My IQ has been increasing year by year.

Chapter 226 Recent Developments

After taking a shower and changing into a clean, loose set of pajamas, Chen Zhuo pulled out a chair and sat down at his desk.

On the table sat a desktop computer that my dad had just bought for me, its large monitor taking up a considerable amount of space in the corner.

In this day and age, being able to connect to broadband is already considered a pretty good configuration.

Chen Zhuo gripped the mouse and shook it twice.

In the taskbar at the bottom right of the screen, a little penguin wearing a red scarf is flashing at an extremely frantic frequency, accompanied by urgent beeping sounds.

Chen Zhuo moved the mouse over and clicked.

As expected, it's the Nanjing Roast Duck team.

Chen Zhuo picked up a glass of water from the table, took a sip, then placed his hand on the mouse wheel and slowly scrolled up, looking at each line.

The group chat is as lively as a farmers' market right now.

[The Wind Chaser]: Help!!!

[Chasing the Wind]: Is anyone there? Someone please help me! My parents are driving me crazy with all their nagging!

[Chasing the Wind]: Just now! Half an hour ago! I was playing games in my room when my dad kicked open my door, grabbed me by the collar, and dragged me to the sofa in the living room! My mom was even worse; she hid the TV remote and forced me to watch CCTV-1 by pressing my head down!

[Chasing the Wind]: At first I thought it was some important news from the government, but then the TV screen flashed, and wow, Zhuo Ge's face was right on the screen!

[Chasing the Wind]: Chen Zhuo, are you even human? What did you say on TV? You casually got two national first-place rankings? And casually helped calculate matrices?!

[Chasing the Wind]: The moment you said "by the way," my dad's gaze changed! He asked me, "We were both admitted through the recommendation system, but others can get first place and go to the University of Science and Technology of China by the way, so why can't you also go on TV by the way?"

[Chasing the Wind]: I can't live like this anymore, I'm not going to school!

As Chen Zhuo looked at the series of exclamation marks on the screen, the image of Wang Huashao's loud and boisterous face naturally came to mind.

Zhou Kai's reply followed immediately.

【ZK】: You deserved it.

[ZK]: You think you're the only one suffering?

【ZK】: Right now, all I can think about is that dimensionality reduction matrix thing. Chen Zhuo, did Pierre really treat you like a retired old man just because you wrote a sentence about objective conditions not allowing it? I've seen a copy of your paper; the angle is indeed tricky and unreasonable.

Wang, who talks little, completely ignored Zhou Kai's academic discussion and continued to spam the comments section.

[Chasing the Wind]: Stop talking about matrices, I just want to know what happened in the last part!

[Chasing the Wind]: Brother Zhuo, were you serious about that public execution at the end?

[Chasing the Wind]: Who exactly is your childhood friend? Is this guy still alive? Didn't he feel so ashamed and angry after seeing this show that he jumped off a building? Hahahaha!

No one spoke in the group, but Wang Huashao sent a long string of "ha" characters, along with several system-provided laughing emojis. The little yellow round face on the screen shook wildly.

Chen Zhuo put down his water glass and placed his hands on the keyboard.

The crisp sound of keyboard typing echoed in the quiet bedroom.

【C】: You're still alive. The beef jerky you ate back then belonged to someone else.

The moment the message was sent, the group chat exploded.

[Chasing the Wind]: Holy crap! The main character has appeared!

【ZK】: Chen Zhuo, you're such a busy person, don't you have to socialize after recording the show? You actually have time to go online.

Chen Zhuo smiled slightly and continued typing slowly.

【C】: I just finished eating. Zhang Qiang just threatened to hang himself on my front door with a rope.

[Chasing the Wind]: Hahahaha! And then what?

【C】：Uncle Zhang slapped me back to do my science practice test, and the door slammed shut loudly.

【Chasing the Wind】: Tragic! Absolutely tragic! This is what happens when you make the wrong friends, brothers! Your underwear has been stripped bare in front of the entire nation. If I were Zhang Qiang, I would buy a standing ticket and flee Zeyang overnight.

[ZK]: Zhang Qiang is in the third year of junior high school? The mechanics model in junior high school physics is actually quite simple; you only need to remember a few fixed vector directions.

[Chasing the Wind]: Stop, stop, stop! Old Zhou, shut up already, or I'll have to find a rope too.

Wang, who is not talkative, sent a stop gesture emoji in the group.

【Chasing the Wind】: Hey, the group chat is so lively today, even Brother Zhuo appeared! Why didn't I see Little White Rabbit? Didn't Big Sister watch TV?

The chat window paused for a few seconds.

【ZK】: Stop tagging Lin Yi, she can't see it.

[Chasing the Wind]: What happened? Did you suffer a qi deviation at a crucial moment during your secluded cultivation?

【ZK】: She went to this year's math winter camp.

【ZK】: CMO's fully enclosed training camp, she led the team, and no communication devices were allowed inside, so there was no internet access.

[ZK]: I heard from our former provincial team coach a few days ago that Lin Yi's goal this year is not to win a medal, but to win a perfect score gold medal at next year's IMO. She's probably working on the problems right now.

After this message was posted, the group went silent for a moment.

Then, Wang Huashao posted a bloody kitchen knife emoji.

Then, he sent a candle-lighting emoji.

[Chasing the Wind]: Here, with a heavy heart, I would like to offer three minutes of early condolences for all the students in the National Mathematical Olympiad who were in the same cohort as Sister Lin this year.

【Chasing the Wind】: These poor high school students have no idea what kind of humanoid self-propelled computing machine they are facing. They are still competing with each other for one or two more points, while Sister Lin is there to harvest their souls.

[Chasing the Wind]: May there be no Lin Yi in heaven, hahahahahaha!

The strange laughter seemed to penetrate the screen and ring directly in Chen Zhuo's ears.

Chen Zhuo shook his head.

He could picture Lin Yi wearing headphones, sitting expressionlessly at his desk, using empty pen refills one after another to dissect those complex number theory and geometry problems like chopping vegetables.

【C】: Don't curse her behind her back. Wait until she comes out of training camp and check your chat history. Be careful, or she might use the internet to find you.

[Chasing the Wind]: I'm not afraid! I'm a member of SMTH now! Let her come to SMTH and beat me up if she dares!

Wang, who spoke little, arrogantly provoked others in the group chat.

Right after he sent that message, he seemed to remember something.

[Chasing the Wind]: Speaking of Tsinghua University, @GuiqulaixiLaohe, how are you doing at Peking University? Did you get sick of the physics labs in your freshman year? I heard from my buddies that the professor in your physics department at Peking University is a freak; you fail a course if you fill in one piece of data wrong.

After this sentence was sent.

The screen remained silent.

He Gui did not reply immediately.

About two minutes passed.

Just as Wang Huashao was about to send a second message to inquire, He Gui's reply popped up in the chat box.

The profile picture is gray and white, and the ID is "Gui Qu Lai Xi".

【归去来兮】: No experiment was conducted.

[Chasing the Wind]: Huh? You skipped class? Even you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, have learned to skip class?

【归去来兮】: I changed my major.

Just five words.

There is no punctuation or emotional buildup.

On the other side of the screen, Chen Zhuo's fingers, which were typing on the keyboard, suddenly stopped in mid-air.

He looked at those five words, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

The originally cheerful atmosphere in the group was suddenly frozen, as if someone had pressed the pause button.

Immediately afterwards, the chat box started scrolling wildly.

【Chasing the Wind】: ? ? ? ? ?

[Chasing the Wind]: Holy crap?! Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!!

[Chasing the Wind]: He Gui, are you crazy?! What kind of international joke are you making?! You, who won an absolute gold medal in the World Physics Olympiad, are going to change your major?!

[Chasing the Wind]: Where did you go? Applied Physics? Microelectronics? Or did someone brainwash you? Don't scare me!

[ZK]: Reason?

This group of people knew all too well what their talent for physics was.

Back in the training camp, He Gui was the monster who could deduce the classical mechanics limit model on paper without any effort.

Such a person, if he went to the Physics Department of Peking University, should have been a perfect fit and should have become a leading figure in physics in the future.

Changing majors?

This is more absurd than the sky falling down.

On the other side of the screen, He Gui's typing speed was still slow and steady.

【归去来兮】: Political Science.

【归去来兮】: The application has been approved and will officially take effect next semester.

This time, even Wang, who was usually quiet, couldn't make a sound.

From physics to political science.

This is no longer just crossing boundaries; it's spanning half the globe.

【ZK】: He Gui, have you thought this through?

【ZK】: Physics is rigorous, and you have an intuition in physics that most people don't have.

[ZK]: What is political science? It's a social science, it's game theory, it's about those unquantifiable variables. You're giving up your biggest advantage to go into a field where you have to start from scratch? Do you think your advisor at Peking University would agree to let you go?

Chen Zhuo looked at the screen.

after awhile.

The news of He Gui popped up.

It wasn't a lengthy explanation, nor did it involve any dramatic emotional journey.

There are only two sentences.

【归去来兮】: There's no other reason.

【归去来兮】：I just want to go and see other things, to study people, and to study society.

The group chat fell silent.

The humming sound from the computer case sounded rather jarring in Chen Zhuo's room.

Wang, who usually doesn't talk much, looked at these few lines of text on the other side of the screen and put away his usual joking and laughing manner.

He suddenly felt a dryness in his throat.

Just then, a new message popped up in the group chat.

An account that never posts and whose profile picture is just a simple black period has caught my eye.

The ID is a very simple period [.].

Miao Shi'an.

【】：I saw it, congratulations.

The four words "extremely simple" were spoken to Chen Zhuo.

Wang, who was usually quiet, seized the opportunity to change the subject and break the somewhat oppressive silence.

[Chasing the Wind]: Old Miao! You've actually come back from the dead too! Where have you been lately? I haven't seen you say a single word in the group!

【】：Preparing materials for exchange.

[Chasing the Wind]: Exchanging materials? Where to exchange them?

【.】：Boston.

【.】: I'm flying to MIT next month.

Wang Huashao sent a thumbs-up emoji.

【Chasing the Wind】: Awesome, you guys are all gods. Lao He went to study politics, Lao Miao is going to MIT, Sister Lin is cultivating immortality in the mountains, and Brother Zhuo is already chatting and laughing with Fields Medal bigwigs.

[Chasing the Wind]: After all this time, it turns out that it's just me and Lao Zhou, two ordinary people, losing hair in college in China for final exams.

[ZK]: To correct you, it was you who lost your hair for the final exam; I already got a perfect score on Real Analysis.

[Chasing the Wind]: ...Old Zhou, you're really no fun at all.

Chen Zhuo watched the constantly changing conversations on the screen.

This group of people, more than three years ago, in that sweltering summer, argued heatedly over the same question in that stuffy classroom.

Now, they followed that fork in the road and went in completely different directions.

Kyoto University's rigor.

The chaos of political science.

The cold wind at MIT.

And the lazy Lin Yi.

Chen Zhuo placed his hands on the keyboard, and the rhythmic tapping sound filled the room.

【C】：and return.

【归去来兮】: At.

【C】: Political science is pretty good.

Chen Zhuo continued typing.

【C】: Study hard and try to get into the country's decision-making level as soon as possible. Remember to approve more research funding for me then.

[C]: My future research will probably be quite expensive.

This message was sent.

The somewhat somber and regretful atmosphere that had been in the group instantly vanished.

Zhou Kai was the first to send a message.

[ZK]: Chen Zhuo, you capitalist! The other person hasn't even started class yet, and you're already scheming to take advantage of their expenses!

[Chasing the Wind]: Hahahaha! Well done, Brother Zhuo! Lao He, did you hear that?! When you become successful in the future, don't forget to help out us poor brothers who are still struggling with math problems!

【归去来兮】: ....Good.

Chen Zhuo smiled.

【C】：Old Miao.

【】：?

【C】： Boston winters are colder than Nanjing winters, so I used to bring an extra thick coat.

【】:Um.

The clock on the wall pointed to eleven o'clock.

Wang, who is not talkative, sent a yawning emoji in the group.

[Chasing the Wind]: I'm sleepy, I'm sleepy, I'm not going to chat with you guys anymore. I have to get up early tomorrow to buy steamed buns for my mom, otherwise I'll get scolded again. Brothers, I'm outta here.

【ZK】: I'm going to read some literature. I'm logging off now.

【归去来兮】: Good night.

【】：Down.

One by one, the profile pictures went dark, turning into a lifeless gray.

Chen Zhuo stared at the empty chat window.

He didn't close the dialog box.

Instead, he slowly typed the last few words and pressed Enter to send.

【C】: Goodnight, everyone.

The message remained alone at the very bottom of the chat interface.

No one replied.

But Chen Zhuo knew that they could all see it.

He moved the mouse and clicked the red cross in the upper right corner.