Chapter 82 - 62: Absolutely Must Not Let Him Go
He excitedly nudged Feng Yunhai beside him with his elbow. "Hey, Old Feng, do you think he can solve it?"
Feng Yunhai shook his head, his gaze also locked intently on the screen. A hint of anticipation colored his voice. "I don’t know. But I hope he can."
In the audience area, Principal Chang Kai’s palms were slick with sweat.
He turned his head with some concern, whispering to Gu Ming beside him, "Gu, what do you think? Can Chen Lin solve this problem?"
Professor Gu Ming adjusted his glasses. The gaze behind the lenses gleamed with a complex light as he shook his head. "I can’t be sure yet."
"Sigh," Chang Kai let out a breath, his voice filled with anxiety. "I hope he can pull it off. Whether or not we can salvage our school’s reputation this time... it all rides on him."
Gu Ming, however, suddenly said, "Principal, if Chen Lin really does solve this problem in such a short amount of time, then your original plans will probably have to change."
Chang Kai froze. "What do you mean?"
Gu Ming’s gaze never left the straight-backed figure on the stage. He spoke slowly. "We all speculated that the person Academician Liang was searching for was Shen Yan. But now, it seems we were all wrong. The person he’s truly looking for must be Chen Lin."
"Right," Chang Kai nodded.
"Therefore," Gu Ming’s tone grew more serious than ever before, "we absolutely cannot let Chen Lin go!"
Chang Kai asked, "Your reasoning?"
Gu Ming took a deep breath. "Once he finishes solving this problem, you’ll understand."
In the contestant area, a good number of students could no longer follow the steps of Chen Lin’s proof. They scrambled to pull out their phones, searching for the theorems and corollaries appearing on the screen.
Some of the more observant students noticed things beyond the proof itself.
"Have you guys noticed? It seems like this Chen Lin never makes any corrections when he writes out his proof."
"Yeah, I noticed that too! It’s like he’s already considered every possibility before he even starts writing. His train of thought is terrifyingly smooth from start to finish!"
"And what’s more, all the theorems and corollaries he’s writing are complete, but he hasn’t looked at his phone once! That memory is just terrifying, isn’t it?!"
...
Onstage, Chen Lin’s fingers were steady and strong as the electronic pen glided across the tablet, leaving behind clear lines of text.
He realized the proof for this problem wasn’t particularly long. Soon, he was already at the final part:
[...Conclusion: If in the first two moves, Player A and Player B write coprime numbers a and b, such that ab-a-b > 1, then Player A will win. Because if, after A writes ab-a-b, B could write some c to make A lose, then A can instead write c, forcing B into the same losing position.]
[Therefore, Player A simply needs to find a number ’a’ on the first move, such that for any number ’b’ Player B can write on the second move, the conditions of ’a’ and ’b’ being coprime and ab-a-b > 1 are always met.]
[Choosing a prime number greater than 3 for ’a’ satisfies this condition.]
[Thus, Player A writing 5 on the first move is a winning strategy.]
After writing the final period, Chen Lin gently placed the electronic pen back into its slot on the tablet.
He calmly took two steps to the side, revealing the complete proof on the large screen behind him for everyone to see.
Then, he picked up the nearby microphone again and added calmly, "The number 5 here is just one of the smaller solutions I found through experimentation. Theoretically, other numbers exist. If you’re interested, you can try to find them yourselves."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across the entire hall.
"I’ve taken up a bit of everyone’s time. My proof is complete."
The moment he finished speaking, the hall, which had been filled with a low murmur, suddenly fell silent.
It was so quiet that Chen Lin could clearly hear the THUMP-THUMP of his own heart.
He wasn’t worried about any flaws in his proof; he was simply waiting for the reaction of the academic titan.
Offstage.
At the center of the judges’ panel, Liang Tianshi’s eyes, which had been narrowed to slits, now slowly widened.
The tense line of his lips suddenly relaxed, curling into a smile he couldn’t suppress.
He set down his pen, removed his reading glasses, and gently massaged the strained corners of his eyes.
Then, he picked up the microphone.
Every heart in the hall leaped into its owner’s throat.
Liang Tianshi said only two words.
"Very good."
Surprise.
Astonishment.
Shock.
The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
With his enhanced vision, Chen Lin clearly saw that the first person to break the silence was Principal Chang Kai in the audience.
He shot to his feet and began to clap forcefully.
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
The second person to stand was Professor Gu Ming.
Then a third, and a fourth...
Chen Lin saw the stout man and the thin man, the ones who had been whispering with Academician Liang earlier, also rise with smiles, applauding vigorously.
There was also Qu Chengfeng, the teacher who had been on pins and needles for them, and Li Zihan and her friends, their eyes shining with wonder...
The applause started to build, spreading rapidly from a few individuals to the entire hall.
What began as a light drizzle of sound instantly became a torrential downpour.
Thunderous applause flooded the entire hall.
Chen Lin stood in the center of the stage, the focus of all eyes. Amidst the ceaseless applause, he gave a slight bow to the audience below.
Straightening up, he picked up the microphone again. His gaze, sharp as lightning, locked precisely onto a specific spot in the contestant area.