"Can you solve this problem?"
After tossing the phone onto the desk, Lan Jie casually pulled out an A4 sheet of paper from the desk. It had a printed Olympic competition question on it.
It would take Teacher Yuan at least a few minutes to arrive, so to kill time, he decided to quiz this guy.
This was an example problem prepared in advance for the kids in the Olympic competition class on Friday afternoon. It was also a classic competition question. The problem read: f(x) is a function over Q, (1) f(1)=2, (2) for any x, y ∈ Q, f(xy)=f(x)f(y)-f(x+y)+1. Find f(x).
Qiao Yu glanced at the question on the table and said nothing.
Lan Jie thought for a moment, then said: "Solve it and I'll give you a hundred bucks, cash."
Qiao Yu hesitated for a moment, probably thinking that since things were already like this, he might as well take the money being offered for free, and replied: "In these matters, the money usually comes first."
Lan Jie glared at Qiao Yu but still opened the drawer again, pulled out a hundred yuan bill, and slapped it onto the table.
Heh...
He finally saw a slight smile on Qiao Yu's face.
"Thanks, boss. Isn't this question part of what they're going to teach in class today? It mainly tests coefficient comparison. First, use substitution to simplify the equation, then use the assumption method to verify it, and then compare coefficients..."
Lan Jie didn't bother listening to the kid ramble and directly handed him a pen, pointing to the chair next to the desk: "Go get a chair yourself and write in the blank space."
Perhaps considering the hundred bucks that had just gone into his pocket, this time Qiao Yu didn't say any more nonsense and obediently grabbed a chair, sat down, and began solving the problem.
Five minutes later, Teacher Yuan still hadn't arrived, and the A4 paper had already been handed over.
Seeing the handwriting, Lan Jie subconsciously frowned.
The handwriting was a mess, like a dog's chew toy, showing that the writer was just going through the motions. Without a careful look, you could hardly tell 0 from 6.
If this were a college entrance exam, just with this handwriting, the grading teacher would have to grit their teeth and deduct some points first, purely for making the teacher's job harder. But the solution process and logic were extremely clear, with no errors whatsoever.
"Can you think of any other solutions?" Lan Jie asked coldly after reading it.
Qiao Yu thought for a moment, then casually replied: "You could first plug in special values, then construct the function, and analyze using the properties of the function, but that method is more complex, you'd have to write even more. Is it necessary? It's just a hundred bucks, and you want me to write more? My hand's already sore."
Lan Jie really wanted to ask, "Your hand gets sore from writing just a few words? How come your hand doesn't get sore when you play video games all day?" but he held back.
After all, he wasn't Qiao Yu's regular teacher, and this kid obviously had a strong rebellious streak. Saying anything would only exacerbate the antagonism between them. Better to wait until the kid's homeroom teacher arrived and understood the situation.
To be honest, he was genuinely curious about how Railway First Middle School could have such a bizarre student.
Mathematics is indeed a talent-based subject, but to be able to solve an Olympic math problem so easily, one must have genuinely studied math seriously. Otherwise, no matter how clever, he wouldn't even understand those symbols, let alone solve problems. Yet this guy completely had a devil-may-care attitude, not at all like a good student...
So the office fell into an awkward silence again. Just as Lan Jie was considering giving this guy another problem, there was a knock on the door, and a round-faced middle-aged woman walked in.
Nice, saved a hundred bucks.
"Hello, Teacher Yuan." Lan Jie stood up to greet her.
"Ah, Teacher Lan, I'm sorry to have troubled you."
Teacher Yuan said politely with a smile, then her eyes fell on Qiao Yu, who was still sitting there as if he owned the place, and her anger flared up instantly. She said sternly: "Qiao Yu, you're sitting quite comfortably, aren't you? Stand up! Your mother said you were hospitalized because you weren't feeling well, but you were actually hospitalized in an internet cafe?"
Lan Jie originally thought that with Teacher Yuan's attitude, the two of them would start arguing in the office. What he didn't expect was that Qiao Yu merely stood up with a gloomy face and stood there quietly without saying a word.
This also made Lan Jie feel a sense of relief.
At least in front of the homeroom teacher, he didn't put on that "fearless of boiling water" rash attitude.
"Look at you, what have you become? Yes, your grades aren't good, but there's a high school entrance exam next month. Even if you can't get into a regular high school, you should at least try to score a few more points to get into a private school, right? Otherwise, what can you do in the future? Are you planning to rely on...?"
The female teacher's nagging was giving Lan Jie a headache.
He quickly said, "Um, Teacher Yuan..."
"Oh, look at me, I was so focused on lecturing the student that I almost forgot Teacher Lan is here. Should I take him back first?"
"No, no, what I mean is, let the kid stay in the office for a while; shall we step outside and talk?"
"Huh?" Teacher Yuan was stunned for a moment, clearly not understanding the situation.
What does he mean?
Let the kid stay in the office and they go out to talk?
...
No matter how many question marks were in her head, Teacher Yuan still followed Lan Jie out of the office to the corner nearby.
If it were any other student, Lan Jie would definitely have let the student out first, but based on what he knew about Qiao Yu, the minute he let Qiao Yu out of the office, the kid would just slip away. So it was better that he stepped out instead.
"Teacher Yuan, I want to know more about Qiao Yu's situation. Can you tell me a bit about him? Like how he's doing in math at school?"
"Math? How to put it, not very good. Let's put it this way, Qiao Yu's science grades are pretty bad overall. Courses like math, physics, and biology, he hasn't passed any of them. But his Chinese and English are okay; he occasionally passes. Once, he even got over a hundred in Chinese."
Lan Jie subconsciously frowned; passing occasionally is considered okay?
But then, remembering that Qiao Yu was in class thirteen, he understood. Grades ultimately depend on comparison. Probably most of the class found passing difficult, right? But having poor science grades...
Holy crap!
Although it didn't fit his role, Lan Jie couldn't help but curse inwardly with a very foul word.
This kid truly fooled everyone.
"How much did he score in the science-biology exam?" Lan Jie asked further.
"Let me think, oh right, it was around 18 points."
"For one subject?"
Teacher Yuan glanced at Lan Jie and said, "Total score."
Lan Jie was speechless again.
Goodness, a total of eighty points and he scored eighteen. Lan Jie doubted once again that the kid did it on purpose, a reverse perfect score.
"Why are you so interested in his grades?" Teacher Yuan asked curiously.
"Ahem..." Lan Jie dodged the question and asked instead: "Is this child from a difficult family background?"
Hearing this question, Teacher Yuan indeed shifted her attention and mysteriously said in a lowered voice: "Ah, speaking of this, I don't even know how to say. It's a single-parent family, and quite an odd one. Do you know how old his mother is?"
"Huh?" Lan Jie was taken aback. How did it become gossip?
"Qiao Yu's mom is really young, only 34 this year."
"What? 34 years old?"
About the same age as him? He wasn't even married, and this kid was already cutting class for internet cafes?