Chapter 190 - 185: Destroy It All, School Is Impossible
While Li Dong was still lost in contemplation of the Hodge-Tate structure...
His roommates could only look on, speechless.
They couldn’t help it. Li Dong’s state was frankly a little terrifying.
One moment he’d stand up, the next he’d plop back down, muttering what sounded like an incantation—words like "non-central extension" and "smoothness of the Shimura cluster remainder term."
"..."
"Brother Dong is in a trance again."
Wang Hao silently took a bite of his apple.
Liu Qiang shook his head. He was used to it by now.
Brother Dong’s "immortal cultivation" sessions had long been a staple of dorm room 404.
At Yan University, top students were a dime a dozen, but they had never seen anyone like Li Dong—someone who went completely offline the moment he entered his zone.
None of the three disturbed him.
It wasn’t that they didn’t care; they just knew that once Li Dong entered this state, you could talk to him, and he genuinely wouldn’t hear you.
Last time, Chen Nan had shouted "Brother Dong" three times right next to his ear. Without even looking up, Li Dong had simply muttered, "Expand that Ramanujan to the fourth order," nearly giving Chen Nan a heart attack.
There was only one thing that could temporarily rouse Li Dong from his "cultivation" state.
"Brother Dong!" Wang Hao leaned in. "We’re going to the cafeteria. Want us to bring you back anything?"
Li Dong didn’t even look up.
"Spicy rabbit. And extra rice."
And with that, the three of them grabbed their meal cards and headed out.
On the way to the cafeteria, Wang Hao suddenly sighed.
"Man, in the blink of an eye, winter break is almost here. This semester has been so damn surreal."
Liu Qiang stretched lazily.
"Tell me about it. Who asked for a god-tier master to show up in our dorm room? Comparing yourself to him will just drive you mad. Still, I’m glad we can finally go home. This semester has been exhausting."
Chen Nan nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, once we’re home, we won’t have to be intimidated by Brother Dong’s aura of sheer brilliance."
"Besides, my mom said that for New Year’s this year, she’s going to drag me around to all her best friends’ houses just to show me off. She wants them to know that while her husband might not measure up to theirs, when it comes to sons, she’s the clear winner."
Liu Qiang and Wang Hao: ???
’Your mom’s got some interesting priorities...’
After that, they both turned to look at Wang Hao.
"Haozi, what about you? Are you going home?"
Wang Hao shook his head.
"I’m not."
"I’m going to prepare for the National College Mathematical Modeling Competition in the second half of the year."
The National College Mathematical Modeling Competition is one of the largest and most prestigious mathematics competitions in the country.
Um... even Academician Lu once participated in this competition.
Each team consists of three university students: one who focuses on mathematical modeling, one who handles the programming, and one who’s in charge of writing the paper and data analysis.
The three work together to model and solve a real-world problem within three days.
Although the main competition is in September, truly competitive teams start practicing and building chemistry in the first half of the year.
"I’ve already found my teammates," Wang Hao said, counting on his fingers.
"One is a sophomore here at Yan University, a real programming whiz. He won a silver medal at an ACM regional."
"The other one is from the computer science department. He participated in the MCM/ICM last year and won an M-prize. His paper-writing skills are top-notch."
After hearing this, Liu Qiang and Chen Nan exchanged a glance, and then...
"Haozi!" Liu Qiang threw an arm around Wang Hao’s neck.
"That’s not cool, man! How could you not include your bros in something this awesome?"
Chen Nan sidled up too, his face a mask of mock resentment.
"Seriously! We’ve been roommates for a whole semester. Pulling a stunt like this really hurts our feelings, you know?"
Wang Hao shot them a look.
"Heh."
"Have you two finished that Algebraic Topology project Professor Zhang Zhiqiang assigned you?"
The expressions on Liu Qiang and Chen Nan’s faces instantly froze.
Wang Hao twisted the knife.
"Didn’t Professor Zhang say it himself? If you finish this project, he’ll help you get a pre-admission spot for grad school."
"Do you still want to secure a spot as his grad student or not? If you don’t use the winter break to grind it out, what are you going to turn in when the semester starts?"
The two of them were at a loss for words.
The project Professor Zhang had assigned them—calculating the cohomology groups on a fiber bundle—was something they had been researching for over a month, and their progress could only be described as... barely not at a standstill.
Seeing their spirits deflate, Wang Hao added another jab.
"Besides... you two?"
His tone was teasing.
"It’s not that I look down on you, but are you just going to be cannon fodder?"
Liu Qiang was furious.
"Wang Hao, you get back here!"
Chen Nan wasn’t having it either and looked like he was about to kick him.
"Haozi, what did you just say? Say it again! Believe me, I’ll make sure you don’t have a single peaceful day this winter break!"
The three of them roughhoused for a bit at the entrance to the cafeteria, pushing and shoving.
Although Wang Hao’s words were teasing, deep down, Liu Qiang and Chen Nan knew he was right.
There really was a gap between them and Wang Hao when it came to math.
For instance, while working on Professor Zhang Zhiqiang’s project, there were many technical details about homotopy theory and cohomology that Liu Qiang and Chen Nan had struggled with for days without making any headway. In the end, it was Wang Hao who came over and used a mapping cone construction to help them sort out the key steps.
As for why they didn’t ask Li Dong?
Could there be any other reason?
When Brother Dong explained things, they couldn’t understand a word.
Last time, Liu Qiang mustered up the courage to ask Li Dong a question about the degeneration conditions of a spectral sequence.
Li Dong glanced at it and said, "Just write out the E₂ page of this Leray-Serre spectral sequence, then take the quotient directly using the contractibility of the Serre class."
It took Liu Qiang a full three days to recover from that.
From then on, Liu Qiang never dared to ask Li Dong for help again.
Asking Wang Hao was so much better. At least they could understand what he was talking about.
The three of them got their food from the cafeteria, returned to the dorm, and placed the spicy rabbit and rice on Li Dong’s desk.
Smelling the aroma of the meat, Li Dong immediately grabbed his chopsticks and started digging in.
Just then...
His phone suddenly rang.
Li Dong put down his chopsticks and picked up his phone.
He saw it was an unknown number.
He frowned but answered it anyway.
"Is this Li Dong? This is Zhang Wenping."
Li Dong froze for half a second.
Zhang Wenping?
That name was a big deal at Yan University—and in the entire Huaxia Mathematical Community and computer science world, for that matter.
An academician of the Huaxia Engineering Academy, former Vice Principal of Yan University, current president of the Huaxia Industrial and Applied Mathematics Society (CSIAM), and also a member of the expert panel for National Power Equipment’s semiconductor strategy.
"Principal Zhang? Hello... Sir!" Li Dong said.
"Haha, no need to call me Principal. I’ve already stepped down. Just call me Teacher Zhang,"
Zhang Wenping said with a laugh on the other end of the line.
"I’m calling you today because I’ve read your forty-seven-page technical document."
"The one about using spectral decomposition to construct a low-dimensional invariant subspace under a high-Reynolds-number turbulent boundary layer."
"There’s something I couldn’t quite figure out. Logically, the singularity of the flow field should diffuse rapidly under the effect of the strong nonlinear term. How did you ensure that the reduced-dimension basis doesn’t suffer modal collapse during sub-millisecond evolution?"
This question hit upon the Achilles’ heel of the 2.1 algorithm’s practical implementation.
Li Dong was silent for a moment, then said.
"Teacher Zhang, that’s actually a common misconception."
"We don’t need to fight the singularity. In this algorithm, I introduced a quasi-periodic topological compensation term."
"To put it simply, I don’t treat turbulence as noise, but rather as a regular distortion of a high-dimensional space under a low-dimensional projection."
"Through Lagrangian phase space reconstruction, the kinetic energy of the singularity is directly redirected into the preset compensation modes..."
On the other end of the line, Zhang Wenping listened intently, and Li Dong could even hear the occasional scratch of a pen as he took notes.
A few minutes later...
"...I see. Using phase space reconstruction to redirect kinetic energy."
"Your way of thinking is so much wilder than us old-timers."
Having said that, Zhang Wenping suddenly asked.
"Li Dong, are you interested in taking a few more steps in the direction of applied mathematics?"
"For this September’s National College Mathematical Modeling Competition (CUMCM), I plan to establish an innovative achievement review panel under the expert committee, specifically to evaluate outstanding works with disruptive ideas."
"I think you would be a perfect fit as a review expert on this panel."
Hearing this, Li Dong quickly replied.
"Teacher Zhang... you must be joking, right? I’m only a freshman. You want me to be a review expert for university students from all over the country? That... that’s against the rules, isn’t it?"
"Rules are rigid, but people are flexible. As they say, he who is accomplished is the teacher," Zhang Wenping said with a chuckle.
"Your Montgomery paper even got into the Annals. Who would dare question your academic caliber?"
"I think you are more than worthy..."
Just then, a hurried voice could be heard from the other end.
Then Zhang Wenping said.
"Alright, Li Dong, I have to go now."
"Think carefully about what I just said."
"It’s not a mandatory assignment, but I hope to see more young people get involved. Goodbye."
The call ended, and Li Dong let out a long breath.
Seeing Li Dong’s reaction, Wang Hao and the other two asked subconsciously.
"Brother Dong, who was that?"
Li Dong replied casually.
"Oh, that was Teacher Zhang Wenping."
"He asked if I was willing to be a review expert for innovative achievements at this year’s National College Mathematical Modeling Competition."
At that moment, Wang Hao felt a tightness in his chest.
He had just been bragging to Liu Qiang and Chen Nan about the incredible teammates he’d found to prepare for the competition—an ACM silver medalist, a prodigy from Shuimu...
And now, he turns around to find that this bastard Li Dong has been personally invited by a big shot to be a review expert?
Did that mean that if he, Wang Hao, was lucky enough to make it to the finals this year, the paper he worked so hard on would end up in Li Dong’s hands, just for Li Dong to comment that his approach was "a bit simplistic"?
"..."
Wang Hao sat back down on his bed and silently drew the curtain.
"Just let the world end already. Seriously. I... I can’t fucking do this school thing anymore!"