Hai Cheng University.
At two in the afternoon, students participating in the competition began arriving one after another.
Mrs. Song personally escorted Song Huai to the event, reminding him, "If you rank in the top three in the national physics competition, you’ll secure a recommendation for admission to Peking or Tsinghua University. Make sure to double-check your answers carefully..."
She paused mid-sentence, her gaze sharpening. "That girl in the white dress—isn’t that Rong Yu?"
Song Huai looked up.
It was indeed Rong Yu.
"How ridiculous! She actually chased you all the way to the competition venue!" Mrs. Song scoffed, her lips curling in disdain. "Has she even looked in the mirror? From head to toe, she’s nowhere near worthy of entering our Song family!"
She slammed the car door shut and strode toward Rong Yu in her high heels, blocking her path.
Rong Yu had been mentally calculating a set of equations when a shadow fell over her. She glanced up, momentarily failing to recognize the woman standing before her.
"I’ve told you more than once—the one engaged to Song Huai is Yaoyao, not you." Mrs. Song spoke with haughty derision. "Chasing after him like this only makes our family despise you even more!"
Rong Yu frowned.
Then it clicked—this was Song Huai’s mother.
A faint smirk tugged at her lips. "Song Huai, your mother’s level of narcissism is truly astounding. Don’t you think you should rein her in?"
Mrs. Song’s face darkened instantly. "You shamelessly follow Song Huai everywhere, making a spectacle of yourself. If you’re not embarrassed, our family certainly is! I’m warning you—leave Hai Cheng University immediately, or else—"
"What’s going on here?"
Pei Yaru, who had been conversing with a group of teachers, hurried over upon hearing the commotion. She spotted Song Huai first, then Mrs. Song, and forced a polite smile. "Ah, Mrs. Song! Is there a problem?"
Rong Yu answered flatly, "Mrs. Song is demanding that I leave."
"I’m afraid that’s not possible." Pei Yaru’s smile vanished. "Rong Yu is here representing First High School as a competitor. The event is about to start—we need to head in now."
She pulled Rong Yu’s participation certificate from her bag, wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulders, and guided her through the crowd toward the university gates.
"She—she—" Mrs. Song sputtered in disbelief. "That Rong family girl failed the college entrance exam, scoring barely over a hundred points! The Rongs had to bribe their way to get her into First High. With grades that abysmal, how could she possibly qualify to compete?"
Song Huai watched Rong Yu’s retreating figure. "She was placed in Class Twenty—the underachievers’ class. I suppose there weren’t any better candidates to choose from."
"Tch, as I thought." Mrs. Song sneered. "The Rongs wasted a fortune just to buy her a spot in First High, only for her to end up in the rejects’ class. What a joke."
Song Huai slung his backpack over his shoulder. "I’m heading in, Mom."
The competition gathered elite students from schools across the region, divided into three stages: preliminaries, semifinals, and finals.
A top-three national ranking guaranteed a recommendation to Peking or Tsinghua—a prize every participant took seriously.
Seated in the exam hall, Rong Yu skimmed through the test paper. Aside from the final problem, which was slightly more complex, the answers to the other questions came to her at a glance.
But Teacher Pei had insisted she show her work clearly.
Her pen flew across the page.
When she finished, barely half an hour had passed.
As she stood up, the proctor frowned. "What are you doing? Sit down—you’re disturbing the others."
Rong Yu replied, "I’m submitting my paper early."
The other students in the classroom looked up in unison.
Handing in the exam early?
Already finished?
Was that even humanly possible?
Song Huai glanced up.
After just one look, he immediately averted his gaze.
The proctor was about to reprimand her sternly when he noticed the exam paper was completely filled out—neat, clean, and written in fluid strokes, clearly not a rushed job.
As soon as he took the paper, Rong Yu gathered her stationery and walked out without hesitation.
She strolled around Haicheng University.
Seventy years ago, after returning from studying abroad, she had been invited to teach a week-long mathematics course here.
Unconsciously, she found herself standing before the very building where she had once lectured. Now a historical exhibit hall, it housed the university’s artifacts, each step through its corridors feeling like a journey through time...
Then she saw it—a blackboard.
At the top, written in bold, were the words: "The Eight Great Unsolved Problems That Have Baffled Mathematicians for Thirty Years..." The wall was covered in dense equations, all incomplete...
The first problem: "Planetary Orbital Stability and Chaos Theory."
She had once heard someone say that mathematics was the most beautiful language, one that described the laws of the universe.
Back then, China had strived to explore the cosmos, but its technological limitations held it back. Now, seventy years later, the nation had made monumental strides in aerospace...
Even for her, this problem was daunting.
But the greater the challenge, the greater the thrill.
Rong Yu picked up a piece of chalk and began swiftly scribbling calculations in the blank spaces of the blackboard.
"What are you doing?!" A sharp voice cut through her thoughts as a young teacher hurried over. "This blackboard is off-limits for doodling!"
Rong Yu froze, suddenly realizing what she had done. Her derivations now sprawled beneath the unsolved problems, filling every empty spot.
"My apologies. I’ll erase it right away."
She reached for the eraser.
"Wait."
A voice came from behind her.
Rong Yu turned to see a woman in her sixties striding toward the blackboard.
The young teacher quickly stepped forward. "Professor Yun."
Professor Yun raised a hand for silence, her eyes locked onto the equations. Then she picked up a chalk piece and began filling in the gaps between Rong Yu’s calculations...
"It actually leads to a result... So this was the missing direction..."
She spun around, staring at Rong Yu. "Did—did you solve this?"
Rong Yu nodded. "I don’t think the result is correct, though. There must be an error in the middle steps. If we reverse the derivation here—" She circled a spot. "—and recalculate with a new approach, we’d get at least three divergent data points. We’d need to account for specific planetary traits..."
Professor Yun nodded. "Your reasoning is a bit conservative. It would’ve worked forty or fifty years ago, but now, I’d suggest being bolder..."
And so, the two stood before the blackboard, engrossed in discussion.
By the time the physics competition’s closing bell rang, Rong Yu was startled to realize nearly two hours had passed.
After all, this was one of mathematics’ greatest unsolved mysteries. Though they hadn’t cracked it yet, the path forward was now clear.
Professor Yun gazed at Rong Yu with admiration. "Who is your mentor?"
Rong Yu replied, "I’m a student of Professor Pei."
Professor Yun frowned.
Was there a Professor Pei in the mathematics community?
Rong Yu continued, "Teacher Pei is a physics teacher at Haicheng No. 1 High School. I'm currently a senior there."
"A... high school student?" Professor Yun's usually composed face was filled with astonishment. "To be tackling world-class problems at such a young age... How has a mathematical genius like you remained unnoticed until now? You surely don’t have a mentor yet—how about letting me be your teacher?"
