Talent

Tang Lingwu cherished the last sip of her milk tea, then thoughtfully put the empty cup into her backpack before leading Zheng Fa upstairs.

"I drank your milk tea, so this is on me!"

She almost patted her bulging chest.

Reaching the fourth floor, she stopped and pointed at a security door. "My teacher lives here. Wait here while I go in and talk to him."

She knocked on the security door. The person inside opened it. Tang Lingwu gave Zheng Fa a look that said 'wait' and slipped through the gap, leaving the security door slightly ajar.

Zheng Fa waited behind the door, hearing muffled voices from inside.

"Teacher Bai, can I ask you a favor?" Tang Lingwu's voice was clear.

Zheng Fa grinned.

Her voice is a bit too sweet.

"Tell me about it first."

An old man's voice, full of caution, came from inside. Zheng Fa found it strangely familiar.

"I brought you another student!"

"Are you dating someone?"

The old man's voice suddenly got louder.

"Dating? No, I mean, I have a classmate who has a question for you."

"A studious student? Boy or girl?" The old man clearly didn't believe Tang Lingwu's story.

"A boy... but we're really not dating!"

Zheng Fa could tell Tang Lingwu was really trying her best for a cup of milk tea.

"Hmph, I know what you young people are thinking. There aren't many young men who are studious, but I've seen plenty who are lecherous! I won't agree."

The old man clearly saw Tang Lingwu as a junior.

He harbored a certain hostility towards every male around her.

"Teacher Bai, aren't you a university professor? You're supposed to answer questions and teach everyone!"

The old man's tone was indignant. "I'm retired! Understand? I taught students before retirement, and if I teach students after retirement, then what was the point of retiring?"

This old man clearly had some resentment about his work.

Simply put, he was lazy.

"But teaching me is still teaching. It's no big deal to teach one more person!"

Tang Lingwu was really going all out. Zheng Fa, listening from outside, felt goosebumps all over.

It was hard to imagine those words coming from her slightly cool-looking face.

"You're different. Your mother gave too much... No, I mean, you have a great talent for mathematics! You're smart!"

"But you haven't even met him. Maybe he has talent too?"

"When it comes to mathematical talent, saying someone doesn't have it just by looking at them is a very accurate method."

"...Can you really not do this?"

"No!"

Tang Lingwu walked out of the room dejectedly, a hint of apology on her face.

"I'm sorry, he doesn't want to meet you."

"It's okay, you did your best."

Listening from outside, Zheng Fa could imagine Tang Lingwu acting cute and trying to please the other person, even hearing the effort in her voice.

Moreover, that cup of milk tea was actually to thank Tang Lingwu for bringing him here.

He had also heard earlier that Tang Lingwu's family had spent quite a bit of money to find this teacher for her.

A hundred times twenty-eight yuan wouldn't be enough.

He didn't expect to get a teacher to teach him for the price of a cup of milk tea; he wasn't that greedy.

"How about..." Tang Lingwu turned and glanced at her backpack, where the empty milk tea cup was, and said hesitantly, "I'll buy you a milk tea?"

"It's not necessary. If you really feel bad, I'll ask you if I have any questions later. If I can't ask the teacher, asking a student is about the same."

"Don't worry, I will, I'll definitely teach you!"

"Teach what nonsense! You were bought off with a cup of milk tea? He just wants an excuse to talk to you more!"

An old man's voice came from behind her, sounding like he was disappointed in her.

Zheng Fa watched as a head of white curly hair poked out from the gap in the door.

Looking at that familiar old face.

Zheng Fa suddenly understood. No wonder it sounded so familiar!

Inside the room, the three sat on the living room sofa, the atmosphere momentarily awkward.

Zheng Fa and Teacher Bai, the curly-haired old man they had met in the park earlier, didn't know how to start.

Tang Lingwu still looked a bit dazed, glancing from one to the other, seemingly unsure how the three of them had suddenly ended up in the house.

"Um... Young Hero."

"You can call me Xiao Zheng, or Student Zheng."

Hearing the title "Young Hero," especially in front of his classmate Tang Lingwu, Zheng Fa felt an inexplicable surge of shame.

"Alright then, Student Zheng, you don't need to be so formal either. Call me Old Bai or Teacher Bai." The old man continued, "The person she mentioned earlier, was that you?"

"Yes, I encountered a few diagrams and wanted to show them to Teacher Bai."

"No rush, no rush. Are you looking to get tutoring from me?"

"I don't expect to be Teacher Bai's student, but it would be fine to ask a couple of questions."

Zheng Fa said sheepishly, recalling the man's decisive refusal just now.

"Don't say that! I've been thinking. I've been a teacher my whole life, and now that I've retired, this desire to teach and nurture talent just won't go away."

Tang Lingwu's face was a mask of confusion.

That's not what you said just now!

Zheng Fa was also stunned, looking at the old man's sincere old face.

"So, Teacher Bai, what do you mean..."

"What I mean is, as someone who studies mathematics, I just want to find students with good mathematical talent to teach. Young Hero, no, Student Zheng, doesn't your sect also need to find talented individuals to pass down secret techniques?"

"Huh?"

"Look at me..." Teacher Bai gestured to himself again.

"I could tell at a glance that Teacher Bai has extraordinary potential!"

Zheng Fa suddenly understood.

"And I see you're quite sharp when it comes to mathematics!"

Tang Lingwu watched from the side, her eyes filled with bewilderment.

These two men seemed to have completed some shady deal right in front of her.

Looking at the diagrams Zheng Fa handed over, Teacher Bai frowned, his expression turning serious.

Compared to his earlier jovial demeanor, he now had the air of a university professor.

He traced lines on the diagrams with his finger and then looked up at Zheng Fa, asking:

"Is this all?"

"Yes."

"Then I can't make anything out of them." Teacher Bai put down the papers. "Why don't you go find those fortune tellers? Have them calculate with their fingers what these things are."

Zheng Fa: "..."

"However, if you're asking if there are any patterns in these diagrams, well, there are some."

"Please elaborate."

"This one, this one, and this one," Teacher Bai pointed to three diagrams, saying with some uncertainty, "From the perspective of Mathematical Topology, they are actually the same pattern."

"Ah?"

Zheng Fa looked at the three diagrams in confusion.

Looking left and right, he really couldn't see how they were the same.

"Top... what-o-logy?"

"This involves a rather elementary and simple topological concept called Homeomorphism..." As Teacher Bai spoke about his specialty, he became animated, gesticulating enthusiastically.

After a long explanation, he finally stopped and asked Zheng Fa, "Understand?"

"..."

Zheng Fa felt like a tiny knowledge sprite had been trying to pry open his skull with a chisel, but unfortunately, he seemed to have mastered the Iron Head Skill through sheer self-teaching.