Chapter 99 - 72: Research and Testing
Ever since interacting with wily old foxes like President Peng Yifeng and Principal Chang Kai, Chen Lin had realized he was still too green.
Lately, he had started forcing himself to think things through more deeply whenever something came up.
’This wave of hype was hard-won,’ Chen Lin thought. ’Using it up just like this wouldn’t be very cost-effective.’
After a moment, a bold idea began to form in his mind.
Chen Lin: [Principal Chang, about the interview, could we possibly delay it a bit?]
Chang Kai: [Oh? Do you have some concerns?]
Chen Lin: [Here’s my thinking. I feel that if I respond now, the public’s focus will still be stuck on this minor dispute. I’d like to wait until the school’s support for my company is more or less settled before I do the interview.]
He paused for a moment before sending over his core reasoning.
Chen Lin: [That way, I can respond to this incident as a student of Yannan University, while also acting as an entrepreneur supported by the university. It would be a chance to show the world the immense support our school provides for innovation and entrepreneurship.]
Chen Lin: [Wouldn’t that be much better for publicity? And as a bonus, I could get a free round of advertising for my new company.]
After he sent the messages, the other end went silent for nearly a minute.
Just when Chen Lin was starting to worry he had been too ambitious and made the principal think he was overly calculating, Chang Kai’s reply finally came.
Chang Kai: [Good! Excellent! We’ll do it your way!]
Chang Kai: [[THUMBS UP][THUMBS UP]]
.....
.....
After taking the subway back to campus, Chen Lin didn’t waste any time and headed straight for dorm room 406.
He didn’t have much luggage—just a suitcase and a backpack. With the boost from his "Little Champion" title, the weight was no problem for him at all.
Back at Liuzhuang Xinyuan, Chen Lin used the key card and key from Sun Yu to open the door to Unit 302, Building 4. He let out a long sigh of relief.
He dropped his suitcase and backpack in the middle of the living room and flopped onto the ridiculously soft fabric sofa, feeling it gently envelop his body.
’From now on, this is my new home.’
After vegging out on the sofa for about ten minutes, Chen Lin finally roused himself and began to unpack.
Once he had put everything in its proper place, the whole apartment finally felt a little more lived-in.
Chen Lin glanced at the time; it was a little before eight in the evening.
He thought for a moment, then pulled out his phone, opened WeChat, and video-called his mom, Lin Xiaoqi.
She answered almost instantly, and his mom’s pleasantly plump and energetic face appeared on the screen.
"Hey, son. All settled in?" Lin Xiaoqi’s voice was as lively as ever, and the dialogue from a TV show could be heard in the background.
"Yep, just got settled in." Chen Lin smiled and walked around the apartment with his phone, giving her a view of the living room, bedroom, kitchen, and balcony. "Mom, let me give you a tour of my new place. What do you think?"
"Wow!" Lin Xiaoqi’s eyes lit up, her voice filled with pleasant surprise. "This place is great! It’s so big and clean! A hundred times better than that pigsty of a dorm room you had!"
Chen Lin: "..."
"Living in a place this big all by yourself... the rent can’t be cheap, can it?" Lin Xiaoqi asked with concern.
"It’s manageable. A friend hooked me up, so the price is very reasonable," Chen Lin said, glossing over the details.
"That’s good, then." Lin Xiaoqi clearly had no intention of probing deeper. Ever since Chen Lin had laid his cards on the table about making money with mathematics, she and his father, Chen Xian, had a tacit agreement not to press their son about his finances. She just marveled, "This apartment is really nice; it looks so bright and spacious. Chen Xian, come take a look! Your son rented an apartment with a living room almost as big as ours!"
The camera angle shifted, and his father, Chen Xian’s, stern face leaned into the frame. He adjusted his glasses, carefully surveyed the apartment on the screen, and then gave a satisfied nod. His comment was brief and to the point: "Not bad."
"Mom, I still need my fall and winter clothes," Chen Lin said, getting to the point. "When you have a free moment in the next day or two, could you find them and mail them over to me?"
"Of course, no problem! I’ll ship them out by express mail tomorrow, I guarantee you’ll get them the day after!" Lin Xiaoqi agreed readily. She immediately followed up with a list of motherly instructions, "Now that you’re living alone, you have to be careful. Make sure you eat three square meals a day, don’t always order takeout, and learn to cook a little something for yourself when you have time..."
Listening to his mom’s familiar nagging, Chen Lin felt a warmth spread through his chest.
They chatted for a few more minutes before he ended the call.
’Alright, everything I had planned is finally taken care of.’
Chen Lin went into the bathroom and took a long, hot shower. The warm water coursing over his body washed away the exhaustion from his busy day.
After changing into his pajamas, he sat back down at his computer, feeling refreshed and clear-headed.
This time, he didn’t open any entertainment software. Instead, he opened his browser and typed two words into the search bar: "Differential Geometry."
With the boost from his "Little Mathematician" title, he was able to read through the specialized materials at an astonishing speed.
Abstruse formulas, complex definitions, and abstract concepts seemed to become as simple as basic arithmetic in his eyes. The intricate theoretical systems automatically sorted and connected themselves in his mind, forming a crystal-clear network of knowledge.
Just half an hour later, Chen Lin stopped scrolling.
He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. A complete conceptual framework had already formed in his mind.
And with that, the topic for his graduation thesis was set.
—On the Efficient Numerical Solution of High-dimensional Monge-Ampere Equations for Calculating the Boundary of Data Manifolds in Large-Scale Generative Models.