Free Web NovelChapter 1375: Chapter 1374
Lin Fan ignored the ridicule from the crowd and took the pen and paper from the female student, then started writing, the pen gliding smoothly across the paper.
"Tsk, look at him putting on airs, pretending something!"
"What could he possibly come up with, it’s really laughable!"
"There’s a phrase in Huaxia that means pretending to understand when you don’t, and it probably describes him!"
The crowd pointed and laughed at Lin Fan as if he were a joke.
Amidst the laughter, Lin Fan stopped writing, handed the paper with the answer to Stephen, and said, "It’s done, you’re the one who presented the problem, so you should judge if it’s correct."
"Hilarious, he really dares to show it to Stephen, the god of studies!"
"Who gave him that confidence!"
"Even Professor Charlotte hasn’t solved the last step yet, and he says he’s done, can that be the answer? It doesn’t sound reliable at all!"
"He’s really like a monkey, so funny, hahaha..."
The crowd freely mocked Lin Fan, with no one believing he had solved the problem, because it seemed impossible.
Stephen didn’t believe it either, nor did Professor Charlotte, and even the female student from Huaxia didn’t believe it.
Being able to study at Imperial College London, she was one in a million even among the populous Huaxia, an elite among elites, and if she couldn’t solve the problem herself, she didn’t believe Lin Fan could, especially since Lin Fan didn’t even attend Huaxia’s best, Qinghua University, but rather a third-rate liberal arts college, it seemed like a joke!
Professor Charlotte shook her head, thinking Lin Fan was too showy; not knowing is fine, but pretending is wrong, such young people have no future.
As a professor, an Imperial College professor at that, in Professor Charlotte’s mind, ’future’ means academic achievement, and she believed Lin Fan would never enter the doors of academia because he was basically unlearned.
Stephen wore a smile, he didn’t even want to glance at Lin Fan’s answer because he thought Lin Fan was messing with him, probably writing nonsense, thinking it was funny, but really more like a clown, not funny at all.
He absently took the paper, glanced at it out of reflex, intending to throw it away, he was so uninterested, he didn’t even feel like talking to Lin Fan anymore, thinking he was too lowly to deserve conversation.
The contest between them was over, Lin Fan lost, Huaxia lost.
Stephen was ready to give his final explanation, why he believed Huaxia couldn’t surpass the West, he thought Huaxia people lacked innovation, still using Western technological inventions, in modern science, the West were the pioneers, in physics gravity, relativity, string theory, in chemistry elements, in biology evolution theory, in computer science the internet, all were Western, which one didn’t change the world?
The root of modern civilization is in the West, Huaxia only lives in the framework built by the West, learning the creations of the West, mostly just users, with what do they surpass?
A simple analogy, the maker of the refrigerator is the one who changes the world, Huaxia is just a user of the refrigerator.
Stephen concluded, Huaxia couldn’t surpass the West; globally, the West still holds core technology.
However, Stephen never got to say these words; when he glanced reflexively at that paper, just a glance, he suddenly froze, couldn’t look away.
He was at a standstill, or more accurately, he was petrified.
He stood there, eyes glued to the paper, his expression became quite remarkable, a mix of shock, surprise, disbelief. Cold sweat trickled from his forehead without him even realizing it.
The crowd, which had been laughing at Lin Fan, didn’t notice the change at first, but when Stephen stood still for a long time, they realized something wasn’t right.
What’s going on, why does Stephen, the god of studies, seem to be in a daze, what’s happening?
The crowd exchanged confused looks, unsure what was going on.
"Could it be that kid’s answer was so bad it left Stephen speechless?"
"That must be it, Stephen was infuriated by this slacker!"
"What on earth did this slacker write to make Stephen so upset he can’t even speak?"
While mocking Lin Fan, the crowd started feeling curious.
Professor Charlotte, standing closest to Stephen, intrigued, moved over, and took the paper with the answer from Stephen’s hand.
By now, Stephen was so stunned he didn’t even notice the paper being taken by Professor Charlotte.
Professor Charlotte glanced at the paper, and in a moment, couldn’t help exclaiming, "What the hell!"
Of course, that’s a translation; Professor Charlotte, being European, wouldn’t say "what the hell", he uttered a Western exclamation, "Oh my God!"
The honor of Huaxia’s language richness and strong expressiveness, a "what the hell" can express emotions that ten "oh my God"s cannot match, it’s a shame foreigners don’t say "what the hell".
Charlotte’s "oh my God" couldn’t convey his current shock.
Seeing Charlotte react this way, the curiosity among the crowd grew stronger.
What exactly did Lin Fan write that seemed to have a kind of magic, provoking such strange reactions from both Professor Charlotte and Stephen, the god of studies?
Fortunate enough, Professor Charlotte wasn’t like Stephen, struck speechless.
He quickly showed exaggerated shock, unable to stop marveling, "My God, this problem can be solved like this! So wonderful, so beautiful, this is the most beautiful equation I’ve ever seen, bar none! What kind of genius thought could come up with such a solution, it’s not only the simplest but also the most optimal solution, concise and powerful, truly brilliant, my God, truly genius!"
Charlotte lavishly praised Lin Fan’s answer, as if eager to glorify it.
Having sighed in amazement, Charlotte looked up at Lin Fan, "Young man, dear young man, how did you think of this solution? I thought mine was the optimal, but after seeing yours, I realize mine doesn’t even deserve comparison!"
Lin Fan smiled and said, "We Huaxia have an old saying, ’the great way is extremely simple’, which is very fitting when applied to solving calculus problems, I can only say my method conforms to the way."
Charlotte was a bit stunned, though he didn’t fully understand what conforming to the way meant, Lin Fan’s phrase ’the great way is extremely simple’ felt like an enlightening revelation.
He was almost ready to kneel to Lin Fan: "The great way is extremely simple, the great way is extremely simple, that’s so well said, young man, you seem to have reached a realm of returning to simplicity!"
What’s going on?
The whole crowd was bewildered, that Professor Charlotte would give Lin Fan such high praise, what the hell had happened?
