Chapter 60: A rotten tree is impossible to support

  Teacher Zhang's words paused for a moment, and most of the students pushed their drafts forward with worried faces, except for Liu Xiao, who raised his head from the draft full of math formulas and raised his hand above his head.

  Teacher Zhang frowned secretly, and by rights Lin Junyun would absolutely not fall behind Liu Miao. What was wrong with her today? After being depressed for a while, Teacher Zhang said loudly: "This is the math Olympiad question of the third year of high school, and the teacher hasn't taught it yet, so don't be discouraged if you can't do it. Next, we have invited Liu Miao, who finished in 10 minutes, to come on stage to demonstrate these three questions."

  As soon as Teacher Zhang finished speaking, the classroom erupted in warm applause. Many people were exclaiming in surprise, "No wonder we couldn't understand it! It turns out the teacher hasn't even taught us yet!" Others were surprised, but Pang Guang was even more bewildered. While others hadn't studied before and at least knew to lower their heads and pretend to work, he himself didn't even understand what these three questions meant.

  Liu Yi smiled, waving his hand to his classmates like a head of state at a military parade, and strode confidently to the podium, quickly scribbling with chalk. After writing the last digit, he threw down the chalk and looked at Zhang Laoshi with a self-satisfied expression.

  "Ah, the first question is correct, the second question is correct, unfortunately... the last question used the wrong formula, so the third question is incorrect." Although there was some regret, Teacher Zhang still praised: "These questions are all very difficult, and Liu Xiang student can do two of them, which is already very good!"

  After hearing Teacher Zhang's praise, the classmates in the class all focused on Liu Miao at the same time. Liu Miao responded with a smile: "Actually, I can do all three questions, but unfortunately, the 10-minute time is a bit short."

  "Alright, Liu Meng classmate, please return to your seat, hoping for a better performance next time."

  The beautiful teacher Zhang's soft voice of praise made Liu Xiang's whole body feel weak, and he happily returned to his seat.

  Liu returned to his seat, and Teacher Zhang's eyes fell on Lin Junyun. He had thought that Lin would shine brightly after taking out three high school Olympiad math problems ten minutes before class, but unexpectedly, the result was disappointing. Lin, who usually came to class very seriously, was now clearly distracted.

  "Lin Junyun, can you go on stage and demonstrate your calculation results for your classmates?" Teacher Zhang suddenly said.

  As soon as Teacher Zhang finished speaking, the classmates all turned their faces to Lin Junyun, waiting for her answer. The classmates also had high hopes that Lin Junyun, who was able to answer two questions in the math Olympiad and had similar scores, would be able to suppress him.

  "Ah?" Lin Junyun snapped out of her complex thoughts, looked at her classmates, then at Teacher Zhang, and finally at the blackboard. She suddenly understood what Teacher Zhang's last sentence meant. After thinking for less than a minute, she said loudly: "The first question has an answer of 13 with three solutions; the second question has an answer of 2 with two solutions; the third question... I don't understand it, there is no answer."

  Lin Junyun's words immediately caused a stir among his classmates: "No answer? That's too ruthless!"

  Lin Junyun pointed to the blackboard: "Teacher, the third question is contradictory. If we assume that Xiaoping is bigger than Xiaohui, then Xiaofang is bigger than Xiaoping, which means Xiaohui is the smallest, contradicting the second point."

  "Lin Junyun's words are absolutely right!" Teacher Zhang nodded in satisfaction: "The third question was intentionally modified by me, and the purpose is to tell students that mathematics is a very profound subject, divided into two categories: one is called pure mathematics, and the other is applied mathematics. A notable feature of pure mathematics is to temporarily set aside specific content and study the quantitative relationships and spatial forms of things in a purely formal way. For example, studying the area calculation formula for trapezoids, whether it's the area of a trapezoidal rice field or a trapezoidal mechanical part, is irrelevant; what everyone cares about is only the quantitative relationship inherent in this geometric shape. Applied mathematics, on the other hand, is a vast system; some people say that it is the part of our knowledge that can be expressed in mathematical language. Applied mathematics focuses on explaining natural phenomena and solving practical problems, serving as a bridge between pure mathematics and science and technology. As we often say, we are now living in an information society, and 'information theory', which specializes in studying information, is an important branch of applied mathematics."

  Pang Guang was confused by the beautiful teacher's words, and he still hadn't figured out what the previous few math problems meant. How did they suddenly switch to information theory? At this rate, his goal of regaining control of the computer and getting back his pocket money seemed even more distant. Thinking about this, Pang Guang felt a wave of despair wash over him.

  "Computers! Cars... Ah...!" Pang Guang muttered to himself for the entire morning. Next was his English class, which he listened to in a daze, not taking in a single letter. Luckily, his English teacher understood him well and wasn't surprised. However, Lin Junyun looked at Pang Guang with disdain, thinking to herself: "As expected, you can't polish a piece of rotten wood, only having a three-minute enthusiasm."

  Pang Guang listlessly stared at the English teacher's incessant chatter in a language he couldn't understand, thinking about his distant computer and sports car, feeling increasingly annoyed: "What's the point of attending such classes? I haven't understood a single sentence. Screw it, I'm outta here! You guys can do whatever you want!" With that thought, Pang Guang didn't even want to attend class anymore, got up and left the classroom, leaving behind a group of stunned students and an English teacher who was on the verge of choking.