The Dean's Pirate Ship

Lu Zhou arrived at Yuan Haizhou's office.

"Hello, Director."

"Hehe, Lu, please have a seat."

Yuan Haizhou waved his hand, gesturing for Lu Zhou to sit down.

"I called you here for nothing important. Last week, a female student came to me to submit a venue application. Since you are currently conducting your entrepreneurial activities at the school's entrepreneurial space, as the supervisor, I need to regularly understand your situation."

"No problem. What would you like to know, Director?"

"I need to confirm the operation of Dream Valley Technology. Just give me a brief summary."

Lu Zhou looked at Yuan Haizhou, feeling a bit unsure of his intentions, but he still gave him a simple report, "The project is developing well and operating normally. There are thirteen team members, all of whom are Yixian University interns except for me. We expect the monthly revenue in May to be no less than one million."

Initially, Yuan Haizhou appeared calm when he heard the first two sentences, but when the one-million figure came out, his expression changed slightly, although it was not easy to catch.

"This revenue?"

"It's true. During the first week of internal testing, we already reached two hundred thousand, and it's only expected to go higher during normal operation."

"Not bad, young man! Keep up the good work!"

"...Thank you, Director." Lu Zhou was genuinely puzzled by this response.

"Also, the counselor for the sophomore year reported some issues to me. There are several sophomore interns in your Dream Valley Technology, and it has already had some impact on the teaching schedule. You need to make arrangements to handle this properly without affecting the company's operations. After all, you are doing your entrepreneurial activities at the school, and there is still a close relationship with the school in certain situations. You should follow the school's rules and regulations more."

After observing Yuan Haizhou's change in attitude, Lu Zhou suddenly understood. Dream Valley had achieved success, and for the supervisor, Yuan Haizhou, it was also his accomplishment. Lu Zhou couldn't help but evaluate him in his mind, "He's quite shrewd, knowing how to adapt to the circumstances."

"Understood, Director."

Yuan Haizhou looked pleased. He took out a form from his drawer and handed it to Lu Zhou, saying, "You need to fill out the venue application again, and I'll approve it as well. The storage room in the experimental building should suffice. It has an area of more than one hundred square meters, which is the largest space the school can provide."

Lu Zhou couldn't help but find it amusing. Although it couldn't be called flattery, the feeling of being pampered made him think that Yuan Haizhou's face changed faster than a woman's.

During Lu Zhou's time at the school, Yuan Haizhou didn't have any supervisory duties, so naturally, he didn't understand the internal dynamics.

Now Yuan Haizhou was in charge of both employment and entrepreneurship, but these two aspects inherently had some contradictions. This was also the reason why Yuan Haizhou didn't approve of students engaging in entrepreneurship. While the school indeed emphasized support for entrepreneurship, not everyone could succeed in their ventures, and employment rates were a key indicator evaluated every year.

Lu Zhou took the form, filled it out quickly, and handed it back to Yuan Haizhou. As Yuan Haizhou signed and stamped it, he said to Lu Zhou, "Take this form and go find the dean. Any of the deans will do; it's just a formality."

"Okay, thank you, Director."

Lu Zhou took the form and headed towards the office of Dean

Zhang Wenxing. For him, this was the main event of the day.

Upon entering Zhang Wenxing's office, Lu Zhou saw him wearing reading glasses, poring over some documents. Zhang Wenxing noticed Lu Zhou standing at the door and said, "Come in."

"Thank you, Dean."

"Young man, what difficulties have you encountered?"

"Thank you for your concern, Dean. I need your approval for this application."

Zhang Wenxing took the form and glanced at it briefly. "Hehe, the company is running well. One venue per month won't be enough."

"I couldn't have done it without your guidance, Dean. I also have something else to ask for your advice this time."

Hearing Lu Zhou's words, Zhang Wenxing chuckled, "I haven't guided you, but go ahead and tell me."

Lu Zhou pondered for a moment and said, "It's about distributed consensus. I'm planning to work on a project that requires solving this problem."

Zhang Wenxing smiled and said, "Oh? Big data processing? The existing technologies on the market can't solve it?"

"It's not about big data processing. So, we can't use Brother Gu's HDFS to solve it. We need to start from scratch."

"If you already have some ideas, it means you just need to find a suitable algorithm from the existing theoretical ones and develop it. Coming to me won't be of much help."

Lu Zhou chuckled, "Dean, you know that I'm just an undergraduate student. My theoretical level is limited, and I still have a long way to go from applying the theoretical algorithms to practical scenarios."

"Do you want to come back to the school for a master's degree? Hmm... you have a solid foundation, and you have ideas. I was thinking of mentoring you, but currently, I can't take on too many people. You can start preparing for this year's exams, and I'll recommend some experts to you."

"...," Lu Zhou felt embarrassed upon hearing this. He had no intention of returning to the school for further theoretical studies. If he started improving himself now, by the time the Penguin went online at the end of the year, the Dream Valley's boat might have already sailed.

But now, the old dean was offering to recommend mentors for him. He couldn't directly refuse. "Thank you for nurturing me, Dean. I'll start preparing for the exams. However, for my project, the time and situation are quite urgent. So, I was wondering if you could recommend some senior students to help me solve this problem."

"...," Upon hearing this, the old dean looked at Lu Zhou's awkward expression and suddenly realized. He burst into laughter and said, "I can introduce you to some people, but whether they agree or not depends on you. We, computer science researchers, are essentially scientists conducting scientific research. And what's essential for us is a sense of pride. You, a young lad, still have a lot to learn, so it won't be easy to convince senior students to join your venture."

"Thank you, Dean!"

"I'll give you a heads-up later. What field are you looking for? Algorithms, graphics, artificial intelligence, or systems?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhou's mouth started watering. Could he take everything with him?

But in the end, he stated his specific needs, "Algorithms. Currently, the problem that needs urgent solving is in this area."

"Alright. You're running a company targeting the general public, and I'll give you a reminder. When it comes to money, it's an external thing for us researchers. It has its limits, and no matter how much you have, it becomes useless. Scientific research is about reaching new heights. If your company is involved in cutting-edge business and your vision is long-term, then talent will come to you. I won't say much more about it; you need to figure it out yourself."

"Understood. Thank you for your guidance. I'll take my leave now."

"Hmm. Go ahead."

After saying that, Lu Zhou stood up to leave, but just as he got up, Zhang Wenxing called him back, and he had to sit back down.

"Young man."

"Yes."

"Make sure you're prepared for the graduate entrance exams as well. Don't neglect them."

"..."

Lu Zhou lamented in his heart. He had boarded the thief's boat and had no way to get off now.