The dorm room was empty when Li Dong returned.
Li Dong paused for a moment before it dawned on him: it was Thursday.
Thursday was a full-class day for Yuanpei College. Their schedule ran from Advanced Algebra at 8:00 AM to University Physics at 4:00 PM, with only a one-hour lunch break in between.
Liu Qiang, Chen Nan, and Wang Hao were probably holed up in the Science Building all day.
"I’m the only one with no classes."
Li Dong tossed his backpack onto the bed and sat in his chair, spacing out for a while.
Come to think of it, his class schedule had been completely different from his roommates’ ever since school started.
While the other Yuanpei freshmen were methodically working through their general education courses, he had thrown himself headfirst into research and group chats. Liu Ruochuan had even granted him special permission to be in an independent study mode in the course selection system.
Usually, in the dorm, his three roommates would chat about what the professor had lectured on that day, and he could only listen from the sidelines.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand them. On the contrary, he understood it all too well, which was why he couldn’t join in.
If Wang Hao complained that a certain proof in Advanced Algebra was brutal, Li Dong couldn’t very well say, "That problem’s pretty simple, isn’t it?" That wouldn’t be a conversation; that would be asking for a beating.
Although he did that often...
Staring at the empty dorm, Li Dong felt a little lost in thought.
’This feeling... it seems so familiar.’
He was reminded of his days at Sixth Middle School.
Back then, he had been placed in the school’s gifted and talented class.
Day in and day out, Elder Chen would pull him away for special training.
By the time he graduated from his senior year, he couldn’t even remember the names of all his classmates in the gifted program.
’Am I short on friends?’
The thought startled even Li Dong himself.
He’d never felt like this before.
’Why not in high school?’
Li Dong thought back carefully, and then it hit him.
’Damn it, I haven’t been grinding enough problems.’
’Just as I thought. Grinding problems is the cure for everything.’
With his self-diagnosis complete, Li Dong immediately prepared to sit at his desk and open *Langlands Program*, the book he’d borrowed from the Zhejiang University library.
’First, I’ll start with the Borel-Weil theorem...’
Just as Li Dong opened the book, his phone rang.
It wasn’t a vibration this time, but the ringtone of a WeChat voice call.
Li Dong picked up his phone to look.
Caller: Qi Yu.
"Hm?"
Li Dong was taken aback.
Qi Yu had never voice-called him before. They usually communicated through text messages, and each of her messages was as concise as a lab report.
"Hello, Senior."
Qi Yu’s voice came from the other end, tinged with a rare hint of hesitation.
"Um... Junior."
"Yes?"
Qi Yu seemed to be carefully choosing her words.
"Our research group has run into a bit of trouble."
"It’s... that mathematical modeling problem I asked you about before. It’s actually a core part of a project we’re working on."
"The dynamic disorder modeling in enzyme kinetics?" Li Dong asked.
"Yes, that’s the one."
Qi Yu’s speaking pace quickened slightly.
"We’re facing some disagreements right now. The research group invited someone from the School of Mathematics to help with the mathematical calculations, but... they started arguing."
"Arguing?"
"Yes." Qi Yu lowered her voice.
"The chemistry side and the math side... their algorithmic logic doesn’t line up. They’ve been at a stalemate for half the day. Would it be convenient for you to come over and take a look for us?"
"Professor Zhang is probably resting right now, and I didn’t feel right about bothering her."
To be honest, Li Dong had originally planned to refuse.
Because...
He really didn’t have a solid grasp of chemistry.
But he had pestered Qi Yu on WeChat countless times before to understand concepts like single-atom characterization and Quantum Chemistry.
From Fourier transform phase shift deviations in EXAFS to tunneling current calculations in STM, Qi Yu had answered every one of his questions without ever turning him down.
It would be really bad of him to refuse her now.
So, he bit the bullet and said,
"Alright, where are you?"
"School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Building A, third floor, seminar room 317."
"Okay, I’m on my way."
After hanging up, Li Dong glanced at the just-opened *Langlands Program* on his desk and reluctantly closed the book.
"Borel-Weil theorem... I’ll deal with you when I get back."
Building A of the School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering was one of the older buildings in the Yan University Science Building Complex.
Withered vines crawled all over its red brick facade.
When Li Dong reached the third floor, he could hear voices coming from seminar room 317 from a distance.
He pushed the door open and saw Qi Yu at a glance.
Qi Yu was sitting by the window, a stack of printed experimental data spread out in front of her.
Next to her sat a short-haired girl who was tugging on a boy’s sleeve, seemingly trying to persuade him to stop arguing.
In the center of the seminar room, two young men stood face-to-face. The whiteboard behind them was densely packed with formulas, half of which had been aggressively crossed out with a red marker.
"Using ordinary differential equations to fit this part is fundamentally flawed!"
The speaker was a boy with glasses, his chin slightly raised. You could tell at a glance that he was the kind of person who was arrogant to the bone.
He pointed to a line of formulas on the whiteboard.
"The rate constant κ(t) of the enzyme catalytic reaction in your system is not a simple function of time at all. It undergoes random fluctuations over time."
"You’re using a deterministic ODE to describe something that is inherently a stochastic process. It would be a miracle if the conclusion you got was correct."
The young man standing opposite him was dark-skinned and sturdy, wearing a School of Chemistry T-shirt.
"Gu Ming, of course I know all that! But you’re coming at this from a purely mathematical perspective and ignoring the conformational dynamics of the enzyme molecule..."
He pointed to a chemical equation.
"During catalysis, a single enzyme molecule randomly transitions between multiple conformational states, and each state has a different catalytic rate."
"This ’dynamic disorder’ can’t be summed up by a single stochastic differential equation. Its physical picture is far more complex than you imagine!"
"I have no problem with you following your mathematical logic."
"But in our chemical system, some things just can’t be forced into a purely mathematical framework!"
"For example, the transition probability between conformational states—it doesn’t follow a Markov process. And there’s the feedback effect of substrate concentration on conformational distribution, which isn’t reflected in your model at all!"
Gu Ming sneered.
"I’m from the School of Mathematics. I study stochastic analysis and probability theory."
"You asked me to come here and build a model for you. I built it, and you say it’s wrong."
"You say your chemical system has its own special characteristics. In that case, can you please tell me, in strict mathematical language, exactly what kind of stochastic process your so-called ’non-Markovian transition’ is?"
"If you can’t even articulate it in mathematical language, on what grounds are you refuting my model?"
"All science, when you get down to it, is built on a foundation of mathematics."
"If your Chemical Intuition can’t be verified by mathematics, then there’s a problem with your intuition, not my math."
The School of Chemistry student’s face flushed red, choked with indignation. He was just about to retort.
The short-haired girl beside him quickly tugged his arm and whispered,
"Forget it, Cheng Wei. We were the ones who asked Gu Ming for help. Don’t be so aggressive."
Cheng Wei took a deep breath, barely suppressing his anger.
But Gu Ming didn’t seem to want to take the olive branch, continuing in a slow, deliberate tone.
"Let me be blunt. If you continue with this project using your current semi-qualitative, semi-quantitative methods, your final conclusion will definitely be unreliable."
"Modeling is modeling. Either do it strictly according to mathematical logic, or don’t come to me at all."
At these words, even the short-haired girl found it hard to listen any longer.
Just as the atmosphere in the seminar room was about to explode, Qi Yu spotted Li Dong standing at the door.
She immediately shot up from her seat and hurried over.
"Junior, you’re here?"
Qi Yu’s voice was as calm as ever.
"Yeah, I just arrived." Li Dong gestured toward the argument. "I saw them fighting as soon as I got here."
"Then I’ll have to trouble you to take a look for us. I’m really not sure about this."
Qi Yu introduced Li Dong to everyone present.
"This is a junior from Yuanpei, Li Dong. I asked him to come and help us take a look."
Cheng Wei and the short-haired girl just gave a polite nod. They didn’t know Li Dong.
But Gu Ming’s reaction was completely different.
His mouth, which had been running nonstop just a moment ago, suddenly snapped shut.
"Junior Li Dong?"
"You’re here too?"
He said "Junior" very politely.
Cheng Wei noticed this change and couldn’t help but feel astonished.
You have to understand, Gu Ming was quite famous in the Yan University School of Mathematics.
He had won a gold medal in the National College Student Mathematics Competition as a sophomore, passed the selection exam for the School of Mathematics’ honors class with the top score as a junior, and was even selected as an observer for the International Mathematical Olympiad last year.
Among all the undergraduates at Yan University, when it came to pure mathematical ability, Gu Ming was practically the gold standard.
’This kind of person is usually a bit arrogant even when talking to professors. Why did he suddenly become so polite after seeing a "junior"?’
Cheng Wei looked at Qi Yu in confusion and asked in a low voice,
"Who is this guy?"

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