Chapter 7

"Yes." Cheng Lang looked at Shuangyun, his gaze not avoiding hers.
"Teacher Cheng, are you this strict with all your students?" Shuangyun asked.
"It depends on the student's personality and ability. Some students need more encouragement and space."
"Do you like doing research and supervising students?" Shuangyun asked casually, but didn't expect Cheng Lang to think seriously for quite a while.
"I've never thought about this question."
"You've never even thought about whether you like it or not?" Shuangyun was a bit surprised.
Cheng Lang returned his attention to the computer screen and said calmly, "I just do things. The program has finished running."
The program Cheng Lang had modified did produce results, but the results didn't match the actual meaning.
The previous conversation was like a stone called Shuangyun thrown into Cheng Lang's lake, only creating ripples for three seconds before the lake surface returned to calm. Cheng Lang completely refocused his attention on the model.
He quickly got back into the model and began debugging from different angles.
Shuangyun was getting sleepy. She'd waited for Cheng Lang in the office for a long time, not expecting him to leave the office after 9 PM.
She hadn't really encountered any difficulties either. She'd just removed the pollutant diffusion module from her completed model, wanting to have more contact with Cheng Lang. She hadn't expected to stay this late.
Shuangyun said directly, "How about trying to simplify the adsorption index directly into an equation related to saturation? That way the model won't be so complex."
Cheng Lang leaned back in his chair and thought for a second, saying, "You could do that, but then you can't put in other influencing factors. The pollutant diffusion module you're adding would have no real-world significance—just padding the paper."
As he spoke, his gaze didn't leave the computer screen, but Shuangyun felt every word was directed at her.
Her model was already complex enough. Adding the pollutant diffusion module was just to add icing on the cake. If she really wanted to make this module perfect, there were indeed many factors to consider, but Shuangyun didn't have that much time to do it. For something that was just icing on the cake, simplifying it and adding it was enough.
But Cheng Lang directly said what she was doing had no real-world significance, just padding the paper.
"This isn't the main content of my PhD. I'm already doing well by adding this module." Shuangyun argued.
But Cheng Lang unexpectedly didn't refute. He said, "So you also agree with what I said."
Shuangyun was somewhat speechless and somewhat angry. On one hand, she felt Cheng Lang's evaluation was too harsh. But on the other hand, she seemed to also admit that this newly added module indeed had no real-world significance.
It just made her model look like it had more functions, but it definitely wasn't at a level that could be used in reality. Because she'd simplified many things.
It just looked pretty.
This thought somewhat shocked Shuangyun.
She said, "It's too late. I'm going home."
Only then did Cheng Lang's gaze move away from the computer screen. He didn't stop her, only saying, "Send me a copy of the model. I'll help you look at it when I have time."
Shuangyun put on an extremely fake smile and said, "Thank you, but I won't trouble you, Teacher Cheng."
She quickly closed her laptop, put it in her bag, stood up, and waved at Cheng Lang. "See you tomorrow!"
After saying this, Shuangyun strode toward the elevator.
The elevator slowly descended. Shuangyun was startled by her own reflection in the mirror. Her brows were furrowed, her face serious. Only then did she realize she'd been thinking about Cheng Lang's words.
"No real-world significance, just padding the paper."
After a few minutes' walk, Shuangyun quickly arrived home.
She didn't change clothes or shower, but went straight to the dining table in the living room and opened her computer again.
Her dissertation was basically complete, and the model had been finished long ago. Shuangyun was very satisfied with her work, until Cheng Lang said those words.
If she could simplify it, she could also make it complex. What was the difficulty? She just hadn't wanted to spend the time before.
Shuangyun opened the model again and began new debugging.
After adding many new parameters, the model became more complex to run. But strangely, Shuangyun found the model's running speed actually became faster, and the convergence problems that had always appeared before rarely occurred anymore.
Shuangyun carefully checked all the model's settings and found that Cheng Lang had adjusted many of her basic settings. The calculation steps, solver, and iteration method had all been changed to different settings by him.
Shuangyun rarely over-modified these parts involving numerical calculations, because this wasn't her strength. But after Cheng Lang's modifications, the model became more fluid.
Adding parameters also became less difficult.
Shuangyun was indeed somewhat impressed, but it made her even more determined to perfect the model quickly. She absolutely couldn't let Cheng Lang look down on her.
Throughout the night, Shuangyun alternated between being so sleepy she was about to collapse and being determined to beat Cheng Lang. At 5 AM, Shuangyun ran the model with all pollutant diffusion parameters added for the first time and got results.
After frantically clicking save, Shuangyun immediately opened WeChat and sent Cheng Lang a message: "All the pollutant diffusion parameters are coupled into the model. It's not without real-world significance, you know."
After sending the message, Shuangyun sat in her chair with a triumphant smile.
Who knew Cheng Lang's message would come in the next second: "Send it to me to look at."
Shuangyun's eyes widened. She sent a question mark: "? You're not sleeping?"
Cheng Lang: "I'm doing calibration on your model."
Shuangyun: "How do you have my model?"
Cheng Lang: "I rebuilt one."
Shuangyun: "Did you also put the other parameters into the model?"
Cheng Lang: "Yes."