Cornerstone

"We're at the yearly graduation season again, huh?" Zuo Cidian held up his tea cup, drank half, and sighed deeply. When he was under Ling Ran, he was only forty-two years old. However, he now felt as if he was forty-five years old.

If a person was over forty-five years old, that person was no longer considered young. 

Next, he could not apply for the Thousand Talent Program, Ten Thousand Talent Program, Chang Jiang Scholars Program, the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars, or the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, anymore. People who were no longer young and who were forty-five years of age can only compete with in the Innovative 1000 Talents plan, Yangtze River scholars, and other titles, which would be much more difficult.