In the garden behind the teaching building, Fu Xuefeng took the assistant professor's arm.

"Let's go over there and have a cigarette."

The assistant looked back at Li Zheng, who was approaching the professor, with a tight expression on his face: "The school requires me to never leave..."

"People always need a little private space." Fu Xuefeng pushed the assistant and said, "Just give them twenty minutes."

"No... why does it sound like a matchmaker..." The assistant scratched his head, "Just over there, I have to see the professor at all times."

On the other side, the professor watched Li Zheng approaching step by step and felt the same urgency.

Usually he takes the initiative to greet his young classmates, but this time he couldn't take the initiative.

Fortunately, although Li Zheng looked scary, when he came up to him, he just held up the professor's arm like other students, and even lowered his head shyly: "I'm sorry, Professor... This opportunity is rare. I beg Teacher Fu to meet him."

Your side."

"Ah, it doesn't matter. I'll also bask in the sun for a while." The professor smiled and raised his sleeves, "Our bodies may still retain the plant part, and we need sunlight to promote the synthesis of some vitamins."

"Yes, yes, I just learned this." Li Zheng said with some stuttering, "To be specific, it is 7-dehydrocholesterol under the skin, which can be converted into vitamin D3 when exposed to ultraviolet rays or sunlight..."

"Ah...right..."

In this awkward atmosphere, Li Zheng sat on the bench with the professor.

Nervous, Li Zheng was really nervous this time.

In fact, he was thinking about the opening remarks all the way.

for example……

"Oh, it's all your fault, professor. You have done all the work. Now those who engage in theoretical physics can only deal with quantum mechanics and string theory."

This opening statement perfectly demonstrates emotional intelligence. On the surface, it is using a complaining tone to close the distance, but in fact, it is praising the professor's great achievements.

But it seems a bit too exaggerated.

Then another example...

"Why is parity not conserved? Do you have any guesses?"

It seems good to start with the professor's well-known theory, but I always feel that I am not qualified to discuss this issue with the professor.

or it could be……

"What do you call your father-in-law when you meet him?"

Forget it, this is courting death...

Although I am very curious about this question, it seems that I must be so familiar with Zhang Xiaoke to make such a joke.

What should I say?

The professor seemed to notice his embarrassment and just smiled calmly and patted Li Zheng's hand: "Don't be nervous, take your time. When I was as nervous as you, he said the same thing, but with a straight face.

Said."

"Who?" Li Zheng asked subconsciously.

"Einstein."

"..." Li Zheng's knees softened and he had the urge to kneel down, but luckily he was sitting on a chair.

"Hahaha." the professor joked, "I was a young postdoc at the time and published a small paper. After Einstein read it, he thought it overlapped with the unified field theory he was pursuing, so he invited me to his office to talk.

Tan, I was almost like you at the time. I almost went there with a pilgrim mentality, and at the same time I was very greedy, hoping to gain some wisdom."

Li Zheng listened and lowered his head in shame: "No, no, I'm far behind. I don't have any papers. It's just pure greed..."

The professor smiled and said, "I can see that. But wisdom is not something that can be passed on or absorbed like in martial arts novels."

This...it's actually hard to say...

Although he had some small ideas, Li Zheng still nodded steadily on the surface: "Did you get it back then?"

"The only thing I got is that I can now use this experience as a conversation piece." The professor spread his hands and said, "Einstein's mental condition was not very good in his later years. He would mix a lot of German when he spoke. We talked for an hour and a half.

Maybe he said a lot of great ideas, but I basically didn’t understand anything and could only pretend to nod, just like the students in the audience when I was in class, so..."

The professor relaxed and leaned back in his chair as he spoke: "I don't have any future direction in physics here, and I don't know which major to choose for better development. I don't even know why parity is not conserved. In fact, in my field

Outside of a very narrow field, my knowledge is almost certainly not as good as yours. For example, what you just said about 7...cholesterol...I only know that I have to control my cholesterol, otherwise my cardiovascular system will be ruined."

"You are too humble..." Li Zheng laughed and said, "You said you don't know anything, but you will at least oppose the construction of a high-energy particle collider, right?"

"To correct you, I have never opposed the collider, I am only opposed to the current construction of the collider in China."

The professor described it carefully.

"First, this is a bottomless pit. No matter whether the budget is 10 billion US dollars or 20 billion US dollars, it will eventually be forced to increase and double. The Chinese did this in 1989, and in the end the budget was increased to a point that they could not afford at all.

It was not until 1992 that the project was terminated. The lesson is right in front of us. We are far from the time for capital frenzy."

"Second, our country is still a developing country and there are too many places that need funding. Whether it is from the perspective of political science, economics or mathematical expectations, it is difficult to make a large bet on a super project at this stage that will bear fruit.

, is not a smart thing to do.”

"Third, if we do this, the funding for life sciences, condensed matter physics, and astrophysics will inevitably be greatly squeezed. You will see that the Institute of High Energy is crowded with people, and students from other majors have nowhere to place. The pursuit of basic physics

Great development is good, but I don’t want to see a particle collider swallow up half of the funding of the scientific research community. Of course, the Institute of High Energy hopes to see it very much.”

"Fourth, the core purpose of the large collider is to search for supersymmetric particles. This has been done all over the world for many years and has completely failed. Most physicists, including me, believe that the existence of such particles is just

A conjecture, hoping to use the Maximum Collider to discover the particles in this conjecture, is just a conjecture within a conjecture, just like a person who believes that hell exists and hopes to build a big drill to dig into the core of the earth to find it."

"Fifth, among the important high-energy physicists in the world today, our country accounts for less than 1%. If our country wants to build a super large collider, its design, as well as its operation and analysis after completion, will definitely be controlled by 90% of foreigners.

To take the lead, do you believe that these achievements will be handed over to the Chinese people honestly? Do you believe that the Chinese will receive the Nobel Prize in the future?"

"Finally, if we don't build a super large collider, will there be no future for high-energy physics at all?"

"of course not.

"We can look for new accelerator principles, or we can look for wonderful geometric structures, such as string theory."

“Is it really necessary to gamble and build a barbaric machine in an era without inspiration and expect it to explain everything?”

"Ahem..." the professor coughed a few times at the end, and then shook his head, "If you critically absorb these words, they are probably just the stubborn words of an old man. I know that you young people all like collider machines, no.

I have the nerve to say too much..."

"Not much, please continue." Li Zheng stared, "You obviously have a lot of ideas."

"Well..." the professor asked with some confusion, "Generally young people will take the opposite position to me on this matter. You are just pretending to agree on the surface, right?"

"No, I don't agree or disagree." Li Zheng nodded, "I just...according to what you said, critically absorb it."

"Then what part did you absorb?"

"It's about... giving up your personal position and thinking about the overall situation." Li Zheng gestured, "A considerable part of your academic achievements have been verified by high-energy physics experiments. If you continue, you should verify more.

Coupled with your identity, you should be on the side of high-energy physics, but you put aside these personal emotions and interests and think about this issue from the perspective of overall scientific research and national strategy. At least I can't...if the power is handed over to me.

In the hands of people like this, I am afraid that the whole country will have to eat rough grain, and all the funds will be used for scientific research."

"Hahaha...hahaha..." The professor laughed for a long time, patted Li Zheng a little helplessly and said, "Just because you are self-aware, this kind of thing will never happen."

"Ha." Li Zheng scratched his head and said, "To be honest, before I heard these words from you, I was a 100% fanatical supporter of the collider. Now I may only be left with... 37%. Plus my recent

Experience, maybe these things are really just what the Institute insists on for more funds and resources..."

"There is nothing wrong with the Institute of High Energy. Even if they have some arguments with me, they still have the right to work hard for the status of their field." The professor said with a tilt of his head and smiled, "After all, not everyone is over 90 years old, and there are the best

Free medical care and endless stipends.”

"Speaking of this..." Li Zheng clenched his fists, feeling that the atmosphere was tense, and asked as if gambling, "What... do you call your father-in-law?"

"..." The professor's expression turned serious instantly.

"..." Li Zheng panicked.

It’s over, it’s time to play.

But the professor smiled and patted Li Zheng on the forehead: "That young old man who is more than 20 years younger than me didn't dare to let me call him dad. When we first met, he made it clear that everyone in the family would call him by his first name, but in practice...

…I did call his name, but he still called me professor and helped me say it…”

"Ah." Li Zheng opened his mouth, "How embarrassing this is."

"This is actually not bad." The professor pursed his lips and said, "My son who is almost seventy years old, the first time he met his stepmother who was less than thirty years old, it was embarrassing, but my granddaughter was quite natural."

"After all, we are of the same age..."

Just as he was talking, the assistant and Fu Xuefeng rushed over.

"Sorry, Professor... did you catch a cold when you coughed just now?" The assistant pushed the wheelchair in annoyance, "Why don't you go back and take medicine first?"

"No, no, I just smiled a little fiercely." The professor raised his hand and said, "Get the medicine, and I will bask in the sun for a while longer."

"Ah..." The assistant looked at Li Zheng in shock.

Li Zheng was equally astonished: "I'm sorry, Professor, I delayed you in taking your medicine."

"Okay, okay." The professor waved his hand and smiled, "When I saw your face just now, I thought you were going to ask why parity is not conserved."
To be continued...