Chapter 180: Incentive

The Natural Sciences Reading Room of the library.

Zheng Fa put away his workbook and pulled out several borrowed library books.

The first-year physics curriculum at Beijing University is actually quite light—beyond a few general courses, only three major courses are required—

"General Physics," "Advanced Mathematics," "Linear Algebra."

For Zheng Fa, only "General Physics" required some effort, but not much—it was designed as an introductory course, with a gentle difficulty level.

The homework difficulty was also not too great for Zheng Fa.

Of course, Beijing University never lacked students who pushed themselves to the extreme.

For example, his roommate Dai Yuan, whom Zheng Fa met upon enrollment, was a competition veteran who had apparently already read through "General Physics"—recently, he seemed to be diving straight into the four great theories.

Zheng Fa wasn't in such a hurry.

Mainly because he didn't aim to become a physicist; entering the physics department was ultimately about finding a path to understand spirit talismans, even spiritual energy.

In short, he wanted to find a stone from another mountain in physics.

Right now, for instance, he was reading a book called "The Evolution of Physics."

It was a popular science book on the history of physics, written decades ago.

For physics students, this book was perhaps too simplistic.

But Zheng Fa read it carefully—the book's co-author was Einstein, and writing it, he inevitably brought his own thought patterns, which Zheng Fa valued highly.

Halfway through, Zheng Fa closed the book and fell into deep thought:

The Three Sub-Talisman Theory had truly hit a dead end.

The biggest problem was that the roles of the other two sub-talismans were unclear, reduced to mere speculation.

In the development of physics, when such situations arose, they were usually resolved through experiments—testing and verifying or falsifying the hypotheses.

"Experiments…" Zheng Fa couldn't help thinking of Teacher Tian's lab, and his head began to ache.

He only later learned that the cost ranged from several million to tens of millions—and that was still on the low end.

Scientific research was utterly bottomless.

If Zheng Fa were to conduct physical experiments himself…

The cost would be unpredictable.

Tang Lingwumin had always acted like a wealthy woman.

But Zheng Fa didn't want to rely on her money unless absolutely necessary.

Mainly because—Tang Lingwumin didn't have that much.

She could spare a few or even tens of millions without alarming her family.

But hundreds or thousands of millions—would inevitably alert Aunt Ye and Tang Lingwumin's father.

Perhaps between him and Tang Lingwumin, such distinctions didn't need to be so clear.

Whether from the bond of friendship or from the fact that he had given her a chance at cultivation, Tang Lingwumin probably wouldn't care about the money.

But…

Aunt Ye, or Tang Lingwumin's father, likely wouldn't think the same.

Zheng Fa believed in equal exchange.

He needed to give something, and receive something in return.

The details required careful thought.

…

At a table diagonally across, Yang Ju, the senior he'd met while queuing earlier, scratched his head.

Though only a morning had passed, he somehow felt he was another year farther from graduation.

And even more tragic—

When he scratched, he noticed his hair had thinned again!

Thinking of this, Yang Ju was overcome with sorrow and couldn't continue writing his thesis.

His gaze wandered around the room, inevitably landing on Zheng Fa.

He had a strong impression of Zheng Fa—not just because he'd seen him in the library a few times.

But because once, passing the gym, he'd seen this junior meditating!

Logically, physics students only showed such symptoms by doctoral level.

This junior was an early-onset case…

After seeing him more often in the library, he realized that though this junior was a bit odd, he seemed mostly normal.

Looking at Zheng Fa, he felt a deep sense of melancholy.

He always felt he and this junior were somewhat alike—though this junior had more hair, longer legs, and smoother skin.

But once, he too had been like this junior—obsessed with study, ignoring everything else.

Yet now, he felt he had been wrong:

When your scientific talent doesn't reach the level of geniuses, excessive obsession with study isn't a particularly good choice:

Like now—he had no girlfriend, no job, and no certainty of graduation.

Seeing Zheng Fa, he recalled these memories, and his passion for research dropped by a third.

Maybe he should just give up and extend his graduation?

…

At the library entrance, Tang Lingwumin walked in quietly.

She went to Zheng Fa's table; he looked up, gathered his books and workbook, and the two walked out of the library side by side.

As if afraid of disturbing others, they didn't begin speaking until they had left the reading room.

Yang Ju, who had been leaning on the railing to clear his mind, couldn't help glancing at them—mainly at Tang Lingwumin.

He'd noticed her when she entered the library, from the second floor.

He hadn't expected she was here to find this junior…

Their voices reached his ears.

"You were frowning just now—what were you thinking about?"

He heard the beautiful girl ask the junior.

"Nothing…" the junior replied softly: "I was just thinking I need to find a way to make money."

Yang Ju felt a pang of sympathy.

He remembered this junior was only a first-year?

Already bearing the weight of life?

No wonder he studied so hard.

"I have money. Whatever you need, I've got it."

The girl's words made him feel like he'd heard an unsolved mystery.

He even sensed a hint of grievance in her voice.

Grievance?

He looked up and saw the girl staring at the junior, her face wounded.

"I know, I know," he saw the junior soothing her: "I know you have money, but this much—you'd have to explain to your parents…"

"No need. A million—I'll just ask my mom. It shouldn't be a problem."

"…"

Yang Ju stood frozen, staring as Zheng Fa led Tang Lingwumin away.

His expression was complex.

He took a deep breath, slowly walked back into the reading room, and resolved to fight his thesis to the death.

At that moment, he deeply understood how different he was from Zheng Fa.

And—this junior had such a beautiful rich girlfriend and still worked so hard.

I, on the other hand, have nothing but research.

What right do I have to be lazy?

…

Zheng Fa didn't know he had unconsciously inspired Yang Ju; he was troubled by Tang Lingwumin's lingering unhappiness.

The two arrived together at the nursing home.

Teacher Tian smiled at Tang Lingwumin: "What's wrong? Why are you pouting so high?"

She looked much better, even squatting on the open ground, observing something.

Zheng Fa asked: "Teacher Tian, what are you doing?"

"I thought, even if I can't set up a lab, I can still cultivate the land—without a lab, research isn't impossible," Teacher Tian smiled. "The soil's been prepared, base fertilizer added—I can still plant a winter wheat crop this season."

Zheng Fa froze.

He suddenly realized his mistake—he'd been fixated on building a perfect lab, but basic physics experiments could resolve many of his doubts!