Genius Playground

This was all thanks to Teacher Zhang Yang.

Uh...

’Thinking about it that way, this wasn’t a showdown between me and Dean Gao at all. It was a contest between Gao Yan and his final disciple, playing out across time!’

Obviously, Dean Gao was only asking these questions to confirm whether the manuscript was truly written by Jiang Ran. Jiang Ran naturally understood his intentions; it was just an unspoken truth between them.

After a long moment.

Dean Gao put down the manuscript and let out a long sigh.

"Truly, new heroes are always young. Jiang Ran, I’m impressed. Truly impressed."

He looked at Jiang Ran with eyes full of admiration and pride.

"I won’t waste time with more praise. Let’s talk about the request you mentioned in your email."

He cleared his throat twice.

Dean Gao Yan sat up straight.

"Are you sure you want to give up this supreme honor? You must know what a perfect proof of Goldbach’s Conjecture means in the world of mathematics today."

"You want to donate it to the Longke Institute free of charge. I understand and deeply respect your sentiment, but from our perspective, we would rather see outstanding scholars receive the fame, respect, and honor they deserve."

"Of course, if you have concerns, we can temporarily publish the findings under the name of the Dragon Country Academy of Sciences, but we will always preserve your authorship."

"Whenever you need it, we can make a public announcement and return this honor to you, which was yours to begin with."

"There’s no need."

Jiang Ran refused without any hesitation, waving his hand.

"I only need a letter of recommendation."

"A letter of recommendation is no problem at all."

Gao Yan smiled and spread his hands.

"That’s not even up for discussion, Jiang Ran. For an outstanding talent like you, I’d be more than happy to write you a letter of recommendation to any university or research institute you wish."

Recalling that Jiang Ran had mentioned he was attending a vocational college, Gao Yan worried Jiang Ran might misunderstand, so he quickly put away his smile and said in a serious tone:

"Yes, the academic environment is indeed very important. I have an old friend, Qiu Tongcheng—you must know of him."

"The purpose of the university mathematics competition he organizes is to give outstanding students who, for various reasons, didn’t get into a good university another chance to attend a prestigious school."

"On this point, his thoughts and mine are aligned. So... tell me, Jiang Ran, which university do you want to attend?"

"East Sea University," Jiang Ran said.

Dean Gao took a deep breath, leaned back in his chair, and folded his hands over his stomach.

"East Sea University... it’s quite good, indeed."

"But... have you considered somewhere better? Qingbei, Longke University, or even my institute. My institute is actually quite good, you know. The academic atmosphere is excellent."

Pfft.

Seeing Teacher Gao hesitate, wanting to say more but holding back, the assistant couldn’t help but chuckle, covering their mouth.

On the flight over, Teacher Gao had been saying constantly that he wanted to take Jiang Ran on as his disciple!

At the time, the assistant had even asked, "But don’t you already have a final disciple?"

Teacher Gao had snorted lightly.

"A closed door can be reopened, can’t it? It’s not every day you find a talent like this!"

And so, that’s why he had just hesitated—first admitting that East Sea University was good, then repeatedly mentioning how his own institute was also excellent. He was just shy of blurting out, ’Let me be your mentor!’

But it was clear that Dean Gao Yan respected Jiang Ran’s decision more.

Jiang Ran wasn’t a fool.

He naturally understood the hidden meaning in Gao Yan’s words.

"Thank you for your recognition, Dean Gao. I’m very honored."

He gave a slight smile.

"It’s just that East Sea University has truly been my dream since I was a child. I really want to go there to pursue further studies."

"Hmm..."

Dean Gao pressed his lips into a tight line, nodding without a word.

’Sigh.’

’Such a genius, such a promising talent. I really can’t bear to let him go.’

’If he goes to East Sea University, who knows which mentor will end up getting lucky.’

’Sigh...’

’I really want to take him as my disciple.’

’I really want to...’

’Wait a minute?’

His eyes suddenly widened. He thought of someone!

"Jiang Ran."

Dean Gao shot to his feet.

"At East Sea University, are there any professors you know? Any courses you want to take?"

"I... haven’t really thought about it yet," Jiang Ran said truthfully.

In any case, his only goal was to attend East Sea University; the major didn’t matter.

"Then let me recommend a mentor for you!"

Dean Gao chuckled and pulled out his phone.

"I have a student who’s a teacher at East Sea University. He was just promoted to a graduate advisor this year and doesn’t have any students yet. When school starts next year, you can go straight to him for your graduate studies!"

"Zhang Yang, from the School of Physics. A very outstanding young man, my final disciple. Ah... well, not ’final’ in the absolute sense. More like ’temporarily final.’"

"What do you think? You can go back and look up his resume and research direction. If you’re interested, you can just study under him as a graduate student!"

’Heh.’

The assistant watched Dean Gao rack his brains trying to poach the student; it had been a long time since they had seen him this happy.

’What a clever scheme.’

’Zhang Yang was already Dean Gao’s final disciple. By locking Jiang Ran under Zhang Yang, wouldn’t he become the grand-mentor, fair and square?’

’Even though there’s a generation between them, they would all ultimately be from his own line of disciples!’

"Okay."

Jiang Ran agreed immediately, without a second thought.

In fact, he couldn’t have asked for a better proposal.

Teacher Zhang Yang had done him a great kindness. And although it was a bit strange to say, the fact was... long before they ever truly established a student-teacher relationship, Zhang Yang was already a teacher whom Jiang Ran deeply respected.

Of course, that was in the future, twenty years from now, inside a dark, sunless prison.

He had once told himself that he would definitely repay Zhang Yang.

Now, wasn’t the opportunity right here?

If he wanted to persuade Zhang Yang not to research Quantum Tunneling, there was no better way to get in his ear than to stay by his side and become his student.