fictionpage Chapter 65 The Lost Lamb
Chapter 65 The Lost Lamb
Inside a luxury apartment in a certain city.
Zhang Lingfeng, a math teacher at the University of Science and Technology of China's gifted youth program, stared intently at the mountain of reference books piled on his desk, rubbing his throbbing temples with both hands, feeling a chill run down his spine!
It was late at night, and the darkness outside the window was as black as his brain at that moment, which was full of mush.
A few days ago, the director of the academic affairs office slapped the list of new students on his desk with a smile...
Zhang Lingfeng almost spat out his goji berry tea from his thermos onto the old director's face after just one glance at the names in the first row.
Su Hao, 13 years old.
First place in the overall individual score at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).
Not only that, but that final question, which has utterly crushed countless top geniuses across the globe and is widely considered the most insanely difficult question in the history of the IMO...
This elementary school student, who is still drinking milk to help him grow taller, solved the problem in a near-perfect way!
The word "genius," which is now so common in the market, is an insult to this child!
Zhang Lingfeng felt as if a lead plate was pressing on his chest, and every breath he took was accompanied by a heavy sense of powerlessness.
"What the hell am I supposed to teach?!"
The competitive spirit and sense of self-esteem among teachers are no less intense than those in the world of fame and fortune.
He is a PhD graduate from the Department of Mathematics at Peking University. He has taught undergraduate, graduate, and gifted youth classes at the University of Science and Technology of China for many years, nurturing countless exceptionally talented students.
Outsiders always felt that it was a waste of his talents for a mathematics expert with multiple top-tier journal papers to stay in China and teach in a gifted youth program.
But they don't understand that the true joy of a math teacher lies in reshaping a student's soul!
Watching those students who initially only mechanically called out formulas, but under his guidance, through thinking and derivation,
Finally, I touched upon the cold and beautiful truth of mathematics!
In that instant, the student's eyes underwent a transformation, and the light that suddenly burst forth was the supreme nectar he was most enamored with!
It's even more refreshing than drinking an ice-cold soda on a hot summer day!
Even when faced with exceptionally talented students, he never felt that his mathematical foundation was even slightly weak.
But now?
All his past achievements, which he was so proud of, were instantly stripped of their foundation.
Mathematics is never a stagnant pool for finding standard answers; it is a vast language for exploring the laws of the universe and proving the truth!
But now, facing a 13-year-old boy who has long been driving a supercar on this road of truth and leaving everyone else in the dust, what help can his broken tricycle offer?
Should I teach him how to write his name more fancy on the answer sheet?!
Zhang Lingfeng rubbed his temples in pain, and lost a few more strands of hair from worry.
……
Early in the morning, Su Hao carried his schoolbag and walked to his classroom.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, scattering like shards of gold onto him.
Walking through this tree-lined path, you'll find yourself on a flower-lined path full of azaleas and lilacs—the scenery is so beautiful it's like a scene from a teen idol drama!
But Su Hao's brows furrowed slightly; his keen intuition told him:
This place is shrouded in an eerie atmosphere, like a barrier!
It had only been two days since the start of the semester.
Su Hao's brain has been preliminarily modeled, and a rigorous conclusion has been reached:
This place is practically another world.
An independent space embedded in the map of the earth, yet it has distorted all social rules.
Suddenly, faint footsteps interrupted his thoughts; a girl with a ponytail was walking towards him.
Su Hao's eyes lit up; it was Lu Enjing, his classmate.
In the gifted youth program, where the male-to-female ratio is 8.5:1.5, she is a rare and valuable sample for observation.
"Good morning."
Su Hao stopped, waved gently, and said a polite greeting in a steady voice.
Although they were classmates, the other person was a few years older than them.
Previously, Su Hao discovered an optimal solution theorem for interpersonal communication during the IMO competition:
When dealing with older people, showing kindness and politeness first can help avoid 99% of meaningless disputes in life.
Unfortunately, the allure was given to the blind.
These "otherworldly beings" share a common bad habit: they are perpetually immersed in their own self-imposed isolation.
Their ears seem to be especially precious; whenever they're not in class, they're always completely covered by noise-canceling headphones.
Their gaze is always fixed on various documents and materials.
Lu Enjing did not slow down her pace at all.
Her gaze met Su Hao's for a fleeting moment in the air, her pupils devoid of any emotion, as if she were merely a heartless robot vacuum cleaner, brushing past him without a trace.
"Just as I thought."
Unsurprisingly, Su Hao pulled out his notebook and silently made a note.
Including this negative feedback, the prior probability of replying to the greeting has plummeted to 41.4%.
That's what makes this other world so strange.
In the small town where Su Hao grew up, full of life and warmth, if you greeted your neighbors on the street, the chances of them responding warmly were 100%!
Sometimes they might even force you to eat two freshly steamed corns.
But here, the rules of social interaction have completely changed.
Whether in a corridor or a path, the eyes of these "otherworldly beings" are always glued to their books or tablets.
Even if they occasionally meet each other's gaze, they will, like the girl just now, seem to have triggered some kind of "obstacle avoidance program," coldly ignoring and avoiding her.
Not long after enrolling, Su Hao noticed this unusual odor.
He's been treating these past few days like he's conducting a sociological survey.
At this moment, the faces of his parents and his sister Su Hui appeared in his mind.
In this alien world where mathematical expectations are distorted and the basic social contracts of humanity are completely torn apart, he felt confused for the first time about whether he could graduate smoothly.
Having been away from home for only a few days, this super genius who has swept international awards is now filled with homesickness!
……
Two blocks from the school, inside a noisy chain fast food restaurant.
Su Hao held a glass of cola and sat upright.
Across from him, Lin Shuwan, who had already been promoted to senior in another world, was resting her chin on her hand, her eyes and brows filled with barely suppressed schadenfreude as she stared intently at him.
"What a cruel twist of fate! I've actually ended up in the same school as a monster like you!"
Although she spoke with a teasing tone, she couldn't hide the excitement on her face, which showed she loved watching the drama unfold.
Who would have thought?
Not long ago, there was a chasm between the two of them that was like the difference between a "primary school student" and a "middle school student."
Before we knew it, we had become alumni of the same school.
Lin Shuwan knew all too well how deep the water was in this place.
As someone who has been through this hellish ordeal for a long time, I have plenty of life-saving tips.
She was determined to teach this lost little lamb, so full of country charm, a good lesson!
The deeper reason lies in the fact that Lin Shuwan herself is also an anomaly.
As someone who started elementary and junior high school a year earlier and skipped grades like crazy, Lin Shuwan grew up surrounded by people older than her, always exuding an air of aloofness and incongruity.
Now that's great, finally someone younger than me has come!