Chapter 64: Provincial Presentation
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The presentation today was conducted at the campus of the nemesis of the University of Jin Ling, the Dong University. The judges were prestigious academicians from the aeros.p.a.ce industry with impressive t.i.tles. People like the president of the Jiangsu Aeros.p.a.ce Technology Research a.s.sociation, or the honorary professor of the University of Aeros.p.a.ce Industry…
In short, there was a sense of force in the air.
Lin Yuxiang sat in Dong University’s lounge. She repeatedly read an A4 paper containing his thesis while w.a.n.g Xiaodong and Lu Zhou discussed the possible questions that could be asked by the judges during the presentation. Lin Yuxiang sat aside and feeling muddled, she was ready to pour tea for them.
The thesis presentation was carried out mainly by Lu Zhou. w.a.n.g Xiaodong would act as a backup, but Lu Zhou did not have much hope for him.
A modeling problem that would take 10 sentences to explain, w.a.n.g Xiaodong would condense it into one sentence. A simple code question, he would expand it into 10 sentences. He was talented, but he was not good at communication. His skill level was high, but it was unpractical.
Lin Yuxiang was even more useless and she was basically a delivery girl. In the beginning, she said she would be responsible for the presentation. However, if one were to ask her how to calculate the landing coordinates, she would only stare at her teammates with puppy eyes.
As expected, Lu Zhou had to rely on himself.
Lu Zhou had carried the entire compet.i.tion. Now, it was his time to carry the presentation.
The powerpoint was simple and he just had to copy things down from the thesis.
Lu Zhou had already rehea.r.s.ed the presentation multiple times and so, he would not panic when he went up to the stage.
The presentation stage was divided into two parts. The first part was to explain the thesis while the second part was to answer the questions from the judges. It was around eight minutes per stage and it was mainly to test the authenticity of the thesis to see if there was any signs of a ghostwriter.
Lu Zhou quickly presented his powerpoint and explained his mathematical modeling process. In the second stage, the expert judges asked two questions and Lu Zhou answered the questions without any problems.
Finally, that old professor who was the president of the Jiangsu Aeros.p.a.ce Technology Research a.s.sociation smiled and gave him a thumbs up. He then signaled that the presentation was over and that Lu Zhou could leave.
When Lu Zhou came back from the stage and pa.s.sed the captain of the next presenting team, he felt relaxed.
Lin Yuxiang came over and excitedly said, “Captain, you’re so good that the professor even gave you a thumbs up!”
Lu Zhou replied, “It’s probably convention, right?”
Lin Yuxiang snorted and said, “No way!” She said with a joyful tone, “When you guys were preparing, I secretly looked at other people’s presentations. The professor had the same expression for the whole time, but when it was you, he changed his expression!”
You noticed this?!
Lu Zhou thought about it seriously.
Finally, he said with an uncertain tone, “Maybe… It’s cause I’m too handsome.”
w.a.n.g Xiaodong: “…”
Lin Yuxiang: “…”
They rode the school bus back to campus.
Lu Zhou noticed that Luo Rundong was not too happy. Maybe he did not do well in the presentation because he was not speaking with his teammates.
As for the other people, they were mostly discussing the presentation.
“How was your presentation?”
“It’s okay, but the questions the professor asked is too hard.”
“Yeah, yeah. It’s caused he’s trying to punish us for choosing question B.”
“That’s funny. Do you think he didn’t torture us that chose question A? At most, he asked you the dimensions of your table but he asked us how to fly to s.p.a.ce!”
“Anyway, the presentation is only to verify if the paper was actually written by yourself. It wouldn’t add extra marks to the compet.i.tion so it’s fine as long as you pa.s.sed.”
“I think it still counted a little. I heard there are a limited number of national awards and they will take the presentation into account…”
Lu Zhou did not join their discussion. Instead, he laid in his chair and closed his eyes.
It was around five o’clock in the afternoon when the school bus returned to the campus of the University of Jin Ling.
When Lu Zhou went back to his dorm, he did not even put his bag down before his three animal roommates surrounded him.
Huang Guangming took the lead and asked, “Zhou, how was the presentation? Can you get the first level national prize?”
Lu Zhou replied ambiguously, “It was okay.”
He had not expected that the three animals would disappear after hearing him.
Liu Rui, “Stable.”
Huang Guangming, “Stable. he’s definitely buying us dinner.”
s.h.i.+ Shang, “Lu Zhou’s ‘okay’ to us equal to Rui’s ‘failed’. We get it now.”
Liu Rui was unhappy and he slapped the table and said, “F*ck, why are you bringing me into this?”
Lu Zhou: ? ? ?
…
The list of winners was released.
There was no suspense this time. He got the first level national prize!
However, contrary to Lu Zhou’s expectations, the mission had not completed yet.
After he heard the news of the prize, he entered the system s.p.a.ce multiple times but the mission was still in the [In progress] stage.
Maybe I need to have the certificate?
But the thesis mission last time was completed before it pa.s.sed the review process.
Just when Lu Zhou was suspecting that his system was stuck, Professor Liu gave him a call and asked him to come to his office.
While he walked to Professor Liu’s office, Lu Zhou was confused,
When Professor Liu saw Lu Zhou walked in, he smiled and gestured him to sit down.
“The works of your team have been selected by the national judges and you are invited to Beijing to partic.i.p.ate in an expert review. Go and talk to your teammates, and pack your stuff. You will leave in three days outside the school gate. I’ll drive you guys to the train station.”
Only first level national prizes got to partic.i.p.ate in expert interviews. After the interview, the judges would announce the winners of the Higher Education Society Cup and the Matlab Innovation Award. The selection of these two trophies would not be divided into AB questions, only the undergraduate and specialize degree groups. This meant the champion and runner-up.
“Expert interview? Which means I have to present again?” asked Lu Zhou. He was dumbfounded.
Why is the mathematical modeling compet.i.tion so troublesome?
“Yes, prepare your powerpoint and do some minor corrections. This time it’s in Beijing, Yan University, and you’ll be interviewed by the National Organizing Committee!” said Professor Liu Xiangping with a smile. He drank some tea before saying, “Try your best to come back with a Higher Education award.”
He was confident in this team.
Especially the captain, he was very satisfied with him.
Maybe it was because he was talented, or humble, or able to listen to the opinions of others. Although there were some flaws in his personality, like Old Tang said, the pros outweighed the cons.
When Professor Liu saw Lu Zhou’s reluctant face, he put down his vacuum flask, smiled and said, “What’s the matter kid? You’re not happy? The school will pay for your ticket and send you on a vacation in Beijing for three days. If I were you, I would be ecstatic!”
I see…
Is it because the compet.i.tion has not ended yet, so the system determines that the mission is incomplete?
Which is saying, getting the first level national prize is only the basic condition of the mission?
If I want to earn a better mission evaluation, I have to get a better award.
Using this logic, the Matlab Innovation award should correspond to an S evaluation. As for the Higher Education cup award that symbolizes the champion… The evaluation is an S+!
Lu Zhou took in a deep breath before he looked at Professor Liu and said, “I understand. I’ll notify my teammates!”
Teacher Liu nodded his head in satisfaction and said, “Go. Don’t forget to get a permission slip.”