Chapter 20: The Forum Erupts With Praise
Chapter 20: The Forum Erupts With Praise
Frank couldn't believe his eyes.
He took the notebook from Elira and flipped it open. It was filled with six full pages of dense calculations, each line written neatly, logically, and without hesitation. As he read through them, he glanced up at his sister. When he reached the end and saw the clear, final answer, his pupils widened in shock.
Frank was completely speechless. His entire body buzzed with excitement, his cells practically vibrating with disbelief.
She did it.
The problem had been solved.
Countless teams had tried. Experts had debated it for months. Half a year of collective brainpower had gone into this unsolvable problem—and no one, not even the famous Flynn from Paragon University, had cracked it.
But Elira had done it… in under thirty minutes.
Frank stared at the pages in his trembling hands, unable to form words. The draft felt like gold in his grasp.
Elira gave him a playful smile and reached out, pinching his clean, handsome cheek. “Don't always look so shocked. You're going to get wrinkles.”
Frank’s brain was still short-circuiting. His face flushed red up to his ears.
“It’s a bit complicated for you right now,” Elira said gently. “I’ll explain it to you properly when you reach college.”
Frank blinked. Elira looked so relaxed, so casual—like solving one of the most complex math problems of the decade was just another afternoon task for her.
He opened his mouth to say something but found no words.
In the end, he nodded silently and returned to his room with the notebook.
Sitting at his desk, Frank flipped through the pages again and again. His fingers traced the equations, trying to understand the magic behind them. Then, an idea sparked in his mind.
He pulled out his phone.
Carefully, he took clear photos of each page. Once satisfied, he opened the mathematics forum of Paragon University.
It was one of the most active forums in the academic world—constantly filled with brilliant minds discussing theories, equations, and research.
Meanwhile, at that very moment, a junior student from Paragon University was browsing the forum. Coincidentally, he had just logged out of the legendary Flynn’s account and was scrolling through posts out of boredom.
Then he saw something unusual.
A new post—no title, no caption. Just six pictures of handwritten draft pages filled with dense mathematical symbols.
He almost scrolled past it.
This problem had been posted dozens of times before. People tried to solve it daily, often cluttering the forum with half-baked attempts and meaningless speculation.
Still, out of habit, he clicked it open.
At first, he skimmed lazily.
But as he read further, his eyes sharpened. His back straightened. His heart began to race.
By the time he reached the last page and saw the final answer, he was frozen in place.
“It… it looks correct…”
Unlike the usual vague attempts that filled the forum, this one had a complete solution process—from step one all the way to the answer. No shortcuts, no guesses—just pure, brilliant logic.
Without wasting a second, he tagged Flynn in the post.
Then he shared it across several WhatsApp discussion groups for Paragon’s students and professors.
Within minutes, the forum exploded.
More and more students gathered under the post. Each one clicked in, expecting another flop—but what they saw stunned them.
In just ten minutes, the post shot to the top of the forum’s hot list. Comment after comment poured in.
> “Is this it? Is it finally solved?”
“I’ve seen dozens of attempts, but this one… this one feels real.”
“I don’t even understand half of this, but it looks so professional I’m in awe.”
“Just WHO is this person?”
“Clicking into the user profile says… sixteen years old?! Are you kidding me?”
“Summon the principal! Summon Flynn! I need answers!”
Some joked that Paragon might not just gain a student—they might have found a genius who could be their next vice principal.
> “Be bold,” someone laughed. “This person might be smarter than half the staff!”
The forum buzzed with admiration, shock, and wild excitement.
Back in his room, Frank was watching it all unfold.
He refreshed the page, and the comment count kept rising—hundreds, then thousands. Messages poured into his inbox. The post was barely twenty minutes old, and yet the whole university seemed to be talking about it.
He couldn’t believe it.
He had merely posted the solution to test the waters, but it had spread like wildfire.
One thing was certain—everyone’s passion for this problem hadn’t faded. If anything, it had just reached a fever pitch.
At that same moment, inside Paragon University…
Flynn, the young prodigy and rising star of the mathematics department, was immersed in his latest research inside his lab.
He hadn’t slept for two nights straight, his eyes slightly bloodshot, but focused.
Suddenly—BANG!
The door to his lab flew open.
An elderly professor burst in, face flushed, breathing heavily with excitement. For someone over seventy, he moved like a man in his prime.
Flynn frowned at the interruption. “What is it?” he asked, irritation in his voice.
But the professor held up his phone with shaking hands, his eyes gleaming. “Flynn,” he said breathlessly, “you need to see this. The problem—your problem—it’s been solved.”
Flynn froze.
He didn’t need to ask which problem. He already knew.
“The solution?” he whispered.
The professor shoved the phone in his face, showing him the forum post. “Look!”
Flynn’s eyes scanned the screen.
And his entire body stilled.
The logic, the flow, the precision—it was perfect.
It wasn’t just an attempt.
It was the solution.
Meanwhile, Frank sat at home, scrolling through comments, his heart pounding with pride. He hadn’t written a single line of those equations, but he felt like he was sharing in Elira’s glory.
He thought to himself, Sis will definitely get a spot at Paragon University now. No doubt.
Just as he was about to run and show Elira the news, his mother’s voice rang out from downstairs.
“Frank! Dinner!”
He sighed, pocketed his phone, and headed to the dining room.
He missed Flynn’s direct message by just a few seconds.
At the dinner table, Frank sat with excitement bubbling in his chest. He was just about to tell everyone that Elira might soon be offered a place at the most prestigious university in the country.
He wanted to make their father proud. He wanted their mother and second sister to see how amazing Elira truly was.
But before he could say a word, Elena tapped her chopsticks sharply against her bowl.
“When are you getting paid from that construction job?” she asked, looking at Wilson. “We have so many mouths to feed, and food’s running low. My salary can’t cover everything.”
Wilson looked uneasy. “The foreman said he’ll pay by the middle of the month. I’ll ask again.”
Elena scoffed. “Middle of the month? What day is it today? Who knows if the middle will turn into the end.”
Then her sharp eyes turned toward Elira.
“You’re earning now, aren’t you?” she said. “We’ve spent so much money on your education. You eat our food, sleep in our house, use our electricity—now that you’re making money, don’t you think it’s time you gave something back?”
That was her real reason for asking.
Wilson remained silent.
Elira calmly put down her chopsticks.
Without looking up, she said, “Give me your account number.”
Elena’s eyes lit up. She immediately pulled out her phone and displayed her QR code, grinning like she’d just won a prize. “Scan this. Just transfer the money here.”
Elira took out her phone.
Delilah, silently chewing her food, glanced at Elira’s sleek, expensive device.
A few seconds later, Elena’s grin disappeared.
She stared at her phone screen. “Three hundred dollars?” she hissed. “That’s it? Your phone costs more than that. What about your laptop, your shoes, your clothes? And you give the family just 300?”
“That’s for Frank and me,” Elira replied flatly. “For this month’s food.”
Delilah’s head turned again, this time toward Frank.
Frank looked straight at Elira.
“Three hundred isn’t enough for two people!” Elena snapped. “Groceries are expensive!”
Elira’s cold eyes finally met hers. “Do you even know how little we get to eat? In two days, we barely have any meat. Just vegetables. What’s expensive about that?”
She stood up from the table, pushing her plate away. The food didn’t appeal to her anymore.
But just before leaving, she turned back.
“You’re right,” she said to Elena. “I have money. But even if I were to throw it all away—I’d rather burn it than let you touch a cent of it.”
Her words struck like lightning.
Elena jumped to her feet, furious. “You ungrateful girl—!”
But before she could finish, Elira’s icy stare silenced her mid-sentence.
The room went quiet.