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

Su Zhou took out the notebook she had written in the previous night from her schoolbag.

He flipped through the pages, found one of them, and pushed it in front of Zhao Zixuan.

"I thought of something similar last night before I went to bed."

Zhao Zixuan looked down.

The handwriting in the notebook was neat and tidy, with one line of formulas and one line of annotations, arranged in a very orderly fashion.

But what shocked him was not the handwriting, but the content!

"Double-ray structure?" Zhao Zixuan murmured the title.

"Hmm." Su Zhou tapped the paper with his pen. "The essence of this problem is to find the number of integer partitions that satisfy a certain condition. The generating function is approached from an algebraic perspective, which is correct, but it takes a roundabout way."

"If we change our perspective and directly establish a correspondence between the two types of splits, we can transform the counting problem into a bijective verification problem."

He was drawing on a draft paper as he spoke.

"Look, the left side is the odd-part partition, and the right side is the distinct-part partition. I construct a mapping f to transform each odd number i that repeats k times in the odd-part partition into the corresponding binary combination form..."

In Su Zhou's writing, the corresponding relationships gradually emerge.

"In this way, each odd partition can uniquely correspond to a distinct partition, and the reverse is also true. Bijection is established, and the two types of quantities are equal. Q.E.D."

The entire explanation was very short, so short that Zhao Zixuan didn't even have time to react.

He has been studying math olympiad for two years, and the tutoring classes he has attended have cost his father tens of thousands of yuan.

He has met quite a few teachers, and quite a few of them are good at explaining things clearly, but they all have one thing in common: they like to teach according to the handouts or old methods.

Su Zhou's unconventional approach was difficult for him to accept at first.

Shouldn't the solution to an Olympiad math problem be written out in at least two pages to demonstrate its derivation?

How did Su Zhou manage to finish it in just one page?

And when he explained why it was so simple, the key point was that his answer was correct.

"Who taught you this method?"

"Nobody taught me." Su Zhou closed his notebook. "I thought of it myself last night."

"Wait, buddy?!"

Zhao Zixuan's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He said, "At least Ramanujan had a dream from an Indian goddess who taught him formulas. Don't tell me some other big shot crawled into your dream through the internet last night and gave you special instruction?"

Su Zhou thought to himself that there really was a big shot giving him special lessons, but it wasn't Ramanujan.

I wonder if Ramanujan can be invited to group number 42?

Seeing Su Zhou's calm and collected expression, Zhao Zixuan touched his liver, which was aching from staying up all night to cram for exams, and felt a pang of sadness for the tens of thousands of yuan his father had spent on tutoring classes.

It's infuriating to compare yourself to others. What's wrong with Su Zhou's brain?

His gaze fell on Su Zhou's notebook. He hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

"Um... Su Zhou, could I borrow your notebook to take a look?"

Su Zhou did not answer immediately.

He glanced at Zhao Zixuan's desk: an authentic competition tutorial, brand-new imported pens, imported erasers—a whole set of ridiculously expensive learning equipment.

I remembered the look in my sister's eyes when she stood in front of the wolf tooth potato stall on the way home from school.

He suddenly remembered that when Newton was studying at Trinity College, Cambridge, he was a fee-reduction student because he didn't have money. He had to study while cleaning rooms for wealthier students, serving dishes in the canteen, and running errands to earn his living expenses.

If Newton was like that, can't he be too?

Su Zhou's mind raced.

Although the nine-year compulsory education system has waived tuition fees, miscellaneous fees, material fees, school uniform fees, spring outing fees... all of these cost money.

My sister wanted to eat the three-yuan wolf tooth potatoes, but I had to resist.

My mom always circles around the vegetable stalls several times before she buys anything.

My dad's clothes seem to have been worn for a long time, and he refuses to change them no matter what.

His old computer has limited performance, and he'll definitely need to replace it with a new one if he wants to write programs. A decent computer would cost at least three thousand yuan.

He needs money.

Su Zhou raised her head and looked at Zhao Zixuan.

"no."

Zhao Zixuan's eyes darkened.

"I can't lend it to you, but I can sell it to you."

Su Zhou said calmly, "This notebook costs five hundred, and it also includes a one-hour problem-solving service. I will explain the solution to this problem to you in its entirety, and you can ask me anything you don't understand."

Zhao Zixuan: ?

He thought he had misheard.

"How much...how much did you say?"

"five hundred."

Zhao Zixuan's lips twitched.

To be honest, 500 yuan is not a small amount these days. His monthly allowance is only 800 yuan, the most expensive tutoring book is only a few dozen yuan, and even the best math Olympiad class is only 600 yuan per hour.

Su Zhou's handwritten notebook, asking for five hundred?

This price sounds a bit outrageous.

But Zhao Zixuan's gaze returned to the draft paper.

Su Zhou solved the problem that he had been struggling with all day in just a few minutes.

If you can gain this much from just one question, imagine the entire notebook!

Five hundred yuan buys a notebook and an in-person explanation, which is equivalent to a private tutoring session.

When you do the math... it doesn't seem that expensive at all?

Zhao Zixuan quickly went through the calculations in his mind, and the more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.

Hiring a tutor costs money, buying study guides costs money, it's unreasonable to expect Su Zhou to explain problems to him for free just because Su Zhou is a classmate.

Moreover, what he needs most right now is special guidance from Su Zhou.

"Okay." Zhao Zixuan made up his mind, took out his wallet from his bag, counted out five hundred, and pushed it over. "Deal."

Su Zhou put the money into his pocket without changing his expression.

But I secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The first order was placed.

Five hundred yuan.

Through the fabric of the school uniform pockets, you could clearly feel the thickness of the banknotes.

This amount of money would be negligible in the over-saturated tutoring market, but it was of great significance to him.

The business loop of monetizing knowledge has been successfully established.

He had instinctively drawn a clear line of logic in his mind.

The "All Things Analyzed" skill breaks down complex knowledge into simpler, more manageable pieces, and this school has no shortage of people like Zhao Zixuan.

These are high-quality clients who are tormented by endless practice problems and have substantial financial resources.

For the first time, Su Zhou experienced the joy of making money as a top student.

He suddenly understood why Newton, who spent his life exploring the truths of the universe, even dabbled in stock trading in his later years.

The thrill of directly monetizing pure intellect and watching abstract truths transform into substantial wealth is incredibly exhilarating!

The last self-study period of the afternoon has ended.

Zhao Zixuan has already completed a proper one-on-one tutoring session with Su Zhou.

From initial skepticism to furrowed brows, and finally to sudden enlightenment, his facial expressions were more varied than those of a Sichuan opera face-changing act.

Su Zhou's approach to explaining problems is completely different from that of tutors.

The tutor explained, "This is how you should do this problem."

Su Zhou talked about "what is the essential structure of this type of question, what are the different approaches, what are the applicable scenarios and costs of each approach, and how to choose the optimal approach".

The moment Zhao Zixuan finished listening, he felt as if he had been pulled out of a well and was seeing the sky for the first time.

As the school bell rang, Zhao Zixuan stuffed the last book into his bag and turned to ask Su Zhou, "Su Zhou, do you want to come with me to a math tutoring class? The teacher will be covering a new round of combinatorics topics. You can try it out before deciding whether to pay."

Su Zhou didn't even look up, and casually said, "No, I don't have the money."

Zhao Zixuan's hand, which was pulling the zipper, froze in mid-air.

"……What?"

"I don't have the money to go," Su Zhou said frankly, closing his pencil case.

Zhao Zixuan completely froze on the spot.

He spent two years in the math Olympiad circle and met classmates whose families were either in business, doctors, or teachers, or at the very least, both parents worked.

Which family isn't well-off if they can afford to send their child to a small class that costs 600 yuan an hour?

To put it bluntly, the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a hobby that's built on money.

Su Zhou was the first math Olympiad prospect he knew who immediately said "I have no money".

Zhao Zixuan opened his mouth, his mind racing to find words of comfort, but before he could utter a single one, Su Zhou had already nonchalantly picked up his schoolbag and waved at him: "Let's go, pick up my sister."

The figure disappeared out of the classroom in the blink of an eye.

Zhao Zixuan stood there, staring at Su Zhou's back for a long while.

At the school gate, the little girl squatted on the steps as usual, waiting for her brother. As soon as she saw Su Zhou, she jumped up, her little schoolbag bouncing on her back.

"elder brother!"

Su Zhou patted her head and took her little hand as they walked towards the street corner.

The aroma of fried potatoes wafted over from afar, and the little girl sniffed, but immediately pretended nothing was wrong and continued walking.

Su Zhou saw this and pulled her directly to the stall.

"Boss, one serving, extra spicy, please."

"Really? You're really buying it?" Su Xing's eyes widened in surprise.

"Hmm." Su Zhou took out three yuan and slapped it on the table. After taking the potatoes from the boss, he handed them to Su Xing.

Su Xing held the bowl, hesitant to eat. After Su Zhou led her a few steps, seeing her expression, he took out two ten-yuan bills from his pocket and stuffed them into his sister's hand: "Take these, buy whatever you want to eat, don't be stingy."

Su Xing stood there, stunned, clutching the twenty yuan.

She only gets five yuan of pocket money each week.

When did you receive twenty dollars?

She swallowed hard and whispered, "Brother...where did you get the money?"

She paused, her face turning pale instantly. Lowering her voice, she said seriously, "You...you didn't start hanging out with those guys on the street with dyed blond hair, did you? Mom said you can't take money like that!"

Su Zhou almost choked on his own saliva.

He looked down at his sister's serious little expression that seemed to say, "My brother is about to die, I have to call the police," and couldn't help but laugh out loud, flicking her forehead as he did so.

"What are you thinking?" He had a Versailles-like look on his face. "A top student's way of making money is like a street thug? I call this monetizing knowledge, relying on my brain, legal and ethical, fair and square."

Su Xing asked skeptically, "Really?"

"More real than pearls."

Su Zhou patted his chest: "Don't worry, I'm smart and capable, you won't go hungry."

The little girl nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at rice, her eyes shining brighter than the setting sun.

In her mind, her older brother, who skipped a grade, was already very impressive.

Unexpectedly, her brother, who is only two years older than her, can earn money. Her admiration for her brother has now reached its peak!