Massage the Cerebral Cortex

"Phew... phew..."

Liu Limin led Mi Ge, jogging all the way from the residential compound toward the bus stop.

"Director, slow down! The Route 302 bus stop is right up ahead!"

Mi Ge called from behind him.

Without even turning his head, Liu Limin waved at Mi Ge as he quickened his pace.

"That's enough, Mi Ge. Hurry up and get a taxi back to school. You still have classes this afternoon, so don't let this delay your studies."

"Once Qin Yan graduates this year, No. 6 High School's Olympiad banner will depend on people like you to carry it. You've got a quick mind, kid. You'll definitely bring honor to our school someday!"

Mi Ge stopped walking. Though he was usually rather lively and unruly, hearing how highly the dean regarded him still made his blood surge.

"Mm, got it, Director Liu!" Mi Ge answered loudly. He turned and took two steps away, then couldn't help shouting at Liu Limin's retreating back.

"Director Liu, you have to recruit that big shot! I still want to be his schoolmate!"

Hearing that embarrassingly chuunibyou declaration, Liu Limin couldn't help smiling and shaking his head.

This kid didn't have even a trace of the steadiness expected from a student who did math and physics competitions.

Still, Liu Limin truly thought highly of him. His physical intuition was excellent, and he had talent.

As long as he settled down a little, his future achievements would surely be limitless.

Pulling himself from his thoughts, Liu Limin arrived at the bus stop.

A few elderly men and women stood around the platform waiting for buses, along with a young woman wearing headphones and listening to music.

Liu Limin searched through the crowd twice, but he still couldn't find Li Dong.

"How strange..."

Liu Limin muttered to himself.

"Could a bus have arrived just now, and he already got on and left?"

Liu Limin sighed in frustration.

In truth, it wasn't Liu Limin's fault that he couldn't find Li Dong.

The main reason was...

What Li Dong loved most right now was wandering around.

Just wandering.

Back when his grades had been poor, Li Dong would carry his backpack down the road every day, his mind filled with thoughts of how to improve his grades.

He always kept his head down, staring at the paving tiles beneath his feet, feeling as though even the air around him was heavy.

How could he possibly have had the patience back then to slow down and simply walk?

He had never even looked up at what the second floors of those roadside shops looked like.

Were they internet cafes? Pool halls? Or English tutoring centers with enormous signs hanging outside?

He had no idea.

But things were different now.

His grades had improved, and his horizons had opened completely.

When he finally lifted the head he had kept lowered for more than a decade, he suddenly realized that the city he lived in had so many second-layer sights he had never seen before.

Li Dong wandered aimlessly through Jiangcheng's streets.

He watched the roadside vendors and the patches of sunlight falling through gaps in the trees onto the asphalt.

With [Light-and-Shadow Insight], the edges of those sunspots seemed to carry faint diffraction fringes in his eyes, beautiful with a sense of geometric and physical order.

He didn't think about anything, and he didn't buy anything. He simply walked, enjoying the pressure-free freedom of having control over his own life.

Meanwhile.

Inside the break room of a graduate school entrance exam tutoring center somewhere in Jiangcheng.

"Teacher Yang, that's what happened..."

Mi Xia's voice on the other end of the call carried a trace of worry and conflicted emotion.

"Mm, I understand. Don't worry about this. Focus on studying and don't let it affect you."

Old Yang comforted her briefly before hanging up.

Holding his phone, he let out a long sigh.

"This day has finally come."

Of course, Old Yang knew that Jiangcheng No. 2 High School had been loudly promoting itself in the media as having "crushed all competition," forcibly twisting the facts to steal the spotlight.

When Old Yang saw the news yesterday, he had gone to find Zheng Hua, the head of the physics department.

In Zheng Hua's office, Old Yang had lost his temper for one of the rare times in his life.

"Old Zheng, are we really just going to stand by and watch No. 2 High School steal the honor that belongs to our student?"

"Even if Li Dong himself doesn't care, or perhaps hasn't even seen the news, shouldn't we, as his teachers and his alma mater, speak up for him?"

At the time, Zheng Hua had sat in his office chair with a deeply aggrieved expression. But the answer he gave chilled Old Yang to the bone.

"Old Yang, do you think I don't want to speak up? Principal Wang was so furious yesterday that he smashed a cup in his office!"

Zheng Hua spoke bitterly.

"But would speaking up do any good? If we put out an announcement now saying No. 2 High School is fake and Li Dong from No. 7 High School is the real first place... do you think Jiangcheng's parents and media will believe No. 7 High School, which ranks near the bottom every year in first-tier university admission rates, or the long-established elite No. 2 High School?"

"In this society, clarifications from the weak are often seen as clout-chasing."

"Without absolute strength and credibility, no matter how loudly you shout, people will only think you're making a scene for no reason."

Old Yang had remained silent for a long time.

He had taught at No. 7 High School for nearly ten years. He knew better than anyone what kind of reputation and standing No. 7 High School had in Jiangcheng's education circle.

He had merely shaken his head, feeling deeply that Li Dong had been wronged.

Now that he had received Mi Xia's call, Old Yang knew that Jiangcheng No. 6 High School had made its move.

In the past, Old Yang might have ignored something like this and left the choice entirely to the student.

But things were different now.

"Looks like... I need to personally persuade Li Dong to go to No. 6 High School."

A flash of resolve passed through Old Yang's eyes.

The weakness and lack of resources at No. 7 High School were only one reason he wanted Li Dong to leave.

The deeper, second reason was Yang Shengguo himself.

Old Yang understood all too clearly just how terrifying the potential Li Dong had displayed was.

Whether it was his logical reasoning in mathematics or his utterly unreasonable intuition in physics.

Once this kid entered a top university, he would surely graduate without obstruction, then pursue a master's degree and a doctorate.

Eventually, he would step into the world of academic research.

And the domestic academic world was far too deep.

In that circle, talent was certainly important.

But sometimes, two other things mattered even more—background and lineage.

Which school of thought were you from? Who was your advisor? Which faction did you belong to?

Those invisible labels often determined how much research funding you could secure, whether your papers could smoothly make it into core journals, and whether you would be inexplicably blocked when applying for professional titles.

Ten years ago, Yang Shengguo had been something of a notable figure at Capital Normal University.

The advisor he had studied under back then might not have been a towering giant of the mathematics world now, but he was still a central pillar of the field, with disciples and former students spread throughout major universities.

If Li Dong entered that circle in the future, and people learned that his high school mentor had been Yang Shengguo from Beijing Normal University...

Hmph.

Old Yang sneered.

Those "old acquaintances" of his, in order to prevent him from making a comeback by relying on the name of a genius student, would absolutely not mind using the resources in their hands to place obstacles in Li Dong's academic path.

"This child belongs to that vast starry sky. I can't let my own selfishness and old grudges become a stumbling block when he takes flight."

Old Yang silently made up his mind.

Let No. 6 High School become Li Dong's alma mater, and let No. 6 High School's famous teachers endorse his résumé. That would be the best protection for Li Dong.

Just as Old Yang stared out the window in a daze, the break room door was pushed open.

Lu Yao walked in carrying a collection of past graduate entrance exam questions. She had been about to ask for guidance, but then noticed Teacher Yang sitting in his chair, lost in thought.

"Teacher Yang, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Lu Yao asked with concern.

Old Yang came back to himself and shook his head.

"It's nothing. I'm a little tired. Resting for a while will be enough."

Looking at Lu Yao, he suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, Lu Yao, if I remember correctly, you attended Jiangcheng No. 6 High School in high school, right?"

Lu Yao froze for a moment, then nodded.

"That's right. I graduated from No. 6 High School. What is it, Teacher Yang?"

Old Yang asked.

"Then do you know Liu Limin? The physics teacher at your No. 6 High School."

"Teacher Liu? Of course I know him!" Lu Yao smiled.

"He was the physics teacher for our year. He's still the dean and head of the physics department at No. 6 High School now. He took pretty good care of me back then."

Old Yang's eyes lit up.

"Do you have his contact number?"

Lu Yao was a little curious. Why did Teacher Yang, a math teacher from No. 7 High School, want the number of No. 6 High School's dean? Still, she didn't ask. She immediately took out her phone and began searching.

"I do. I used to be the physics class representative, so I've kept his number all this time. I'll read it to you—138..."

Old Yang took out his phone and quickly saved the number.

"Read your book for now. I'm going outside to make a call."

Two hours later.

Li Dong finally ended this long yet pure City Walk.

"Wandering around is fun, but my legs are a little sore..."

Arriving at his front door, Li Dong took out his key and wondered whether he should do a few math problems to relax.

Jiang Yizhou: ...

Liu Liang: ...

The hell do you mean, doing math problems to relax?!

But Li Dong truly thought that way now.

He urgently needed something challenging to give his cerebral cortex a massage.

"What kind of problems should I do?"

"Pure number theory is a little too dry. Better find some math problems leaning toward physical applications."

Li Dong searched through his mind...

"Got it!"

"I'll derive the calculation of the Chern number in topological insulator theory!"

This thing could use the Gauss-Bonnet theorem to calculate the integral of Berry curvature over the Brillouin zone. Not only was it immensely beautiful in topology, it was also a core mathematical tool for explaining the quantum Hall effect.

"Using geometric topology to explain the quantization of physical phenomena—just thinking about it gives me a brain orgasm. It's so stress-relieving!"

Li Dong happily considered the integration path of the Berry connection as he unconsciously inserted the key into the lock.

"Mom, I'm ba—"

Li Dong called out as he pushed the door open.

But the moment he looked up, his entire body froze in the entryway.

What was going on here?

His mom was serving fruit, which was perfectly normal.

But what wasn't normal was that Old Yang was sitting on the sofa.

And beside him sat a balding man.

Li Dong had seen this man just two hours ago.

Liu Limin, the dean of Jiangcheng No. 6 High School.

Li Dong looked at Old Yang, then Liu Limin, then his mother, who was warmly entertaining the guests.

He rubbed his eyes. The Chern numbers and Berry curvature in his mind instantly shattered into pieces.

"Wait..."

"I just went out for a walk. What kind of magical crossover plot is this?"