Gu Chen did not leave. He stood quietly to one side, with only one thought in mind-he had to settle the matter of dropping out today. Su Qingqing's words echoed in his ears. He knew the Zhou Family would not let the matter rest, and he had to step forward to help his father.
Song Qianhan looked at Gu Chen's stubborn figure, his brow tightly furrowed. He gave a muffled grunt and said nothing more.
"This problem is too hard. It's been troubling me for a week," the old man said helplessly with a sigh.
"I haven't been able to prove it, so I could only come to you for help." The old man looked at Song Qianhan.
Song Qianhan took the notebook and raised his eyebrows. "This is the Poincaré Conjecture?" he asked in surprise.
"Yes." The old man nodded. "The conjecture proposed by the French mathematician Poincaré, one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems with a prize offered by the Clay Mathematics Institute. I happened to come across it and spent the whole day thinking about it. That's why I came to see you, isn't it?"
Song Qianhan smiled bitterly. "Principal Wen, you're putting me in a difficult position. So many mathematicians around the world are at a loss with this problem..."
"I can solve it!" a voice suddenly rang out.
Only then did the old man notice Gu Chen standing behind them. He asked in surprise, "Who is this?"
"This isn't a university assignment!" Song Qianhan's expression turned stern as he scolded Gu Chen. "Gu Chen, stop fooling around!"
How could Gu Chen possibly solve a math problem with a worldwide prize offered for it?
But Gu Chen remained unmoved. "I said I can solve it," he said firmly.
As an Immortal Venerable, his thinking had long since surpassed that of ordinary people. Solving a math problem like this was as easy as turning over his hand. He picked up a pen and began writing rapidly on the paper.
By the time the two men reacted, it was too late to stop him.
In less than ten minutes, the sheet was covered with equations.
At first, the old man and Song Qianhan both thought Gu Chen was scribbling nonsense, but the further they read, the more shocked they looked.
Because there was nothing wrong with Gu Chen's solution!
"Any simply connected, closed three-dimensional manifold must be homeomorphic to a three-dimensional sphere," Gu Chen explained as he wrote. "Imagine a house like this, where the space is a sphere. Or imagine a giant soccer ball filled with air. We crawl inside and take a look, and that's a spherical house..."
Gu Chen wrote at great length, filling a large area of the page.
Finally, he concluded, "The Poincaré Conjecture is a proposition of fundamental significance in topology. It will help humanity better study three-dimensional space. Actually, the three-dimensional case of this proposition has already been proved by the Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman, but very few people know about it yet."
The entire office was so quiet that not a bird could be heard. Both teachers were utterly shocked!
The old man picked up Gu Chen's calculations and examined them carefully, his hands trembling even harder!
The conjecture really was true!
Even Song Qianhan could hardly believe that Gu Chen had solved the problem!
"Genius! This is a genius!
"The old man rose to his feet in excitement and looked at Gu Chen, his eyes shining. "What's your name? Are you a student at our school?"
Still in shock, Song Qianhan gave a bitter smile when he heard the question. "His name is Gu Chen."
Ever since Gu Chen had transferred here, he had been inconspicuous in class, with average grades. Song Qianhan had never imagined that he possessed such mathematical talent, or that he could solve one of the seven great mathematical mysteries. It had taken him completely by surprise.
Then he said to the old man, "Teacher Song, you have a mathematical genius like this in your class, and you kept him so well hidden! This person's name is Gu Chen? How come I've never heard you mention him?"
"Vice Principal," Gu Chen spoke up, neither servile nor overbearing. "My name is Gu Chen. I'm a student in Teacher Song's class. I came here today to drop out. Since you're here too, Vice Principal, I'll apply directly. I respectfully ask you to approve it."
"No problem! For a genius like you, I can agree to anything!" The old man was so excited that he lost himself, but he soon froze and stared at Gu Chen in astonishment. "Wait, what did you just say? Drop out?"
As the honorary vice principal of Xinghua University, Wen Xinbai was among the foremost figures in academia, but his field of expertise was physics, and he had won numerous prizes at international academic conferences. This time, he had come to Xinghua University merely to hold the title of vice principal.
He had never expected to discover a mathematical genius here, one who had solved the Poincaré Conjecture!
But such a promising prospect, a mathematical genius, actually wanted to drop out?
Wen Xinbai froze. "What did you say?"
Gu Chen nodded and said firmly, "I want to drop out."
"Why do you want to drop out?" Wen Xinbai asked in a grave voice. "Xinghua University is one of the best schools in Zhou City. If you drop out, where can you go to study?"
"I'm not going to study anymore." Gu Chen grinned. "I have something important to do."
"Not study anymore?!" Wen Xinbai was startled. "That won't do! You're the most mathematically gifted student I've ever seen. You absolutely have what it takes to claim the crown in national, even worldwide, youth mathematics competitions. You can even solve the Poincaré Conjecture. Your future is boundless!"
With a genius like this right under his nose, how could Wen Xinbai possibly let him go?
"I need money." Gu Chen shrugged. "Studying is no use to me for the time being."
"Need money?" Wen Xinbai's expression softened slightly. "It seems your family is having difficulties? The school must give special attention to a promising student like you. You can't give up your studies over money. Our school can provide the money you need, let you study for free, and give you a scholarship, plus a living allowance of 2,500 a month. What do you think?"
Gu Chen was inwardly amused. How could that little bit of money be enough for what he needed? He needed the wealth to stand against the Zhou Family!
But he also knew Wen Xinbai meant well, so he shook his head. "No need. I have my own plans."
"Teacher Song, you need to keep your students in line!" Just then, a male teacher burst through the door. He was Chen Jiaheng, the physical education teacher and homeroom teacher of third-year Class 03, and his face was full of anger. "Your Class 06's Gu Chen beat up Jiang Yu from our Class 03 and even broke his leg!"
Only after saying that did he notice Gu Chen. He immediately sneered. "Gu Chen, good, you're here too. I'm reporting this to the academic affairs office and having a major demerit recorded against you!"
Song Qianhan's brow furrowed even more deeply as he looked at Gu Chen. "What happened?"
Chen Jiaheng said agitatedly, "Teacher Song, Jiang Group is the leading enterprise in Zhou City's real estate industry! They sent their young master to study here because they trust our university. Who knows how much they give in sponsorship fees every year? The school places great importance on them! And Jiang Yu excels in both character and academics. His grades are outstanding, and he ranks in the top hundred of his entire year every term! Now that something like this has happened, if he transfers schools or the Jiang Family blames us, how could we bear the consequences?"