Chapter 7 Victor's Silence
Victor read through Lina's paper outline quickly.
According to the review process, he needed to exchange "answer sheets" with Jace, and after each of them read Lina and Kaya's paper outlines, they would give their opinions together.
So, Kaya came to Victor with her paper.
Lina walked nervously to Jace's side and handed him the open notebook:
"Professor Jess, this is my thesis design."
"Yeah." Jace took the notebook. Like Victor just now, he asked Lina:
"May I have your name?"
"Lina."
"What's your last name?"
"I don't have a last name." Lina secretly glanced at Victor beside her, and said with a much more confident tone: "My name is Lina."
"Oh?" Jace understood, "Are you from Zaun?"
"Yes." Lina nodded frankly.
"You really are from Zaun..." Jace looked at her delicate and frail face and couldn't help but praise her, "Student Lina, you don't look like one at all."
Lina: “…”
You don't look like a Zaun—
If it were in the past, she would have thought that this was a compliment from the people of Piltover.
But after reading Li Wei's article, she felt uncomfortable when she heard such praise again .
Jace was oblivious to this.
He just picked up the notebook and reviewed Lina's thesis design step by step.
A moment later...
"Victor, what do you think?" Jace frowned slightly and turned to exchange opinions with Victor.
The final result was finally out, and Lina and Kaya couldn't help but hold their breath nervously.
But Victor's answer was: "They each have their own problems, and it's hard to tell which is better."
"Yeah..." Jace nodded: "I thought so too."
"The two of them had essay outlines of about the same standard, and they were completed at about the same time. It's hard to tell which one is better."
But there is only one member quota for the research team.
"Then?" Miss Kaya asked with concern.
She, Lina, and even Victor all subconsciously looked at Jace.
Because everyone knows that Jess is the leader of the research group and the final decision-making power lies in Jess's hands.
"I think..."
Jace's eyes swept over Lina and Kaya one by one.
The scene was so quiet that one could almost hear the heartbeat.
Those students who had given up the test also looked over with concern.
Finally, Jess gave his answer:
"I think Kaya is more suitable for our research group."
"If no other student can submit an outline design, then she will be the winner this time."
The place was completely silent, and no one came up to the stage again.
Obviously, the winner has been decided.
Lina's face turned pale instantly.
She stammered as if she wanted to say something, but looking at Kaya Firos who was in high spirits beside her, she finally closed her mouth unwillingly.
What is there to say?
If her thesis design is significantly better than Kaya's, then there might still be a glimmer of hope.
Now that the performances of the two are almost the same, is it necessary to think about who Professor Jess will choose?
The eldest lady of Piltover and the country girl of Zaun, everyone knows how to choose.
Not only Lina, but also everyone else present, especially the international students from Zaun, seemed to have anticipated Kaya's victory, and none of them looked surprised.
No one questioned Jace's judgment.
Everyone accepted it naturally.
Only Victor frowned slightly. But he hesitated for a long time, and finally said nothing.
It was Jace who took the initiative to explain his own judgment:
"I chose Kaya mainly because... although her and Lina's paper designs are equally matched, if we have to compare them, I think Lina's design has more flaws."
"She only thought of determining the operating point of the engine and generator based on the optimal brake fuel consumption rate curve of the steam robot, but this operating point only means that the engine has the highest fuel/effective output mechanical power conversion efficiency at this point. For the energy-boosting device discussed in this question, it is usually hoped that the engine and generator will operate at the operating point with the highest fuel-electrical energy conversion efficiency..."
Jace's clear and detailed analysis convinced all the students present.
Unconsciously, those strange looks have become less frequent.
The students were listening to the class attentively, and the subtle atmosphere changed.
Even Lina herself accepted the failure helplessly but wholeheartedly.
She believed that it was because of her lack of strength that Professor Jace made such a judgment.
"Kaya-san...congratulations."
Lina lost her mind and gave in to her mortal enemy.
As for how proud Kaya's smile was, and how she followed Professor Jace in high spirits, leaving the classroom with her new teacher...
Lina no longer had the energy to look.
She just sat dejectedly under the podium, constantly reflecting on her previous mistakes.
If she had thought more carefully and not made the mistake pointed out by Professor Jace... maybe, maybe she still had a chance... but why didn't she think about it!
"Don't blame yourself too much, Lina-san."
Suddenly, a deep male voice sounded in my ears.
Lina looked up and saw Victor leaning on a cane:
"Professor Victor, you...you haven't left yet?"
"I left, but I'm back." Victor put down his cane and slowly sat down in front of her: "To tell you something. I think you should know this."
"What's up?"
"This failure is not your fault." Victor said in a complicated tone, "Although the mistakes Jayce pointed out to you do exist."
"But there are also errors of the same degree in Kaya's thesis design."
"Her experimental design for optimizing strategies to reduce engine transient conditions can be described as a complete disaster... If we must compare design flaws, I don't think yours is necessarily worse."
“This…” Lina’s body was shaking slightly.
Although Victor said it very subtly, she still heard it:
Her thesis design is no worse than Kaya's!
She didn't lose...at least, not in terms of strength.
"Then why did Professor Jace..." Lina hesitated. She still didn't dare to say it. It was useless to say it.
But Victor said it for her in a pointed way:
"Jace is a pure scientist and a fair and good man."
"But...he grew up in Piltover after all."
Victor sighed helplessly and stopped there.
The Jace Tallis he knew was certainly not the kind of man who would give up his principles in order to curry favor with the powerful.
At least not now.
Jace definitely didn't choose Kaya because of the reputation of the Ferros family, but because of his business dealings with the Ferros family.
But... for some reason, he subconsciously excluded Lina.
And this reason is something that Jace himself could not understand at all.
But Viktor knew it—he had experienced it many times over the years he had worked with Jayce.
"It's because..." Lina realized something unwillingly: "Am I from Zaun?"
"I'm sorry." Victor was a little reluctant.
After receiving this answer, Lina's face turned even paler.
She was in a daze for a long time, but finally she tried to cheer herself up:
"Professor Victor, you have nothing to be sorry about...I should be the one thanking you."
"Thank you..." Victor was silent.
What is there to thank him for?
He could have questioned Jace's decision before, but he said nothing.
Why? In their daily scientific research, he and Jace often had disagreements.
Why don’t you dare to speak at this time?
Because...
"I am still the same Zaun... It has been more than ten years, and it is still the same."
The people of Zuan are used to silence.
Victor's expression gradually changed.
His eyes were quietly determined, his hands tightly grasped his cane, and he slowly stood up, supporting his frail body.
"Lina-san, please give me your notebook."
"Huh?" Lina raised her head unexpectedly .
"I will bring it back and discuss the research with everyone in the research group." Victor promised firmly: "As long as everyone recognizes your ability, perhaps I can get an extra place for you."
Lina's eyes lit up when she heard this.
She immediately hurriedly took out the notebook and handed it solemnly to Victor.
"Professor Victor, thank you..." She was a little incoherent: "Thank you!"
This time, Victor accepted Lina's thanks calmly.
He carefully placed the notebook in his arms, said goodbye to her with his cane, and turned to leave.
Lina looked at his back with gratitude, watching Victor gradually go away.
"Hey, wait..." But after the excitement, she finally realized something:
"That notebook!"
When she handed the notebook to Viktor and Jace for review, she would open the notebook to the paper outline page in advance and hand it in when she was ready. So the two professors only saw what she wrote.
But that notebook contained more than just the paper outline.
At the beginning of the notebook, there was also Levi's article - "Zuan , Where Did It Come From"
"If the professors see this article..."
Lina was anxious again:
"It should be alright, right?"
