Chapter 27

After Liu Meng finished speaking, Vice President Chen’s face clearly showed some disappointment. Of course, he knew there was nothing wrong with this, but deep down, he still hoped that this student would voluntarily give up this opportunity.

"However, I really can't bear to part with Teacher Yang. I think I'll just stay in the regular class," Liu Meng changed his tone and said.

"You little rascal!" Vice President Chen felt relieved and patted Liu Meng on the shoulder with a smile, his eyes showing appreciation. "Not bad, a diamond buried in the sand will shine even more brightly when the wind blows it away."

"If there's nothing else, I'll head back, Dean."

Vice President Chen was in a great mood, waved his hand to indicate that Liu Meng could leave, and as soon as Liu Meng left, he immediately called Yang Yun.

Just as he stepped out of the vice president's office, his phone beeped. Liu Meng saw it was a long text message, and when he scrolled down, he saw it was from Yang Yun.

It really seemed that as soon as he got a new phone number, everyone knew about it. Am I that famous? He shook his head, thinking.

Yang Yun's text read: "Liu Meng, I know about the conversation with Vice President Chen. Thank you for your understanding. I feel honored to continue being your teacher. Thank you. Yang Yun."

Looking at this mature text, Liu Meng couldn't help but laugh and quickly replied: "Teacher Yang, no need to be so formal. I wouldn't get used to not hearing your high-pitched voice. PS, you're not much older than us, so why be so serious?"

Soon, Yang Yun replied with a cute emoji. It seemed that making her chat casually with students was a bit difficult for her.

After taking just a few steps, his phone beeped again. He thought it might be another message from Yang Yun, but it turned out to be from Zheng Wen: "Kid, we agreed to visit Teacher Kong's house this afternoon, don't forget! PS, you got a new phone number and didn't even tell me or Pan'er. You deserve a beating!"

At the end, there was an emoji of a hammer hitting the head.

Around 4:00 PM, Liu Meng was waiting at the west gate. After about 5 minutes, he saw the two girls walking over. Gu Pan's face was still a bit pale, and she was wearing jeans that perfectly accentuated her S-curve. She had on a silk-patterned top. Zheng Wen was still wearing a light blue dress, and Liu Meng noticed that this little girl was very good at acting like a lady in front of elders.

Both girls were holding small bags. Gu Pan was carrying a tea set, and Zheng Wen had a box of high-quality tea. Liu Meng looked at his empty hands and said不满地: "You bought gifts without telling me. How can I show up empty-handed?"

"With your thick skin, what's there to be embarrassed about?" Zheng Wen laughed.

"Alright, let's hurry. Teacher Kong is waiting for us to have dinner. Liu Meng, you can buy a fruit basket, it suits your style," Gu Pan added.

Liu Meng rolled his eyes. Fine, you two are elegant, and I'm just a wash-cut-and-go kind of guy.

But there was no time, so he found a good fruit store, picked out some seasonal fruits, and wrapped them up. The three of them took a taxi to Teacher Kong's house.

Teacher Kong's house was near the old campus.

In the car, Zheng Wen reminded them, "Teacher Kong lives alone, so be careful what you say."

Liu Meng and Gu Pan were both surprised. Gu Pan had met Kong Jidao before but wasn't familiar with him and didn't know these secrets.

When the three arrived at Teacher Kong's house, Kong Jidao was very happy. He opened the door and said cheerfully, "No need to change into slippers. Make yourselves at home, just like you're in your own house."

Liu Meng looked around. Teacher Kong's house was indeed large, over 200 square meters. The living room was enormous and had no TV, arranged like a study. It was divided by bookshelves, resembling a small library.

"Look at you kids, bringing things for a simple dinner. Don't do that next time," Kong Jidao said, frowning slightly at the items they brought.

He didn't care much for formalities.

Gu Pan, being very well-behaved and quiet, replied softly, "These are things we had at home, not bought specially. We know you like tea, so we brought them."

"In that case, that's fine, that's fine!" Kong Jidao led them inside.

He was still wearing an apron and holding a spatula, inviting them in. "Sit down quickly, dinner is almost ready. I can't cook anything too complicated, so we'll have a simple meal."

When the food was served, the two girls thought it was indeed a simple meal. Math geniuses really don't lie.

The meal was fried rice, curry fried rice. The dishes included a vegetable salad and ready-made cooked foods like beef slices, pig's ears, and Korean-style mixed vegetables.

The two girls hesitated to pick up their chopsticks.

Liu Meng, however, found it very appetizing and ate heartily.

"Are you two girls picky about my cooking, or are you trying to lose weight? I think today's girls are too thin, which isn't beautiful," Kong Jidao laughed.

It indeed didn't suit their tastes, but they couldn't refuse his hospitality. Gu Pan suddenly had an idea and picked a piece of beef and put it in Liu Meng's bowl, smiling. "Liu Meng loves these. He's still growing, so he should eat more."

Before Liu Meng could protest, Zheng Wen also put a piece in his bowl. Well, Liu Meng ate for a long time, and his bowl was still full.

He had to show his vigor and finish everything.

After the meal, the two girls were quite diligent and started cleaning up the dishes.

Teacher Kong took out a set of exquisite tea ware and brewed tea professionally. He poured a cup for Liu Meng and gestured for him to drink. Liu Meng took a sip and felt a fresh, natural aroma, praising it.

"This is this year's new green tea, perfect for clearing the stomach after a meal," Kong Jidao explained.

"Teacher Kong not only loves studying math but is also very proficient in tea. Even someone who doesn't understand tea like me can feel its fresh, elegant, and lingering aroma," Liu Meng praised.

"Just a hobby. By the way, I called you here today mainly to talk about your class's unusual performance on the problem set this year. I suspect it has something to do with you," Kong Jidao said, staring at Liu Meng.

He was already 80% sure.

Liu Meng couldn't hide it and nodded.

Kong Jidao was very satisfied, poured another cup of tea, and said, "With your talent, just doing problem sets is a waste. As the saying goes, the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. Heaven has given you this talent, and you should use it for something worthy."

Liu Meng felt ashamed and said solemnly, "Please teach me, Teacher."

"If you use your extraordinary talent for personal gain, that would be a big mistake. At a certain stage, you should think more about the collective, the school, the country, and even all of humanity. Like the great sages, their research and inventions have all influenced the course of human history."

Liu Meng had never met such a good teacher and mentor who could guide him from such a high perspective. His mind suddenly opened up.

Kong Jidao handed him a piece of paper and continued, "Of course, these are still far away. Rome wasn't built in a day. This is an international mathematical conjecture. You might want to spend more time on it. Young people are the most likely to achieve results. Old people like me are too constrained by experience and find it hard to break through."

Liu Meng took the paper and saw it was the Cipra Conjecture: a conjecture in reverse mathematics about the proof strength of Ramsey's theorem for pairs.

This is a classic conjecture in mathematical logic that no one in the international mathematical community has solved.

Taking the problem, he thought for a moment and immediately found it very interesting. He had always used math as a tool and had never seriously studied pure mathematical problems.

After reading for a while, several ideas came to mind.

Kong Jidao watched Liu Meng deep in thought, seeing him touch his chin and frown, finding it very amusing. He was just guiding a piece of unpolished jade.

There are many people in the world with incredible talents, but they don't know what to do with them, wasting their gifts.

"Little Liu, study math out of interest, don't rush, and know when to stop. Think about it more when you get back. If you have any questions, feel free to come to my house or office. Do you play chess? Come and play a few rounds with me."

Liu Meng nodded, stopping his thoughts. Although he had some ideas, there was still a long way to go to solve it. He then started playing chess with Kong Jidao.

The two girls had finished cleaning the kitchen and watched the game. After a while, they found it boring and started preparing fruit.

Kong Jidao made a brilliant move and said proudly, "The philosophy in chess is deep. Like a pawn crossing the river, it moves forward without looking back, ready to face any challenge. But if it's not close to the goal, it's useless. This is like a passionate love that is intense when the two are together, but once they are apart, even a small distance can ruin it."

Liu Meng listened, surprised that Teacher Kong could relate chess to love.

......

Thank you to: Chaos Demon Yuan Ci, That Night's Falling Leaves, and Shao Shuai for their support. A new week, please give me your recommendations, thank you.

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