The air conditioning in the vice-principal’s office was cranked up high.
You couldn’t hear the cicadas outside, nor could you smell the plastic from the athletic field.
The spacious office contained only a massive mahogany desk and a set of leather sofas for receiving guests.
On the coffee table in front of the sofas sat a Zisha-ware tea set.
The water was already boiling, letting off puffs of white steam.
Alchemist sat on the left side of the sofa.
His hair was still combed immaculately, but the bloodshot eyes betrayed his recent exhaustion from pulling all-nighters in the lab.
Li Jianming sat on the right side of the sofa.
He was rolling a pair of aged walnuts in his hand, his face wearing an air of calm confidence.
Vice-Principal Zhou Qiping wasn’t sitting behind his own desk, but had personally taken the seat for brewing tea.
He used wooden tongs to pick up the teacups, rinsed them with boiling water, and then poured it out.
His movements were slow and deliberate.
The office was quiet, filled only with the sound of trickling water.
"Old Li."
Alchemist was the first to speak, breaking the silence.
He lifted the small teacup in front of him and blew on the steam, but didn’t drink.
"Your School of Mathematics has become quite famous these past few days."
There was no discernible emotion in Alchemist’s tone; he sounded as if he were simply stating a fact.
"A submission to the *Mathematical Annals*, with him as the first author. Once Princeton approves it for publication, the math departments of the top universities in the country will probably be booking flights to come poach him."
The walnuts in Li Jianming’s hand stopped moving for a moment.
He glanced at Alchemist, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"You’re joking, Dean Fang."
Li Jianming said slowly.
"Poach him? Do you think they can? Chen Zhuo is enrolled at Keda. His roots are here."
Li Jianming lifted his teacup and took a delicate sip.
"Besides, something like mathematics relies on inspiration and absolute logic. Chen Zhuo’s intuition for homology group mappings is a gift from the heavens. If he doesn’t stay in the School of Mathematics and see this path through, is he supposed to follow your School of Physics around, running wind tunnels and calculating engineering data full of errors all day?"
With that sentence, Li Jianming had laid his cards on the table.
Alchemist set down his teacup with a soft clink.
"Errors?"
Alchemist’s expression turned a little more serious.
"Old Li, you make it sound so simple."
"Without us at the forefront calculating that engineering data full of errors, your ’perfect’ mathematical models would never leave the page."
Alchemist looked at Li Jianming, not giving an inch.
"The aerodynamic model for the high-speed rail is a national-level project. The skill Chen Zhuo showed in reducing the dimensionality of the discrete matrix proves he has more than just a foundation in mathematics. It shows he possesses an extremely rare intuition for translating abstract math directly into physical engineering."
Alchemist took a deep breath.
"Mathematics is a tool. Physics is the blade that explores the essence of the world. A fine blade like Chen Zhuo, if used only to scribble on paper, would be a terrible waste. He must come to the School of Physics."
The walnuts in Li Jianming’s hand started to turn again, making a soft clicking sound.
"Alchemist, don’t you dare use a national project to pressure me."
Li Jianming’s temper was starting to flare.
"You want him to calculate wind tunnels, airflow, and parameters that are obsolete the next day? You’re trying to ruin him!"
"The sky is the limit in pure mathematics! He could write those three lines of challenge at twelve years old. Can you even imagine the vistas he’ll be seeing by the time he’s twenty?"
It looked like the two titans of their fields were about to start shouting at each other on the sofa.
"That’s enough."
Zhou Qiping, who had been silent all this time, put down the teapot.
The vice-principal’s voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an undeniable weight.
Both Alchemist and Li Jianming stopped and looked at Zhou Qiping.
Zhou Qiping pulled out a tissue and wiped his hands.
"You’re both old enough to know better. Arguing over a student like this... what a sight."
Zhou Qiping looked at Alchemist on his left, then at Li Jianming on his right.
"I know what you both are thinking."
"The School of Mathematics wants to keep him, and the School of Physics wants him, too. You both think your discipline is the best fit for him."
Zhou Qiping tossed the tissue into the wastebasket.
"But have you forgotten? Chen Zhuo isn’t a piece of equipment to be allocated, nor is he a quota to be haggled over."
Zhou Qiping leaned back on the sofa, crossing his hands in front of him.
"He is the most uniquely gifted student Keda has had since its founding."
"For a student like this, our job as his elders isn’t to choose a path for him, but to see which path he wants to walk himself."
Just as he finished speaking.
There were two soft knocks on the office door, neither too loud nor too soft.
"Come in," Zhou Qiping said.
The door was pushed open.
Chen Zhuo, wearing a plain white T-shirt, walked in.
The office’s cold air washed over him, making him squint his eyes in comfort.
He saw the three big shots sitting on the sofa.
Chen Zhuo showed none of the awkwardness a typical student would feel when meeting university leaders and academic titans.
He walked over and sat down in the empty chair opposite the sofa, his movements completely natural.
"Principal Zhou, Teacher Fang, Teacher Li."
Chen Zhuo gave a gentle nod by way of greeting.
Zhou Qiping looked at Chen Zhuo, a warm smile appearing on his face.
He personally poured a cup of tea for Chen Zhuo and pushed it in front of him.
"Chen Zhuo, have some tea."
Chen Zhuo said thank you, then picked up the cup and took a sip.
He didn’t know much about tea and found it a bit bitter. ’Maybe Principal Zhou is under a lot of stress lately?’ he grumbled to himself.
After putting down the teacup, Chen Zhuo pulled a folded "Prodigy Class Major Declaration Form" from his pocket and placed it on the coffee table.
The white form stood out starkly against the dark wood of the coffee table.
The form was still blank.
The eyes of both Alchemist and Li Jianming fell on the blank paper at the same time.
Neither man spoke, waiting for Chen Zhuo to begin.
Chen Zhuo placed his hands on his knees and looked at the three elders before him.
"I have a general idea of what you two teachers are thinking."
Chen Zhuo’s voice was calm, without a trace of the anxiety over personal gain or loss common in people his age.
"I came here today to settle this in person, to avoid the troublesome approval process after I submit the form."
Li Jianming looked at Chen Zhuo, his eyes filled with anticipation.
"Chen Zhuo, have you thought it through?"
Li Jianming pointed to the blank paper on the table.
"Once you fill out this form, it will set your main focus for the next few years. The doors of the School of Mathematics are always open for you."
Alchemist wasn’t to be outdone.
"Over at the School of Physics’ key laboratory, as long as you come, we already have an independent workstation reserved for you. You’ll have free rein over all the data."
Chen Zhuo listened to the promises from the two titans.
He showed no sign of being overwhelmed by the favor.
He simply smiled gently, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Alchemist’s and Li Jianming’s faces.
"Teacher Fang, Teacher Li."
Chen Zhuo began to speak.
His tone lacked the weight of some grand narrative; it held only pure honesty.
"I find the wind tunnel data from fluid dynamics very interesting. Those tangible physical variables make me feel the reality of this world."
Chen Zhuo paused and looked at Li Jianming.
"But I can’t let go of the topological structures of pure math and the mappings of homology groups, either. The logical framework that mathematics provides is just too perfect."
Chen Zhuo leaned back in his chair.
"Mathematics gives me logic; physics lets me see reality."
Chen Zhuo spread his hands, his smile a mixture of resignation and self-evidence.
"I’ve tried to choose, but I’d regret giving up either one."
The office fell silent.
Zhou Qiping’s hand, holding his teacup, froze in mid-air.
Alchemist and Li Jianming exchanged a look.
Chen Zhuo looked at the two teachers and threw out his final request.
It was a request that would seem incredibly arrogant coming from an ordinary student, yet sounded completely natural coming from his lips.
"So..."
Chen Zhuo looked at them.
"Can I choose both?"
As soon as he said it, the air seemed to freeze for a second.
Choose both.
This wasn’t like picking out drinks at a supermarket. These were Keda’s two top disciplines, abysses of knowledge that would take an ordinary person a lifetime to master just one.
After a brief silence.
"Pfft."
Li Jianming was the first to break.
The old professor put down his walnuts, pointed at Chen Zhuo, and broke into a laugh that was half exasperation, half amusement.
"You little rascal."
Li Jianming tapped his finger in the air toward Chen Zhuo’s head, his tone full of the helpless affection an elder feels for a prized student.
"Quite ambitious, aren’t you! What, did being first author on a paper in the *Mathematical Annals* make you so cocky?"
Li Jianming shook his head.
"You want to take on both, but have you thought about the terrifying workload of the School of Physics and the School of Mathematics combined? Aren’t you afraid of frying your little brain?"
Beside them, Alchemist also picked up his teacup.
Although he kept a straight face, he couldn’t suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth.
"What a little rascal, biting off more than he can chew."
Alchemist cursed with a laugh.
He blew on the tea leaves in his cup and took a sip of water.
"Fine."
Alchemist put down his cup and looked at Chen Zhuo.
"Since you have the guts to ask, we two old-timers have the guts to back you up."
Alchemist’s smile faded, and his tone became a little more serious.
"But let’s get this straight. You can study in both, but if the research group meetings clash, or if you can’t finish processing the data, don’t you come crying to me that you’re swamped."
Chen Zhuo looked at the two elders.
He knew it was settled.
There were no tedious debates, no haggling over benefits.
All he had to do was show his pure love for these two disciplines, and these two titans were willing to break all the rules for him.
Chen Zhuo smiled.
A warm, clean smile.
"Don’t worry, Teacher Fang," Chen Zhuo said.
"I won’t come crying. Worst case, I’ll just have my friend write a few more scripts to automate the data processing."
"You..."
Li Jianming shook his head with a laugh.
Zhou Qiping, who had been observing from the side, finally put down his teacup.
The vice-principal looked at Alchemist, then at Li Jianming.
"Since you two deans have reached an agreement, I’ll make the final decision."
Zhou Qiping reached for the blank declaration form on the coffee table.
He took a fountain pen from his jacket pocket and uncapped it.
Without any hesitation.
Zhou Qiping wrote a line of text in the blank space on the form.
[Interdisciplinary Science Experimental Program (Mathematics/Physics Double Major) — Special Approval]
After writing, Zhou Qiping signed his name below it.
Then, he passed the form to Alchemist.
Alchemist didn’t even look at it, just scrawled his signature with a couple of quick strokes and passed it to Li Jianming.
Li Jianming did the same. After signing, he tossed the pen aside.
This was a major declaration form that would normally require layers of approval, official stamps, and committee meetings. Yet here, in this tea-scented office, it was given special approval in less than a minute as it was passed between the three big shots.
Zhou Qiping pushed the form, now covered in signatures, back to Chen Zhuo.
"Keep it safe."
Zhou Qiping looked at Chen Zhuo, his eyes holding a deep meaning.
"Starting tomorrow, here at Keda, you will no longer be restricted by any single school. The resources of both the School of Mathematics and the School of Physics will be completely open to you."
Zhou Qiping paused.
"Chen Zhuo, we have paved the road for you."
"As for how far you can walk and what kind of scenery you’ll get to see, that’s all up to you."
Chen Zhuo stood up.
He didn’t make any grand declarations.
He reached out, picked up the light piece of paper, folded it carefully, and put it back in his pocket.
Chen Zhuo looked at the three elders before him and gave a slight bow.
"Thank you, Principal Zhou. Thank you, Teacher Fang, Teacher Li."
Chen Zhuo straightened up, a relaxed smile on his face.
"Well then, I’ll go back and pack my things. The break starts in a couple of days, and I’m heading back to Zeyang."
"Summer break again?"
Alchemist frowned.
"There’s still a ton of data from the wind tunnel..."
"Teacher Fang."
Chen Zhuo interrupted him.
"It’s about work-life balance. I have to go back and help my childhood friend prepare for the high school entrance exams. If he doesn’t get into high school next year, it’ll be a big problem."
Alchemist was left speechless.
Li Jianming burst out laughing beside him.

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