June 1st.
Eleven in the morning.
Yang Xuebin arrived at the teachers' dormitory building with his paper, timing his arrival perfectly.
He raised his hand and knocked on Ye Zhetai's door.
"Knock…knock…"
"Who is it?"
A woman's voice came from inside.
"It's me, Yang Xuebin, Stepmother."
As Yang Xuebin finished speaking, the door opened.
It was Shao Lin who opened the door.
Although Shao Lin was nearly forty, she was very well-preserved and looked like she was in her early thirties.
"It's you! Come in quickly!"
Shao Lin was very enthusiastic. She looked at the paper in Yang Xuebin's hand and asked, "Is the paper finished?"
The matter of the pulsar was already known throughout the school.
As Ye Zhetai's wife and also a physics professor, how could she not know?
"Yes, it's finished. I brought it over for Professor to take a look."
Yang Xuebin walked into the house and sat on the sofa in the living room.
Shao Lin poured Yang Xuebin a cup of tea and said, "Your Professor Ye has classes this morning and a meeting, so he won't be back for lunch until later. If you don't mind, may I take a look first?"
Yang Xuebin sat up straight and said seriously, "Stepmother, I know Professor has classes this morning. The reason I came now is that I actually have something I want to discuss with you, something that concerns Professor and your future."
Seeing Yang Xuebin's serious expression, Shao Lin also sobered her smile.
She nodded slightly and said seriously, "Go on?"
Yang Xuebin said seriously, "I believe Stepmother has already sensed the current situation, which is why you've already changed many physics terms, for example, changing Ohm's Law to Resistance Law, and Maxwell's Equations to Electromagnetic Equations."
Shao Lin's pupils constricted slightly. She looked directly at Yang Xuebin: "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Yang Xuebin said solemnly, "I want to say that the situation ahead will be very bad, and with Professor's personality, he definitely won't be able to get through it. And as Professor's wife, I'm afraid you won't be able to stay out of it either."
Shao Lin trembled all over, and a look of fear flashed in her eyes.
She had actually anticipated this long ago, which was why she had made some moves early on, hoping that if something big happened, she could still extricate herself.
But Yang Xuebin's words completely shattered the illusion in her heart.
She could change herself, but she couldn't change Ye Zhetai.
Having been Ye Zhetai's companion for twenty years, how could she not know his personality? He was someone who would rather die a martyr than bow his head.
"Stepmother, don't worry, I have an idea that might be useful."
"What idea? Tell me quickly?"
Shao Lin said anxiously.
She stared intently at Yang Xuebin, like a drowning person.
Yang Xuebin slowly said, "Although the situation ahead will be somewhat bad, the current international situation is not optimistic. The competition between M and S continues to intensify, and we cannot escape it.
Therefore, no matter how chaotic society becomes, important national defense projects cannot be disrupted.
My idea is for you to forge Professor's handwriting to write an application letter, applying for a transfer to those important national defense projects.
For example, Northwest.
Professor is proficient in nuclear physics, and this is the time for him to put his skills to use.
Of course, it would be best if you also went together."
"This…"
Shao Lin was tempted, yet hesitant.
She understood Ye Zhetai's personality too well. If she took such a liberty, it would definitely displease him.
He might even tear up the transfer order on the spot and openly refuse.
That would cause even greater trouble.
But how could she just watch such an opportunity for self-preservation slip away?
Seeing this, Yang Xuebin raised his voice, "Stepmother, what is there to hesitate about? Do you really want to suffer disaster?"
Shao Lin shivered. She shook her head repeatedly and voiced her concerns.
Yang Xuebin frowned slightly, then said, "This matter is simple. Stepmother, you find a way to intercept the transfer order, and then, under the guise of inspection, visiting relatives, or similar pretexts, go with Professor first.
Once you arrive at the location, it will be too late for Professor to go back on his word.
As for Professor getting angry…
Professor is gentle and elegant. If you humble yourself and plead with him, he will surely forgive you."
"Alright, I'll do as you say."
Shao Lin gritted her teeth and nodded.
Even if Ye Zhetai got angry, it was better than the whole family suffering disaster.
She was someone who cherished her life, and also a selfish person, and she was certainly best at assessing the situation.
"Click…click…"
Just then, the sound of a key in the lock came from the door.
Yang Xuebin turned to look. The door quickly opened, and Ye Zhetai walked in, carrying his briefcase.
He quickly stood up and called out, "Professor."
Seeing Yang Xuebin, Ye Zhetai was also very happy: "You're here. Is the paper finished?"
Shao Lin stood up and went to take Ye Zhetai's briefcase, looking very virtuous.
Yang Xuebin nodded and said, "It's finished. I brought it over for you to take a look."
"Good, let me take a look first!"
Ye Zhetai took the paper and sat down at the dining table, reading it seriously.
He read very carefully and slowly.
Especially the mathematical model section, he even found paper and pen, calculating as he read.
By the time he finished reading, more than an hour had passed.
"Good, very good, excellent!"
Ye Zhetai praised loudly. He looked up at Yang Xuebin, his voice excited: "I never thought that your first paper would be so good, with a complete structure and rigorous logic, almost flawless.
Of course, the most brilliant part is the calculation section of the mathematical model.
It's clear that you have a deep mathematical foundation, almost on par with a professional mathematics PhD."
Yang Xuebin smiled modestly: "Professor, you flatter me."
Ye Zhetai continued excitedly, "The paper has no problems. This will serve as your graduation thesis. I will help you submit it to the Journal of Astronomy later, striving to have it published in the latest issue.
Next, we'll wait for news from Professor Wang and the others.
Oh, have you chosen a direction for your graduate studies?"
Yang Xuebin said, "Nuclear Physics."
"Nuclear Physics?"
Ye Zhetai frowned slightly.
It was no wonder he overthought it. In this era, those who studied nuclear physics basically went into nuclear weapons.
He had also received invitations, but he had refused them all.
Because the destructive power of nuclear weapons was too great, enough to lead to the destruction of Human Civilization, a wave of anti-nuclear sentiment had swept through the physics community, and many physicists opposed the study of nuclear physics.
Ye Zhetai was one of them.
At the same time, he also believed that the current national economic situation was not good, and the people's living standards were relatively low. The country should prioritize solving the problem of food and clothing, rather than investing huge sums of money in developing nuclear weapons.
Yang Xuebin shook his head and said, "I want to study High Energy Physics, but currently the school has not yet established this major. It is a course under Nuclear Physics."
High Energy Physics is particle physics and atomic physics, which studies elementary particles. This has only developed in recent decades and is a very cutting-edge branch of physics.
And the study of particle physics basically determines the upper limit of a civilization's level.
Why did the Trisolaran Civilization only use two sophons to lock down the development of Earth's technology? It was because sophons could disrupt collider experiments, preventing humanity from making any progress in particle physics.
As long as particle physics is locked down, technology is basically locked down.
No matter how developed your applied technology is, just one droplet detector from the Trisolaran Civilization easily destroyed almost all of humanity's stellar-class warships.
And it used a very brutal collision.
In front of the droplet, humanity's stellar-class warships were like they were made of tofu.
It can be said that particle physics is the most, most, most core discipline in modern civilization, without a doubt.