The Weight of Knowledge

"These books cover knowledge from every field of study in mathematics, from the undergraduate level through graduate school."

"For example, this Advanced Algebra textbook, this Mathematical Analysis one, and this Geometry one."

As he spoke, Liu Bin picked out several books from the pile before them and said, "I recommend that you start with these. They form the foundation for many of the other books later on—the very foundations of foundations once you enter the mathematics major."

"After that, you can move on to some more advanced books. For example, you can begin reading this Abstract Algebra text."

"Abstract Algebra is relatively difficult. It's one of the first challenging subjects undergraduate mathematics students encounter. At USTC's Mathematics Department, we generally offer it in the first semester of sophomore year, and its failure rate has always been quite high."

"Of course, if you study Abstract Algebra well, it will be immensely beneficial to your work in all other fields."

"After that, there are these..."

Although Liu Bin was pressed for time, he still explained in great detail to Xiao Yi the things he needed to pay attention to while studying the books.

"...That's about all I can tell you for now. It more or less covers everything you need to keep in mind during your undergraduate mathematics studies. Of course, with so many books, I imagine they'll keep you occupied for quite a while."

"My hope is that you can finish all these undergraduate-level books before you enroll this fall."

"That will be of great significance once you enter university."

"Because it means you won't have to waste time on the same courses as everyone else. It will also be a great help in getting into the Hua Luogeng Mathematics Class."

Beside them, Luo Penghua asked, "Professor Liu, does that mean Xiao Yi isn't guaranteed to get into the Hua Luogeng Class?"

Liu Bin laughed. "Nothing is ever guaranteed. We all know the story of Shang Zhongyong."

Then he grew a little more serious and cautioned Xiao Yi, "So, Xiao Yi, you mustn't waste your talent. You must keep studying."

Xiao Yi nodded. "I understand, Professor Liu."

What a joke. If he stopped studying, the Ruthless Continuous Study buff would disappear.

Luo Penghua said with a smile, "Please rest assured, Professor Liu. I don't think there's any student who loves studying more than Xiao Yi. Even without supervision, he'll study on his own."

"That's good." Liu Bin nodded with a smile. "Then take the books with you now. Hmm... there really are quite a lot of them."

Xiao Yi and Luo Penghua exchanged looks. More than forty books—how could that not be a lot?

In the end, Luo Penghua patted him and said, "All right, stop standing there like an idiot. Start carrying them."

Xiao Yi shrugged, then stepped forward and began moving the books.

He had his backpack with him, and Liu Bin had conveniently prepared bags for the books in his trunk, so packing them up was not much of an issue.

As he carried them, he noticed that there were actually several English-language textbooks among them. He could not help asking, "Professor Liu, do I need to read these English textbooks too?"

Liu Bin glanced at them and said, "Hmm... I carefully selected these English textbooks as well, so naturally I recommend reading them. Take this one, Principles of Algebraic Geometry. Its author, Alexander Grothendieck, was a pioneer of modern algebraic geometry and was also known as the Math Emperor. This book offers an exceptionally clear and profound explanation of algebraic geometry."

"However, algebraic geometry is very difficult, so I suggest you first master the fundamentals related to algebraic geometry before trying this book. In fact, this book should count as a textbook for graduate students—or even for any stage of study."

"But you can take a look at the other English textbooks ahead of time. For instance, this copy of Galois Theory is quite good."

"However, the prerequisite for reading these books is that your English has to be good enough. Otherwise, if you misunderstand certain vocabulary during the learning process, it will affect your comprehension."

Putting down the English textbooks in his hands, Liu Bin said, "In short, wait until you're reasonably confident in your ability to read them before you start on these English textbooks."

Xiao Yi nodded. "All right, I understand."

After that, they said no more. Once Xiao Yi and Luo Penghua had quickly packed away all the books, they bade Liu Bin farewell.

Each carrying four large bags of books, Xiao Yi and Luo Penghua were both exhausted. They gained a deep appreciation for what it meant for knowledge to have weight.

Fortunately, the classroom for Class 3 of Science Stream was on the first floor of the teaching building, sparing them the misery of climbing stairs.

As for the books in the bags, there was obviously no room for them on Xiao Yi's desk, so they temporarily placed them in Luo Penghua's office.

Afterward, Xiao Yi returned to the classroom.

Naturally, the moment he came back, he became the focus of everyone's attention.

"Brother Xiao is back."

"Brother Xiao, please, have a seat."

Xiao Yi did not know whether to laugh or cry at the sight of his classmates.

Still, he did not say anything and simply returned to his seat.

His deskmate, Chen Wei, immediately leaned over. "Brother Xiao, why did Professor Liu call you over?"

"Oh, he just gave me some textbooks and stuff."

As Xiao Yi spoke, he took off his backpack and pulled several books out of it.

Although the rest of the books were in those bags, he had still carried a few in his backpack.

The first one he took out was Mathematical Analysis.

Chen Wei's eyes instantly widened. "Holy shit, is this a university textbook?"

Xiao Yi nodded. "It is."

"Open it up. Let's see what's inside."

Xiao Yi casually flipped to a page. The two of them took one look, and Chen Wei clutched his head. "Damn, what the hell is this?! I can't understand a single bit..."

Then he looked at Xiao Yi, only to discover that Xiao Yi had actually continued reading with great interest.

He couldn't help asking, "No way. You can understand this?"

Xiao Yi replied, "Um... I didn't understand it at first, but after reading for a while, I got it. Doesn't it define everything right here?"

"...For real?" Chen Wei refused to believe it. Xiao Yi understood it after looking at it for a while, but he couldn't?

Could the gap between people really be this huge?

So he looked at it again. "Riemann Integral... The function f(x,y) is defined over the closed region D. Take any point (x,y) within the closed region D, and assign point (x,y) an increment vector respectively along the positive directions of the axes..."

"What the hell is this?"

He clutched his head, on the verge of breaking down.

Yet when he turned around again, Xiao Yi had already moved on to another page!

Come on, did it have to be this ridiculous?

"No, bro, are you sure you actually understand this?"

Xiao Yi nodded as he read. "It's alright. Besides, don't you think this is pretty interesting?"

As he spoke, he turned another page.

Chen Wei: Fuck...

I'm done. Destroy the world already. Hurry up.

So the difference between people really could be this huge!!