Chapter 324 Spring Break

Time passed day by day, and soon entered April.

With the arrival of the spring break, the students who have been squeezed by a heavy academic schedule for a semester finally ushered in a short-term liberation. During this holiday of less than two weeks, they can enjoy life without thinking about academic matters.

Even the busy Princeton campus has a lot of relaxed colors.

"I'm planning to go to Fort Lauderdale. If you're free, you can go with me." Brother Luo, who was sitting in the dining area on the first floor of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, invited Lu Zhou.

The sea and the beach are usually the first choice for spring break activities. Compared with Hawaii, the price of travel in Fort Lauderdale is relatively affordable. Since 1934, it has become the holy land of American college spring break. At this time of year, it is overcrowded, so that later on, not only American college students, but also overseas tourists come here admiringly.

However, for Lu Zhou, this is an unfamiliar place name.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a moment and asked, "Where is Fort Lauderdale?"

"In Florida, the Venice of North America...you don't even know where Fort Lauderdale is? How did you get here this year?" Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.

Lu Zhou made a helpless expression.

“I was only a few months into my Ph.D., and it ended before spring break.”

The atmosphere was slightly awkward for a moment.

Luo Wenxuan coughed lightly: "Can we not mention the doctorate?"

Lu Zhou: "...Um, sorry."

He almost forgot that when he was an undergraduate, Brother Luo was studying for a Ph.D. with Edward Witten. Now that he has obtained his Ph.D., Senior Brother Luo still hasn't graduated smoothly...

It's really not nice to bring up such a sad thing on this happy day.

However, Brother Luo's psychological endurance is still quite strong. After all, in the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, a place where the most talented brains in the world are gathered, it is impossible to stay there if you are talented enough without a strong heart.

After all, there is a gap between geniuses and geniuses.

Quickly adjusted his mood, Brother Luo continued to return to the previous topic, and continued to talk about the topic of spring break.

"Spring break is a good opportunity for a romantic encounter, or do you plan to be single for the rest of your life? If you don't know how to chase beautiful girls, I can teach you how to strike up a conversation. It's actually very easy."

Lu Zhou glanced at him in surprise, but his focus was not on the skills of striking up a conversation, but...

"Are you planning to change your girlfriend?"

"Actually, it has already been changed." Luo Wenxuan coughed lightly, with an expression that seemed a little reluctant to discuss this topic, "The reason for this is a bit complicated, so don't ask."

Lu Zhou: "..."

If he remembers correctly, this guy was hanging out with his girlfriend in front of him at a party celebrating the Adams Chemistry Awards around February.

It's been less than two months and I'm back single again.

The speed at which he changed girlfriends was simply faster than the speed at which he published papers.

"The pace of life here is like this, you have to learn to adapt," Luo Wenxuan explained, noticing Lu Zhou's speechless expression, "If you often contact the circle of foreign students, you will find that this is actually a very common thing."

"This is the problem," Lu Zhou said with a sigh after folding the wrapping paper of the sandwich into a small stack and throwing it on the dinner plate. "I often feel out of place with you because I am too moral."

Upon hearing this, Luo Wenxuan was immediately unhappy.

"You're saying that, as if I have no integrity."

Lu Zhou: "Isn't it?"

Luo Wenxuan: "..."

...

In fact, Lu Zhou was a little curious about what Senior Brother Luo said.

Is Fort Lauderdale on spring break as youthful and boozy as the movies make it out to be?

If there is nothing else, he doesn't mind going to have a look with Senior Brother Luo.

However, only if it's not busy...

On the first Saturday in April, Lu Zhou gave his students a one-week holiday. After more than three months of intensive study, they also need a rest time to adjust their state.

But for Lu Zhou himself, there is no such leisure.

On the first day of spring break, he got on the plane and went to San Francisco on the west coast to attend the organic chemistry symposium held by the American Chemical Society.

There, he will take away his glory and leave a speech of about 60 minutes.

Although the scale of this conference is not as large as the MRS conference, the top conference in the field of materials science, its influence is not inferior at all, and it is also one of the top conferences in the field of organic synthesis.

After all, the influence of the American Chemical Society is much greater than that of the Materials Society. The former is not only a century older than the latter, but also has a non-negligible influence on the industrial and even political circles.

After several hours of flight, the plane landed at the airport in San Francisco.

He was met at the airport by Sarot, a once-down-and-out Cornell University professor who now looks radiant.

Wearing a well-pressed suit, combing retro oily hair, the beard on his face has been shaved a lot, and his spirit is much better than it was a few months ago.

It has to be said that papers are the life of scholars.

Although the weight of an article in "Science" is not enough to completely change the status quo, it has somewhat restored his position at Cornell University.

If it is said that when he first sold the research institute, he still had some hesitation in his heart, and would often ask himself the question "Is it really worth it?"

But now, he no longer doubts how wise the choice he made back then was.

"Welcome, my dear friend, welcome to San Francisco!" Greeted with a smile on his face, Sarot stretched out his right hand from a distance, "Congratulations, Roger Adams Award, you have entered Stockholm again." One step."

After shaking hands with Sarot, Lu Zhou joked, "I've already been to Stockholm once."

"Then go again, this time it will be the Nobel Palace!" Sarot said with a bright smile, "I heard about this from a professor I know well, and the award committee is discussing whether it should give the modified PDMS material nominate."

Lu Zhou smiled and did not speak.

Sarrot's optimism is as unreliable as his scientific intuition, especially when he doesn't blush when quoting things that no one else has said.

In addition, if the Nobel Prize is so easy to win, it will not be regarded as the crown of the scientific community.

Among other things, even the father of lithium-ion batteries, the legendary Mr. "Good Enough" (John B. Goodenough), has been in the queue for more than 30 years, and he has not yet arrived. It is still quite difficult to rely on the technology of lithium anode materials to take off this crown in one fell swoop.

However, Lu Zhou was not in a hurry.

He is still young and has a long career in scientific research.

Whether it is the modified PDMS material or the HCS-1 material, or the Adams Chemistry Award in front of him, it is just the beginning for him...