They're already in university, and the primary school system is only just starting out?

Sun Yu checked and saw that the phone case had been shipped and was expected to arrive tomorrow morning.

He was bored out of his mind, his finger unconsciously swiping across the recommendation page of the Xianyu app.

Just then, the title of a product link suddenly came into his view.

One-on-one math consultation

"Consultation?" Sun Yu was taken aback.

He wasn't surprised. When he was an undergraduate, there were a few assignments he couldn't understand, so he found graduate students on Xianyu (a Chinese online marketplace) to tutor him one-on-one.

After that, big data algorithms would occasionally push services to him such as "math homework tutoring" or "one-on-one advanced mathematics tutoring".

But this "consultation" seems to be the first time I've seen it.

As if possessed, he clicked on it.

There are two product images: one of an admission notice and the other of a transcript.

Sun Yu first clicked on the large image of the admission notice, and when he saw the few gold-embossed characters at the top, his pupils shrank slightly.

"Yannan University".

The student's name was deliberately crossed out, but the small print below was clearly visible: "Approved for admission to the Mathematics and Applied Mathematics major of the School of Mathematical Sciences of our university."

He then opened a screenshot of the second transcript.

Following a long list of major courses was a row of scores: "95", "98", "99"...

"hiss--"

Sun Yu couldn't help but gasp.

Yannan University has a considerable reputation in the country.

Although it is not a world-renowned university like Tsinghua, Peking, Fudan, or Shanghai Jiao Tong, nor is it a member of the C9 League, its qualifications speak for themselves.

First, they are among the earliest universities established in China, truly century-old prestigious universities; second, they are genuine "985", "211", and "Double First-Class" universities.

More importantly, Yenching University's mathematics department is one of the university's flagship programs.

Although Sun Yu attended non-elite universities for both his undergraduate and graduate studies and was basically a slacker during his school years, he always had a few high-achieving classmates in his circle.

He had overheard those people talking about how Yenching University's overall mathematical strength was consistently among the top ten in the country, even surpassing the rankings of two or three C9 universities.

It is said that in the past two years, a big shot who has been teaching at a top European university for many years has joined the company, and his strength is unfathomable.

If this picture isn't photoshopped, then the shop owner across the street is truly a chosen one!

With a hint of awe, Sun Yu slowly lowered his gaze to the product description.

Still struggling with incomprehensible math homework? Still feeling overwhelmed by complex project models?

Here, all mathematical problems will be easily solved.

What a boastful tone!

Sun Yu muttered to himself and continued reading.

Service 1: Homework Tutoring

[Final answer only: 20 yuan per question.]

[Detailed solution provided (handwritten photo/electronic version): 100 RMB/question.]

[Note: Difficulty level is not limited, ranging from postgraduate-level assignments to elementary school math olympiads. Prices are uniform, and integrity is our foundation.]

At this point, Sun Yu still thought it was a bit outrageous. No difficulty limit, but a uniform price? This person is too arrogant.

But when he saw the pricing for Service Two, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Service Two: Project Consultation

[We provide comprehensive mathematics-related solutions or core algorithm support for graduation projects, mathematical modeling, research projects, and engineering challenges.]

[Price: 888 yuan/hour; a discounted package price of 2000 yuan is available for a three-hour purchase.]

[Note: My time is valuable, consultations require advance appointments. Serious inquiries only.]

"hiss--"

Sun Yu took another deep breath, this time forgetting to even eat the takeout food.

888 per hour!

He quickly did a mental calculation of his meager salary. After deducting social insurance, housing fund, and various other miscellaneous expenses, his hourly wage was roughly... roughly only 5% of that price.

For a moment, Sun Yu was caught in a dilemma.

Reason told him that this was 99% a scam.

For a second-year undergraduate student, no matter how talented, to charge such an exorbitant consulting fee is simply insane.

But his current situation gave rise to a sliver of unwarranted fantasy.

What if?

What if he's not a fraud? What if he really has that ability?

If he can really get rid of this hot potato in his hands, let alone two thousand yuan, even if it's a little more, as long as it satisfies the team leader and allows him to be officially hired, it's all worth it!

So what if you pay to work? There are plenty of people who want to pay but can't find a place to do it.

Let's try anything, even if it seems hopeless!

Finally, Sun Yu gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

Let's make contact first and test the waters!

As a graduate student majoring in mathematics, I do have basic discernment skills.

If the person on the other end is a scammer who uses AI tools to piece together concoctions and fool laymen, you can expose their true colors in just a few words.

With that in mind, Sun Yu no longer hesitated and clicked the familiar "Chat" button on the product page, entering the private chat interface with the store owner.

He took a deep breath and sent a message.

Sun Yu: [Are you there? I'd like to know more.]

Almost the next second after he sent the message, the other party replied, so quickly that he thought it was an automatic system response.

Seller: [Yes. Are you a homework tutor or a project consultant?]

Sun Yu was slightly taken aback, and quickly typed.

Sun Yu: [I do have a design plan for an engineering project that's stuck on a verification calculation, requiring a new algorithm model.]

Sun Yu: [However, this price isn't a small amount. Could I give you a couple of questions to test your skills first?]

After sending that message, he was already prepared to be rejected or mocked.

However, the response from the other side was still very quick.

Seller: [If you were to provide the questions, the price would be based on homework tutoring. Providing only the final answer is 20, providing the steps is 100.]

Sure enough. Sun Yu's heart skipped a beat. He was about to argue that he was just testing and it didn't count as placing a formal order.

Before he could finish typing, another message popped up on the other end.

Seller: [But considering you're our first customer, I'll give you a special opening discount. There are only two questions.]

Upon seeing this message, Sun Yu felt a surge of joy, realizing he had gotten a good deal, and quickly replied.

Sun Yu: [Okay, okay, just a moment!]

He immediately put his phone aside and opened the DS chat window on his computer.

He thought for a moment and typed a command in the dialog box: "Give me a numerical analysis problem, at the level of an upper undergraduate student, mainly using numerical integration."

After waiting for about thirty seconds, DS completed generating the questions.

【Problem: Calculate a definite integral: ∫[0,π] sin(x) dx.

We know that the exact solution to this integral is 2.

Please use the numerical integration methods specified below to calculate an approximation of the integral, and calculate the absolute error between the approximation obtained by each method and the accurate value:

1. Composite trapezoidal rule: Divide the integration interval [0, π] into n=4 subintervals (i.e., use 5 nodes).

2. Composite Simpson's formula: Similarly, the integration interval [0, π] is divided into n=4 subintervals (using 5 nodes).

Sun Yu nodded in satisfaction; this problem was suitable. The calculation itself wasn't complicated, but the steps were tedious, and the formulas were easy to confuse, making it a good test of basic skills.

He copied and pasted the question and sent it to the shop owner across the street via Xianyu (a second-hand marketplace app).

Meanwhile, in order to establish a benchmark, Sun Yu opened a new DS dialog window, threw in the same question, and let the AI ​​start solving it.

AI is indeed convenient; he only needs to wait for DS to calculate the result and then check if there are any errors caused by hallucinations.

He leaned back in his chair, pondering his next move.

If the other person's problem-solving speed is similar to that of DS, then I'll just block them and not waste any more time.

It's not that he definitely cheated using AI, but he's unwilling to take any risks at such an expensive price.

If the other side is much slower, it's more likely that a real person is calculating by hand.

I would be willing to have a video chat with him. He did well in a few courses during his undergraduate studies, and through the conversation, I can roughly judge his true level.

As for being faster than AI....

What a joke.

Even the most brilliant genius, how could they possibly be faster than AI on such purely computational, undergraduate-level problems with fixed steps?

He glanced at the computer screen. In the DS dialog box, the cursor was blinking, displaying "Thinking," and 45 seconds had passed.

He glanced at his phone again; the chat interface was silent, and there was still no reply from the other end.

Just then, a picture was sent from the other side.

So fast?

Sun Yu was startled and subconsciously thought, "He probably wants to show me the calculation process in the middle so that he can prove that he did it himself."

Thinking this, he casually clicked on the picture.