Awakening Elementary School System in University

The feeling was like encountering a peerless, uncut piece of jade.

Its exterior was rough, but the light emanating from within was enough to leave any expert dazzled.

He even adopted a hypercritical, almost nitpicky perspective, trying to find even the slightest logical flaw in the core derivation process.

But in the end, there was simply nothing to find fault with.

The entire argument and calculation process was utterly complete; one more symbol would be superfluous, while one less step would break the logic.

As a result, Gu Ming found himself being even more cautious when editing this section than he was with his own papers.

While correcting Chen Lin’s amateurish stylistic errors, he had to rack his brain to ensure his revisions preserved one hundred percent of the original mathematical meaning, without the slightest deviation.

’The younger generation is truly formidable...’

Gu Ming mused with sincere admiration. He took off his glasses, rubbed his aching eyes, and leaned back wearily against his chair.

Just then, with a CREAK, the office door was pushed open from the outside.

The visitor had neither knocked nor announced themselves.

The slightly rude act made Gu Ming frown instinctively, but when he got a clear look at the visitor, his brow immediately smoothed over, and a genuine smile even graced his lips.

The man was in his fifties or sixties, his hair more salt than pepper, but he was hale and hearty, with a sharp, spirited gaze.

He wore a slightly worn white shirt and carried a cloth bag holding a thermos. With a warm smile on his face, he looked just like a friendly neighborhood grandpa.

Guo Qizhi, the Director of Yannan University’s School of Mathematics.

He and Gu Ming weren’t just colleagues in a professional hierarchy; they were also close friends, despite the difference in their ages.

Years ago, after Gu Ming had just completed his Ph.D. at Cambridge, he had an opportunity to stay on as a lecturer. But it was Guo Qizhi, then attending an academic conference in the United Kingdom, who convinced him to return to China to build his career. Guo Qizhi even personally introduced him to Principal Chang Kai, which led to the Principal placing great trust and responsibility in Gu Ming.

It was fair to say that Guo Qizhi was both Gu Ming’s senior in academia and the mentor who had guided his career.

"Gu, why’s your phone off? I’ve been trying to call you for ages and couldn’t get through," Guo Qizhi said with a smile the moment he walked in, his tone as familiar as a neighbor popping over for a visit.

"Oh, my apologies, Director Guo." Gu Ming quickly stood up, explaining with some embarrassment, "I’ve been here since this morning reading a paper and got completely engrossed. I forgot to charge my phone last night and didn’t even realize it had died."

He smiled, motioning for Guo Qizhi to take a seat wherever he liked. Leaning back in his own chair, Gu Ming took a sip of coffee from his desk before asking curiously, "Director Guo, are you... back from the academic conference?"

Guo Qizhi didn’t stand on ceremony, making himself at home on the sofa. He twisted open his thermos, took a sip of hot tea, and nodded. "Yes, and it’s killing these old bones of mine. The conference in Europe had just ended when I flew straight to Beijing for another one, without even a chance to get over the jet lag. That one only wrapped up last night, and here I am at the university first thing in the morning."

"Director Guo, you just returned from your meeting in the Imperial Capital. Why aren’t you at home resting? What brings you to campus today?" Gu Ming asked as he stood up to get Guo Qizhi a glass of water from the cooler.

Guo Qizhi waved his hand, motioning for him not to trouble himself. He pulled the thermos from his cloth bag and twisted it open, and a rich, fragrant aroma of tea instantly filled the office.

"I came here today specifically to see you," Guo Qizhi said after taking a sip of his tea, a hint of a mysterious smile on his face.

"To see me?" Gu Ming asked, puzzled.

"Of course." Guo Qizhi set down his thermos and leaned forward slightly. "A while back, Principal Chang sent me a message, didn’t he? Said our department was getting a transfer student from Chinese Language and Literature named Chen Lin, and that he wanted to graduate early. And you were handling it all. I was abroad at the time, so I figured I’d wait until I got back to get the details from you."

Hearing the name "Chen Lin," Gu Ming’s expression instantly turned a little peculiar. He was about to respond, but Guo Qizhi raised a hand, signaling for him to wait.

"Let me finish first."

Guo Qizhi cleared his throat and continued, "So, what happens next? Before I even got back, my daughter forwards me a video. Says a student from our very own Yannan University has gone viral. I click on it and—what do you know—it’s none other than that Chen Lin! Solving a problem at the modeling competition, right in front of Academician Liang Tianshi himself. It was so decisive, so clean. He really did Yannan University proud!"

"And you think that’s the end of the story?" Guo Qizhi’s tone turned dramatic. "Not even close! I fly back from Europe, go straight to the Imperial Capital for the conference, and guess who I bump into? Feng Yunhai from the Imperial Capital International Mathematics Research Center! The moment Old Feng sees me, he pulls me aside and starts raving about Chen Lin all over again. Says the kid was originally handpicked by Academician Liang, who was all set to get him into Yanbei, but Principal Chang swooped in and snatched him up for us!"

Having said all this, Guo Qizhi finally concluded his string of anecdotes.

He looked at Gu Ming, his eyes burning with intensity. "Gu, you’ve been in contact with this kid for a while now. What’s your take on his abilities? If he’s really as amazing as they all say, I have an idea."

He paused, then revealed his main reason for coming. "I want him to participate in the American Competition early next year. We’re on good terms with the School of Software Engineering next door; we can have them send over a programming whiz. We’ll put together an elite team, prepare thoroughly, and try to bring home an Outstanding Winner prize for the university! Win some more glory for our department, and for the university as a whole!"

Guo Qizhi spoke with surging passion, his words filled with bright hopes for the future.

Of course, there was one thing he left unsaid. No one ever complains about having too many accolades. While Shen Yan had already brought home the prestigious "Higher Education Press Cup" for the School of Mathematics with Chen Lin’s help, nabbing the even more valuable Outstanding Winner prize in the American Competition would give the School of Mathematics a much stronger leg to stand on during the year-end academic reviews.

However, to his surprise, after listening to this ambitious plan, Gu Ming’s expression showed not a hint of excitement. Instead, it became rather strange.

Gu Ming hesitated for a moment before speaking slowly. "Director Guo, that idea... might be a little difficult."

"’Difficult?’" Guo Qizhi was taken aback for a second, but then he laughed it off. "No problem, no problem, I get it. He’s only a sophomore, after all, and he came from a literature background. His fundamentals will need some shoring up. We’re not in a rush. We’ll spend a year training him up in the department. By the time the competition rolls around next year, we’ll have plenty of time."

A wry expression appeared on Gu Ming’s face as he listened to this considerate assessment.

Instead of answering directly, he swiveled in his office chair and gestured with his chin toward the computer screen in front of him, saying something that left Guo Qizhi completely baffled.

"Director Guo, don’t just stand there. Come have a look. I’ve got a paper here I’d like you to look over, give me your expert opinion."

"Hm?"

Guo Qizhi paused, unsure what his normally straightforward colleague was up to.

Still, with a mix of skepticism and curiosity, he got up and walked behind the desk.

His gaze fell on the title at the top of the screen, and a soft sound of surprise escaped his lips.

"The high-dimensional Monge-Ampère equation... A problem in differential manifolds. Gu, when did this become your research focus?"

Guo Qizhi asked with great interest, his eyes on the title.

But Gu Ming didn’t answer. He just smiled and repeated, "Director Guo, don’t ask any questions just yet. Read the paper first, then give me your assessment."

Seeing him being so mysterious only stoked Guo Qizhi’s curiosity.

He pushed the reading glasses up the bridge of his nose, turned his gaze back to the screen, and began to read, starting from the very first line of the text and going through it word by word.