Chapter 40
In the middle of the documentary.
The scene showing Yu A-yeon ended, and Han Seol-ae's interview began.
The reporter asked.
“Ma'am, I have something I'd like to ask you. A-yeon taught herself professor-level math at five and speaks seven languages, right? Do you have your own educational method? I think a lot of parents would be curious.”
“An educational method? It's nothing special, though. Um...”
Han Seol-ae thought for a moment and said.
“First, it's about following the direction the child is interested in. I wasn't the one who taught her math first; A-yeon was the one who kept begging me to read difficult books to her. It's not about parents setting the direction—it’s about not blocking the direction the child wants to go in.”
“So A-yeon was the one who asked you to read difficult books to her on her own.”
“Second, I made sure she wasn't exposed to the internet or MiiTube videos when she was young. People say that seeing that kind of thing from a young age has a bad effect on brain development, right? So as a rule for raising her at home, I blocked it completely.
Honestly, there were a lot of hard times. I had to look after my second child too, there was plenty of housework, and whenever my body and mind were exhausted, I really wanted to just put on MiiTube for the kid and rest easy.”
“What happened?”
Han Seol-ae let out a small sigh, then said calmly.
“But I reminded myself of my original resolve and didn't do that. Instead, I read to her, talked with her, and sat together and watched things. That's all.”
Han Seol-ae looked back at the camera.
“Lastly, you have to give love. It may sound like something obvious, but I really think that's all there is to it. Supporting the child by their side when they're immersed in something, worrying together instead of scolding them when they make mistakes, and sincerely rejoicing when they do well. I think that's the most important thing.”
The reporter asked.
“What kind of child is A-yeon in your eyes?”
“The world might first think of the word genius when it thinks of A-yeon. But to me, A-yeon is simply my lovable daughter. Whether her IQ is 160 or not, whether she solved the Riemann hypothesis or not.”
The reporter followed up.
“Is there anything you hope for A-yeon?”
“No, not that I hope she'll study more than she does now and rack up achievements. I just want her to keep doing what she likes now, smiling happily as she lives. That's all.”
She looked at the camera and smiled warmly.
✒️✒️✒️
Next scene.
Next came an interview with Professor Park Mu-yeol, the professor in charge who first endorsed Yu A-yeon's paper on the Archive and invited her to the special lecture.
The reporter asked.
“I heard that when Yu A-yeon's paper was posted on the Archive, Professor Park Mu-yeol gave it his endorsement first and recommended it to the scholars around him. Did you know Yu A-yeon before the paper was posted?”
“Heh-heh. That's right. Yu A-yeon came to see me directly, together with Han Seol-ae. She took the paper out of a small bag and told me to read it right away. She was a really bold kid.”
“How did A-yeon know to come find you, Professor?”
“I think Han Seol-ae must have suggested it. I already knew her through a joint research project with Professor Shin I-jun, and I'd met her when she took over Professor Shin I-jun's research notes too.”
Professor Park Mu-yeol continued after taking a sip of tea.
“From Yu A-yeon's point of view, she probably judged that I, since I knew Professor Shin I-jun, was the right person to review the paper. It had to be someone who understood the background behind the paper.”
The reporter asked.
“What was your impression when you first received the paper?”
“I skimmed it quickly, and the approach itself was different from the ones I'd seen before. The chain of logic was more solid than in papers written by most PhDs.”
“I see.”
“But when I said the author was five years old, I couldn't believe it. So I put her to the test.”
“How?”
“I gave her a problem I was working on at the time.”
Professor Park Mu-yeol wrote formulas on the blackboard and said.
“It looks difficult just to look at. What kind of problem is it?”
“This is a problem about the distribution of special values of L-functions. It is related to the Riemann hypothesis, but not directly the same thing. There's no way you could answer it just by memorizing the paper. Without a deep understanding of number theory as a whole, you wouldn't even know where to start.”
“How did A-yeon answer?”
“She thought for a long time, then suggested an astonishingly fitting direction. That direction itself matched a large part of the direction I had in mind. After that, I believed it. That Yu A-yeon really was the one who wrote the paper.”
The reporter followed up.
“What kind of child is A-yeon in your eyes?”
Professor Park Mu-yeol spoke while standing with his hands behind his back and looking out the window.
“Among the mathematicians I know, there was a genius.”
“Do you mean Professor Shin I-jun?”
“Yes, that's right. I think Yu A-yeon is really similar to that friend of mine. In the way she approaches problems, and in the way she develops her logic too.”
Professor Park Mu-yeol looked at the camera and said.
“Heh-heh. Yu A-yeon said she grew up reading Professor Shin I-jun's research notes, didn't she? I think that may be the influence.”
✒️✒️✒️
Yu A-yeon's documentary video caused a huge stir around the world.
Clips from the documentary started going up on MiiTube, and short-form versions were made, landing in countless people's feeds.
Yu A-yeon's name became a huge topic on social media in countries all over the world.
…………………………
[Trending Now]
1위 : Yu A-yeon
2위 : Yu A-yeon look
3위 : Riemann hypothesis
4위 : Shin I-jun
…………………………
[Mom Cafe]
[Title : I was shocked after watching A-yeon's documentary…]
I was watching the broadcast today, and I was honestly shocked.
She's only five, but seeing her read and explain a math paper in English left me speechless…
I heard she was reading math books from a very young age. Is studying from a young age really that important?
- I'm looking into chess academies first.
- I think exposure to English from a young age is really important…
- I don't know about math journals, but I felt like English has to start young.
- The moms in Daechi-dong must be going crazy right now.
- ㄴ They're already talking in the group chat about group-buying overseas journals and reading them togetherㅠㅠ
- I'll have to read books to my kid in English too.
- ㄴ It's an era where moms have to study English to raise their kids…
[Title : Did you see Yu A-yeon's mother's interview about her parenting method]
It didn't feel like she was forcing the child to study
it felt more like she kept supporting what the child liked, which made it even more impressive.
- She was probably born with a lot of it too…
- But the mom also has a master's in math, so she's different in a different way.
- The scene where she read the English paper aloud was honestly shocking.
- My husband runs away when I ask him to read an English book to the kid…
- Still, I don't think you can ignore the influence of environment.
[Title : I was watching Yu A-yeon's documentary and saved it because the sailor uniform was so prettyㅠㅠ]
Watching the part with A-yeon in it,
isn't the combination of the black sailor uniform and the red scarf just perfect…?
And with her wavy hair swishing around, she really looked like a dollㅠㅠ
It's shocking enough that she's so good at studying, but she also came out looking so pretty and adorable
I kept staring at herㅋㅋ
I want to dress my daughter similarly too.
- I took tons of screenshots too~
- Does anyone know what brand that sailor uniform is?
- She has a pretty face, but the styling was done really well too.
- My daughter has long straight hair too, so I want to try copying it.
- I'm not the only one who immediately searched for sailor uniforms after watching the broadcast, right? ㅎㅎ
- The way her hair swished every time she smiled was so pretty~
- It already looks like the 'Yu A-yeon look' is trending in the cram-school district?
- Honestly, the fashion caught my eye before how well she studies did.
[Gallery]
[Title : Honestly, if you don't give a damn about Yu A-yeon and all that, smash the upvote ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
(Photo of Han Seol-ae smiling gently.jpg)
Young lady, please hand your mother over to me.
- Wakyapya
- Oh
- Ugh
- A-yeon… more than anything else, honestly, I'm most jealous that you have her as your mother…
[Title : More than anything else, I'm insanely jealous of the husband…]
Did the husband save a country in his past life?
The wife is insanely pretty, and you can tell she genuinely loves her family.
They had two daughters, and the eldest is a total genius who solved the Riemann hypothesis, while the mom's genes made her insanely cute.
The younger one must have inherited good genes too.
Damn, I'm so jealous.
- I saw this and signed up with a marriage agency.
- ㄴ Let's go roll the child gacha until we get a genius daughter.
- ㄴ Bro… with your IQ and looks, even if you rolled the child gacha 100 times, you'd never get one like that…
- ㄴ This is just marriage promo, don't fall for it ㅋㅋㅋ
- Someone tell that bastard god to patch the balance already, ㅅㅂ
- (frog-hanging meme)
[Title : This could still totally be fake]
Bribe the reporter too and deliberately stage it like that
Bribe the psychologist too and rig it so she scores 160 on the IQ test
Bribe the professor too and prearrange it so he'd praise her like that
That's still well within the range of something you can fake.
Don't be fooled.
We're all wise, intelligent people, aren't we?
- Honestly, that was kind of funny ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- At this point, I'm more curious what this guy's gonna spout next ㅋㅋㅋ
- A thousand mathematicians even stood up and applauded, so at least believe it.
- ㄴ That too can be faked if you bribe them in advance. If you just rope in the front row beforehand, it's totally doable.
- ㄴ You lunatic.
[Tweet]
The mother is just absurdly beautiful.
→ The mother is just absurdly beautiful.
Both mother and daughter have insanely strong screen presence.
→ Both mother and daughter have insanely strong screen presence.
Even though the daughter is a monster-level genius, it's honestly touching that the mother wants her daughter's happiness more than anything else….
→ Even though the daughter is a monster-level genius, it's just touching that the mother wants her daughter's happiness more than anything else….
[English-speaking Community]
I'm trying to focus on the math but her mom got me distracted
→ I'm trying to focus on the math, but her mom keeps distracting me.
The whole family has impossible stats.
→ The whole family has impossible stats.
Bro, the genes in this family are NOT fair 😭😭😭
→ Bro, the genes in this family are NOT fair 😭😭😭