Puzzle Madness

Chapter 47 Representation
Richard glanced at the mathematician who had finally calmed down, then turned his full attention back to Doudou.
"Indeed, I have quite digressed now—allow me to return to the subject."

"My deceased colleague must have been quite similar to you, but he can't be compared with you."

"Doudou, have you noticed that you are actually different from ordinary people?"

This time it was the mathematician who stared at Richard with wide eyes as if he were a fool; he also moved the red plastic stool with white inlays back to be further away from the two men.

Doudou glanced at the diners around him who were immersed in alcohol and food, then turned around and patted himself all over, as if looking for something dirty.
"Huh? How do you mean different?"

"Are you saying I'm not that smart and need to go to a school for the intelligentsia? I'm just not good at math, not that bad."

"And then—ADHD? Autism? I don't seem to have any of those."

Richard waved his hands repeatedly, his ten fingers leaving afterimages:
"No, no, no, Doudou, you misunderstood."

"Here's something fun I'm going to tell you—and it'll satisfy you: I was into this when I was your age."

"What the doctor just said about those special abilities and the like actually exists."

"My colleague has a real [special ability]; and I think you have it too."

"If you're interested, I can tell you in detail now—Asia-Europe Post has done relevant research, and I have some knowledge of it."

"Eh--"

Doudou opened his eyes wide, put his hands on the table, and leaned forward:

"That's fine, that's fun! I'm interested in that; tell me."

The mathematician suddenly hesitated and shied away from the topic of their conversation:
"Why are you talking about this suddenly?"

"Can I listen too? Is this confidential? Will there be any trouble after listening to it?"

"Hahahahaha, Doctor! Are you still afraid of getting into trouble now?"

Doudou burst into laughter, and the meaning was clear: no matter how much debt you have, mathematicians have enough trouble.

Regardless of disguise or self-restraint, Richard remained gentle and patient with the mathematician:

"It's not a big secret: in fact, no one would believe you if you told it to others. There are many stories in the market and media that are more convincing than the truth. You will be regarded as a lousy writer who contributes to third-rate magazines."

"Civil organizations, businesses, and governments have all been conducting research and experimenting with this technology. While this research has been ongoing for quite some time, it's still largely a trial-and-error phase. The resulting useful information is minimal. The returns are low, and the applicable scenarios are limited. Aside from isolated cases, there isn't much potential for significant profit."

"There's no unified term for this. Doctor, you mentioned supernormal abilities before, right? Some people call it that, but it's different from the popular terms like supernormal abilities, superpowers, qigong, or human evolution or new human superhumanity."

"The internal terminology used by Asia-Europe Post has been iterated many times, and the concept packaging has also been constantly changed: the current marketing plan is called [Frenzy]." "In our department, we generally call this kind of thing [Representation]."

The mathematician pricked up his ears quietly, observing whether anyone around was paying attention to them:

The furtive exchange of information among the three was the most boring topic in the food stall at that moment - the big brothers at the next table were gesturing with their hands, describing the difference in price-performance ratio between several newly opened nightclubs in Mong Cai; on the other side, the old man with his mouth crooked from drinking was vividly describing the story of the Ten Sages of the Martial Temple who came down to earth in his dream and insisted on playing poker cards with him to play Golden Flower and bet on the dragon vein energy of the Central Plains.

The mathematician's previous panic faded when he realized that his table hadn't attracted anyone else's attention. As he began to think, fear naturally sank back into the depths of his brain:

"[Representation]? Then what is its [internal cause]? Without an internal cause, it wouldn't be called a representation."

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

Doudou put his palm over his mouth and slapped it repeatedly, making a strange noise:

"What nonsense are you mumbling about? Can you speak in a more accessible way?"

Richard crossed his fingers and placed them in front of him—as if this wasn't a shabby table at a food stall, but a classroom podium.

"First, let me answer the doctor: What exactly is the internal cause? Some people know, but I don't. Then, let me first tell you what I do know: Doudou, have you ever seen the shows on TV? Those about special abilities?"

Doudou picked up an iron chopstick, placed it before his eyes, and frowned, as if trying to bend it with his telekinesis.
"Ah? Of course I know about special abilities. But I don't watch many variety shows. I just watch Zhengda Variety Show at noon. I prefer watching TV series and movies. I have a lot of video library memberships at home."

"Wow, I can't bend it; no reaction at all: It seems I don't have any special abilities like telekinesis. Hey, sometimes I'm so strong I can't control it, and sometimes it's just fine. Is that considered a special ability? I guess it all depends on my mood."

Richard suddenly brought the mathematician back into the conversation:

"Doctor, then you can tell me about it. You should have some knowledge of this area. Nanyang Technological University has always been at the forefront of many research fields. Just think of it as a brief introduction for Doudou."

belch--
The mathematician looked thin, but he had a voracious appetite. Although he appeared apprehensive, he didn't skip a single late-night snack. After finishing a whole plate of raw pickles and the fried rice noodles he had ordered, his belly was bulging. He also became more talkative:

"Popular science? Only science counts as popular science—I'll just say a few words, and consider it entertainment. We used to have to discuss this in secret during lunch in our department, and it felt a bit embarrassing; we'd be embarrassed if the younger students heard it."

"Special abilities: remote sensing, telekinesis, clairvoyance, mind-reading, healing. Anyway, the shows are basically all about this. That whole human development thing the Soviet Union and the US did in the 1960s and 1970s, I don't know why it's still so fashionable."

"Bending spoons with telekinesis, guessing the suit of playing cards, what's written on the bottom of a towel; there aren't that many variations—in short, it doesn't go beyond the realm of magic tricks. It's just providing some curious entertainment for the public."

"Doudou, I can say... Um, muscle density, bone density, skin strength and other things are far higher than those of ordinary people? Something like that--"

"You're not going to tell me that all that shit is real? I'd be shocked."

After getting to know Doudou, the mathematician was certainly not shocked by the so-called special abilities: but he was not good at sarcasm either.

(End of this chapter)