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

Upon hearing the word "face reading," Chen Lin had a sudden flash of inspiration and remembered a hot topic from the recent late-night chat in dormitory 406.

He tentatively asked, "Is this what's been trending online lately, called... Fu Hancheng's face reading?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Qing's face showed obvious surprise. She looked Chen Lin up and down, and then burst out laughing.

"Not bad, junior," she nodded, her eyes showing approval, "You even know this?"

To be fair, when Chen Lin, Wang Tao, and the other two were first-year students, they would chat in their dorm room, and the topics would mostly revolve around games, sports, novels, and anime.

But in the last six months or so, the topics of our late-night chats in the dorm have started to increasingly involve this aspect.

The term "Fu Hancheng's face reading" is new knowledge that Chen Lin learned from Fatty Zhao.

Chen Lin recalled Yang Han's appearance and realized that she did indeed look somewhat similar to the picture that Fatty Zhao had shown him.

Then he returned to the original topic.

"Senior, but wouldn't it be troublesome to wait for the school to handle this?"

Chen Lin analyzed, "If Yang Han is pushed too hard, she can easily portray herself as a weak person who pursues academic rigor but is suppressed by powerful figures, and then launch a public opinion campaign... President Chang would probably have a headache then, right?"

"You're right," Yun Qing nodded in agreement, "That's true under normal circumstances. But..."

She smiled mysteriously, leaned closer to Chen Lin, and lowered her voice as if sharing a secret: "I heard from a teacher I'm on good terms with that our Principal Chang isn't the kind of old-fashioned person who's single-mindedly focused on academics."

"He's more like an entrepreneur, running Yannan University like a large company. He basically delegates academic matters to the deans and department heads of various colleges, and spends most of his energy on building relationships, acquiring resources, and enhancing the university's overall strength and influence."

Yun Qing's analysis hit the nail on the head: "So, I guess President Chang definitely won't let this matter go so easily. This is blatant slander against our Yannan University students and smearing our school's academic reputation at a national competition with media present. If this gets out, how will we recruit students in the future? How will we compete with other schools?"

She paused, then added with certainty, "So, the school definitely won't fight her to the death over this matter, lest they give others ammunition. But someone as capable as Principal Chang has plenty of other ways to get revenge elsewhere. Just wait and see, that Yang Han, and her university Jiangcheng University, will have a lot of trouble to deal with later."

After listening, Chen Lin wholeheartedly agreed.

Yunqing's description matched her own feelings when she was with Principal Chang Kai.

Come to think of it, someone who can sit in the position of president of a top university can't be a simple person. I've been oversimplifying things.

It seems I don't need to worry about this anymore; I can just relax and wait to see the battle of the titans.

The two chatted for a while longer. Perhaps because they had just talked about those unpleasant memories from the past, Chen Lin could sense that Yun Qing's enthusiasm was not as high as when they first met.

He looked up at the window; the sky was gradually darkening, and the orange-red sunset had dyed half the sky red.

"Senior, it's getting late," Chen Lin said, breaking the slightly awkward atmosphere. "Shall I take you home?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Qing was slightly taken aback, then smiled and waved her hand: "No need, my place is very close to here, I can just take a taxi, it'll only take ten minutes."

After she finished speaking, as if she suddenly remembered something, her beautiful eyes lit up again, and she looked at Chen Lin with a hint of expectation: "By the way, junior, do you have time later in the summer vacation? Do you want to come to our band's rehearsal room? I'd like to hear you sing."

"Well..." Chen Lin thought for a moment, then decided to tell the truth, "I probably won't have much time. I just transferred to the mathematics department, and I'll probably be very busy from now on."

"Transfer to the mathematics department?"

Yun Qing's smile froze instantly.

In those bright eyes, Chen Lin saw a complex expression.

But it only lasted for less than a second before she quickly covered it up.

"Wow, switching from Chinese Language and Literature to Mathematics is such a big leap!" She pouted, her tone carrying a hint of playful regret. "That will definitely be very busy. Okay, okay, I'll just have to find another opportunity later."

The two walked out of McDonald's and parted ways on the roadside.

Yun Qing quickly hailed a ride-hailing car. Before opening the car door, she turned around and waved to Chen Lin.

Chen Lin stood there, watching the car merge into the traffic.

The summer evening breeze brushed against my cheeks, carrying a hint of warmth.

He turned around and slowly walked alone towards the dormitory.

...

...

Chen Lin returned to his dormitory and closed the door.

The summer evening heat on campus has subsided, leaving only the chirping of cicadas outside the window.

Room 406 was empty, with only him inside. This environment, however, quickly calmed his restless heart, which had been agitated by a long day.

He didn't rush to wash up, but went straight to his desk, pulled out a chair, sat down, and skillfully pressed the power button on his laptop.

Chen Lin created a new blank Word document.

Chen Lin leaned back in his chair, his hands clasped behind his head, but his gaze remained fixed on the screen.

His mind was racing.

According to the plan I made on my way back to school this afternoon, the most important thing now is to choose a main direction for my graduation thesis, which will also be my future mathematical research.

Chen Lin also plans to take the opportunity of writing his graduation thesis to test the limits of the title "little mathematician".

Last time, in order to help Shen Yan with the modeling competition plan, he used the title of "Little Mathematician" for three and a half hours straight.

Chen Lin still vividly remembers that experience.

When he snapped out of that mystical state of being a "little mathematician," a wave of exhaustion, as if draining his very soul, instantly washed over him. He barely managed to run back to his dorm room 10 minutes before lights out, and then fell into a deep sleep just minutes after getting into bed.

He slept for nearly twenty hours that night.

When I woke up, I was still groggy and it took me a while to come to my senses.

This model is fine for occasional emergencies, but it would be ridiculous to make it the norm.

I can't possibly spend every research project in an endless cycle of "three hours of hard work followed by twenty hours of sleep," can I?

Then you can't do anything else, and you can't get in touch with others.

Chen Lin was well aware that although his physical abilities had been enhanced to three times that of a normal person under the upgraded "Little Athlete" title, making him practically a human Gundam.

But he also remembered that when the system distributed the "Little Red Flower" reward, the "Little Mathematician" stamina consumption was halved as a separate enhancement item.

This shows that the "energy" determined by the system and the "physical strength" he understands are completely different things.

At the very least, there is no way to reduce energy consumption by improving physical fitness.

The best proof is that even though his physical fitness has tripled, he still sleeps seven to eight hours a day, instead of becoming a chosen working beast of burden who only needs to sleep two or three hours a day.

Therefore, a balance must be found.

A sustainable "Little Mathematician" usage time that can ensure research efficiency without affecting one's normal work and rest.

Chen Lin's plan is to set a 200-minute limit for each use of the app while writing his graduation thesis. Then, each subsequent use will be five minutes shorter than the last.

Through this decreasing stress test, he believed he could find the ultimate equilibrium time.

My thoughts returned to the present moment.

Chen Lin sat up straight and put his hands back on the keyboard.

He took a deep breath and began typing the first keyword into the search box.

On the way back, he already had a vague idea of ​​what to do.

Time passed by, and only the crisp sounds of keyboard typing and mouse clicking filled the dormitory.

Chen Lin was completely immersed in a sea of ​​information, filtering, comparing, and analyzing various branches of mathematics...

About an hour later.

Chen Lin stretched and let out a satisfied groan.

He looked at the Word document on the screen, which was already filled with notes, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

The direction has been chosen.

—Differential geometry.

Chen Lin made this choice after careful consideration, mainly based on two reasons.

The first and most important point is to lay the technological groundwork for his future foray into the field of large-scale artificial intelligence models.

Through his understanding over this period of time, Chen Lin learned that the world's tech giants are currently burning money like crazy to develop large-scale models, but the development of this field is facing a huge bottleneck - illusion.

Simply put, when AI models generate content, they will talk nonsense in a serious manner, fabricating information that seems reasonable but is actually completely wrong.

If this problem cannot be solved, large models will forever remain advanced toys, making it difficult to achieve truly unmanned and automated applications in serious fields that require absolute precision, such as scientific research, financial analysis, and autonomous driving.

Differential geometry, as a branch of mathematics that studies space, shape, and structure, can provide a completely new mathematical tool and theoretical framework for solving the "illusion" problem.

This is the core technological competitiveness he has been building up for his company in advance.

The second reason is more realistic and more crucial.

That is, looking at the world today, the most outstanding and authoritative figure in the field of differential geometry is none other than the renowned Professor Qiu Chengtong.

Professor Chiu Cheng-Tung is one of the most accomplished living Chinese mathematicians, a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences, and also holds a series of prestigious positions at Tsinghua University, including Chair Professor, Director of the Chiu Cheng-Tung Mathematical Sciences Center, and Dean of Qiu Zhen Academy.

Chen Lin had just learned about some basic scientific research knowledge as well.

Mathematical research isn't something you can do alone in isolation and consider your job done once you produce a result.

Especially for purely theoretical results, unlike physical and chemical experiments, they cannot be verified by using instruments or computers to run data.

Often, whether a new mathematical theory is correct and valuable requires the review and approval of top experts in the field to endorse it and gain recognition from the entire mathematical community.

And it just so happens that I know Academician Liang Tianshi.

Although Mr. Liang has retired, he has served as the vice president of Tsinghua University and still has his own office in Tsinghua.

As soon as my research results came out, I would report them to Professor Liang.

Given Professor Liang's status and connections in academia, asking him to help by having his paper taken a look at by Professor Qiu Chengtong would be no difficult task at all.

As long as one can gain the approval of a mathematician of Professor Qiu Chengtong's caliber, one's achievements can gain the attention of the global mathematics community in the shortest possible time!

Maybe I can even make it into next year's Fields Medal!

Chen Lin recalled the old man's expectant and burning eyes in Liang Tianshi's office that afternoon.

Since we've already promised the old man, we have to do our best to keep it.

The Fields Medal is awarded only once every four years. If you miss this year's award, you'll have to wait another four years for the next one.

However, Chen Lin doesn't plan to start today.

He still wanted to resolve the issue of renting a house first, and settle himself down completely before making any further plans.

Thinking this, Chen Lin sat up straight again, took out his phone, skillfully opened WeChat, and found Sun Yu's profile picture in the chat list.

His fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed a message and sent it.

Chen Lin: [Brother Sun, I've arrived in Tianjin. Is tomorrow convenient for you? How about we go check out the house you mentioned before?]

After sending the message, Chen Lin casually placed his phone face down on the table, then opened a long video website on his computer, intending to find a video to relax his tense nerves after a long day.

He had just opened a video titled "Saitama Training Method Challenge 1000 Days - The Final Battle" when his phone on the table buzzed.

So fast?

Chen Lin picked up his phone and unlocked the screen.

Sure enough, it was Sun Yu's reply, and there were several at once.

Sun Yu: [Chen Lin! You're finally here! I've been waiting for your message!]

Sun Yu: [Location Sharing]

Chen Lin clicked on the location to share, and the map app automatically redirected.

[Liuzhuang Xinyuan]

He zoomed in on the map and examined it carefully.

This is a residential community built in 2008. Judging from the photos taken on the map app, the distance between the buildings is quite good, and the landscaping is also decent.

Chen Lin was most concerned about transportation.

Starting from the subway station at the entrance of the community, take Line 2 and transfer to Line 6. It's eight stops to the First Central Hospital Station near Yannan University. The whole journey, including walking time, takes about forty minutes.

For a large city like Tianjin, especially since Yannan University is located in a university town surrounded by commercial complexes, office buildings, parks, and memorial halls, this commuting time is considered quite normal.

Chen Lin understood the situation and replied immediately.

Chen Lin: [Okay, Brother Sun, let's set a time? How about tomorrow morning?]

Sun Yu: [No problem! I'm available anytime! You can name your time!]

Chen Lin: [How about we meet at the south gate of Liuzhuang Xinyuan at 9:30 tomorrow morning?]

Sun Yu: [Alright! See you there!]

Having resolved this major concern, Chen Lin felt much more relaxed.

He stretched, leaned back in his chair, and watched three episodes of a Chinese animated series he was following on a long-form video website.

Seeing that it was almost 9 p.m., Chen Lin closed the video website and his eyes fell on a new icon on his computer desktop.

It was a beetle rider with a pale white mask and a peculiar appearance.

—Hollow Knight.

This game was strongly recommended to him by Li Houzi before the holiday.

At the time, Li Houzi was talking animatedly, gesturing wildly, praising the game to the skies, saying things like "the ultimate substitute for Souls-like games," "a god of map design," and "the art, music, and atmosphere are all top-notch." He also confidently guaranteed that the second installment of "Silk Song" would definitely be released in September, urging Chen Lin to make sure to finish the first one during the summer vacation.

Chen Lin was so intrigued that he spent the equivalent of a lunch to buy the game on Steam.

Now that I have some free time, why not experience what makes this "masterpiece" that Li Houzi talks about so appealing?