Chapter 1: Unique Talent

In early May, the blazing sun hung in the sky.

The sunlight, obstructed by the trees alongside the sidewalk, sprinkled onto the ground, leaving only specks of light.

Even so, people walking on the streets still felt an unbearable dry heat. This was a summer in Xingcheng; even Africans who came here to spend the summer would peel a layer of skin when they returned home.

At this moment, a mother and son were walking on the sizzling pavement.

The teenage son, Qiao Ze, wore a wooden expression and walked with an odd gait, while his mother, Lu Xiuxiu, glanced repeatedly at her son, her mouth constantly muttering.

"Qiao Ze, when we meet Teacher Yu later, do you know how to address him? This is related to your whole life. Mom is useless, I can only help you with this much. If this doesn't work out, you might really not be able to attend college. What will you do then?"

Unfortunately, Lu Xiuxiu's nagging did not resonate with the boy or elicit any response; his face remained as calm as a still pond.

"Sigh... you..." Lu Xiuxiu wanted to say more but, seeing her child's indifferent expression, she ultimately gave up. Her mouth, however, continued to mutter nonstop.

Fortunately for her, the hotel that carried her last hope was not far ahead.

…

At Xiaoxiang Star Mansion Hotel, in room 716, Li Jiangao was leaning against the headboard, seriously reading a printed paper when suddenly the ringing of the doorbell interrupted his thoughts. With a slight frown, he placed the paper on the bedside table and approached the door.

"Teacher Yu, I am Qiao Ze's parent. Teacher Zhou introduced us to you."

Ah, they're looking for Teacher Yu. With admission season approaching, it's no wonder the admission officers are so busy.

"This parent, I'm not..."

Li Jiangao forced a smile as he opened the door, intending to explain that Teacher Yu had changed rooms with him, but the woman just started rambling.

"Teacher Yu, I know this might be difficult, but please hear me out first! How about we go in and talk..."

She hadn't finished her sentence when the woman, taking charge, grabbed her son by the hand and barged into the room...

Li Jiangao stood there, stunned. There was no helping it; people online these days understand how things work. He instinctively tried to avoid physical contact with the woman in front of him, but merely stepped aside to let her pass, and she successfully pulled a rather dour-looking child into the room.

"Um, parent, I'm not Teacher Yu. Teacher Yu is on the 4th floor, you see..." Li Jiangao said with a wry smile as he turned around to continue his explanation.

However, the woman seemed not to understand a word Li Jiangao was saying, and she rattled on, "Really, Teacher Yu, I'm not bragging, but our Qiao Ze is really outstanding. He always gets perfect scores in math and physics. It's just his Chinese, English, and a few other subjects where his marks are lacking.

He could have been admitted to Huaqing or Yanbei on the strength of his performance in the Olympiads, but he's a bit introverted, not good at communicating, and he got ostracized by the others. He was also held back by Coach Shan at school and couldn't compete. But this year, we entered him in competitions on our own and he even won awards; I've brought the certificates. Look..."

Li Jiangao watched the ceaseless woman and felt somewhat on the verge of collapse.

If only he had known that such a tenacious and incomprehensible parent would come today, he wouldn't have switched rooms with Teacher Yu the night before.

"No, this parent, I'm not lying to you, I'm really not Teacher Yu. Last night…"

As Li Jiangao continued trying to make the woman understand this point, she suddenly broke down in tears, "Teacher Yu, honestly, you're our last hope. I've gone to all the people I could in this period, and Qiao Ze's homeroom teacher actually thinks highly of him, but the child is just too uneven in his subjects."

Qiao Ze's father died early, and I raised him alone. The doctors said he had something called Asperger's syndrome, but he's really not sick. He just doesn't like to talk to people. Think about it, with his withdrawn nature, if he can't get into a good university, what could he possibly do in society later on?!

I'm begging you, please just give him a test, anything related to math or physics. Any problem, no matter how difficult, will do—the harder, the better. If he can't solve it, I'll leave right away! Really, our Qiao Ze is truly a genius!"

Li Jian Gao was completely stunned.

At that moment, he felt so embarrassed he could have dug out a three-bedroom apartment on the floor with his toes, praying silently that the Xiaoxiang Star Mansion Hotel had more atrocious soundproofing. Otherwise, if the people nearby couldn't hear what this woman was saying, heaven knows what the professors staying next door would think.

And on top of everything, this woman was a widow!

What the heck is this all about!

"Qiao Ze, you should also greet Teacher Yu. Eh... don't mess with the teacher's things!" the woman said through tears.

Only then did Li Jian Gao realize there was someone else in the room.

When he finally turned his attention to the child, he noticed that the mother was already inconsolable, while Qiao Ze himself remained as calm as an outsider. And at some point, the boy had picked up the paper he had casually thrown on the bedside table, now sitting on the couch by the bed, quietly reading it.

Li Jian Gao was just about to speak when the teenager suddenly looked up at him, and that's when he noticed the boy's eyes were exceptionally clear. But what the young man said next took him by surprise again.

"Did you write this paper?"

Li Jian Gao shook his head instinctively, saying, "No, this is the latest paper from Professor Ronier at the University of Illinois."

"Oh! The author is quite clever..." the boy nodded in acknowledgment, commenting, but immediately added, "But the proof of the third lemma is wrong, so all the subsequent proofs are problematic."

Li Jian Gao found this amusing...

Look at what he's saying...

This was a paper published in 'Mathematics Annual,' reviewed by a host of mathematicians. Of course, the paper might have issues, but none of the experts in the field had spotted them. Could this kid have noticed something they hadn't?

Moreover, the paper was about Group Theory, a subject obscure enough that those who know it, know it well.

Those who don't, probably haven't even heard the term.

Not to mention a high school student, even he had suffered immensely from choosing a topic in Group Theory during his Ph.D. studies.

But Li Jian Gao had just been promoted to associate professor and had some manners, so he just scoffed and said, "Heh, where is it wrong? Can you put it simply?"

"The proof is correct under three-dimensional conditions, but it fails when applied to four-dimensional Euclidean space. If you substitute the general formula of the four-dimensional straight line into the calculation, you'll get a unique solution, meaning either the hyperplane ABC must all be zero at once; or the subspace surface will intersect with the defined line at the solution's coordinates. However, in three-dimensional Euclidean geometry, ABC cannot all be zero at once; in four-dimensional geometry, a surface and a line do not intersect."

Li Jian Gao was stunned for a long while, then rushed over, practically snatching the paper from the child's hands, and began to seriously re-read the proof of Lemma 3. Then, with a peculiar look on his face, he turned to Qiao Ze: "How do you know this part of the equation has a unique solution?"

Qiao Ze pursed his lips, looking at the man before him as though he was still watching a fool, also with a hint of disappointment. He didn't want to answer at first, but considering this was the first person who seemed to understand him, he reluctantly gave an explanation: "Of course, it's estimated. You can imagine the three-dimensional projection in the coordinate system, then substitute the coordinates of every point as parameters, and proceed with the dimension transformation calculation. Although I didn't calculate the exact results, I'm certain this equation has a solution."

"In any case, the special compact Lie groups the author tried to construct are flawed!"

...