Chapter 287 - 220: This Is Not Metaphysics

Chapter 287: Chapter 220: This Is Not Metaphysics

"You should have seen the spectacle. The university mobilized the entire Department of Mathematics, the Department of Computer Science, the Department of Physics, the Department of Chemistry, and even a few geniuses from that prodigy class."

"Dozens of people, the best of the best, focused on cracking the problem for a whole month."

"The Physics Department was in charge of building the model, the Chemistry Department provided the parameters, the Computer Science Department ran the simulations, and the Mathematics Department optimized the algorithms..."

"And guess what happened in the end?"

Yan Lin held her breath subconsciously. "What happened?"

"Not only did they find the material!" Tang Xuebing slapped his thigh. "They also managed to deduce its failure mechanism under extreme conditions!"

"That was one beautiful battle they fought!"

Yan Lin’s heart surged with excitement as she listened. "If it was so effective, then why later..."

"Why wasn’t it implemented on a wider scale, right?" Tang Xuebing gave a bitter laugh and spread his hands helplessly. "It was too expensive. Not in terms of money, but in terms of manpower."

"That level of interdisciplinary cooperation involved gathering all the top minds in the entire university to work on my single project."

"It was a complete waste of talent."

"If every project was handled like that, would the professors in other departments get any work done? Could the university even continue to function?"

"The resource consumption was too great, and the cost-benefit ratio was too low. It couldn’t be a regular practice."

At this point, Tang Xuebing sighed. His gaze shifted toward Room 301 next door, and his expression grew complicated.

"Originally, I had no intention of using this ’mathematical brute force’ method again."

"But..."

"Lately, there has been just too much news about Chen Lin."

Tang Xuebing began counting on his fingers.

"Consecutive publications in the top journal JAMS, an endorsement from a Fields Medal winner, solving the AI hallucination problem, and even... even shaking the US stock market to its core."

"Each and every one of these accomplishments has redefined my understanding of the word ’genius.’"

"I suddenly realized that this kid, Chen Lin, might just be a game-changer."

Tang Xuebing’s voice dropped, filled with an indescribable sense of anticipation.

"What took us dozens of professors and PhDs a month to accomplish back then..."

"This kid, Chen Lin, might actually be able to pull it off single-handedly!"

"Using mathematics as a scalpel to precisely cut into the core problem of materials science... If this were any other math professor, I’d definitely think they were all talk. I know the math department at the Science and Technology University well; in this specific field, no one has this kind of ability."

"But if it’s Chen Lin..."

Tang Xuebing took a deep breath, a sharp glint in his eyes.

"I have a strong feeling that he really has a chance!"

Professor Lu Zhongqi, who was sitting beside him, also nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. That kid is a monster. It’s really hard to figure out the young people these days."

Listening to her two advisors praise Chen Lin so highly, Yan Lin sat in her chair, the scene from Room 301 replaying in her mind.

The young man, several years younger than her, sat at the desk in a simple hoodie.

He was faced with a problem that had plagued the joint project team for a long time, a problem that had left a crowd of professors and PhDs helpless.

He didn’t frown, didn’t sigh, and didn’t show even a hint of hesitation.

He just picked up his pen with nonchalant ease and began to write.

That composure and confidence that radiated from his very bones, that aura of having everything under control...

’This is just too...’

Yan Lin muttered to herself in her head, ’...cool, isn’t it...’

For a woman like her, who spent her life in academia, the charm of such intellectual dominance was devastatingly effective.

The next second, Yan Lin snapped back to reality, her cheeks feeling a little hot.

’Whoa, Yan Lin, what are you thinking?! He’s a student several years younger than you! That’s practically robbing the cradle!’

She cursed herself inwardly and quickly pushed those messy thoughts out of her mind.

To distract herself and hide her embarrassment, Yan Lin’s thoughts quickly jumped in another direction.

Gossip.

It’s human nature, and female PhDs are no exception.

’Speaking of which...’ Yan Lin’s eyes darted around as she mused internally, ’The last time Professor Chen came, he was with Shen Yan, the belle of the Mathematics Department.’

’The way they were back then, something was obviously going on. The chemistry between them, tsk tsk.’

’I even saw a post on the school forum recently. Someone said they saw the two of them together as a couple at the math conference, and there were pictures.’

’I wonder how far they’ve gotten?’

’Are they officially together? Or are they still in that ambiguous, will-they-won’t-they phase?’

’Professor Chen is so famous now, there must be a lot of temptations around him, right? That junior, Shen Yan, is pretty, but can she hold on to such a blue-chip stock?’

The flames of gossip burned brightly in Yan Lin’s heart. The atmosphere, which had become somewhat serious due to the academic discussion, took a sudden turn on her end.

She was even tempted to pull out her phone and discuss "Professor Chen’s" love life with her girlfriends in their private, girls-only group chat.

...

Inside Room 301, the only sound was the SCRATCH SCRATCH of a pen tip flying across paper.

The sound was rapid and rhythmic, like a silkworm frantically devouring mulberry leaves, or a silent downpour drumming against banana leaves.

Ten minutes.

Twenty minutes.

Thirty minutes.

Chen Lin’s hand never paused for even a second.

Line after line of complex, abstruse equations rapidly filled the blank A4 paper.

RUSTLE—

The sound of the page turning was exceptionally crisp in the silent classroom.

Chen Lin was completely immersed in the microscopic world of numbers and symbols. In his mind, the abstract formulas were constructing a multidimensional energy topology. He was searching for that one, single optimal extremum—the "God formula" that could perfectly inhibit lithium precipitation from ethylene carbonate.

Finally, as the last letter landed on the paper, Chen Lin’s wrist paused, and the pen tip lifted from the page.

"Whew—"

Chen Lin let out a long sigh and casually tossed the pen onto the desk.

Immediately after, a familiar wave of exhaustion and mild dizziness, the kind one feels after pulling an all-nighter, crept up the back of his neck.

’Tsk, the drain this time wasn’t too bad.’

Chen Lin rubbed his temples, feeling that it was still within a manageable range.

He picked up the A4 paper, now completely covered in writing, stood up, walked straight out of Room 301, and pushed open the door to Room 302 next door.

As the door opened, three pairs of eyes shot toward him in unison.

Tang Xuebing, Lu Zhongqi, and Yan Lin were sitting inside, staring at each other in a somewhat stuffy atmosphere. Seeing Chen Lin enter, Tang Xuebing instinctively glanced at his watch.

"You’re... done already?"

Tang Xuebing’s voice was a little unsteady. "Professor Chen, it’s only been half an hour."

"Yes, I have a rough model."

Chen Lin didn’t waste any words, directly handing over the sheet of "indecipherable scrawls."

Tang Xuebing took it with both hands as Lu Zhongqi and Yan Lin quickly gathered around.

On the paper, there wasn’t a specific chemical formula as they had expected, but an extremely complex nonlinear mathematical model containing dozens of parameters.

"This is..." Tang Xuebing’s pupils constricted. He knew what he was looking at. "Is this a topological structure screening model for additive molecules?"

"Correct." Chen Lin nodded, found a chair, sat down, and caught his breath before speaking. "Professor Tang, I can’t directly tell you the name of the additive. But this mathematical model I’ve provided describes all the electron cloud characteristics and spatial configuration parameters that the ’most perfect additive’ must possess."

"You’ll need to import the existing compound database into a computer and use this model to run a screening simulation."

Tang Xuebing, growing excited, finished his thought: "To screen out the candidate molecules that fit the criteria. Then, when we run experimental verifications, the range will be narrowed down from tens of thousands to just a few!"

Tang Xuebing stared at the paper in his hands, which were trembling slightly.

Just to fully comprehend this model would probably take the math and physics professors on the joint project team a good week of study!