Chapter 149 I'm Going Wild?

The red brick office building of the mathematics department is quite old, and its exterior walls are covered with ivy.

At the end of the second-floor corridor, the door to a private office was half-open, and the main light was off, making the room somewhat dark.

Li Jianming stood in front of a large blackboard that occupied an entire wall.

The blackboard was covered in white chalk writing, stretching from the top left to the bottom right. It was all derivations, matrix expansions, and complex summation symbols with intricate subscripts. Several spots of chalk dust were wiped away with the eraser, only to be covered with new equations, creating a blinding white mess.

Li Jianming was holding a mortise and tenon teacup, with a few tea leaves floating on the surface of the water, unable to unfurl.

He didn't drink any water; his eyes were fixed on the equation circled in red in the center of the blackboard.

The door hinges turned with a soft click.

Student Wu Tao walked in, carrying a stack of A4 draft paper with curled edges. Wu Tao had heavy dark circles under his eyes, and his footsteps were heavy. "Teacher."

Wu Tao spoke in a low voice as he placed the draft paper on his desk.

Li Jianming turned around, his gaze shifting from the blackboard to the pile of papers.

"I still can't prove the seventh lemma?"

Li Jianming asked, his voice a little hoarse.

Wu Tao shook his head and sighed.

"It's impossible to close the loop."

Wu Tao flipped open the top sheet of draft paper and pointed to the long line of calculations in the middle.

"After the Laplace matrix expansion enters the core node, once the eighth order is passed, the number of terms in the polynomial starts to skyrocket," Wu Tao said, rubbing his sore eyes.

"Last night I tried to simplify it using traditional spectral theory, as you suggested, but I couldn't find the general term formula. The extra singular terms couldn't cancel each other out, and in the end, it became a divergent infinite series." Li Jianming walked back to his desk and put down his teacup.

"How many items were manually checked?"

"We checked the first two hundred expansion terms," ​​Wu Tao said. "We couldn't find a convergence pattern; it was all a mess."

Li Jianming remained silent.

He knew Wu Tao had done his best.

This isn't a problem that can be solved by staying up all night; it's a wall of theoretical mathematics.

They were studying pure number conjectures about complex network topologies. The basic framework and edge verification went smoothly, but when it came to the core theoretical proof, they reached a dead end. Pure number derivations allow no ambiguity whatsoever.

When encountering a problem in engineering that cannot be calculated, one can truncate it or find an approximate value.

Pure numbers won't work.

The left and right sides of the equals sign must fit perfectly. If a single link is missing in the logical chain, all the draft paper that filled half a cabinet becomes a pile of waste paper. Without finding a new algebraic isomorphism to circumvent this combinatorial maze, a conjecture will forever remain a conjecture.

"Go take a nap in the lounge next door."

Li Jianming looked at Wu Tao, whose eyes were bloodshot, and waved his hand.

"Don't you still need to work on the random walk model for your graduation thesis? Go do yours. Put the seventh lemma aside for now. Forcing it like this will only waste paper." "But Professor Li, the proof is stuck here..."

"Go and rest."

Li Jianming interrupted him, his tone gentle, but leaving no room for negotiation.

Wu Tao didn't insist any further, nodded, and left the office.

Li Jianming was the only one left in the room.

He pulled out a chair and sat down, reaching up from the cluttered table to pull out the fall issue of *Discrete Mathematics*. His thumb slowly traced the rough cover.

Two weeks ago, he saw a short article in this journal.

The article is short and discusses node connectivity and matrix dimensionality reduction.

The most famous is C. Zhuo from this school.

Li Jianming turned to the page with the folded corner.

He went through those core proof steps again from beginning to end.

Every time he looked at it, he felt his palms getting warm.

C. Zhuo, when dealing with similar polynomial explosions, didn't bother with the maze; he simply constructed a discrete algebra matrix out of thin air, cutting off the infinitely recursive terms. Then, he used a nonlinear compensation term to forcibly connect the beginning and end logic.

Extremely crisp.

This is the true beauty of mathematics: no exhaustive enumeration, no getting bogged down in details, just a different perspective, drawing a closed loop directly in a higher dimension.

Li Jianming grabbed his books and rushed to the physics building.

He had read a top physics journal article from Princeton, and this name appeared in the acknowledgments. He concluded that C. Zhuo was some senior professor in the physics department who worked on interdisciplinary projects. He went to ask the Taoist priest for an introduction.

The Taoist priest was sitting on a single sofa, holding a teacup, slowly practicing Tai Chi.

Fang Shi said that Old Chen was a loner and disliked people, and that he was currently completely isolated in the physics department's national-level fluid mechanics project, adjusting models, and would be reassigned after the project was completed. Half a month passed.

Li Jianming endured it for half a month.

Everyone is doing research at the same university, and the wind tunnel model that Fang Shi has is also a key project. It's really against the rules for him to interfere when others are working on it during the critical stage. But now, his derivation has completely stalled.

Li Jianming closed the journal and tucked it under his arm.

I can't wait any longer.

How is Fangshi's project progressing?

Did Old Chen actually help the sorcerer break the deadlock?

Li Jianming stood up and walked out of the office.

It's a bit stuffy outside, and there's no wind.

Li Jianming walked towards the physics department building with large strides, though he was actually unsure of himself.

If the physics department is still in a mess, he probably won't even be able to see anyone on this trip.

Entering the red brick gate of the physics building, the lobby on the first floor is quiet.

Li Jianming didn't go straight upstairs. Instead, he turned into the first-floor corridor, at the end of which was the physics department's common lounge, where physics faculty and students usually fetched water and chatted. He wanted to go there first and get some information.

Before I even reached the door, I could hear voices coming from inside.

"Senior Brother Zhang, your dark circles have finally faded a bit. Did you get a good night's sleep last night?"

A young voice asked.

Then came the sound of water being poured from a thermos.

Then came a hoarse but relaxed voice. Li Jianming recognized it as Zhang Yuan, the Taoist priest's prized student.

"I slept for a full fourteen hours, which is more than I've slept in the past two weeks combined."

Zhang Yuan held his water glass and let out a long sigh.

"What exactly happened last Friday?"

The young voice was curious.

"I heard from the group next door that there was quite a commotion in your lab that afternoon. Was it because the model wouldn't move and Dean Fang got angry?"

Li Jianming stopped.

He stood in the shadows of the corridor, holding his breath.

In the lounge, Zhang Yuan took a sip of water.

"I didn't get angry, and the problem was solved."

Zhang Yuan's tone revealed a sense of unease, as if he hadn't quite recovered.

"Is it untied?"

The young voice was surprised.

"How did you solve it? Didn't they say the microcomputer couldn't solve that continuous partial differential equation?"

Zhang Yuan remained silent for two seconds.

"No partial differential equations were used; all the equations on the blackboard were erased."

"Was it wiped? How do you calculate the physical process then?"

"Not really."

Zhang Yuan lowered his voice.

"Sever it directly, discard the most complex 0.01 second physical process in the middle, and treat it as a black box."

Li Jianming, who was outside the door, tightened his grip on the journal when he heard the cut-off and the black box.

As someone who works with pure mathematics, he's extremely sensitive to this term.

"What did you use instead?"

They pressed for answers inside.

"A discrete algebraic matrix."

Zhang Yuan said.

"It's purely mathematical dimensionality reduction. A nonlinear compensation term was added to create a strong constraint. The initial kinetic energy of entering the hole was used to force the final potential energy and pressure to do work. No matter how chaotic the air is in the middle, as long as the energy difference between the beginning and end is absorbed by this matrix, the balance is achieved."

"Will this work? Will the theoretical error not diverge?"

"It doesn't diverge."

Zhang Yuan put down his water glass, the bottom of which tapped softly on the table.

"The matrix absorbed all the energy difference, and the final convergence limit was 17/10,000."

Zhang Yuan's tone revealed genuine admiration.

"Without the slightest error, far below the engineering allowable limit, a dead end in physics was leveled using purely mathematical methods."

The lounge fell silent.

Li Jianming in the corridor also fell silent.

He leaned against the wall, his heart pounding, his temples throbbing.

Discrete algebraic matrix.

Cutting process.

Nonlinear compensation with strong constraints.

This set of mathematical tools is exactly the same as the one in "Discrete Mathematics".

It is by no means a coincidence.

Li Jianming took a breath.

C. Zhuo really made a move.

The Taoist priest hadn't lied to him half a month ago; Professor Chen really was in the physics department.

And by using this method, they actually managed to revive the physics department's nearly defunct wind tunnel project.

The sorcerer's project came to fruition.

This means that Lao Chen has finished his work in the physics department.

Without further hesitation, Li Jianming turned around and walked up the stairs to the third-floor administration corridor.

The leather shoes echoed rapidly as they stepped on the floor.

At this moment, sunlight streamed into the bright corridor on the third floor of the physics building.

Fang Shi stood outside the conference room, holding a bound blue folder in his hand.

That was the newly printed "Mid-term Review Report on Train Wind Tunnel Model".

Today, Fang Shi wore a neat light gray short-sleeved shirt, his hair combed back. He no longer looked tired from a few days ago; his posture was upright, and his face was composed. He was chatting and laughing with a deputy director of the Faculty of Science.

"Old Fang, you looked so worried at the routine meeting last Thursday. The higher-ups were worried that the progress would be slowed down. But after the weekend, you've produced such a brilliant report." The deputy director nodded repeatedly as he flipped through the photocopies.

The Taoist priest smiled and waved his hand, his tone humble, but his eyes were full of pride.

"In scientific research, when you encounter a dead end, you have to learn to be flexible. By introducing some mathematical tools and making an algebraic dimensionality reduction at the underlying logic level, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel." The deputy director closed the document.

"Submit the report, and it will definitely receive an excellent grade in the mid-term review. Let the students rest for a couple of days."

"Of course."

The Taoist priest nodded with a smile.

The deputy director turned and went downstairs.

The Taoist priest watched him walk away, feeling quite pleased, and then turned to return to his office.

Just as I turned around, a figure emerged from around the corner of the corridor.

"Old Fang!"

The sorcerer looked closely.

Li Jianming, carrying the book "Discrete Mathematics" and sporting dark circles under his eyes, strode towards him.

Li Jianming's face lacked its usual politeness, revealing an barely suppressed urgency, like someone who had been thirsty in the desert for three days suddenly seeing well water.

The sorcerer's smile froze.

The old fox's intuition told him that the visitor was up to no good.

"Old Li."

The sorcerer composed himself, stepped forward, and feigned surprise.

"What brings you here? You don't look well. No matter how busy you are with your research, you should still take a break."

Li Jianming ignored the small talk.

He walked up to the sorcerer and stared at the blue folder.

"Stop talking nonsense."

Li Jianming got straight to the point.

"Wind tunnel model, is it a closed loop?"

The Taoist priest tightened his grip on the folder.

The whole physics building knows; it can't be kept secret anymore.

"Ah, it's out."

The Taoist priest nodded, his tone indifferent.

"I just figured out the formula over the weekend and am ready to submit it."

Li Jianming stared into the sorcerer's eyes.

"Sliced ​​using an algebraic matrix? Convergence error of 17/10,000?"

The sorcerer's eyelids twitched.

They really found out a lot of details.

"right."

The sorcerer did not deny it.

"Great, that's wonderful."

Li Jianming suddenly laughed.

He stepped forward and grabbed the sorcerer's arm.

"Old Fang! Congratulations! It's great news that the project was saved!"

Li Jianming spoke very quickly and gripped his hand tightly, causing the Taoist priest some pain.

"Now that the work is done, shouldn't you keep your promise from a month ago?"

The sorcerer was inwardly groaning.

A month ago, in order to appease people, I made up a story about Professor Chen, who was eccentric and completely isolated from reasoning.

At the time, I was only thinking about blocking people; I didn't think about how to cover it up at all.

Chen Zhuo, who wrote the algebraic matrix on the blackboard, is a sophomore undergraduate. Where did he come from to become a great scholar?

Moreover, Fang Shi now regards Chen Zhuo as the precious darling of the research group.

The math department is obsessed with pure theory. If they were to get a taste of success, they would probably devour Chen Zhuosheng.

"Old Li, let go for now."

The Taoist priest patted Li Jianming's hand, feigning helplessness.

"I won't let go."

Li Jianming tightened his grip even more.

"Old Fang, I'm completely stuck on the graph theory proof. Now that you've overcome the difficulty, take me to see Professor Chen. I won't disturb his rest; I'll just take the derivation process to ask him about a few node issues." Fang Shi coughed twice, trying to pull his arm back.

"Old Li, it's not that I'm breaking my promise, listen to me..."

The sorcerer frowned, lowered his voice, and put on a heavy, regretful expression.

"Old Chen... he's no longer at school."

Li Jianming froze, and loosened his grip a little.

"Not at school? What do you mean? Off in a meeting?"

"Ugh."

The Taoist priest sighed and looked out the corridor window.

"You know how tricky our problem is. Old Chen has been working day and night for the past two weeks to push that matrix. At his age, his mental energy is severely depleted." Fang Shi turned to look at Li Jianming with earnest eyes.

"Last Friday afternoon, when he handed me the last line of the equation, he couldn't even stand up. I had my students take him back to his hometown to recuperate overnight. Before he left, he told me to refuse to see any guests during this time and not to bother anyone." Li Jianming stared blankly at the Taoist priest.

"Did you go back to your hometown to recuperate?"

"right."

The Taoist priest nodded, his expression full of concern.

"Your health is the most important thing. Your certificate... Although it's urgent, we still have to consider objective laws, right? Why don't you organize some more people to find another way?" The corridor fell silent.

Li Jianming stood there, looking at the vice dean of the physics department, whose face was full of concern.

He is not a fool.

Having been in academia for over thirty years, I've seen all sorts of people.

If Professor Chen were truly exhausted and unable to stand, requiring his return to his hometown, the Taoist priest's current demeanor would be far from this smug and jovial manner, chatting and laughing with his superiors. The priest's somber expression seems far too exaggerated.

Looking at the Taoist priest's meticulously styled hair and the blue folder clutched tightly in his hand, Li Jianming felt a surge of anger. What overdraft? What going back to his hometown?

It's all just an excuse.

Li Jianming narrowed his eyes, the fervor in them gradually cooling down, turning into anger at being fooled.

He got it.

The sorcerer was protecting his food.

Having tasted the benefits, they realized just how valuable this mathematical genius, capable of solving logical deadlocks, truly was.

The sorcerer planned to discard the person after using them, effectively blacklisting them within the physics department.

What pained him even more was that the sorcerer actually used this pure mathematical genius to calculate wind tunnel parameters and to make engineering approximations!

This is an insult to mathematics, a complete waste of its potential!

To avoid lending money to others, they even made up lies like they were sick and had to go back to their hometown.

"Old Fang."

Li Jianming completely let go.

His voice was unusually calm, which made the sorcerer uneasy.

"We've known each other for over twenty years, do you think I'm a three-year-old?"

The sorcerer's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained expressionless.

"Old Li, why would I lie to you? Old Chen really..."

"Alright, that's enough."

Li Jianming interrupted the Taoist priest.

He stepped back, took the book "Discrete Mathematics" from the folded booklet, and patted the cover hard, making a crisp sound.

"Everyone is doing scholarship. Your knowledge, Master Fang, is scholarship, but mine, Li Jianming's knowledge, isn't?"

Li Jianming stared at the sorcerer, his eyes darkening.

"Your physics department is stuck in a derivation bottleneck and needs help, while our math department is stuck in graph theory and we're not qualified to ask for your help?"

"Old Li, you can't say that..."

The Taoist priest wanted to explain.

"That's a resource for academia!"

Li Jianming's voice rose, echoing in the empty corridor.

"Professor Chen is an asset to the entire USTC, not your private property, Fang Shi! You're using a scholar who can pioneer entirely new proof methods to calculate wind tunnel parameters—that's a waste of talent! You'll even come up with such a despicable excuse to monopolize resources; you're simply unreasonable!"

The sorcerer's face also darkened.

At the other end of the corridor, several teachers and students stopped and looked over.

"Li Jianming, please speak more politely."

The sorcerer lowered his voice, his tone hardening.

"I said I'm not here, so I'm not here. What are you doing here causing trouble?"

"Me, acting wildly?"

Li Jianming sneered, no longer intending to suppress his anger.

Since the sorcerer doesn't follow the rules, then let's overturn the table.

"Fine, if you don't hand over the person, that's fine."

Li Jianming gripped the journal in his hand, turned around and left.

"I'll go find someone who can get you to hand over the person."

The Taoist priest frowned as he watched Li Jianming's angry retreating figure.

"Old Li!"

The sorcerer shouted.

Li Jianming didn't even turn his head; he walked quickly and disappeared around the corner of the stairs in the blink of an eye.

The Taoist priest stood there, feeling the review report in his hand was burning hot.

Judging from the direction Old Li was heading, he was heading towards the administration building.

An ominous premonition rose in the alchemist's heart.

At this moment, Li Jianming had already walked out of the physics building.

The sun overhead was blinding.

He has only one thought in mind right now:

VIP.

Even if we have to take the case to the university president, we have to get Professor Chen out of the physics department.

He carried his briefcase and walked straight to the office of the vice president in charge of scientific research.