I control the AI ​​empire thanks to the geniuses in my group.

Su Zhou clicked on the notification in the group chat, and two red envelopes were popping up on the screen. He subconsciously clicked on them.

[You have received an exclusive red envelope from Isaac Newton!]

[Genius Skill: Calculus Intuition +5]

[Genius Skill: Logical Reasoning +10]

A strange coolness spread through his brain. Su Zhou blinked and felt that the world seemed... different.

He couldn't quite put his finger on the difference, but when he looked at the desk lamp, the angle of light refraction, the geometric shape of the lampshade's projection, and even the pattern of brightness dimming after the filament was powered on, all seemed like clear sets of data that floated directly into his mind.

"It must be a hallucination."

Su Zhou rubbed his temples, unsure of what to do.

He casually picked up the first-year junior high school math textbook that had just been distributed that day and turned to the first chapter, "Rational Numbers".

Positive numbers, negative numbers, number line, absolute value...

He had learned a little about these concepts before, but he was confused when he looked at them. Now, looking at them again, he felt completely different! It wasn't that the content had become simpler, but rather that for every definition and every property, he only needed to glance at it, and the underlying logical chain would automatically unfold in his mind, like dominoes falling down one after another.

"The commutative property of addition of rational numbers: a + b = b + a."

Su Zhou glanced at it, and the complete proof of this law instantly popped into his mind. He even automatically associated it with the structural relationship between the associative law of addition and the distributive law of multiplication.

He turned to the second chapter, "Addition and Subtraction of Polynomials".

Merging like terms, removing parentheses, simplifying algebraic expressions... the characters on the page seem to be highlighted, important logical nodes are automatically enlarged, and redundant text is automatically filtered out. As his eyes scan over them, knowledge is like a compressed file being decompressed and directly stuffed into his brain.

He then turned to Chapter Three, "Linear Equations in One Variable".

Properties of equations, transposing terms, eliminating denominators, removing parentheses...

He glanced at the equation in the textbook that required five steps to solve, and the answer popped into his head.

It wasn't a guess; it was the result of automatic logical reasoning. Every step of the transformation was crystal clear, but the speed was so fast that it skipped the writing process.

Holy crap.

Su Zhou gasped, his fingers turning the pages faster and faster. He even took out a pen and started doing the exercises at the back of the textbook.

All correct.

Su Zhou was completely excited.

He turned to Chapter 4, "Introduction to Geometry," where he learned about line segments, rays, angle measurements, and more. His spatial perception seemed to have been unlocked to a new dimension. The two-dimensional geometric figures in the textbook were automatically modeled into three-dimensional structures in his mind, and the relationships between points, lines, and planes became clear at a glance.

Unbeknownst to him, he entered a state that was hard to explain.

All external sounds disappeared; the hum of the air conditioner and the chirping of insects outside the window were all blocked out.

His mind was completely immersed in the world of mathematics, his pen moving ceaselessly across the draft paper, one page, two pages, five pages…

dong dong!

The knocking on the door was like a thunderclap, pulling him out of that state.

"Su Zhou! It's almost 12:30 and you're still not asleep? Are you playing on your phone again?!"

My mom's voice has the power to penetrate walls; it can shake your very soul through a door.

Su Zhou turned around abruptly and glanced at the digital clock on the table: 00:27!

He actually watched it for almost an hour?

"Mom, I'm reading!" Su Zhou called out quickly.

The door was pushed open.

Su Zhou's mother, Zhang Xiulan, stood at the door in her home clothes. She peeked into the room and saw the math textbook spread out on the desk and the scattered draft papers. Her expression changed from suspicion to surprise.

"Are you really reading?" Zhang Xiulan walked over, picked up the draft paper and glanced at it. Although she couldn't understand any of the equations on it, it was covered with dense writing, so it didn't seem like she was just putting on an act.

"Yes, it's a new textbook, I'll preview it first," Su Zhou said confidently.

Zhang Xiulan's eyes softened slightly, but then her face darkened again: "Your homeroom teacher called me today and said you were taken to the hospital from school. Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's nothing serious, it's just..."

"What did the doctor say?"

"They said to get more rest and make sure you get enough nutrition."

"Then why are you still staying up late?" Zhang Xiulan grabbed Su Zhou's phone from the bedside table with practiced ease. "I'm confiscating your phone. I'll give it back to you tomorrow morning. The doctor said you need to rest properly. What will your father and I do if something happens to you?"

Su Zhou opened her mouth as if to retort, but upon meeting her mother's gaze, the words she was about to say immediately changed: "Oh, I know, I'll go to sleep now."

Don't ask, the answer is I'm afraid of my mom.

In this family, Su Zhou's fighting power ranking is as follows: Mom > Sister > Dad > Su Zhou. He is at the bottom of the food chain, so he can't say anything to refute his mother.

Zhang Xiulan turned off the light and went out, reminding everyone to cover themselves with the blanket before leaving.

Su Zhou lay in bed, still savoring the exhilarating feeling from earlier, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

I slept more soundly than ever before.

The next morning, at 6:40.

The alarm clock rang.

The moment Su Zhou opened his eyes, he felt as if he had been given a new body. An indescribable sense of comfort emanated from his very bones. He stretched, yawned, and his stomach growled at just the right moment.

"cell phone!"

His first instinct was to look for his phone.

Sure enough, Zhang Xiulan had already placed her phone on the coffee table in the living room, with a note next to it that read: "Here's your phone back. Don't play with it during class."

Su Zhou grabbed his phone, unlocked it, and opened the mysterious group chat. The message list exploded.

99+.

At the top are Newton's series of messages:

[Newton: Sue, are you still there?]

[Newton: You suddenly disappeared; I guess you must have returned to where you were.]

[Newton: I must tell you some good news, Charona is on the gallows!!!]

[Newton: This morning, he was hanged at Tiburn. This despicable man who counterfeited money and deceived the royal family finally experienced firsthand the power of gravity!]

[Newton: It's all thanks to you, Mr. Su. You used big data analysis to reveal Charona's counterfeit currency circulation path, quantity trends, and network of connections with his accomplices, making it impossible for him to escape punishment!]

[Newton: I also used the data visualization you taught me to create a bar chart. The judge had never seen such a clear presentation of evidence, and he made his ruling in just ten minutes!]

[Newton: I have compiled the data analysis methods you taught me into a book, which I plan to formally introduce at the next meeting of the Royal Society. I have a feeling that this will change many things.]

Su Zhou's lips twitched as he watched.

Wow, Newton used big data analysis to send Charonna to the gallows two years earlier. Doesn't that count as technology changing fate?

Just as he was scrolling down, a golden notification message suddenly popped up in the group chat system!

[System notification: Deducing the trajectory of events in Isaac Newton's timeline (1697, England, parallel timeline)...]

[Deduction begins...]

[Newton published "On the Graphical Representation of Data and Its Application in the Philosophy of Nature" at the Royal Society, introducing the concept of data visualization to the European scientific community for the first time. The paper extensively used bar charts, line graphs, and pie charts to present experimental data, causing a huge sensation.]

Under Newton's leadership, the Royal Mint pioneered a systematic data monitoring system for currency circulation. Through big data analysis of counterfeit currency cases, the counterfeit crime rate dropped by 68% within a year. The Chancellor of the Exchequer praised this as the greatest innovation in the Mint's 300-year history, and Newton was promoted to Master of the Mint.

Inspired by Newton, astronomer Edmund Halley applied data visualization methods to astronomical observation records, creating the first systematic star map data analysis report in history, which improved the accuracy of comet orbit predictions by an order of magnitude.

[Newton published "The Data Method in Natural Philosophy," combining the ideas of big data analysis with calculus and mechanics, and proposed the rudiments of a modern scientific methodology that uses data to drive hypotheses and experiments to verify theories, about 150 years earlier than the mature scientific methodology of his time.]

Newton created a visualization of global precious metal flows and submitted a White Paper on the Liquidity of Money in the British Empire and the Gold-Silver Ratio, which included candlestick charts, bar charts, and regression analysis, directly to Parliament. This led to Britain's complete abolition of the silver standard and the establishment of the legal gold standard ahead of schedule in human history.

[The conclusion of the projection: The scientific revolution in Newton's parallel universe is significantly accelerated, with the Industrial Revolution expected to arrive 30-50 years earlier. The civilization development index of this universe is revised upward by 12.7%.]

[Deduction complete.]

Su Zhou's eyes widened.

He brought over a few charts and a set of big data analysis methods, and changed an entire timeline?

The group chat instantly erupted in excitement.

[Turing: Newton, you've changed. You used to be cold to everyone, but now you're so warm to those who brave eagles!]

[Newton: Get lost, you're not So, you wouldn't understand.]

[Gauss: Wow! The eagle-taming warrior actually changed the course of a civilization for a century!]

[Shannon: Using diagrams to illustrate numbers and mathematical principles to prove the truth—this is the ultimate method of simplifying complexity. The Eagle Warrior is truly amazing!]

[Da Vinci: I'm really interested in that thing called a bar chart, sir. Could you explain it to me sometime? I think it could be useful in my anatomy notes.]

[John von Neumann: You must be the genius I've been searching for. Come and build computers with me!]

Su Zhou watched as these history gurus in the group praised him one after another, and couldn't help but chuckle.

Although I know they're exaggerating a bit, it was really awesome!

"Su Zhou! Dinner's ready!"

My mother's voice came from the kitchen.

He quickly locked his screen and went to the dining table.

Three bowls of steaming hot egg noodles with minced meat sauce were laid out on the table. This was Zhang Xiulan's specialty breakfast. She made the sauce herself with pickled mustard greens, minced meat, and millet peppers. It smelled so good that it would make Old Wang next door drool.

Su Zhou's younger sister, Su Xing, sat opposite him. She had two pigtails, a round face, big eyes, and a lively appearance. She was eleven years old and in the fifth grade of elementary school.

Just as Su Zhou picked up his chopsticks, he saw Su Xing pick up the fried egg from his bowl and slap it into his bowl.

"Brother, you eat."

Su Zhou was taken aback: "You're not eating?"

"I heard from Mom that you went to the hospital yesterday." Su Xing's expression was serious, unlike that of a fifth-grader. "You must be malnourished. Look how thin you are, your arms are as thin as cowpeas. Eat more eggs to help you get better."

Su Zhou felt a lump in her throat.

His younger sister always teases him, but she genuinely cares for him when it matters.

"What do you mean by cowpeas?! I have muscles!" Su Zhou put the egg back. "Xingxing, if you don't eat eggs, you'll get dumber and dumber."

Upon hearing this, Su Xing's face instantly lit up, her chin tilted at a 45-degree angle, and she snorted, "I'm not stupid. Let me tell you something."

"I've been elected class monitor!"

Zhang Xiulan, standing nearby, added with a smile, "They were just chosen yesterday."

Su Zhou almost blurted out, "I'm also the math class representative," but after thinking about it, she realized that as a class representative, she seemed to lack prestige compared to the class monitor, so she swallowed the words back.

"Not bad, not bad," he said curtly.

"What do you mean by 'not bad'? It means 'very good'!" Su Xing corrected him.

"Okay, okay, very good, my sister is the best in the world."

"That's more like it."

Zhang Xiulan watched the two lovable clowns bickering and shook her head with laughter: "Alright, alright, hurry up and eat, don't be late."

Dad Su Jun ate his noodles silently beside them, occasionally glancing up at his siblings and chuckling to himself.

At 7:30, Su Zhou and Su Xing went out.

The two schools were just across the street from each other, very close, and Su Zhou usually took Su Xing to school.

On a September morning, the sunlight still carried a hint of summer's end, feeling warm and cozy on the skin.

The two walked and talked until they reached the crossroads at the school gate. Su Xing stopped, looked up at her brother who was two heads taller than her, and her expression suddenly became extremely serious.

"elder brother."

"Um?"

"You need to study hard in junior high school."

"……I know."

"Don't embarrass me."

Su Zhou's lips twitched.

Row.

So, I'm your brother, and you're my sister?

But looking into his sister's bright, sparkling eyes, he couldn't bring himself to retort. He just smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair: "Okay, class monitor."

Su Xing nodded in satisfaction, then turned and skipped towards the elementary school gate.

Su Zhou withdrew his gaze and turned to walk towards the school.

The first lesson was Chinese.

The Chinese teacher was Mr. Li. Mr. Li was very engaged in his lecture, and Su Zhou listened very attentively, but to be honest, his mind was full of math right now.

It wasn't that he disliked Chinese, but after his logical reasoning skill increased by 10, his brain seemed to automatically lean towards rational thinking, and his sensitivity to numbers and logical structures skyrocketed. Sitting in Chinese class was like a max-level character AFK in a newbie village, with his experience bar remaining completely still.

He was looking forward to the next class.

Math class.

Finally, the bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class.

The ten-minute break between classes felt unusually long. Su Zhou, unusually, didn't go out. Instead, he sat in his seat and flipped through his math textbook again. He turned to the section on linear equations in one variable. Last night, he thought this chapter was too simple and hadn't looked at it much. Now, after taking a look, Su Zhou became puzzled.

The school bell rang, and math teacher Liu Zhi walked into the classroom with his lesson plan.

"Class, today we'll start by discussing the extended concepts of linear equations in one variable." Liu Zhi turned around and copied an example problem from the textbook onto the blackboard: "Look at this problem. Solve the equation (a−1)x=a−1. The steps in the book are very clear: divide both sides of the equation by (a−1) to get the solution x=1."

As soon as he finished speaking, a hand shot up from the audience.

"Su Zhou?" Liu Zhi stopped writing with a smile. "Come on, does our class representative have any questions?"

Su Zhou stood up and said, "Teacher Liu, there's a problem with this step in the textbook."

The entire class fell silent instantly, dozens of eyes staring at them, all saying, "Dude, are you crazy?"

Liu Zhi's smile froze, and he patiently asked, "It's written in black and white in the book, where's the mistake?"

"It skips the most basic classification discussion." Su Zhou stared at the blackboard, speaking very quickly. "The absolute premise of dividing both sides of the equation by (a−1) is that (a−1)≠0. If a=1, both sides of the equation become 0, that is, 0·x=0. In this case, x can be any real number, and the equation has infinitely many solutions."

"The textbook doesn't even provide any preconditions; it directly states that x=1, which is an extremely absurd logical flaw."

The classroom was quiet for a few seconds, then a rustling sound began.

"Holy crap, is he instructing the editors of the People's Education Press textbook on how to do things?"

"Wow, they even dare to criticize the textbook! Are they going to test the high school entrance exam based on it instead of the textbook?"

Liu Zhi's brows furrowed into a deep frown.

He certainly understood Su Zhou's concept of classification and discussion, but this was only for first-year junior high students!

The curriculum for the first year of junior high school does not require mastering complex parameter classification and discussion. In order to accommodate the brain capacity of the vast majority of students, the textbook assumes that the equation has a unique solution as a prerequisite.

Looking at Su Zhou's self-righteous attitude, Liu Zhi's initial admiration for Su Zhou gradually disappeared.

This kid's gotten too cocky.

Do you really think that being fast at arithmetic means you can command the world?

They even dare to make such outrageous claims about textbooks that have been reviewed and approved by the State Education Commission. If this is allowed to continue, won't students become restless, arrogant, and unrealistic in the future?

This child is smart, but he's channeling his energy in the wrong direction.

The biggest mistake in learning mathematics is being overly ambitious and trying to challenge the textbook before you have a solid foundation.

If you think there are flaws in the textbook today, will you think the teacher is wrong tomorrow? And the day after tomorrow, will you not even care about the exam?

He'd seen far too many students like that.

He excelled in elementary school and was praised by his parents and teachers. However, he became arrogant in junior high school, thinking he was better than the textbook. As a result, his basic knowledge was terrible, and he suffered a major setback in the high school entrance exam.

He couldn't let Su Zhou go down that path.

"Su Zhou," Liu Zhi's tone turned serious, "You have a good thinking spirit, and I'm sure you're willing to use your brain, but there's something I need to make clear to you."

"This textbook is published by the People's Education Press and approved by the Ministry of Education. Do you think these experts didn't consider the issues you raised?"

"They must have considered that teaching has a rhythm, that there is content to be taught at each stage, and that the arrangement of teaching materials is based on scientific principles."

These words were barbed and pointed, carrying a strong sense of warning.

Several classmates who were jealous of him looked at Su Zhou with a hint of schadenfreude.

Su Zhou sat down expressionlessly, not wanting to say a single unnecessary word.

His logic told him that he was not wrong.

Teacher Liu's words sounded grand and dignified, but in essence, they were a fallacy of misrepresentation; he failed to distinguish between imprecise expression and errors.

In mathematics, however, imprecise expression is wrong. Mathematics is a discipline about precision. If a definition is missing a limiting condition or a theorem is missing a presupposition, the entire edifice of logic may collapse from its foundation.

This is not nitpicking; it is the core of the mathematical spirit.

But he could also tell that Teacher Liu no longer wanted to discuss the issue. It wasn't that they couldn't reach a conclusion, but rather that in the teacher's eyes, the discussion shouldn't have happened in the first place.

Spending a lot of time with Newton, he learned one thing: in the world of mathematics, there are no authorities, no compromises, and no logic that is emasculated to accommodate novices.

1 is 1, and 0 is 0.

Right is right, and wrong is wrong!

Instead of arguing with the teacher in class about a point you can't win, why not go directly to the source of the textbook, the People's Education Press!