Chapter 6: The Talented Biologist Emerges
Chapter 6: The Talented Biologist Emerges
“Xiao Yu, when do you plan to graduate?”
Holding a teacup, Professor Chen Anmin, looking like a retired veteran official, stood smiling beside Qin Yu’s workstation.
Taking advantage of Qin Yu’s moment of snapping out of deep thought, he asked,
“Take some time to write a thesis when you can. Then I’ll swallow my pride and find you a couple of Academicians to attend your graduation defense. Of course, I’m guessing I won’t even need to find them; they’ll probably show up on their own.”
Chen Anmin raised a hand to touch his slightly greying hair.
He then sat down on a nearby chair by himself and continued,
“It’s not that I don’t want you to stay with me for another year or two. It’s just… having you continue to be here makes me feel awkward. There’s nothing left I can teach you.”
Chen Anmin looked at Qin Yu, feeling both sentimental and very serious.
In the same office, senior brothers and sisters who had already had their graduations delayed by one or two years—
who were currently helping Qin Yu by looking up and organizing materials—
sat at their respective desks. They were completely unfazed by their beloved teacher’s words.
It was just like hearing wind on a windy day or rain on a stormy day. No reaction.
Even though some of them had probably been delayed longer than Qin Yu’s entire time as a graduate student.
Really, there was no choice.
In just over a year, less than two, they had already become numb to it.
As a Class 1 Professor, Chen Anmin was typically equivalent to an Academician.
Although not an Academician himself, Professor Chen Anmin’s title already proved his worth.
As his students,
Qin Yu’s senior brothers and sisters could certainly be considered quite outstanding themselves.
When Qin Yu first arrived,
they, very kindly, intended to take care of this new junior.
But then… it didn’t take long before they started questioning their life choices.
Compared to Qin Yu, these top-tier individuals among their peers, these geniuses, briefly suspected they themselves were idiots.
How could one person learn so quickly?
How could one person grasp so much knowledge?
How could one person be so intelligent?
Was he even learning, or was he just pouring the information he wanted directly into his brain?
Could there be an interface on the back of his head to download knowledge directly?
Wasn’t it said that
in subjects like Life Science and biology, which require lots of experiments, research experience could largely make up for differences in IQ?
Qin Yu’s senior brothers and sisters despairingly discovered that this saying was completely false.
Only when realizing that everyone around Qin Yu felt this way, not just themselves,
did these top students finally regain some confidence, confirming they weren’t actually idiots.
This assault on their reason and understanding lasted over a year.
Anyway, at this point, they had zero desire to compare themselves to Qin Yu.
After all, comparing an ‘ordinary person’ to a genius, or a genius to a monster, was simply pointless.
The key point was that even after more than a year… they still couldn’t grasp the limits of Qin Yu’s intellect.
Working with Qin Yu on a research project felt like his thought process was an abyss—unfathomably deep, always seeing further than others.
Though they worked in the Field of Life Sciences,
they often thought, somewhat blasphemously for those in academia, that Qin Yu studying biology and doing Life Science research was a waste.
Wouldn’t that intelligence be better used studying math?
Basic theoretical research was the place where such a monster’s intellect could truly shine.
Sometimes,
Qin Yu’s senior brothers and sisters wondered
what the world must be like for him.
‘Waking up to find the global IQ dropped by a thousand times’?
Living amongst ‘ordinary people’ like them, it was surprising Qin Yu had grown up without any psychological issues, hadn’t gotten depressed.
That was rare enough.
And now,
as Qin Yu’s advisor during his graduate studies,
Professor Chen Anmin looked at Qin Yu, his face practically glowing with satisfaction.
Over the past year and some odd years, Professor Chen had probably smiled more at Qin Yu than he had at his own biological son.
After all, a son is only blood relation, but Qin Yu was, to him, his true successor.
Professor Chen Anmin gazed at Qin Yu with emotion.
Admitting Qin Yu back then might have been the smartest decision he made in his entire life.
Qin Yu was the smartest person Professor Chen had ever met, or even heard of.
He was so intelligent that Professor Chen didn’t even need to worry about his talent being squandered.
Because, soon after arriving, Qin Yu had nearly absorbed all the knowledge and experience Professor Chen had accumulated over decades.
Others learn drop by drop, like filling a sponge; Qin Yu learned like a reservoir opening its floodgates.
Very quickly, Qin Yu reached a level near the cutting edge of most areas in current Life Science research.
Not only did his students question their life choices,
Professor Chen himself questioned his own.
It just felt unreasonable—how could someone be this smart?
But the reality was right before their eyes. The one needing to change wasn’t Qin Yu;
it was them who needed to understand and accept reality.
Thinking of this made Professor Chen Anmin feel somewhat… distressed.
He felt distressed that Qin Yu had spent four years studying philosophy for his undergraduate degree.
It felt like a colossal waste of talent.
If he had started studying the Field of Life Sciences earlier, this genius Qin Yu would have emerged long ago.
Even though this delay meant he, Professor Chen, ‘got lucky’ to have Qin Yu as a student—otherwise Qin Yu might never have been his—
he still felt lasting regret.
Professor Chen Anmin honestly believed that even if Qin Yu weren’t his student, if it meant Qin Yu had started research in Life Science earlier, it would have been worth it.
And,
another regret was that not long after Qin Yu officially became his graduate student, Professor Chen truly had almost nothing left to teach him.
Even when he shamelessly invited several scholars from the School of Life Sciences and other institutions in the same field,
none could keep up with Qin Yu’s absurd learning speed. Before long, they were all completely drained.
Long ago,
Professor Chen Anmin had already given full freedom to Qin Yu to conduct his own research.
Qin Yu’s senior brothers and sisters basically became his assistants, working in Qin Yu’s research group.
It’s safe to say that Qin Yu really had no reason to stay there anymore.
Furthermore,
Before taking Qin Yu as his student,
Professor Chen Anmin, though already advanced in years, had still hoped to mentor several more students.
But after Qin Yu, he directly made him his final doctoral student.
During the graduate admissions this year, he simply didn’t recruit anyone else.
The truth was, with Qin Yu shining so brightly first, other students honestly looked lackluster in comparison.
More importantly,
Even now, Qin Yu, as his student, was proof enough of Chen Anmin’s discernment in selecting talent.
He also didn’t want anyone else potentially diluting the prestige of having Qin Yu as his final student.
Thinking of this, Professor Chen Anmin couldn’t help but glance at his other students.
…To some extent, someone delaying their graduation this year really had a lot to do with Qin Yu’s existence.
Of course,
Qin Yu’s senior brothers and sisters didn’t harbor any resentment about this.
They actually wished they could follow their junior brother around longer,
hoping Qin Yu would help lift them up!
“Just a little longer, Professor. Let me get some results from this project I’m working on first.”
In response to Professor Chen Anmin’s words, Qin Yu simply replied like this.
He was quite satisfied with his current research environment.
His seniors, as research collaborators, were admittedly a bit lacking.
But the research Qin Yu was currently pursuing didn’t really need much help anyway.
Whether his seniors helped or a different professor stepped in, it wouldn’t make much difference to him.
His seniors were perfectly capable assistants during experiments.
“Well, suit yourself. My lab is yours to manage. Your seniors are at your disposal, and I can help you apply for funding if needed.”
“Though, honestly, in the last half year or so, plenty of people have lined up themselves to fund your research based on your published work. Seems my face isn’t really needed to get you money anymore.”
Professor Chen Anmin chuckled as he said this.
He paused for a moment, looked at Qin Yu, and then couldn’t resist asking curiously,
“So, any progress on the research you’re doing now?”
Over the past year plus,
Qin Yu hadn’t actually published many papers.
He had published only two papers.
Most of the time, Qin Yu was completely focused on the research itself.
For findings that others might consider valuable enough for papers,
Qin Yu generally just wasn’t interested.
But the sheer value packed into those two papers was undeniable.
Both were published in top journals in the Field of Life Sciences,
and one even made the cover of a top journal’s issue.
The most significant thing was,
just as Qin Yu had told Professor Chen Anmin back at the start of admission,
his research direction over this period had been focused solely on studying the Human Lifespan Mechanism.
Qin Yu’s two papers refreshed the entire academic world’s understanding of the Human Lifespan Mechanism.
After Qin Yu’s cover paper came out,
a new research wave focused on topics related to the Human Lifespan Mechanism swept through the Field of Life Sciences.
Following the new research path Qin Yu had opened up,
the entire academic world produced a flurry of papers.
Many of these were also published in top journals.
It’s fair to say Qin Yu single-handedly ignited an entire research direction.
Many Ph.D.s and masters who managed to graduate thanks to research in this hot topic owe Qin Yu some thanks.
Though only two papers,
as the starting point of a major new field, their impact factors reached staggeringly high numbers.
It’s no exaggeration to say the academic world has largely formed a consensus:
Qin Yu’s two papers represented a massive leap forward in humanity’s quest to break through lifespan limits.
Even if the actual achievement of prolonging human life happens later, not directly by Qin Yu’s hand,
his accomplishments over this year will still be recorded in history. Every scholar working in this particular field will inevitably study Qin Yu’s two foundational papers.
This is precisely why Qin Yu didn’t need Professor Chen Anmin to apply for funding anymore.
In the past half year, people were practically racing to throw money at Qin Yu, asking for nothing in return, essentially funding his research for free.
Their only hope was that Qin Yu could advance his research direction one more step.
It’s simply that… the allure of extending human life is incredibly powerful, especially for the wealthy.
This is also why Professor Chen Anmin said that
Qin Yu didn’t need his help finding committee members for his dissertation defense.
Perhaps not across all fields,
but certainly within the Field of Life Sciences, among fellow scholars and professors,
even those who haven’t met Qin Yu should know the name “Qin Yu” by now.
They also knew that in the Field of Life Sciences, a genius named Qin Yu had emerged spectacularly in recent years.
Serving on the defense committee for such a genius was clearly an opportunity many professors, even Academicians, found extremely appealing.
“…Progress has been fairly smooth. But until we actually succeed, it’s hard to say. I honestly don’t know if we’re 99% done with just the final step left, or if we’ve really only just crawled the first 1% of the way.”
The relationship between Qin Yu and Professor Chen Anmin was clearly different from a typical student-advisor one.
Professor Chen Anmin rarely inquired about the specifics of Qin Yu’s ongoing research.
And practically all the experiments and research were carried out by Qin Yu alone.
The other students helping with the tests or assisting didn’t really understand well the specific meaning of every task they were helping Qin Yu finish.
In this research, only Qin Yu himself knew the whole situation well.
Basically, there seemed to be no one else who could discuss this research with him.
Before him,
even though the lure of living longer was very strong for humans,
some rich people always kept paying for such studies, knowing they would likely be a waste.
But most experts thought that current research in this area was still far from getting deep yet.
This research was just floating around without real purpose, and it was hard to say it had any practical sense soon.
It was Qin Yu’s findings,
that gave real meaning to the work on the human Lifespan Mechanism and breaking the human lifespan limit.
On this path, Qin Yu was the first leader.
All other researchers in this field were now just following him.
Though their studies might broaden the research direction a bit wider,
they couldn’t give much help to Qin Yu, who was still ahead.
Only once in a while, Qin Yu checked out the newest papers,
to see if others had any cool ideas that could spark something in him.
“There’s no need to push yourself too hard; you’ve done very well already. If I had made achievements like yours, Qin Yu, so fast when I was young, I might have grown way too proud.”
Professor Chen Anmin didn’t ask more questions. Since Qin Yu said things were going smoothly, they were smooth.
As for how long Qin Yu’s current study might take to bring out the next big outcome, it didn’t matter much at all.
To say it dramatically, the first two papers were enough, in Professor Chen Anmin’s eyes, for Qin Yu to rest on his rewards and live easy all his life.
Of course, for Qin Yu’s gift, this would be just pure waste.
Listening to Professor Chen Anmin’s words,
Qin Yu just grinned lightly and stayed quiet.
Compared to most people and most scientists,
Qin Yu’s mindset was a bit different.
To others, this research he was doing now was very important.
But to Qin Yu himself, it was really just a small thing.
What he wanted wasn’t great fame or success, nor was it scientific glory.
Instead, as he had told Professor Chen Anmin before—it was all about changing the world.
After three wishes,
he was now like playing a handmade game in creative mode.
What he was doing right now, to others, looked like doing research.
To Qin Yu, the main aim was to put in a mod for ‘My World,’
so this darn ‘wild child,’ Human Civilization, wouldn’t be so fragile,
and easily mess itself up until it died off.
Honestly,
to make Human Civilization live a bit safer and last longer,
didn’t he, as an Absolute Immortal, have it tough?
Over the past year or more,
Qin Yu had steadily grown his own IQ to about six hundred, but then he didn’t push it higher for now.
Mainly,
since he already had something like a ‘cheat’ on in the real world,
if he kept raising that ‘cheat number,’
this real game would probably get boring very soon.
—In just over a year’s time,
Qin Yu’s mindset, compared to before, truly had shifted a whole lot.