Awakening Elementary School System in University

Chen Lin stroked his chin, pondering for a moment before quickly making up his mind.

Starting tomorrow, he would move his fixed daily math research time from the afternoon to right before bed.

This way, he could squeeze out another half-hour of research time each day and perfectly circumvent the Spiritual Power-draining side effect of the [Little Mathematician] title.

As soon as he finished his research, he could just fall right asleep. Who cared about fatigue? He’d wake up the next day feeling refreshed and ready to go.

Next, he set two alarms on his phone.

The first was for October 27th at 7:30 PM. The alarm label read: [Research the problem in Schultz’s email].

The second was for October 28th at 7:30 PM, with the same label: [Research the problem in Schultz’s email].

The World Mathematics Conference was scheduled for October 29th to the 31st, a three-day event.

Dean Zhuang had already sent him the detailed schedule.

These two days were the last two evenings before the conference began. It wasn’t like he needed to produce any major results anyway.

He’d just see what he could accomplish in the six hours he had over those two days.

Having arranged everything, Chen Lin felt a sense of relief.

He set his phone aside, put on his noise-canceling headphones, cleared his mind of all distracting thoughts, and refocused his attention on the computer screen in front of him.

A moment later, the crisp sound of keyboard tapping rang out once more.

.....

....

October 23rd, 2:30 PM.

The Yanhai Company office was peaceful, filled only with the soft tapping of keyboards and the low hum of the central air conditioning.

Ever since deciding to move his sacrosanct daily math research time from the afternoon to before bed, Chen Lin felt as if he had instantly devolved from a diligent entrepreneur into a do-nothing, slacking-off boss.

He couldn’t possibly spend all the extra free time he had during the day teaching himself how to program large-scale AI models.

After all, learning that stuff was also quite draining, both mentally and physically.

A balance of work and rest was the key to long-term sustainability.

So, every afternoon, while his employees toiled away diligently at their posts, Chen Lin would begin his slacking-off time with a clear conscience.

At this moment, he was leaning back in his pricey ergonomic chair, staring at his Steam library on the computer screen, lost in a happy dilemma.

’Should I fire up Elden Ring and go suffer in the Lands Between, or launch Civilization VI for just one more turn?’

’Or maybe just play a couple rounds of Tarkov for some pure, unadulterated fun?’

As he was hesitating, the screen of the phone on his desk suddenly lit up with a WeChat notification.

Chen Lin picked it up and saw it was from Professor Lu Zhongqi.

The message was short: [Chen Lin, do you have time in about half an hour? Let’s meet at the same place as last time for a chat.]

Chen Lin raised an eyebrow. He instantly knew what this was about.

’Let’s see, it’s been almost a week since I sent them the solution. The joint research project team must have verified my answer by now.’

He immediately replied: [Okay, Professor Lu. I’m on my way.]

At 3:00 PM, Chen Lin expertly navigated his way to Room 301 in Building A of the School of Chemistry’s laboratory complex.

He pushed open the door and found three people already in the small classroom.

Besides Professor Lu Zhongqi, whom he had met before, and the senior student Yan Lin with her ponytail and perpetually curious expression, there was an unfamiliar middle-aged man.

The man was about fifty years old, slightly heavyset, and wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses. His hair was meticulously combed, and though he was dressed in a simple gray jacket, he had the imposing, scholarly air of someone who commanded respect without being angry.

Seeing Chen Lin enter, Professor Lu Zhongqi immediately stood up with a broad smile and enthusiastically made the introduction. "Student Chen Lin, come, let me introduce you. This is the general director of our joint research project, Professor Tang Xuebing from the Science and Technology University."

Professor Tang Xuebing.

Chen Lin recognized the name. When he was first added to the WeChat group for the [New Energy Solid-State Battery Joint Research Project], this Professor Tang was the group owner. He was also the one who had arranged for Chen Lin to connect with Professor Lu.

"Professor Tang, a pleasure to meet you." Chen Lin politely stepped forward and extended his hand.

"Student Chen Lin, hello, hello!"

Professor Tang Xuebing’s reaction was far more enthusiastic than he had imagined. He practically rushed forward and gripped Chen Lin’s hand tightly, his eyes behind his glasses shining with a complex light mixed with admiration and excitement.

"I’ve heard so much about you! Your reputation precedes you!"

The formal praise made Chen Lin feel a little embarrassed.

After they all sat down, Professor Tang Xuebing didn’t waste a single word, cutting straight to the chase.

He spoke quickly, clearly emotional, but his thoughts were exceptionally clear. "Student Chen Lin, as soon as Professor Lu received your email last Thursday, he immediately forwarded it to me.

I immediately organized our joint team from Yannan and the Science and Technology University. We split into two groups to conduct a dual verification of your solution, using both computer simulations and small-scale experiments simultaneously."

At this point, he took a deep breath and looked at Chen Lin as if he were staring at some kind of monster.

"The result... was completely correct! The mathematical model you provided perfectly solved the key technical bottleneck that had plagued our entire project team for a whole year!"