Chapter 99: East Coast Math Circle
Monica wasn't amused by Paige's teasing and antics.
As Paige's guardian, she'd certainly seen Professor Harlan Upland before, but she hadn't expected such a relatable, heavy-set man to have such a quirk!
He didn't like the distance between himself and numbers, so he liked to take off his clothes to solve problems... A naked professor?
The thought of it was a bit shocking!
"Don't get me wrong, I only act like this when I'm alone."
Professor Harlan Upland was no fool. He immediately noticed Monica's expression and quickly explained.
Paige was his student, a young girl at that. He wasn't as clueless as Sheldon and the others.
If there was any misunderstanding, it was no joke.
And he really only stripped when no one was around; at most, he was shirtless when people were around.
"That's for the best,"
Monica said, not knowing what to say.
Although she knew Paige was trying to mess with her, the truth was, everything she said was accurate.
Are all geniuses in this world like this? Are there no more normal ones?
At that moment, a bald, middle-aged man walked in with a kind smile and said to the crowd, "Hello, everyone."
"Looks like there are still some normal people out there."
Monica studied the bald, middle-aged man for a moment and breathed a sigh of relief.
At least this one looked normal.
"Who are you?"
Professor Harlan Upland looked at him curiously.
As the foremost professor in Columbia University's Department of Applied Mathematics, and a fan of these mathematical treasure hunts, he knew or had some knowledge of everyone in the math community, at least those on the East Coast.
But the man before him didn't fit any of his memories.
"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm just a messenger,"
the bald man smiled. "I'm here for someone else. Look!"
At this, as everyone watched, he pulled a photograph from his pocket, unfolded it, and held it in front of his face, obscuring it completely.
"Interesting format,"
young Sheldon's eyes lit up and he exclaimed in praise.
"Oliver McDaniel!"
Professor Harlan Upland said with recognition as he looked at the large photograph that had replaced the bald man's face.
"Who is Oliver McDaniel?"
Monica looked down at Paige.
"You'd better ask Professor Upland."
Paige smiled mischievously. "Otherwise, if I tell you, you'll probably think I'm trying to mess with you again."
"..."
Monica's lips twitched. Needless to say, she already had a bad feeling.
Professor Harlan Upland had heard this and immediately explained it to Monica with a smile: "Oliver McDaniel graduated from Harvard University at the age of 16 and completed his master's degree at 19. He's a mathematical genius."
"Not a PhD?"
Monica was puzzled. "Why didn't he come himself? Why did he use this strange method?"
"He couldn't come."
Professor Harlan Upland smiled awkwardly. "He had some mental health issues and was committed to a psychiatric facility, so he didn't continue his doctoral studies."
"..."
Monica was stunned.
Paige was right. If Paige had said this to her, she would probably have been skeptical and incredulous. After all, they couldn't have all the geniuses in their country dealing with mental health problems, could they?
But now that these words were spoken by the seemingly normal naked professor, and there had been no prior communication, she couldn't help but believe them.
Although she was getting numb to it, she couldn't help but ask, "Why?"
"He has some psychological disorders..."
Naked Professor Harlan explained. Glancing at everyone's gaze, he immediately realized that he had said something vague, so he continued to explain, "He nearly strangled his father to death."
Monica couldn't help but touch her neck and glanced at Chuck. She understood that suffocating terror.
"Why?"
Hearing this, young Sheldon frowned. "I understand the complicated feelings a genius boy has towards his less intellectually gifted father, but isn't it a bit too extreme to just attack him?"
"He said that wasn't his father,"
said Professor Harlan, offering a helpless smile. "He claimed they were android duplicates sent by the Galactic Quantum Emperor. He said they wanted to drive him insane, but they couldn't succeed."
"How fascinating,"
young Sheldon exclaimed in amazement.
"Really?"
Monica, finally seeing someone else share her bewilderment, looked at young Sheldon with hope.
"Yeah,"
young Sheldon nodded. "In Asimov's novels, there are three laws of robotics. The first is that a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. I've also dreamed of a world like the Galactic Empire, with android duplicates and other robots. But there, they extended cordial invitations to me, the world's smartest person, to save their civilization. There was no intention of harming me or driving me crazy."
"..."
Monica felt even more bewildered.
She wasn't sure if the problem lay with the geniuses in this world, or with herself.
"You guys do whatever you want. I'm going to write down the fifth level's problems and pass them to Oliver."
The bald man put away his photo face and walked towards the clue wall.
"Monica, isn't our world interesting?"
Paige teased the bewildered Monica.
Monica remained expressionless.
"That's the look."
Seeing Monica ignore her, Paige rolled her eyes and said with a playful smile, "Look at how well you and Chuck match."
"…"
Monica glanced at Chuck, who remained calm throughout, unsure what to express.
Everyone began to work on the problems, and the atmosphere fell silent for a moment. Then, Monica heard footsteps outside the door. Turning back, she saw a young couple enter. The blonde girlfriend was plain-looking, and the young man was timid, avoiding eye contact with everyone.
"Noah, you can do it,"
the blonde girlfriend smiled awkwardly, meeting everyone's gaze. Then, turning to look at her boyfriend, she offered encouragement.
"Noah!"
the naked professor Harlan greeted warmly.
"Professor Upland."
The young Noah glanced at the naked professor, responded, and immediately looked away.
"Is this your girlfriend?"
Naked professor Harlan looked at the girlfriend next to Noah, with surprise and envy in his eyes.
"Daphne."
The blonde girl introduced herself with a smile: "I am Noah's fiancée."
"Noah is a fortunate man."
Naked professor Harlan exclaimed.
Monica looked at Daphne with surprise and scrutiny.
Noah was obviously another genius with issues. She no longer felt anything about it. The only thing she was curious about now was what was wrong with Daphne, a woman who looked normal.
Well.
She was basically certain that Daphne had some kind of problem, otherwise a normal woman would not be the fiancée of a troubled genius like Noah.
She no longer believed that there were any normal people among those who were so close to this group of geniuses, because she felt that she was going insane after just a few months.
(End of this chapter)
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