The "Lines" Along Which All Things Moved

The principal's office was thick with smoke.

Principal Wang listened with a completely baffled expression and quickly raised a hand to interrupt Zheng Hua.

"Stop, stop, stop! Old Zheng, have some water first. What's this about 360 points? What true dragon?"

Zheng Hua had calmed down somewhat by then and spoke slowly.

"Principal Wang, do you remember Teacher Jiang mentioning that a student had been working through Orsay papers?"

Principal Wang remembered after that reminder and nodded.

Only then did Zheng Hua continue.

"It was that student named Li Dong. He used the Micro-element Method..."

"Forget it. You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

Zheng Hua paid no attention to Principal Wang's face, which had gone black as the bottom of a pot, and continued speaking to himself.

"You only need to know that if this student keeps this up, he'll most likely get full marks in physics on next year's Gaokao!"

Principal Wang had originally wanted to scold Zheng Hua for not knowing how to speak properly, but the words "full marks" made him swallow his rebuke.

"Full marks in physics? Old Zheng, don't go making wild claims."

What kind of place was Jiangcheng No. 7 High School? It was a second-rate... no, more accurately, a third-rate public high school.

If they produced even one student admitted to a top-tier university, the school would print it in huge letters on the notice board outside the gates. Forget about full marks in Gaokao physics.

"I'm not talking nonsense." Zheng Hua's expression was extremely solemn.

"Principal Wang, the paper he did was an Orsay preliminary-round paper. The full score was 400, and he got 360."

"360... but that still isn't full marks, is it?" Principal Wang asked in confusion.

Zheng Hua cursed inwardly, What the hell do you know? But on the surface, he patiently explained it to Principal Wang.

"At this year's Orsay competition, Qin Yan from No. 6 High School scored 340."

The moment Qin Yan was mentioned, Principal Wang understood. Qin Yan had already been recommended for admission to Wudaokou Vocational and Technical College.

Ignoring Principal Wang's astonishment, Zheng Hua continued.

"And Li Dong got those 360 points in only an hour and a half."

"As for the remaining 40 points—the major Optics problems, thermal experiment designs, and so on—he didn't write a single word."

"Why didn't he write them?" Principal Wang pressed.

That question reminded Zheng Hua of Li Dong's exact words.

"Teacher, I haven't finished reading that part of the textbook yet. I haven't learned it, so I'm completely in the dark. There's no point wasting time writing nonsense."

"He hasn't learned it yet..."

Principal Wang mulled over those words.

"Old Zheng, you mean..."

Zheng Hua nodded with a bitter smile.

"Every question he attempted, every knowledge point he had studied—he got them all right! A 100% accuracy rate!"

"And I asked Teacher Jiang afterward. This kid only scored a little over 80 on his last physics monthly exam. He clearly only started self-studying recently."

Principal Wang fell silent.

He was not an academic, but anyone who could become the head of a school was naturally no fool.

He stubbed out his cigarette and asked,

"Old Zheng, we can't look only at this student's physics. How are his other subjects? And what's his family situation like? That concerns how we... how we keep him here."

Having worked in education for so many years, he had naturally seen suddenly rising geniuses poached by better schools.

"This..." Zheng Hua froze for a moment.

"I don't know that. We'll have to ask his homeroom teacher. I don't teach his class, after all."

Principal Wang nodded and picked up the phone.

Less than five minutes later, Old Yang arrived at the principal's office.

Old Yang had also been following this matter over the past two days, and he had mentally prepared himself somewhat.

But when he truly heard the number "360" from Zheng Hua, Old Yang still could not help sucking in a sharp breath.

"360... and that was without even finishing the material..."

Only two words surfaced in Old Yang's mind: monstrous genius.

This was not simply a late bloomer. It was like he had become a different person entirely!

"Teacher Yang, have a seat." Principal Wang was unexpectedly kind this time and even poured Old Yang a glass of water himself.

"Let's get straight to the point. How is Li Dong's family situation?"

"And how are his grades in the other subjects?"

Old Yang was a responsible homeroom teacher, so he naturally knew his students' circumstances well.

"Principal Wang, Li Dong comes from a single-parent family. His father died early, and his mother raised him alone."

"His family situation... honestly, it's quite difficult. He's a regular on our school's list for financial aid students."

Principal Wang nodded to show that he understood.

"As for his grades..." Old Yang paused, choosing his words carefully.

"In his other subjects, he's roughly above the school average. He can score a little above passing in Chinese and English. Math used to drag him down. He only scored around eighty or ninety."

Hearing "eighty or ninety," Principal Wang frowned slightly.

A serious imbalance between subjects? Then his Gaokao score would not be very good.

"But!" Old Yang abruptly changed course.

"That was before! I tested him separately over the past two days, and I found that he's also made tremendous progress in math.

"It felt... like he suddenly got the hang of it."

"I think that as long as he stays steady, scoring 130 in Gaokao math should be no problem."

Old Yang was still being conservative.

In truth, judging from the logical thinking Li Dong had displayed while solving that isomorphic problem, a score of 140 or even full marks on the Gaokao was not impossible.

But as a teacher, he could not make claims too boldly.

Even so, "130 points" was enough to shock both Principal Wang and Zheng Hua.

"130?" Zheng Hua said in a deep voice.

"Old Yang, you're not joking, are you? The highest Gaokao math score at No. 7 High School last year was only 126!"

Principal Wang quickly calculated in his mind.

Full marks in physics, 130 in math—his foundation was already there. As long as Chinese and English did not hold him back, and he improved them a little, his total score could very well break 600!

600 points!

That was a high score No. 7 High School had not seen in the past three years... no, the past five years!

He immediately made a decision.

"If he can get a placing in the Huaxuan Cup this time..."

"The school will give him a cash award! Two thousand... no, five thousand yuan!"

"If he can win first prize, all of his tuition and miscellaneous fees for Senior Three will be waived, and the school will give him another ten thousand yuan in financial aid!"

Listening to the principal's promises, Old Yang understood that Principal Wang wanted to keep Li Dong.

He understood the educational world far too well.

If Li Dong's talent in physics was truly that monstrous, combined with the sudden brilliance he had recently shown in math...

Jiangcheng No. 7 High School probably would not be able to keep him.

The admissions offices of prestigious schools like No. 1 High School and No. 6 High School would probably come poaching soon.

But that was the school's business and had nothing to do with him.

He only needed to do what a teacher ought to do: impart knowledge, teach skills, and resolve doubts.

"I should find a time to have that kid try some math Olympiad problems too."

Meanwhile, in the classroom of Senior Three Class 2.

Li Dong had no idea that he had already become a prized target in the principal's eyes.

All of his attention was focused on the Azure Dragon Study Group.

[Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier]: Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!

Your explanation of the "Perturbation Stripping Model" has enlightened me completely! I just used your formula to randomly verify several higher-order residuals in Uranus's orbital perturbations, and it perfectly explained the anomalies in the previous observational data!

[Le Verrier] If I'd had this algorithm twenty years earlier, I wouldn't have needed to assume so many complicated variables over the years. I could have directly pinpointed the location of that unknown planet!

Looking at Le Verrier's reply, Li Dong finally let out the breath he had been holding.

Good. He had bluffed his way through it.

These scientists might have high IQs, but they possessed a natural reverence for "theoretical elegance."

As long as the logic was self-consistent, and he added a few impressive-sounding technical terms, they would fill in the reasoning themselves.

Just as Li Dong was sighing to himself.

[Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier has sent an exclusive red packet]

"Heh!"

Li Dong could not help laughing aloud during the quiet self-study session.

Mi Xia, seated in front of him, turned around and gave him a strange look, wondering if he had gone stupid from doing too many problems.

Li Dong quickly covered his mouth.

"Another red packet! These big shots really know how to behave!"

He eagerly stretched out a finger and tapped lightly.

[You have received Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier's thanks]

[Item obtained: Orbital Calculation (Basic Version)]

[Type: Permanent Passive Skill]

[Description: This is a gift from the "Discoverer at the Tip of a Pen." Le Verrier has shared with you his thought process for analyzing celestial orbits. He once found Neptune in the vast universe with the tip of his pen. Now, you too will possess that insight.]

[Effect: From this moment on, whenever you face problems involving trajectories, dynamic errors, curve prediction, and the like, you will be able to see the "lines" along which all things move.]

Li Dong looked at the description on the screen.

"Orbital Calculation... seeing the lines along which all things move?"

Li Dong subconsciously turned to look out the window.

On the field outside, several first-year students were playing basketball.

A boy stood beyond the three-point line, leaped high into the air, and tossed the basketball upward.

The instant the ball left his fingertips...

[Initial velocity v0...]

[Launch angle θ...]

[Air resistance coefficient k...]

[Correction from the Magnus effect caused by rotation...]

"It'll go in!"

Sure enough...

One second later, the basketball swished through the net without touching the rim!