The days quickly passed by, and soon, it was April.
With the arrival of spring break, the students, who had been burdened by their studies for an entire semester, finally had a short break. During this two-week break, they could enjoy their lives and didn't have to worry about their studies.
Even the busy Princeton campus had a more relaxed atmosphere.
"I plan on going to Fort Lauderdale. If you have time, you can come with me." Luo Wenxuan was sitting in the dining area on the first floor of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. He invited Lu Zhou to go.
The sea and the beach were usually the first choice for spring break activities. Compared to Hawaii, Fort Lauderdale was much more affordable. Since 1934, Fort Lauderdale had become a holy place for American students during spring break. Every year at this time, it was packed with people. Not only were there American university students, but there were also tourists from overseas.
However, for Lu Zhou, this was an unfamiliar place.
Lu Zhou hesitated for a second and asked, "Where is Fort Lauderdale?"
"It's in Florida, North America's Venice … You don't even know where Fort Lauderdale is? How did you spend the past year? "Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.
Lu Zhou made a helpless expression.
"I only finished my PhD a few months ago. I didn't even have time for spring break."
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
Luo Wenxuan coughed and said, "Can we not talk about your PhD?"
Lu Zhou: "Uh, sorry."
He almost forgot that when he was an undergraduate, Luo Wenxuan was studying for his PhD under Edward Witten. Now that he had his PhD, Luo Wenxuan still hadn't graduated …
It was not a good idea to talk about something so sad on such a happy day.
However, Luo Wenxuan's mental fortitude was quite strong. After all, the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study was a place where the world's most talented people gathered. It was impossible to be a genius without a strong mental fortitude.
After all, there was a gap between geniuses.
Luo Wenxuan quickly adjusted his mood and returned to the previous topic. He continued to talk about spring break.
"Spring break is a great opportunity for romantic encounters. Or are you planning to be single for the rest of your life? If you don't know how to woo pretty girls, I can teach you how to pick them up. It's actually very easy. "
Lu Zhou looked at him in surprise, but his focus wasn't on his pick-up skills, but on …
"Are you planning to change girlfriends?"
"Actually, it's already been changed." Luo Wenxuan coughed softly, looking as if he didn't want to discuss this topic. "The reason is a little complicated, don't ask."
Lu Zhou: "…"
If he remembered correctly, around February, at the Adams Chemistry Prize celebration party, this guy and his girlfriend were hanging out in front of him.
In less than two months, he was single again.
The speed at which he changed girlfriends was even faster than the speed at which he published his thesis.
"This is the pace of life here, you have to learn to adapt," said Luo Wenxuan. He noticed Lu Zhou's speechless expression and said, "If you interact with the circle of international students, you will find that this is actually very normal."
"That's the problem." Lu Zhou folded the sandwich wrapper and threw it on his plate. He sighed and said, "I often feel like I don't fit in with you guys because I have too much integrity."
Luo Wenxuan was not happy when he heard this.
"You make it sound like I don't have integrity."
Lu Zhou: "Aren't you?"
Luo Wenxuan: "…"
…
Actually, Lu Zhou was a little curious about what Luo Wenxuan was talking about.
Was Fort Lauderdale during spring break really like in the movies, brimming with the smell of youth and pungent alcohol?
If he didn't have anything else to do, he wouldn't mind going with Luo Wenxuan.
However, that was only if he wasn't busy …
On the first Saturday of April, Lu Zhou gave his students a week-long vacation. After more than three months of intense study, they also needed time to rest and adjust their state.
However, Lu Zhou didn't have the time to do that himself.
On the first day of spring break, he got on a plane and went to San Francisco to participate in the American Chemical Society's Organic Chemistry Symposium.
There, he would take away the glory that belonged to him, as well as leave behind a speech that was about 60 minutes long.
Even though the scale of this conference wasn't as large as the MRS Conference, it was still one of the top conferences in the field of organic synthesis.
After all, the American Chemical Society was much more influential than the materials science society. Not only was the former a century older than the latter, but it also had a significant influence on the industry and even the political world.
After a few hours of flight, the plane landed at the airport in San Francisco.
Sarrot was the one who picked him up at the airport. The once destitute Cornell University professor was now in high spirits.
He was wearing a well-ironed suit, and his hair was styled in a retro style. The beard on his face was shaved cleanly, and he looked much more energetic than a few months ago.
A thesis was the life of a scholar.
Even though a Science thesis wasn't enough to completely change the status quo, it still slightly restored his status at Cornell University.
When he first sold the research institute, he was still hesitant and often asked himself, "Is it really worth it?"
Now, he no longer doubted the wisdom of his choice back then.
"Welcome, my dear friend, welcome to San Francisco!" Sarrot greeted Lu Zhou with a smile on his face. He reached out his right hand and said, "Congratulations, Roger Adams Prize, you're one step closer to Stockholm."
Lu Zhou shook hands with Sarrot and joked, "I've already been to Stockholm once."
"Then let's go there again. This time, it will be the Nobel Prize!" Sarrot said with a bright smile, "I heard a professor talk about this. The award committee is discussing whether or not to nominate the modified PDMS material."
Lu Zhou smiled and didn't say anything.
Sarrot's optimism was as unreliable as his scientific intuition. Especially since he didn't even blush when quoting someone else, it was hard to tell if he was telling the truth or not.
Also, if the Nobel Prize was that easy to win, it wouldn't be regarded as the crown of the scientific community.
Even the father of lithium-ion batteries, John B. Goodenough, had been waiting in line for more than thirty years and still hadn't been able to get one. It would be difficult to rely on lithium anode material technology to take the crown in one fell swoop.
However, Lu Zhou wasn't in a hurry.
He was still young, and his scientific research career was still long.
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