced extraordinary eyesight, Su Xiu quickly glanced at it.
The wallet was thin, and besides a few red bills, the rest were small change of five and one yuan notes.
For a poor student like Su Xiu, it was a considerable sum, but for a physicist of Ye Wenjie's caliber, it undoubtedly seemed a bit meager.
"Five hundred is enough."
Calculating the train fare to Yanjing to find Yang Dong, who was currently working for 'Science Frontier,' and the cost of accommodation to prevent her suicide, Su Xiu didn't stand on ceremony and replied.
"..."
Five hundred yuan was not a small sum in this era.
However, Ye Wenjie only hesitated for a moment before counting out four red bills and two fifties, handing them to Su Xiu.
"That child Yang Dong can sometimes be too hurtful with her words. I apologize to you."
Ye Wenjie tucked the banknotes into Su Xiu's hand, a flicker of apology in her eyes.
"But she and that child Ding Yi have always had a good relationship, I..."
Ye Wenjie paused slightly here.
"No need to say more, Professor."
Su Xiu looked at the banknotes in his hand, then at the woman who had supported him for ten years, and said with a solemn expression,
"I respect Senior Sister Yang's choice. I will handle this matter well."
If before, Su Xiu intended to save Yang Dong merely to have an extra helper for future scientific research, then now, even out of gratitude for Ye Wenjie's kindness to him, he absolutely could not stand by and watch Yang Dong die.
"Please rest assured."
Looking at the determined eyes of the young man before her, for some reason, Ye Wenjie felt an inexplicable sense of peace.
Since her father's passing, even her close friend and lover, Yang Weining, had rarely given her such a feeling.
"Alright."
Ye Wenjie nodded. She took out two business cards from a drawer.
"These are the business cards for Yang Dong and Ding Yi's physics lab. I heard they are preparing for a new round of cosmic radiation observations using the launch of Shenzhou-19. If you're interested, you can go see them for me."
"..."
Sometimes Su Xiu strongly suspected that Ye Wenjie in front of him was a plant.
After all, are there really such good people in the world?
Yet, the fact just happened abruptly, right in front of him.
Compared to him, a poor student, Ding Yi was superior in every aspect... one could even say, excessively superior.
He not only held two doctoral degrees in philosophy and quantum physics but also a master's degree in mathematics, was a national first-class professor, the youngest Academician of the Academy of Sciences, chief scientist of the national neutron decay research project, and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics for his neutron decay research.
Su Xiu strongly suspected that his former self must have been cursed to confess to Yang Dong, another equally excellent young female scientist.
Standing at the gate of Han University campus, facing the bright sunshine, Su Xiu took a deep breath, contemplating his next plan.
Yanjing was a must-go; Yang Dong, Ding Yi, Wang Miao, Shi Qiang, Chang Weisi, and a large number of scientists who committed suicide were all there.
If all went well, Su Xiu would quickly be able to build his research team.
Of course, there was also the most important thing.
That was The Three-Body Problem.
Not referring to the Trisolarans, but to The Three-Body Problem, a virtual reality game with technology far exceeding reality.
Regarding how to both conceal himself and gain more emotional power, Su Xiu already had a contingency plan in mind.
However, just as Su Xiu was walking on the sidewalk, thinking and waiting for the traffic light,
"Stop!"
A loud shout rang out from behind.
Su Xiu turned his head and saw a scruffy middle-aged man in a police uniform, holding a Type 54 pistol, quickly running past him towards the front.