Chapter 12: Budget? There Is No Budget!
Noon.
Qiu Yan: “Lunch?”
Shen Rui immediately understood: “Pork knuckle!”
“Zhou Yun, want to join?” Qiu Yan glanced sideways at Zhou Yun.
“Sure, just wait a moment, I’ll be ready soon.”
“Anyone else coming?”
“I’ve ordered takeout.”
“Me too.”
“I just ate, not hungry.” Besides Shen Rui, Zhou Yun, and Qiu Yan, no one else seemed interested in getting up.
“All right then, Zhou Yun, we’ll wait for you downstairs. I’ll also ask about your computer.”
“Okay, I’m almost done.” He only had one last set of experiments left. Once uploaded to the server, the experimental section of his thesis would be complete.
In Deng Yonghua’s office.
Qiu Yan walked over casually beside Deng Yonghua and noticed the professor was reading a thesis, so he didn’t interrupt.
From what he knew, the professor rarely read theses these days. Deng Yonghua had deep expertise in cybersecurity; unless it was a major scientific breakthrough, he wouldn’t bother with low-quality papers.
Deng Yonghua noticed Qiu Yan but was too busy to pay attention.
He was reading Zhou Yun’s thesis—though its writing style was somewhat immature, it was undeniably high quality and worthy of close study.
After finishing a paragraph, Deng Yonghua finally turned his head: “Qiu Yan, is there something you need?”
“Uh, yes, the juniors need new computers to join the group, but our lab has no new machines at the moment. What do you think?”
Deng Yonghua nodded, glancing at the unfinished thesis: “Have Zhou Yun write up a configuration list and send it to me. I’ll arrange it.”
“All right, how much is the budget?”
“It’s just one computer. What budget? It won’t cost much. Let Zhou Yun pick whatever he wants.” Zhou Yun was his prized student; he couldn’t let him leave.
Qiu Yan tilted his head, stunned.
He was struck again. When the professor allocated computers for their cohort, they had to piece together old, discarded parts left by the previous batch, only the monitors were new.
But for Zhou Yun, it was completely different—there was even a server and brand-new computers.
Deng Yonghua glanced at Qiu Yan knowingly. As his advisor, he knew exactly what Qiu Yan was thinking.
“What’s with that look? You think I’m too generous to Zhou Yun?”
Qiu Yan nodded unconsciously.
He thought to himself: Isn’t it obvious? Arranged accommodation, a server, and now a new computer. Which newcomer gets treated like this?
He wasn’t jealous—talented people deserved some special treatment.
He was just curious why the favor seemed so extraordinary.
Deng Yonghua smiled: “If you could publish a top conference paper now, I’d get you any computer you wanted.”
Qiu Yan’s eyes widened: “Top conference?”
Suddenly, it all made sense. No wonder the professor was so good to Zhou Yun. Zhou Yun was about to independently publish at a top journal within less than a month of starting research.
With that kind of ability, if he were the advisor, he’d try to pluck stars from the sky for him, not just a computer!
He had assumed Zhou Yun would at most publish at a mid-tier conference, but here he was, aiming for the top.
At that moment, his gaze grew resolute.
He had to hold on tightly to Zhou Yun’s coattails!
“Don’t worry, professor, I’ll take good care of the junior. I’ll head off now.”
Deng Yonghua waved dismissively.
Downstairs, Shen Rui complained to Qiu Yan: “Why did you come down so late? If you’d been later, Zhou Yun and I would have eaten on our own.”
“Go, go,” Qiu Yan pulled Shen Rui aside, smiling at Zhou Yun: “This is your first meal at school. Big bro is treating you to barbecue—order whatever you want!”
Zhou Yun felt a bit overwhelmed. If he remembered correctly, this was only their second meeting. Were all the seniors this kind?
No way! In his previous group, seniors barely spoke to him unless he reached out first.
“How about we split the bill?”
“What nonsense? This one’s on me!” Qiu Yan waved his hand, unusually magnanimous.
He wanted to show the junior the warmth of a senior so that someday the junior might support him academically.
Since the senior insisted, Zhou Yun couldn’t refuse.
“All right, thanks, senior.”
“No trouble at all!”
Watching this, Shen Rui was speechless and pointed at himself: “What about me?”
“You? Of course you pay for yourself. You’re not a junior.”
Shen Rui nodded. That was the real Qiu Yan.
While ordering, Shen Rui pulled Qiu Yan into a corner.
“What’s up? Why suddenly so enthusiastic?”
Qiu Yan glanced around and whispered: “The junior is about to publish at a top conference. You get my meaning?”
He winked at him.
One might think they were striking some deal.
After a moment, Shen Rui looked at Qiu Yan: “Really?”
“Professor Deng said so. How could it be fake? We’re counting on the junior to carry us now; he better perform well.”
Shen Rui nodded thoughtfully: “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“I only just found out myself!”
After the meal, Qiu Yan relayed Deng Yonghua’s instructions verbatim.
When Zhou Yun heard the budget was unlimited, he was stunned.
Only after triple-checking did he believe his senior wasn’t joking.
So this was what real graduate life was like?
What kind of hard times had he endured before?
Though the professor said the budget was unlimited, Zhou Yun didn’t want to be excessive—but he also didn’t want to be stingy.
In the end, he custom-built a machine with a 4080 graphics card. His experiments didn’t require such a powerful computer; it was mostly for daily use. No need to overdo it.
If he had extra money, it was better to buy another card for the server.
Looking over the specs, Zhou Yun hesitated: “Is this a bit too much?”
Never mind! This is what the professor said—no budget limit. This isn’t even the top tier. If necessary, he could adjust later.
After reviewing it, he sent the list to the professor.
Deng Yonghua replied with a simple “OK” emoji.
That afternoon, Deng Yonghua called Zhou Yun to his office.
Zhou Yun immediately wondered if he’d gone overboard with the configuration—it was over twenty thousand yuan, not a small sum.
He looked up from his writing when he heard a knock.
“Come in.”
Seeing it was Zhou Yun, Deng Yonghua’s face broke into a smile—if not for his age, the smile would have been more genuine.
“Zhou Yun, have a seat.” Deng Yonghua pulled a chair over and gestured for him to sit.