At that time, there was a well-known professor of mathematics at the university. The young Li Ideal's talent in mathematics impressed the professor. The professor has been trying to solve a math puzzle for years. It was very hard work, and the professor felt that he was overwhelmed and had little hope of finding an answer in his lifetime. The professor hopes to find a successor who can succeed him in the future and continue his career. The appearance of Li Ideal made his eyes shine, as if he saw that his problem had the hope of being finally solved.

The professor summoned Li Ideal to the door. As a tutor, in order to be able to discuss and research their topics with Li Li at any time, the professor asked the university to arrange an apartment for Li Li. The professor even hired a nanny for him out of his own pocket, who was responsible for cooking and laundry for him every day, tidying up and cleaning his room.

Li Li has no friends and does not participate in social activities. Every day, my mind is full of mathematical symbols, and I don't have time to care about the real world. Li Ideal's classmates all knew him, but he didn't know most of them.

Li Li is not without friends, he has a friend who is not human, that is, the crow Akang. There is no way to verify how Li Ideal and Crow Akang met in the first place, anyway, Crow Akang can understand the deep voice of this special young man.

Li Ideal, who is already a college student, suddenly made a new discovery about himself one day after he became an adult at the age of 18. He found that he was indeed different from other people, as if he was not a natural person, but a "problem-solving machine". From childhood to adulthood, everything about him was arranged by others. He is like a "machine", someone has to program it for him before he acts. When to eat, when to sleep, when to go out for a run and exercise, are all input by his mother. What questions were done, which books to read, were typed by his father. Once in college, the job was taken over by his mentor.

Li Ideal's studies were smooth sailing. His doctoral dissertation caused a sensation as soon as it was published in the Journal of the Mathematical Society. Mathematicians praised the young man.

However, the doctoral dissertation defense meeting was not held on time, but was postponed for several months. This is a decision made by the president of the university.

That year, the university happened to host the National Conference of Mathematicians. The president wanted Li Ideal's "doctoral dissertation defense meeting" to be a part of this annual meeting, and it was an important part. The principal decided that Li Li would become a rising star in the world of mathematics. The university will be honored for producing Li Ideal. Li's ideal "dissertation defense" will attract a large number of famous mathematicians, which will greatly enhance the academic prestige of the university.

Unexpectedly, in the next few months, Li Ideal's life took a big turn. After the publication of his doctoral dissertation, Li Li suddenly lost interest in mathematics.

At first, Li Li was very distressed, and he told his mentor about his feelings. The mentor thought that it must be that he was overworked. For this paper, Li Ideal spent a huge amount of time and energy. The tutor advised him to put aside math for a while and relax completely. Li accepted the advice of his mentor, and he locked all the books and materials related to mathematics into a box.

When he sat back in his chair, he found himself at a loss for what to do. He was particularly depressed and thought that something must have gone wrong with his life. He remembered that he was 22 years old this year, and that 22 years of life had passed. What has he been doing in all this time?

Li Ideal is very dissatisfied with his life, and he even thinks that he has lived for 22 years in vain.

In order to figure out what went wrong with him, Li Li would sometimes lie in bed all day, and sometimes run to the lilac garden and wander under the tree all day. Akang the raven looked at him anxiously from the branches, hoping that he would say something. But Li Ideal ignored it and just said:

"You can't help me with this, I'll have to figure it out on my own. ”

On the morning of the dissertation defense, Li left a letter on the table and quietly left.

The man who had been sent to urge him to hurry up saw the letter and hurried back to give it to the tutor and the principal. There were only three words written on the letter: I'm gone.

The principal immediately sent people around the campus to look around.

The clock on the wall was already pointing to nine o'clock, and the president of the university was so anxious that he walked back and forth in his office, and the old professor of the tutor was so anxious that his face turned pale and he sat motionless on the sofa. When the time came, the headmaster shook his head and said helplessly:

"We had to declare him sick. ”

The protagonist of the doctoral dissertation defense meeting, doctoral student Li Lili, the young man who was known as a "mathematical genius", was sick and could not show his face. The news was really explosive, and there were whispers in the venue.

The president and tutor of the university were in despair, and the special guest host of the defense meeting, the president of the Mathematical Society, the respected old mathematician, stepped in to solve the siege. He said:

"This young man's paper has actually been read by most of us. Half a year ago, this paper was published in the journal of our society, and it immediately caused a huge response among us. This paper was an eye-opener for me to have a clear idea, a proven process, and a unique methodology. As we all know, research in this subfield has been stagnant for many years. Everyone seems to have hit a bottleneck and is helpless. Mr. Li's discovery led us to break through this bottleneck and let us see the way forward.

"Although I have never met Mr. Li, we have exchanged letters many times and discussed some details of the thesis. I know that some of the gentlemen here have also written to him, so this paper has been fully discussed. I didn't see any errors or inappropriateness in this paper, so even if Li was unable to present his paper due to health reasons, I would write on this review letter: approved. I don't know what you gentlemen think.

"Actually, I'm not here to review his papers, but to hope that he will read my papers. I also encountered a problem that I have not been able to break through. Mr. Li is a master problem solver, and I hope he can help me find a new way of thinking. ”

The words of the president of the Mathematical Society were unanimously recognized. This special doctoral dissertation defense meeting, without the appearance of the protagonist, was unanimously approved by the professors. At 22, Li became the youngest Ph.D. in the university's history.

Li Li walked through the lilac garden empty-handed. Akon stood on top of a tree branch and called him:

"Li Ideal, where are you going?"

"I don't know, but I have to get out of here, right now. ”

"You're such a disobedient child. Do you have any money on you?"

"No money, but a bank card. It was the guru who gave it to me, and he said that there was money in it and that it belonged to me. I never used it, though. ”

"Well, I can't help it. I have to take you to find a place where the 'homeless' can be taken in. ”

Raven Akang walked out of the university campus with Li Ideal. I crossed the road and walked a few hundred meters to a building. Li Li Li saw a few big characters on the building: Xijiao Hotel.

"Let's go in, Li Ideal. With your bank card, they will let you live inside. ”

Li Li refused to return to the university campus, and refused to allow anyone in the university to come to see him, including his mentor. So Akang the Raven had to be his agent.

The instructor said:

"This kid is ruining his reputation by doing this. ”

Raven Akon said:

"He doesn't know what 'reputation' is."

"Why did he do that? And he didn't tell me anything about it before. I didn't notice any bad emotions in him. ”

"He has said that he is like a 'problem-solving machine' and that everything in his life is arranged by others. He didn't want to be a machine anymore. ”

It needs to be admitted that Li Ideal has an extremely high IQ in mathematics, but he knows almost nothing about common sense in life. This may be God's arrangement, and it seems that God is also very fair.

The instructor said:

"I think he's going to change his mind and go back to school, back to me. ”

"I thought so too. I think in a few days he will figure it out and convince himself. Maybe it's tomorrow, maybe it's a year, it's two years. But now we have to help him and help him get through this. ”

Li Ideal did not want to return to campus, nor did he want to return to his hometown of Xiangshan, Guangdong. He didn't want to see his parents, and he had a grudge against them in his heart.

"Then he'll stay in the city. If he changes his mind one day, he will see me right away. Now we have to find a way to find a place for him. ”

Li Ideal doesn't want to deal with math anymore. But other than studying mathematics, it was difficult to find a job that he could do. The mentor asked around and couldn't find a suitable one. One day, the tutor borrowed a lot of local newspapers from the library, and together with Akang the crow, he checked the advertisements for "job postings" in the advertisements between the newspapers. I found that there is such a one:

"A grocery store attached to a park in the city is looking for a concession. ”

Ah Kang felt that this might be considered, so he asked Li Ideal.

"Okay!"

Li Li is very willing.

Soon Li Ideal became the owner of the park grocery store. Now, he rides his tricycle every Monday to buy goods, usually sitting in front of the cash register, loudly telling customers that a bottle of mineral water costs a few dollars, and that a certain instant noodle is sold out and will be restocked next week. Li Li quickly fell in love with this new life that had nothing to do with mathematics.

In addition to his mentor, the president of the Mathematical Society has not forgotten Li Ideal. The president hoped that he would not completely waste his talents. The president recommended him to be a special reviewer for the journal of the society. The task is to find fault with each paper that is sent in and ready to be published, pointing out possible mistakes. Under the strong persuasion of the crow Akang, Li Ideal accepted the errand.

Every month, the Mathematical Society sends the manuscript to Li Li through the post office. Li Ideal reviewed one by one, and if there was a mistake, he would indicate the problem and give some suggestions for revision. Then send it back to the Society. Such academic discussions take place only on paper, not face-to-face. Every month, the Mathematics Society sends a salary to Li Ideal on time.

The new life made Li Ideal's mind gradually calm down. He began to think about where his life was lost, where did the "inflection point" appear? Mathematically, it refers to the point at which the upward or downward direction of a curve changes. ）

He struggled to remember. I was 22 years old this year, 21 last year, and 20 the year before last. He continued to look back on his life, which was not too long. The experiences in college, the memories left in middle school, and childhood.

He thinks of his childhood and thinks it was the happiest time of his life. He has more time to play than other children because he does his homework faster than everyone else and doesn't struggle with exams like other children.

He remembered that he used to love to read "villain books". Mom and Dad had bought some for him. There is a set of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which he likes very much. There were dozens of copies of that set, and it was impossible for his mother to buy them all home. At that time, it was a lot of money for an ordinary family.

Later, on the way out of school, someone set up a used bookstall with a full set of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in it. The stall owner allowed him to sit and watch by the bookstall for five cents at a time. Whenever he saved five cents in his pocket, he would run to the bookstall after school to continue his "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

He looked down one volume after another, hoping to read them all. But it seems that one day, his plans were interrupted. Why was it interrupted? He couldn't remember, but it must have been interrupted.

Later, when I grew up, the story of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was no longer novel, and I forgot that childhood past.

One day, an idea popped into him. His lost childhood happiness may have something to do with the interrupted "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" villain book. He scrutinized his memories like a detective, hoping to find clues.

One weekend, Li Li found a set of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" comic strips at a used book market in the south of the city. Due to the passage of time, the pages have turned yellow. A set of dozens of volumes, carefully wrapped in cellophane. Li Li asked the shopkeeper:

"Can I flip through it?"

"No, I can't. The shopkeeper shook his head.

"How much?"

"Two thousand dollars minimum. ”

"Why is it so expensive?"

"It's a great collector's item. ”

Li Ideal spent 2,000 yuan to buy the "collectible" back. When there are no customers in the grocery store and nothing to do, he will carefully take out one of the books and carefully flip through it. Carefully observe the little people on the paper, watch them wield knives and guns, and watch their joys, sorrows, and sorrows. Where is the "turning point" of life that has been forgotten in childhood memories? Is it possible to hide it in these comic books? Can it be hidden on a certain page of a certain book? Can it be hidden on the body or face of a certain little person on a certain page?

As night falls, the birds in the park fall asleep. The canopy of the trees is their roof, and above the roof is the night sky high up. Countless stars scattered from the sky, and then suddenly stood still in the air. Stopped there, flickering.

Raven Akon blinked his tired eyes, then closed them.

Only the sparrow Xiaozha couldn't bear to sleep.

"Akang, are you asleep?"

"Huh?"

"Can I ask you one more question? Has Li Ideal found his happiness in life?"

Raven Akon opened his eyes and thought for a moment.

"I don't know. I think he's been looking for his own answers, and he's been looking for his own answers. ”