I almost touched the moon

Wen Song asked carefully: "You don't have to treat me as a professor, just treat me as a sister or a friend. Although Cheng Xuan is my husband's brother, you are also my good friend. So, if you feel offended or unfortable about this question, you can refuse to answer it."

Si Yao immediately said: "It's okay, don't feel embarrassed, I don't mind."

She took a sip of wine and said to Wen Song, "Professor, have you ever heard of the term small town test-taker?"

Wen Song shook his head and said, "Sorry, I'm not sure."

Si Yao explained: "This is a very popular term on the Chinese Internet. It refers to people like me who were born in a small city, have no family background, and can only study hard by doing exercises in the hope of changing their fate. Apart from studying, they can do nothing else."

"I think your description is not quite accurate." Wen Song did not comment on her words, "First of all, you are definitely not only good at studying. You are very interesting. I hired you as my research assistant not only because of your study and work ability. Secondly, I don't understand why you use the word 'delusion'. Learning and knowledge can indeed change your destiny."

Wen Song also took a sip of the wine in his glass and said to her gently: "I can give you an example that happened to me. My mother should be what you call a 'small town test-taker'. She was born in a very ordinary family. My grandparents are ordinary working class people.

Since middle school, she has been determined to study hard and go abroad. She was admitted to Fudan University in college. Because of her excellent grades, she went to Edinburgh University to study for a master's degree at public expense. After graduation, she returned to Hangzhou to work and became a partner of Junping Law Firm, and then went to work in Hong Kong.

When I was four years old, she went to the University of Zurich to study for a doctorate and stayed in Switzerland. I think you can guess the rest of the story. I am ashamed to say that everything I have now is thanks to her. "

Si Yao agreed and said, "This is indeed the most typical example of knowledge changing destiny. Professor, to be honest, I am not questioning this statement. Since I went abroad, my destiny has changed. I have indeed received a better education, and thanks to you, I have a better material life. I also believe that I will live a better life in the future."

Wen Song nodded and said, "Of course, you are excellent, very smart, and very hardworking. Your future academic achievements will not be inferior to mine."

But she added, "So I don't understand, you don't like Cheng Xuan because he has bad grades or he's not serious enough?"

"No." Si Yao sighed and said helplessly, "Because it took me fifteen years to have the opportunity to sit in the classroom of LMU School of Physics. It was only after I became your RA that I flew business class for the first time, stayed in a luxury hotel for the first time, and ate at a Michelin three-star restaurant for the first time.

But for Cheng Xuan, these are nothing out of the ordinary, and he can get them easily. He has such a superior family background, which paves all the way for him, but he does not cherish it at all. To be honest, I don’t like this kind of behavior. "

"Then do you not like me too much?" Wen Song suddenly laughed and said with some self-mockery, "I actually just live a carefree life."

"Of course not." Si Yao said immediately, "You could have just lived a life of idleness and waited for death, but you didn't. Professor, I don't know if this will offend you, but I feel that you are a very ambitious person. You actually want to surpass your mother's career achievements, don't you?"

Wen Song suddenly felt flustered as if someone had discovered her secret, and could only hide it with a smile. For so many years, she had lived under the favorable conditions created by Wen Yiheng, but she had also lived under the shadow of her halo.

Everyone's impression of her was that she was only the daughter of lawyer Wen Yiheng. Because of this, when she applied for a university major, she first ruled out law. She knew that she could never surpass Wen Yiheng's achievements in the legal field, and she didn't want to continue living under her halo.

"You're right." Wen Song admitted with a smile, "So when I found out it was hard for me to do it, I gave up. But I'm very happy to have your approval."

Si Yao smiled and said, "It's not just me. Everyone recognizes you. We all agree that you are the young professor at LMU with the most potential to win the Nobel Prize.

As for Cheng Xuan… He told me before that he thought astrophysics was boring and he just wanted to study whether there was extraterrestrial life. He asked me why I was engaged in such boring theoretical research. I said, because I wanted to be like Iseylia. Do you know what he said to me? "

"Did he mean that I'm fierce, ruthless and scary, and he doesn't want you to be like that?" Wen Song said half-jokingly.

Si Yao sighed and said: "If he said that, I would still think it was understandable. He said to me at the time, 'Why, do you also want to be my sister-in-law?' I was really speechless, and I asked him in return, so Iseylia has such outstanding academic achievements, but in your eyes, she is just your sister-in-law? Then he told me that he just didn't understand why you were engaged in theoretical research, he thought it was meaningless.

At that moment I knew that he and I were not of the same kind. As a carefree young master like him, we would never understand each other’s thinking.”

After listening to this, Wen Song tapped his wine glass with his fingers, smiled and nodded, saying, "I understand, but in fact, Cheng Xuan is a very kind child, but he really doesn't understand you. Don't worry, I will convey your meaning to him and ask him to stop bothering you."

"Dankesch?n, professor."

Wen Song glanced at his watch. It was still early, so he ordered two more drinks and asked Si Yao, "Let's talk about ourselves. What are your plans for the future? I remember you always wanted to study for a PhD. Have you chosen a school?"

"I still want to stay at LMU," Si Yao said. "The reason is simple. I can get permanent residency after two more years of studying for my doctorate."

Wen Song smiled and said, “But in fact, with your ability, you can go to a better school, such as MIT, Oxford, or maybe ETH. I highly remind Oxford, because their funding is much more than us. You know, our research funding is very limited.”

(I highly recommend Oxford University because they have much more funding than we do. You know, our research funding is very limited.)

Si Yao looked at Wen Song with a smile and said half-jokingly: “Yeah, sure, I know. But I also know that the funding in our faculty is limited but your own funding is unlimited. I do wanna continue studying under your supervision and be your research assistant.”

(Of course, I know. But I also know that our college’s funding is limited, but your own funding is unlimited. I would like to continue studying under your guidance and be your research assistant.)

"My pleasure." Wen Song smiled, "You are always wele to apply for my PhD project."

(I would be honored and you are always welcome to apply for my PhD program)