A genius? I just love studying.

Chapter 198 New Year's Eve, Returning to School, Professor Chen's First Lecture
Monday morning,
The main playground of Rongcheng No. 2 Middle School
All the teachers and students gathered on the main playground, watching the flag slowly rise on the rostrum in the cold wind. They sang the national anthem along with the loudspeaker. The principals standing on the rostrum also looked at the flag and sang the song with solemn expressions.

After the flag-raising ceremony ended and he said a few words, Zhao Defeng finally spoke up, "Today, we have invited your senior, Chen Hui, who has now graduated with a PhD in Mathematics from Jiangcheng University and become a professor at Jiangcheng University, to share his learning experience with you."

"Now, let's give a round of applause to..."

"professor?"

Li Hai, standing in the crowd, stared wide-eyed. The students of Class 7 had already seen Chen Hui sitting on the stage, and they had roughly anticipated what would happen, but when Zhao Defeng introduced Chen Hui as a professor at Jiangcheng University, their hearts were still filled with shock.

A commotion broke out on the playground. The students of Rongcheng No. 2 Middle School had all heard of Chen Hui's deeds to some extent. Many of the first-year students even came specifically because of Chen Hui. Now that they heard that their idol had done something big, they couldn't help but get excited.

They're still in high school, while their classmates are already professors?

"Hey Lao Liang, you'll never catch up to that speed in your lifetime, right?"

"If you ask me, nothing in this world is difficult if you are willing to give up."

Li Hai turned to Liang Peixuan beside him and said.

Liang Peixuan completely ignored the guy, and instead looked at Chen Hui, who was slowly walking towards the podium, with his eyes slightly narrowed.

Is it true that one who remains silent until the moment of truth is astonishing?

He knew from the moment he saw Chen Hui that this guy was destined for great things, but he never expected his old friend to leave so quickly. Just like Li Hai said, he was afraid he would never catch up with his old friend in this lifetime.

However, he was not discouraged. Although he could not catch up with his old friend, he had already overcome himself and was very confident in next year's math competition!
"Hello everyone!"

Chen Hui didn't bring a speech draft; with his memory, he didn't need it at all.

"Standing here today, I smell a familiar scent; it's the fragrance of wintersweet."

“A year ago, I was standing in the third row. At that time, Principal Zhao was talking non-stop on the podium, while I was still thinking about a trigonometric function problem. I never thought that I would be standing here.”

After Chen Hui spoke, the playground quickly fell silent. With just one sentence, he successfully resonated with the students.

"As my classmates in Class 7 know, I have never been a genius, so all my achievements today are the result of my own hard work and step-by-step struggle."

Many students nodded in agreement, having witnessed how hard Chen Hui studied.

"You might think that I'm standing here today to tell you that diligence can make up for lack of talent and that hard work pays off."

"Then you may be disappointed."

Chen Hui paused.

Zhao Defeng on the podium, however, was a little flustered.

Trusting Chen Hui, he hadn't confirmed the speech with Chen Hui. Now, he was a little worried that Chen Hui would mess things up with him, and he wouldn't be able to explain it to Chen Hui.

"Diligence is a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation, but if you work hard in the wrong direction, you will not only fail to achieve the desired results, but may also backfire and achieve half the result with twice the effort. Therefore, everyone should work hard, but first of all, you should find the right direction."

Hearing this, Zhao Defeng felt half relieved.

"So what is the right direction?"

"My answer is that what interests you is the right direction, and only in a direction that interests you can you endure the loneliness that ordinary people cannot bear and persist for decades..."

……

The 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Lunar New Year's Eve.

Because of the difference between the lunar calendar's major and minor New Year's Days, the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month automatically becomes Lunar New Year's Eve, being the last day of the year.

As the twilight of New Year's Eve painted the city skyline red, Chen Hui and his uncle stood in the kitchen kneading glutinous rice flour. The glutinous rice flour bought from the supermarket needed to be soaked in advance. His aunt poured warm water into a stainless steel basin and stirred it into a whirlpool. Qingshan stood on tiptoe by the countertop, watching his aunt prepare the tofu and pork filling with lard. The aroma mixed with the steam rose in the roar of the range hood.

"Brother, doesn't my glutinous rice ball look like an alien spaceship?" Rui Rui held up a crooked dough ball, used a raisin as a porthole, and flew through the air to Chen Hui's eyes.

Chen Hui, clutching the "solid cannonball" that he had taken the bag from, dodged Rui Rui's barrage and successfully transported it to the pot. There were already four glutinous rice balls cooking in the pot, their skins cracked open to reveal dark brown sugar. Qingshan loved sweet glutinous rice balls, something Li Qingrui couldn't understand; she always thought savory glutinous rice balls were the most delicious thing in the world.

My aunt smiled as she added water to the pot. Amidst the rising steam, the aroma of glutinous rice balls wafted from the pot, mingling with the music from the Spring Festival Gala trailer playing in the living room.

For people in the south, the New Year's Eve dinner is often very lavish. Tangyuan (sweet rice balls) are usually served as breakfast on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year. Some people will also choose a few tangyuan and wrap a clean coin inside, so that whoever finds it will have good luck.

Rui Rui used to love Chinese New Year the most because it meant she could eat delicious food.

However, now that they can eat delicious food every day, they temporarily changed their New Year's Eve dinner to glutinous rice balls.

There's no other reason than that everyone hasn't had tangyuan (sweet rice balls) in a long time and wants to eat them.

Soon, the glutinous rice balls were cooked. The group of five went to the living room, sat in front of the TV with the rice balls, and watched the increasingly boring Spring Festival Gala.

Many people think the Spring Festival Gala has become boring because people have so many entertainment options nowadays, such as singing, dancing, and skits, so they've become immune to it.

But it's impossible to explain why those old sketches still receive thunderous applause even now.

Criticisms such as being superficial and forcing a family-friendly approach, while reasonable, fail to address the root of the problem.

The fundamental reason may be that artists are out of touch with the masses.

Whether they are screenwriters or actors, they have no idea what the masses like to see and hear.

Even Rui Rui and Qing Shan lost interest after watching for a while, and were having a great time playing with the building blocks that Chen Hui bought for them. This set of building blocks can be used to assemble wind power generation modules, solar cars and other interesting toys. The two little ones were completely fascinated the moment they got their hands on it.

Only my uncle and aunt were sitting on the sofa, watching the Spring Festival Gala, and they were watching it very attentively.

After watching the Spring Festival Gala with his uncle and aunt for a while, Chen Hui went to the balcony to continue his research.

Fan Rong leaned against her husband, feeling more relaxed than ever before. At this moment, they could finally put aside all other concerns and fully immerse themselves in the revelry.

"How many years has it been since we last watched the Spring Festival Gala?"

She whispered in her husband's ear.

Li Tianhua, however, looked at Chen Hui, who was studying on the balcony.

After hesitating for a moment, he stepped over to Chen Hui's side and said, "Still studying today? Take a break."

"Uncle, you don't need to worry about me. Studying is my way of resting."

Chen Hui smiled brightly. This feeling might resonate with those teenagers addicted to online games. When they see the attributes of the character they control gradually improve, such a game can indeed be addictive.

Li Tianhua suddenly realized what was happening and didn't try to persuade him any further.

As the clock struck midnight, firecrackers went off all over the city.

Chen Hui didn't know why he could hear such noises in a city where fireworks and firecrackers were banned, but at that moment, the festive atmosphere of the New Year pierced through the steel and concrete and enveloped them.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, early in the morning, Chen Hui ate a bowl of sweet fermented rice balls, then picked up his gifts and went out.
The once congested roads of the High-tech Zone were now mostly empty, with only a few large and small vehicles on the road.

But people who make money don't care about the time of day. They didn't have the concept of celebrating the New Year in the past, so Chen Hui easily hailed a taxi.

Our first stop was Teacher An's house.
Chen Hui had just gotten out of the ride-hailing car when he saw An Chengzhang standing at the entrance of the residential compound.

"Teacher An."

Chen Hui quickly stepped forward. He had indeed contacted her in advance, but that was only to confirm whether Teacher An was home. He hadn't expected Teacher An to be there to greet him at the entrance of the residential area. "Come on, let's go inside and sit down."

An Chengzhang smiled and waved, "Look at you, you came all this way, and you even brought something with you."

When Chen Hui received the item from his teacher, he noticed that the teacher's hand was icy cold, indicating that he had been waiting there for quite some time.

"There's nothing expensive, just some milk and nuts."

Chen Hui followed Teacher An into the residential area, and after several twists and turns, they went upstairs and arrived at room 904.

The door was ajar. An Chengzhang opened it and went in first. A woman came to greet him from the sofa, where a boy and a girl were sitting. Chen Hui hadn't known this beforehand, otherwise he would have bought some more snacks.

Happy New Year, Madam Teacher.

Chen Hui was the first to greet them.

"Happy New Year."

The woman responded with a smile, gesturing for Chen Hui to sit down on the sofa, "Come, come, have some fruit."

"What are your plans next...?"

An Chengzhang looked at the little guy and, although less than half a year had passed, he could still feel the tremendous changes.

"Continue studying mathematics, and stay at Jiangcheng University to teach for now..."

Chen Hui chatted familiarly with Teacher An.

After sitting on the sofa for a while, Chen Hui took out a pen from his pocket and handed it to An Chengzhang. "This was given to me by the president of the European Mathematical Society, Bourguignon, at the European Mathematical Congress. I'm giving it to you now, teacher."

An Chengzhang was stunned for a moment, then a glint of light flashed in his eyes. After hesitating for a moment, he took it.

It's not expensive, but it's very meaningful.

"The teacher doesn't have anything good to give you."

An Chengzhang patted Chen Hui on the shoulder, "I wish you a bright future in mathematics!"

"Thank you, teacher!"

Chen Hui smiled and nodded, "I will!"

After leaving Teacher An's house, Chen Hui went to Zhao Defeng's house, then to Li Hai and Liang Peixuan's house. After having dinner with his two good friends outside, he returned home at 6 p.m.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Hui's uncle and aunt took him and the two children back to their hometown. The two children still have a deep affection for their relatives in their hometown. If it weren't for the relatives in their hometown lending them money back then, they wouldn't have made it this far.

Although there were some unpleasantness later on because he couldn't repay the money in time, Li Tianhua didn't utter a single complaint about the relatives who lent him the money.

Chen Hui and his group's return to their hometown caused quite a stir, even alarming the village chief. Upon seeing Chen Hui and his group, the chief set off firecrackers at the village entrance for several minutes. Many villagers also gathered at the village entrance, saying they wanted to absorb some of the Wenquxing's (the star of literature) talent.

Many parents brought their children and pointed at Chen Hui, constantly lecturing the little ones.

They didn't stay long in their hometown and returned to Chengdu that very evening.

For the next few days, Chen Hui didn't go out. He occasionally played with building blocks with Rui Rui and Qing Shan at home, but most of the time he was studying the Yang-Mills equation and the Navier-Stokes equation. He also had some ideas about computer-aided material design methods and planned to organize them after the New Year and contact Schultz.

Joyful times are always fleeting, and the Lantern Festival passed in the blink of an eye.

Chen Hui boarded the high-speed train to Jiangcheng with his luggage.

After returning to his dorm, Chen Hui found that Li Zehan and the others had not yet returned to school. After packing his things and locking the dorm door, Chen Hui could say goodbye to his student days for good.

I was tidying up in my small office when there was a knock on the door.

"Happy New Year! You're back so soon?"

When the door opened, Wang Qiming stood at the doorway with a broad smile.

"Happy New Year."

How was your New Year?

"pretty good."

"After the New Year, you'll be a professor. So, are you ready?"

What preparations need to be made?

"Of course it's class!"

Chen Hui was stunned. He wanted to ask to skip class, but when he thought about his annual salary of 300,000 yuan, he felt embarrassed to say it. Sure enough, he was too soft-hearted to accept money from others.

His time is very precious; he doesn't even have enough to practice his skills, so he's reluctant to waste it on classes.

"I suggest you take some classes."

At this moment, Yuan Xinyi also walked over from the side, saying, "Occasionally reviewing simple questions might give us new inspiration for some problems."

Chen Hui's office is also in the School of Mathematics, not far from Yuan Xinyi's office.

“I usually have to attend classes, and several of the inspirations for that paper proving the Langlands Programme came to me suddenly during class.”

Yuan Xinyi shared, "Of course, if you reach a critical moment in your research and can't find the time, you can ask your graduate or doctoral students to teach for you. If you don't have any students yet, you can come to me to borrow some."

"Don't worry, you won't be scheduled too many courses in the first semester. Just one course, about three or four classes a week."

Wang Qiming said with a smile, "You can communicate with me anytime if you have any questions."

"no problem."

Chen Hui breathed a sigh of relief. If that was the case, he could accept it. Since even his teacher suggested it, he really wanted to give it a try.

"I'll send you the course schedule later. There are still a few days before classes officially start, so get ready!"

Wang Qiming gave Chen Hui a encouraging look before turning and walking away.

"Teacher, please wait."

As Chen Hui spoke, he turned around and took out a jar of Pixian Doubanjiang (Pixian chili bean paste) and a box of Emei Zhuyeqing (Emei bamboo leaf green tea) from his suitcase and handed them to Yuan Xinyi, saying, "These are some local specialties I brought for you, teacher."

Pixian Doubanjiang (Pixian chili bean paste) is quite famous in Chengdu. Chen Hui usually uses it in his cooking. Teacher Yuan is from Jiangcheng, and her taste is not much different from that of Chengdu, so she should like it too.

Yuan Xinyi looked at the gift Chen Hui gave him, feeling both amused and exasperated. "You're the first student to give me a gift."

"He was also the first student to give me fermented soybean paste."

"Try it when you get back. If you want more, I'll have my uncle send it over," Chen Hui said with a smile.

"Oh?"

Seeing Chen Hui's confident demeanor, Yuan Xinyi also reached out and accepted the gift, saying, "Then I'll have to go back and give it a try!"

(End of this chapter)