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

Jiangsu Province, a water town, a key high school.

As the school bell rang, Liang Xiaodong walked out of the classroom with his head held high.

Today he finally got to hold his head high.

First, thanks to that salted fish seller, he handed in the math surprise test paper to the math class representative first, amidst the surprised looks of his classmates, after the first class in the afternoon.

Then, in the last class, the Chinese teacher praised him highly for getting 57 out of 60 points on his essay in the monthly exam, and spent half the class analyzing why his essay "My Academician Grandfather" was so well-written.

While several students who usually performed well were still hesitant and afraid to hand in their papers to the math teacher standing at the classroom door, Liang Xiaodong glanced at his classmates with schadenfreude before leaving the classroom and headed straight for an internet cafe two streets away from the school.

He had originally planned to play a couple of games of Valorant, but then he thought that he seemed to have divine assistance today, so he decided to reward himself by playing a few games of CS:GO.

Then, an hour later, Liang Xiaodong quietly logged out of the game.

"How come all the money I saved up from playing cards for a month was used up in just one hour of playing GO?"

He muttered as he turned off the computer, took out his phone and glanced at the time—6:30.

I hope Mom doesn't leave work on time today, or I'll get scolded again.

……

In a villa area of ​​the Shuixiang City Industrial Park.

Liang Xiaodong quietly opened the door, preparing to go straight upstairs to his room.

"Liang Xiaodong!"

A loud roar from a shrew made him pause.

He turned his head and saw his mother, Wang Huiru, sitting on the sofa with her arms crossed, looking rather unwell.

"Mom..." Liang Xiaodong instinctively felt a little panicked.

But upon closer reflection, he realized he hadn't done anything wrong that day.

You don't need an ID card to go to an illegal internet cafe, and when I went there, no one was smoking, and I didn't smell of smoke on me.

He was even praised by his teacher at school, as he was the first to hand in his math test.

Thinking of this, he regained his confidence.

"Where did you go? Why are you back so late?" Wang Huiru asked, squinting her eyes.

"I was playing basketball with my classmates at school," Liang Xiaodong lied without batting an eye. "I was in a good mood today, so I played a little longer."

"In a good mood?" Wang Huiru sneered, "Because you were the first to hand in your math test?"

Liang Xiaodong was startled, but quickly calmed down.

He has already uninstalled the Xianyu app, and with his mother's level of expertise, there's definitely no way she could find out.

"Yes!" he said, feigning pride. "I was the first in the class to hand in my paper today!"

"Do you know how many points you got on the test?" Wang Huiru stood up and approached her step by step.

Liang Xiaodong subconsciously took a step back: "How...how much?"

"You only got one fill-in-the-blank question wrong and the last part of the last big question," Wang Huiru's voice carried a dangerous undertone. "You scored less than 100 on your last monthly math exam, and suddenly you know it all?"

"That's because I've been studying hard lately!" Liang Xiaodong tried to argue, forcing a smile.

"Study hard? "Study hard to the point of playing video games all day? Study hard to the point of copying your homework?" Wang Huiru sneered.

She suddenly raised her voice: "Tell me! Did you use AI?"

This coincided with Liang Xiaodong's preparations.

"I didn't use AI!" Liang Xiaodong said confidently. "Mom, if you don't believe me, you can have the teacher take a picture of my test paper and send it to me. You can try doing the questions with AI, and the solutions to the big questions will definitely be different from mine!"

After saying this, Liang Xiaodong secretly rejoiced.

Fortunately, the seller I found at noon was a true math genius. Not only did he solve problems incredibly quickly, but his solutions to several challenging problems were also different from the so-called orthodox and conventional solutions taught by teachers, and were much simpler and more elegant.

Just to be on the safe side, I also tested two more challenging questions with AI, and the solutions I used were indeed different from those of the seller.

After hearing her son's words, Wang Huiru wavered and couldn't make up her mind.

But considering that Liang Xiaodong is usually so playful and his worst subject is math, how could he suddenly have a breakthrough?

"Enough with the nonsense!" she snapped, making a move to strike. "Just hit me first!"

Seeing that things were not going well, Liang Xiaodong turned and ran.

Just at this critical moment, the door opened again.

An elderly man, leaning on a cane but with an upright posture and vigorous spirit, walked in.

"Grandpa, help me!"

Liang Xiaodong was overjoyed, as if he had seen a savior, and quickly hid behind his grandfather.

"What's wrong?" Liang Tianshi put down his cane, looked at his angry daughter-in-law, and then at his beloved grandson hiding behind him.

"Dad, don't worry about it!" Wang Huiru was still angry. "That kid is definitely up to something again!"

Liang Tianshi is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is known for his rigorous scholarship and is highly respected in the academic community. He is also very authoritative at home.

But he was especially protective of his precious grandson, treating him like a precious gem, afraid of him falling if he were held in his hands or melting if he were kept in his mouth.

"The child is still young, don't be too harsh on him," Liang Tianshi said calmly, his tone gentle yet carrying an undeniable authority.

Wang Huiru opened her mouth, but ultimately didn't dare to say anything more.

"Where's Liang Qing? Why hasn't he come back yet?" Liang Tianshi asked.

"Working overtime," Wang Huiru said irritably.

"Hmph, fathers don't care about their children at all." Liang Tianshi shook his head, then turned to Liang Xiaodong, "Come on, Grandpa will take you out to eat."

"Long live Grandpa!" Liang Xiaodong cheered.

Wang Huiru wanted to say something more, but seeing her father-in-law's uncompromising expression, she could only sigh helplessly.

……

Liang Tianshi's car is a low-key black Audi A6.

Although with his status and position, he could easily afford a better car, the old man has always disliked ostentation.

Inside the car, the grandfather and grandson sat together in the back seat. Liang Tianshi asked gently, "Xiaodong, what did you do to upset your mother this time?"

Liang Xiaodong has a very close relationship with his grandfather and has no inhibitions in front of him.

"Grandpa, let me tell you, I did really well today!" He boasted, "My essay, 'My Academician Grandpa,' got 57 points! The full score is only 60!"

"Oh?" Liang Tianshi was amused. "What did you write? Tell me."

"I'll write about you, sir!" Liang Xiaodong said proudly. "I'll write about how you conducted scientific research, how you brought glory to the country, how you nurtured countless talents... Even the language arts teachers said it was deeply moving!"

"You little rascal!" Liang Tianshi laughed heartily, "I guess I didn't spoil you for nothing!"

After laughing, Liang Xiaodong recounted the whole story about the math test.

This includes how I found the seller on Xianyu (a second-hand marketplace), how the seller quickly solved the fill-in-the-blank questions, and how the solutions to several major questions were different from what the teacher taught.

After listening, Liang Tianshi did not blame him, but instead fell into deep thought.

After a long while, he finally spoke: "Xiaodong, could you show Grandpa the solution to the big problem the seller gave you?"

"Sure!" Liang Xiaodong quickly took out his phone and searched through the "Recently Deleted" section of his photo album. "I had deleted them all, but they can still be recovered."

He quickly found the photos and handed them to his grandfather.

Liang Tianshi took out his reading glasses from his jacket pocket, carefully put them on, and then took the phone.

The car quieted down, with only the faint sound of the engine.

Liang Xiaodong could vaguely sense it.

The highly respected academician beside me, though his expression remained calm, occasionally showed signs of breathing fluctuation.

"Interesting..." Liang Tianshi muttered to himself, "Indeed, quite interesting..."

He looked at the solutions to those problems repeatedly, zooming in and out on the screen with his finger, afraid of missing any detail.

It took him a full five minutes to return the phone to Liang Xiaodong.

"Grandpa, what's wrong?" Liang Xiaodong asked curiously.

Liang Tianshi did not answer directly, but instead revealed a mysterious smile.

"Let me put it this way," Liang Tianshi carefully chose his words, "there are a few problems here that others could actually come up with. But the second-to-last problem, the method he used..."

"If he is, as you say, a sophomore undergraduate student, then his mathematical talent..."

Liang Tianshi thought for a moment, then asked, "Xiaodong, are you still able to contact this person?"

"It should be fine," Liang Xiaodong said somewhat hesitantly. "Just put all the salted fish back together."

"I see..." Liang Tianshi said thoughtfully.

The car stopped in front of a restaurant.

After the grandfather and grandson got out of the car, Liang Xiaodong suddenly remembered something and asked, "Grandpa, you wouldn't happen to want to get to know this seller, would you?"

Liang Tianshi thought for a moment, then simply patted his grandson on the shoulder.

"Let's go, let's eat first. Grandpa will order your favorite sweet and sour pork ribs today."

"Grandpa is the best!"

Seeing his grandson cheering and jumping for joy, a complex look flashed in Liang Tianshi's eyes.

A truly promising seedling must weather storms to grow into a towering tree.

However, if you have the chance, you can secretly keep an eye on things and witness the growth of a genius from start to finish; that would be an interesting thing.