This top-tier academic genius

Sunlight streamed through the window and shone on the bookshelf, creating a colorful halo that tinged Lin Yan's tall figure holding the books with a unique hue.

When Xu Jingyan saw this scene, her heart seemed to stop for a few seconds.

She tidied her hair, flashed what she thought was her most charming smile, and, seizing the moment when the other person turned around, raised her right hand and said, "Hi~"

Then Lin Yan brushed past him as if he hadn't heard anything, without stopping at all.

Xu Jingyan: (⊙o⊙)…

She stood frozen in place, utterly shocked that the other person would completely ignore her and simply walk past...

She thinks she's not bad-looking, so why is she so unattractive?

Meng Xue, who was peeking from behind the bookshelf on the other side, secretly covered her mouth and laughed.

Lin Yan, holding a few books, found an empty seat and sat down.

He opened his backpack, took out a black thermos, placed it on the table, and put the backpack on the corner of the table.

Suddenly, he paused in his work.

"Did a girl just greet me? I must have been mistaken. Oh well, it doesn't matter!!"

Women only slow down the speed at which you turn the pages.

I spread out the books I had just picked up; there were five in total: "What is Mathematics," "Mathematical Analysis (Volume 1)," "Linear Algebra and Its Applications," "Combinatorial Mathematics," and "Higher Algebra."

These books are all supplementary readings for high school mathematics, suitable for readers who have just finished high school mathematics and want to quickly get to the level of university.

Lin Yan first opened the book "What is Mathematics".

This is a classic among classics, an extremely famous popular science book on mathematics. It collects many classic mathematical treasures and provides a profound and vivid explanation of the basic concepts and methods in the entire field of mathematics.

It is said that this book is written for beginners as well as experts, students as well as teachers, philosophers as well as engineers.

The library was quiet and had a great learning atmosphere. Lin Yan was focused on reading and didn't notice that Meng Xue and Xu Jingyan glanced at him as they walked past.

Meng Xue and Xu Jingyan did not linger in the quiet reading area, but instead went to the tea shop at the entrance on the first floor, where they met another friend.

"Why did it take you so long? The drinks I ordered for you have arrived. Mengxue, your favorite mango pomelo sago; Jingyan, your iced Americano."

The speaker was a bookish-looking boy named Wei Chuan, their childhood friend.

Meng Xue: "Thank you."

Xu Jingyan: "Thanks, Brother Chuan. We ran into Meng Xue's classmates inside just now."

"Oh, do I know her?"

"You definitely don't know him. Not to mention you, even I don't know him. He's super handsome, but his eyesight isn't very good."

At this point, Meng Xue, who was slurping nearby, laughed.

Wei Chuan asked curiously, "Meng Xue, what are you laughing at?"

Seeing this, Xu Jingyan quickly said, "It's nothing, it's nothing. I just saw that her classmate Lin Yan was also reading a book called 'Mathematical Analysis'."

"Oh?" Wei Chuan's interest was immediately piqued, because he had been reading this book recently. "So, Meng Xue, your classmate is also very good at math?"

Wei Chuan has excellent academic performance, especially in mathematics. He often gets full marks on tests, and even on the most difficult tests, he never scores below 140. He is currently in the experimental class of No. 2 Middle School.

In fact, all three of them had excellent grades. Meng Xue and Xu Jingyan were both ranked in the top 20 in the whole school; Wei Chuan was even more outstanding. In the last city-wide mock exam, he ranked seventh, making him a true academic star.

Upon hearing the question, Meng Xue thought for a moment and replied, "Actually, I don't know much about him. I think he only got 29 points on his math test last semester."

puff~

The other two people who were drinking their beverages almost spat them out simultaneously.

Xu Jingyan said, "No way, 29 points?! How dare he even look at 'Mathematical Analysis'? Can he even understand it?"

She had assumed the other person would be a top student or something, but she never expected them to be a complete academic failure.

"With a score of 29, he probably can't understand 'Mathematical Analysis.' He's trying to run before he can even walk—how boring. Looks like he's just trying to show off at the library. I've actually seen a few people like that before; they're quite amusing. Just ignore him."

In a single sentence, Lin Yan was categorized as someone who pretends to know what he doesn't.

"By the way, I heard the Mathematics League is starting next month. Brother Chuan, you should sign up, right?" Xu Jingyan said, taking a sip of her iced Americano.

The so-called National High School Mathematics League refers to the National High School Mathematics League Competition, which is organized by the Chinese Mathematical Society and is open to high school students.

This event is very similar to Earth, except that the competition time is different; it is held in October.

Wei Chuan nodded, his gaze firm, and said, "Yes, I will definitely sign up this time."

"Don't let it be like the previous two times," Meng Xue said abruptly, and then the two of them burst into laughter.

Wei Chuan: "..."

Wei Chuan is very talented in mathematics, according to all his teachers.

He demonstrated exceptional mathematical talent starting in junior high school.

After entering high school, the teacher of the experimental class said that with his talent and strength, winning an award in the high school league would be no problem at all.

So, in his first year of high school, he signed up for the National High School Mathematics Competition.

That time, however, he was unlucky. He lived a little far from the exam venue, and his car broke down on the way, causing him to be late and miss the exam.

In his second year of high school, he signed up again, but during the second round of testing, he was struck by bad luck and developed appendicitis.

This time, he must perform to his full potential and prove himself.

Meanwhile, Lin Yan inside the museum had already finished viewing part of it.

It must be said that "What is Mathematics" is indeed a classic masterpiece, explaining mathematics very clearly.

It contains many vivid and interesting mathematical examples. When Lin Yan encounters an interesting problem, he will occasionally work out the calculations on scratch paper and try to solve it using different methods.

For Lin Yan now, reading this book presents no obstacles and flows very smoothly, only slightly slower than when reviewing high school textbooks.

Time slipped away between the pages of the book, and before I knew it, it was noon.

Lin Yan got up and took his valuables, books and backpack, and put them on his seat. He planned to go out to get something to eat and then come back to continue. He happened to run into Meng Xue and her two companions who had just finished lunch at the library entrance.

Seeing that she couldn't avoid it, Meng Xue said, "Lin Yan, what a coincidence, you're here at the library too."

"Oh, who are you?" Lin Yan felt that the face was familiar, but couldn't remember where she had seen him before.

"..." Meng Xue was taken aback for a moment, but still explained, "Meng Xue, we are classmates."

"Oh, hello. Sorry, I haven't been paying much attention. Are these two also in our class?"

"They are not, they are my friends."

"Okay, I'm going to grab some food. We'll talk later."

The awkward encounter thus came to an end.

Xu Jingyan, who was standing next to him, complained, "No, how come he doesn't even recognize his classmates? This guy... is a genius."

The three returned to the second floor, and as they passed Lin Yan's previous seat, Wei Chuan glanced at it.

Wait, what's this?

His gaze fell on Lin Yan's draft paper, where there was a question: Given the function f(x)=e^x−ax−1, if f(x)≥0 always holds for any x>0, find the range of values ​​for the real number a.

For Wei Chuan, this question was standard and not very difficult; in fact, it was quite easy. The moment he saw the question, he already had two solutions in mind.

Two solutions were also written on the draft paper.

Solution 1: Separate the parameters, a≤(e^x ​​- 1)/x. By L'Hôpital's rule, the limit is 1, so a≤1.

This first solution is the advanced solution in Wei Chuan's mind, the kind of solution only top students can use. The teacher had explained it to Wei Chuan and a few others separately.

The second solution on the draft paper was not the most conventional method of classification and discussion, but rather it read:

e^x = 1 + x + x^2/2!+ x^3/3!+…

Substituting into the original expression: e^x - ax - 1 = (1 + x + x^2/2 +…) - ax - 1 = (1 - a)x + x^2/2 + o(x^2)

For all x > 0 to be non-negative, 1 − a ≥ 0 ⇒ a ≤ 1.

Wei Chuan said he didn't quite understand what the solution was.