Chapter 9

That day, no "chance encounter" happened.

After the afternoon classes ended, Li Qian and Gu Youyou went back early. They were cooped up in their room, discussing how the "chance encounter" might happen.

Li Qian suggested staying in the room, "If we don't go out, how can he arrange a chance encounter?"

"Would he come and knock on the door? Invite us to dinner under the pretext of being neighbors?"

"It could work..."

Her eyes lit up, "What should we eat? Hotpot! We must go for hotpot..."

"Make sure it's a spicy hotpot base!"

She was drooling as she spoke.

Gu Youyou was a little excited, but she pretended not to care and said, "I'm not going."

"I haven't finished my homework yet, and the professor suggested that we should study differential equations well, but the problems are so difficult!"

"What are you worried about? Ask him for help!" Li Qian was already eager to head to the hotpot restaurant.

They waited and waited...

From 5 PM to 7 PM, from 7 PM to 8:30 PM, they were hungry and anxious.

Li Qian ordered takeout while lying on the sofa.

When the takeout arrived, they finally saw Wang Hao, but he wasn't there to invite them to dinner. He just came up the stairs with the delivery person.

"Hello!"

Wang Hao, who was opening his door, saw the opposite door open and waved. He then gave a suggestion, "Eating takeout? You might as well eat at the school. There's a small restaurant on the west side of the campus, and the food is quite good."

He then went into his room.

Li Qian, who was just going out to get the takeout, called out to Gu Youyou and said suspiciously, "Did we guess wrong?"

"Maybe he just didn't plan to arrange a chance encounter today?" Gu Youyou thought doubtfully.

...

Wang Hao had no idea that the two "armchair Holmes" across the hall had been starving for over an hour because of him.

He had just returned from an evening tutorial.

The next day was the weekend.

The advantage of being a university lecturer is that there's almost no overtime, so weekends are relatively free.

However, Wang Hao couldn't relax.

He was dedicated to his teaching and wanted to do better, so he needed to prepare the lesson plans for the next week.

According to the syllabus of "Partial Differential Equations," the next week's lesson would cover "One-dimensional Non-homogeneous Problems," specifically, solving one-dimensional non-homogeneous equations.

He carefully read the content in the textbook and felt that following the textbook would be sufficient.

The main reason was that solving one-dimensional non-homogeneous equations is relatively simple.

At the undergraduate level, students only need to master the basic methods for solving one-dimensional non-homogeneous equations, which involves transforming a one-dimensional non-homogeneous equation into a one-dimensional homogeneous equation, solving it, and then combining it with non-zero values to obtain the general solution.

"One-dimensional non-homogeneous equations are different from Fourier transforms; it's hard to determine a specific research direction."

"But one-dimensional non-homogeneous equations also belong to partial differential equations, and they might provide some inspiration for the study of common solutions to partial differential equations?"

Wang Hao thought and opened the task system.

"Task Two," the research on the application of Fourier transform algorithms, had 73 inspiration points.

From Tuesday's class until just now, it had only increased by 72 points, which was essentially stagnant.

Switching to "One-dimensional Non-homogeneous Problems" next week was unlikely to provide inspiration for Fourier transform research.

"Settle the task?"

Wang Hao found that the task could be settled. The option to "abandon the task" had changed to "settle the task."

The prompt explained—

[Settling the task will grant teaching coins.]

"Settle!"

He decided to settle the task, and the system immediately gave a new prompt—

[Task Two, settled!]

[You have received teaching coins, quantity: 36.]

"More than thirty teaching coins? Not bad!" Wang Hao felt relieved.

Earning ten teaching coins a day sounds like a lot, but it's still not enough.

For classes, you need them.

Two coins per class.

For reading, studying, and research, you also need teaching coins. Earning ten coins a day, you would use at least six, and on weekends without classes, it's hard to earn ten coins.

Previously, he only had eleven teaching coins left. With the addition of thirty-six coins, he no longer worried about running out.

[Teaching coins: 47.]

"Settling Task Two, can I create a new task?" Wang Hao thought and decided to try creating a research task related to homogeneous equations.

Teaching corresponds to research, and the growth of inspiration points is fast.

Even without significant results, earning some teaching coins is still good.

[Creation successful, new task activated!]

[Task Two]

[Research Project: In-depth Study of One-dimensional Non-homogeneous Equations (Difficulty: D)]

[Inspiration Points: 0]

"Difficulty is only D level?"

Wang Hao tried to click "abandon the task" and immediately received a new system prompt—

[Abandoning the task will cost ten teaching coins. Do you want to abandon it?]

[Continue!]

"Never mind, D level, it's fine..."

Losing ten teaching coins was painful, but a lower difficulty meant easier results. At worst, he could settle the task and convert inspiration points into teaching coins.

Even a small result is still a result!

...

Sunday morning.

Wang Hao got up early and went to the school's large playground to run and exercise.

In his previous life, he had turned from a young man into a middle-aged man with a receding hairline in just ten years. He didn't want to repeat that mistake, so regular exercise was important.

One lap, two laps...

His physical condition wasn't great. He was out of breath after just a few slow laps, but it was better than when he first arrived, and regular exercise was making a difference.

A vigorous figure passed by him.

She had a braid, wore tight sportswear, and ran forward rhythmically, exuding an athletic aura.

Wang Hao didn't recognize her at first.

He followed her, looking closely for a long time, feeling a sense of familiarity.

The figure slowed down and adjusted to run alongside him, calling out, "Mr. Wang?"

"Yes... Manager Su?"

Wang Hao turned and immediately recognized her. She was wearing sportswear, and her shoulder-length hair was braided, which is why he didn't recognize her at first.

Her figure...

Hmm, definitely good.

He praised her in his heart and asked casually, "Do you live nearby?"

"Just on Central Street."

Su Yinxue pointed in a direction and asked curiously, "Mr. Wang, you like to exercise too?"

Wang Hao panted, "Who likes to exercise? I have no choice. If I don't exercise, my body will rust. I don't want to be called a middle-aged man in a few years."

"You're so funny!"

Su Yinxue smiled, "It's like you're so old. You're probably not even twenty-four, right?"

"What about you?"

Su Yinxue didn't answer but smiled, "Don't you know? Asking a woman's age is impolite."

"Never been in a relationship, so I don't know." Wang Hao responded calmly.

"Never been in a relationship?"

"Never."

Su Yinxue laughed.

The two continued running in silence for another lap.

Wang Hao felt he couldn't run anymore and stopped on the side. He was about to say goodbye when he saw Su Yinxue also stop.

"Mr. Wang, don't go yet."

"What's up?"

"I have something to ask you." Su Yinxue became more serious, "Last time at the restaurant, we talked about our company's cooperation with Nawei Lab. Do you think the research on high-field separation microspheres is worth investing in?"

"This, this..."

Wang Hao wanted to leave quickly. How would he know if the research was worth investing in?

He reiterated, "Manager Su, for this question, you should consult an expert."

"Mr. Wang, you are an expert." Su Yinxue said confidently, "I have some experimental data from other institutions. Can you help me build a mathematical model and analyze it?"

Building a mathematical model is a highly specialized task. Analyzing materials requires expertise in both mathematics and materials science, with a stronger emphasis on mathematics.

Different people might reach different conclusions.

This is a difficult problem to determine.

Wang Hao understood Su Yinxue's intention but found the task daunting. Doing the analysis wouldn't bring any benefits. If the analysis favored Nawei Lab and the research failed, what would happen?

If it was unfavorable to Nawei Lab?

Professor Xia Guobin might blame him for ruining a large research sponsorship deal.

He said, "I'm very busy recently. I'll help you look at it when I have time."

"Okay."

Su Yinxue stared at Wang Hao, her lips pressed together, and nodded firmly.

Wang Hao quickly left.

When I have time? Sorry, I'll never have time, I'll always be busy!

Behind him, Su Yinxue's eyes were full of curiosity.

She knew Wang Hao was making an excuse and didn't really want to help with the analysis. In fact, she had two reasons for finding Wang Hao. One was to get the data analyzed and hope for different conclusions.

The other was curiosity.

She felt Wang Hao was unusual.

Most people, after experiencing what Wang Hao had, wouldn't be completely unaffected. Even with a positive attitude, they would likely be depressed for a long time.

Wang Hao seemed unaffected.

His confident eyes, his performance in class, and his humor just now all showed that he didn't care about what had happened.

Why?

Su Yinxue couldn't help but recall their first meeting in the hallway, and her lips pressed together, "It must be his confidence."

"Maybe he can come up with a meaningful conclusion."