Study Monster Cultivation System
Chapter 244 - 243, why don’t you take a seat?

Jie Qifen led Li Zheng out of the school and found a familiar Sichuan snack shop. They ordered a few spicy dishes and started to chat heartily over bottles of liquor.

As soon as he touched alcohol, he became even more talkative than usual, and the topics jumped around more.

One moment they discussed mechanics, and suddenly he would burst into quantum mechanics.

In the midst of it, he extended the conversation to Schrödinger’s open marriage, how his official wife and mistresses were all gloriously in place, with the red flag at home still flying high and all the colorful flags fluttering throughout the town.

Then, as if caught in a drought or a flood, the topic bizarrely shifted to "the sexual repression of science students." He mentioned that during his undergraduate years, he wanted to write a paper on "the correlation between sex life and research efficiency," which was rejected. However, he felt the direction was viable. So he tweaked the topic to "the impact of sex life on intelligence," and then there was no then.

To this day, he still believes the reason he couldn’t pursue this topic wasn’t because it was unreliable, but rather to spare the self-esteem of the vast majority of science students.

At this point, Li Zheng felt he couldn’t keep up and hoped to steer the conversation back to academics, so he asked a question about fluid mechanics.

Jie Qifen didn’t hesitate to enlighten him and immediately threw a topic at Li Zheng—

[The Analysis of Fluid Mechanics in Sexual Activities]

Seeing Li Zheng’s rigid expression after hearing the topic, Jie Qifen really appreciated it.

"Look, this topic covers fluid mechanics, biology, and human ergonomics; it’s a huge subject," Jie Qifen said with a laugh while nursing his beer, "The key thing is that this is untouched ground, you know how rare that is these days? I’m talking about virgin territory in research."

Li Zheng coughed awkwardly, "There’s a guy called Director Bi in the bar, he might be interested in this topic."

"No way," Jie Qifen firmly raised his hand, "Such a good topic can’t be given to Jinghua."

"Are you serious, Teacher Jie... What’s the point of a topic like this?"

"Oh, it has a broad application prospect," explained Jie Qifen as he gestured, "Just consider a few things—[Automatic Erection Device][Ejaculation Suppressor][Double Expansion Ring]... Feeling anything yet?"

"This... these needs seem to have already been addressed by medical science, right?"

"Is that the same though? Don’t you think the physics approach is more interesting?"

"Alright..." Li Zheng shook his head with a sigh, hesitantly saying, "It’s certainly fine to chat about this stuff over food... but I’m still more concerned about the actual topics you’re working on. All this sounds like…"

"Pseudoscience?" Jie smiled as he opened a new bottle, "No worries, just say it, I’ve been sprayed with this kind of stuff for over a decade."

"No, I was going to say Doraemon."

"Haha, it doesn’t matter," shrugged Jie Qifen as he gulped down half a bottle and, seeing Li Zheng’s earnest look, sighed helplessly, "I’m not doing anything right now, but if someone was willing to fund me, I might actually go work on the Double Expansion Ring..."

"..."

"Alright, I know you’re finding me annoying," Jie Qifen put down his bottle and quickly took a couple bites of food, "Hurry up and finish eating, then let’s go back and continue the lecture."

"It’s not that, Teacher Jie," retorted Li Zheng as he picked up the liquor bottle and poured himself a large glass, "It’s just that being with someone like you makes me unconsciously want to absorb knowledge in physics, to know what sort of research someone who was an early champion, like you, has done and what they’ve thought about."

"Research, thinking?" Jie Qifen said, shaking his head as he picked up some pickled mustard tuber, "It’s too early, Comrade Little Li. It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it, it’s that you shouldn’t hear it now."

"It’s okay..." Li Zheng raised his glass sincerely, "I’m psychologically prepared now. Even if you were really working on a perpetual motion machine, I could accept it. To be frank, at first, I really trusted your knowledge but doubted your character... Now it’s the other way around, I really trust your character but have started to doubt your knowledge..."

Jie Qifen paused for a moment but still quickly picked up the bottle to clink it heavily with Li Zheng.

"I appreciate your trust," Jie Qifen said somewhat seriously, staring intently at Li Zheng, "I will show you my way of thinking, my training methods as much as possible. But my true thinking in physics, sorry, it’s not yet possible."

"Why?"

"Just because it isn’t," replied Jie Qifen, putting down the bottle, no longer beaming, but covering his face with a numbness.

No matter what Li Zheng said after that, he didn’t answer, even if the topic was Double Expansion or whatever else, no response.

He just took out his phone and staggered toward the counter, leaving behind just the silhouette of an ordinary middle-aged drunk man.

On the way back, the two didn’t exchange a single word.

By the time they returned to the small classroom, it was already around eight o’clock in the evening. In the large laboratory next door, the training team members were still conducting experiments.

Jie Qifen showed no interest in this and simply returned in front of the blackboard to casually scribble.

Although he was a bit drunk and not particularly enthusiastic, the content he spoke about was still noteworthy.

"In the past few hours, you’ve learned a new method to solve problems."

"Draw the physical picture, then translate it into a mathematics problem, and after calculating, revert back to the physical result."

"This is actually not a new method; from middle school onwards, physics problems could be solved like this."

"But now, having mastered differentiation and integration, there no longer exist any barriers between physics and mathematics when it comes to this translation."

"However, this does not mean that all physical problems must be converted through calculus."

"In other words, calculus is the dumbest method."

"You know the images in a computer, right? It takes a picture and divides it into millions of pixels. Then by describing the color of each pixel, it displays the whole picture. That’s the dumbest method."

"If we’re a little smarter, we can describe the picture through its features instead."

"For instance, if the top-left corner of an image has a million black pixels, we only need to record the edge positions and the information that they’re black," he explained.

"And this is the Eulerian description in fluid mechanics," he continued.

"Now, let go of the calculus mindset and join Old Ou on a journey of thought," he suggested.

The remainder of the class was a marked departure from the initially harsh and abrupt start. Teacher Jie gradually became more tender, incorporating numerous examples and guides that facilitated understanding, softening the whole atmosphere of the class.

Of course, whenever math was involved, the material was still steep, suddenly becoming "a little differential," and then, incomprehensible.

After an indefinite amount of time, there came a knock at the door.

Upon Teacher Jie’s acknowledgement, two male students barged into the classroom, their eyes bearing a trace of resentment as they looked at Li Zheng and Teacher Jie.

Li Zheng noticed that even more people were gathering outside the classroom. Lu Yang was trying to disperse the crowd, but to no avail.

Teacher Jie rubbed his head, perhaps because the alcohol was kicking in, and asked with some irritation, "What’s up?"

"Teacher Jie... we want to listen, too..."

"You can’t just cook a special dish for him alone and push us all out..."

After these words were spoken, it also fell silent outside.

"Listen then," Teacher Jie pointed to the empty seats scattered around the classroom, "I didn’t say you couldn’t listen, just take a seat."

Caught off guard at first, the two young men then hurriedly found seats towards the front, looking pleased.

People from outside began to flow in as well, and in a moment, the classroom was full.

Teacher Jie then shook his head, asked Lu Yang for a bottle of mineral water, took a couple of gulps, and resumed the lecture.

Instantly, the gentleness was gone, and the material reverted to the complexity that Li Zheng had been introduced to at the start.

In chunks, then a small differentiation, and everything would come forth.

It was one of those paces where merely taking notes was insufficient to keep up.

Gradually...

People began to leave...

"Sorry to interrupt, Teacher Jie..."

"This stuff... it won’t even be on the test..."

"I feel like I’m listening to ’Mathematical Analysis’..."

"Might as well go back to sleep..."

"Li Zheng, can you understand this?"

In the span of twenty minutes, those who had just squeezed in had all squeezed back out.

Only Qi Yingnan, with his bushy eyebrows and big eyes, remained. He sat at the farthest spot from Li Zheng and listened determinedly.

Seeing his constipated expression, Teacher Jie laughed, put down the chalk and asked, "Tell the truth, how much of that did you understand?"

"Zero!" Qi Yingnan responded assertively.

"Then what are you listening to?"

"The essence of physics!" Qi Yingnan didn’t back down and nodded resolutely, "You asked us at the beginning who wanted to approach the essence of physics, and I did."

"Oh? Did I ask that?" Li Zheng, from the back, exclaimed, "Then I want to, too."

"Not talking to you," Qi Yingnan flipped his head dismissively, seemingly holding a grudge and ignoring Li Zheng completely.

Looking at his watch and then at the two of them, Teacher Jie shook his head with a sigh, "It’s past ten o’clock already, look at you two. I’ll say a bit more then, just to spark your imagination. Don’t think too deeply into it."

As he spoke, he turned and pointed to the spot of water he had drawn on the blackboard earlier, "What I’ve been teaching all this time is merely how to express physical problems as physical images and then transform them into mathematical problems for solving, right?"

Both of them nodded together in agreement.

"What if it’s the other way around?" Teacher Jie picked up the eraser, wiped off the water spot, leaving only the equations beside it, "If I just give you the mathematical equation, could you describe the physical image?"

Both faltered, then fell into contemplation.

Soon after, Qi Yingnan raised his hand first, "No."

"Why not?"

"This mathematical equation is too simple. It can only describe the state of a fluid under certain specific conditions in a physical environment."

"Good," Teacher Jie nodded, turning to Li Zheng, "What about you?"

"Still thinking..." Li Zheng murmured, "What if there are more equations? Enough to encompass everything about this fluid?"

"You’re also doing good," Teacher Jie followed with a nod, then looked back at Qi Yingnan, "Using simple equations to describe physics, in reality, that’s what the sages of the classical physics era did."

Having said that, he turned to look at Li Zheng, "And now, scientists are trying their best to deduce equations that describe everything. There will be many, many groups of them. This is precisely why modern science is overly complicated and bloated."

"Quantum Mechanics, which I hate the most, is among them."

"It’s not that I’m saying Quantum Mechanics is definitely wrong. On the contrary, I understand Quantum Mechanics better than most so-called experts, but that doesn’t stop me from hating it."

"My hatred for it is because my math is too good, so good that I intuitively reject it, and physically detest it."

"It has created a lot of nonsensical concepts that obscure the critical points that are difficult to describe mathematically. To me, they are like charlatans, using their own words to create a bunch of seemingly logical causes and effects, and then erecting an exceedingly high knowledge barrier."

"Among them, the most disgusting ones claim to have the ability to ’interpret oracles’ and are worshipped by a crowd that pretends to understand, cheating them out of food, drinks, and even sexual favors."

"For me, physics must satisfy mathematics, otherwise it sickens me, just as seeing a group of people evangelizing with The Bible does."

"But if we must speak frankly, I’m not much better."

"I too have my Bible—mathematics."

"It is the only unshakeable thing I can accept, the only reliable achievement of humanity."

"So, realizing that I rejected Quantum Mechanics and yet lacked the talent for experimentation,"

"I picked up my Bible."

"If they are all using physical images to deduce mathematical formulas,"

"Then I would do the opposite, with math…"

"Cough."

Li Zheng and Qi Yingnan were engrossed in listening when suddenly, a light cough came from the classroom door.

All three of them looked over at once.

The newcomer was a tall man in a suit, not too old in years, but with graying hair. Framed by rimless glasses and a benevolent smile, he had the appearance of someone whom, at just one glance, you would be certain was highly learned.

Even Jie Qifen put down his chalk and respectfully nodded in greeting, "Dean Zhong…"

"It’s alright, quite fascinating," the man said with a smile, tilting his wrist to glance at his watch. "It’s just a bit late today."

"Yes," Jie Qifen quickly bowed his head to pack up his things, any previous animation vanished without a trace.

It seemed that even the academic rebel was only a bully to the weak and feared the strong, immediately losing his voice in the presence of a real authority.

But Li Zheng wasn’t paying attention to this; he very much wanted to shout out, "I’m not tired."

However, a true authority was indeed a true authority. With just a smile standing by the door, Dean Zhong made Li Zheng instinctively quiet down, unable to utter another word.

Qi Yingnan was even more extreme, her body beginning to tremble slightly at the sight of the dignitary’s kind countenance.

On the other side, in front of the lectern, Jie Qifen packed up quickly and headed out with his head down.

It was Dean Zhong who raised his hand to stop him, saying, "All the teachers from the meeting have returned. You’ve worked hard. At least say goodbye to the students."

"Oh, right…" Jie Qifen casually waved a hand towards the two of them, "I’ve said all that needs to be said, the rest is up to your own enlightenment. We’ll meet again if the opportunity arises…"

Without waiting for a response, he nodded at the dean and hurried away as if his soul had departed.

Under the eyes of Li Zheng and Qi Yingnan, Dean Zhong finally walked in with a smile, casually sat down at a desk, and with a smile, set down his briefcase, "One of you two must be Li Zheng, right?"

"Ah." Li Zheng dumbly responded.

"Zhou Yi specifically mentioned you to me." Dean Zhong pointed at Li Zheng with a more indulgent smile, "Told me to give you a good challenge."

Li Zheng’s eyes widened.

So much for Zhou Chenghuan!

Insisting on giving me a tricky Cheng Huan problem wasn’t enough?

Dean Zhong then turned to Qi Yingnan, "This student is..."

Qi Yingnan shuddered, standing up quickly, "Qi Yingnan… fo-fourth… the fourth."

"Hmm, all are very good results." Dean Zhong nodded affirmatively, then casually asked, "What was Teacher Jie talking about just now?"

At this question, Li Zheng and Qi Yingnan immediately exchanged glances, then both looked down.

Dean Zhong’s cough had come at just the right moment.

Combined with Jie Qifen’s series of strange behaviors.

Both of them could feel that both the dean and Jie Qifen himself seemed to think that the content of the class that followed was taboo.

Although both respected the dean, they also didn’t want to betray Jie Qifen just like that.

"It’s okay, don’t be nervous." Dean Zhong just raised his hand and laughed, "If he talked about Cellular Automata or the Game of Life, then indeed, that’s quite interesting, but you all are far from the time to immerse yourselves deeply in it. Teacher Jie’s talent is widely recognized, but his depth of thought and research methods aren’t something everyone can withstand. If you can enroll, you can ask for his advice later."

And this was awkward.

Dean Zhong’s original intention was to give a preemptive warning, to prevent Jie Qifen from leading the two astray.

However, Jie Qifen hadn’t said much at all.

On the contrary, it was he himself, who delivered the terms "Cellular Automaton" and "Game of Life" straight to the two of them.

Dean Zhong watched their eyes spin with excitement and seemed to realize something too.

"Alright, don’t overthink it... This room is filled with the smell of smoke... really..." He swallowed his saliva, covering his nose as he awkwardly stood up, "Go back to the dormitory, I’ll make up the opening ceremony for you tomorrow morning."

Li Zheng and Qi Yingnan quickly got up to pack their things, and after bidding the dean farewell, they dashed into the stairwell.

At this moment, Qi Yingnan had also forgotten the grudge she held against Li Zheng, and as soon as they entered the corridor, she grabbed Li Zheng’s hand and exclaimed, "Cellular Automaton?"

"Game of Life!" Li Zheng was equally thrilled.

"But what does this have to do with physics?"

"At least it’s related to mathematics, and mathematics is related to physics."

"Ah, it’s so frustrating, what on earth is Jie Qifen trying to do!"

"Yeah, does it need to be this mysterious, it’s not like it’s a perpetual motion machine."

As they were talking, someone hurried up from downstairs.

Fortunately, it wasn’t Jie Qifen; it was Lu Yang.

Lu Yang was a genuinely nice guy, not forgetting to lead them to the dormitory building.

Having caught Lu Yang, they certainly wouldn’t let him go and immediately started asking him about Jie Qifen’s matters.

Unfortunately, even Lu Yang was unclear about what research Teacher Jie was doing and what his thoughts on physics were.

Lu Yang only knew that his research had been halted more than a decade ago, and Jie Qifen had not conducted any research since.

It wasn’t just his research that stopped; his zest for life had dwindled as well.

To this day, Jie Qifen still lives with his mother and shows no intention of getting married and starting a family.

Although he has never gone for a professorship, his image and credentials are top-notch. Over the years, many female students have expressed their admiration for him, but he has dismissed them all, as if splashing water away.

In the years following the project’s termination, the school leaders tried to hand him topics and funds multiple times, but he refused them all. Even when urged to apply for professional titles, he didn’t sign up, becoming somewhat of a recluse.

According to Lu Yang, this was probably a form of resistance to his research being halted.

If you don’t want me to do this, then I’ll do nothing at all.

Of course, such resistance was bound to be futile.

As Jie Qifen grew older and with more talents filling in, he became a marginal figure, teaching those few fixed classes every week. If not for the recent slew of meetings overlapping, it wouldn’t have been his turn to lead the training camp.

"So you see, research is like this." As Lu Yang lazily walked with the two beside Yiming Lake, looking at the moon’s reflection on the water, he sighed and said, "No one knows the correct direction, no one knows if they will be halted, no one knows if they should persevere. Each professor is like an extending root, just hoping to reach deeper in this lifetime, to touch more soil, and to avoid a dead end."

"What a way with words, senior," complimented Li Zheng. "So you really don’t know what direction Teacher Jie is pursuing?"

"I don’t know... Some teachers might know, but they don’t talk about it. They get angry if we ask."

Qi Yingnan laughed, "Sounds like Voldemort from Harry Potter."

"It’s actually quite similar," Lu Yang gestured. "This is one of the seven taboos of our School of Physics—the research of Jie Qifen."

"And the first six?" Li Zheng and Qi Yingnan asked in unison.

"There are more, but I don’t know them, and even if I did, I couldn’t tell you."

"Just tell us one."

"Please, brother Lu Yang," Qi Yingnan cajolingly tugged at Lu Yang’s arm.

"Get lost!" Lu Yang shook her off and reluctantly said, "Then I’ll tell you number two... You saw Dean Zhong just now, right?"

"Yeah."

"Hmph..." Lu Yang looked at them and gradually clenched his teeth, whispering in a very low voice, "Dean Zhong... used to be one of them... "

"From Jinghua?" Qi Yingnan exclaimed in shock, "A person from Jinghua came to Ji University to be a dean?"

"Shh!" Lu Yang warned, "Don’t mention this in front of too many people… It’s like starting a war."

"That serious? Just the second taboo..." Li Zheng inquired, "What on earth is the first one?"

"I don’t know either, perhaps only graduate students have the privilege of getting a glimpse of it," Lu Yang said as he wrapped his arms around the two, "All you need to know is, ’to study physics, come to Ji University’. Of course, it’s not just physics, ’to study chemistry, come to Ji University’ also makes sense, ’to study biology, come to Ji University’, ’to study business management, come to Ji University’..."

"Sounds like Lanxiang Technical School?"

"Shut up! The one next door is Lanxiang."

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