Professor Tan's proud yet inscrutable expression was truly infuriating. At the very least, Professor Liu couldn't help but retort, "Then tell us, who else is there?"
Professor Liu's voice carried undisguised irritation. Clearly, he thought Professor Tan was being smug without understanding the real pressure.
Professor Tan wore a half-smile, his expression profound yet deliberately withholding.
Suddenly, the department head had an epiphany and recalled a name—"Gu Xue Jiao."
This was someone the school had paid special attention to at the beginning of the semester, even serving as the freshman representative. But later, she became so low-key that everyone overlooked her. Some students even spread rumors that she had faded into mediocrity.
Professor Liu nearly slammed the table in anger. "Tan Zhongying, how dare you mention Gu Xue Jiao? She was talented enough to win first prize in mathematics back then. But look at her now—skipping Teacher Tan's classes! How exactly have you been teaching your students?"
"Skipping classes?" Professor Tan raised an eyebrow, surprised. Professor Ke and the dean also turned to look.
Professor Liu was still fuming. "Exactly! She missed two ethics classes at the end of last semester. Luckily, she aced the exam, otherwise—"
Though hot-tempered, he genuinely cared about students, especially promising ones. He'd learned about Xue Jiao's absences from another teacher's casual remark, and it had upset him greatly.
Professor Tan relaxed visibly. "Well, she did get full marks on the exam. Missing two classes might have been for something important."
Others didn't know, but he did—that period was likely the critical final phase of Xue Jiao's verification work.
Two ethics classes... How could they compare to Fermat's Last Theorem?
"You—you—you—!" Professor Liu glared at Professor Tan, too furious to speak.
The dean chuckled and turned to Professor Tan. "Teacher Tan, what did you mean earlier? Has Gu Xue Jiao achieved something noteworthy?"
Professor Tan maintained his enigmatic smile. "You'll find out when the time comes."
The dean: "..."
Professor Liu: "..."
The paper's publication came over a month into the new semester, during which Xue Jiao had been focusing hard on her studies—specifically, her major courses.
Her grades last semester had been decent, ranking third in her major, but they still fell short of her expectations. Missing those ethics classes had cost her quite a few credits. With so many outstanding students at the school—many of whom excelled at exams—Xue Jiao was determined not to repeat such performance this semester.
When she learned the paper had been published, her first reaction was stunned disbelief.
Professor Tan called her almost immediately.
"Student Gu Xue Jiao—congratulations! Hahahaha!" He sounded exhilarated, standing up and leaning on his desk as he laughed heartily.
Xue Jiao blinked. "Professor...?"
"The school will hear this news soon. Whether you want to give interviews is entirely your choice."
"Interviews?!" she exclaimed.
"Of course! This is an immense honor. If you'd rather not face the media, you could go home and rest for a couple of days." Professor Tan offered this suggestion sincerely.
Xue Jiao hesitated. "But my classes...?"
"I'll handle the absences. Just go home and rest—but stay safe." In Professor Tan's eyes, Xue Jiao was now a treasure—one that needed protection from even the slightest harm.
"Alright." Since it was already the weekend, she decided to leave campus immediately, hailing a taxi home.Over there, Professor Tan was so excited that despite his advanced age, he bounced around the office several times before finally calming down, panting heavily from the exhilaration.
Then, with a radiant smile, he sent a seemingly composed message in the group chat:
"Warm congratulations to our university's Gu Xue Jiao for her paper on the hypothetical proof of Fermat's Last Theorem published in Annals of Mathematics ."
Such a simple sentence, without even a single punctuation mark.
Yet,
It was like dropping a depth charge.
Professor Liu was chatting with Gao Yuan at the time.
"So you still need to work hard. Although your achievements are impressive within our university, we must set our sights further," Professor Liu said with a profoundly meaningful look.
"Further?" Gao Yuan was taken aback.
"Yes. If you excel among undergraduates here, you should compare yourself to graduate students, to those at Peking University," he declared emphatically before softening his tone. "But don’t stress too much. After all—"
Before he could finish, his phone on the table started beeping incessantly.
"Beep beep beep—"
Professor Liu glanced at it but ignored it and continued, "After all, among our current cohort—"
"Beep beep beep—"
The only group he had notifications enabled for was the one filled with old-timers, which was usually silent.
Professor Liu took a deep breath. Why were these old fellows so active today? Especially that damned Tan guy—why was he blabbering nonstop?
He picked up his phone, still speaking. "Among our current cohort, you are undoubtedly the most outstand—"
As Professor Liu scrolled through the messages, his pupils suddenly contracted, his fingers froze, and the word "outstanding" died on his lips.
His eyes were glued to the screen, his face a picture of shock. Veins bulged on his forehead, his lips trembled, and he abruptly stood up.
"How is this possible?!"
Gao Yuan hurriedly rose to support him. "Professor Liu, what's wrong?"
He rushed forward to steady the professor, but the latter waved him off and stormed out of the room, phone in hand, moving with a speed that belied his age.
By the time Professor Liu barged into Professor Tan's office, the dean, the department head, Professor Ke, and Professor Deng were already there. He was the last to arrive.
"Did Gu Xue Jiao really get published?!"
Professor Tan looked utterly composed, as if it were no big deal. "Of course. There’ll be reports in a couple of days."
Professor Liu choked back his emotions. This was such fantastic news—a glory for the younger generation of their university, a testament to the undying brilliance of mathematics!
But seeing Professor Tan’s "calm" expression, he suddenly found it hard to feel happy.
The dean and other professors were buzzing with excitement, jubilant. At this moment, Gao Yuan, Peking University—none of it mattered.
We have Gu Xue Jiao!
Professor Liu held his breath for a long time before finally exploding, "Damn it, Tan! Why didn’t you say something earlier?! You were just waiting to make a fool of me, weren’t you?!"
Gu Xue Jiao, a freshman at Tsinghua University, had published a paper in Annals of Mathematics .
Within about two days, nearly everyone who paid attention to such matters knew about it.
Tsinghua University.
"Ahhhh! She’s brought such honor to our school!"
"The goddess is absolutely legendary!"
"I want to worship her!"
"No wonder she’s been so low-key this semester—she was preparing this bombshell!"
"This is next-level brilliance!"
Peking University."Holy shit, holy shit! Gu Xue Jiao actually published in Annals of Mathematics! She's a total beast!"
"No way!"
"Don’t believe me? It’s in the newspapers—go check the official website!"
"Did she write it herself?"
"Of course! First author, with her advisor Professor Tan Zhongying as second author. But in the Tsinghua University video, Professor Tan said the entire paper was written by Gu Xue Jiao—he only helped revise it and gave some suggestions."
"That’s seriously next-level."
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
"Yang Zhan, can you check if I did this right?" a senior student asked.
No response.
"Yang Zhan?" Several people turned to look at him, puzzled.
He was staring at his phone, his expression unreadable.
"Yang Zhan, what’s wrong?"
Yang Zhan slowly took off his gloves and set them aside. "No need to keep working on it."
"Huh?"
"Tsinghua’s Gu Xue Jiao has already solved it. The paper’s published in Annals of Mathematics."
"What?!" Gasps of shock filled the room.
Yang Zhan was stunned too, but at least their project was still in its early stages—they hadn’t invested too much time yet.
In research, the further you go, the more precious time becomes.
"Yang Zhan, let me see! Let me see!" A senior rushed over, disbelief written all over his face.
Another student blinked blankly. "Who’s Gu Xue Jiao?"
As a graduate student who’d been completely absorbed in his research, he’d never even heard of her.
"Last year’s national college entrance exam top scorer. She competed with me in the math Olympiad—also won first prize," Yang Zhan explained.
He’d tackled Fermat’s Last Theorem because of that competition, but now, Gu Xue Jiao had surpassed him.
There’d been no news of her for the past six months, so he hadn’t even considered her when starting this project.
But now, the dormant queen had revealed her strength—and no one could ignore her anymore.
Fudan University.
"Holy shit, holy shit! This is insane!"
"The craziest part? Look at how gorgeous she is!"
"Tsk, last year there were no photos, but now we finally have an ID picture."
"Pretty sure there was one last year too."
"Even the ID photo is stunning!"
"Hey, Yu, why aren’t you saying anything?"
"Pfft, our Yu here has always been immune to girls."
"Yu, you’re wasting that face of yours."
"Maybe Yu already has someone in his heart?"
"What kind of girl could possibly be out of your reach, Yu?"
"Yeah, you’re talented, good-looking—even a goddess wouldn’t turn you down!"
Nearby, Yi Tianyu stared at the girl on the screen, his fingers trembling as he reached out to touch it.
His eyes reddened, the voices around him fading into silence.
She had always been this dazzling—hardworking, brilliant, beautiful.
There might be others more physically stunning, but no one could ever compare to her.
She lived with clarity and purpose, never stopping in her pursuit of greatness.
Yi Tianyu shuddered slightly. He’d gone to see her last year—twice, actually.
But she was with that man, someone so extraordinary Yi Tianyu could only look up to him in this lifetime.
She had smiled so brightly, so happily—just like she had when she was by his side years ago.
Content. Fulfilled.
That day, Yi Tianyu hadn’t stepped forward.
And Xue Jiao would never know he had been there.
Professor Tan had said the paper would cause a sensation.
Xue Jiao hadn’t paid it much mind—after all, academic papers weren’t like the college entrance exam. They didn’t attract that much attention.But in reality, it had brought significant changes to her life.
There were countless media reporters wanting to interview her, but Xue Jiao declined as usual.
Then there were those who tried to reach her through various channels, hoping to write her life as an inspirational story.
Xue Jiao thought, I haven’t even lived twenty years yet—how is this my "life"?
At best, it’s just the first fifth of my life.
She refused those as well.
Even more absurdly, there were variety shows inviting her.
Xue Jiao: “...”
She didn’t accept any of them, only participating in a few necessary interviews arranged by the university.
The aftermath was that wherever she went, people stared at her like she was some kind of spectacle—eyes burning with admiration, some even taking photos.
“Oh my god, oh my god! How do I have a roommate like you? It’s so damn demoralizing!” Mai Jiajia hooked her arm around Xue Jiao’s neck, jumping onto her back from behind, her face full of excitement.
“Ugh, you’re so heavy!” Xue Jiao lightly swatted at her but couldn’t help smiling.
Mai Jiajia slid down, no longer weighing her down, and grinned brightly. “I don’t care—you have to be my friend for life! No breaking off this friendship!”
Xue Jiao laughed. “If you keep spouting nonsense, we’ll break it off right now.”
Mai Jiajia clung to her, refusing to let go.
“Congratulations. At your age, with such achievements—it’s truly hard to surpass. Gu Xue Jiao, you’re amazing,” Ding Qi praised.
Mai Jiajia exaggeratedly gasped. “Wow, our high-and-mighty lady actually knows how to compliment someone? No sarcasm? Not bad, not bad!”
“Mai Jiajia!”
“No need to shout so loud—my ears aren’t deaf.” She turned back to Xue Jiao. “Lately, there are tons of people asking about you. So many admire you, and a lot are wondering when you’ll start a new project.”
“Huh?” Xue Jiao blinked.
Mai Jiajia poked her. “Are you dumb? Did you use up all your IQ on math? You’re the university’s golden child now, a little mascot for our school! If you take on another project, the university will give you special treatment. Plus, your current results prove your capability—of course people want to work with you!”
Xue Jiao nodded. “Oh… no rush. I haven’t thought about it yet.”
Fermat’s Last Theorem had been something she’d always wanted to prove. Now that it was done, she hadn’t planned what came next.
“Jiao Jiao, congratulations.” Shu Lan gave her a thumbs-up, smiling warmly.
Xue Jiao sighed and sat down beside her.
“How have you been lately?”
“I’m fine.” Shu Lan smiled softly, looking relaxed, though dark circles shadowed her eyes.
Ding Qi raised an eyebrow. “Fine my ass. Yu Cheng’s about to leave, and she can’t even see him now. She’s been losing sleep every night.”
Xue Jiao reached out, taking Shu Lan’s hand and giving it a gentle squeeze—silent support.
But in her heart, she wondered: Can a love unsupported by family really last?
The buzz around her thesis didn’t fade for a long time. Her entire paper was posted on the university’s bulletin board, with people gathering to read it every day.
Meanwhile, Xue Jiao buried herself in books, diving back into the depths of academia.
“Gu Xue Jiao!” A familiar voice called out.
She turned, her eyes lighting up. “Chu Sheng!”
Classmates from high school often grew closer in university, and given their complicated rivalry—always pushing each other while maintaining mutual respect—their bond was unique.
But last semester, Xue Jiao had been too busy to see him much.
Chu Sheng jogged over, giving her a thumbs-up first. “I was only in seclusion for a short while, and when I come out, the legend of ‘Great God Gu’ has spread across the entire campus!”Xue Jiao scratched her head sheepishly. "Not really."
"Don't be modest. It's posted outside. Have many professors been having heart-to-heart talks with you lately?" Chu Sheng rarely made such animated expressions.
Xue Jiao: "..."
This was true. Indeed, many professors had approached her—not just from Tsinghua but also Peking University, Fudan University, and others.
Although she was studying under Teacher Tan, graduate school would be a different level altogether, when she would truly enter her mentor's circle.
For now, Xue Jiao remained unaffiliated, and not only her own university but others were trying to poach her.
"By the way, are you here to study too?" Xue Jiao asked Chu Sheng, as they stood at the library entrance.
To her surprise, Chu Sheng shook his head. "I came to find you."
"Huh?" Xue Jiao was taken aback.
"Take a look at this—my plan." He handed her a thick booklet.
Xue Jiao accepted it blankly.
"This is something I've wanted to do for a long time. It's actually why I chose physics in the first place. I wasn't planning to start yet, but you inspired me. I don't want to wait anymore. Gu Xue Jiao, would you be willing to join this project?" Chu Sheng spoke with utmost seriousness.
Without replying, Xue Jiao flipped to the first page: Magnetic Levitation .
"Hmm? Magnetic levitation? That's too broad a topic. And for our current level, researching this isn't realistic at all." Since Chu Sheng was making an invitation, Xue Jiao responded frankly.
Chu Sheng smiled and turned to the second page for her. "Exactly. That's why I'm taking the theoretical route— Magnetic Levitation Theory ."
"You're in physics, yet you're inviting me, a math major?" Xue Jiao arched an eyebrow.
Chu Sheng countered, "First, theoretical research involves extensive calculations, requiring strong mathematical skills. Second, you'll understand later—I genuinely need your help. And third, Gu Xue Jiao, your physics isn't weak at all. The gap between math and physics isn't as wide as you think. I trust your abilities."
By the end, Chu Sheng was grinning.
"Alright, I do like physics. But magnetic levitation theory is already quite developed, with many experts working on it. I'm not sure it's compelling enough for me to commit." Xue Jiao moved to close the booklet.
Chu Sheng stopped her, flipping another page. "I knew you'd say that. But what I want to explore isn't existing electromagnetic levitation—not following established paths. I want to try geomagnetic levitation . Gu Xue Jiao, I want to understand Earth's potential. If possible, I believe the flying car hypothesis isn't just a dream."
Xue Jiao froze.
The flying car hypothesis had appeared in a paper not long ago—one lacking technical depth, unpublished on any reputable platform.
Flying cars, as the name suggested, were exactly that. The paper had been widely criticized, and Xue Jiao had only seen it in the graduate office.
Chu Sheng's eyes gleamed. "I may never build a flying car in my lifetime, but I can point the way for those who come after. Even if I fail, I can at least show them which paths don't work. Gu Xue Jiao, let's not tread old ground. Let's forge a new path. Are you interested? Give me a year or two. If we see no progress, you can leave anytime."
Xue Jiao studied him in silence.
Chu Sheng's eyes burned with obsession and madness—as all researchers did. Between genius and insanity lay only the finest of lines.But such obsession is the light of the future and technological advancement.
"Alright."
—
They talked for a long time before Chu Sheng eagerly left to make his preparations. Xue Jiao flipped through the thick booklet with a serious expression.
She thought she was persistent enough, but Chu Sheng had been striving for so many years based merely on a childhood fantasy.
This booklet had been conceived since his high school days.
And now, he finally presented his blueprint before Xue Jiao.
She was the first to see it, but certainly not the last.
Xue Jiao didn’t know if they were wasting their efforts, but at this moment, she wanted to follow her heart—she wanted to do this.
Her fingers gently turned the pages as she read each one carefully.
It wasn’t until Professor Tan sent her a message that Xue Jiao put the booklet away, shouldered her bag, and headed to the office.
Arriving at the office door, she knocked.
"Teacher Tan, you wanted to see me?"
Inside, Teacher Tan wasn’t alone—several other professors were present as well, including Professor Liu, who had Gao Yuan beside him.
"Hello, Professor Liu, Professor Ke, Professor Xu, Professor Deng."
"Ah, Gu Xue Jiao, come in and take a seat," Teacher Tan greeted her warmly.
Under the gaze of the professors, Xue Jiao sat nervously in front of Professor Tan.
"Teacher Tan, what’s the matter?"
Professor Tan smiled. "Well, Yang Zhan previously formed a team to verify Fermat's Last Theorem—"
"Huh?" Xue Jiao was utterly confused.
The other professors chuckled. Professor Ke interjected, "Yes, and you beat them to it! Haha, so they changed direction and decided to tackle the Riemann Hypothesis instead."
Professor Tan nodded. "Exactly. Today, they extended an invitation to our university, hoping you’d join them."
"Me, join them?" The information was overwhelming, and Xue Jiao was still processing it.
Yang Zhan was researching the Riemann Hypothesis, formed a team, and now wanted her to join?
"Yes. I think this is an excellent opportunity. The Riemann Hypothesis has always been a formidable challenge. Since Yang Zhan and his team are taking it on, they must be well-prepared. Joining them would benefit you greatly, and you’d also get to interact with some of the brightest young minds in mathematics. I highly recommend it," Professor Tan said with a smile.
The other professors chimed in:
"Gu Xue Jiao, this really is a great chance. You’ll learn a lot by joining."
"Indeed! You’ve already brought honor to Tsinghua this time. They didn’t even invite us when they wanted to tackle Fermat’s Last Theorem!"
"Haha, so Gu Xue Jiao proved it before they could!"
"Once you join, make sure to get along well with them."
"Right, but don’t let them push you around either!"
Professor Liu raised his voice. "Gu Xue Jiao, could you do me a favor and take Gao Yuan along? He can just help out with odd tasks—nothing major, just to broaden his horizons."
They all seemed certain Xue Jiao would join Yang Zhan’s team.
Suddenly, Xue Jiao spoke up. "Teacher Tan, can you contact Yang Zhan?"
"Huh?" Professor Tan was momentarily taken aback before replying, "I can reach out to his advisor. Do you want to talk to Yang Zhan directly?"
Xue Jiao nodded.
The other professors exchanged glances, assuming she just wanted to clarify details about the project.
But after two phone transfers, when Yang Zhan finally answered, Xue Jiao asked:
"Senior Yang Zhan, I have a project here. Would you be interested?"Professor Tan ""
Professor Ke ""
Professor Liu ""
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