Chapter 153: Chapter 153

"Shen You’an, come up and solve this problem."

The girl was slumped over her desk, seemingly lost in deep sleep.

On the podium, Chen Zhou’s expression was dark as he clutched a piece of chalk and threw it toward Shen You’an in the corner.

The entire class turned their heads simultaneously to look.

Many of their gazes were filled with schadenfreude.

Nobody had expected Shen You’an to get distracted during class, much less to be caught by Mr. Chen. She was in real trouble now.

Chen Zhou, a graduate of Qing University’s mathematics department, trained under the renowned mathematician and National Mathematics Association chairman, Academician Jiang Han. He held a highly influential position in the country’s mathematics circles. To lure him into teaching Class A, Lanya Group had exerted significant effort behind the scenes.

His single lecture was considered to be worth a fortune.

Daring to sleep in his class? It was easy to imagine how furious the overly meticulous Chen Zhou would be.

Gu Bichen cleared his throat softly and gently nudged Shen You’an’s arm.

The chalk hit Shen You’an’s head, and she slowly woke up, lifting her head.

Several red marks were imprinted on her cheek from pressing against the desk, making her pale, bloodless skin appear even starker.

Liu Runxi, who had turned his head to observe this scene, darkened his gaze behind his glasses and quietly turned back.

"Shen You’an, get up here. If you can’t solve this problem, go home and sleep there," Chen Zhou roared after slamming the desk.

Shen You’an adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose, then calmly stood up in front of the entire class, leaving her seat and walking toward the podium.

Gu Bichen looked at her with concern. "Shen...."

As Shen You’an passed by Liu Runxi’s desk, he lowered his voice and said something to her.

Yan Lu gave her deskmate a surprised glance.

They had been deskmates for two weeks, and this person hadn’t said a single word to her in that time, seeming almost ethereal in his aloofness.

Yet he was now actively reminding Shen You’an.

Shen You’an reached the podium and glanced at the calculus problem on the blackboard.

After a brief moment of contemplation, she picked up a piece of chalk from the desk and began solving the problem.

Chen Zhou stood by with his arms crossed, watching coldly.

Lanya High School’s teaching method diverged from the foundational education found at other schools. The pace of lessons was extremely fast, and falling behind even slightly meant struggling immensely and likely being disqualified from Class A.

Most of the students in the class had already previewed the material for the first semester of their freshman year during the summer break. Some had even hired prestigious tutors to delve into sophomore-level content. Such was the competitive nature of this class.

As for Chen Zhou’s teaching style, it was rather unstructured; he taught whatever came to mind without particular regard for whether the students could follow.

The so-called genius class was supposed to have the traits of a genius—what’s the point of doing things step by step?

With mathematics being an inherently abstract subject, students needed to utilize their imagination to construct rigorous logical frameworks within vast mental spaces. This required prolonged training.

Through his careful observation, Chen Zhou had noted that these students had been subjected to such mathematical training from a young age. As long as they maintained their focus, most could keep up.

But if someone got distracted even for a single class, it was like a domino effect—spawning a vicious cycle.

He absolutely would not tolerate the students he taught slipping into this pattern. It wasn’t just disrespect toward him—it was disrespect toward mathematics itself.

This class was currently focused on differentiation formulas, which had already ventured far beyond the syllabus, touching on collegiate calculus and integrals. Since the upcoming mathematics exams typically included such questions, he had intentionally extended the topic.

Shen You’an was undeniably a genius. But no matter how gifted she was, there was no way she could learn while sleeping.

He had to give this student a lesson; otherwise, she might end up like one of those prodigy tragedies.

Among the other students, some worried that Shen You’an would embarrass herself if she couldn’t solve the problem, while others eagerly anticipated the spectacle.

To have the audacity to doze off during Mr. Chen’s lecture—did she think scoring first place meant she could disregard everyone else? Let’s see if Shen You’an is brilliant enough to grasp collegiate calculus.

In a blink of an eye, Shen You’an had already filled half the blackboard with calculations, dense with differentiation formulas.

Chen Zhou’s expression gradually turned serious as he watched her work.

As she wrote the final symbol, the chalk in her hand had reached the end of its lifespan.

Clapping the chalk dust off her hands, Shen You’an turned toward Chen Zhou.

"Teacher, I’ve finished."

Chen Zhou pointed at one particular formula. "If there’s an f″(X0), and f″(X) = 0, but f″(X) ≠ 0...."

Shen You’an smiled faintly. "Then we can draw the following two conclusions: if f″(X) 0, then f(X) is its minimum."