A genius? I just love studying.

Chapter 112 What Do Mathematicians Know About Music?

At 11:08 a.m., the opening ceremony's cultural performances were still ongoing.

Chen Hui and his three companions left Zhihua Building and walked along the blue brick path by Weiming Lake toward the Farmhouse Canteen.

The farm canteen is close to several teaching areas, including the second teaching building, making it the best choice for students rushing to class. However, it is also very crowded during break times, and seats are in short supply.

There's still a while before get out of class ends, so going there means there's no need to queue.

At Li Zehan's suggestion, the group headed straight to the farm's canteen.

As I passed through the second teaching building, a melodious piano tune drifted over.

In the foyer, sunlight streams through stained glass windows, casting dappled patterns on the dome. Several students sit around a piano, discussing sheet music, their fingertips dancing across the black and white keys with the elegance of mathematical formulas.

Upon seeing the piano, Li Zehan's eyes lit up, and he eagerly jumped out, saying, "I bet I'm the best pianist here!"

"Anyone want to take a bet with me?"

"The loser pays for lunch today!"

Unfortunately, he did not get the answer he wanted.

Chen Hui and the other three didn't even glance at him, clearly showing no interest in the bet.

"Oh?"

Does "everyone here include us"?

As fate would have it, Chen Hui and his friends remained unmoved, but several students playing the piano in the second teaching building took the bait. One of them smiled and said to Li Zehan, his tone full of teasing.

"Of course!"

Li Zehan chuckled.

The student who answered was taken aback, but after carefully examining Chen Hui and the others, he regained his confidence.

Chen Hui and the others were all wearing school uniforms, clearly high school students who came to participate in CMO.

He knew very well what CMO was. These high school students were busy with their studies, and CMO was extremely difficult. The fact that they could participate in CMO meant that they had spent a lot of time and energy on mathematics. How could they possibly also play the piano?
Moreover, he is an art student studying piano performance. For ordinary people, the highest level of piano proficiency is just the basic threshold.

He really didn't believe he would lose this meal.

Besides, it's just a meal.

With his mind at ease, Luo Rui made a gentlemanly gesture, indicating that Li Zehan should begin his performance.

He was genuinely looking forward to seeing what kind of "works" these math students could produce.

His companions also realized what was happening and looked at Li Zehan with smiles. "I really want to see what kind of beautiful music these math students can produce!"

"I advise you not to get your hopes up. These guys are always frowning. Trying to make them understand the beauty of music is like trying to teach a cow to appreciate a piano piece."

Several piano performance students were discussing in hushed tones.

These bookworms know they can't compete academically, but they feel superior in the arts.

Just like science students think that humanities students have poor logical thinking skills.

Chen Hui and his two companions also looked at the group of piano art students with meaningful glances.

Chen Hui and Deng Leyan didn't know Li Zehan's piano skills, but they knew that Li Zehan wasn't stupid. On the contrary, he was quite intelligent and even had a hint of cunning.

Wang Xiao's face was full of mockery, with his arms crossed, looking like he was watching a good show.

So you're willing to accept this bet?

Li Zehan did not rush to the piano, but checked it again.

"Of course!"

Luo Rui was proud and confident.

Li Zehan sat down at the piano, turned around and looked at Chen Hui with a proud expression, "Big brother should know that music originated from mathematics, right?"

"do not know."

Chen Hui knew nothing about music, but he knew that Li Zehan's words, though seemingly directed at him, were actually a response to what the art students had said earlier.

Li Zehan smiled even more happily, like a primary school student showing off a newly learned talent to his parents.

"The 88 keys of a piano may seem to be arranged randomly, but they actually follow strict mathematical rules. Take the C major scale as an example: two adjacent white keys form a whole tone (such as C→D) or a semitone (such as B→C). The ratio is determined by the twelve equal temperament—dividing an octave (frequency doubled) into 12 equal parts, each part being 1/12 of the pitch."

As Li Zehan spoke, he pressed the keys on the piano to demonstrate for Chen Hui, producing a series of smooth piano sounds.

Seeing his practiced movements, Luo Rui's expression changed slightly.

This chubby boy has clearly been practicing martial arts since childhood!
“如果中央C的频率为261.6Hz，则第n个键的频率为 fn=261.6*2^(n-49)/12，假设键号从A0=27.5Hz开始计算。”

"So from C4 to C5, that is, C and C octaves higher, the frequency doubles exactly!"

As Li Zehan spoke, he pressed the piano keys, and the notes danced in the hall, as if responding to his words.

"???"

Luo Rui and his classmates were completely bewildered, not knowing what Li Zehan was talking about.

What puzzled them even more was that the three high school students who came with Li Zehan nodded slightly, as if they understood.

"We're having a piano performance competition, not a math problem problem!"

Rory was getting impatient with these strange people speaking such odd languages; he wanted to settle things as soon as possible.

Li Zehan glanced back at Luo Rui and said, "Now that the principle has been explained, I will play a piece I composed myself for everyone."

"Yes, I just made it, so let's call it 'The Voice of Mathematics' for now!"

"The harmony of functional chords originates from the Pythagorean triplet, and the fifth cycle in jazz corresponds to the division of pi..."

Li Zehan indeed began to play.

As his hands swept across the piano keys, the music gave the listener a feeling of spiraling upwards.

You know what, this chubby kid usually seems so unserious, but when he's really immersed in playing music, he has a unique charm.

When fingers touch the piano keys, mathematics is no longer an abstract symbol, but transforms into flowing notes and vibrant light and shadow.

At that moment, Li Zehan was inspired. The piano became the perfect bridge connecting rationality and sensibility. Those seemingly random black and white keys had long been woven by mathematicians into a silent fugue.

The song is finished.

The entire hall fell silent.

The art students who were learning to play the piano stood there blankly, seemingly still savoring the piece they had just heard.

They felt a sense of breath from Li Zehan's performance, like the wind, flowing water, clouds in the sky, and rain in front of them—the melody of nature's breath.

The entire piece is intricate and dynamic, yet precise like a scalpel cutting through steel, as if it were cut from a steel assembly line. It possesses a unique beauty, as if it contains some kind of truth, making it harmonious and natural.

The piece was rough, but Lorry could hear that it was full of potential and contained the truth!

"Did you really compose this piece?"

Luo Rui quickly approached Li Zehan, and his classmates all curiously pricked up their ears.

"Of course!"

Li Zehan said proudly, "We use the golden ratio in the arrangement of rhythms and create a natural flow of rhythm using the Fibonacci sequence, so that the notes increase according to the Fibonacci sequence."

第一小节使用4*1/4拍，第二小节使用3*1/2拍，第三小节使用5*1/8拍，第四小节8*1/16拍……

Then, using the principles of fractals to create melodies, such as the Sierpinski triangle or the Koch snowflake, starting from C, the first jump is three keys to F, the second jump is two octaves down to an octave below F, the third jump is 3*2=6 keys to the right to A… High and low notes alternate recursively, just like a fractal!

“Fibonacci sequence? Sierpinski triangle? Koch snowflake?” Luo Rui looked at his classmates, as if trying to see an explanation of these terms in their eyes.

"I concede this bet!"

No one who gets to come to Yanbei University is a fool. After receiving a negative answer, Luo Rui understood many things and turned to Li Zehan resolutely, "Teach me math!"

"have to!"

"Stop! Damn it!"

Li Zehan crossed his arms in front of him and said, "I'm busy, I don't have time to teach you math."

"Forget it, I won't eat this meal either."

He slunk back to Chen Hui and the others, then looked at Chen Hui with a smug grin, "How was it, big brother? Did I play well?"

"pretty good!"

Chen Hui doesn't understand music, but even people who don't understand music can appreciate the beauty of good music.

Li Zehan immediately beamed with joy.

"I'm willing to admit defeat!"

Luo Rui caught up with him.

He glanced at Chen Hui with some curiosity and found that apart from being handsome, this guy didn't seem to have anything special about him.

But he could still sense a lot from Li Zehan's attitude.

He didn't know how good Li Zehan was at math, but since he could represent his province and city in the CMO, he was obviously not bad. At the same time, his piano skills were no worse than his own, which was why he readily admitted defeat.

Calling this little guy a genius wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Yet this genius, when facing Chen Hui, actually showed a hint of obsequiousness.

So, just how strong is that guy?

Thinking about it!
Lost in thought the whole way, Luo Rui finally led the group to eat the mutton stew that Li Zehan had been longing for.

After the meal, watching Chen Hui and the other three leave, Luo Rui was deeply moved and made a bold decision after much deliberation: "I want to study mathematics!"

"Are you crazy?"

"If we could understand math, why would we need to learn to play the piano?"

His companions looked at Rory, some even reaching out to touch his forehead, wondering if he had suffered a brain injury from the fever.

"Mathematics is the most fundamental language in the world. All other disciplines are merely works written in this fundamental language!"

Luo Rui's eyes grew brighter and brighter, "Only by learning mathematics can we save the Chinese piano!"

"Did you really compose that piece on the spot?"

After lunch, the group headed back to their dormitory. According to the activity booklet, the afternoon was supposed to be free time.

Deng Leyan was still savoring Li Zehan's piece. These geniuses from well-off families always had some talent to rely on. Coincidentally, Deng Leyan was also studying the piano.

"Of course it's impossible!"

Li Zehan chuckled strangely, "I've had this idea for a long time, but I've just been too lazy to put it into practice."

"Oh, by the way, I already reached Grade 10 in piano when I was in sixth grade!"

"I started learning math because I thought piano was too easy, but before I knew it, I was in the CMO (China's highest level of high school). Look at all this trouble! Now it seems math isn't so hard after all..."

Once Li Zehan started talking, he didn't stop for the rest of the journey.

Chen Hui and Wang Xiao couldn't help but glance at Deng Leyan.

Deng Leyan wisely shut up, but unfortunately, it was too late.

Li Zehan stopped at the dormitory door, saying, "Hey, are you still seeing us off? We're already home!"

"Although you have a nice way of speaking, our dorm is already full, so I can't see you off."

Deng Leyan was stunned. Standing at the door, he didn't know why he had come back with Chen Hui and the others.

"Big brother is so charming, everyone wants to get close to him."

Li Zehan turned and walked into the dormitory, sighing loudly.

Deng Leyan, who was standing at the door, blushed instantly. Was he attracted by Chen Hui's charm?
Are you kidding me?
Deng Leyan was so angry that he wanted to rush into the dormitory and beat up that chubby boy.

Chen Hui had no time to pay attention to these things, because another barrage of comments popped up in front of him.

[Winner of first prize in an international competition, +1 free attribute point]

At the same time, my phone vibrated. I received a text message from Agricultural Bank of China, showing a transfer of 217755 Huaxia coins.

"On July 26, the Barbary Mathematics Competition Organizing Committee will hold an awards ceremony in Lin'an. We sincerely invite Chen Hui to attend. All expenses will be covered by the organizing committee."

This is a WeChat message sent to Chen Hui by Sun Jianfeng, the person in charge of the event organizer.

It seemed that he knew Chen Hui wouldn't go, so he didn't even bother to make a phone call.

"The results are out so quickly?"

Chen Hui was somewhat surprised.

Based on past experience, the results of the Assai finals are usually released three months later, but now, there are less than half a month left until the end of the finals.

However, this was a good thing for him. With this money, he finally felt at ease, and his family was no longer in a state of uncertainty about where they would eat next.

Indeed, saving money brings a sense of security, which seems to be something inherited in the bones of the Chinese people.

He didn't bother to think about the unusual aspects of it.

After entering the mobile banking app and transferring 43551 to Zhang Anguo, I turned off my phone and focused my attention on the data panel.

[Host: Chen Hui
Insight Level 3: (3.1/4)

Judgment Level 1: (1.8/2)

Creativity Level 0: (0.5/1)

Memory Level 2: (2.6/3)

After so much practice, he roughly understands the effects of these attributes.

So-called insight, as the name suggests, is the ability to see through the essence of things. The higher one's insight, the easier it is to understand the principles behind how things work. In mathematics, it means the ability to understand formulas and theorems, which makes it easier for one to understand complex mathematical logic, learn faster, and solve problems more easily!
Mathematics is like a maze shrouded in mist. Insight allows Chen Hui to figure out how many paths there are in the chaotic maze, but much more is hidden in the mist, requiring exploration one by one to finally determine where the exit is.

Judgment is what enables Chen Hui to choose the most suitable path among these options, the path most likely to lead to the truth, saving him a lot of time.

Needless to say, memory is still very important, even though mathematics emphasizes logical reasoning.

With the development of mathematics, it has become an extremely complex discipline. The edifice of mathematics is so tall and unfathomable that even researchers in the same broad category may not be able to understand each other's research if their specific areas of study are different.

Theoretically speaking, if Chen Hui had a powerful enough memory, he could store the entire edifice of mathematics in his mind.

Previously, Chen Hui didn't know the role of creativity, but after discussing with Fang Wen about the direction of thesis writing, he roughly understood.

Mathematics is not only about solving unsolved problems, but also about creating new mathematical tools.

Clearly, this requires a great deal of creativity!

A series of thoughts flashed through Chen Hui's mind, and he made his choice without hesitation.

"Boost my insight!"

(End of this chapter)