An Academician's Examination

"Hello? Can you hear me, Xiao Yi?"

"I can hear you, Professor Liu."

Xiao Yi sat facing the computer and responded with a baffled expression.

Just five minutes earlier, he had been reading Principles of Number Theory in chinese language class when Luo Penghua called him into the office.

And then...

He had even been allowed to use Luo Penghua's phone.

Then he learned that Professor Liu, who was attending a mathematics academic conference in Shangjing, wanted to speak with him about something quite important.

And they were going to use a video call.

So now, he saw Liu Bin on the phone screen.

It looked like Liu Bin was at some kind of banquet?

Liu Bin smiled and said, "Xiao Yi, how have your studies been lately? Have you read the books I gave you?"

"Of course I have!" Xiao Yi nodded and said gratefully, "I'd never encountered this kind of material before. Now that I have, I've realized mathematics can be this interesting!"

Liu Bin immediately burst into laughter and asked, "Was it Mathematical Analysis? It's a very good thing that you found that book interesting. When the freshmen in our college first start studying it, almost 99% of them look absolutely miserable."

"Uh..." Xiao Yi hesitated for a moment, unsure what to say.

Liu Bin noticed his hesitation and asked, "What is it?"

"Well... it wasn't just Mathematical Analysis."

Xiao Yi said, "Over the past few days, I've already finished Mathematical Analysis, Advanced Algebra, Analytic Geometry, ..., Elementary Number Theory. I'm currently studying Principles of Number Theory. The knowledge in all these books has interested me quite a bit."

"Especially Principles of Number Theory. The problems it raises and the methods it uses to solve them are both really interesting."

Liu Bin fell silent on the other end of the video call.

If he had heard correctly, Xiao Yi had finished seven books in four days and had already started on the eighth.

And it was even Principles of Number Theory.

He remembered that the Principles of Number Theory he had given Xiao Yi was a fairly difficult number theory book, mainly intended for scholars pursuing advanced studies in number theory. And Xiao Yi had already started reading it?

Of course, whatever books Xiao Yi read was not the issue. The key question was, "How did you get to your eighth book in less than four days?!"

Liu Bin finally voiced his disbelief.

"I read two a day, so today I got to the eighth book," Xiao Yi answered.

Damn it...

Liu Bin did not know what to say.

Because he really had no way to refute Xiao Yi. Two times four equaled eight—who didn't know that?

After a long silence, he finally raised another question. "You read two mathematics books a day. Did you understand all the material in them?"

"Not really."

Xiao Yi's answer finally made Liu Bin breathe a sigh of relief. Exactly! How could anyone read two books a day and understand all the knowledge inside? This was more like a normal person!

He was about to turn serious and criticize Xiao Yi's habit of reading without seeking a thorough understanding. How could someone read mathematics books with such an attitude?

But before he could speak, Xiao Yi's next words arrived. "I basically understood around eighty percent of it."

"Analytic Geometry was alright. The material in that book was relatively simple, so after reading it once, I should have mastered about ninety-five percent of it. The hardest one was mainly Real Analysis. That book was not only thick, but also very difficult. It was much harder than Complex Analysis, so I spent almost an entire day finishing it. As for how much I understood... probably less than seventy percent."

"But that book really was interesting."

"And then there's the Principles of Number Theory I'm reading now. Fermat's Last Theorem discussed in it is truly incredible, and Mr. Andrew Wiles, who proved Fermat's Last Theorem, is really admirable!"

"..."

Liu Bin fell even more silent.

Naturally, while he was silent, the professors beside him also wore expressions of disbelief.

What had they just heard?

He had read eight books in four days, including Real Analysis, the book that gave lower-year mathematics students the worst headaches.

People often said that Real Analysis had to be studied ten times over. Yet this student, who had only started his second year of high school this year, said that he had not only finished it in a single day, but had even understood seventy percent of it?

The professors recalled what it had been like when they studied Real Analysis as undergraduates.

They had become mathematics professors because they were naturally quite gifted in mathematics, but even they had to admit that Real Analysis was truly difficult to learn.

And yet... damn, this young man!

"Ha ha ha!"

At that moment, hearty laughter came from beside them.

The person laughing was Hu Guangde.

Now, he had truly developed a strong interest in this student named Xiao Yi.

If at first it had only been because of what Liu Bin had said, now it was entirely because of the impression Xiao Yi had made on him through the video in these few short minutes.

If what this student said was true, perhaps he had really encountered a genius capable of stirring up waves in the mathematics world?

Academician Hu's laughter brought Liu Bin back to his senses. He then coughed twice and said, "Alright, Xiao Yi, let's put that aside for now. Let me introduce someone to you."

He moved the phone slightly, bringing Hu Guangde into view of the camera. "This is Academician Hu Guangde from USTC, an academician of our School of Mathematics. Academician Hu is very interested in you."

Xiao Yi was instantly stunned.

What?

An academician?

He was actually meeting an academician?

Beside Xiao Yi, Luo Penghua's eyes widened as well.

Liu Bin had just told him there was a great opportunity for Xiao Yi. So there was an academician involved!

Good grief—if Xiao Yi had caught the favor of an academician before even entering university, Luo Penghua hardly dared imagine what his future prospects would be.

"Young man, your name is Xiao Yi, right?" Hu Guangde spoke first.

Xiao Yi hurriedly nodded. "Hello, Academician Hu. I'm Xiao Yi."

"Don't be nervous. Just treat me as a mathematics teacher at USTC," Hu Guangde said with a smile. "You said just now that you finished so many books in a few days, so let me test you."

Very soon, Hu Guangde sent over a Word document.

The title was "The Convergence of Riemann Integrals and Lebesgue Integrability," and the author was named Zeng Ang.

Clearly, it was a paper.

"This paper is under six pages, so it shouldn't take much of your time. Take a look, then tell me what you think of it."