14: Chapter 14 Theoretical Simulation of Storms

Chen Youhua later found some spare time to seek out each of his specialized course professors one by one.

He didn't waste much breath; whenever he was asked about a knowledge point, he would deconstruct and extend the entire university curriculum. His theoretical foundation was as solid as a water-soaked sponge, with not a single bit of fluff to be squeezed out.

In the end, when he proposed moving his class time to the laboratory, none of the professors made things difficult for him, and they all eventually nodded in agreement.

It was essentially a tacit approval of his request to skip regular classes.

His days settled back into their old rhythm, except the classroom in his three-point routine was replaced by the laboratory.

During the day, he soaked himself in the lab, pondering over beakers, data, and instruments. In the evening, he returned to the dormitory, either flipping through literature until his eyelids grew heavy or spreading out his experimental notes to add a few lines of new derivations in the margins.

Occasionally, he would encounter classmates from the experimental class in the hallway. When they greeted him, he would only give a faint response, his pace never slowing for a second.

One day, when he bumped into his Class Advisor on the road, the man was walking toward the teaching building with lesson plans tucked under his arm. Seeing him, the advisor had a smile on his face.

“Youhua, I happened to run into you.”

Chen Youhua stopped in his tracks: “Counselor.”

“I heard Professor Zhang pulled you into his experimental group?”

The counselor took two steps closer, his tone carrying a hint of inquiry.

“You kid, you were hiding quite a bit. ”

“By the way, I've always wanted to ask, you were our provincial top scholar back then, right? Why did you think of coming to Z University? Over at Qingbei...”

“It's close to home.”

Chen Youhua answered bluntly.

“Besides, Zhejiang University is quite good; it's enough.”

The counselor gave an “oh,” his gaze circling over him before glancing to the side, as if asking casually.

“Which city in the province is your family from? What do your parents do?”

“A small town in Western Zhejiang, quite remote.”

Chen Youhua didn't look up.

“My parents are just ordinary workers. Their factory closed down a few years ago, and now they do some small business just to make ends meet.”

The smile on Mr. Li's face visibly stiffened for a moment, as if this answer exceeded his expectations.

He pushed up his glasses to hide that nearly imperceptible trace of astonishment, and then the tone of inquiry in his voice grew even stronger, even carrying a bit of disbelief.

“Then... how did Professor Zhang make an exception to let you in? ”

“His requirements for Undergraduate Students are notoriously high. Generally, it requires at least an outstanding junior student, and they still have to go through rigorous screening.”

Chen Youhua's tone was flat, as if he were stating an objective fact.

“Maybe it's because I self-studied all the core professional courses in the undergraduate curriculum in advance, so my foundation is fairly solid. ”

“Additionally, I've read quite a bit of relevant literature. I'm relatively interested in the cytoskeleton direction that Professor Zhang researches, and I have a few ideas of my own.”

He wasn't showing off; he was just explaining what he considered a reasonable justification.

These words sounded straightforward, yet they were like a thin needle, gently pricking the counselor's heart.

He had originally thought this top scholar had entered Professor Zhang's group through family connections or cleverness, but he hadn't expected it to be due to real, hard-earned skill.

After hearing this, the smile on Mr. Li's face completely vanished, replaced by a complex expression mixed with surprise, gloom, and even a bit of annoyance.

He was silent for several seconds before finally speaking somewhat dryly.

“...I see.”

He paused again, his tone carrying a clear, unconcealed sense of disappointment and a hint of complaint.

“Youhua, since you have this ability, why... why didn't you tell me earlier? ”

“Or, you could have come to me! I also lead projects, and I have some influence in the provincial key laboratory of the college. I could have completely arranged for you to enter our group's laboratory first to get familiar with the environment and build a foundation!”

Chen Youhua looked at the unconcealed gloom on the counselor's face, understanding the other person's thoughts very well.

He still answered calmly.

“Thank you for your kindness, Class Advisor. ”

“However, I am very interested in Professor Zhang's research direction. When I was reading Professor Zhang's literature, I found it interesting and wanted to try moving in that direction.”

The smile on the Class Advisor's face could no longer hold; the corners of his mouth slumped down, and he didn't say anything more.

Chen Youhua said, “Goodbye, teacher,” and turned to walk toward the laboratory.

It had been over a month since he first entered the laboratory, and during this month, he had been so busy in the lab that his feet barely touched the ground.

But hard work pays off, and his progress was very fast. Various norms and standards were recognized by Professor Zhang and the other senior brothers and sisters.

Chen Youhua's goal was very clear.

Next semester, he must formally join Professor Zhang's national-level key project group regarding “Cancer Cell Cytoskeletal Dynamics and Metastasis Recurrence Mechanisms.”

That was the core battlefield.

However, at this moment, he had fallen into a subtle state of leisure.

The several groups of multi-generational cell flora he was responsible for were slowly growing, differentiating, and accumulating the characteristics required for the experiment in the incubator according to established procedures.

These biological reactions required time and could not be rushed.

Professor Zhang did not immediately assign him a new independent topic, clearly wanting him to settle in a bit more and hammer his foundation even firmer.

Everyone else in the laboratory had urgent projects moving forward, and for the time being, they couldn't spare a module that required his deep participation.

Thus, Chen Youhua became a free observer in the laboratory.

He wasn't idle.

While his own cells were proceeding step-by-step, he quietly shuttled between the various lab benches like a silent shadow.

He observed the operations of the senior brothers and sisters.

He watched Senior Sister Li carefully inject labeled tumor cells into the tail veins of mice to establish metastasis models.

He watched Senior Brother Zhao, under the confocal microscope, intently tracking the dynamic assembly of fluorescently labeled tubulin within living cells.

He watched Senior Sister Sun repeatedly optimizing the conditions for co-immunoprecipitation, attempting to capture the interaction partner of a certain skeletal regulatory protein.

He watched Senior Student Wang Zhe frowning while analyzing a large pile of Western Blot gray-scale bands, comparing the differences between different treatment groups.

To outsiders, he was just a studious newcomer, observing and learning.

But only Chen Youhua himself knew that his brain was operating in synchronization at a terrifying speed.

His gaze swept over the volume of liquid drawn by the pipette, over the cycle parameters set by the PCR machine, over the images captured under the microscope, and over the data streams scrolling on the computer screen...

Combined with the theoretical knowledge already etched into his marrow.

The molecular mechanisms of the cytoskeleton, the cascade reactions of signaling pathways, the inherent principles and potential pitfalls of experimental techniques.

His thinking was like a high-speed computer, instantly deducing the purpose and basis of the operation before him, as well as possible loopholes or room for optimization.