Before SSE scouted him, Xu Qiao had no artistic background at all. He was just a science and engineering student. Singing, dancing, acting, and participating in variety shows were too challenging for someone who had only performed on stage in kindergarten.
Consequently, he always carried the label of being a “vase.” However, lacking talent in the arts didn’t mean Xu Qiao wasn’t intelligent. During his college entrance exams, he successfully entered one of the top science and engineering universities, T University, with high scores.
When Yang Hui signed him, she hoped to leverage Xu Qiao’s academic background and create an image of him as a top student from a prestigious university.
Xu Qiao, however, was unwilling to use his alma mater’s reputation, fearing that he might bring disgrace to the school. With his refusal to cooperate, the matter was eventually dropped.
Education was still necessary, and he had to obtain his diploma and degree.
Checking the academic calendar, Xu Qiao noticed that the end of the semester was approaching. In the next one or two weeks, various courses would gradually conclude, followed immediately by final exams.
This semester, due to signing with SSE, Xu Qiao attended classes for less than half a month.
Although he had taken leave with the approval of his academic advisor, the professors of his major courses were not as lenient. Xu Qiao’s several major course instructors were strict and traditional. Missing a class meant losing attendance points, and accumulating too many absences meant giving up on regular grades.
Xu Qiao studied mathematics, and the final grades for each course were calculated based on 40% for regular assessment scores and 60% for final exam scores.
Losing hope in regular assessment scores, Xu Qiao contemplated his options. To avoid failing any courses, he had to strive for higher scores in the final exams.
After getting ready, Xu Qiao went downstairs and hailed a cab to T University.
Today, there was no major course, but there was an elective. It was a telecommunications engineering-related course he had chosen earlier to fulfill graduation requirements. The lecturer was a highly respected professor in the field of telecommunications, a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Final seasons always saw the highest attendance. When Xu Qiao entered the classroom, with more than ten minutes until the lecture, the seats were already densely occupied. Only the first row, where one could closely listen to the venerable professor’s teachings, remained vacant.
The professor hadn’t arrived yet, and the classroom was buzzing. Xu Qiao twitched his ears, noticing many regretting their choice of this course.
“One night of reviewing so much knowledge. Read a line, forget three.”
“Oh no, why did I choose this course? Professor Sun is incredibly strict with grading. Wouldn’t it be better to take a class on image, temperament, and grooming? Strutting on the runway and dancing could easily fetch a high grade, right?”
In university, many teachers offered elective courses to meet the school’s performance standards. To attract students, these courses often had lenient grading.
However, Professor Sun, with his esteemed reputation, didn’t need to meet performance criteria. His position was unquestionable, and even the university president dared not challenge him. He didn’t teach electives for performance but purely for his passion, and his grading was known for its lack of leniency.
Despite this, there was still a large group of students who eagerly chose his class, only to regret it bitterly by the end of the semester.
“Enough talk. When the professor asks questions, enthusiastically raising our hands to answer might get our names remembered, and he could give us a high grade — hey, isn’t that Xu Qiao?” The male student, who was enthusiastically chatting, caught sight of Xu Qiao entering the classroom.
Xu Qiao scanned the room and, seeing no available seats in the back, hesitated before settling in the front row.
The entire front row, with only that solitary figure, became somewhat conspicuous.
As his classmates saw him taking a seat, quiet discussions erupted around him.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Amidst the chatter, Professor Sun stepped into the classroom.
The elderly gentleman, nearing seventy, stood tall, exuding vitality as he walked with purpose. Scanning the room, he set the attendance list aside. “Well, it’s finals time, and quite a few of you showed up. I see everyone’s here, so let’s skip the attendance.”
Immediately, many people let out a collective groan. Rarely did the opportunity arise not to take attendance, and without attendance, there would be no attendance points.
Professor Sun neatly chalked the words “Quantum Communication” on the blackboard. Turning around, he pointed to the words and said, “Today, let’s delve into quantum communication. As you all know, my expertise lies in telecommunications engineering, and when we talk about telecommunications engineering, we can’t ignore quantum communication. Quantum communication primarily has two sources: one is a high-frequency single-photon source, and the other is an entangled photon source.”
While Professor Sun lectured at the podium, many students below were still whispering and stealing glances at Xu Qiao in the front row. Professor Sun glanced towards the talking students, and despite several attempts, they remained oblivious, with their voices growing louder.
“For the high-frequency single-photon source, our school has the conditions for experiments. This involves attenuating high-frequency laser pulses to below a single photon—”
Seeing that the talking persisted, Professor Sun elongated his voice, slammed the lecture notes onto the desk with a loud thud, startling many and prompting them to fall silent.
Despite his age, Professor Sun’s voice remained robust. “Am I the one lecturing, or are you? Come on, anyone who wants to speak, I’ll give them the microphone.”
The classroom fell into silence.
Xu Qiao, who had been lowering his head, involuntarily raised it and met Professor Sun’s disapproving gaze.
Xu Qiao was momentarily puzzled. Unsure of how he had offended the professor, he innocently blinked his eyes.
Professor Sun snorted, noting the group of students who had been talking. Observing their gaze consistently drifting towards Xu Qiao, he deduced they were discussing him. Professor Sun, known for his disdain for students who disregarded class discipline, found himself growing increasingly intolerant, especially towards Xu Qiao.
Professor Sun picked up the poor lecture notes he had thrown on the desk and gestured towards Xu Qiao, indicating him to stand up. “What’s your name, young man?”
Xu Qiao obediently replied, “Xu Qiao.”
Professor Sun glanced through the attendance sheet and chuckled, “No wonder you look unfamiliar. In this semester, you’ve attended my class a grand total of two times.”
He walked over to Xu Qiao, scrutinizing him from top to bottom. “You’re in your final year. Being in your final year and attending class with such an attitude? If you don’t want to take this course, why bother choosing it and causing trouble for both of us?”
Xu Qiao’s gaze was clear, and his voice sincere. “Professor, I want to attend.”
Professor Sun laughed. “You want to attend? What have you learned so far?”
After a pause, Professor Sun surveyed the classroom and then focused back on Xu Qiao. “In today’s class, we have students from freshmen to seniors. Xu Qiao, as a senior, enlighten your juniors. Tell them why we delve into quantum communication.”
Was this turning into an impromptu assessment?
The students, too afraid to speak, watched the interaction, thinking Xu Qiao had angered the old man and was in for trouble. Xu Qiao, majoring in mathematics, hadn’t attended many classes this semester. Expecting him to discuss topics related to telecommunications engineering seemed quite challenging.
Many students knew that Professor Sun was generally easygoing. If you sincerely apologize and admit your mistake, he wouldn’t make things difficult for you. But if you chose to argue with him, who would he spare?
Faced with Professor Sun’s apparent attempt to make things difficult, Xu Qiao remained unfazed and spoke without hesitation, “Quantum communication, essentially, is an applied science that combines cryptography with quantum physics.” Coincidentally, in one of the book worlds he had transmigrated into, Xu Qiao had researched both of these aspects.
“Traditional cryptography follows symmetric encryption, where encryption and decryption are inverses of each other, making it extremely easy to crack. The widely used RSA, based on the mathematical fact that ‘multiplying two prime numbers is easy, but factoring the product back into two prime numbers is difficult,’ significantly increases the difficulty of decryption.”
Xu Qiao paused, looking at ease. “However, as long as the computer’s performance is sufficient, RSA can be cracked. Since it can be cracked, there’s no absolute information security. Mr. Shannon summarized that an “absolutely secure password” must meet the following conditions: the password is truly random and only used once, and the plaintext and ciphertext are of equal length. It seems almost impossible to meet these conditions, but the laws of the quantum world make it possible.”
Xu Qiao had conducted research in quantum physics in a certain book world. In that world, the development of fundamental physics was several decades ahead of the current timeline.
In terms of academic prowess, the present Professor Sun might not necessarily surpass him.
Xu Qiao spoke at a steady pace, sharing his views on quantum physics and how it could be better applied in communication engineering.
Professor Sun, initially amused by the thought of intentionally making things difficult for Xu Qiao, found himself chuckling at the beginning. However, as Xu Qiao continued, he began to sense that something was amiss, and the disdainful smile on his face gradually faded.
The students who dared not speak saw Professor Sun’s gaze shift from annoyance to eagerness while looking at Xu Qiao.
That eagerness was as intense as fire, surpassing the excitement of a young man encountering his beloved girl.
Professor Sun was entranced, as if listening to a classical music concert.
Occasionally, when Xu Qiao slowed down his pace or cleared his throat, Professor Sun, like a child deprived of candy, would look at him discontentedly, urging him to speak faster. He would interject with a few remarks and ask a couple of questions that weren’t entirely clear.
The two of them, devoid of the teacher-student dynamic, appeared from the side as if two academic giants were discussing cutting-edge research.
The other students exchanged puzzled glances, finding it hard to believe what they were witnessing: Was this a dream? Xu Qiao had been absent from classes for a long time, right? How did he know all this?
A whole class period passed in the discussion between Xu Qiao and Professor Sun.
When the bell rang for the end of the class, Professor Sun, as if awakening from a dream, still unsatisfied, looked at Xu Qiao with affection. “You, young man, have a high academic level. Why keep it so low-key? If I hadn’t asked you today, would you have kept hiding it? Hey, that won’t do. With your capabilities, you should strive in this direction!”
Xu Qiao smiled but didn’t respond.
“Xu Qiao, do you have any plans for postgraduate studies? Seriously, if you choose my field, and pass the national exam, I’ll definitely take you!”
Hearing Professor Sun’s words, the nearby students had complex expressions.
Professor Sun was an academician of the National Academy of Engineering. Besides occasionally teaching at the university, he spent most of his time on projects and research. He hadn’t taken in graduate students for many years, and even mentoring postgraduate students was a rare occurrence. Now, he was extending an olive branch to Xu Qiao willingly — an opportunity many could only dream of.
Facing Professor Sun’s expectant gaze, Xu Qiao paused before saying, “Professor, I’m not currently considering that path. However, if you need assistance with any projects, you can always call me.”
He actually refused??
The students attentively following the conversation were on the verge of kneeling to Xu Qiao.
Xu Qiao’s consideration was profound. The impact of scientific advancements on civilization was significant. He feared that the theoretical results prematurely residing in his mind, which should have emerged decades later, might trigger massive butterfly effects.
Professor Sun felt a bit regretful as he gazed at Xu Qiao reluctantly. After some persuasion, they exchanged contact information before parting ways.
The students who attended Professor Sun’s class today experienced a sense of disillusionment.
A surreal experience in the mortal realm.
In the evening, the video of this class was submitted to a Weibo account belonging to a science blogger with millions of followers. After the blogger posted it, several entertainment accounts quickly reshared it, creating a considerable ripple.
@CuttingEdgeScience: Fan-submitted video. Former Chasing the Spotlight group member @Xu Qiao engaging in a discussion on quantum communication with his professor during class. What are your thoughts on this?
The attached video appeared to be surreptitiously recorded with a mobile phone, lacking high resolution and featuring shaky camera movements. The audio quality, however, was decent, capturing the clear dialogue between Xu Qiao and Professor Sun.
Xu Qiao’s anti-fans quickly flooded in.
「There are so many things to complain about. I can’t be bothered to open the video. It’s obviously just a publicity stunt.」
「Oh, he colluded with the professor, planning to establish a studious image? How much did he pay to get good grades?」
「I’m most annoyed by people randomly trying to build a persona. Let’s see when your image will collapse.」
「Enmmm, to those suggesting colluding for publicity and building an image, I suggest you check the professor’s credentials. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, a bigshot in the field of communications. Do you think such a person would act as a prop for a minor celebrity?」
「Passing by as a major in Telecommunications Engineering at T University, I get shivers down my spine just seeing Professor Sun.」
「Accusing him of faking a studious image. If he wanted to do that, he would have done it long ago. He legitimately scored high and got into T University.」
「Saying he’s not good enough, why don’t you try getting into T University yourself?」
「I never knew Xu Qiao is from T University… Honestly, that alone makes me like him. For other celebrities studying at such prestigious schools, I wonder how they would’ve exploited it for publicity. Xu Qiao has never used his school to boost his image.」
「Damn, I have to kneel for this guy. Professor Sun actively wanted him as a graduate student, and he actually rejected it!」
「Passing by as a Physics major, I’ve watched this video several times. What Xu Qiao said really makes you think. I feel quite inspired. Thanks!」
「Physics major +1. By the way, our professor just mentioned in the group chat that we should watch Xu Qiao’s video three times and discuss it in tomorrow’s class.」
***
【 Haters are always faster than fans. Always the first one on the scene 😆 Well, some people might get irritated by the constant hate the MC gets from netizens. But in reality, this is really happening. Some anti-fans troll out of boredom, while others can take it to extreme levels. Idk. I guess people do get braver behind anonymity.】
If the haters make you feel down, skip over them and look at things that make you happy. It helps calm down and think positive. Listening to music is best tho, it directly goes to the emotional part of the brain, straight into the heart~ ❤️
Thank you for the chapter!
Useful vase is useful 🤷🏼♀️
Thx for the chappy
It is refreshing seeing face slapping in academic field lol I love this MC <3
Fr, they are called haters but they know everything about the artist’s news, even faster and deeper than the actual fans.
Thank you for the translation 🙂
I love how MC is just good at so many random things most people wouldn’t even think of. I love seeing him win despite the haters crying. He is the best!
Thank you for the chapter!
Thanks for the chapter! The ease with which humans allow themselves into rabid monsters on the internet is terrifying. Well we are talking about the same humanity that still relishes in wars & atrocities, so…