Professor Liu laughed and said, "He's just a student, but he's quite special."
Professor Liu and Professor Gao used to be colleagues for decades. Professor Gao's curiosity was instantly piqued by Professor Liu's words: "How is he different?"
Professor Liu said, "He's a genius."
Professor Gao was noncommittal on the other end of the phone: "Heh heh."
The main reason was that he had checked the student's reading records, which were all basic university textbooks, with no particularly difficult academic theories or published papers.
He also had no notable contributions in problem-solving forums or international puzzle communities.
Professor Gao then teased, "What? After going to a third-tier university, you now consider ordinary seedlings geniuses?"
It's not that Professor Gao looked down on others, but he had mentored too many geniuses over the years.
The geniuses that others seldom encountered were commonplace to him.
His graduate students, doctoral students, and postdoctoral fellows were all mathematical geniuses, and he was already immune to the word "genius."
Professor Liu said, "He's not just a genius, he's one in a million."
Professor Gao replied, "You just keep boasting. It's been years since we last met, and your bragging skills have improved considerably."
Professor Liu was so angry that he puffed out his cheeks and glared, "What nonsense? It's the truth, do you know how old he is?"
Professor Gao was taken aback, then said, "Is he 12 years old?"
Although the student was reading basic university courses on math forums,
if a 12-year-old child could understand them, even someone like him who had seen many geniuses would praise the child's limitless potential.
Professor Liu laughed and said, "He's 5 years old."
Professor Gao was furious: "Okay, you're kidding me."
Professor Gao was also almost 70 years old, and when his temper flared, he hung up the phone with a click.
He thought he was just catching up with an old friend with a rare phone call, but somehow he ended up being mocked.
Studying those materials at the age of 5? What a joke?
Not only in China, but internationally, there's nothing so exaggerated.
Professor Liu immediately called back, and Professor Gao said irritably, "Hello? Are you going to tell the truth this time?"
Professor Liu laughed, "I've been telling the truth all along. If you don't believe me, come and see for yourself!"
Professor Gao's temper got the better of him: "Fine, I'll go see right now. I warn you, if he's not like you said, you'll have to treat me to a good meal."
Professor Liu asked, "When will you come over?"
"I'll have my assistant book a ticket right away and come over immediately!" When Professor Gao's temper flared, he was impulsive.
After all, he didn't have any academic conferences to preside over recently.
He could go out, meet an old friend, and take a break, while also seeing for himself what this 5-year-old kid was all about.
After hanging up, Professor Liu happily told Shen Wei, "I've tricked my friend into coming. You said earlier that He Lingfeng has talent with computers, right? This friend of mine used to be the chair of the computer science department at a Project 985 University. Let him take a look and see if this kid really has a knack for computers."
Professor Liu's care for He Lingfeng touched even Shen Wei, who said, "Thank you, Professor Liu."
Professor Liu laughed, "Don't mention it. Just have Liu Chef make some delicious food for him later. My old friend Gao, like me, has no other hobbies except for his love of eating."
Shen Wei said, "No problem!" Then she asked Shen's Father to buy some abalone and lobster to treat their honored guest.
Shen's Father was at the wholesale market at the moment, having replaced his car with a small three-wheeled vehicle.
Small three-wheeled vehicles are more convenient than cars at the wholesale market. He immediately agreed, "Okay," and headed straight to the seafood area, buying over 4 pounds of large lobsters without hesitation.
He also bought plenty of king crabs and abalone, planning to let the children eat some too and improve their diet.
Shen Wei's father was always cheerful and never considered money an issue.
He just bought whatever he usually bought without worrying about prices!
So whenever the seafood stall owner saw Shen's Father, he would greet him with a big smile and a warm, friendly attitude, treating him better than his own father.
In the afternoon, Shen Wei went to pick them up from the airport. She had originally planned not to trouble Professor Liu.
But Professor Liu insisted on going to meet his old friend himself, despite his advanced age.
So the two of them went together, and Shen Wei even bought flowers.
Their timing was perfect, and they arrived at the airport just as Professor Gao came over with a small suitcase.
Professor Gao was alone.
Seeing Professor Liu, a smile appeared on his face: "Long time no see."
Shen Wei then presented the flowers to Professor Gao, who nodded, took the flowers, and the three of them got into the car together.
As soon as they got into the car, Professor Gao started asking questions: "So what's the deal? Tell me about this genius."
He had originally planned to put on an act in front of Shen Wei, but he was too curious to hold back.
Professor Liu had no choice but to tell him about how he met Shen Wei and He Lingfeng, as well as He Lingfeng's background!
Even a well-traveled person like Professor Gao was stunned and took a while to respond: "So you're saying this kid completed elementary, middle, and high school curricula after just a few lessons?"
And now, at just under 5 years old, he has already reached the university level.
Professor Liu said, "Well, you're here now, so you might as well see for yourself."
Professor Gao urged them to drive faster.
When they arrived at the kindergarten and saw He Lingfeng, Professor Gao was taken aback. Although he had mentally prepared himself beforehand, seeing such a young child was still difficult to accept.
Shen Wei was about to show Professor Gao some of the child's previous coursework, but Professor Gao wasn't interested and said, "Let me give you a few problems instead."
He wanted to test the child himself. He Lingfeng immediately agreed, and they went into the classroom.
Professor Gao hadn't prepared anything beforehand, but as an experienced scholar, he could come up with problems on the spot.
However, considering the child's age, he started with a few relatively simple problems.
To his surprise, He Lingfeng solved them quickly, and the solutions he showed were all correct.
Professor Gao's heart raced, and he immediately gave a few slightly more difficult problems, which the child solved again.
Finally, Professor Gao presented even harder problems, and the child took a lot more time.
The steps were quite tedious, and it seemed to be beyond the usual curriculum, but the child's foundation was solid, allowing him to solve them through sheer brute force.
Professor Gao was stunned.
He looked at Professor Liu with a dazed expression.
Finally, Professor Liu smiled and said, "Well? I wasn't kidding, was I?"
Professor Gao nodded stiffly.
Professor Liu seized the opportunity and said, "This child is interested in computers. Why don't you conduct some tests on him?"
Professor Gao understood as soon as he heard, "Well, well, this kid was waiting for him here."
His old friend was rather kind to this boy.
But at the moment, he had no time for teasing remarks and immediately started a computer lesson, explaining in a clear and simple way that captivated the child's attention.
The child could sit still, focus, and not get distracted, which was already better than many college students.
Professor Gao became more and more excited as he taught, "A genius at 5 years old!"
If the child starts learning now, in twenty years, they will have twenty years of computer experience. With solid knowledge and youthful vigor, as an academic talent, it might even be possible to surpass developed foreign countries.
In the field of computer science in China, some projects have been strangled by beautiful countries. Now there is a successor! Professor Gao's heart burned with passion.
He was so absorbed that he didn't even notice his physical state and spoke until his mouth was dry and his tongue parched.
When he finally stopped, Professor Gao could barely stand.
Shen Wei promptly said, "Thank you for your hard work, let's go eat something!"
Professor Gao had come in a hurry this time, and the kindergarten probably hadn't made any preparations. Having found a genius, he was already satisfied. The food didn't matter much.
But unexpectedly, the delicacies here once again shocked him - lobster three ways, king crab three ways, and pork belly with chicken.
All were his favorite dishes. The cooking level was extremely high, even he, a seasoned gourmand, ate with his head down and eyes closed in bliss.
After finishing the meal and wiping his mouth, Professor Gao declared, "I'm not leaving anymore. I'll stay and guide He Lingfeng with you."
Professor Liu said, "But aren't you very busy?"
"I can make time," said Professor Gao.
Then he called Professor Liu aside and said, "Well, well, over there I was laboriously teaching and cultivating new talent, while you were eating so well here and even took on a young disciple. That's not fair! I'm not leaving this time, no matter what you say."
Shen Wei was also quite excited, and then suddenly heard the system's voice in her head, "Congratulations, you have invited a doctoral supervisor to guide He Lingfeng. System reward: 1 million RMB, 10,000 points, 20 pounds of vegetables, 20 pounds of fruit, 5 walnut seeds."
Hearing the system's mechanical voice again, Shen Wei was almost moved to tears.
Ever since her internet fan base became saturated, she had not received any new points.
It seemed that to earn points in the future, she would have to cultivate the young villains in the book properly. The better He Lingfeng developed, the more the system would reward her.
