Chapter 294

"Of course, not just interested." Clearing his throat, Musk looked at Lu Zhou and said sincerely, "I must thank you, your research results have helped me a lot."

"... Glad to be able to help you." Facing Musk's enthusiasm, Lu Zhou had an awkward yet polite smile on his face.

To be honest, he is still a little confused about this sudden visit.

Even though his research results may indeed have helped Tesla a lot, but new energy vehicles do not produce batteries, it stands to reason that Musk has no reason to make a special trip to visit him.

It may be because he has been busy with patent matters recently, and someone calls him every now and then to ask if he intends to sell the patent. When he encounters this kind of person who is labeled as a businessman, his first reaction is to think about the other party's intentions.

This is not a wariness, it is purely a subconscious reaction.

"It seems that the two of you still have a lot of interesting topics to talk about, but I'm not very interested in things other than mathematics and rugby." Old Mr. Talk, I will excuse you first."

"Thank you, I also want to chat with Professor Lu alone." Musk said with a smile.

After Mr. Francis left, Musk casually sat down opposite Lu Zhou, and continued in a candid tone.

"...When I was studying economics at the University of Pennsylvania, I used to think about where is the future of mankind and what are the real problems facing the world. In the end, I came to the conclusion that it is new energy, the Internet, and space exploration."

Looking at Lu Zhou seriously, Musk continued: "I am an engineer, and you are a scholar. From your point of view, what is the key to solving these three problems?"

When communicating with this guy, Lu Zhou always felt like he was listening to Wang Yuexin's report. Both presumably belong to the kind of dreamers immersed in their own universes, and while there's nothing wrong with that, it's a bit unkind to those trying to get to know them.

"The Internet is hard to say," Lu Zhou thought for a while, and replied casually, "but the other two, I personally feel that they are probably related to materials."

Although the bottleneck of new energy technology and space exploration technology involves many disciplines, and all problems cannot be simply summarized in materials science, what is more interesting is that if the problem of materials is solved, many originally complicated problems seem to be transformed. Keep it simple.

Whether it is photovoltaic power generation or nuclear fusion power generation, whether it is lithium-sulfur batteries or lithium-air batteries, the most difficult part is the material part.

Musk snapped his fingers and said with a smile: "It seems that we want to go together, I agree with my engineering team. I plan to invest 10 billion US dollars to build a material research and development base in Silicon Valley. If you are interested , I want to hire you as the chief designer of this research institution."

Ten billion dollars? !

Hearing this number, Lu Zhou was so taken aback that he didn't listen carefully to the rest of the sentence.

In his impression, Tesla's sales for a year did not even reach this figure.

"Your idea is indeed very interesting. I believe that if there is such a generous rich man, the entire material science community will be overjoyed... But with all due respect, can Tesla get so much money?" Lu Zhou remembered hearing about it before. However, Tesla's financial situation is not good.

Musk took it for granted, "No, but you will have it when you come."

Lu Zhou: "..."

He didn't want to say anything other than MMP.

...

I have to admit that Musk's proposal is really attractive for a researcher.

If it was Professor Sarot, he would rush over with his own lithium-air battery project without hesitation for a second.

But for Lu Zhou...

To be honest, not very attractive.

"Sorry, I'm afraid I can't help you with this."

As if he didn't expect Lu Zhou to reject this attractive proposal, Musk frowned slightly and tried to persuade: "Are you really not thinking about it again? I can guarantee that as long as you nod, you will never fund scientific research Things are worrying."

"I'm a professor of mathematics. Materials science is not my field of expertise. You should hire another expert." After a pause, Lu Zhou continued, "Also, even if you promise me endless research funding, my Research will not cost that much money for the time being.”

Although he wanted to persuade him again, but seeing the expression on Lu Zhou's face, he didn't seem to have any intention of changing his mind, so Musk could only sigh helplessly in the end.

"Well, I have to say, you missed an opportunity to change the world...Of course, if you change your mind, you can always come to me."

Lu Zhou said noncommittally: "If so."

After leaving his business card, Musk continued to chat with Lu Zhou, but he seemed a little lacking in interest and did not have the enthusiasm at the beginning.

I have seen Lu Zhou's speech "We must use mathematics to change science" in the Crawford Award interview, and saw that he turned what he said on lithium anode materials into reality... Musk originally thought that Lu Zhou and himself were the same All the way, but now it seems that this is not the case.

After continuing to chat awkwardly for a while, he got up and left with an excuse, leaving the party.

With the departure of Mr. Musk, the surroundings became quiet.

Lu Zhou refilled his glass with a glass of champagne, enjoying the little time left in the banquet.

At this time, his little apprentice Vera returned to the banquet hall with a joyful Miss Hannah.

Judging from the excited expression on Hannah's face, she probably did it.

He had already guessed the result, but Lu Zhou still looked at Vera and asked with a pleasant face, "How was the result?"

Vera nodded and said in a low voice: "According to your request, I gave him a complex variable function problem according to the undergraduate teaching standards. It took about half an hour and she successfully solved the answer."

Lu Zhou nodded and looked at Miss Hannah standing behind her.

"Very well, then congratulations Miss Hannah, you have passed my assessment. Give me an email address, and tell me the tutor you want to apply for by the way."

For him, it was nothing more than a little effort, and of course he would not go back on this level of promise.

"Okay! Thank you, thank you so much!" Hannah nodded excitedly, and that one took out the prepared note paper and pen.

Generally speaking, the recommendation letter is sent directly to the tutor of the student's application, and will not pass through the student, let alone let the student see what is written on the recommendation letter.

It is precisely because of this that, in a sense, the power of being a professor overseas is really great.

In the recommendation letter written by the same recommender, although the two sentences "I don't really recommend" and "I strongly recommend" are only a few words different in grammar, they determine a person's future.

Generally speaking, however, most professors are happy to recommend potential students to others. One of the pleasures of being a professor is to watch the student I recommend being trained to be an excellent scholar.

Seeing the back of Hannah leaving, Vera gently squeezed the hem of the skirt, cheering herself up in her heart.

Taking a deep breath, she finally mustered up the courage and said, "...Professor."

Seeing that she seemed to have something to say, Lu Zhou, who had just done something good, was in a good mood, and asked kindly, "What's the matter?"

Opening her mouth, Vera was about to say something.

However, at this moment, the music on the dance floor suddenly changed its tune and played the ending music.

As the closing music sounded, people on the dance floor left reluctantly.

Apparently, the prom was over.

As if regretting what he had missed, those bright eyes were slightly disappointed and looked aside.

Lowering her head, Vera whispered.

"nothing……"

I just want to ask you to dance...