Chapter 69: Chapter 66: Drug Trial Volunteer (Still owe 1/13 updates)
After assigning the data-summary task to Li Yi and the others, Xu Yun walked to the computer alone and opened up a Penguin group.
This group was not the ’Forehead Protection Association’ he had previously been active in, but a small group named ’Class 2 of Applied Physics, Batch 21.’
As a current PhD candidate, Xu Yun, while pursuing his own degree, was also required by relevant documents to become a teaching assistant for a sophomore class.
The basic income for this TA position was originally 2500 yuan per month, then increased to 2750 in 2017 due to national requirements, comparable to the wages of some small town service employees.
This money is distributed along with research assistant pay and scholarship, totaling around six thousand yuan a month, whereas those in the math department can get up to 8000.
If selected as an outstanding TA, you could also receive a cash bonus of 1200 yuan.
Of course.
Compared to other domestic institutions, Ke Da offers relatively higher benefits.
For example, Jiangcheng University only provides a subsidy of 1835 yuan for PhD students, and there’s no payment during the two summer months. The money comes at the end of September each year.
This results in a situation where the payment comes at the beginning of June, and the next payment isn’t until the end of September.
With an interval of over three months, and having to pay accommodation fees, many people can’t hold on.
So, it’s better to apply for a PhD at Ke Da...
Shifting his gaze back.
The applied physics major that Xu Yun is responsible for belongs to the department of physics, specifically the former department of technical physics, one of the four departments within the Physics College.
The Applied Physics Class 2 has a total of 30 people, 29 males and 1 female, a standard monk class.
The funniest thing is, these clowns actually arranged a joint event with the neighboring electronic information engineering class in their freshman year, with over a hundred guys sitting awkwardly across from each other. Reportedly, the scene was extremely tense at one point.
At the time Xu Yun was opening the Penguin group, certain daily topics were being discussed in the group:
[Hou Siyuan]:"Anyone interested in a part-time job at the car show tomorrow, wearing a costume? The inflatable kind, 240 yuan per day, introduced by a senior."
[Chen Xingyu]:"@Hou Siyuan, Brother Hou, count me in!"
[Dong Nande]:"Spread the news, Siyuan is going to be an inflatable doll!"
[Hou Siyuan]:"@Fu Ming, Mingzai, are you going?"
[Fu Ming]:"Not going, got to write."
[Lian Xianzhi]:"[Sweating emoji], I’ll go. Mingzai, haven’t you given up writing yet? Writing novels is a dead end, you know?"
[Fu Ming]:"You don’t understand. I’ve had an epiphany now. You say it’s tiring, but who the hell isn’t tired? But being able to be tired in front of a computer, how many people envy this? I’ve now decided to write relentlessly until my eyes can’t stay open each day. I’ve thrown everything into this, to be honest, I have nothing left to lose. If I die from exhaustion, so be it, it’s better than dying poor. I’m tired of nitpicking over every little buying decision, I’m going to rise!"
[Lin Kong]:"How many words do you plan to write each day?"
[Fu Ming]:"2000 words!"
[TA Xu Yun]:"..."
Seeing Xu Yun appear, the entire group fell silent for a moment.
What followed was an intense flood of meme images.
The contents of the meme is a panda head holding a sign, with the words "God Xu" photoshopped onto it.
No one knows who created this meme, but it possesses such a tantalizing allure that it was quickly accepted by the class group, serving as the standard cheering expression for Xu Yun’s appearance.
[TA Xu Yun]:"@Proper-Stemmed Ye Guohong @Improper-Stemmed Chang Licheng, are the secretary and class leader here?"
In less than a moment.
Upon hearing Xu Yun’s mention, the other two group members with administrator tags popped up.
[Proper-Stemmed Ye Guohong]and[Improper-Stemmed Chang Licheng]:"Here, here, what’s up, God Xu?"
[TA Xu Yun]:"...Your names... nevermind, just asking, are there a lot of cockroaches in your dormitory?"
As soon as the words were typed, a girl with a purple title of ’Class Flower’ jumped out.
[Tao Caiqun]:"A LOT!!!!!!!!!"
Seven whole exclamation marks, which speaks volumes about how much this person despises cockroaches.
No choice.
As Huaxia’s top institution, Ke Da’s teaching and research strengths need no elaboration.
But contrasting sharply with these two points is Ke Da’s dormitory environment.
Ke Da’s best dormitories are currently concentrated in the Central District, while dormitories in the East District vary greatly:
Some dorm buildings were renovated in 2019, but some buildings still have the ’luxurious features’ of the 1980s.
Like guys finding their shoes suddenly wet while peeing, the sewage pipe suddenly making gurgling noises while squatting, or entering a public bathhouse only to find the showerhead not working for a long time, and when twisting it a rusty stream splashes on the face, situations like these are all too common.
Plus, Ke Da is famous for its campus wildlife, there’s sharp-nosed pit vipers, goral, wild boar, monkeys, all can be seen.
Legend has it that even a brown bear entered the campus in the 1980s. Students like Tian Zhigang, who was studying at the time, even threw apples at it from the fourth floor with his roommates...
Sadly, the brown bear wasn’t Newton; it just ran away shamefully in the end.
With such a variety of biological species and a suitable environment, rampant cockroach infestations in Ke Da aren’t really surprising or unheard of.
Moreover, due to the geographical location of Wan Province, the cockroach species on Ke Da’s campus are diverse as well. In 2016, a giant nine-centimeter-long cockroach was even found.
At this very moment.
In the class group.
With Tao Caiqun’s appearance, some of the previously inactive members gradually emerged.
Apart from the few dirty old men, most members answered Xu Yun’s question, with the answers all being the same:
A lot!
Even though it’s already close to winter, the dormitory buildings still see a flock of cockroaches scuttling around everywhere, creating quite the challenge for normal tolerance levels.
Of course.
This also has to do with the dormitory’s temperature and the students’ eating habits.
Even if a dormitory only has one person who long-term orders takeout, some broth or food is bound to spill, especially near desks.
Over time, the dormitory building becomes a hotspot for cockroach infestations.
Seeing the abundance of positive feedback, Xu Yun smiled slightly and continued typing:
"It’s like this, ha. My biology research group has been working on a new generation of cockroach medicine recently, and now it’s fully developed.
Its effects in the laboratory are quite good, but its actual combat performance still needs further verification.
So I want to use our professional dormitory floor for a test, would you guys be willing to help out?"
Xu Yun and the students of Applied Physics Class 2 have been acquainted for more than a year, and they’ve gotten along quite well, with a good relationship.
In addition to frequently helping categorize some key and difficult points for finals and distributing some seeds, Xu Yun enjoys relatively high popularity and prestige within the class group.
Only to see Fu Ming, who had chimed in earlier, express his willingness, and another group member copy and paste.
The whole group immediately got flooded with countless "+1s."
Seeing this, Xu Yun’s heart settled immediately.
Like a web novel author who received numerous monthly passes, his typing speed also quickened, hitting the keyboard skippingly:
"Good, right. Guohong and Li Cheng, are you at school now? As long as one of you is in?"
[Improper-Stemmed Chang Licheng]:"I’m here, Old Ye went to accompany his girlfriend."
[TA Xu Yun]:"Can you come and take it? I’m at the Medical Center Building, you don’t have access code to get in, tell me via WeChat when you’re downstairs, I’ll bring it down."
[Improper-Stemmed Chang Licheng]:"Okay... Got it, I’ll head over now."
Outside of the computer screen, Xu Yun clapped his hands and smiled at Qiu Sheng:
"Nice, we’ve got volunteers!"
.....