Study Monster Cultivation System-Chapter 286 - 285 He called me, so I came...

At 1:30 in the afternoon, the meeting resumed, and the internship recruitment assessment continued.

In the meeting room, Zhou Chenglong looked at the interview questions in his hand and felt like he was losing more hair at the back of his head.

According to the process, he would pose three to five technical questions to gauge the professional level of the interviewees.

This was the so-called one-on-one interview.

After that, a hypothetical project was presented to let several candidates discuss together, to examine their communication and teamwork skills.

This was the legendary...

Group interview.

Of course, today there were only two people, so a group interview wasn’t really possible.

Once those phases were completed, Liang Yu from HR would pose some questions related to human resources to assess job stability, political thinking, personality, and other aspects.

"Ah, how did it come to this..." Zhou Chenglong rubbed the back of his head and sighed, "Sister Liang, I’m prepared on my end, let’s toughen up and get to it."

It turned out this way; it was supposed to be Li Zheng who had to brace himself, but Zhou Chenglong had no choice but to steel himself instead.

"Alright," Liang Yu mentioned lastly, "If he can’t answer the first two questions, lower the difficulty of the subsequent ones a bit, don’t be too harsh on them. After all, a few years from now, they might really become talents in our system."

"Mhm," Zhou Chenglong nodded, looking at the freshly printed questions, "10 questions, I’ve already graded them for difficulty, ensuring they can be dynamically adjusted like a eyesight test."

"It’s good we have you, I wouldn’t be able to handle this with someone else." Liang Yu smiled and then called out to the door, "Li Zheng, please come in."

The door was promptly pushed open and then closed.

After greeting with a nod, Li Zheng took a seat confidently across from them.

With his hands spread flat on the table and a gaze sharp as a torch, he commanded authority without anger.

If this were truly a one-day trip to a space theme park.

Then it might have just welcomed the most serious and hardcore player in its history.

This also led to a sharp decrease in the other players’ experiences.

At least Zhou Chenglong and Liang Yu started to sweat in the palms of their hands while facing this serious attitude.

"Um, Li Zheng, relax a little," Liang Yu coughed dryly, looking down at the resume and said, "Let’s skip the self-introduction, just briefly talk about why you are applying."

Li Zheng then nodded and without any hesitation, began to speak.

"First, it’s for learning; engineering is my weakness, and it is also the necessary path from researching a problem to solving it."

"Second, it’s for passion for aerospace; I witnessed the launch failure of Yellow 2 firsthand, and at that moment, I resolved to dedicate the next year of my life to aerospace. My humble efforts might be as insignificant as a drop of water to the First Academy, but I still firmly stick to my desire; I apologize for the trouble I’ve caused both teachers."

"Third, it’s for Yu Jing; she is several times more talented than I am but is a person inclined toward despair. Deeply passionate about aerospace, yet she despairs over the astronomical scales and human insignificance. The failure of Yellow 2 would deepen such despair, and I want to prove a brighter future, to see a more dazzling finish line together with her."

It wasn’t until seven or eight seconds after Li Zheng finished that Zhou Chenglong and Liang Yu realized he had answered the question.

The first and second points were acceptable.

The third point... was really...

They could sense Li Zheng’s sincerity, even feeling the romance in it.

But...

Did anyone really consider this place for their romantic adventures?

Stepping back, a person’s statements should be proportional to their status.

If there’s a wide gap between one’s status and what they say, and the speaker is just a high school student,

Then the outcome can only lead to two words—

Adolescent!

As Zhou Chenglong, he could initially feel the power in Li Zheng’s words.

But after coming to his senses and realizing that this lad was only a high school student,

He couldn’t help but have some thoughts of "pretentiousness."

Liang Yu beside him wiped another bead of sweat, "He really is... determined... but as you know, whether one can become a member of the First Academy is not measured by determination."

"Of course," Li Zheng nodded, "If I do not meet the level required for the internship, then staying here would only cause disruption. Right now, Reset is at its most critical phase, and there’s no room for the slightest delay at work. For today, I also want to apologize to Teacher Zhou again for taking up your time."

"No way," Zhou Chenglong said with a smile, "I’m also scouting potential reserves for the team. If there really is a high school student who can meet our assessment standards and enrich our team, that is the greatest help to our work."

As he smiled, he also saw Li Zheng’s determination and thoughts.

He was sure that Li Zheng was very sensible, so there was no need for him to be as cautious as if he was a crown prince’s study companion.

Facing Li Zheng now, he displayed the serious attitude of a formal interview.

"Li Zheng, we’ve spent half a day together, and I understand your feelings and support your attitude. But as you said, the current workload is tremendous, yet our manpower indicators and allocated resources are limited. We must use all resources to their fullest potential," he said.

"Therefore, for this interview, I won’t consider your status as a high school student. Everything will proceed according to the standards of a regular 985 engineering and technical master’s degree.

"If you fail to pass, don’t be discouraged."

"I believe that one day in the future, after completing your undergraduate and graduate studies, you will be able to pass the assessment."

"Thank you, Teacher Zhou," Li Zheng nodded and replied.

"Alright, let’s start with a relatively simple question," Zhou Chenglong said, putting down his papers. "Briefly describe the theorem of mutuality of shear stress and explain the logic behind its derivation."

Upon hearing this question, Liang Yu was stumped.

But she was satisfied—stumped was the correct response.

She at least had a master’s degree, even if it wasn’t in physics. But she knew this was definitely not high school knowledge.

If Li Zheng had simply relied on connections to get through the written test, this conceptual question, which only Zhou Chenglong knew and had just come up with at noon, would be enough to expose him.

As Li Zheng pondered, Liang Yu had already started thinking about how to smooth things over.

However, Li Zheng’s contemplation was merely about organizing his language.

He only spoke without thinking when he was with people he was very familiar with.

In such a setting, he had to focus on being precise and concise in his narrative.

Moreover, he had long surpassed the elementary stage of "memorizing concepts." Confronted with a basic conceptual question in Material Mechanics, speaking off the cuff was unlikely. He needed to review the principles and derivation in his head before expressing them in his own words.

Only after sorting it out in his mind did he begin to speak steadily.

"On two mutually perpendicular planes, shear stresses must exist in pairs and have equal value."

"Both are perpendicular to..."

"...This is the principle of mutuality of shear stress."

"As for this conclusion, it’s derived from the equilibrium equation."

"Using two adjacent horizontal bases and two vertical sections..."

"Cutting out edges with lengths dx, dy, δ... taking a small element... substituting into the equation..."

"Eventually, we find that τ=τ’."

"This theorem also has derived states of discussion."

"Such as pure shear states..."

"...referred to as shear strain..."

"Moreover, the theorem of mutuality of shear stress is not only relevant in..."

In fact, by the time Li Zheng mentioned "equilibrium equation," Zhou Chenglong had stopped listening.

Due to the chill down his spine, the sweat breaking out on his scalp, and the overwhelming shock, he couldn’t have continued listening even if he wanted to.

Is this kid really in high school??

Are high school students really this frightening now?

It might not be considered overly difficult to answer this question alone.

But the problem was, Zhou Chenglong had randomly picked it.

Being able to answer this conceptual question so thoroughly meant that Li Zheng had mastered the entirety of "Fundamental Material Mechanics."

On this account, at this moment, he had basically decided.

Li Zheng had not cheated.

It was real skill.

Even though it was hard to understand.

But this high school student, he deserves everything he said before.

As for Liang Yu, she went from ordinary confusion to pure bafflement.

This state of compounded perplexity, coupled with Zhou Chenglong’s tense expression, finally made her realize...

The day trip, it never existed at all.

On the contrary, her own state was more like a day trip.

It was like an old casual gamer, who merely wanted to guide some newbies in the novice village, but unluckily bumped into a max-level player who was holding back.

Liang Yu kept her mouth shut, not speaking, not daring to speak...

Li Zheng answered the following questions on mechanics and engineering thermodynamics just as perfectly.

Zhou Chenglong also, just like an eyesight test, tried to raise the difficulty level, challenging the limits, and he ventured into polymer physics.

And yet Li Zheng managed to answer correctly, more or less.

"Very, very, very good..." Zhou Chenglong was astounded as he put down the paper, "I don’t have anything else to ask, you can introduce your own level of expertise in your major... "

"This..." Li Zheng hesitated, "What I’ve learned isn’t all that in-depth... but if I must say, I know a bit about chemistry and mechanics."

Zhou Chenglong’s eyes widened.

Not that in-depth?

You’re looking down on us, aren’t you?

Alright, alright, alright, chemistry and mechanics, right?

Zhou Chenglong, on the spot, opened up his laptop and flipped through to find a couple of questions.

"Do you understand inorganic materials?" Zhou Chenglong demanded with an angry glare, already losing his composure.

"I know a little." Li Zheng answered truthfully.

"Good! Please briefly describe Frankel defects and Schottky defects."

"Wait a moment, let me think... I read about this crystal content a long time ago..." Li Zheng said uncertainly while rubbing his head, "Frankel defects... are defects that form an equal number of vacancies and interstitial atoms at the same time, in contrast, Schottky defects only form vacancies without an equal number of interstitial atoms."

This time, not just Liang Yu, even Zhou Chenglong himself was left utterly bewildered.

He could only glance over the answers in the question bank.

"How do you know all this?" Zhou Chenglong held his head, "This doesn’t make sense, why would a high school student study this stuff?"

"Learned it for the Chem Competitions..."

"Chem Competitions?" Zhou Chenglong asked blankly, "Did you win any awards?"

"Well... it’s a bit embarrassing to say since you asked."

"Quickly, provincial first?"

"National gold..."

"Made it to the training camp?"

"Yes."

"The... national team?"

The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.

"Didn’t make it."

"Finally, we’re getting somewhere..." Zhou Chenglong rubbed his chest, "Then what place did you get in the finals?"

"First."

Zhou Chenglong nearly sprayed out, "Training camp rank?"

"Second."

"??? And you didn’t make the national team?"

"There’s a bit of a story here, maybe you can search it up on Bihu."

"Later... let’s talk later..." Zhou Chenglong steadied his breath, took a sip from his thermos before asking again, "Then shouldn’t you be applying for a major in chemistry?"

"I like physics a little more."

"So... all this knowledge build-up... it’s because of the physics competition?"

"Right."

"Then I’ll just ask directly... which...?"

"Still first..."

"Ah." Zhou Chenglong fell back into his chair, and after a while, he blurted out to Liang Yu, "Sister Liang, why didn’t you tell me..."

"It wasn’t written..." Liang Yu was also sweating profusely, "I’ve encountered first in both physics and chemistry before, and occasionally someone with double gold medals, but a double champion..."

"Definitely not... There’s definitely not..." Zhou Chenglong hurriedly closed his laptop, "Okay, I was wrong, I was wrong, this one is a master... I won’t ask any more..."

"I really only have a slight understanding," Li Zheng explained, "If you ask me something deeper, or something actually relevant, I wouldn’t understand."

"Asking you about those would really be bullying, how could you know if you haven’t touched them?" Zhou Chenglong suddenly remembered something and asked anxiously, "Lin Yujing wouldn’t also...?"

Li Zheng nodded blankly.

"Damn it..."

Afterward, when the two of them had composed themselves, they dared to call Lin Yujing in.

After exchanging pleasantries, Liang Yu tried to maintain a steady tone as she asked the same question.

"So Yu Jing, why don’t you start by briefly explaining why you want to apply for the job?"

Lin Yujing was dumbfounded and pointed outside, saying, "He told me to come, so I came..."

Zhou Chenglong and Liang Yu both held their heads.

It’s so damn cringe... Uncomfortable.

If these two really came in...

How could the masses of single comrades bear it?

After that, Zhou Chenglong proceeded to ask a few questions as usual.

Compared to Li Zheng’s answers, Lin Yujing’s were obviously a lot worse.

But by the standards of the physics major, of course she passed, just not as comprehensively knowledgeable as Li Zheng.

Having already witnessed the terror of Li Zheng, Zhou Chenglong did not feel at all intimidated when facing Lin Yujing, who Li Zheng had mentioned was "several times better than him."

But on reflection, such high school students were definitely monsters.

Seeing the slightly disappointed expressions on the two teachers’ faces, Lin Yujing knew something was amiss, but she had no solution and could only sigh.

"Hmm..." Lin Yujing bowed her head, subconsciously guarding her shoulder. "It seems... Li Zheng did really well."

"Too well," Zhou Chenglong waved his hand, "Don’t lose heart, you’re fine too, it’s just that Li Zheng has raised the standard. I picked some tough questions on purpose, and two of them were interdisciplinary, which counts as beyond the scope."

Lin Yujing’s eyes lit up, "Does that mean... I also passed?"

"You’ve passed my part," Zhou Chenglong leaned back in his chair and sighed, "How long have you two been preparing for this? You’ve been working on this throughout high school, right?"

"Hmm... indeed, lots of the content overlaps with the physics competitions," Lin Yujing muttered, "But really preparing for the job application, it’s been about three weeks... There was no time to go through many textbooks, I had to cram like it was a grad school entrance exam..."

"Three weeks?" Zhou Chenglong’s eyes bulged as he sat up straight again, "You mean to say... it’s only since Yellow 2’s setback that you decided to come?... Wait a second, Teacher Shen stayed at the launch site for those few days without going home, I see..."

Lin Yujing nodded a bit dejectedly.

"I... my responses weren’t good... so embarrassing, don’t tell her."

"No, no, no!" Zhou Chenglong stood up indignantly, "Your performance was outstanding, you haven’t let Teacher Shen down at all, at least you did better than me back in the day... It’s not your fault, it’s that damn Li Zheng who’s out of line."

"Really!" Lin Yujing’s head shot up, her grievances nearly bringing her to tears, "Grinding through several textbooks a day... who can compete with that!"

"Don’t cry, don’t cry..." Zhou Chenglong hurried to comfort her, "Yu Jing, don’t worry. Everyone in our department is a disciple of Old Shen, if that kid dares to bully you, your brothers will help you sort him out!"

"Hmm!"

"Cheng Long..." Liang Yu swallowed and advised, "Don’t get too worked up..."

"Sister Liang... I can’t help being excited..." Zhou Chenglong said as he hugged his laptop to his chest, glaring at the door, "With their learning abilities, they could be ready in a few months. Right now, to have two great masters willing to help without taking up official spots, Director Chen will freak out if he finds out."

"Wait... we’re being serious here..." Liang Yu swallowed again, "This... it’s hard to get high school students through the process."

"Don’t worry, they’re totally legit," Zhou Chenglong then got up and ran out, "Sister Liang, take care of her for a bit, I’m off to find the director."

"..."