Chapter 13: Even If You Guys Aren’t Ashamed, I’m Ashamed!
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Plagiarism percentage: 0.3%
It could not be more legit.
“Lu Zhou, let me ask you something and answer honestly. Did you really write this thesis by yourself?”
Professor Tang Zhiwei stared at Lu Zhou. Through his thick gla.s.ses, his pupils s.h.i.+ned with astonishment.
There was a hint of excitement.
Only thing was, he still could not believe it. He could not believe that the mathematical proof theorem in the thesis was actually written by an undergraduate student.
Lu Zhou did not avoid those questioning eyes. Instead, he laughed and with a humble tone, he said, “It was all thanks to Professor Tang’s education.”
Even though I exchanged it with general points, it should count as my own work right?
He had no shame in saying that it was his own work!
Tang Zhiwei looked away from Lu Zhou and continued to look at the thesis for a very long time.
Since Lu Zhou was free, he just stood next to him and waited.
The sky gradually turned darker and darker and the clock on the wall slowly turned to six o’clock. Professor Tang finally read through the last part of the thesis and let out a long sigh.
“The argument in the thesis is pretty good. One could even say that it’s very good. But one criticism I have is that the format of the thesis still has some problems. Details such as vocabulary and citations are slightly inappropriate. However, these are all but small problems. Being able to write this type of thesis as a first-year student means that you have great potential!”
Professor Tang took off his gla.s.ses and put it on the table. He looked at Lu Zhou, laughed and said, “Leave this thesis here. I’ll help you to edit it slightly.”
Lu Zhou was full of joy and he quickly responded, “Thank you, professor!”
If he tried to find a professional editing service, it would be quite pricey. Plus, they might not even edit it well. If you find a sc.u.mmy company and your thesis did not pa.s.s, all they would do was to tell you that your thesis was garbage.
“I’ve wasted quite a bit of your time. You should go back now. Remember to find me two days later, or I can call you… Leave your phone number here. I can’t be bothered to look through the student register,” said Professor Tang as he pointed at an A4 paper and gave Lu Zhou a pen.
Obviously, Lu Zhou was dripping with joy and he quickly wrote down his phone number.
“Oh yeah, Zhou, let me ask you something. Have you thought about which journal you want to submit to?”
With a forced smile, Lu Zhou said, “I’ve searched around online. AMC’s impact factor seems pretty high. Also, their review process is pretty fast, so I plan on…”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” whispered Professor Tang. He added, “What’s the point of submitting it there? Thank G.o.d I asked you, otherwise it’d be too late! Did you know that the thesis submitted to AMC doesn’t even count towards the a.s.sessment of the PhD students?”
Uh?
There’s such a thing?
However, even knowing about it now, Lu Zhou did not really care. After all, he had no plans to take a master’s degree much less a PhD. He had just wanted a fast review process so that he could complete the mission.
If he submitted to a strict journal, it could take months of waiting time. In the end, if his thesis was rejected, he would go crazy.
“The domestic situation for mathematical journals is not good. I suggest that you try to submit internationally. As for your thesis, “Journal of Symbolic Logic” or ” International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mathematics” are pretty good. The first leans towards publications of pure mathematics papers. Whereas the later is for applied mathematics, mathematical a.n.a.lysis, and physics. Among these three fields, I would suggest that you make up a decision by yourself. Also, remember one thing. If you dare to submit this thesis to the AMC journal, don’t ever come to see me again.”
Lu Zhou, “I…”
He hesitated and changed his words.
“Thank you, Professor Tang, for your wise words, I…”
Professor Tang waved his hands and joked, “Stop kissing my a.s.s. Get lost!”
Lu Zhou left and he closed the door on his way out.
The office suddenly became quiet again. The master’s student who was writing his thesis stretched. He looked at the professor’s thesis topic and asked quietly, “Professor, was that an undergraduate student with you earlier?”
“Unbelievable right?” laughed Professor Tang. He said, “Let me tell you something. Not only that he’s an undergraduate, but he’s also a first-year student!”
The eyes of the other master’s student widened and he left his project aside as he asked in disbelief, “First year?! He’s already starting to submit to SCI in the first year?! Why are the undergraduate students so insane nowadays?”
“Yeah, that’s why you guys have to work hard,” said Professor Tang. As he looked at his own two students, he said seriously, “Don’t get beaten by the younger students. Even if you guys aren’t ashamed, I’m ashamed!”
…
While Lu Zhou was consulting Professor Tang Zhiwei with his USB, the “Advanced Algebra 2” exam finally finished. After turning their tests in, chaos ensued outside the exam room.
“F*ck me, the time was way too short! I still had two big sections that I didn’t answer!”
“Way too hard! Who wrote that impossible last question?”
“The Fourier series question? I didn’t even look at it. I just skipped it!”
“Second to last question, the one about convergence fields and functions of power series, and asking for the sum of series…”
“Don’t ask me. I don’t know and I don’t understand. I just want some silence…”
“Brother Tao, how did you do? Pa.s.sed?”
“Don’t even mention it. I’m waiting for the supplementary exam.”
Of course, the dumb students were still a minority. A lot of the geniuses got sucked into these dumb student’s mindsets after hearing them complain.
For example, Liu Rui was posting in his friends’ news feed right outside the exam room.
[Maths is so hard! I screwed up. I didn’t know anything. I’ll have to take the supplementary exams. T.T]
Actually, not only did he finished, but he also double-checked everything.
He finished typing and clicked post.
At the same moment, Huang Guangming and s.h.i.+ Shang came over.
“Liu Rui, what are you doing?”
“I’m playing with my phone while waiting for you,” said Liu Rui. He turned off his phone and pretended as if nothing happened as he said, “Come, let’s get food in the cafeteria.”
“How did Zhou do? I saw him left half an hour into the exam?” said s.h.i.+ Shang.
“I don’t know. Let’s ask him when he gets back,” said Liu Rui as he shook his head.
Huang Guangming continued to ask, “Oh yeah, Brother Rui, what did you put for the last multi-choice question?”
Liu Rui, “I think A… That question was hard so I guessed.”
Huang Guangming laughed and said, “F*ck, I put A as well! I knew I guessed it correctly!”
s.h.i.+ Shang frowned. He thought for a bit and said, “Wasn’t it B?”
Liu Rui recalled the question. He shook his head and said “It definitely wasn’t B. Using the information provided, it must’ve been a series convergence, and its square couldn’t diverge… Yeah. I guess it so I could be wrong.”
He emphasized again that he could be wrong.
Huang Guangming and s.h.i.+ Shang were already used to his “humbleness” so they did not find it strange at all.
Huang Guangming remembered being dominated by the horror of mathematics for the last half hour. He sighed and said, “This test is way too hard. I feel like I didn’t study at all.”
s.h.i.+ Shang remained silent.
He felt like he did even worse.
At the same moment, a cla.s.s genius walked by.
The dark-skinned guy stood tall and skinny with his back straight. His name was Luo Rundong, he was a true genius. He was the only student in his cla.s.s that got a 150 in high school mathematics. Most people were forced to do a mathematics major while he specifically chose to major in mathematics.
As for grades, Liu Rui’s were slightly higher because Luo Rundong’s English was not as good. However, for advanced algebra and mathematical a.n.a.lysis, Liu Rui could not even match the guy.
“Liu Rui, did you solve that last fill in the blank question?”
“I did solve it. But I don’t know if it was right…”
The two started to discuss the math question. Incomprehensible and difficult words started to come out from their mouths and no one around them could understand.
Huang Guangming and s.h.i.+ Shang looked at each other with a helpless look in their eyes.
If only Lu Zhou was here.
With no Lu Zhou to compare themselves to, they felt like they were the dumb students.
This feeling is too painful!