No One Among the Entire Class of 2013 Could Match Him!

10 a.m., Mathematics Department Office, Laboratory Building.

Professor Tang sat at his desk, meticulously revising a paper as he stared at the computer screen.

Whenever he saw those rigorous calculations and tightly reasoned arguments, he could not help but feel moved. Even when he scrutinized it critically, trying to find a flaw so he could send it back to that kid for revisions, he found himself with nowhere to start.

The exposition was already complete; not a single line of calculation was superfluous.

All he could do was make minor corrections to the paper's phrasing and certain points of English grammar.

"Young people are formidable indeed." With that thought, Professor Tang Zhiwei leaned back in his chair.

Just then, the office door was pushed open.

The visitor neither knocked nor greeted him. Such rude behavior made Professor Tang frown, but when he saw who it was, his brow relaxed and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Lu Fangping, director of Jinling University's Mathematics Department. They were not only colleagues, but also old friends and former classmates.

"Old Tang, why's your phone off? I've been trying to reach you for ages." Lu Fangping entered with a smile.

"Heh, I turn it off for these few days after exams every year. It's not like you don't know that." Tang Zhiwei glanced at Professor Lu Fangping as he came over, smiled, leaned back in his chair, and took a sip of tea from his thermos. "Haven't you been pretty busy lately? What, you actually have time to drop by today?"

Lu Fangping sat down on the office sofa and said with a smile, "I need your help with something, so I came over uninvited!"

"You old bastard have some thick skin. When other people ask me for help, they at least bring two cases of liquor. You're asking for help without even offering me a cigarette. What do you need? I'm not helping!" Tang Zhiwei scolded jokingly.

"Aren't you the one who hates all that? If I'd brought something with me, I probably wouldn't have even made it through the door." Lu Fangping laughed.

Tang Zhiwei smiled. "All right, enough joking around. Stop beating around the bush and tell me what you need."

Lu Fangping slapped his thigh. "Isn't the National Mathematical Modeling Contest happening this September? The school wants us to put together as many teams as possible, join hands with the Software Institute next door, and bring back a few more national first prizes. It'll bring glory to both the school and the university!"

And, incidentally, provide some insurance for the year-end teaching and research evaluation.

What if things went badly and the entire School of Mathematics failed to produce even one national first prize? How embarrassing would that be at meetings?

Of course, Director Lu would not say such things aloud.

"You want... me to serve as an advisor?" Tang Zhiwei frowned slightly. "But I study pure theoretical mathematics. I'm afraid I won't be much help with mathematical modeling."

Although mathematical modeling and mathematical research both involved mathematics, they were entirely different things. Whether it was innovative thinking or the speed at which one accepted new things, an old academic like Professor Tang, who focused solely on scholarship, found it difficult to keep up with the younger generation's train of thought. Naturally, advising them was out of the question.

"No, the faculty advisors have already been arranged. We won't trouble you. I just want to borrow two people from you. Among the majors you supervise, are there any students who are especially gifted in mathematics and quick-witted?" Lu Fangping asked with a smile.

"Heh, that's all? Fine, you came at just the right time. I happen to have someone talented to recommend. Lu Zhou from Applied Mathematics Class One. Take him and use him as you please, no need to be polite." Tang Zhiwei smiled.

"Lu Zhou?" Lu Fangping furrowed his brow. "I feel like I've seen that name somewhere..."

Then he remembered. Wasn't that the student from yesterday's Advanced Mathematics exam who had finished the paper in less than half an hour—and gotten every answer right?

But...

He was only a freshman!

The National College Student Mathematical Modeling Competition was not an Olympiad-style exam where they simply handed out a paper and asked contestants to solve it. Its focus was not on mastery of theoretical knowledge, but on college students' ability to apply theory to practical problems.

Moreover, based on experience from previous competitions, winning results in mathematical modeling contests were not entirely positively correlated with contestants' math grades. Instead, students with balanced performance across subjects often performed better in the competition.

And because the contest topics covered a wide range of fields, freshmen were limited by the breadth of their knowledge and found it difficult to play a meaningful role in the competition.

Of course, simply signing up was no big deal. Participation was what mattered, after all. But what Lu Fangping wanted was clearly not the sort of student who merely participated. He wanted someone who could reliably win a national first prize.

As for Lu Zhou, his mathematical ability was not the issue, but his knowledge base was still too narrow!

"Think he's too young?" Tang Zhiwei immediately saw what his old friend was thinking and asked with a smile.

"That's right." Lu Fangping nodded. "The Software Institute is taking this collaboration very seriously. The contestant they've sent is that sophomore computer genius who won the National Computer Software Innovation Award twice in high school and took first prize in the Hua College Software Cup during his freshman year. I do have a few candidates on my side, but I still wanted to hear your opinion. My absolute minimum is a sophomore... you understand what I mean, right?"

Lu Fangping felt he had made himself perfectly clear.

Although the university encouraged students to form teams freely in principle, it did not object to departments taking the lead in assembling official teams. After all, winning more national awards was an achievement for the leadership and an honor for the university.

The Software Institute had produced such a talent. Whether or not they valued him was beside the point; at the very least, they could not drag their teammates down. If the department-designated "official team" could not even make it through the national competition, that would be utterly humiliating!

Tang Zhiwei smiled without answering directly. Instead, he looked at the computer on his desk and said, "I happen to have a paper here. Come take a look."

Lu Fangping froze for a moment, unsure what his old classmate meant, but he still stood up and walked over with some doubt.

"Optimal Inversion Theory for Linear Operators and Linear Functionals... When did this become your research direction?" Looking at the paper's title and abstract, Lu Fangping gave a soft sound of surprise and asked with interest.

Tang Zhiwei did not answer, only urged him on. "Don't ask so many questions. Finish reading it and give me your evaluation."

Full of questions, Lu Fangping continued reading. The farther he got, the more interesting his expression became.

After reading the final line of the proof, he stood there thinking for a long while. Then he sighed softly and said enviously, "Old Tang, honestly, I really envy you."

"I asked you for your thoughts on the paper. Why are you envying me?" Tang Zhiwei laughed.

"How come all the promising students in our Mathematics Department have been monopolized by you alone? Forget undergraduates—even the graduate students you supervise are like this." The more Lu Fangping thought about it, the more unwilling he became. Why could he not teach graduate students of this caliber?

At those words, Tang Zhiwei burst into laughter, leaving Lu Fangping utterly baffled. What was his old friend laughing about?

"Graduate student? Hahaha! This paper was written by that kid Lu Zhou! Guess what happened yesterday? I asked him where he planned to submit it, and he actually told me AMC! Good thing I stopped him. Otherwise, when he gets his doctorate and looks back at this paper someday, he'll probably regret it enough to bang his head against a wall." Tang Zhiwei laughed heartily.

Lu Fangping was completely stunned. He looked at the paper on the laptop, then at his old friend. After a long while, he finally coughed dryly and said uncertainly, "Old Tang, there's no need to mess with me like this, is there?"

"I'm not joking." Tang Zhiwei's smile faded as he looked at his old friend and spoke seriously. "He completed the entire proof process for this paper independently, from beginning to end. My guidance was limited to explaining several difficult points of knowledge. It was also the questions he raised to me that convinced me these papers truly came from his own hand. The only thing I helped revise was the wording. As for the core reasoning and final conclusions, I could not find a single fault beyond being impressed. This kid may be a little too utilitarian and somewhat impatient in the way he handles things, but his strengths far outweigh his flaws. He is an exceptionally rare talent. If you ask me who I recommend for our school's official team, I would definitely recommend him. Whether it's his paper-writing skills or his mathematical foundation, no one among the entire Jinling University Class of 2013 can match him!"

No one could match him!

Did he even know how many students there were in Jinling University's entire Class of 2013? Even Lu Fangping, the department director, did not know!

Yet Lu Fangping could not refute him.

Especially after reading this paper, every doubt he had about the abilities of the student named Lu Zhou collapsed in an instant.

If Tang Zhiwei had not told him, he would have thought this paper had been written by a graduate student, perhaps even someone at the doctoral level...

At least in the field of Functional Analysis, Lu Zhou had already reached a height no undergraduate should have been able to reach.

Lu Fangping coughed lightly. "I... have nothing more to say. I'll leave the job of persuading him to sign up to you."

"Don't worry. That kid listens to me. Don't rush off yet. I'll call him and explain it to him right now." Tang Zhiwei guaranteed as he reached for the phone on his desk.

Participating in such a national-level competition as part of the school's "official team" was an exceptionally rare opportunity. Setting everything else aside, if he brought back an award, the department leaders would know his name, and scholarships for the next four years would be practically guaranteed.

Following the principle of keeping benefits within the family, Tang Zhiwei wanted to settle the matter as soon as possible. So, right in front of the department director, he called Lu Zhou.

"The number you have dialed is outside the service area. Please try again later... Beep, beep, beep."

His phone was off?

Tang Zhiwei was taken aback. He frowned and hung up.

"What's that kid doing? He's not even answering his phone. I'll talk to him later."

Lu Fangping was not worried at all. He was determined to have this talent!

Regardless of how broad Lu Zhou's knowledge was, the quality of this paper alone already qualified him to compete. A mathematical modeling team of three was normally configured for programming, modeling, and paper writing. If Lu Zhou alone could handle both paper writing and mathematical modeling, then this competition was in the bag!

As for whether Lu Zhou might refuse, Lu Fangping was even less concerned.

No college student would turn down such a good opportunity.

Thinking of this, Lu Fangping smiled and said, "All right, I'll leave this matter to you. I still have some things to take care of, so I won't disturb you any longer."

"Don't worry. I'll give you an answer before tomorrow." Tang Zhiwei waved him off.