mijobooks Chapter 23 The Wolf Grandmother Who Kidnaps Little Red Riding Hood
Chapter 23 The Wolf Grandmother Who Kidnaps Little Red Riding Hood
Just as Liu Zhiyun was struggling with her decision, Su Hao had already picked up his whimsical schoolbag and leisurely walked out of the classroom.
"Xiao Zhang!"
Liu Zhiyun habitually called out the teaching assistant's name.
The purpose of teaching assistants is precisely to solve problems and fight on the front lines when the professor's brain malfunctions.
"Yes, Professor!" Teaching assistant Xiao Zhang came running over from who-knows-where, tumbling and crawling.
"Go over there right now and stop that child at all costs! We can't let him get away!" Liu Zhiyun pointed to the door.
"Huh? Stop...stop him? And then what?" The teaching assistant looked completely bewildered.
Liu Zhiyun herself panicked.
She wanted to ask him to be recommended for admission to the mathematics department, but when the words were on the tip of her tongue, she sadly realized:
Apart from a few broken desks and a bunch of bald professors, the mathematics department didn't even have a single bargaining chip that was presentable enough to entice that genius.
"Enough with the nonsense! Go to the math department office right now."
Bring me all the souvenirs from the cabinet—pens, notebooks, anything that's pretty and nice! Got it?!
Like a gambler who had lost everything, Liu Zhiyun hurriedly put on her coat, grabbed the car keys on the table, and rushed out the door without a second thought.
The teaching assistant stared blankly at her almost out-of-control back, her eyes stinging with tears of grievance.
"Oh, Professor, you've been teaching me for three years, and you've never cared about me this much before..."
But he couldn't feel a trace of jealousy.
When he stood behind and saw the answer written by the elementary school student, this legitimate PhD in mathematics felt a suffocating sensation that made his scalp tingle.
At that moment, he even felt that all the books he had read over the past ten years had gone to waste!
The airtight logical deduction was so perfect that even a postdoctoral fellow would have to kneel down and admire it, let alone a struggling PhD student like him!
He could only suppress his bitter tears and run to the office to look for Ultraman toys or something similar that could please the elementary school students.
......
Su Hao walked quietly under the shade of the trees along the campus path.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappling his face.
"What a...brilliant question!"
Even though the exam was over, Su Hao's mind was still filled with the soul-stirring aftertaste of countless geometric lines converging at a single point when he answered the sixth question.
drop--!
Suddenly, a very abrupt car horn sounded from behind.
Su Hao was startled and quickly and obediently moved to the side of the road.
But the car not only didn't drive away, it slowed down and stubbornly stopped next to him.
hum-
The car window rolled down, revealing a face that was forcing a kind smile.
"Oh my? What a coincidence! You're the kid who took the exam just now, right?"
I'm going out to run some errands, how about I give you a ride home on my way?
Liu Zhiyun leaned on the steering wheel, laughing like a wolf in sheep's clothing trying to lure Little Red Riding Hood.
Su Hao stopped in his tracks, narrowed his eyes slightly, and his gaze was filled with vigilance.
This woman behaved very strangely during the exam, like someone with ADHD, which is extremely suspicious!
Now he looks more like a pervert following someone in a car!
He's definitely not a good person!
"My mom said I shouldn't get into a stranger's car."
Su Hao gave an impeccable, elementary school-level, ultimate defensive answer.
Liu Zhiyun had prepared a whole lot of words, but she was instantly rendered speechless by this unexpected yet perfectly reasonable childlike remark, and her face turned bright red.
Am I, a math professor at a top university, being mistaken for a human trafficker?!
"Huh? Oh... Oh! Is that so? This... This is indeed a presumptuous thing for the teacher."
A renowned professor stuttered in front of a primary school student.
"It's alright, my dad will be here to pick me up soon, no need to trouble you."
Su Hao waved his hand dismissively, his mind preoccupied with going home for dinner.
"Wait...wait a minute! Don't go!"
Seeing that Su Hao was about to leave, Liu Zhiyun panicked completely and almost pushed open the car door and lunged at him.
"Let me tell you the truth, student. Could you give me five minutes... no, three minutes?"
"what?"
"Just a little while! The sixth question in the retest was actually one I came up with myself."
"You...aren't you curious about the person who set the questions?"
Liu Zhiyun unleashed her final trump card.
Su Hao stopped and fell into deep thought.
He really wanted to talk to someone who could come up with such ingenious questions.
That could be considered a kind of intellectual resonance that transcends age.
"OK."
"Great! Wait for me!"
Liu Zhiyun's previously ashen face suddenly burst forth with a radiant glow, as if she had just regained her strength.
She slammed on the gas and abruptly pulled the car to the side of the road. As if afraid Su Hao would change his mind, she scurried back in her high heels and pulled Su Hao to sit down on the bench.
"I haven't introduced myself yet."
I am Professor Liu Zhiyun from the Department of Mathematics.
The reason I stopped you is because... I see in you an extraordinary mathematical talent, one that could astound the world!
Liu Zhiyun quickly got to the point, her eyes burning with intensity.
"Oh, thank you," Su Hao replied calmly.
Seeing his calm reaction, Liu Zhiyun tentatively asked:
"Have you... heard this kind of thing countless times since you were a child?"
"Yes, Professor Shen Yuxuan and Professor Zhou Mingyuan seemed to have said the same thing before."
"What?!" Liu Zhiyun's voice suddenly rose eight octaves, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"Zhou Mingyuan?! You've actually met that sixth brother?!"
What did he say to you?! Did he try to trick you into going abroad?!
Damn it, he used to take advantage of his abundant funding to lure away one of my promising undergraduate students!
Now they're even targeting elementary school students, stabbing me in the back again?!
Upon hearing the name Zhou Mingyuan, Liu Zhiyun lost all composure and began spitting as she spoke.
They bombarded Su Hao with a barrage of questions.
"No...no."
Faced with this frantic state, Su Hao simply scratched his head.
"He did say that it would be better to develop my career abroad, but I still want to live with my family."
He contacted me this time simply because we happen to be co-writing a paper.
Dead!
Absolute silence!
In that instant, the wind stopped, the leaves hung in mid-air, and even the air seemed to be sucked away!
Liu Zhiyun's pupils suddenly shrank to the size of pinpoints, and her heart skipped a beat!
"Co-authoring a paper?! With Zhou Mingyuan?!"
"A little brat who didn't even finish junior high?!"
"What kind of international joke is this?! !!!"
A thousand alpacas galloped through her mind, shaking her very soul.
She thought she was a talent scout descended from heaven, the first to discover this unparalleled gem.
The results of it?
The corner of the wall right under our noses is about to be dug up by an excavator!
Elementary school students are actually co-writing papers with top academic figures!
She actually tried to fool him with a few broken fountain pens as souvenirs?!
"Ah? Are you alright?" Su Hao asked with concern, looking at Liu Zhiyun, whose face was alternating between pale and flushed.
"Cough cough... It's nothing, it's nothing!"
She forced down the mouthful of blood she almost spat out, and managed to force a kind smile.
"Su Hao, judging from your problem-solving approach, your understanding of mathematics is already very profound."
Can you tell the teacher why?
Faced with this seemingly ordinary question, Su Hao unexpectedly fell silent.
He gazed at the clouds drifting across the distant horizon, his brow furrowing slightly, as if he were examining his own soul with utmost seriousness.
After a long silence, Su Hao finally spoke softly:
"Because the world is made up of mathematics."
Liu Zhiyun's eyes widened to their limit in an instant, and a storm raged deep within her pupils.
"My God!"
This answer was devoid of any ulterior motives or affectation for fame or gain!
In that instant, it was as if Beethoven's Ode to Joy was playing in Liu Zhiyun's mind!
That answer struck right to her soul!
Her voice trembled with excitement: "Do you know the etymology of mathematical terms?"
I thought it impossible for a primary school student to know such obscure knowledge, but the other person gave a perfect answer without even stammering:
"Mathematikoi".
"That's right! It's the name of the Pythagorean school!" Liu Zhiyun exclaimed excitedly, slapping her thigh.
"Pythagoras was a man who devoted his life to serving the gods."
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he's half a clergyman.
Of course, that was before Christ, and it doesn't refer to the god we commonly pray to today.
Liu Zhiyun paid close attention to Su Hao's reaction, afraid of missing any expression on his face, and continued:
"Pythagoras, just as you just answered."
He firmly believes that this vast world is made up of numbers that are both cold and incredibly beautiful.
Therefore, he believed that studying mathematics was like using a mortal body to decipher the Creator's code and approach the divine laws of creation!
"Yes, yes, when I was a child, I found this kind of romance to be absolutely fascinating."
Su Hao nodded seriously.
Upon hearing Su Hao's answer, Liu Zhiyun felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and a bright smile appeared on her face like never before.
"Right? I knew it!"
You're like a child who was born to become a great mathematician!
You promised your teacher that you would never change your interest in mathematics, no matter what temptations you face, whether it be money or power, okay?
It seems all my previous worries were unnecessary!
Without an almost obsessive, pure love for mathematics, it would be impossible to demonstrate such keen insight at this age.
The thought that this rare treasure wouldn't be snatched away by those scalpel-wielding medical students or those plaid-shirt-wearing engineering students filled her with an unprecedented joy and peace of mind.
"Yes! Because I also want to continue learning math."
After all, there are still too many mysteries in this world that humanity has yet to unravel.
"You really know your stuff! There are millions of ordinary people in this world, why don't they understand that only pure mathematics is the only language that can bring absolute truth to humankind?"
Su Hao didn't reply, but instead looked towards the school gate.
In the distance, a man who looked like his father was waving at him.
"Ah, my dad's here, I have to go." Su Hao stood up.
"Okay, one last question!"
Liu Zhiyun stood up. She was determined to get to the bottom of this today, otherwise she probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
"Please speak."
"During the preliminary rounds..."
Liu Zhiyun stared intently into Su Hao's eyes.
"For question 25, you clearly had the ability to get full marks, so why did you deliberately make a mistake in the last step?!"
Upon hearing this, Su Hao first turned to look at Liu Zhiyun with a surprised expression.
Then, as if suddenly realizing something, he revealed a bright, sunny smile.
"Because I think the person who set the question probably wanted me to write it that way."
Perhaps it was this brief exchange that created a sense of kinship among the somewhat neurotic professor...
Su Hao waved playfully like an ordinary elementary school student: "Goodbye, Professor!"
Then she turned around and walked briskly towards the golden afterglow.
Liu Zhiyun stood there, stunned, her gaze following Su Hao's departing figure, her whole body trembling slightly.
After a long while, his vision gradually blurred, and his eyes filled with hot tears!