Awakening Elementary School System in University
Chapter 13 - 12: Not Bros?

Chapter 13: Chapter 12: Not Bros?

The image loaded. It was a photo of a piece of scratch paper, taken with a phone.

Only two lines of text were written on it:

[Problem 1: Composite trapezoidal rule approximation: (π/4)*(√2 + 1) ≈ 1.8961. Error ≈ 0.1039.]

[Problem 2: Composite Simpson’s rule approximation: (π/6)*(2√2 + 1) ≈ 2.0046. Error ≈ 0.0046.]

That was it.

No derivations, no calculations, no formulas. Nothing.

Just two dry lines of results.

Sun Yu’s brain short-circuited for half a second.

Before he could react, the seller sent another message.

Seller: [I’m skipping the steps, lol. Helps me cut my losses.]

Sun Yu: ?

’Is this really about you cutting your losses?’

’Is this even the same math I spent my entire college career learning?’

’What is up with your solving speed?!’

From the moment he sent the problem to when he got the image back, it had been less than three minutes in total!

’Subtracting the time it took to type, take the photo, and upload it... did this person do it all in their head?’

’No, seriously, buddy!’

’Are you actually faster than an AI?!’

Of course, Sun Yu still had a sliver of rationality left.

He immediately considered another possibility: the person on the other end couldn’t solve it at all and had just made up two numbers before giving up.

But as he looked closely at the two lines of answers, he started to have his doubts.

He’d mostly forgotten the Simpson’s rule for the second problem, but he vaguely recalled a bit about the composite trapezoidal rule from the first.

The form of the answer, "(π/4)*(√2 + 1)," seemed... it seemed to have some substance. At the very least, it looked more professional than a wild guess.

"Calm down, calm down..." Sun Yu took a deep breath, forcing himself to settle.

He turned his gaze back to the computer screen.

In the DS chat window, the cursor was still flashing tirelessly. Below it, the small text "Thinking..." had been pulsing for 150 seconds.

Sun Yu made up his mind. He would wait for the DS’s result.

Time ticked by, minute by minute. The office had mostly emptied out, so quiet that only the hum of the air conditioner could be heard.

Finally, as the timer hit 224 seconds, the DS’s cursor stopped flashing and began to formally output the answer.

One line, two lines, three lines...

Soon, the DS’s detailed solution steps filled the entire chat window.

Sun Yu ignored all the intermediate steps, scrolled straight to the bottom, and stared intently at the final conclusion.

[...In summary:]

[1. Using the composite trapezoidal rule, the resulting approximation is (π/4)*(√2 + 1) ≈ 1.8961, with an absolute error of approximately 0.1039 from the exact value of 2.]

[2. Using the composite Simpson’s rule, the resulting approximation is (π/6)*(2√2 + 1) ≈ 2.0046, with an absolute error of approximately 0.0046 from the exact value of 2.]

Identical!

"Holy hell..."

’Have I fucking stumbled upon a real master?!’

He couldn’t hold back anymore. He grabbed his phone and sent a message.

Sun Yu: [You really haven’t seen this problem before?]

The reply was almost instantaneous, and it came as two consecutive messages.

Seller: [Is this a standard problem you found online? If you don’t believe me, give me another one.]

Seller: [But your free quota of two problems is used up. Any more will be charged according to my tutoring rates.]

Sun Yu: [No no, that’s not necessary! I believe in your skills!]

A hundred yuan was still money.

Now that the seller’s skills were verified, it was time to get down to business.

Seller: [So, do you want to start the consultation now, or schedule another time?]

Sun Yu remembered his team lead telling him they needed to sync up on progress before the end of the workday tomorrow.

He steeled himself and replied: [Right now! Let’s start immediately!]

Sun Yu: [Here’s the thing, Master. The engineering proposal I’m working on isn’t finalized yet, and according to company policy, I can’t send you the source file directly. Do you think we could do a remote meeting? I can share my screen. Would that work?]

He was afraid the other person would find it too troublesome and refuse.

Unexpectedly, the reply was just as straightforward as before.

Seller: [Sure. But you pay first, then we consult.]

Sun Yu: "..."

He was a bit speechless.

’For a genius of this caliber, even if his family’s financial situation was tough, shouldn’t he be swimming in all sorts of scholarships and grants from school?’

’Why is he so obsessed with money?’

Grumbling aside, Sun Yu still had to play by his rules.

Sun Yu: [Okay. In that case, do you think you can solve it in an hour?]

Seller: [Can’t say. How would I know without seeing your proposal?]

Sun Yu didn’t give up, making one last attempt to save his wallet.

Sun Yu: [What if it goes over an hour? If it’s not by much, can we not charge for the extra time? [pitiful]]

After he sent the message, the other end went silent for a long time.

A full minute passed. Just as Sun Yu was thinking the person had gone offline, a new message popped up.

Seller: [How about this. Just buy the 3-hour package for 2000 yuan. If you don’t use up all the time during this consultation, I’ll keep track of the remainder for you to use next time.]

Before Sun Yu could even process that, the seller added another blow.

Seller: [This is the biggest concession I can make. Take it or leave it.]

’This is a concession?’

Sun Yu looked at the 2000-yuan "discount package price" and felt a sharp pang. That was almost half his monthly salary.

But on second thought, if this really helped him nail the proposal, satisfy his team lead, and get through his probation period...

...then paying to work was just something he’d have to do!

He gritted his teeth and stomped his foot.

Sun Yu: [Deal!]

He immediately went back to the product page, clicked "I want this," and sent a message to the seller: [Master, I’ve placed the order. Please change the price.]

The seller was quick. The price instantly changed from 888 to 2000.

Sun Yu closed his eyes and clicked the pay button as if he were facing his own execution.

The "payment successful" notification chimed. His heart was bleeding.

After paying, Sun Yu didn’t dare delay. He immediately created a new remote meeting using conferencing software and sent the meeting ID and password to the seller.

A moment later, he saw a new user appear in the participant list.

The nickname was two simple English letters: [CL].

The person didn’t have their camera on, just a gray default avatar.

A message popped up in the public chat.

CL: [Are you the client?]

Sun Yu quickly opened the proposal PDF on his desktop, clicked "Share Screen," and turned on his microphone. He asked cautiously, "Hello? Master? Can you hear me? Is the screen clear?"

After a two-second pause, a young but steady male voice came through his headset.

CL: "Everything is clear."

It really did sound like a university student’s voice—very young.

Sun Yu felt a little more at ease.

"Okay, okay. I’ll begin then."

Sun Yu cleared his throat and began to explain in detail, pointing at the dense data and formulas on the screen. He covered the project’s background, the design concept, and the core verification calculation that had him stuck.

He spoke until his mouth was dry, completely absorbed in his explanation.

But the other end of the line remained utterly silent.

No questions, no interruptions, not even a hint of static.

Several times during his presentation, Sun Yu couldn’t help but wonder if the other person had disconnected or simply fallen asleep.

He could only bite the bullet and finish explaining all the details and data.

"So that’s the general situation," Sun Yu said, taking a sip of water to soothe his dry throat. He asked tentatively, "Master, is there anything you didn’t understand?"

The moment he finished speaking, the young voice replied almost seamlessly, its tone calm.

CL: "No problems. Should I start on the new calculation method for you, then?"

Sun Yu: ?

’Hold on, buddy!’