stjorthotic Chapter 3 The Power of [Computational Ability +1]
Chapter 3 The Power of [Computational Ability +1]
North Teaching Building 1, Lecture Hall 101.
The advanced mathematics class had already begun, and about half of the seats in the large classroom were empty. The professor in charge of the class, surnamed Liu, was one of the younger professors at the university, and he looked very energetic. He didn't take attendance; he just glanced at the students briefly before starting the lecture.
"Today, we're going to learn the last part of indefinite integrals: integrals of rational functions. After that, we'll learn definite integrals..."
An Yi sat in the first row, his expression solemn and focused.
There is a phenomenon in universities where the first few rows of seats are sparsely filled, but the further back you go, the more crowded it becomes... Generally speaking, the easier the course, the more common and severe this phenomenon is.
Although teachers generally don't mind if students sit in the front rows and play on their phones, most people are too embarrassed to do it so openly.
What if I anger the teacher and they write down my name and deduct my participation points? If I fail the final exam and don't get the credits, I'm doomed!
An Yi usually sits in the middle or back row, but today she came to the front row for the first time, which was really out of necessity.
Since the goal is to "show attitude," then of course one must excel in every aspect!
However, after a while—
"Is this the attitude you're trying to show me, this pretentious act?" The girl's voice whispered in An Yi's ear.
An Yi glanced at her subconsciously, but when he saw those clear eyes that could reflect his own image, he guiltily looked away and dared not meet her gaze.
"Of course not! I just... well, I just don't understand."
He tried to force an explanation, but ultimately confessed with some disappointment.
"Is it because I'm not smart enough?"
[My impression of you from "Advanced Mathematics" increases by 1]
Current favorability rating: 22/100
The sudden appearance of the light screen startled An Yi. What was going on?
"I thought you were going to keep being stubborn."
The girl's cheerful voice drew An Yi's attention back. She raised an eyebrow, appearing to be in a good mood, "Looks like you're not hopeless after all."
"So I really am stupid?" An Yi asked with a mournful face.
"Of course not!"
The girl shook her head. "Don't you know your own situation? It's your own fault for brushing me off like that before; now you're obviously finding it difficult."
But actually, I'm very easy to get along with, as long as you're willing to get to know me gradually.
"Really?" An Yi asked weakly, as he really lacked confidence at the moment.
"Of course it's true, I always speak the truth!"
Now that things have come to this point, if An Yi still doesn't know what to do, he really needs to get his intelligence checked. He opened the "Advanced Mathematics" textbook in front of him... This book had been in his hands ever since he came to the classroom; thankfully, the girl hadn't disappeared and was still by his side.
"Would this be considered a 'red-sleeve reading companion'?"
He thought to himself, and flipped through the pages of "Advanced Mathematics" all the way to [3.1 Mean Value Theorem of Differentials].
Because the previous chapters were "Functions and Limits" and "Derivatives and Differentials," An Yi had already encountered and learned a lot of the knowledge in these two chapters during high school, so she didn't find them difficult at first.
Then he started to slack off, and then he began to fall further and further behind...
An Yi took a deep breath and gritted her teeth to start eating.
Before he even started, he felt that he was about to face an incredibly tough nut to crack, one that could only be slowly ground down over time. Whether he would eventually grind it down and swallow it or break his teeth first was up to luck.
But once he actually started, he suddenly realized that...
"It's not that hard to understand, is it?"
An Yi heard a girl's voice from the side and looked in that direction, unable to look away for a moment.
"right……"
"Why are you looking at me? Read your book!" The girl put on a stern face again.
"Look at you, all you do is read books..." An Yi muttered to himself, trying to get back into studying, and felt that he really did have a little more confidence.
"These theorems and definitions aren't difficult to understand; it's just that you haven't put in the effort to try them before. Even the simplest things are always difficult if you don't try."
The girl was indeed in a good mood. "Take L'Hôpital's Law, for example, what do you think about it?"
"In general, it means determining whether lim(f(x)/g(x)) as an indeterminate form satisfies the basic forms 0/0 and ∞/∞, and whether lim(f′(x)/g′(x)) exists or is infinite. If so, then lim(f(x)/g(x)) = lim(f′(x)/g′(x))... If it is another indeterminate form such as 0·∞, ∞-∞, etc., it must be transformed into the basic form before L'Hôpital's rule can be used."
An Yi summarized what she had understood and paused.
"The formulas and theorems are indeed quite simple, but just understanding the theorems isn't enough. Isn't the main difficulty in mathematics in its applications?"
When the teacher was explaining L'Hôpital's rule, he hadn't completely lost focus yet; he still occasionally tried to do his homework on his own, but the result... was utterly disastrous.
Understanding something is one thing, but knowing how to use it is another!
"Why don't you try doing two questions now?" The girl looked at him with a half-smile.
So An Yi gave it a try.
A moment later, he looked at the girl with surprise. He was doing a few exercises from the textbook, and the usual feeling of not knowing where to start when faced with complex algebraic expressions had disappeared.
A completely new "feeling," or rather, "instinct," arose within him. Upon seeing the algebraic expression, he almost instinctively knew how to perform algebraic transformations and differentiations, and his calculation speed was unbelievably fast, his writing fluid and without the slightest pause!
Wait... calculation?
An Yi recalled the [Computational Ability +1] effect he had received earlier. Because of the overwhelming amount of information he faced afterward, he had even forgotten about it for a moment. As a result... he didn't expect the effect to be so powerful?
Yes, computing power, whether it's purely numerical or algebraic operations, should be included!
Is this just the improvement from +1?
"Actually, you can solve it even without this, it just takes a little longer, you're just too lazy to do it." The girl stared at him quietly.
"hey-hey……"
An Yi didn't know what to say, so he could only give an embarrassed dry laugh.
Continue learning.
Full of motivation, he threw himself into it like never before, and learning had never been so easy, so easy that he even felt a little happy!
Time seemed to fly by in this state. The first 45-minute class ended quickly, and the bell rang. An Yi remained seated, motionless, occasionally asking the girl for help when he encountered a pause.
This behavior, which is essentially asking a girl how to win her over, is surprisingly effective. At least the girl doesn't refuse to answer, and her explanations are always easy to understand.
In this situation, An Yi's learning progressed rapidly. Before the bell rang for the second class, he had already progressed to the same level as the course progress on "Integralization of Rational Functions"!
Because those formulas and theorems are not difficult at all; the difficulty lies in their flexible application and various algebraic transformations.
An Yi now knows exactly how to apply them. With [Computational Ability +1], as long as he understands the basics of arithmetic rules and theorems, he instinctively knows how to perform those calculations!
Under immersive learning conditions, his perception of other things in the outside world became somewhat blurred, as if at this moment only he and the girl were together in the huge classroom.
Of course, he could still receive some information. For example, he vaguely heard the school bell, knowing that the break was over and the second class was starting. He also vaguely heard the words "roll call".
"Should I call out those three unfilial sons' names again?" An Yi wondered.
He didn't think too much about it. Taking attendance for the rebellious kids in the dormitory was already a routine operation for him. He just needed to change the way he spoke, and the teachers wouldn't really pay much attention to it anyway.
So when he heard the names of those three rebellious sons, including his own, being called out from the podium, he habitually used his vocal techniques and answered with his head down.
That said, the surroundings suddenly seemed very quiet.
"Eh."
In the quiet classroom, the girl's voice, tinged with a hint of laughter, was all too clear.
"I admit I'm good-looking, but you don't have to be so obsessed, do you?"
What does that mean?
An Yi looked up with some confusion, just about to look at her, when he noticed an unusual dark figure standing in front of him out of the corner of his eye, and his gaze was involuntarily drawn to it.
It was Teacher Liu. He was holding a roster, looking down at An Yi with a kind smile on his face.
"This is the first time I've ever seen someone with four names. You're never too old to learn; this is truly eye-opening!"
An Yi's heart skipped a beat, and she finally came to her full senses and realized what had just happened.
Teacher Liu took attendance unexpectedly, and to help his three unruly sons answer correctly, he used different voices to disguise himself...
Normally, this might have been concealed.
But now, he's sitting in the first row of the classroom!