At the same time, in a private dining room on the third floor of the hotel, Li Jian Gao was chatting with a few friends from the mathematics community.
Dinner had actually been finished already.
However, these academic friends were spread all over the country in various universities and research institutes, and it was not easy to meet up regularly, so naturally, they wanted to chat a bit more.
As the conversation picked up, someone suggested going to the tea house in the hotel to have a cup of tea in the afternoon, and everyone responded eagerly.
Li Jian Gao checked the time and then shook his head, "Why don't you go ahead, I have something to do this afternoon, so I won't join."
"Professor Li, the conference doesn't start until tomorrow. What could you possibly have to do this afternoon? It's not easy for us all to gather together, don't be a killjoy!"
"It's not that, I've got a kid to take care of," Li Jian Gao explained with a wry smile.
"A kid?" Everyone was taken aback in unison.
They all knew that Li Jian Gao was not married, so it was naturally even less likely that he had a child.
This left Li Jian Gao at a loss for an explanation, so he could only vaguely say, "A truly mathematically gifted child, but there are some issues with his personality, um, social anxiety, I guess? His parents have entrusted him to me these days, and right now, he is still alone in the room looking at the computer."
"Social anxiety? Then he really should be exposed to more social interactions. Here's the plan, Li, we'll first go to the tea room and reserve a private booth, then you go back to the room and bring the kid down. We can all sit together and chat. A child you feel has a real talent for mathematics, we'd like to see just how impressive he is."
The professor who spoke was named Zhang Chunlei, from the School of Mathematics at Jiangcheng University, a senior professor and the oldest and most experienced among this group of mathematics teachers. At 48, he had also received the title of Yangtze River Scholar, so Li Jian Gao really couldn't afford to snub his face.
After hesitating for a moment and considering that the few people gathered together actually had agreeable personalities, he smiled and nodded, "Well... okay then, the kid's name is Qiao Ze. It's true that his personality is flawed, I will go and ask for his opinion.
But let me say this in advance; if he says something out of line later on and offends everyone, you all better not take it too seriously!"
"Haha, Li, who do you think we are? Would we really stoop to the level of a high school student? Go on and bring the person. The tea room is on the second floor; I'll reserve the private booth and send you a WeChat message."
...
He couldn't possibly cure a child with communication barriers to become normal in such a short time, even if he were a deity. But at least things were moving in a positive direction. This was enough to comfort Li Jiangao greatly, and he even felt a full sense of achievement.
...
Li Jiangao led Qiao Ze out of the room.
As they stepped into the elevator and were alone, Qiao Ze suddenly spoke, "Teacher Li, actually I have a secret, and if I tell you, can you promise not to tell anyone else? Including my mom."
Li Jiangao nodded without hesitation and said, "Sure! I promise I won't let anyone else know."
Qiao Ze pointed to his head, saying, "There might really be something wrong here, it's just that the hospital can't detect it."
Li Jiangao pursed his lips, really wanting to kindly tell the boy that he actually knew, and that the hospital had already diagnosed him... it's Asperger's Syndrome, isn't it!
But Qiao Ze quickly added, "I know the route, no, my mom is very anxious. But actually, not every time I take an exam do I purposely leave a blank script. Because if the exam questions don't engage my mind, after a while, when I look at the test paper again, the words and symbols turn into little dancing people, and then my mind wanders off elsewhere."
Li Jiangao was stunned.
Originally, he was thinking that if the child's psychological issues could be resolved in these three days, he would be able to perform well in the college entrance exam, and scoring over 600 points wouldn't be a problem.
In previous years, the admission score for Xilin University of Technology in Xingcheng was around 660 points.
With the boy's intelligence, scoring around 660 was entirely feasible, and if the score was just a bit short, he could think of a way.
If the score could be even higher than expected, even if Qiao Ze chose a better 985 university than Xilin University of Technology, such as one of the top institutions in the Capital, Li Jiangao wouldn't mind.
But if this was the situation, they could only rely on the university's independent admission process.
Arranging sufficiently challenging questions with the professors should allow the boy to focus fully on the exam, right?
Li Jiangao, who hadn't cursed since graduating from college, now felt like swearing directly at someone...
What kind of divine problem is this?!