Looking for Inspiration
In the days following the start of the second semester of his freshman year, Shen Qi struggled to get into the swing of things, while Zhou Yu'an was in much better form.
When a person goes through a period of bad luck, misfortunes will follow one after another.
The research paper given by Professor Lu provided me with no inspiration and made no progress whatsoever.
The paper submitted to the Yenching University's * Mathematical Herald * received the third reviewer's comments from the editor, who still refused to approve Shen Qi's paper.
Both the journals * New Journal of Mathematics * and * Journal of Algebra * have indicated that they will keep the two papers in English for now, and it's uncertain when they will be published in the English edition of Series B—maybe a month, maybe a year, maybe never.
The journal * Journal of Algebra * is too niche, even within the Mathematics Community. It's rumored that its English edition, Series B, is facing discontinuation. Even if it doesn't, it might change from a bimonthly to a true annual publication, releasing one issue per year.
Zhou Yu'an noticed a strange phenomenon.
Shen Qi has stopped acting pretentious lately; he attends classes on time, including both professional and general courses.
In class, I listen quietly, without interrupting or arguing with anyone.
In his spare time, he watches movies and plays games. He doesn't write papers or do research. Shen Qi Shen Xiaoqi no different from any other college student. He's just an ordinary, unremarkable guy.
"This... Shen Qi, what's wrong with you?" Zhou Yu'an asked anxiously. "I'm really not used to you not showing off under my nose every day! Are you sick?"
"I'm perfectly fine." Shen Qi took down three enemies with a single ultimate move while playing a mobile game.
"I've read through the list of math literature you gave me. But you've been idle. You told me not to get caught up in women, so I deleted Tan Lulu's WeChat account. And you... you haven't gotten caught up in women, have you?" Zhou Yu'an suddenly realized that Shen Qi's symptoms might be signs of spring fever. Winter has passed and spring has arrived.
"Yes, yes, yes, that's what puberty is all about. No interest in studying, no energy to show off, and relying on games—things that are a waste of time—to pass the time. I've been through puberty too, I know what I'm talking about." Zhou Yu'an carefully observed Shen Qi's expression and eyes, and came to this conclusion.
"Terrible teammates, we lost." Shen Qi threw his phone on the computer desk. He was incredibly unlucky. In one game, he got 28 kills and died 0 times, but the enemy destroyed his own crystal. After playing for a few days, he had dropped from King to Diamond. He was so angry.
"Show off a bit, Shen Qi. I'm worried if you don't." When someone's usual style suddenly changes, those who are with them day and night will inevitably find it strange, like Zhou Yu'an.
"I'm not pretending anymore. Peace and safety are blessings, and a simple life is true happiness." Shen Qi changed into sportswear, running shoes, a hat, sunglasses, and a mask, and prepared to leave the dormitory.
"Shen Qi, where are you going?" Zhou Yu'an quickly changed his clothes and rummaged through drawers looking for sneakers, afraid that Shen Qi would do something foolish.
"Don't follow me while I'm running, I'm fine!" Shen Qi ran to the dormitory door, turned around and said, "Following me won't do any good, you can't catch me anyway, I'm the King of Long-Distance Running at Yanda University." After saying that, he disappeared.
"That's more like it. It's been a week since school started, and I've finally seen him put on a little show of bravado. It's better to have the will to show off than to be disheartened. If a top student doesn't even have the desire to show off, then he's not far from being a failure. Showing off is an attitude." Zhou Yu'an felt a little relieved and continued studying his <Partial Differential Equations>.
Shen Qi went downstairs for a run. He wore a hat to keep his hairstyle in place, sunglasses were actually protective goggles (part of his professional running gear), and a mask to prevent PM2.5 from being inhaled into his lungs.
Life is not always smooth sailing; everyone will encounter difficulties and feel lost.
When I'm in a good mood, I can write tens of thousands of words and several papers.
When you're not in a good state, you need to learn to relax and adjust. If you need to stop writing, stop and take a break.
Shen Qi watches movies and plays games to relax and recharge. He knows he has to do this; fighting while in a poor state and exhausted will not only be ineffective but also counterproductive.
Watching too many movies gets boring, and playing too many games gets even more boring.
"Then let's run! Running brings endless inspiration to mathematicians." --- Kolmogorov
Kolmogorov was the most outstanding mathematician of the former Soviet Union and one of the most influential mathematicians of the 20th century. He was an athletic mathematician, excelling in running and skiing at a professional level.
Whenever he lacked inspiration in mathematics, Kolmogorov would run dozens of kilometers in the wilderness or ski on a snow-covered mountain for two months.
After running and skiing, mathematical inspiration flows like a spring, and all problems are easily solved.
Kolmogorov maintained his long-term exercise habit until his eighties, passing away peacefully without illness, leaving behind a classic textbook in the History of Mathematics, "Foundations of Probability Theory," and 448 papers.
Shen Qi emulated the Soviet Union mathematician Kolmogorov, who was known for his athleticism, by running to find inspiration.
Yo-ho, yo-ho, run, run, run for five kilometers.
"Still no inspiration!"
If five kilometers isn't enough, then go another five kilometers.
Shen Qi ran 15 kilometers, and holy crap, he's got some inspiration!
Rushing back to his dorm, without even turning on his computer, Shen Qi grabbed a pencil and started looking for a notebook.
Where is my notebook?
Since his notebook was missing, Shen Qi randomly picked up a book, <Demidovich's Problem Book>, and jotted down his inspiration on a blank page:
∫X(t+x1, t^k+x2)t^β-α/2πiβd/dt(e^-2πit^-β)dt=
It's ruined. Inspiration is fleeting, and I can't write the expression on the right side of the equals sign.
"15 kilometers isn't enough? Then let's do another 15 kilometers. 30 kilometers isn't enough? How about a marathon?"
Shen Qi ran out of the dormitory and disappeared from Zhou Yu'an's sight.
Within a minute, Shen Qi rushed back to his dormitory, said some strange things, wrote mathematical formulas on the blank pages of the <Demidovich's Problem Book>, and then ran away in a hurry.
Zhou Yu'an was dumbfounded. "This... I don't understand what Shen Qi is trying to show off. Is this showing off, or some other form of performance art?"
After running over thirty kilometers and exhausting himself, Shen Qi finally wrote out the equation on the right side of the equals sign, marking a substantial progress in Professor Lu's research project.
The next day, Shen Qi didn't run; he couldn't run anymore, and his whole body ached.
Without running, I lack inspiration, and I wasted the day in a daze.
The next day, Shen Qi persisted in running, covering dozens of kilometers, and inspiration struck again. Professor Lu's research project had made significant progress.
Recently, a strange person has appeared on the campus of Yenching University. He is about 1.81 or 1.82 meters tall and appears to be male.
The person was wearing a baseball cap, goggles, and a mask, making it impossible to identify their facial features.
Every other day, the strange man would run wildly for dozens of kilometers within the campus of Yenching University. There were many witnesses, all of whom were teachers and students of the university.
It is said that this man has attracted the attention of the Yenching University Track and Field team coaches have been unable to catch up with this unidentified man.
Reports also indicate that the school's Track and Field team dispatched a second-level long-distance runner to pursue the man.
Who exactly is this man, and what is his purpose?
Why won't he show his true face?
Is sprinting a way to relieve stress, a novel way to court, or a unique training method invented by the school Track and Field team?
Can the school Track and Field team provide an official explanation?
The Yenching University observation team will continue to follow up and report on the developments of this incident.
This post, from Yenching University's BBS, has become a trending topic.