Chapter 883: Having a Nutty Brother

What was it like to have a brother who was a big name in academia?

Or rather, a brother who was a Nobel Prize laureate as well as a Fields Medalist?

Xiao Tong was probably the only person in this world who could answer this question.

She stared at the email from the reviewer and rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

After double-checking that she read it correctly, she clicked on the email. She carefully read the reviewer’s comments, trying to contain her excitement.

She was obviously surprised.

This was one of the top nine economics journals—Econometrica!

This was like the Annual Mathematics of mathematics or the Physical Review Letters of physics!

Even her mentor, Professor Forster, would have a hard time publishing in this journal. After all, it was difficult to produce research results in macroeconomics.

However, after she submitted the journal three days after Christmas, she received a reply from the reviewer not long after New Year’s Day. This had never happened to her before.

For a newcomer in the world of academia, this was unbelievable!

Normally, reviewing theses was a type of volunteer work. It didn’t really benefit the reviewers.

Especially for well-known scholars who had nothing to gain from reviewing theses. They would only review theses when they had a lot of free time.

Xiao Tong was prepared to wait for six weeks, but instead, she received a reply from the reviewer in the second week.

Xiao Tong looked at the review comments.

[The mathematical model used in the thesis is interesting, but there are some flaws in the theoretical economics part…

[Review comments: Modifications might be needed.]

“… My brother is too strong.”

Xiao Tong’s mouth was wide open, and after a while, she sighed.

This was the fastest thesis review response she had ever received…

She thanked her brother in her heart and gave herself some encouragement.

One day, she was going to be an outstanding scholar.

Just like her brother…

Having a role model was a powerful thing.

With a goal in mind, Xiao Tong didn’t even take a break. She began modifying the thesis based on the reviewer’s comments. She kept the mathematical model unchanged and uploaded the thesis after making some changes.

“This should be fine, right?”

Xiao Tong sighed and took out a graduation application form from her desk. She hesitated for a bit before making up her mind and walking to Professor Forster’s office.

Even though having a reliable brother was a good thing, she still wanted to do some things on her own.

There was one thing she and Lu Zhou had in common.

Which was, they never wanted to bother other people.

Of course, when they encountered something they couldn’t do, they wouldn’t hesitate to ask for help.

However, they would often return the favor.

There was a knock at the door.

Professor Forster stopped writing and looked at the student who walked into his office. He smiled gently and asked cheerfully, “How are you? Have you thought about it?”

It seemed like Ansley didn’t snitch on Xiao Tong. She gave Xiao Tong the chance to tell Professor Forster the bad news.

However, it didn’t really count as snitching…

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After all, Xiao Tong already made up her mind.

Xiao Tong stood in front of Professor Forster’s desk and took a deep breath.

“I’ve already completed my graduation thesis and submitted it to Econometrica.”

Professor Forster was baffled. He didn’t expect Xiao Tong to complete the graduation thesis at all. Forster spoke with his eyes wide open.

“Wait a second… You finished it? Are you sure you did it using my…”

Xiao Tong nodded and looked at Professor Forster.

“I did it using your hypothesis. I used the Bewley model to analyze the macroeconomic impact of welfare policies… But I used an improved model.”

Professor Forster stared at his student, and he suddenly felt a little nauseous.

When he arranged this research project for her, he was hoping that she wouldn’t be able to complete it. He didn’t expect her to actually finish it.

He knew she was going to ask Lu Zhou for mathematics help…

But he was surprised at her economics theory abilities.

“Did you compile the algorithm? Whether it’s Econometrica or other journals, you will have to run the model on your own computer. Are you sure the data you calculated is…”

“I’ve done the calculations,” Xiao Tong said as she interrupted Professor Forster. “I passed the academic review. It’s in peer review now…”

Having to modify the thesis wasn’t a big problem.

The reviewer was obviously interested in her research; otherwise, they wouldn’t have replied so fast.

Professor Forster played around with a pen in his hand and calmed down. He was a little annoyed.

“The review process for Econometrica is very long. It takes at least six weeks. Unless you’re a well-known scholar, you would have to wait for a long time. I’m not saying it’s a bad idea to submit to Econometrica, but why didn’t you ask for my opinion…”

If this were any other student, he would have started to scold them.

But this student was different.

It wasn’t like he was scared of her; he just didn’t want to offend her…

“You don’t have to worry about that…” Xiao Tong hesitated for a bit. She had to tell him the truth sooner or later, so she said, “The corresponding author is Lu Zhou.”

Lu Zhou was the corresponding author.

Lu Zhou certainly counted as a well-known scholar.

But this spot originally belonged to Forster…

The office suddenly had a tense atmosphere.

Professor Forster’s smile disappeared.

“Sorry… I didn’t hear you clearly, what are you saying?”

Xiao Tong: “He’s the corresponding author. After all, he did the mathematical model and algorithm.”

Professor Forster took a deep breath and looked at his student.

“What are you trying to do…”

“I’m not trying to do anything.” Xiao Tong shook her head and said, “That was his request.”

Professor Forster calmed down.

His request…

She obviously meant Professor Lu.

“The thesis is in peer review, and I received a reply from the reviewer this morning and made some minor modifications. The revised thesis should be accepted.” Xiao Tong looked at Professor Forster and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I couldn’t write you down as the corresponding author, but Professor Lu did say that it’s up to me who is first and second author.”

Xiao Tong paused for a second and looked at Professor Forster.

“As long as you let me graduate, I’ll put you down as the first author for my Econometrica thesis… What do you think?”