Li Dong tried to apply the variational principle according to the sentence’s literal meaning.
He defined an energy functional, set the residual phase as a constraint, and tried to use the variational principle to approximate the spectral singularity in the third shell.
He worked through one line, then two, then three.
Li Dong’s brow slowly furrowed.
He took the next step.
The singularity in the third shell did indeed retreat.
But it wasn’t enough.
Li Dong gritted his teeth and continued down the path.
The singularity retreated again.
It had retreated to the fifth shell.
Li Dong suddenly realized this path wasn’t a dead end. It was a path that went on forever.
With every step, you could push forward a little. With every step, there was still more path ahead.
You seemed to be getting closer and closer to the end.
But you could never reach it.
It was like a bottomless well.
You lower yourself down on a rope. The rope is real, the walls of the well are real, and you are truly descending.
But you can never, ever reach the bottom.
A term suddenly surfaced in Li Dong’s mind—a bottomless pit.
He stared at the scratch paper for a long time.
He couldn’t say the Germans were wrong. He’d seen their graphs himself; they had indeed managed to isolate the peak position of the third shell.
Nor could he say his own intuition was wrong. The feeling that this path was a "bottomless pit" grew clearer the further down he went.
Just as Li Dong was mulling this over...
The bedroom door opened.
An elderly woman walked out and saw Li Dong still sitting at the desk, his hair a mess from running his hands through it.
She didn’t say anything to disturb him, turning into the kitchen instead.
About fifteen minutes later, the aroma of chopped scallions drifted out from the kitchen.
The elderly woman emerged holding a white porcelain bowl, which she placed next to Li Dong’s scratch paper.
"Kid, eat your noodles first. You can get back to your calculations after you’ve eaten."
Li Dong finally snapped out of it.
He glanced at the bowl of plain noodles in clear broth and paused for a moment.
He quickly stood up.
"Teacher Zhang, what are you doing up?"
"I woke up, didn’t I?"
The elderly woman shot him a look and pointed to the old-fashioned clock on the wall.
Li Dong’s gaze followed her finger.
Seven forty-five in the evening.
He silently cursed himself.
’Fuck.’
’I was so wrapped up in it, I completely lost track of time.’
"Ah, I’m so sorry, Teacher Zhang."
"I got too caught up."
"I completely forgot the time."
The elderly woman waved her hand dismissively.
"That’s normal."
"We were the same way when we were young."
Li Dong didn’t stand on ceremony any longer.
He picked up the bowl and slurped the noodles down.
After he finished eating, he got up and washed the bowl himself.
Then he turned to say goodbye to the elderly woman.
"Well, Teacher Zhang, I’ll be heading out."
"Remember to call me if you need anything."
The elderly woman smiled and shot him another look.
"Why do you sound just like Xiaoyu?"
"I’m not so old I can’t move yet, am I?"
Li Dong quickly put on an apologetic smile.
"Right, right, you’re in great shape."
The elderly woman chuckled and saw him to the door.
By the time Li Dong left the residential complex, the sky had gone completely dark and a slight chill was in the air.
He walked slowly toward Yan University.
As he walked, that feeling of a "bottomless pit" stubbornly clung to his thoughts, refusing to dissipate.
He had spent the entire afternoon pushing his way down this path of mathematical inversion.
Every step was solid.
Every step was correct.
Each step made you feel like the very next one would finally take you to the bottom.
But you could never reach the bottom.
A thought suddenly struck Li Dong.
’Could it be... the German team... they never actually solved it either?’
’They just got a little farther than anyone else.’
’And then, based on that little bit of progress, they presented their graph at a closed-door seminar, sent out an extended abstract, and immediately followed up by getting it published in *Nature*.’
’They’re gambling!’
’They never reached the bottom of the well. They might have even realized by now that they’re stuck halfway down, unable to advance!’
’Showing off a half-finished graph, using *Nature* and patents as a smokescreen... their whole play is one big bluff, a "strategic discouragement."’
’They haven’t solved it, and what’s more, they don’t even know if they *can* solve it. That’s why they desperately need to "buy time."’
’If they can just scare away the funding from other peer groups and crush their competitors’ morale, they’ll win themselves a period of absolute vacuum—with no one chasing them.’

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