Chapter 291: Who Knows How This Theorem Came About, Feels Like

Ding Si and Qu Wanqiu had already arrived; Chen Yuying was the latest to come today.

"How did the two of you come together?" Ding Si narrowed her eyes, turning into a melon-eating monkey.

"We happened to run into each other downstairs." Lin Li answered.

"Don't believe it." Ding Si snorted coldly.

"We happened to run into each other downstairs." Chen Yuying also answered.

"Oh oh, I see." Ding Si nodded.

Lin Li: "?"

This monkey really owes Run Tu a beating.

While taking out and arranging his study supplies on the tabletop, Lin Li looked up at Ding Si across from him and asked:

"Little Ding Ding, what are we eating for lunch today, have you picked a place yet?"

"Isn't today your treat? Defaulting to me picking the restaurant? Why don't you pick yourself?" Ding Si countered upon hearing this.

Today counted as thanks for the birthday surprise, so both lunch and dinner were on Lin Li.

Lin Li requested it himself.

Originally still planned to find a place to play and relax, but considering the need to prepare for exams, decided against it; will make it up later when there's a chance.

Hearing Ding Si say this, Lin Li nodded: "Alright, then let's go to Chishi together. Bufan introduced me to a newly opened toilet nearby, packed to the rafters."

Direct. Vent. Heart. Thoughts.

"Scram scram scram, I'll pick then. You guy, at least say Shaxian!"

Facing the little glutton Lin Li, Ding Si and Qu Wanqiu were first stunned upon hearing this, then propped their foreheads with their fists, shaking their heads and complaining.

Staying with Bai Bufan for long, sure enough, habits really are contagious.

"I didn't introduce it. I usually go to the old one!" Bai Bufan also grumbled resentfully.

"Then I'll introduce this one to you next time."

"Okay, thanks."

"What's the budget?" Not participating in these two low-IQ retards' topic, Ding Si asked Lin Li.

"Depends on whether you want face or not. If you don't want face, the sky's the limit." Lin Li said casually.

"Understood."

"Sort by price, high to low..."

"Xiling Michelin only has one branch? And it's this far? Taxi fare we'd have to pay ourselves."

"This half-head abalone is actually eleven to thirteen thousand each. How about we each get one to taste? But to save Lin Li money, we'll eat slightly lower quality, the eleven thousand tier is fine."

"..."

Ding Si and Qu Wanqiu whispered across the table, full of enthusiasm.

Lin Li smiled.

The budget is already sixty thousand?

"Lin Li, where are you going?" Ding Si looked at Lin Li standing up, asking in puzzlement.

"To the toilet."

"Then why did you take all your stuff with you?"

"Of course it's because the Master said 'study without shitting leads to confusion; shitting without study leads to danger' so shitting and study must be combined, not because I'm planning to run away home and delete you all. How could that be possible? I couldn't do that kind of thing." Lin Li said innocently.

"Alright, scram back here. Picked a place recommended online, just forty-something per person." Ding Si listened to this long complex sentence, smiled satisfied and nodded, showing her phone.

Lin Li of course knew Ding Si was just joking, but still cooperated with a long sigh of relief, sitting back down.

It's only eleven now; although Ding, Qu, and Bai probably haven't eaten breakfast yet, there's no need to go eat lunch this early.

So after the jokes, everyone quickly entered study mode.

Carrying Wang Yue's wisdom and Chen Yuying's expectations, Lin Li has reasons he cannot lose!

"You're studying while listening to driving school online courses? Can you actually learn like that?"

Bai Bufan was just about to ask Lin Li a question, but noticing Lin Li's current situation, asked in surprise.

Lin Li wore one earphone; in front of him was a test paper, but in front of the test paper a phone was propped up standing, playing a video.

"How can I not learn? Normal study works fine." Lin Li shrugged.

The sound in the earphone was actually very low; Lin Li only needed to pop up when a photo check-in prompt appeared, take his ID card and photograph it against the phone.

"I really admire people who can dual-task. I don't even dare listen to music when studying.

Damn, last time homework required writing the Six Gentlemen of Wuxu, I had Era Circus 'We Like You' playing in my earphones, and I wrote Ma Jiaqi and Ding Chengxin.

Sigh, at the time in the office, Zhen Jie's first question to me was 'Didn't you notice one extra person?'."

"Four Heavenly Kings have five members; that's common sense. Didn't you tell the history teacher?" Lin Li laughed and teased.

Phone popped up a detection; picked up ID card and smiled at it.

Detection passed; online course continued.

"Hey, Lin Li, why does the photo on your ID look so childish." Bai Bufan then, after it ended, reached out and snatched the ID card, looking at Lin Li's portrait on it and teasing, "Doesn't look like you at all now."

"Taken three years ago, of course it doesn't look like me." Lin Li answered indifferently.

A man grows up and changes eighteen ways.

"Let me see too." Ding Si reached out curiously.

"But this ID of yours looks incredibly like someone I know." After Lin Li nodded, Bai Bufan handed the ID to Ding Si, and said to Lin Li himself.

"Who?"

"My son."

Lin Li laughed. Everyone, just as he demonstrated just now, Lin Li can dual-task.

So Lin Li simultaneously lost his reason and composure.

While Bai Bufan lost his pulse and breathing.

……

Approaching noon.

The sunlight outside the study room had already turned into a rich orange-yellow, filtering through the gaps in the curtains and spilling into the study room, warm and cozy.

Unfortunately, despite this, Chen Yuying still refused to take off her windbreaker, so Lin Li could get another look at her curves.

Xiling is still too far from Chaoxian; the sun's illumination is not intense enough.

Chaoxian, bad!

"Almost done, want to eat?" Ding Si Han, having finished reviewing a lesson, raised both hands and let out a soft hum from her mouth, glanced at the time, looked up, and asked everyone.

"Sure."

"Let's go."

Everyone nodded, but Bai Bufan remained focused, rapidly scribbling on paper with flying brushstrokes; hearing the sound, he merely raised his left hand slightly without lifting his head and said, "Wait a moment."

Then he immediately put it down and continued pressing on the draft paper, his face growing even more excited.

"No rush, take your time."

Seeing this, Lin Li sat down again, opened his water cup, and began drinking water.

This kind of study zone state is also rare and hard to come by; looking over, sure enough, he was doing math problems.

And at such times, as long as he solves it, the benefit to Bai Bufan is great.

Bai Bufan did not disappoint Lin Li; in the next second, he excitedly stood up, slammed his pen heavily onto the draft paper, and exclaimed excitedly:

"I've proved it! Wow! I've proved it!"

"You beast, what did you prove?"

"The Pythagorean theorem is wrong!"

"Not bad, pfft——" Lin Li's thumb had already risen, but the next second, upon realizing what he had heard, water instantly sprayed out.

Fortunately, he was facing Bai Bufan, not the girls.

Bai Bufan's excitement came to an abrupt halt; he wiped the water from his face and coldly stared at Lin Li.

Being molested.

But Lin Li now had no time to deal with this; he pointed at Bai Bufan with his finger, face full of disbelief: "What did you just say? What did you prove wrong?"

And Bai Bufan, who had originally been preparing to question Lin Li, upon hearing this, also stopped caring about the water on his face, took the paper handed over by Chen Yuying, casually wiped it a few times, and excitedly showed his draft paper to the four people present.

Making a solemn declaration——

"The Pythagorean theorem is not necessarily valid!"

"I know you might not believe it, but please listen to my detailed explanation!"

"Come, follow my rhythm; we'll use proof by contradiction. First, we assume a+b=c is correct, abc are just letter algebra, can be arbitrarily set, so for your convenience in understanding, we'll write it as x+y=z.

Eh, clever you guys should figure this out by now."

"Figure out what?"

"Ah, foolish!

That's good, I'll continue revealing it—look! The left side x+y is a binary quadratic equation, while the right side z is a unary quadratic equation.

Binary quadratic is the same as unary linear, and unary quadratic linear only costs five mao.

This price difference is double, everyone—this is obviously unequal, so the assumption doesn't hold, meaning the Pythagorean theorem is incorrect!"

Since the entire proof was conceived solely by his own mind, Bai Bufan's explanation was very smooth, flowing like clouds and water.

Ding Si Han, Chen Yuying, Qu Wanqiu: "?"

What five mao?

What did you just hear?

Bai Bufan shook his head; his shocking discovery indeed thoroughly stunned the Lin-Ding-Qu-Chen four people; they stared at the formulas on his draft paper, unable to utter a word.

Understandable.

After all, his discovery is too great.

The first to react was Lin Li, who covered his mouth, his expression somewhat frightened: "I damn, turns out it's like this……"

Ding Si Han, Chen Yuying, Qu Wanqiu: "?"

Not……you?

Lin Li then sighed, murmuring with increasing resentment and regret:

"Damn, I previously recommended the Pythagorean theorem to friends, never expecting it to collapse; everyone, remember to avoid lightning in the future—Old Tou Gu is also harmful, how does he take on all kinds of endorsements, teaching all kinds of knowledge……"

"Hmm……I think, actually, collapsing is quite normal; when I learned this in middle school, I already felt this theorem was unsavory—what theorem talks about gou and gu again? Feels like it became popular just by rubbing, edging."

Ding Si Han took a deep breath, nodded slightly, and affirmed.

Chen Yuying and Qu Wanqiu suddenly turned their heads: "??"

Not……how could you too?

"Not only that, my research results aren't over yet, everyone—I just also solved for the specific value of π."

"Oh, still more experts?"

"Come, look—π = wu = one + er, and Binbin taught that the 'er' suffix has no actual meaning, so π = one = 1!"

Great mathematician Bai Bufan won't stop here; he continues to pull out his previous draft paper and popularizes science to the few people.

"I damn! Bai Bufan, you damn just a genius!" Lin Li is simply a perfect straight man, one singing and one harmonizing, with rises and falls:

"Humans no longer need to suffer from memorizing pi! The dark clouds on the math building have lessened by one piece! Bai Bufan, you damn just Gauss's brother, a big pile of gou si ah!"

Comprehensive development seems necessary; previously, those mathematicians, if they had studied language well, would have solved π early.

Ding Si also nodded with relief: "Bai Bufan's small step, humanity's standing in place."

"Undue praise, undue praise."

The atmosphere in the study room was harmonious, conducting a session of mutual business praise and humility.

Meanwhile, Chen Yuying and Qu Wanqiu exchanged glances.

I don't know why, but it feels like among the people present, only the two of us are the abnormal ones.

So it's us two who are sick?

Lacking confidence, take another look.

"Wanqiu, don't join them, please." Poor Yingbao grabbed Qu Wanqiu's hand, pleading.

"Don't worry, I still can't quite keep up, I'm just too mildly ill." Qu Wanqiu patted Chen Yuying's hand, nodding regretfully.

"Bufan, are you interested in teaching in mountain villages during winter and summer vacations? I feel you could teach Dashan's children into the jungle."

Lin Li hooked his arm around Bai Bufan's shoulder, treating him as a national treasure—

"Bufan, the country needs someone like you, Mr.!"

"Pfft—grass—" Bai Bufan still wanted to stay serious, but Lin Li's two sentences completely broke him, and he burst out laughing.

And at this moment, Lin Li stopped pretending, instantly changed his expression, and directly kicked Bai Bufan's buttocks with a side kick, scolding:

"Damn idiot, Bai Bufan, what the hell did you learn this morning? Is that how proof by contradiction works? Proof by contradiction = it just doesn't hold, right?"

"Just tell me if it's right or wrong."

"Since the equations are five cents each now, what else can I say but go along with you."

"Hahaha, can't help it, I grass, when doing math problems, my thoughts scatter and become like this." Bai Bufan himself eventually couldn't hold back, responding with amusement.

"Alright, let's go, let's eat."

"Let's go."

……

The five of them still took two cars to the restaurant Ding Si mentioned in the group, Lin Li and Bai Bufan arrived first.

It's clear this is a restaurant with genuinely good reviews, because it's full of people inside, and there are still two people sitting on the chairs placed outside on the street, probably waiting in line.

However, Ding Si said she had already made a reservation, so Lin Li still walked straight in.

"Hello, the seats are already full, you need to queue."

"We have a reservation, Ms. Ding called."

"Oh oh, I remember, there's a reservation, please go to that table first, the table hasn't been wiped yet, please wait a moment." The front desk pointed to a table still not cleaned, an empty table, and said apologetically.

The two of them had no objections, walked to the spot by the half-floor-to-ceiling window.

"Only four chairs." Bai Bufan pointed at the number of chairs and called out.

"I have an idea: chairs placed normally can only seat one person each, but if placed upside down, the four chair legs can seat four people—we two sit on one, and the three of them sit on three—how about that?" Lin Li always had many ideas.

"Get lost!" Bai Bufan covered his buttocks, which sounded painful, and laughed while scolding, "You torture yourself, don't torture me—just ask the waiter for another chair."

Bai Bufan waved at the waiter, but it seemed he was too busy, so there was no response for now.

"Do it yourself, feed and clothe yourself." Lin Li stood up.

"Beautiful lady, hello, are you here to eat alone?"

Hearing such a rustic and greasy pickup line, the woman sitting at the long single-sided table against the wall furrowed her brow and turned her head.

The moment she saw Lin Li's face, her brow immediately relaxed.

Remember, a handsome man's pickup line is a beautiful encounter; an ugly man's pickup line is goblin sexual harassment.

Especially since Lin Li looks quite young, still a fresh young meat.

Heavenly delicacy.

"Ah, yes, just me." The woman somewhat shyly tidied her hair, already reached out to open WeChat, and opened her own QR code.

Her shyness stopped abruptly when she saw Lin Li happily say thank you, then she moved the empty chair beside her.

Eh?

Watching Lin Li's cheerful departing back, the woman slowly pressed out a question mark.

You motherfucker, you're not here to hit on me!

"Pingping, I'm back, eh, where's my chair?" The best friend returned from the toilet, looked at the empty floor, and froze.

When the woman noticed, Lin Li heard her best friend's voice and also looked over here, and stood up again, seemingly starting to hesitate whether to return the chair he just brought over here...

Now it's not a question mark being pressed, but a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment.

Awkward to the point of getting goosebumps.

Instantly, she chose to stand up, link arms with her best friend, and walk out, while lowering her voice to plead: "Go! Go! Change restaurants to eat!"

"Ah? Why?"

"Don't ask yet! Go, go first! Please!"

Best friend: "?"

……

"Should I not have taken this chair?" Lin Li asked Bai Bufan.

"It doesn't matter now, anyway they've already left." Bai Bufan said with a smile.

Soon, Chen Yuying and her group's taxi also arrived.

All five arrived, the table had already been cleared, so they scanned the code to order.

"Pa-da."

Bai Bufan's outstretched hand was struck red by Lin Li's chopsticks.

"You bastard, you forgot the rules again." Lin Li said coldly.

"What? What did I do?" Bai Bufan looked confused.

"Don't you understand the principle of eating before the phone?" Lin Li raised his chin.

"Oh oh, it's mine."

Bai Bufan and girls his age hadn't really gone out together much; the last time was with this group, so forgetting was completely normal.

"Is 'oh oh, it's mine' just going to be left at that? Bai Bufan, what's your attitude exactly?" Lin Li, who still couldn't move his chopsticks and had no interest in taking photos, refused to let Bai Bufan off, questioning him coldly:

"When we had nothing to eat, who found us a restaurant? Bai Bufan! When we had no money to pay the bill, who paid for us?! The phone paid for us and gave us navigation, yet you started eating first?

After I said all that, you still have this attitude? Really, you're truly insolent!"

Bai Bufan: "..."

Your mom.

Is this really making a mountain out of a molehill?

But Bai Bufan immediately bowed slightly toward Lin Li, his apology solemn and heavy: "Sorry, I know I was wrong. Do you have the Douyin account for the phone? I want to write a short essay to thank it."

"The Douyin account isn't activated yet, but I have its payment code. Just transfer to it directly, okay?" Lin Li opened the payment code, showed it to Bai Bufan, indicating he could start thanking it.

Bai Bufan: "?"

"Isn't this your payment code, damn it?"

"It's the phone's."

"..."

The three girls laughed clearly, but with the two of them causing such a scene, they no longer intended to keep filming.

"Alright, alright, no more filming, let's start eating." Chen Yuying said with a smile.

"Bufan, you can start eating now; you've been very good today, rewarded with the first bite."

"Thank... no, wait, why do I keep feeling like you're training a dog?"

"Take out 'why do I keep feeling,' okay."

(End of chapter)