My IQ has been increasing year by year.

(I'm never eating snail rice noodles again.)

The innermost single room on the third floor of the old library.

The window was half open, and the room was quiet.

The whiteboard, which took up almost half of the wall, hung there all alone.

In the very center of the whiteboard, a set of obscure matrix equations was written in black marker. These equations were surrounded by a heavy square, like a nail driven into a wall. Around the square, the hundreds of sub-variables and transition formulas that had originally stretched to the corners were now mostly gone. The remaining equations were all marked with red diagonal lines.

One after another, brutal and direct.

Chen Zhuo did not look at the whiteboard.

He sat in the chair by the window, his legs casually propped up on the table in front of him, holding a thermos in his hand.

A martial arts novel, borrowed from the first-floor reading room, lay open on his lap.

He was looking down at a book, occasionally picking up his cup to take a sip of tea.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor.

The door wasn't locked and was pushed open.

Li Jianming walked in.

He habitually carried a notebook in his hand, intending to check the progress of the new derivation on the whiteboard as soon as he entered the room.

When he looked up, he saw Chen Zhuo leaning back in his chair, reading martial arts novels.

Li Jianming stood there, stunned.

He glanced at the whiteboard; the red diagonal lines were exactly the same as when he'd seen it yesterday afternoon—not a single line had been added. "Stopped?"

Li Jianming took two steps forward, his brows furrowing.

He placed the notebook on the table.

"Did Pierre send a fax to follow up?"

Li Jianming pulled up a chair and sat down, took out a cigarette case from his jacket pocket, took one out and smelled it.

Looking at Chen Zhuo's old-man-like demeanor while sunbathing, he felt uneasy.

Just a few days ago, this kid was acting like a madman, not sleeping for days and nights and wanting to take the whiteboard down with him.

I suddenly found myself reading a book today, my thermos in hand.

"I didn't rush you."

Chen Zhuo's gaze didn't leave the pages; his fingers gripped the corner of the book as he turned a page.

"Does it mean it doesn't count unless you urge them?"

Li Jianming pointed to the whiteboard.

"There are still over a hundred variables left to eliminate. What if you suddenly stop and lose your train of thought?"

Chen Zhuo put down the enamel mug in his hand.

He closed the book and placed it on the window.

Turning his head to look at Li Jianming, Chen Zhuo smiled.

"Teacher, the most difficult part has been solved."

Chen Zhuo stretched out his finger and pointed to the strange matrix highlighted in the center of the whiteboard.

"The core singularity shell has been cut open by this matrix."

Chen Zhuo's tone was calm, without excitement or anxiety.

"The remaining hundred or so variables are all trapped in this framework; they're just a bunch of loose sand now."

Chen Zhuo stood up, picked up the teapot on the table, and added some hot water to his thermos.

"Now we don't need to think of new ideas. Just spend two hours each day, following the logic of the matrix, crossing them off one by one." Chen Zhuo put the lid on the thermos.

"No rush. Spending a long time at high intensity picking out these bone fragments can easily tire your brain and make you more prone to making mistakes."

Chen Zhuo looked at Li Jianming.

"The rest is just about passing the time; just treat it like clocking in for work."

Li Jianming held the unlit cigarette, remaining silent for a long time.

Following Chen Zhuo's words, he looked at the whiteboard again.

indeed.

After overcoming the most difficult step, this once despairing mountain has now become a gentle downhill slope.

The rest is just a matter of steps.

Li Jianming put the cigarette back in the pack and let out a long sigh.

"OK."

Li Jianming stood up and took the notebook back into his hands.

"You know what you're doing, I don't care."

Li Jianming walked to the door and paused for a moment.

"Don't relax too much. Even if you're just going to work, you still have to finish your work every day."

"Know."

Chen Zhuo nodded, holding his cup.

The door closed.

Chen Zhuo finished his water and glanced at the clock on the wall.

5:30 p.m.

He didn't look at the whiteboard again, stuffed the martial arts novel into the drawer, picked up his coat draped over the back of the chair, and went out the door. The campus was crowded in the evening.

Students who had just finished class walked towards the cafeteria in groups, their bicycle bells ringing incessantly.

Back to the boys' dormitory building.

Go up to the second floor and push open the door to 215.

There was no one inside.

Da Yong's bed was neatly made; he had been practically living in the lab for a long time lately.

The last time I saw Dayong, his eyes were practically shining, and he said he had found something very important.

Chen Zhuo sat at his desk for a while.

It's a bit boring.

He stood up, took his water glass, walked outside, and headed towards room 216.

Chen Zhuo pushed open the door and went in.

The air inside was a bit stuffy, mixed with the smell of instant noodles.

Chu Ge sat in front of the computer wearing only a vest.

His eyes were bloodshot, his hair looked like a bird's nest, and his fingers were typing away on the keyboard at such a fast pace that they left afterimages.

Several empty Red Bull cans were scattered on the table, along with a half-eaten bucket of pickled cabbage noodles.

Hearing the door open, Chu Ge didn't even turn his head.

"Close the door, the wind is giving me a headache."

Chu Ge's voice was somewhat hoarse.

Chen Zhuo closed the door behind him.

He walked behind Chu Ge, glanced at the screen, and saw it filled with English error codes.

"It's stuck again?"

Chen Zhuo pulled over a chair and sat down casually.

"Memory overflow".

Chu Ge grabbed a handful of hair in frustration, his hands still moving.

"I've been searching for three hours. Where is this damn underlying pointer pointing? If I can't find it soon, I'm going to go crazy tonight."

Chen Zhuo smiled but didn't reply.

He turned his head and looked at the other side of the room.

Lu Jia sat at her desk.

He was still wearing a clean white shirt, with the top button neatly fastened, and his back was ramrod straight.

A thick, original English textbook on advanced mathematics lay open on the table.

He was reading a book, not twirling his pen or shaking his leg; he was as still as a statue.

Compared to the chaotic state of affairs on Chu Ge's side, Lu Jia's place was so clean it was almost unrecognizable.

Chen Zhuo leaned back in his chair, watching the two of them, and found the scene quite interesting.

Time passed by, second by second.

The only sound in the room was Chu Ge frantically typing on the keyboard.

Just then.

A sound suddenly came from the computer speakers on Lu Jia's desk.

"Beep beep beep."

00 message notification tone.

Lu Jia looked away from the book.

He turned his head and looked at the computer screen, where an avatar was flashing in the lower right corner.

Lu Jia gripped the mouse and clicked.

A dialog box popped up.

Chen Zhuo wasn't sitting far away, but he didn't have the habit of looking at other people's screens. He only saw Lu Jia staring at the screen for a few seconds.

then.

Lu Jia did not put her hands on the keyboard to type a reply.

He simply moved the mouse and closed the dialog box.

Then, Lu Jia stood up and opened the desk drawer.

Chen Zhuo watched his movements.

He took out several blank sheets of paper from the drawer.

Lu Jia held the sheets of white paper in her hand, tapped her fingers lightly on the table twice, and aligned the edges of the papers.

Fold.

Fold it again.

After turning it into a small square, he stuffed the stack of papers into his coat pocket.

Then he took a pen from the pen holder and put it in his breast pocket.

After doing all that, Lu Jia bent down, pulled out her shoes from under the bed, and began to change them.

He unzipped the zipper and tied the shoelaces with meticulous care.

At this moment, Chu Ge finally pressed the Enter key.

The green code started running again on the screen, and there were no more errors.

Chu Ge let out a long breath, slumped back in his swivel chair, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

He turned his stiff neck.

His gaze swept over Lu Jia, who was changing his shoes, and the pen sticking out of his breast pocket.

"Where to?"

Chu Ge's voice was a little weak as he casually asked a question.

Lu Jia tied her shoelaces and stood up straight.

Pick up the bag from the table and put it on your back.

"Let's go to the library."

Lu Jia answered, her voice steady.

"My senior's thesis data is stuck, I'll go take a look."

Chu Ge was taken aback.

His brain, which had been scrambled through countless lines of code, took a few seconds to process the amount of information contained in that sentence.

Senior student.

library.

night.

Chu Ge slowly turned his swivel chair around and looked at Lu Jia, who was dressed neatly.

His gaze lingered for a second on the ballpoint pen on Lu Jia's chest, then looked at the coat pocket where Lu Jia had just stuffed the paper.

"You went to see your senior so late at night?"

Chu Ge pointed at him.

"Just a few scraps of draft paper?"

"Um."

Lu Jia nodded seriously.

Chu Ge's tone wasn't one of frustration, just a bit speechless.

"Are you going to keep the appointment or to proctor the exam?"

Chu Ge rubbed his eyes.

"You should at least buy a cup of milk tea when you go."

Lu Jia showed no emotional reaction to Chu Ge's complaints.

"I'm not keeping an appointment."

Lu Jia corrected him in a serious tone.

"There's a problem with the regression model her SPSS software is generating. I'll go help her push the underlying matrix and find any loopholes. I don't need milk tea." Chu Ge rolled his eyes and turned away, not wanting to say anything more.

Chen Zhuo, sitting to the side with a water glass in his hand, couldn't help but chuckle softly upon hearing this.

"Going to process data, are you just bringing a few sheets of blank paper?"

Lu Jia turned her head and looked at Chen Zhuo, nodding earnestly.

"Computer software algorithms can automatically smooth out some minor errors, but I still prefer using pen and paper."

Chen Zhuo looked at Lu Jia's tense face.

If you're going to help, then help properly.

Chen Zhuo looked at him.

"People are already struggling enough with their graduation theses and can't get the data to run, so don't act like a grader."

Chen Zhuo paused for a moment.

"That's sociological questionnaire data. Some people just scribble randomly when filling out questionnaires. As long as the data makes sense, it's fine." Lu Jia's hand was already on the doorknob of the dormitory.

Upon hearing Chen Zhuo's words, he stopped moving.

The room was very quiet.

Lu Jia did not turn around.

He looked at the door in front of him.

What flashed through my mind wasn't some sociology questionnaire, but rather all those test papers from childhood to adulthood, each marked with a score of 98 or 99. And behind those papers, those suffocating eyes.

"Alright."

These two words do not exist in Lu Jia's dictionary.

Because no one had ever told him that it was okay.

"It doesn't make sense in mathematics."

Lu Jia's voice wasn't loud, it was a bit muffled, but it was hard and stiff, like a stone hitting the ground.

"There is only right and wrong."

Done.

Lu Jia pressed the doorknob and pushed the door open.

He went outside.

The door closed behind him.

Dormitory 216 fell silent.

Chu Ge stared at the code on the screen for a while, then sighed.

"Stubborn."

Chu Ge shook his head.

Chen Zhuo stared at the closed door.

He didn't say anything, just smiled helplessly.