Top Student at Their Peak
Chapter 341 - 128 This is even closer to me than my own grandson!

Chapter 341: Chapter 128 This is even closer to me than my own grandson!

Huaxia, Huaqing University, Qiuzhai.

Yuan Zhengxin was in his office reviewing the plan for the talent class. The elderly man read very slowly, scrutinizing every detail carefully, considering if there was a need to adjust the course setup, and how to maximize the faculty resources.

The old man was the same age as the Republic. One could imagine how difficult it was to emerge from the era of poverty and deprivation, not to mention Elder Yuan’s impoverished family background in his childhood.

It is understandably difficult for a student from a humble background to make a name for themselves.

You could say it’s truly due to his extraordinary talent and effort far beyond the ordinary that he achieved his current stature.

His childhood experiences also resulted in an old man with a somewhat stubborn nature, intolerant of even the smallest faults, and often clashing with the ideas of the more individualistic younger generation, making him seem rigid. As such, he often implemented measures and regulations that drew criticism.

In fact, the old man merely wanted to tell all the young people that building a nation requires more than just cynicism. The 90s and 00s generations are the hope of Huaxia’s mathematics! The task of making Huaxia’s mathematics catch up with the world rests on the shoulders of these two generations.

The youth should not stand idly by as the nation’s mathematics remains lagging on the world stage. Huaxia is on the path of rising national strength, and mathematics needs to keep pace with the nation’s development by studying diligently and working hard like their predecessors to earn a say in the global mathematics community!

Indeed, considering that the old man is already 76 years old and still persists on the frontlines of mathematics education, it is truly admirable. From ancient to modern times, very few have achieved this. It undoubtedly requires extraordinary passion and perseverance.

The old man was contemplating whether to make slight adjustments to this year’s course for the talent class based on last year’s feedback when suddenly footsteps were heard outside the door, followed by a knock. The old man casually took off his glasses and called out, "Please come in."

The office door opened, and Li Lixing walked into the old man’s office.

After ending a video call with Ronald, Li Lixing initially thought of calling Elder Yuan directly to inform him. But after some consideration, he decided to come in person.

Expressing gratitude face-to-face shows more sincerity.

"Professor Li is here. Have a seat, would you like some tea?" Yuan Zhengxin stood up with a smile upon seeing Li Lixing.

Li Lixing hurried forward a couple of steps and said, "Elder Yuan, please remain seated, no need to mind me. To be honest, I came specifically to thank you. After thanking you, I need to hurry back and plan the next phase, discuss it with everyone at tonight’s group meeting."

"Thank me?" The old man was a bit puzzled.

Li Lixing immediately explained, "Of course, I must thank you. If it weren’t for you recommending Qiao Yu to join our major research group, we might still be troubled by that problem. In fact, today Qiao Yu successfully proved a theorem that has troubled our group for more than six months!

Moreover, I just derived Qiao Yu’s proof with Professor Ronald, and we both agree that Qiao Yu’s approach is completely correct. Professor Ronald also wanted me to apologize to you, as he previously thought your recommendation for Qiao Yu to join our group was biased."

Yuan Zhengxin looked at Li Lixing, thought for a moment, smiled, and said, "Actually, what Ronald said isn’t wrong. I did have a personal reason when I introduced Qiao Yu to join your research group. I wanted him to gain exposure and understand the method of international collaborative research.

Although I expected him to contribute to the group, I genuinely didn’t think he could achieve this level. Professor Li, you’re not just making some accomplishments for Qiao Yu to make me happy, are you?"

Li Lixing tugged at the corner of his mouth, giving a wry smile, "Elder Yuan, this time you’re really overthinking it. Honestly, if I wanted to do that, I wouldn’t have chosen this moment. In such a short time, I suspect he hasn’t even finished reading the materials I gave him.

Besides, during this period, he barely communicated with us regarding this issue. During the meetings, he proposed some ideas, but most were methods we had previously tried. Today is the first time I received an email from him, which contained the proof of this proposition."

Yuan Zhengxin’s expression turned serious, and he said, "Did he really solve the problem you’ve recently encountered on his own? Do you have the original manuscript? Let me take a look."

Li Lixing had anticipated that the old man would surely make this request and was already prepared.

He placed the bag he was holding on the old man’s desk, took out a stack of draft papers with a printed document on top, and then handed them to Yuan Zhengxin, "The printed document is Qiao Yu’s proof process, wherein he outlined only one idea, very brief. These drafts are what Professor Ronald and I just completed together."

"Why don’t you sit for a while?"

"No, no, you go ahead and check it out. I really need to get back to work. This afternoon, I also plan to let those few students come see Qiao Yu’s proof. Haha, they’re all students, but the gap is just too wide."

Yuan Zhengxin, who always advocated for strict requirements on students, unusually stood in the students’ shoes and said jokingly, "Haha, we can’t blame the students too harshly. After all, kids like Qiao Yu are rare."

"Oh... I understand, but there’s no way around it! When a genius emerges in every era, how can other mathematicians keep up if they don’t push themselves?" Li Lixing sighed.