Chapter 343 Not Everyone Can Have the Last Laugh

While Exxon Mobil was celebrating its "victory", a celebration banquet was also going on at the Hilton Hotel not far away.

In order to celebrate Anton's another great victory in the field of computational chemistry, and to celebrate the completion of the theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure, David rented a luxurious banquet hall in the Hilton Hotel with his own money and held the party.

After a month of busy work, working overtime every day until late at night, everyone is like a tight string.

And for people in this country, parties are the best way to unwind.

To Lu Zhou's surprise, these PHDs who usually dress up slovenly, after taking off their white coats and plaid shirts and changing into the most expensive tuxedo in their closet, they still have a completely different look from the stereotyped "science and engineering man". the other side.

But what surprised him the most were the ladies who attended the banquet.

Are there too many female researchers at the D.E. Shaw Institute?

He was a visiting scholar at Columbia University for more than a month. During this period, he went to the research institute to report almost every day. However, he could count the female faces he had seen with one hand.

Especially those youthful and beautiful faces, no matter how you look at them, they don't quite match the image of a female doctor...

The time for the banquet has not yet arrived, but the guests have arrived early.

Standing in front of the dance floor in the banquet hall, David in formal attire poured a glass of champagne into his own glass, then raised it high with a smile.

"At this moment of celebration, let's toast to victory, to our Anton, and to our Professor Lu!"

These three cheers were loud and unrestrained, and immediately pushed the atmosphere of the banquet to a peak.

Driven by the atmosphere, the guests at the banquet also laughed and raised their wine glasses.

"cheers!"

The sound of clinking cups resounded throughout, and the spilled champagne and bubbles were flying in the air.

Amidst the laughter, the banquet kicked off.

Waiters in uniform carried trays and carts into the banquet hall, and the food piled up on the long tables on both sides of the dance floor gradually increased.

Immediately after, the melodious sax sounded, and under the guidance of the music, young men and women stepped onto the dance floor one after another.

Before eating enough, most people prefer to dance with the object of their dreams first, and then plan the next part of the arrangement...

However, Lu Zhou obviously belongs to the minority.

Compared with dancing, the food at the banquet aroused his interest more.

Especially after eating bacon sandwiches for almost a month, those brightly colored salads, cakes dotted with cream, baked chicken legs that are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and foie gras baked with rum... no matter where they are One, in Lu Zhou's eyes, is particularly appetizing.

Just as he was adding delicacies to his dinner plate, David, the host of the banquet, walked towards him with champagne.

"How do you feel?" Lifting up the champagne and clinking glasses with Lu Zhou, David said with a smile, "At least half of this banquet is prepared for you."

Lu Zhou also smiled, and replied casually: "It's very New York style."

"Compared to Princeton?"

"Princeton parties usually have barbecues on the lawn, which is another kind of enjoyment for me." After a pause, Lu Zhou continued in a relaxed tone, "Speaking of which, I didn't notice it before, your research There are so many female doctors in the institute."

"Of course it's not just my researchers, but also the girls from Columbia University's Manhattan Sisterhood," David said jokingly, looking at Lu Zhou, "You know, 90% of my research institute is science and engineering. Men, it is easy to cause problems if you hold back for a long time. It is also one of the responsibilities of being a 'boss' to provide them with a relaxing social occasion."

"Social association?" Lu Zhou tried to understand in his own way.

David smiled and said, "Haha, that's right."

On campuses in the United States, various clubs, fraternities or sororities are a relatively common phenomenon, and more than half of the students will participate, and its nature is probably similar to various associations in domestic universities.

Some of them are sports clubs in the form of extracurricular activities such as basketball, football, and dance, and there are also social clubs that have no special purpose, but provide young people with a "circle in which they can blend in".

However, no matter what type of club, there is one core commonality.

That's a party that never ends.

In a sense, the Ivy Club (eating club) that Lu Zhou once participated in is also an elite club. It's just that he usually regards it as a canteen for eating, and rarely participates in the group activities of the club.

As for how David's Institute got involved with the Manhattan Sisters?

Sometimes no special connection is really needed.

This is the Hilton Hotel on Manhattan Island. Although there are many people who can stay here, there are very few clubs that can hold parties here.

Even if the D.E. Shaw Research Institute is replaced by a little-known football club in Columbia University, and a "research achievement worthy of celebration" is replaced by a "runner-up in the New York District of the school league", as long as the party is held here, there will still be great excitement. Put young beautiful girls willing to wear dresses to appear here.

Anyway, whether it's "JACS" or "rugby", it's something from another world to them. What they enjoy is the style of the banquet and the fun of posting photos on Facebook to show off.

"Speaking of which, you are still single, although it doesn't matter if you are not single," David joked, shaking the glass in his hand, "You don't have to be reserved here, if you fancy someone, you can boldly invite her to dance dance."

Lu Zhou said helplessly: "Unfortunately, I can't dance."

"It doesn't matter, no matter how bad your dance is, I believe there are a lot of people who can bear it," David clinked glasses with Lu Zhou with a suppressed smile, and winked, "And I bet, as long as you have this idea, you should There are quite a few girls who are willing to teach you by hand."

Is this praising me for being handsome?

Lu Zhou smiled shyly.

How embarrassing.

Although he thinks so too.

Didn't notice what Lu Zhou was thinking, David opened a new bottle of champagne and refilled his glass, "What is your next plan? Why don't you just become a professor at Columbia University, I can help you Convince the president to create an additional department of computational materials at Columbia."

Looking at the lights of thousands of houses on Manhattan Island outside the window, Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head: "Columbia University is a beautiful place, and so is Manhattan Island. But in comparison, I think Princeton is more suitable for me."

"Really? Well, individuals have their own choices." David sighed, but did not try to persuade him.

After pouring all the wine left in the bottle into Lu Zhou's cup, he continued, "If you have time, remember to come here often."

"No problem, it's very close anyway," Lu Zhou suddenly thought of something, and continued to say, "By the way, before returning to Princeton, there is one more thing I have to ask you."

David: "What is it?"

"The theoretical edifice of electrochemical interface structure has been completed, but young theories are always underappreciated. In order to enhance its credibility, I intend to use our theoretical tools to try to solve some more specific problems, about this , I need Anton's strength," Lu Zhou continued after a pause, "I won't borrow it for too long, it will be fine before I return to Princeton."

His visit to Columbia University will last until June, which means it will last about a month.

However, this experiment does not need to take as long as a month. If the situation is optimistic, half a month may be enough.

In addition, compared with the previous project, although his upcoming project is also a research in the theoretical field, it will play a guiding role in the experiments of the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials.

So whether David cares or not, he will insist on paying the rent for the equipment and the staff.

David asked with great interest: "What is the more specific question?"

Lu Zhou smiled mysteriously.

"Molecular dynamics simulation of the interface between carbon-sulfur composites and organic electrolytic solutions!"