Awakening Elementary School System in University

Seeing Chen Lin’s serious expression, Gu Ming assumed he was worried about writing his thesis and thoughtfully asked, "Chen Lin, have you... ever written an academic paper before?"

"That’s right," Chen Lin answered honestly.

"That’s fine, it’s completely normal!" Gu Ming said with a wave of his hand. "I happen to be free today, so let me give you a systematic rundown of all the components of a proper undergraduate thesis."

With that, he naturally slipped into "lecture mode" and began to explain at length.

"First, the title. It needs to be concise and clear, summarizing the core content of your entire paper."

"Then you have the abstract and keywords. The abstract uses three to five hundred words to clearly state your paper’s research objectives, methods, and conclusions. The keywords are three to five of the most essential terms."

"Next are the table of contents and the main body. The body is the bulk of your paper and must include an introduction, literature review, research design, results analysis, and a section for conclusions and future prospects..."

"Finally, you have the bibliography, acknowledgements, and appendices."

Gu Ming’s explanation was clear and easy to follow, but for someone with a background in the humanities like Chen Lin, all the unfamiliar technical jargon was making his head spin. He felt completely lost.

Still, he did his best to commit every point Gu Ming made to memory, nodding from time to time to show he was listening attentively.

Gu Ming spoke for over ten minutes straight before taking a sip of water to wet his throat. "That’s the basic framework," he concluded. "Don’t be in a rush. Take some time to brainstorm a topic for your thesis. If you have any preliminary ideas, you can come and discuss them with me anytime."

He looked at Chen Lin, his tone softening with encouragement. "There’s no hurry. We just need to decide on a topic and a general direction before the semester begins. According to school regulations, undergraduates are normally required to write a thesis proposal and go through a defense. But your situation is special, and I have absolute faith in your abilities. As long as we discuss it and come to an agreement, I’ll make the call to waive the proposal requirement for you!"

Hearing Professor Gu’s thoughtful arrangements, Chen Lin actually felt a little awkward.

He scratched his head, a hint of sheepishness in his voice. "Um... Professor Gu."

"Yes?"

"Actually... I’ve already decided on the topic." Chen Lin paused, then added, "And I’m pretty much done with the relevant theoretical research, derivations, and proofs."

The smile on Gu Ming’s face instantly froze.

"?"

A brief silence fell over the conference room, as if the very air had ceased to move.

After a good several seconds, Gu Ming seemed to break free from his petrified state. He blinked, asking in disbelief, "What... What is your topic?"

Chen Lin cleared his throat and enunciated each word clearly.

"How to efficiently solve the High-dimensional Monge-Ampere Equation numerically to compute the boundary of the data Manifold in large-scale generative models."

"..."

Gu Ming was stunned again. He wondered if his ears were deceiving him.

He shot up from his chair so abruptly that its legs scraped against the floor with a harsh SCREECH.

"The Monge-Ampere Equation?!" Gu Ming’s voice rose, his face a mask of disbelief. "Chen Lin, do you have any idea what you’re talking about? Forget an undergraduate—even the world’s top applied mathematicians haven’t figured that problem out yet!"

He paced around the table, as if trying to calm his agitated nerves. He then turned back, his tone more serious than ever as he looked at Chen Lin and said, "Research isn’t like taking a test. It’s not something you can solve just by mastering the material! It requires reading massive amounts of literature, countless trials, and even a bit of inspiration and luck!"

Seeing Professor Gu’s tense expression, as if facing a formidable enemy, Chen Lin realized his words had spooked him. He quickly waved his hands and explained, "Professor Gu, please calm down. That’s not what I meant."

He gave a helpless smile. "I didn’t say I solved the problem completely. I just... I just followed the path laid by my predecessors and... pushed the research forward a tiny bit."

Hearing Chen Lin’s clarification, Gu Ming breathed a small sigh of relief. His heart, which had leaped into his throat, finally settled back into his chest.

But then, it hit him. He was shocked to realize that his initial reaction to Chen Lin’s grand pronouncement hadn’t been to immediately and unequivocally dismiss it as impossible.

In other words, for a fleeting moment, a thought had actually flickered in his subconscious: ’What if he really did it?’

He finally realized what had happened. In just the past few days, Chen Lin had displayed a terrifying, almost overwhelming talent and an unfathomable depth of mathematical skill. Unbeknownst to him, this had completely shattered the definition of "genius" that he had spent over twenty years building throughout his academic career.

It had reached a point where even when Chen Lin said something as outlandish as solving a world-class problem, his subconscious first reaction wasn’t doubt, but a complex mix of shock and anticipation.

Gu Ming took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart and regaining his composure as a professor.

He looked at Chen Lin and offered a sincere suggestion. "Since you already have your own research findings, that’s perfect. I suggest you don’t worry about formatting for now. Just focus on writing up your research process and conclusions—the core of the paper’s main body—into a first draft."