Chapter 90 No Need to Please Anymore
"Yeah, kinda, but not really."
"What's the deal with quasi-crystals?"
"They're these funky crystal structures where the atoms are all jumbled up in a non-repeating, non-periodic symmetrical pattern. Dan Shechtman discovered them and snagged the Nobel Prize in Chemistry back in 2011 for it."
"Oh, gotcha. Wait, did you say Nobel Prize in what now?"
"Chemistry."
"Aren't we supposed to be dealing with a biology grad student today?"
The question was also about physics and chemistry.
"Professor Russell already gave us a heads-up that his questions wouldn't stick to just biology."
"This question's way too tough for an undergrad."
"She nailed the previous questions, just got unlucky catching Professor Russell's eye."
"Is it tough?" Sebastian asked, all chill, "You can always skip it if you want."
Camilla looked up and locked eyes with him. "Got a whiteboard and some markers?"
She thought, 'The key to this question is data support!'
'Gotta back it up with data.'
'Testing those interdisciplinary skills.'
"Yep." Sebastian raised his hand, signaling the staff to get it ready.
In no time, the whiteboard was set up, and she got the marker.
Camilla turned around and scribbled a chemical formula.
Using that formula as a jumping-off point, she broke down the atomic structure of quasi-crystals.
There were two big principles: the icosahedral principle and the golden mean principle.
With these two, you could whip up the simplest quasi-crystal structure model, explaining all the nitty-gritty details of high-res images of Al-Mn quasi-crystals.
That was the chemistry part. Next, she dove into fractal geometry, pattern sequences, correlation measures, and correlation dimensions to crunch the numbers on quasi-crystals.
She dug deeper into pattern sequences, breaking them down into 2nd order, 3rd order, and various higher orders.
That was the math part.
With the whiteboard packed with info, Camilla moved to the next one.
Now, the question hit its core: the physics explanation.
Camilla split it into two chunks: theoretical physics and applied physics.
The first chunk had three big theorems, seven major formulas, and sixteen spin-off sub-theorems.
She didn't just write them out; she set up scenarios with real numbers to prove them. When she couldn't plug in numbers, she straight-up proved them.
Her method was simple and no-nonsense, but it worked.
The applied physics part had even more.
Camilla jotted them all down, and soon, the second whiteboard was full too.
Sebastian signaled for the third whiteboard.
Finally, Camilla wrapped it up with three solid derivation formulas, leaving numerical models for verification, and nailed it.
She put down the marker and looked at Sebastian. "That's my answer."
After a bit, a slight grin crept onto Sebastian's usually serious face. "Thanks for your answer. You can head out now."
Camilla's clenched fist finally relaxed. She gave a polite nod and turned to leave.
One of the other examiners, half-joking, said, "Professor Russell, aren't you being a bit too tough on this student? Even third-year grad students might struggle with that question."
Sebastian, still calm, replied, "Only the best students make you want to push their limits."
Turned out, Camilla had way more potential than he thought.
Outside the exam room, Camilla got a message from Juniper.
A week ago, they had planned to celebrate together after the interview at their go-to spot.
Camilla was about to call a cab when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"Camilla? Is that really you?"
Clara was also there for an interview, scheduled for the afternoon.
She came early to get a feel for the place and calm her nerves, not expecting to bump into Camilla.
"You were..." Clara looked her up and down.
Camilla, cool as ever, replied, "Interview."
"You passed the written exam?" Clara's voice almost cracked with surprise.
"Yep."
"What's your score?"
"412."
"You're the top scorer in our major?!"
Camilla was a bit taken aback. "Really? I didn't check."
"Stop pretending! What's the point?" Clara sneered.
She had only scored 392, just barely making it to the interview, and didn't expect Camilla to do so well.
Camilla felt a bit wronged; she really hadn't checked the rankings.
After getting the interview notification and confirming the time, she hadn't bothered with it.
Usually, the school's official website would list the candidates by their written exam scores, but Camilla had never looked.
"Believe it or not. I got stuff to do, so I'm out." Camilla didn't bother explaining; Clara's thoughts didn't matter to her.
Without Leopold, she didn't need to please his family anymore.
"Wait!" Clara called out.
Camilla turned back, looking curious, "Anything else?"
"Did you just finish the interview?"
"Yeah."
Clara's eyes lit up, "Was it tough? What did they ask? Were there many questions related to our major?"
Camilla raised an eyebrow, "You want me to spill the questions?"
"No need to be so harsh, just sharing some experience. Besides, the questions they asked you might not be the same for me."
"True," Camilla nodded, "Since you know everyone's questions are different, you should understand there's no need to share, right?"
"Plus," Camilla looked at her, emphasizing each word, "we're competitors now. Why would I help you?"
"You!" Clara was momentarily speechless.
In her mind, Camilla was still the woman who would bend over backward to please all of Leopold's relatives and friends.
But in reality, Camilla had long moved on.
Camilla let go so gracefully and left so decisively, but what about Leopold?
He was hospitalized with a stomach ulcer, still hoping she would visit, calling out Camilla even in his coma. In recent months, he had been silent and depressed.
Camilla was really too heartless!
Clara coldly scrutinized her; her outfit was as ordinary as could be, but on Camilla, it looked vibrant and energetic.
Especially her eyes, bright and lively.
Without Leopold, Camilla was still doing just fine!
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
