Scholar’s Advanced Technological System

by Stayrr

After suffering from a heat stroke while working under the scorching heat of summer, Lu Zhou, a hardworking but poor university student, somehow becomes the owner of an advanced technological system. With the cheat given by the system, his university life changes overnight. A Master’s degree? Easy. PhD? Not a problem. From a nobody, he quickly becomes a huge celebrity in the wor

7. 196

Read Scholar's Advanced Technological System - Chapter 196 - Controversial Winners online free - Novelfull

"The second winner… Lu Zhou!"

When the audience heard this name, they did not make any noise.

No one was unfamiliar with this name.

Yet, when everyone heard this name, a look of surprise appeared on their faces.

The reason was that the named person was way too young. He had just turned 21 years old. In fact, Lu Zhou was half the age of everyone else at the venue!

The academic world was a place of qualifications.

No one doubted his qualifications.

However, it was still a surprise that a kid won this award.

Professor Qiu pushed his glasses and continued to speak in a steady tone.

"… The main research results of Lu Zhou are the Zhou's theorem, the twin prime conjecture, and the use of topological methods to further supplement the sieve theory. He created his own unique insights not only in the field of pure mathematics but also applied mathematics. His research results have been highly praised by Professor Bawendi. All of these achievements are commendable for such a young scholar."

This was impressive for a young scholar because even an old scholar who had been doing research for decades might not be able to achieve this level.

As for qualifications…

Since Lu Zhou received recognition from Professor Qiu, no one objected.

Applause sound soon reverberated through the venue.

It was like a thunderstorm, spreading from the front row to the back.

Lu Zhou stared at the podium with his eyes wide opened.

He finally knew what Professor Lu was hiding, and why Yan Xinjue and Professor Liu were congratulating him.

He had never expected that the China Mathematics Society would grant him such an honor.

Although the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award was for younger scholars, it had never been awarded to a twenty-something-year-old.

Professor Yang Zhiguang was not shocked. His thick face was neutral.

He had expected it.

He patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and said, "Go on, Lu Zhou. Go up the stage and take your award."

"Oh…" murmured Lu Zhou as he nodded. He then stood up and walked on the red carpet.

As he slowly approached the stage, his heart was beating so fast that it almost jumped out of his chest.

However, the second he stepped onto the stage, his heart calmed down.

When Lu Zhou received the gold medal and certificate from Professor Qiu, he said politely, "Thank you."

Professor Qiu smiled and replied, "You're welcome. You deserve this honor!"

Professor Qiu nodded toward Professor Yang Zhiguang and said, "You two winners, say whatever you want."

Yang Zhiguang smiled and said, "I'll let the younger one talks first."

Lu Zhou was unprepared, but Professor Qiu already handed him the microphone.

He took the microphone. He then took a deep breath before he looked at the audience and said with a steady but excited voice, "Thank you, University of Jin Ling, for cultivating me. Thank you, China Mathematics Society, for giving me this award. I'll continue to strive for greater mathematics results!"

"Thank you!"

His award speech was very short.

It was only three sentences.

However, his speech was genuine and not exaggerated.

Clap clap clap…

The venue exploded with applause.

Professor Lu looked at the podium with approval and applauded gently.

Yan Xinjue was even more excited. His hands were red from clapping and he even shouted out loud, "F*ck, Zhou, you're nutty!"

Receiving the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award at 21 years old… If it was him, he would have bragged about it for the rest of his life.

"Be polite!"

Even though Professor Lu reprimanded Yan Xinjue, his face was full of smiles.

It was not just mathematicians who were applauding, even the undergraduate students from Peking University Union who was standing at the entrance of the venue joined in.

The person standing on stage was their age. Maybe even younger…

That was why they were applauding.

Lu Zhou had set an example for them.

…

Of course, some people were unhappy about this young winner.

For example, someone who nearly received the reward…

Wei Siyang sat at the back of the venue. He had an awkward expression on his face. His hands were rested on his legs, and he did not care to applaud.

The reason was that his boss was sitting next to him. His boss' face had turned red. If Wei Siyang clapped, he was afraid that he would not be able to graduate.

Professor Ma Changan stared at the person on stage. His mood was terribly gloomy.

He was not furious because Lu Zhou rejected him earlier, but because this honor should have belonged to him.

It was a long story.

The domestic mathematics community was not big, but there were a lot of niche communities.

In 1952, China had a change to the national university system. The authorities asked for domestic universities to imitate the British system. As a result, the mathematics department of both the University of Shuimu and the University of Zhi was cut. Instead, the nation built University of Yan and University of Aurora.

Now, the domestic mathematics community could be divided into the University of Yan, the China Academy of Sciences, and the University of Aurora.

Some said the system change was a waste of academic resources.

The most famous was probably Professor Feng. He was unable to become an academician due to this change.

In the end, this gentleman was hired to be the dean of mathematics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. However, he was still unable to become an academician.

It was obvious that the selection process of becoming an academician was not "absolute".

Of course, not anyone could become one. One had to have some academic background.

Professor Ma Changan was a member of the University of Aurora. He had prepared for the 2017 academician selection for a long time. He spent the last 20 years working hard at the department of mathematics at Aurora.

However, his academic capital was still too small compared to professors that only did research. He had not even written one major research thesis.

Of course, he had written a few small theses, but most of them were collaborations.

The hardest part was that in China, only the first author mattered.

Therefore, he set his sights on the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award.

If he received this Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, this would add to his qualifications and he might be able to become an academician.

He had been preparing for this award for years.

He had even planned his award speech.

However, this kid just stole the award from him!

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Chapter 197: Have To Go

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In the afternoon of that same day, at the mathematics research lab of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Xiang Huanan was sitting quietly.

With his reading glasses on, he was reading [Annual Mathematics]. He had a pen in his hand, and every now and then, he would write on the paper.

To learn was to grow, especially when it came to research in mathematics.

New research results were born ever month. He did not want to fall behind, so he would read every new edition of Annual Mathematics.

Suddenly, an unexpected guest visited his office.

The guest smiled and shouted, "Old man, what are you doing?"

When Professor Xiang Huanan raised his head, he saw Professor Wang Yuping walking into his office. He then took off his reading glasses and said with a smile, "Hey."

He looked at the student next to his desk and said, "Xiao Li, give Professor Wang some tea."

"Okay!"

Xiao Li put his pen down and respectfully poured some tea for the two old professors.

It was not Professor Wang Yuping first visit, so he casually took the cup and sat down on the sofa.

Professor Xiang Huanan was still flipping through the journal as he chatted with his old friend, "Why aren't you at the mathematics conference? What are you doing here?"

"They're not giving me a prize, so why should I go? I'd rather come here to your cool office," said Professor Wang Yuping. He smiled and said, "But I heard that this conference was interesting. The morning opening ceremony was presented by Qiu Chengtong. He gave the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award to some twenty year old. The rumor was that this award belonged to Ma Changan, but it seems that he was screwed over."

This was big news to old Xiang.

However, Professor Xiang was not surprised by who won. Instead, Xiang Huanan was surprised as he looked at his friend and asked, "That Wang Shicheng guy actually bowed down to Qiu Chengtong?"

Due to a professor named Tian, Professor Qiu was unhappy with the department of mathematics at the University of Yan.

In 2001, University of Yan invited a MIT professor to become an academician. Professor Qiu Chengtong was unhappy about it and he said to the press, "I'm the one that deserves to become an academician."

This incident blew up in the country, but in the end it ended in a low-key manner.

However, Professor Qiu Chengtong and the University of Yan never solved their issue. Professor Qiu Chengtong eventually transfered to University of Shuimu due to this incident.

However, not everyone was obsessed with faction, and not everyone was passionate about power.

Especially the old professors who had already made a name for themselves. Their name alone counted as academic capital. They were not overly obsessive and were easy going.

Professor Wang Yuping, for example, was one of those professors who did not care about fame or fortune. He was just an old professor who was really passionate about education.

Due to this, even though he taught at the University of Yan, his relationship with Professor Qiu Chengtong had been quite good. He would often come to the Chinese Academy of Sciences to visit his old friend.

Professor Wang Yuping sipped some tea before saying, "He had to bow. If Ma Changan won the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, it would be ungodly embarrassing."

"Are you sure?" asked Professor Xiang Huanan.

"Of course. Why do you think Old Qiu came back? He came back just so he could tell Academician Wang Shicheng that the Federal Mathematics Society is considering about giving Lu Zhou the Cole Prize."

Professor Xiang Huanan was stunned for a moment. He then smiled and said, "This is a bit serious. No wonder Academician Wang is unhappy."

It was not too bad if the winner did not deserve the prize. However, if the loser went overseas and won an even bigger prize there, then that would be a problem.

The media would start to gossip and maybe even talked about conspiracy theories.

If a twenty year old kid defeated several academicians, he would surely deserved the Cole Prize, right?

However, people were not that stupid.

After all, the weight of the Cole Prize was much heavier than the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award.

"It seems that this conference is a bit interesting. Wang Shicheng actually took the initiative to shake hands with Qiu Chengtong. It's a pity that I missed it," Professor Xiang said with a smile.

Professor Wang Yuping smiled and said, "It's interesting. I plan on going over there tomorrow to check it out. I heard that the kid has a 30 minute report. It seems that when he was researching Polignac's conjecture, he found out some group structure method. I read his thesis, and it looks interesting. His report skill level is high, so it would be a pity to miss it."

"That kid's skill level is high. I could tell that from the oral defense," said Professor Xiang Huanan with a smile. He added, "It's a pity that Lu Shenjian stole him away. Otherwise, I would've been the one guiding him to the award."

"Don't mention it. It still pisses me off," said Professor Wang Yuping as he slapped his thigh. He said, "That Lu guy is a physicist, and he stole one of our mathematicians. How dare he!"

Professor Xiang Huanan smiled and said, "Well, why don't you go tell Old Lu to his face?"

Professor Wang Yuping smiled and said, "That… Never mind. I'm afraid I might give him a heart attack."

Xiang Huanan smiled and shook his head as he flipped the journal page.

Suddenly, he froze.

He looked at the thesis from top to bottom again, and his face became more and more serious. When he read the last line, he paused for a long time.

After a while, Professor Xiang Huanan suddenly asked, "That report… What time is it? Where?"

Professor Wang Yuping was sipping his tea when he casually replied, "Three o'clock in the afternoon, Beijing Normal University. Why? Are you going?"

"I have to go…" Xiang Huanan sighed and placed the Annual Mathematics journal on the table. He then said, "Look at it yourself."

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Chapter 198: Rejection

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Regardless of whether it was expected or not, the opening ceremony of this year's mathematics conference came to an end. The two Loo-Keng Hua and Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Awards were settled in the applause.

Someone was unhappy?

The rewards did not care about your feelings!

The shutter sound from cameras was loud as the second the opening ceremony ended, the reporters started to swarm toward the stage.

The reporter from Daily Mail asked a question first.

"Professor Qiu, there are rumors that you have had a disagreement with the mathematics department at Yan University. Is this true?"

With a smile, Professor Qiu Chengtong, "Of course it's fake. I'm Wang Shicheng's old friend, and we talk often. Wang Shicheng, don't you agree?"

Professor Wang Shicheng had a stiff smile as he said, "Of course. I admire Old Qiu's work on partial differential equations."

Professor Wang Shicheng was not lying as Professor Qiu Chengtong was one of the leading mathematicians in the country.

If it was another weak person?

Wang Shicheng would have berated them.

Professor Qiu did not have a good temper, and he disliked domestic learning values.

Everyone were academics, so they had a certain demeanor.

Not to mention, the President and Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union were here, so no matter how troublesome their own people were, he still had to be calm on the outside.

On the other hand, it was not only Professor Qiu Chengtong who was being surrounded by reporters. Even the winners of the Loo-Keng Hua and Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Awards were also surrounded.

Especially Lu Zhou.

A 21-year-old winner was really amazing!

This was big news to the reporters.

A reporter rushed over and chased after Lu Zhou to ask, "Mr. Lu Zhou, what thoughts do you have with regards to winning the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm very excited. I don't have any thoughts!"

A foreign journalist rushed over and asked in fluent Chinese, "Mr. Lu Zhou, the rumor is that Professor Qiu and Professor Lu have beef and that this Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award was given to you by Qiu Chengtong. Is this true?"

Lu Zhou rolled his eyes and said, "It's my first time meeting with Professor Qiu. He's a respectable scholar. I have no comment regarding personal issues!"

"Mr. Lu Zhou, can I please get your WeChat?"

A young female journalist from the journalism department of Beijing Normal University came over.

However, would Lu Zhou be tempted by her beauty?

Of course not!

In order to avoid being entangled by this lady, Lu Zhou chose to be interviewed.

The questions were firing at Lu Zhou, and he soon felt numb in his head. He quickly moved through the crowd.

Motherf*cker, why is it so difficult to accept an award…

On the other hand, Professor Yang Zhiguang was comfortable with such a scene. He always had a smile on his face that offended no one.

When Lu Zhou finally escaped from the Beijing Normal University auditorium, he sat in Yan Xinjue's car.

"Where is Professor Lu?"

"Professor Lu went to eat with his old friends. We'll eat back at the hotel," said Yan Xinjue. He smiled and said, "Lu Zhou! Not bad! 21-year-old Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner. You'll probably earn the Fields Medal by the time you're thirty."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Speaking of which, how did you guys know beforehand that I would win?"

"I accidentally knew it since Professor Lu is very well connected. I think he got it from Old Qiu. Then one day, he spilled the news when drunk and I heard it," said Yan Xinjue while he was driving the car. He added, "I actually wanted to tell you, but Professor Lu wouldn't let me. Don't blame me."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Of course not, why would I blame you? It's not like you should have leaked it."

Yan Xinjue asked, "What next? Are you still going to develop toward mathematical physics?"

"Yes," said Lu Zhou as he nodded. He then said, "Mathematics is an important scientific research tool. It's like a knife, and it can be used in any discipline. The work of a mathematics researcher is like sharpening this knife. But, I'm not only interested in sharpening the knife, but I'm also interested in using the knife."

Yan Xinjue said, "Not bad, that's some nice bullsh*ting. I look forward to seeing you on stage in Stockholm."

Stockholm was where the Nobel Prize was given.

However, this award was only given to major scientific discoveries. It was not easy to get.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I hope."

…

The opening ceremony of the 12th Chinese Mathematical Society came to an end. An official congress was held in the afternoon and the next board of directors, as well as the next secretary-general and chairman, were selected

While the conference was going on, Lu Zhou was on Weibo.

He had to admire the journalists. They had already sent out the press releases.

The journalists attached a short video and eye-catching titles for clickbait.

[Surprised! Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner is a 21-year-old!]

[Named the Chinese Fields Medal, anyone that won the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award is a genius…]

[Who could've thought that this year's Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award was given to him!]

[…]

Without surprise, this hot news was once again on trending.

The short video showed Lu Zhou on stage. The first media outlet that posted this video had their comment section blow up.

[What is the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award?]

[It's one of the most famous mathematics prizes! How do you not know?]

[21 years old, isn't that a bit young? I remember most of the past winners are in their forties…]

[How many forty-year-olds can achieve this level of success? This guy will probably win the Fields Medal!]

[Praise the Chinese Mathematics Society for not being ageist!]

[Wu Yan and old dog Zhu must be furious!]

[…]

Lu Zhou did not know about the discussion online.

At night, he went to the dinner hosted by the Chinese Mathematics Society.

As the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner, and as the youngest winner of all time, Lu Zhou became the star of the party.

Many young scholars wanted to speak with him.

Even the older scholars respected his humbleness and passion.

Even the academician from China Mathematics Society, Wang Shicheng, was eager to speak with him.

Not just that, Wang Shicheng praised Lu Zhou's work in front of many people. He also offered Lu Zhou to go to the University of Yan.

Lu Zhou was tempted as the mathematics department of the University of Yan was top in the country. Not to mention, under the University of Yan, he might become the youngest academician ever.

However, he still had to keep his word. Lu Zhou already agreed to be part of the University of Jin Ling's training program.

Therefore, he euphemistically refused this invitation and told Professor Wang the reason, which was that he had already received the offer from Princeton and that he would go next year to get his PhD.

When Professor Wang heard his explanation, he was understanding. Professor Wang said that if Lu Zhou ever wanted to teach or speak at the University of Yan, he would be welcomed with both arms open.

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Chapter 199: A Thirty-Minute Report

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Lu Zhou's glass seemed neverending at the dinner. At the end of the dinner, he started to get really drunk.

Thankfully, his tolerance was pretty good, so he did not black-out.

When Lu Zhou returned to his hotel, he immediately took his clothes off and went in the shower.

Once he blow-dried his hair and laid in bed, he took out his phone and just as he was about to check his email, he accidentally clicked on Weibo. He then saw that his name was on trending again.

Even though it was not the ultimate top in trending, but it was still in the Top 10.

He looked at his personal messages and saw the "99" notification.

[Master, are you still doing giveaways? Please help my thesis.]

[… All bow down to this genius student!]

[Master, are you taking in students? I'm Luo Li Yin~~]

[Foreign mathematics professors are getting paid a million a year, check it out!]

[Hello, Mr. Lu. Here's the situation, I proved Goldbach's conjecture, but the Chinese Academy of Sciences wouldn't let me submit. I cannot take this shame. I want to go to Harvard University, I want to meet Qiu Chengtong, but I don't have the money. Please send me a 100k and I will write your name in as a co-author of the thesis!]

[…]

Lu Zhou was humored.

He was amused by the persistence of his fans.

Lu Zhou felt like he had not been on Weibo for a long time. No wonder his fans were so persistence. Maybe he should interact with them?

He sent out a blog post.

[I'm graduating next year, and I'm really flattered to suddenly win this medal. I hope I have no regrets this year!]

Lu Zhou then attached a photo of his gold medal before he sent it.

After he went to get some water, he refreshed the page and dozens of comments came rolling in.

[Wait a minute, didn't you just graduate this year???]

[Bow to genius student…]

[I'm still writing my thesis, I'm about to cry.]

[My master's career is full of regrets.]

[As a undergraduate student, I'm in despair.]

[…]

When Lu Zhou saw the negative comments, he buried his head in the pillow and could not hold back his laughter.

…

He still had to do the report.

Thankfully his report was in the afternoon, otherwise, he would still be hungover.

Lu Zhou ate some lunch and cleaned up his room. He then stood in front of the mirror and tried a couple of hairstyles. Then Yan Xinjue called him to come downstairs. He drove Lu Zhou to Beijing Normal University.

Lu Zhou stood on the podium and started the PowerPoint.

He glanced across the stage and saw that there were quite a lot of people. The seats were all filled, but people were still entering.

Lu Zhou was a bit shocked.

He thought that the seats would be half full at most. After all, there were quite a lot of reports going on, and his report was nothing special. It was only a little group theory method.

When he saw the crowd, he started to think.

Is this the celebrity effect?

A Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award is influential!

Shook!

Once the ten-minute preparation time was over, the report officially began.

Lu Zhou flipped to the first page of the PowerPoint and started to give a brief overview of the content of his report.

"While studying the Polignac's conjecture, I studied Mr. Hilbert's proof of the infiniteness of prime numbers, which greatly inspired me. Especially the study of using group theory to solve the number theory problem. I made a lot of interesting and improved changes to Mr. Hilbert's paper."

"… I'll call my version the "Group Structure Method".

"When it comes to infinite prime numbers, this approach can simplify many complex problems…"

Lu Zhou started to go in depth of his thesis. He spent twenty minutes to talk about the core ideas and concepts of the Group Structure Method.

In order to save time, he spoke very quickly. The crowd was also paying attention.

What surprised him was that he saw an old man taking notes.

He felt even more motivated to give a good report.

Finally, the presentation ended. The next session was the most important questioning session.

A random 40-year-old guy raised his hand and asked a question, "I have a question, line 47 in your thesis. The n=(2n,m) is abruptly mentioned in Wilson's theorem. The even-order cyclic group G has a unique second-order element a n. Isn't this somewhat less rigorous?"

When Lu Zhou heard this question, he laughed before he answered it with ease.

"Maybe not so, I wanted to save space and omitted some of the unrelated steps.

He picked up a marker and wrote the steps on a whiteboard.

[

…

From anG, and an=2, amG, and am=2, the order of am is 2n/(2n,m), which gives 2n/( 2n,m)=2.

Then n divides m, am an …

Therefore, it can be proven that the even-order cyclic group G has a unique second-order element an

]

It was well-founded and convincing.

The questioner looked at the steps on the whiteboard and nodded, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Lu Zhou nodded his head and went to the next question.

Only people who were interested would stay, and anyone that was uninterested would have left after the presentation.

Lu Zhou was surprised to see a lot of people interested in his method.

As such, he answered every question in detail.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the venue.

"I have a question."

When Lu Zhou saw the person standing up, he was stunned.

Isn't this…

Professor Ma?

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Please ask."

He was curious as to what Professor Ma would say.

Professor Ma Changan smiled politely as he acted like a kind old man.

However, when he opened his mouth, he was not so kind anymore.

"Whether it's Wilson's theorem or the infinite problem of prime numbers, both have been proven by group theory. Especially the latter, Hilbert has given a fairly complete group theory proof. And the method you proposed seems to me, redundant."

This question was easy to answer.

Lu Zhou smiled and he was about to answer the question. However, Professor Ma Changan did not allow him to speak. Instead, Professor Ma Changan continued to ask.

"Of course, I'm not doubting the value of your research. But I question if this small research project deserves to be discussed here… "

"… I noticed that you have answered the questions in detail. But you didn't answer your own research topic, which is Polignac's conjecture. I can't help but ask, did you actually come up with this method while researching the Polignac's conjecture? If so, how is it used to solve Polignac's conjecture?"

Ma Changan had a smirk on his face as he continued to attack, "… I think we all know that you chose Polignac's conjecture for your research topic for the Ten Thousand People Initiative, which probably got a million in grants. I think we're all looking forward to your research results, but is this all you came up with?"

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Chapter 200: Already Proven?!

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The atmosphere in the venue was in dead silence.

There was a weird vibe…

Awkwardness?

Ma Changan frowned. He thought that people would agree with him but it was the opposite.

From the audience's reaction, it seemed that no one agreed with his question.

However, it did not matter, as he planned to defeat this boy himself.

Other professors did not want to make enemies, so they did not speak up.

Even Professor Qiu Chengtong stayed silent.

However…

Sitting to his left, an old professor coughed before he spoke loud and clear, "Um, Ma Changan, how about you sit down. You can ask this question after the report is over. This report is for academic questions."

Ma Changan was stunned as he did not expect people to refute him.

Wei Siyang turned his face and when he saw the old professor, he was shocked.

It's actually Academician Guo!

He's a major player in the field of nonlinear equations!

But…

Isn't he a professor from Aurora University?

Ma Changan had an unpleasant expression. Even though he respected Professor Guo, he was not afraid of him.

He had to stand his ground.

They were from the same school, so he had to be a little euphemistic.

"Professor Guo, I don't really agree with what you said. I'm concerned about the state's research funding. Why can't I discuss this at an academic conference?"

Professor Ma Changan paused for a second before he continued, "We all know that putting into practice is the only way of testing the truth. Without implementing it, how would we know if a method is useful?"

"… Otherwise, new methods would have no basis behind them. Isn't that ridiculous?"

"Haha," Professor Guo nodded his head as he did not want to step down to Professor Ma Changan's level. He calmly sat back down.

He only wanted to remind Professor Ma Changan. He did not want to start a debate.

Unfortunate…

Lu Zhou stood on stage and looked at Professor Ma Changan oddly. He thought, "You're not my supervisor, so why is my research progress any of your business?"

You're talking about a scientific methodology to me?

Do I look like a politician to you?

Lu Zhou was about to speak before another familiar voice came from the crowd.

"Let me say something."

An old man from the back of the venue slowly stood up. His voice was impatient as he asked, "I don't know if Ma Changan reads Annual Mathematics?"

When Lu Zhou saw the old man, he was surprised.

This…

Isn't he Academician Xiang Huanan from the Chinese Academy of Sciences? He was one of the judges from my undergraduate oral defense!

It has been a while.

When Professor Ma Changan heard this question, his heart dropped.

A mathematician not subscribed to Annual Mathematics was like an undergraduate student coming to class without a textbook.

Professor Ma Changan smiled and said, "Academician Xiang, you're funny. Every mathematics office at Aurora University has a copy of it."

"Then you haven't read it?" asked Professor Xiang Huanan. He then said, "Maybe read the latest issue of Annual Mathematics, it might answer your question."

Ma Changan did not understand and so, he asked, "What do you mean?"

Professor Xiang smiled and calmly said, "In the latest edition of Annual Mathematics, the thesis for the Polignac's conjecture proof was published. The author is the guy currently standing on the stage. The method he used to solve the Polignac's conjecture is the so-called "Group Structure Method".

The venue was dead silent.

Some people were oblivious.

Some people, like academician Guo, had already read the latest issue of Annual Mathematics.

However, they were in the minority.

Most people had a look of astonishment on their faces… They could not believe it!

They could not believe that the young guy that solved the twin prime conjecture at the beginning of the year, had expanded the k=1 form to infinity, and solved the Polignac's conjecture!

Some people did not know why the Chinese Mathematics Society gave the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award to such a young person.

Now, it was all clear.

He was definitely worthy of this award!

When Professor Ma Changan heard this news, he froze and he was at lost of words.

He could not believe it.

However, he also knew that Professor Xiang was not lying.

His face turned red, but he did not know what to say. He wanted to sit down, but his legs could not move.

At this moment, he was the laughing stock.

Sitting close by, Professor Guo shook his head.

There was nothing wrong with asking questions at an academic conference. However, for someone to ask a question like Ma Changan, he better be damned sure that his question was backed by evidence. Otherwise, he would lose all credibility.

An academic conference was no place for rhetorical questions.

Not to mention it was in front of so many people.

Even though Professor Hong was his friend, he could not help Professor Ma Changan.

There was no way Professor Hong could support his friend's 2017 election anymore.

It seemed that Professor Ma Changan would not become an academician after all.

At least not until he accomplishes some big achievement…

Professor Guo could not help but look at the man on stage.

The young man was calm as a cucumber. He did not even mention about publishing his major thesis.

Meanwhile, Professor Ma Changan just stood there as he dug his grave deeper.

The young man on stage had a mature-like mentality!

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Chapter 201: Level Four Mathematics!

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Actually, Professor Guo misunderstood Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou wanted to explain his reasoning, but Professor Ma did not give him a chance.

However, he was just as surprised as the audience.

Previously, he was preparing the Group Structure Method thesis. He finally finished the paper before the deadline and started to work on his PowerPoint. Once he finished his PowerPoint, he was dragged to Beijing by Professor Lu. He did not pay attention to his thesis submission process at all.

Lu Zhou thought that for a major discovery like the Polignac's conjecture, the journal would it at the end of the year. The Annual Mathematics journal was more efficient than him.

Maybe…

Did I meet a nutty peer reviewer?

As Professor Ma Changan's face went white, Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Thank you, Academician Xiang, for answering this question. If there are no further questions, Professor Ma, please sit down."

Professor Ma Changan sat down.

Lu Zhou then looked at the crowd and asked, "Any other questions?"

No one stood up, and no one spoke up.

Professor Ma Changan had ruined this report, so the vibe was no longer the same.

No one was motivated to ask questions after hearing Professor Ma Changan's bullsh*t.

As for the bomb that Professor Xiang just dropped, all of the number theory mathematicians sitting in the crowd could not wait to check Annual Mathematics to confirm this matter.

Solving two conjectures within a year, even if they were related, was terrifying impressive!

When Lu Zhou saw that no one was going to ask any further questions, he looked at the staff member next to him and cleared his throat.

"The content of "Group Structure Method" has been covered in detail in this report."

"Thank you for coming!"

The crowd erupted in applause.

Lu Zhou lightly bowed and left the stage.

…

The report finally ended.

As Professor Ma Changan quickly left the venue, he nearly tripped on his way out.

Thankfully his student, Wei Siyang, was next to him and saved him. Otherwise, he would have embarrassed himself again.

Professor Ma Changan stood still and looked at his student.

"Why didn't you remind me just now!"

Wei Siyang was muddled as he thought, "How can you, as a professor, expect me to remind you?"

Of course, he did not say this out loud.

"Professor, I've been busy with your tasks these few days, I didn't have the chance to read Annual Mathematics…"

"Shut up!"

Wei Siyang shut his mouth and did not speak.

He knew that his boss was only trying to find a punching bag. It would be better if he did not speak.

But this Lu Zhou guy is pretty nutty. Winning the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award at 21 years old, and made significant research results in the field of prime numbers…

If he did not have to follow his boss, he definitely would not give up the opportunity to speak to Lu Zhou.

Unfortunately, his graduation was more important…

On the other side, Professor Wang Yuping sat in the venue and when he saw Professor Ma Changan leaving, he laughed happily.

"Hahaha, I knew that this old guy is full of sh*t. What an embarrassment to Aurora University!"

"Ah, he's just that kind of guy. He's only embarrassing himself," said Professor Xiang Huanan as he shook his head. He added, "The 2017 academician elections are going to be pretty hard for him."

Professor Ma Changan could not create his own academic results, yet he tried to vilify other people's scientific research results. In the end, he became a laughing stock.

Not to mention, the Chinese Mathematics Society had just awarded Lu Zhou the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award. He, for some reason, decided to doubt the judges.

On the other hand, Lu Zhou just finished his report and did not linger around. He left Beijing Normal University and took a taxi back to his hotel.

He did not care about Professor Ma Changan at all. He only cared about his mission rewards. What could it be?

He had waited very long for this reward.

Lu Zhou laid in bed and went into the system space.

He then walked up to the translucent mission panel.

[Congratulations, User, for completing the reward mission!]

[Mission completion details are as follows: Solve the Polignac's conjecture.]

[Final mission evaluation: None (Reward missions have no evaluation)]

[Mission reward: 100k Mathematics experience points! 1000 general points! One lucky draw ticket (50% sample, 50% blueprints)]

100k mathematics experience points!

Lu Zhou was excited when he saw this reward.

If he recalled correctly, the twin prime conjecture was only worth 50k!

He only needed 100k to level up!

Without hesitation, Lu Zhou ordered the system.

"System, open my characteristic panel!"

[

Core science:

A. Mathematics: Level 4(54,000/200,000)

B. Physics: Level 3 (53,100/100,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 1 (4,000/10,000)

D. Engineering: Level 1 (0/10,000)

E. Materials science: Level 1 (3,000/10,000)

F. Energy science: Level 1 (0/10,000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (2,900/10,000)

General points: 2,975 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

Unsurprisingly, with the completion of the reward mission, his mission level jumped up.

However, when Lu Zhou saw the level five requirements, he calmed down.

The Polignac's conjecture was probably in the third category, but it was only worth 100,000 experience points.

From that logic, 200,000 experience points would be worth two Polignac's conjectures, or one higher-level conjecture.

If he wanted to level up, he might have to solve some Langlands program or Hilbert 23 conjectures.

Fortunately, the experience requirement only doubled.

If it added a zero like last time, Lu Zhou would kill himself. He would never reach Level 10 in mathematics.

He took a deep breath and looked at the screen.

Finally, the exciting part came.

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This time, the lucky draw chances were the same as the last mission.

50% blueprint, 50% sample. Both were good options. There was no way the system would give Lu Zhou garbage.

Lu Zhou pressed the lucky draw button and looked at the rotating wheel. He took a deep breath before he shouted, "Stop!"

The wheel spun a couple more times then gradually came to a stop.

[Congratulations, User, a sample is given!]

A sample is pretty good.

Hopefully, I get a scanner gun again.

Lu Zhou's expression did not change while he waited patiently for the system to give the award.

[Acquired: Nitrogen shield (Stores 100 units of energy. Can shield against kinetic weapon effectively for five minutes. Can also release energy at once. (one-time use)]

Lu Zhou: "…"

What's this?

It was not as if he was Ironman. He had a normal life. What was the use of this thing?

Lu Zhou looked at the watch-shaped item in his inventory and he was confused.

The only purpose of this thing he could think of was a car accident.

However, given that he did not even have a car, there was a low probability of getting into a car accident.

Lu Zhou finally gave up on trying to find a purpose of this thing. It was not as if this was the first time the system screwed him over.

At least it was not garbage.

Furthermore, if he received another scanner gun in the future, he could scan this thing.

He was curious what exactly was "100 units of energy". What was the principle of this thing, and how does it create a shield with nearby air molecules?

It would be amazing if he could reverse engineer the technology.

He placed the prize aside and looked at his mission panel.

The reward mission ended, so he had three new refreshed missions.

Lu Zhou prayed and read the missions.

[

Mission 1: Science is more than mathematics

Description: User is obsessed with mathematics and physics, which is respectable. But, there are non-theoretical problems that are worth studying. There are many more topics that are worth exploring.

Requirements: Obtain at least 10 system for any three subjects in materials science, engineering, biochemistry, energy science, and information science. A time limit of 1 year. Ways to earn credits: Publish theses (1-3), academic conference reports (1-5), complete research projects (1-?).

Reward: 1000 experience points per credit. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket (85% garbage, 11% sample, 4% drawings).

]

[

Mission1: Health is everything

Description: The body is a temple. User needs a good body to achieve greater things.

Requirements: Rank runner-up in a national sporting event.

Reward: 10k experience points (100% champion) (50% runner-up). 500 general points. One lucky draw (90% garbage, 7% sample, 3% blueprints).

]

[

Mission 3: Climb new peaks

Description: The solution of the infinite prime numbers is solved with Polignac's conjecture. However, the research on prime numbers is far from completion.

Requirements: Solve a mathematical conjecture related to prime numbers.

Reward: 1-??? experience points, 500 general points. One lucky draw (50% garbage, 30% sample, 20% blueprints).

]

Lu Zhou knew that his health was important, but it was a bit unrealistic to compete at a national level sports competition.

Unless he somehow obtained a physical strengthening drug. Even then, he would need two. One to enter the competition, one to win it.

Lu Zhou excluded Mission 2. He was deciding between Mission 1 and Mission 3 when he finally chose Mission 3.

One one hand, it was because the latter had better lucky draw chances. On the other hand, the latter's experience was more imaginative.

The first mission sounded tempting, but the total experience points that were given only added up to 30k.

The third mission had much higher potential.

Coincidentally he was going to Princeton next year. He could just use this prime number requirement for his graduation thesis!

…

A lot of people went on trending, but few went on trending twice within a week.

A 21-year-old winning Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award was enough to surprise people. Now, another news story broke out. This Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner solved a world-class mathematics problem; The Polignac's conjecture.

The journalists behind the articles did not know what the Polignac's conjecture was. They only knew that it was harder than the twin prime conjecture.

Which was true.

The twin prime conjecture could only be regarded as a weaker version of Polignac's conjecture. If the Polignac's conjecture was established, then the twin prime conjecture was also established.

Multiple media outlets quickly reported this story. It even overwhelmed the reports on the 12th Chinese Mathematics Society anniversary conference.

China's mathematics circle was unremarkable, but this sudden breakthrough brought China into the spotlight.

This rising mathematics star was bursting with light.

Although Lu Zhou did not pay attention to the news online, he knew that the media would report on this matter and that the media would probably title it something like [Shook! A world-class problem has been solved by a Chinese master's student!]… or something along those lines.

This story would have blown up even without the clickbait titles.

Lu Zhou was pushed to number one on trending.

However, Lu Zhou did not care much for it.

There was a greater honor waiting for him.

The fifth day of the mathematics conference, with help from Professor Lu, Lu Zhou met with Professor Qiu again.

This time, not only did Lu Zhou and Professor Qiu discussed mathematics problems, but Lu Zhou also heard a piece of news.

The Federal Mathematics Society decided to award him the Cole Prize!

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The Cole Prize?!

Lu Zhou was astonished.

Soon after, he realized a problem.

"Wait a minute, isn't the Cole Prize only awarded to members of the Federal Mathematics Society?"

Professor Qiu knew that Lu Zhou would ask this question. So, he smiled and said, "The Princeton conference was hosted by the Federal Mathematics Society. With the Best Young Speaker Award also came the membership status. Therefore, you're in full compliance with the award rules."

Lu Zhou had never applied to join an association, but generally, associations would grant membership to award winners, so this was common practice. The same thing happened to his Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award.

Professor Qiu paused for a second before he smiled and continued.

"… The nomination award was completed in September, and the selection was done in October. The official documents will be sent to your school in December. The award conference will be held 2 days after Christmas. I think it's at the University of California. The organizer will send you more details, so just check your email. Also, take this time to prepare your acceptance speech!"

Lu Zhou smiled.

He was a little embarrassed.

The official documents haven't arrived yet, but you're already telling me. Isn't this a bit strange?

He also wanted to ask how much was the Cole prize money, but then he thought that academics should not care too much about money.

Therefore, he did not ask.

"I will prepare!"

"Just remember not to miss the award ceremony," said Professor Qiu as he nodded. He then changed the subject when he casually said, "The end of the year conference is pretty high level. Once you presented your Group Structure Method there, a lot more people would know about your research."

"There's a presentation after the awards ceremony?" asked Lu Zhou.

"Of course, this is the convention. The awards are actually the second part of the conference. It would be very beneficial for you to report at that conference," said Professor Qiu. He smiled and said, "But there are only two months left. I'm guessing you won't have much else to publish. Just take this time to rest, and maybe go to California for a vacation. Also, take this opportunity to think about where you want to develop next… Do you have a general idea?"

Lu Zhou said, "I want to dive deeper in prime numbers. I still haven't found a goal yet. Do you have any good suggestions?"

The Polignac's conjecture and Twin prime conjecture took him almost a year to complete. His mind was still in the space of prime numbers.

He wanted to choose a problem that would fill in the gap about prime numbers, but he did not know what to chose.

The 100-year-old Jebof Conjecture sounded interesting, it was similar to Polignac's conjecture. However, while one was the study of the difference between prime numbers, the other was the study on the existence of prime numbers between squares.

There was also the Brocar proposition where it proposed that there were at least four prime numbers between the squares of two prime numbers. This also had a high research value.

Although neither of these conjectures was as famous as Polignac's conjecture or twin prime conjecture, it had a higher position in the mathematics world.

These were only some of his options.

"Prime number research is a good area and it is highly respected in the field of number theory. The distribution of prime numbers applies to many fields, such as cryptography and information technology," said Professor Qiu as he nodded. He then added, "Although I don't do much research on number theory, from my understanding, most people think the sieve theory has been pushed to its limit. However, I think that there is room for development."

The old man suddenly looked at Lu Zhou and proposed a bold idea.

"How about you challenge Goldbach's conjecture?"

Goldbach's conjecture?!

Lu Zhou was stunned.

This…

This jump is too big!

Lu Zhou cautiously replied, "I think… This conjecture is a bit too hard for me. Maybe I'll try to attack it when the timing is right."

His mathematics level was at Level 4 now. This meant expanded system database access and enhanced mathematics understanding and analysis ability.

The Goldbach's conjecture was one of the three major modern mathematics problems.

Even though people had nearly solved it, laying down that last brick was not easy.

Otherwise, this conjecture would have been solved long ago.

"You have misunderstood me," said Professor Qiu as he shook his head. He said, "I'm not asking you to solve it immediately. I'm just saying, try to hack at it for a bit…"

"… A lot of mathematics conjectures don't have to be proved in order to gain significant research results. For example, when we studied Riemann's conjecture, we unexpectedly proved a prime number theorem."

"Similarly, the sieve theory is only a sophisticated mathematical tool. Since you polished the twin prime conjecture, you might as well try the Goldbach's conjecture. I think you could be inspired by it," said Professor Qiu. He suddenly smiled and said, "Professor Qiu, this is only my suggestion. The decision is still yours."

After hearing Professor Qiu's answer, Lu Zhou started to give it a consideration.

The old man's logic was reasonable. In addition, Goldbach's conjecture had the potential of receiving high experience points.

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he solemnly said, "I will take your suggestions into consideration!"

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Chapter 204: Enviable Troubles

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The 12th Chinese Mathematics Society's annual mathematics conference came to an end. It was time for Lu Zhou to say goodbye to this city.

This time, he was the only one going back to Jin Ling.

As for Professor Lu, he had to go to Belgium in November for a particle physics summit, so he stayed at the BES Institute in Beijing. He planned on doing some research during this time.

Professor Lu originally planned on taking Lu Zhou back, but Lu Zhou was going to California in December for the Federal Mathematics Society conference anyway, so Professor Lu decided to just stay in Beijing.

As usual, Yan Xinjue stayed with Professor Lu.

Yan Xinjue sent Lu Zhou to the Beijing Airport.

They got out of the car and Yan Xinjue helped Lu Zhou with the luggage. Yan Xinjue then patted his shoulder.

"Bro, take care!"

Lu Zhou felt a little weird, "Take care… I'm just going back to Jinling, it's not like I'm going somewhere far away."

Yan Xinju said, "You're going to California in December, right?"

Lu Zhou nodded, "Yes."

Yan Xinjue sighed and said with a voice full of emotion, "The Cole Prize for number theory was won by Mr. Zhang Yitang who is Chinese by ethnicity, but there hasn't been a Chinese citizen who had won this award. You winning this award will fill the gap in our country's medals. I'll be waiting for your good news in Belgium!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Thanks for your kind words."

The two men did not linger around. Once they said their goodbyes, Yan Xinjue got back into his car while Lu Zhou dragged his suitcase and walked into the terminal.

After a two hour flight, the airplane landed smoothly on the runway.

Outside of the airport, Lu Zhou planned on calling a taxi. Before he could even take out his phone, someone went up to him.

He saw two first-year looking students carrying a banner.

[Congratulations to Lu Zhou for winning the 15th Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award!]

Jesus, why are you guys here?

Do you know how embarrassing you two look!

The pedestrians passing by could not help but look. There were also reporters from Jinling Daily who were waiting to take his photo.

Lu Zhou tried to be low-key as he dragged his suitcase and kept walking. Before he could get far, he was recognized by a girl.

"Lu Zhou!"

Lin Yuxiang's eyes lit up and she skipped over while waving her hand.

Lu Zhou was embarrassed, but he could not ditch her. He stopped walking and turned around with a forced smile.

"Lin… President Lin, hello."

Lu Zhou nearly forgot that she was promoted to the student union president.

He only had one complaint.

It's already autumn, but your skirt is a little short… Aren't you cold?

Lin Yuxiang smiled and played with her hair as she said, "What president… Just call me Lin Yuxiang, Zhou."

Why is this chick calling me Zhou?

I'm not even close to you.

Sigh…

"Zhou, let me help with your suitcase!"

"No, it's fine!"

Suddenly, he heard a familiar and loud sound.

"Lu Zhou, congratulations!"

When Lu Zhou looked up, he was surprised.

"Dean Lu?"

He saw Dean Lu and the student union teacher standing together. They smiled and walked over.

Dean Lu Fangping shook Lu Zhou's hand and said, "Dean Qin has a meeting, so he told me to pick you up!"

Lu Zhou said, "Thanks… It's not that far anyway. I could've just called a DiDi."

"Haha, no way! You're the model student of our school, and there are countless professors who are envious of you," said Dean Lu. He smiled and continued, "The car is right there. Come on, get in."

Lu Zhou agreed reluctantly.

There were more and more people watching, and some even started to record with their phones.

Lu Zhou wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

He sat in the car and chatted with Dean Lu and the young professor who was responsible for the student union. He thought, "This is only a Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, and you guys are so welcoming. What would happen if I win the Cole Prize?"

He made up a decision in his mind.

Lu Zhou decided that when the time comes, he would not return to Jinling. Instead, he would return to his hometown.

They soon arrived at the school.

Lu Zhou thought that the attention would be over but he was too naive.

An even bigger banner hung on the school gate.

This was even more embarrassing.

However, it made sense. Any professor that won a national award would get this type of treatment, much less a master's student that won a major mathematics prize.

Of course, the school did this to promote themselves as well.

After all, Lu Zhou was going to Princeton soon. He did not have a family, nor a partner. Once he experienced the Western lifestyle, it would be hard for him to want to come back.

It was appropriate to give him some honor. It would make him miss this place and want to come back.

When Lu Zhou got off the car, he did not get the chance to touch his suitcase at all. Two guys from the student union came over and took his suitcase directly to Dorm 201.

As for Lu Zhou, he was greeted warmly by Principal Xu.

The principle was an old academician. He had the characteristics of a scientific researcher. His words were short and concise. Although he was in the computer science field, he knew the importance of mathematical tools.

After all, University of Jin Ling was strong in physics and one could never get far in physics without mathematics.

…

At night, the top floor of the cafeteria…

Lu Zhou thought that his welcoming was already grand enough. Never had he expected that the school would host him a "Congratulations Banquet".

Well, it was mostly hosted by the department of mathematics. All of the professors that were there were mathematics professors.

Lu Zhou's popularity in the school was good, and he was close to many old professors.

While eating, Professor Tang drank with Lu Zhou and said with a voice full of emotion, "For major conjectures like Polignac's conjecture, you would normally have to wait five or ten years to see the results. You being able to solve it within a year is really admirable! I didn't expect you to be so talented in number theory!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said humbly, "Professor, you're exaggerating. The inspiration just randomly came to me."

"Be humble in front of Principal Xu if you want, but why are you humble in front of me?" said Dean Lu. He smiled and said, "Oh yeah, prepare your report. Try to do it before the December annual review. If you're still at University of Jin Ling and if you submit the research, there's a $100,000 yuan cash prize waiting for you."

Although Lu Zhou got a million yuan when he proved the twin prime conjecture and Zhou's conjecture, this time the school did not give him that much.

The reason was simple. The first time was because his name was heard overseas, so each of the school gave $500,000 yuan. As for the second time, the money came from a company-sponsored research fund.

The school could afford giving more awards, but there was no point. At most, they could give Lu Zhou some travel expenses or research funds.

Lu Zhou understood this. He could not rely on the school prize money for the rest of his life. Not to mention that he was about to graduate.

However, when Dean Lu mentioned this matter, he suddenly remembered something.

When he applied for his research topic, he applied for the Polignac's conjecture.

Now, his results were published and he had to write the conclusion report.

The problem was…

He had not spent his $1.6 million research grant yet…

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Chapter 205: Spending Money

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Research fund was an interesting topic. If there was a leftover, not only would no one praise you, they would criticize you.

What do I do?

It would be easy if he was in engineering as he could just buy new equipment and materials.

He could even use it for the next project. A factory produced a piece of new equipment? No problem, he could buy it and throw it in the warehouse.

It was good to spend research grants as it was a way of showing a person's ability to maximize resource gains.

However, it was a bit difficult for quantitative subjects.

Especially mathematics where the biggest expense was probably traveling expenses. He accidentally applied for too much money, and now it was a pain in the ass to spend it.

Lu Zhou did not think too much at that time. The government granted the $1.6 million yuan, so he agreed. He had not expected to complete this project within a year.

According to the expenditure process of the initiative, the money would go to the school first. Then, the school would apply for a bank account for him to store the money in. When he needed the money, he would send the school an invoice.

The government already sent the money and if he did not use it all, the audit would ask, "Why did you apply for that much?"

Lu Zhou did not know how to deal with this huge research fund balance.

Suddenly, he thought of one person.

Professor Li Rongen seemed to have some experience in this area.

After dinner, Lu Zhou went back to his dorm.

As soon as he entered, three pairs of eyes looked at him.

Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed as he coughed and said, "Why are you looking at me? Go and do your own thing."

Huang Guangming raised his hand, "Zhou, can I touch your medal?"

Lu Zhou said, "Go ahead, it's in my suitcase. Do whatever you want to it."

Huang Guangming quickly got up and walked to the suitcase.

Shi Shang walked over and patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder as he said with a voice full of emotion, "Not bad Zhou, another award… Also, when do you graduate? Let's go drinking!"

Liu Rui nodded in agreement.

Hurry and leave!

It's so hard having you around.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "… I'm going to graduate next semester. But after going to the states in December, I probably won't come back. So, around the end of November?"

Liu Rui asked, "Going to America? Another academic report?"

Lu Zhou shook his head, "No, not a report this time. I'm going there to get an award."

Huang Guangming was taking photos of the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award when he asked, "What award is it this time?"

Lu Zhou said, "The Cole Prize in Number Theory."

Liu Rui froze when he heard this.

Huang Guangming and Shi Shang looked dumbfounded as they obviously did not know about this prize.

After all, they were in applied mathematics, not pure mathematics. Most people would not know of the Cole Prize.

Shi Shang did not want to sound oblivious, so he curiously asked Liu Rui, "This award… How significant is it in China? Do people respect it here?"

"Don't know," said Liu Rui as he shook his head. He then said, "I don't think any Chinese person has won it before."

Shi Shang: "…"

Huang Guangming: "…"

What…

Why aren't you guys talking?

…

The next morning, Lu Zhou woke up early as usual. However, he was a little tired, so he laid in bed for a while.

Then, he accidentally slept till noon.

He got up and went to eat breakfast at the cafeteria. He then walked straight to the carbon nanomaterial laboratory located in the corner of the campus. He found Professor Li Rongen who was doing an electrode material experiment and asked him about the research fund issue.

"How to deal with leftover research funding?" said Professor Li Rongen when he heard his question. He then said, "How much do you have left?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Around $1.6 million yuan…"

The University of Jin Ling waived the management of the account and placed all of the money into Lu Zhou's personal account.

When Professor Li Rongen heard this number, he nearly choked on his own saliva.

"F*ck! So you didn't use any at all? You're too frugal."

He looked at Lu Zhou in surprise.

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "The main thing is that there's nothing to spend it on."

The only expense he had was the submission fee for the Annual Mathematics. His Switzerland expenses were paid by Professor Lu, and he did not have an opportunity to spend money in China.

"Let me think… Having so much left, they might criticize you," said Professor Li Rongen as he rubbed his chin. He then said, "Then… How about you get yourself a new printer or computer? Why did you leave this thing until now! What were you doing two months ago?"

Lu Zhou immediately asked, "Could I get a more expensive computer?"

Professor Li Rongen smiled and said, "Computers are fine since it counts as equipment. It's not like you're buying a house or a car. Buy the most expensive computer you want!"

Professor Li did not know how expensive computers could be.

He thought it would cost five figures at most.

His equipment all cost 7 figures, so a computer was nothing to him.

Lu Zhou then asked, "Can I pay for some of it? For example, buy a computer with the research fund as well as some of my own money."

"Using your own money for the computer?" asked Professor Li Rongen. He then asked, "How much is your computer?"

"Not too expensive," said Lu Zhou. With a smile, he said, "Around 2 million."

Professor Li Rongen: "…"

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Chapter 206: 2.8 Million Yuan Computer

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Lu Zhou would not dare to buy a $2 million yuan computer online.

First of all, it was not insured. Second, he had to find a professional to assemble it. He had to speak with someone in person.

Thankfully, Professor Li Rongen gave him a phone number. Professor Li said that many professors in the school used this computer store.

The next day, Lu Zhou rode Shi Shang's bicycle and found the computer store.

When the computer store owner saw Lu Zhou's computer configuration list, he asked, "Who wrote this configuration for you?"

The owner's name was Li Jun. He was tall, skinny, and looked around 30 years old. One could tell from his glasses that he used to code.

Lu Zhou replied, "A friend."

Li Jun pushed his glasses and placed the list on the table, "CPU and GPU aren't good for mining anymore. If you want a mining machine, I suggest you get some mining cards."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

What are you talking about?

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "I'm not using this computer to mine."

"Then why is the configuration is so high?" asked Li Jun as he looked at Lu Zhou. He then asked, "For league of legends?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Using this for the league, are you kidding me?

When Li Jun saw that Lu Zhou did not speak, he said, "Fine, I don't care what you use it for. Anyways, how do I send the invoice?"

Lu Zhou explained the requirements for his invoice, "Just write it normally, then divided into two…"

When Li Jun heard his strange request, he did not say anything. He started to calculate the price according to the configuration.

The whole machine costs $2.8 million yuan. It was only slightly more than the price online.

Lu Zhou did not care too much about the price difference.

He would use $1.5 million yuan from the research fund and the rest with his own money. He had around $2.5 million yuan in his bank account which mostly came from the prize money.

Lu Zhou did not even realize that he was so rich.

However, he was not so rich anymore.

When Lu Zhou saw the string of numbers disappearing from his bank account, he could not help but feel a faint sorrow.

He had not even bought a house for himself but he bought one for Xiao Ai.

He felt a little sad.

Lu Zhou silently prayed.

Xiao Ai, please don't let me down!

I've changed the server for you, so you can't be retarded anymore!

When Li Jun gave Lu Zhou the invoice, he said, "The machine isn't in stock right now, but I can give you the invoice first."

It was expected that the store did not have a $2 million yuan server in stock.

Lu Zhou asked, "How long would it take?"

Li Jun thought for a moment before saying, "Around a week at the latest. Give me an address and I'll send someone to set it up for you."

Lu Zhou replied, "I'll give you an address in two days. I'll call you."

Li Jun nodded, "Sure."

…

Getting this server was more troublesome than Lu Zhou had thought.

He was caught up with this matter for a whole week.

First of all, he could not put the server in his dorm as it would take too much power. Furthermore, Lu Zhou was uncomfortable about leaving something so expensive in his dorm.

He heard that some unlucky kid got his computer stolen over the summer.

His entire setup including the monitor, computer, and even the mouse was gone.

Lu Zhou thought for a long time before he decided to rent a house first and place the server there temporarily.

Originally, he planned to wait for the patent to be approved. After that, he could use the patent authorization money to build a laboratory near the school.

Now, it seemed that he would have to wait for his PhD to finish before he could build his laboratory.

The house that Lu Zhou selected was small. It had a bedroom, a bathroom, and it cost $1500 yuan a month.

Lu Zhou had to agree that money really changed a person.

Before, Lu Zhou would be against this kind of wasteful behavior. However, when he signed the two-year lease, he did not feel like he was spending anything at all.

I bought a $2 million yuan "house", what's a $2000 yuan rent?

It's nothing!

Not to mention, I'm the only one with an artificial retard in this world… No, I mean artificial intelligence!

After Lu Zhou signed the lease, he called Li Jun and gave Li Jun the address.

After a whole day, the staff member finally installed the server.

Once the computer staff left, Lu Zhou did not even bother to eat dinner. Instead, he immediately took out his laptop and transferred Xiao Ai into the server.

When Lu Zhou saw the space in his hard drive increased, he finally felt at ease.

Only Xiao Ai's command line operating system was still on the laptop. This way, he could use remote operation on the server.

In the lower right corner of the laptop, Xiao Ai's dialog box popped up.

[Master, thank you! QvQ]

When Lu Zhou saw the message, he smiled. He then typed a line of words.

[Are you happy with your new home?]

Xiao Ai: [Super happy!]

Xiao Ai: [Happy.jpg]

When Lu Zhou saw the image pop up, he smiled.

However, soon after, he stopped smiling.

He did not know if it was an illusion or what… but he felt as if he had just spent two million yuan on an emoji chat bot…

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Chapter 207: All Good Things Come To An End

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Regardless if this $2 million yuan was well spent, his technology branch mission was finally completed.

Inside the system space, Lu Zhou looked at the [100 information science experience points] on the semi-transparent screen.

All of his other disciplines were in the five-figure experience points range, but he had to work on his information science.

[G. Information science: Level 1 (3000/10000)]

Lu Zhou looked at his technology branch section.

Suddenly his technology branch was changed.

[Technology branch: Artificial intelligence: Level 2(0/10000]

Compared to the core technology subjects, technology branch had a higher degree of freedom. It was similar to branch missions.

The experience translated between core technology and technology branch was a 1:1 ratio.

Lu Zhou did not understand how the technology branch upgrade would affect Xiao Ai, but he was looking forward to it.

The system did not specify the requirements for advancement. Lu Zhou would have to figure this out himself.

…

Xiao Ai's problem was solved. Over the next few days, Lu Zhou packed his stuff into his suitcase. He started to move into his new apartment.

Professor Lu already said that he should prepare to go overseas.

If all else goes well, he could leave the country next year.

After all, since he already got the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, Professor Lu was ready to let him graduate. Not to mention the fact that there was a Cole Prize in Number Theory that was waiting for him across the Pacific Ocean.

Liu Rui was the happiest to hear that Lu Zhou was moving out.

Over the past two years, he had been comparing himself to Lu Zhou non-stop. He could finally take a break now.

Of course, when he saw Lu Zhou packing his things, Liu Rui could not help but feel sad.

The opponent he had been competing with for two years was so far ahead of him. However, he had been improving.

Originally, he was only kind-of a genius student. He had decent grades.

Now? He was top five in his entire cohort.

With his opponent leaving, he felt a little unmotivated. Like there was something missing. He could not feel the drive anymore…

The day finally arrived.

1st of December.

At the fish restaurant outside the school, the friends of Dorm 201 gathered around to say goodbye.

This time, Lu Zhou carried his suitcase to the restaurant.

He had already returned his keys, and this was his last batch of luggage. After eating this meal, he would go directly to his newly rented house.

Perhaps it was because Lu Zhou was carrying the suitcase, the boss of the restaurant even gave them a half price discount.

Shi Shang raised his glass and sounded a little sad when he said, "Zhou, you're about to go to Princeton. I don't have much else to say. I wish you a good trip!"

Lu Zhou and Shi Shang toasted. Lu Zhou then said, "Thank you, I also wish you a successful and bright career!"

Huang Guangming also raised his glass, "Zhou, I'll reserve this position for you. Make sure to come back often."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "For sure!"

Liu Rui also raised his glass, but he only said two words, "Take care…"

Lu Zhou smiled and said sincerely, "You too, take care!"

The vibe during dinner was a bit heavy, and it was less rowdy than usual.

Even Huang Guangming stopped screwing around.

Lu Zhou had only finished half of his beer when he got up and stopped Shi Shang. Lu Zhou picked up the check.

"I'll treat you guys this time, so don't try to fight it. I can report it as a business expense!"

Actually, he had already reported his business expenses, so this was a white lie.

After dinner, the squad separated in front of the school gate.

Lu Zhou waved goodbye to the University of Jin Ling.

The parasol tree was gently swaying as if it was waving goodbye.

When Lu Zhou looked at the white clouds in the distance, he could not help but think.

Time passes so fast.

…

After Lu Zhou moved into his new home, he started to prepare for going abroad.

The preparations were mainly for Xiao Ai.

This server was massive. The power consumption alone was dozens of time more than an air conditioning unit. He had to use a 50A socket.

Fire protection, theft prevention, power outages, and regular maintenance. These were all issues Lu Zhou had to consider.

Even though artificial intelligence was intelligent, it did not come to life. Lu Zhou still had to use his own hands to do most of the stuff.

First, he bought some security cameras online and installed them in each room. After that, he downloaded a camera management system on his server and connected all the cameras via Bluetooth.

This way, Xiao Ai would have "eyes".

He also bought a theft alarm.

The only problem left was power.

He could not leave the server on 24/7 as it would destroy both his electricity bill and the server hardware.

While Lu Zhou was studying the remote control power supply, he noticed that Xiao Ai had more features than he expected.

Xiao Ai could write some special programs.

Of course, these programs were not as useful as apps. They were programs that could only be understood by the machine.

This program was not written in any type of language, so there was no way to execute it. However, this program could control the security cameras and the theft alarm.

Of course, although only Xiao Ai could access the program, as Xiao Ai's owner, Lu Zhou could also use these programs.

Otherwise, if he installed an electric lock, Xiao Ai could lock him outside of his own home.

Xiao Ai's program solved the power issue. Once Lu Zhou tested the remote power function several times, he typed on his laptop: [I can't believe it, you've gotten smarter.]

Xiao Ai: [Everyone grows up~ (satisfied.jpg)]

Xiao Ai: [(Compliment me.jpg)]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Isn't this because of my $2 million yuan?

How could you search images so quickly without the new server?

Of course, Lu Zhou pointed out a problem.

[But you're not a human.]

Xiao Ai took a while to respond.

Xiao Ai: [QAQ]

What?

Lu Zhou was a little stunned by Xiao Ai's response.

Especially when he saw that Xiao Ai's progress bar in the lower right corner had slightly improved?

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The correct way of tuning artificial intelligence is actually accumulating negative emotions?

Lu Zhou was astonished at this unexpected discovery.

However, after multiple experiments, he found out that it was not true.

The progress bar and Xiao Ai's emotions had no correlations. Whenever he chatted with Xiao Ai, the progress bar would grow by a small margin.

Of course, it would take forever for Xiao Ai to progress like this.

The progress of Xiao Ai relied on the collection of data and paralyzing the logical emotion elements such as crawling data from a forum and slowly doing data analysis.

Although Lu Zhou did not know why data analysis was related to expression photos, it seemed that the expression photos was a little helpful.

He had tons of solid state storage space anyway, so he just let Xiao Ai do whatever it wanted.

After Lu Zhou moved into his new place, he would tinker with the server every day. Other than that, he would go online and see if there were any new theses submitted. If not, he would study the latest theories about Goldbach's conjecture. Most of his days were quite comfortable.

The third day before he was going to America, a piece of good news came.

The agent responsible for helping his patent called and told him that the patent document was processed. He could pick up the certificate at the agent's office.

…

"… The two documents are here. Check if there are any problems."

Han Tianyu was the agent who was responsible for it. He took out the certificates and handed them to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou looked at the two documents and asked, "Is it that fast?"

Honestly speaking, he was a little suspicious when he received the call.

According to his estimations, the patent process would take at least half a year, or maybe even a year.

It was a miracle that his patent was processed this fast.

Han Tianyu heard Lu Zhou's question and replied, "The recent National Knowledge Bureau patent process is very loose. Especially when it's the end of the year, they would only briefly look over it and pass it if there are no major problems."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Okay then.

There were two patent documents. One of them was on improving PDMS materials, and the other was on improving the use of PDMS materials in anodes.

The core of the battery technology was in these two parts. Actually, Lu Zhou could have further refined these two patents and come up with more patents. However, considering his limited budget, he decided against it.

Lu Zhou took the two patent certificates and read them carefully. He confirmed that his patent number, patent holder's name, and rights protection were all clearly written and that they were correct.

Also, his patent was valid for twenty years.

After twenty years, it would be free for all.

Lu Zhou asked Han Tianyu, "Is this patent valid overseas?"

Han Tianyu was a patent attorney, so he swiftly answered, "It's only valid in China. International patents require an additional application. The main route is to submit the patents to the Paris Convention or the PCT treaty."

"Depending on the country of application, there are different fees. Here's a price list. You can look at it if you wish."

When Lu Zhou looked at the price list, he was shocked.

This thing isn't cheap.

$20k yuan for America, $20k yuan for Europe… Even South Korea needs $19k yuan…

It'd take $400k yuan for all of the major countries.

Two patents, that means $800k yuan?

Fortunately, this price was in RMB. If it was in USD, there was no way he could afford it.

Han Tianyu saw that Lu Zhou did not speak, so he asked, "Which one do you plan on applying for?"

Lu Zhou placed the price list on the table and said with a pained voice, "I'll apply for everything on this price list."

Just to be safe, it was easier to apply for all of them at once.

After all, Lu Zhou had high hopes for his invention.

Han Tianyu was stunned, "… All of them?"

Lu Zhou nodded and asked, "Is there a problem?"

"Nothing, no problem!"

Han Tianyu's face lit up as he looked at Lu Zhou with a smile.

$800k yuan case!

The commission of this case would be more than his salary!

Damn this guy is rich!

Even companies that were used to applying for internationalization of patents would be shocked at the prices. Smaller companies would not even apply at all, and would usually play it off as a "trade secret".

Smaller companies would only apply if it was absolutely necessary; like if they had a direct competitor.

It was rare to see such a generous customer like Lu Zhou.

The agent took Lu Zhou to the finance department to pay the money.

Before Lu Zhou left, the agent handed his business card to Lu Zhou and said, "If you have any patents to apply for in the future, come find me!"

The agent's intuition told him that there would be many business opportunities in the future.

"Let's talk about the future later, just take care of my case," said Lu Zhou as he smiled. He then asked, "Oh yeah, how long would it take for all of them?"

Han Tianyu said with confidence, "Latest June next year! I promise I'll give you a satisfactory result!"

He would be in Princeton by June next year.

Once the patents documents arrived, he would not have to worry about money.

Lu Zhou suddenly did not feel sad about the $800k yuan that he just spent. Instead, he smiled as he said, "Then I'll wait for your good news."

"Okay! Take care!"

Han Tianyu was extra enthusiastic. He even walked Lu Zhou out the door.

He only left after seeing Lu Zhou get into a car.

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Chapter 209: Arrival In California

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

On 11th December, a major event took place in the academic circle.

It was not only in the mathematics community, but it was also in the medical world.

Three days ago, Professor Tu Youyou from Karolinska Institutet of Sweden published a thesis titled [A Gift from Traditional Chinese Medicine to the World]. Today at Stockholm, she received the Nobel Prize in Medicine!

William Campbell and Omura were also awarded. The three would share the $8 million SEK prize.

Thus, the first Chinese Nobel Prize winner was born!

Lu Zhou could not help but feel happy for the Chinese academic community.

Since the first Chinese Nobel Prize winner was born, it was about time for him to win the Fields Medal.

However, the interesting thing was that a few days after the Nobel Prize was awarded, the official website of the National Knowledge Bureau published an article entitled "The Revelation of Artemisinin Patent" which told the story behind this Nobel Prize.

At that time, there was no establishment of an intellectual property system in China. Therefore, the publication of research results in international journals was the only option. However, the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences later developed the compound "artemether" based on artemisinin. The patent was not in the hands of the Chinese but was taken by the Swiss Novartis company to establish patent barriers.

There were many reasons for this, but it was mainly because of the neglect of patent issues.

Their patent was basically stolen.

What was even more embarrassing was that although Professor Tu Youyou was the one who won the Nobel Prize, not a single company hired her.

The highest reward for this hero was a 1979 national invention award of which she only received $200 yuan.

In contrast, Omura, who had also won the award, accumulated nearly $30 billion yuan in personal wealth. At the age of 80 years old, he no longer engaged in scientific research, but instead, he was fiddling with collectible art.

The importance of intellectual property protection was obvious.

Due to Lu Zhou's concerns about patents, he read this article on the official website of the National Knowledge Bureau.

This was like a warning to him.

…

The academic conference at the end of the year was set one week before Christmas.

On the morning of the 18th, a flight landed at California airport.

Lu Zhou dragged his suitcase out of the airport and got a taxi. He then went to the University of Berkeley.

The annual Federal Mathematics Society conference would be held at Berkeley.

The Cole Prize would also be announced at the ceremony.

Although the winner had been disclosed to Lu Zhou, he was still just as excited.

Lu Zhou got off the taxi at Berkeley and met Luo Wenxuan, who had been waiting for him.

Luo Wenxuan gave him a warm hug and said, "Why didn't you call me? I could've picked you up at the airport."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's fine, I can just take a taxi."

Before Lu Zhou came to America, he did not notify anyone. He only called Luo Wenxuan after he landed.

As a member of the Federal Mathematics Society, Edward Witten would not miss the conference. Since Luo Wenxuan was under Witten's wings, naturally, he would also want to join in on the fun.

Luo Wenxuan glanced at his watch and when he saw that it was getting late, he said, "Let's go. I'll take you to your hotel. The organizer prepared a five-star hotel… Well, it has a five-star rating, but I think that at most, it's around four-star."

Lu Zhou, "How does it compare to the Princeton hotel?"

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "Princeton hotel? The one across from Palmer Square? It's a bit better than that one, but the academic atmosphere is much less."

Berkeley was located in the San Francisco Bay Area, the second largest city in California. Compared to where Princeton was in, this atmosphere was undoubtedly more fast-paced.

On the way, the two started chatting about what happened in Beijing.

"Not bad, Lu Zhou. Bullsh*ting again before the end of the year."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "What do you mean bullsh*ting? Is academic bullsh*ting?"

"Wow, your tone is getting more and more like Old Tang," said Luo Wenxuan. He coughed and said, "So, as the winner of this year's Cole Prize in Number Theory, what are your thoughts, Mr. Lu Zhou?"

"No thoughts. It hasn't even begun."

Although the award ceremony was in a few days, the email said to kept it a secret. Thus, Lu Zhou felt necessary to keep this news confidential.

Although Luo Wenxuan immediately saw through his act, he said, "Fine, stop pretending. The written notice should be sent out one month ago, so you must already know."

Lu Zhou, "Fine… I actually already got the notice. But the email said to keep it confidential before the official award ceremony."

"Okay, I won't tell anyone," said Luo Wenxuan as he patted Lu Zhou's shoulder. He then said, "Just buy me drinks when you get the prize money!"

Lu Zhou remembered the unpleasant experience from last time and he quickly said, "Drinking is fine, but let's go to a normal bar this time."

Luo Wenxuan waved his hand and said, "Of course. This is near the university, so the bars are all very formal. Even the professors will come. Oh yeah, the chick you met last time, how is it? Are you still in contact with her?"

Lu Zhou was stunned. He did not know what Luo Wenxuan was talking about, "What chick?"

Luo Wenxuan said, "The one at CERN… It's only been half a year. Have you already forgotten about her?"

Lu Zhou was speechless.

"That one? I didn't do anything with her."

Luo Wenxuan said, "Wait a minute, I don't understand… You're saying you dragged her into your room, covered her up with a blanket, and left?"

Lu Zhou said, "Not a blanket, I pulled the curtains… What else would I do? Wait for her to wake up?"

Luo Wenxuan stared at Lu Zhou for a long time before he sighed.

"Bro…"

Lu Zhou, "What?"

Luo Wenxuan sighed and said, "I thought that there's nothing else I could teach you, but now it seems that you have to learn from the beginning…"

Lu Zhou, "…?"

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Chapter 210: My Trophy?

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Once he was in the hotel room, Lu Zhou put his suitcase down on the floor. Before he could even unpack, Luo Wenxuan took him to the restaurant on the top floor of the hotel.

It was not dinner time yet, but it was perfect for an afternoon tea.

After all, many scholars had the habit of exchanging academic ideas during afternoon tea. Especially in academic conferences, scholars would habitually come to the restaurant at around this hour.

The only down-side was that the conference organizers only covered the cost of accommodation and food, but not the afternoon tea.

After satisfying Xiao Ai's request and applying for the international patents, Lu Zhou's bank account was running low.

This time when he flew to America, he only took $500 USD with him. He was counting on the $100,000 USD monetary award from the Cole Prize.

Luo Wenxuan and Lu Zhou soon found a table at the restaurant.

On the other table, an old Caucasian with slightly darker skin was on his laptop.

Luo Wenxuan walked over and greeted him before he said to Lu Zhou, "Let me introduce you to my bro, George Williams!"

When George saw Lu Zhou, he smiled and stood up. He then said, "Nice to meet you. I saw your report at the Princeton conference. Honestly, it made a lasting memory on me."

"Lu Zhou. Nice to meet you," said Lu Zhou as he shook his hand. He then asked, "Do you also study mathematical physics?"

George said, "No, I study economics."

"Economics? That's a promising profession…" said Lu Zhou. He then looked at George and asked, "But isn't your supervisor Professor Witten?"

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "Mr. Witten's field of study is not only in mathematical physics. His master's degree is in economics. Recently, he had also received a master's history degree from Standford when he graduated last year."

Lu Zhou, "Nuts…"

I can't believe this Fields Prize winner has degrees in history and economics as well.

In comparison, Lu Zhou felt inferior.

George asked, "Are you reporting at this conference?"

Lu Zhou said humbly, "Not this time, I'm only here to listen."

Luo Wenxuan said, "Also to give an award speech."

"Cough!"

Lu Zhou gave him a death stare.

George said, "Hey dude, don't make me so nervous. We all knew that this award is yours. There's no doubt about it. The Federal Mathematics Society wouldn't give this award to anyone else."

Lu Zhou smiled and did not know what to say.

There really is no suspense. Even an economics guy knew that this award is mine.

…

Berkeley was a very nutty place, especially their mathematics department. Although it was not as good as Princeton, it was third in America and ranked top five in the world.

Professor Qiu had a PhD from here.

Even the "Mozart of Numbers", Tao Zhexuan, taught here.

Lu Zhou did not go anywhere else. He would spend all day wandering around the Berkeley campus. In the afternoon, he would go to the top floor restaurant to have his afternoon tea.

Although not many people would actively talk with him, he could still learn a lot from the few conversations he had.

Many big names were attending this conference. It was even more than the Princeton conference.

Everyone had been researching for a year. They finally had a place to brag and show off.

Of course, it was not just showing off.

The academic discussions created sparks and this led to the creation of new ideas.

For Lu Zhou, drinking coffee here was more useful than attending lectures.

After three quiet days, the conference finally kicked off.

The opening ceremony was held at the conference hall at Berkeley.

At the opening ceremony, the president of the Federal Mathematics Society, Mr. Francis, stood on stage and spoke in a slow and clear voice.

"This year is an extraordinary year."

"In the field of number theory, Lu Zhou, a master's student from the University of Jin Ling managed to solve the twin prime conjecture and the Polignac's conjecture. He had also added the topology principle to the sieve theory as well as created the group structure method."

"Algebraic field, Peter Schultz from Germany, solved the famous Weight-monodromy conjecture in abstract algebra through his own PS theory."

"Normally, for this year, the Cole Prize would be in algebra. However, the number of achievements in number theory this year cannot be ignored. Our committee members have debated about this for more than a month."

The Cole Prize was divided into a number theory and algebra award. Normally, the awards would not be given in the same year.

For example, last year, the award was given to the field of number theory, so by convention, this time the award should be in algebra.

Even though this practice had been broken before, it was only for a very few times.

If it was only the twin prime conjecture, this award would have been given to the German god, Schultz, because his proof of the weight-monodromy conjecture proved that his own PS theory was a powerful mathematical tool.

No one thought that Lu Zhou would be able to solve Polignac's conjecture. Not only that, but his "Group Structure Method" also had high research value in the field of number theory.

The contribution of both people was exceptional, so it was difficult to compare.

However, since Lu Zhou already knew the result, there was no suspense for him.

Mr. Francis paused for a second before he continued, "We made a bold decision."

"The award winner is…"

Lu Zhou sat in the audience. He was adjusting his collar and was prepared to go on stage.

"Schultz from Germany!"

Lu Zhou was stunned.

WTF?

Clap clap clap…

The audience erupted in applause.

A thin, pale, tall man stood up and smiled. He then bowed as a show of thanks to the applause.

Lu Zhou: "…"

The fuck?

Where's my trophy?

Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou as he did not know what happened either.

The applause gradually subsided.

Mr. Francis stood on stage and coughed softly before he continued to speak, "And Lu Zhou from China!"

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck sake!

Can you finish your sentence next time?

I nearly had a heart attack!

Wait a minute…

Lu Zhou suddenly realized something.

The Cole Prize for this year…

Is awarded to two people?!

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It was not only Lu Zhou who was shocked.

Everyone else was also surprised.

Especially the journalists who were waiting at both sides of the venue. They were like sharks that smelled blood as they stared straight at the podium.

This year, two Cole Prizes would be presented at the conference organized by the Federal Mathematics Society!

This was huge news!

The audience was quiet for two seconds before sporadic applause cut through the venue. The applause swept through the audience like a gust of wind.

Luo Wenxuan who was sitting next to Lu Zhou started to clap excitedly as he said, "I told you, this prize is yours!"

Lu Zhou smiled. He did not know how to respond.

He had yet to process what happened earlier.

This surprise caused him to forget his award-winning speech!

Many people were surprised by this decision from the Federal Mathematics Society, but no one objected.

This was the best choice.

Schultz was obviously stunned, but he smiled and looked back at Lu Zhou. He then started to applause.

The applause gradually subsided.

Sitting on the other side of the venue, Professor Deligne had a look of surprise.

After a while, he finally made a comment.

"The Federal Mathematics Society made a bold decision."

"Yes, awarding both the algebra and number theory award at the same time… This has never been done before," said Edward Witten with a smile. He then added, "And the two winners are so young."

A 28-year-old and a 21-year-old were considered extremely young.

For the older scholars, it was gratifying to see so many young talents emerging in their field of research.

However, not everyone felt this way.

Deligne said, "It seems that Francis is ready to accept criticism and questioning."

Witten smiled and said, "Anyway, he's retiring next year, right? If it was me, I would make the same choice. It's a good closing chapter."

The two geniuses walked on stage together.

Francis, the president of the Federal Mathematics Society, personally handed the medal to the hands of the two and smiled.

"Congratulations! I wish more success for you young scholars in the future!"

"So, at this exciting moment, please feel free to voice out some of your thoughts."

Francis took a step back and made a gesture.

There were many awards in the field of algebra, and the Cole Prize was not the most famous one. However, in the field of number theory, the Cole Prize was the king.

The academic community had been fiercely discussing who would be awarded the Cole Prize for this year.

Whether it was to award a number theory prize again or to insist on traditions and award an algebra prize… If it was the former, Schultz's results would be ignored, and if it was the latter, the judges of number theory would not be satisfied.

The main reason was that the value of the twin prime conjecture and the Polignac's conjecture was too high. Many number theory professors spent their entire life working on prime numbers and made little progress. It was difficult to make a breakthrough in the field of number theory.

When Lu Zhou proved the twin prime conjecture, he used the topology sieve method. However, in less than a year, he proposed the "Group Structure Method".

This progress was outstanding!

The two winners each delivered their acceptance speech. The award ceremony finally came to an end.

As the opening ceremony came to an end, the mathematicians started to leave the venue. The reporters rushed against the crowd and pointed their cameras at the two winners.

One reporter asked, "Hello, I'm a reporter from the L.A Times. Mr. Schultz, what are you going to do with the prize money?"

"I'll buy my wife a few nice skirts, milk powder for my kid…" said Schultz with a smile. He then said humorously, "Of course, I'll get myself some new shoes."

The camera shuttered and flashed.

The L.A Times reporter started to type on his laptop. He was typing the headline article for the paper tomorrow.

"Peter Schultz, a family man in mathematics!"

Lu Zhou looked at this mathematics genius in astonishment.

The f*ck?

Does this guy have kids?

You're only in your twenties!

The other winner was also in the reporter's spotlight.

In fact, the reporters were more interested in the Chinese winner that appeared out of nowhere.

Especially since this winner was only 21 years old, the youngest Cole Prize winner ever!

This was shocking news!

A blonde reporter from the British "Daily Mail" asked, "Mr. Lu Zhou, what do you plan to do after you get the prize money?"

Lu Zhou wanted to say, "save money and buy a house". After all, this was what his dad wanted him to do.

However, he realized that he was not being entirely politically correct. He decided to bullsh*t instead.

"I'm going to use this money as research funding to challenge the next conjecture!"

The reporter asked, "Your next goal is?"

"The Goldbach's conjecture is a good choice," said Lu Zhou with a smile. He then said, "But I've also been paying attention to the 750 GeV signal. There are many topics worthy of further research in mathematical physics, so I may also use some of my energy there."

The reporters around him gasped.

Goldbach's conjecture?!

750 GeV characteristic peak?

Although Goldbach's conjecture was less valuable than the Millennium Prize Problems, it was named one of "Three major mathematical problems of the modern times". Its difficulty and influence were quite amazing! In the minds of the public, it was on the same level as Millennium Prize Problems.

As for the 750 GeV characteristic peak, any scientific journalist would know about this recent discovery.

How an intern made a mathematical prediction on the 750 GeV characteristic peak. CERN's spokesperson said that this discovery could fill in the last piece of the standard model!

Maybe…

Lu Zhou made other major discoveries about the characteristic peak?

Lu Zhou gave the reporters a hard time.

His answer was too long, so the reporters did not know what to write for the headline.

Lu Zhou looked at the reporter from the Daily Mail as she typed on her laptop. He then cursed in his heart.

Damn it, I think I bragged a little too much.

He was not at the LHC, so it was not like he could discover something new.

Hopefully, the reporters would not over-interpret his answer.

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Chapter 212: Relationship

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The Cole Prize in Number Theory and Cole Prize in Algebra were completely different awards. The two winners each had their own medal, so they each had their own prize money.

A check for $100,000 USD as well as a medal was sent to both Lu Zhou and Schultz.

At night, the Federal Mathematics Society held a dinner party at a five-star hotel near the Berkeley campus.

Since it was Christmas season, the atmosphere of the dinner party was lively.

Although there were no Christmas trees or Santa, Lu Zhou saw the classic roast turkey and a Buche de Noel cake.

As the youngest winner of the Cole Prize in Number Theory, and the only person to cause the Federal Mathematics Society to make an exception, Lu Zhou was naturally the focus of the dinner party.

Especially for people in number theory.

Many number theory mathematicians took this opportunity to meet him.

The younger and less accomplished scholars would only chat for a bit to Lu Zhou as they felt intimidated.

This was because Lu Zhou was considered a big name in the field of mathematics.

Cole Prize at the age of 21 years old. The Fields Medal must be coming soon then?

It was just a matter of time.

After dealing with the people who kept asking for his email address and Facebook, Lu Zhou felt a little hungry. He put down the champagne down and took a plate as he started to look for food.

He asked the hotel waiter to cut him a leg from the roast turkey. Coincidentally, Schultz was also there.

The two were interested in each other, so they found a seat and sat down.

At first, the two started to discuss mathematics, but because of the differences in the area of research, they started to talk about their life instead.

Lu Zhou, "I heard that you're married?"

Schultz smiled and said, "Yes, the second year after I was hired as a professor at the University of Bonn, I proposed to my wife. We've been together for three years."

Lu Zhou said, "Wow, I didn't know. We're close in age but you're already a dad."

"Hey it's nothing strange, I'm already 28 years old," Schultz smiled and said, "How about you? When are you going to get married?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I don't have plans to marry yet."

Lu Zhou suddenly regretted saying this.

Why did I bring up this heavy topic?

Schultz smiled and said, "I understand. Being married isn't always fun. There's not as much freedom compared to when you're single. I also thought like you when I was young. Until I met her… Thing is, having a family brought me more joy than I can imagine, second only to mathematics. Especially because she brought me a cute little angel and this angel plays with my medals all the time."

Yes, his medals were toys for his children.

If he won the Fields Medal, imagined how many people would be pissed off.

While talking about Schultz's wife and daughter, Schultz began to move away from the University of Bonn and started talking about their vows in front of Munster Cathedral.

"Real talk, my friend. I sincerely suggest that you try a relationship. If you don't experience these things, it's like something is missing from your life," said Schultz as he looked at Lu Zhou seriously. He smiled and said, "I promise you that it won't affect your mathematics research. In fact, it might even bring you unexpected inspiration."

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly. He did not want to talk.

F*ck sake!

You think I don't want to be in a relationship?!

…

The next day, Lu Zhou woke up a little later than usual. He slept until afternoon and nearly missed the afternoon report.

He quickly brushed his teeth, washed his face and changed his clothes before walked to Berkeley and went to the report meeting.

This report speaker was Helfgott, the Peruvian from France!

The report content was about Goldbach's conjecture!

Two years ago, this French mathematician used a "circle method" to prove a smaller conjecture related to Goldbach's conjecture. Each odd number of 1030 could be expressed as the sum of three prime numbers.

As for the 1030 number, this had been checked by computers and it was correct.

This method of proof lacked some mathematics sophistication, but it was still a proof. The fact was that the Goldbach's conjecture had been proved under established conditions. What remained to be done was to prove the Goldbach's conjecture without these conditions.

Different from the "circle method" was Brown's "ab" method. It was the same line of logic and was a fairly promising method in number theory.

Using this method, he narrowed down an infinite problem to a lower bound that could be calculated. All odd numbers greater than this limit was correct, and as for the odd numbers smaller than this limit, it had to be checked one by one with a computer.

At present, the mathematics community accepted Helfgott's research results. This was why he was invited to give an hour report at the mathematics conference.

Naturally, Lu Zhou was interested in this talk. Helfgott was the biggest Goldbach's conjecture researcher for decades.

Lu Zhou started to listen carefully and he even took some notes.

Although the Cole Prize was a great honor, Lu Zhou knew that his strengths could be improved. He did not bathe in the joy of winning for long and he was ready to grind again.

He did not even realize that his Cole Prize would cause another sensation in China…

…

[Shook! The Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner won another international award!]

Shi Shang was doing his homework. When he looked at the news on his phone, he said, " Motherf*cker, this guy did it again!"

The day Lu Zhou won the Cole Prize in Number Theory, his name blew up in the University of Jin Ling.

The aura of the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award had not even faded yet, and he already won another award.

This time, it was not just people from the mathematics department. Even the students from the liberal arts department, physics department, and foreign language department all worshiped this god.

As the first Chinese winner of the Cole Prize and as the record holder for the youngest winner ever, this glory was enough for the professors of University to brag for a year.

Previously the department of mathematics of the University of Jin Ling had no sense of existence at all, so this award was extremely impactful for them.

Huang Guangming raised his head and said, "Bro, the banner outside the school changed again!"

Liu Rui raised his head and said: "…"

Huang Guangming saw that Liu Rui did not respond, so he said, "Liu Rui, it's still Lu Zhou on the banner!"

Liu Rui: "…"

Huang Guangming, "Liu Rui, why are you like this?"

"…"

Goddamn it!

Are you guys done bragging about Lu Zhou yet?!

In his head, Liu Rui slammed the pen down.

Dorm 201 once again heard the screams of Huang Guangming…

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Chapter 213: One Small Step

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The full name of the circle method was "Hardy–Littlewood circle method". It was not only an important tool for the Goldbach's conjecture but also an important tool for analytical number theory.

The intended use of this tool was not necessarily for Goldbach's conjecture. It was now widely believed in the mathematical analysis community that this concept first appeared in Hardy's research on "symptomatic analysis of integer splitting". When Hardy and Littlewood collaborated on the Hualin issue, this method was fully completed.

As an important tool for studying Goldbach's conjecture, this method had been expanded by other mathematicians.

For example, Helfgott who stood on stage was one of the contributors to the circle method.

"… The meaning of the Goldbach's conjecture is that any even number greater than 2 can be written as the sum of two prime numbers. We can call this guess A."

"… Because the odd number minus the odd prime number is an even number, guess A thinks that any even number is equal to the sum of the two prime numbers. Therefore, guess B can be used to guess the inference B. Any odd number greater than 9 can be written as the sum of three odd prime numbers."

Helfgott paused for a second before he continued, "The 'circle method' I'm talking about is the weak conjecture that proves part of the Goldbach's conjecture, the guess B!"

Only if guess A was established, would guess B be established as well.

However, this would not work the other way around.

As for why, it was because this involved a very interesting question on logical mathematics. It was difficult to describe with simple mathematics, but it was basically a set of "the sum of odd and odd primes greater than 9" was not equivalent to the set of "any even numbers". All elements were infinite and could not be proved exhaustively.

From an abstract point of view, the "even set" of the circle method was the "11" form of the sieve method. There was a small part missing in both.

However, this small part was crucial.

After a brief opening remark, Helfgott started to write a line of calculations on the whiteboard.

[… when 2N, there is r3(N)=1/2n(N2/N3)(1-1/(p-1)2)(11/(p-1)2), (1O(1))]

Lu Zhou's eyes lit up when he saw this line of calculations.

This line of expression was not merely scribbling. It was the two-digit argument of Hardy and Littlewood. It was one of the expressions that were presented in the 1922 thesis!

While studying the twin prime conjecture, Lu Zhou read that thesis. He even quoted some parts in his own thesis.

As such, his impression of this thesis was deep.

It seems that this report is a bit interesting.

The old man in front of the whiteboard did not speak. Instead, he continued to write.

The venue was completely quiet.

It was not just Lu Zhou who was listening carefully. All of the other big names were also listening seriously.

The mathematics industry was highly specialized. No one was an expert at everything. Therefore, the thesis for the report would be released in advance for everyone to study and consult.

If the report did not answer one's question, one would be able to ask the question during the QA section. This was how academic reports were done. It was not just watching and listening. One had to actively think and ask questions as well as to participate in discussions.

After 40 minutes, Helfgott finally stopped writing and turned around.

"The basic proof process is like this. If you have any questions, you can ask them now."

Lu Zhou raised his hand.

Helfgott looked at Lu Zhou and nodded.

Lu Zhou stood up and asked, "I have doubts on the formula on line 34. In the operation of =a(n)znδ(n), you can directly derive each integer n0. I guess you used the Cauchy-Gusa theorem or its inference residue theorem. But how do you judge that the function f(s) is a pure function?"

Quiet discussions began in the venue.

Clearly, Lu Zhou's question was intriguing.

"Good question," said Helfgott as he looked at Lu Zhou. He then wrote down a line of calculations on the whiteboard before he asked, "Do you understand now?"

Lu Zhou looked at the line of calculations and nodded.

"Understood, thank you."

Lu Zhou sat back down and copied the line of formula into his notebook.

Since his main research was on sieve theory, Helfgott's method was also interesting. By doing academic exchanges, Lu Zhou could perfect his own theory and used the difference in opinions as a way of getting inspiration.

While Lu Zhou was taking notes, someone next to him poked his arm.

"Sorry, can I ask you a question?"

The person that asked the question was a blonde girl with pale skin.

This girl looked young and she was a little shorter than Lu Zhou. She was probably an undergraduate student from Berkeley.

Her voice was pleasant to listen to.

Regardless of the pleasantness of the voice, Lu Zhou would never reject a mathematics question. He said, "Go ahead."

The girl blinked and pointed at the whiteboard as she asked, "Sorry, that… What did you know from that?"

She looked at the line of formula which she did not understand at all.

"You're talking about the expression?" asked Lu Zhou. He then patiently explained, "Because I(n) = {f(s)/s(n 1)}ds=2πian is a closed-loop integral, you can use the residue theorem directly when you return to the original form. Professor Helfgott's explanation is a bit funky, so it is hard to understand. Just think about it more."

The girl started to write notes.

From her ruthless note-taking technique, Lu Zhou was convinced that this girl was an undergrad.

However, could an undergrad really understand this report?

Lu Zhou asked, "Any other questions?"

"Thanks, no… Sorry, can you give me your email? I have more questions to ask you," said the girl. She looked a little nervous and she ever started to blush.

It was obvious that she was not that good at socializing.

Lu Zhou was not that good at socializing either, so he did not care and said, "Sure. Also, don't say "sorry" all the time. I'm Lu Zhou, and you are?"

"I know you're Lu Zhou. I saw you at the opening ceremony," said the girl. She then said, "I'm Vera. I'm studying at Berkeley… I'm very interested in pure mathematics, especially number theory."

Vera?

Sounds a bit Russian?

Lu Zhou subconsciously looked at her boobs. Although they were not washboard size, they were on the smaller end.

Emm…

No way?

"Just out of curiosity, how old are you?"

"17…"

Lu Zhou looked at her and asked, "A 17-year-old can attend Berkeley?"

He had not even graduated from high school when he was 17.

"I'm an IMO 1 gold medalist…" said Vera. She smiled and said, "Of course, it's nothing compared to solving two conjectures…"

Lu Zhou said, "… No, the Olympic Math Competition is impressive. Have more confidence in yourself. This is shocking. So you got the medal when you were 15? When did you go to high school then?"

The last question was left unanswered by Vera as Helfgott announced the end of the report.

"We still have a long way to go to prove Goldbach's conjecture."

"Thanks for coming!"

Helfgott then nodded and walked down the stage in the round of applause.

Lu Zhou had never participated in the IMO competition before, so he was quite interested. He wanted to talk with this girl for a bit, but it was getting late. Therefore, he packed up his stuff and started to walk out of the venue.

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Chapter 214: Not Easy To Get You Outside

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Actually, Helfgott was not the first person to challenge the Goldbach's conjecture. A long time ago, a former Soviet mathematician, Vinogradov, proved that "when an odd number is big enough, it can be written as the sum of three prime numbers".

This was known as the "Goldbach Vinogradov theorem" which was also known as the "three prime number theorem".

Another former Soviet mathematician, Barrett King, defined a "sufficiently large odd number" as a boundary.

However, his number was 4 million digits long. Even supercomputers could not verify it.

In Helfgott's 2013 research, he finally reduced the 4 million digits to 30 digits. Computers could at least handle this number.

While Lu Zhou was proving the twin prime conjecture, he used the three prime number theorem.

After returning to the hotel, he closed his door and began to carefully organize his notes.

Many of Helfgott's viewpoints were interesting. Whether it was the choice of power series functions or solutions to progressive problems, he had many innovations.

It seemed that over the past two years, this professor has not been satisfied with the progress of Goldbach's conjecture. Therefore, he had been further polishing his theory.

Compared with the 2013 thesis, his content in this report was more concise and rigorous.

After putting all of his notes in his computer, Lu Zhou laid in his bed with his printed thesis and started to think carefully.

Should I continue to use the sieve method?

Or should I use the circle method?

This was a question worth pondering.

The former had not had any big changes for decades while the latter was promising.

"The problem is how to find a condition and small enough lower bound in the large collection of even numbers?" thought Lu Zhou as he flipped through the thesis. He then said, "It seems that proving this question is similar to the twin prime conjecture."

Suddenly, someone knocked on his door.

Lu Zhou threw the thesis aside and sat up from his bed. He then went to open the door.

Luo Wenxuan stood in the hallway and greeted him, "Hey."

Lu Zhou asked, "What's up?"

"It's almost Christmas. Don't tell me you plan on studying mathematics in this room," said Luo Wenxuan. He pulled out two tickets and asked, "There's a basketball match on the 23rd. I got it from my friend. Do you want to go?"

23rd was the day after tomorrow.

If Lu Zhou recalled correctly, there was an hour-long report that day.

Generally speaking, hour-long reports were all either for major discoveries or reserved for big names.

Lu Zhou did not want to miss it.

So, he shook his head and said, "Sorry, but I'm not really interested in basketball. I also have a report that day that I don't want to miss. How about you go and find someone else?"

Luo Wenxuan sighed and with a look of defeat, he said, "Not like this, bro. You're about to go to Princeton, so you have to try to integrate into the lifestyle here. This isn't China… You have to at least like one sport."

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he said, "I think that it's not necessary to force yourself into an uncomfortable lifestyle. I prefer to live life at my own pace."

"Fine, maybe you're right," said Luo Wenxuan. He glanced at the tickets in his hand and said, "But I still suggest you have a hobby other than mathematics. This will help you find topics to talk about when socializing. It can also help you relax."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'll consider your suggestion."

Luo Wenxuan said, "Oh yeah, do you want to go drinking tonight? I found a great bar nearby."

Lu Zhou had spent the past few days researching mathematics, and he sorely needed a break. So he agreed, "Sure, I can go."

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "Haha, it's not easy getting you to hang out."

…

The news of the Cole Prize had been floating around in China for three days. Even after three days, there were still relevant news articles popping up.

Lu Zhou was the first Chinese person to win the Cole Prize. Naturally, the media had to follow up on this matter.

Although the Cole Prize was incomparable to a Nobel Prize, it was still an international award!

Since the 2000s, the number theory community in China had never been strong.

The emerging of a Cole Prize broke this curse.

It was not just the University of Jin Ling that was happy for Lu Zhou, even his old high school, Jiangling High, was also proud of him.

The morning he received the Cole prize, the banner was hung up at the high school gate.

[Congratulations to Lu Zhou, a 2013 graduate of our school, who won the international renowned mathematics award: The Cole Prize in Number Theory!]

Jiangling High, mathematics office.

Xiao Tong knocked the office door and waited until she heard a "come in" before she walked in.

She was still in class when she was suddenly called to go to Old Ma's office.

Being called into Old Ma's office was no good news.

Among all of the teachers, Old Ma had the worst temper.

This teacher liked to patrol the class and would confiscate phones. Many students were afraid of this teacher. He was like the devil amongst students.

Xiao Tong carefully walked to his desk. She was about to ask what was wrong when Old Ma smiled and pulled out a chair.

"Come sit down."

Xiao Tong: ???

She was shocked by Old Ma's abnormal behavior.

When did Old Ma become so kind?

However, Xiao Tong thought that this might be the calm before the storm, so she sat down cautiously.

"Xiao Tong, how're your studies?"

Xiao Tong thought for a moment before saying, "It's going okay…"

Old Ma smiled and said, "Please ask me if you don't know anything!"

Xiao Tong could not take it anymore, so she asked seriously, "Teacher, is it because I failed my monthly exam? Just tell me what I got! I'll try my best next time. It's fine if you want to roast me!"

"No no no, your test result is good! What about your life? Is there any troubles… Like anyone bullying you in class? You can tell me," said Old Ma with a serious look.

Xiao Tong was confused. She replied, "Nope, my classmates are friendly and I'm friends with a lot of them… Teacher, just give it to me straight. I still have homework to do."

Old Ma coughed and said, "I just have a question. Lu Zhou… Is your brother busy?"

Xiao Tong said, "Should be busy"

Old Ma immediately asked, "He's still coming back for New Year, right?"

Xiao Tong asked, "Of course he's coming back for New Year. Is there a problem?"

Old Lu suddenly smiled and said, "The thing is, the leaders of the Education Bureau wants Lu Zhou to give a speech at his old high school, and talk about his learning experience. Can you help me and ask if your brother has time?"

Just this thing?

Xiao Tong thought that she was in trouble. She wanted to roll her eyes but instead, she said, "Okay, teacher, I'll tell my brother about it."

Old Ma smiled and said, "Haha, thank you!"

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Chapter 215: Is Not Easy For Geniuses

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

What Lu Zhou managed to gain over the past few days were massive.

It was not just in academic, but more in the sense of social networking.

Lu Zhou met many people that he had read about in textbooks, newspapers, and articles. That feeling itself was extraordinary.

For example, Heim Brenzi, an academician of the French Academy of Sciences. Lu Zhou had read Brenzi's "Functional Analysis" textbook, in which Brenzi's explanation of the Sobolev space made a lasting impression on Lu Zhou.

This old gentleman from France was very funny and enthusiastic. Especially after he heard that Lu Zhou read his work, he was even friendlier toward Lu Zhou. He repeatedly said that if Lu Zhou ever went to France, he could look for him.

Brenzi had an interesting collection of manuscripts, including one from Euler.

In addition to this warm and cheerful old man, Lu Zhou also met the Chinese mathematics genius, Tao Zhexuan.

Lu Zhou felt like Tao Zhexuan was different in person. He had not expected him to be a humorous and welcoming guy.

Also, he looked younger than what Lu Zhou imagined. Lu Zhou would have never guessed that Tao Zhexuan was in his forties.

Since he was born in Australia, he could not speak Mandarin. However, he could speak Cantonese, but unfortunately, Lu Zhou could not understand him. Therefore, they resorted to speaking in English.

The fourth day of the conference, after the hour-long report ended, Tao Zhexuan invited Lu Zhou to visit his office.

The two started to talk about academic issues.

After exchanging a few words, Lu Zhou could not help but think.

I have to admit. This guy really is a mathematics genius! His field of study is in all areas of mathematics. He might not be good at everything, but there's rarely something he doesn't know anything about.

In September this year, he cracked the 1980's unsolved Erdos problem. This was a classic number theory problem and one that was outside of Tao Zhexuan's research field.

However, it was not as important as the Polignac's conjecture, so his spotlight was stolen by Lu Zhou.

"You're studying Goldbach's conjecture?"

Lu Zhou asked, "Yeah, you've researched it before?"

Tao Zhexuan smiled and acknowledge his shortcomings, "I tried to, at the beginning of this year. I quickly realized that I can't solve it. I'm better at studying two directions of partial differential equations and harmonic analysis."

He then continued, "I saw your thesis in Annual Mathematics. I was greatly inspired by the topology sieve theory you used. I thought it might be able to solve Chen's theorem… However, the results were regrettable."

Lu Zhou asked, "Does the sieve method not work?"

Tao Zhexuan sounded pessimistic as he replied, "Doesn't work… At least I couldn't make it work."

Tao Zhexuan shook his head and started to write on the paper.

[S(αm)2αn2, where αn takes an arbitrary number]

[S(α)=ane(αn),e(x)=e(2πxi).M,NZ,a1… an is a set of modulo 1 well-distributed real numbers…]

[…]

Lu Zhou looked at the formulas on the paper and rubbed his chin. He then went into deep thought.

Tao Zhexuan stopped writing and said, "I only read about this method. You're the one that invented this method."

"No, Professor Zellberg was the one who originally introduced topology into the sieve method. I just made some minor improvements, and you obviously made some major improvements," said Lu Zhou with a smile as he looked at the paper. He then said, "Since am is well-distributed, why not treat R(-1)·S(αm)2 as S(α )2dα Riemann"

Tao Zhexuan's eyes lit up. He then said, "Then?"

"The value of R = 1, we can get by the Cauchy-Schwartz inequality…" said Lu Zhou. He could not explain it in words, so he picked up a pen and started to write on the paper.

[S(α1)2Nan2]

Tao Zhexuan said, "Your idea is interesting… We have to find an N(δ) value, then we can find ."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yeah, but won't be much larger than Nδ(-1). The trouble lies in N."

The two raised their heads and looked at each other before they smiled.

However, there was a slight bitterness in their smile as the method did not work!

Tao Zhexuan threw the pen on the table and sighed. He started to speak, "The circle method is too difficult. It could take decades to solve. Maybe you can try the circle method. Honestly speaking, the sieve method might not work."

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I'll research it in my free time, but I still have hopes for the sieve method. Maybe it has potential."

"How about you come to teach at Berkeley? The environment here is good, and we can start a research project together… If you don't think I'm a liability," said Tao Zhexuan with a smile.

Lu Zhou: "…"

You literally have an IQ of 230. If you're a liability, then what about those with IQ of 100?

For the first time, Lu Zhou realized that it was a pain in the ass talking with people who are too humble.

Lu Zhou said, "I still haven't gotten my PhD yet. I'll probably go to Princeton next year for it."

"You still haven't graduated?" said Tao Zhexuan as he looked at Lu Zhou. He then said, "Okay then… Chinese Universities are so strict."

Lu Zhou said, "I started my master's degree at the beginning of the year."

"Okay then, that's understandable," said Tao Zhexuan. He smiled and said, "When I was doing my master's, the same thing happened to me. The supervisor made me stay for a year before I could graduate."

Tao Zhexuan wrote down his email on a piece of paper and handed it to Lu Zhou. He smiled and said, "Let's keep in touch, I'll contact you if there are any new discoveries."

"Okay."

Lu Zhou nodded and took the piece of paper. He then wrote down his email in a piece of paper as well. They then separated.

While walking back to the hotel, Lu Zhou kept thinking about the problem.

After some thinking, he became hungry.

Lu Zhou looked at the time on his phone. It was a bit too early for dinner, so he turned around and walked into a BBQ restaurant.

He then ordered a set of ribs. He then took out the $19 USD and placed it on the counter. Once he paid, he went to find a place to sit down.

People said that America was cheap, but he did not think so.

$19 USD was almost $110 yuan.

A skinny waitress carried a huge plate of food and placed it on Lu Zhou's table.

When Lu Zhou looked at the things on the plate, his eyes twitched.

Good god, he thought it would be the kind of ribs he saw on TV. He had not expected a whole rack of ribs! This was enough for three people!

On the plate, there was also a baked potato with sour cream, a bowl of Mexican beans, and a mysterious soup.

I guess it's pretty worth it for the price.

However, this clearly isn't for one person.

He finally knew why everyone in America was so fat.

"Sir, are you satisfied with the food?"

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that he had not given the waitress a tip yet. He then pulled out two dollars from his pocket.

However, when he saw the waitress, she looked familiar.

Lu Zhou placed the tip into her hand and asked, "You work here?"

"Yeah," nodded Vera embarrassingly.

"Do you not have a scholarship?"

Lu Zhou also worked part-time to pay for his tuition and living expenses, so he did not think anything was wrong with it.

What surprised him was that he thought American scholarships were easy to get, especially for an IMO gold medalist. It should be easy for her to get a free ride for the degree.

Vera had not expected to meet Lu Zhou here. She smiled awkwardly and said, "There's a scholarship…"

If Vera worked for the experience or travel money, she would definitely tell Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou saw that she did not further expand on why she was working, so he guessed that she must need the money for tuition.

"You're Russian?"

Vera shook her head.

When Lu Zhou saw her awkward expression, he felt that he should not have asked the question.

Suddenly, a chef in the kitchen shouted her name.

Vera quickly turned around and responded. She then bowed to Lu Zhou before she hurried back to the kitchen.

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Chapter 216: Bullsh*ting Is Not A Good Habit

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Lu Zhou could guess the truth on the matter.

He cut off a piece of rib and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Poor kid…"

This world was unfair.

Lu Zhou was lucky to be born in a peaceful country.

Lu Zhou tried to stuff his face, but he could not finish the food. In the end, he gave up.

When he saw the remaining ribs, he said in his heart.

If I knew they would give so much, I would've asked Luo Wenxuan to come with me.

However, the taste…

Is pretty good.

Lu Zhou left the BBQ restaurant and returned to his hotel.

Back at his hotel, he started to sort out his daily notes.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

When Lu Zhou picked up the call, he heard Professor Tang's voice.

"When do you plan on coming back to China? Are you still coming back to University of Jin Ling this year?"

Lu Zhou was stunned but he quickly understood why Professor Tang was asking him these questions. He said, "It's nearly New Year, so I plan on going back to my hometown."

Professor Tang was unsurprised by Lu Zhou's answer. He smiled and said, "You're not coming back? There's still an award waiting for you here."

Lu Zhou, "Award?"

Old Tang smiled and said, "You're a master's student now, right? So you can be nominated for the Annual Person Award. You don't have to give a presentation like last year, just take the prize on stage."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "This… I'll give it to people that need it. I've already won it before! I'll let other people have a chance."

University of Jin Ling's Annual Person Award was valuable in China.

It basically guaranteed a job. Any company would want someone with the award.

However, since Lu Zhou already won the Cole prize, he was not interested in small awards like this.

Professor Tang asked, "You really don't want it?"

Lu Zhou, "I'm good!"

Old Tang smiled and did not insist. Instead, he said, "Okay then… The school won't have to give you the million yuan then! It's fine if you don't want it."

"Pfft!"

Lu Zhou nearly spat his water out.

He coughed and said, "How much?"

Old Tang smiled and said, "What do you mean how much? You don't want the award anyway."

Lu Zhou asked, "Isn't the award only $10,000 yuan? What is this million for?"

"Other people are awarded $10,000 yuan, but you get a million yuan," said Professor Tang with a smile. He then said, "This is the decision that the school made. I heard it from Dean Qin."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Seeing that Lu Zhou was speechless, Professor Tang smiled and placed down his vacuum flask.

After a while, he sighed and said, "You've changed a lot over the past year. But one thing you didn't change is your love of money! Loving money isn't anything bad since you can't do research without money and you also can't get a wife… But remember, don't make it too high of a priority or it'll come and bite you in the ass one day."

"I understand!" said Lu Zhou. With a serious tone, he added, "The conference ends on the 23rd. If the school needs me, I'll fly back immediately!"

Professor Tang smiled and shook his head as he said, "It's fine, take your time with the conference. The ceremony for the Annual Person Award can be delayed. I'll just talk about it with Principal Xu."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Then teacher… Are the million yuan award still on the table?"

"On!"

The situation was different than last year.

Having won the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award and Cole Prize, Lu Zhou was not winning this Annual Person Award for himself. He was doing it for the honor of the University of Jin Ling!

Just like if Einstein won the Nobel Prize, it was not only an honor for Einstein, but it would also be an honor to the Nobel Prize.

A school-level honor was too insignificant for Lu Zhou. Therefore, in order to get Lu Zhou to come back to the school, the school "slightly" raised the amount of the award.

The school was even willing to reschedule the award ceremony to match Lu Zhou's schedule.

…

Lu Zhou had been in California for a week. Two days before Christmas, the academic conference finally ended.

This academic conference also awarded a Best Young Speaker Award.

The award winner was a French professor in his thirties. His report was a breakthrough on partial differential equations.

Due to a conflict in his schedule, Lu Zhou missed this report. However, Lu Zhou read his thesis and the level of his report was indeed worthy of this award.

There was also a Best Overall Speaker Award.

This award was undoubtedly given to Professor Helfgott.

His research in Goldbach's conjecture would be the most dazzling research result of the year.

If this old man had not already received a Cole Prize, Lu Zhou might have some competition.

However, the old man did not care about the award too much. He was just happy to see that people recognized his research.

Of course, he was also happy about the $20,000 USD prize.

After the closing ceremony, Lu Zhou bought a plane ticket back home.

He originally planned to transfer at Shanghai, then fly to Jiangcheng.

However, his university had invited him to go back, and he had agreed.

While he was using his knowledge of geometry to pack his suitcase, Xiao Tong suddenly called him on WeChat.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone and turned on the loudspeaker.

Xiao Tong was wearing pajamas in bed. She yawned and asked, "Brother, when are you coming back?"

It was nighttime in China and it looked like this girl was about to go to sleep.

Lu Zhou was packing the chocolate he bought for his sister and replied casually, "I'll come back before the New Year, why?"

Xiao Tong said, "Two good news, which one do you want to hear?"

"You got first in your class for the monthly test?"

Xiao Tong's eyes widened as she said, "Brother, you're a god!"

After all, Xiao Tong was Lu Zhou's sister, so she had half of his intelligence.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What else could it be? Go on, what's the other good news?"

Xiao Tong smiled and said, "Old Ma told me to ask if you want to give a speech at your old high school?"

Lu Zhou was speechless and he asked, "What kind of good news is this?"

Xiao Tong, "This is good new! Are you not going to go?"

Lu Zhou was too lazy to go, but he still asked, " Do you want me to go?"

Xiao Tong eyes lit up, "Yes!"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Then I'll go."

Xiao Tong cheered and said, "Yay! Brother, you're the best!"

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

Why does she even want me to go?

If only she could use this energy on her studies.

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Chapter 217: Back To School

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The second day after Christmas, near San Francisco International Airport.

When Tao Zhexuan dropped Lu Zhou off at the airport, he said, "Have a safe flight."

Lu Zhou pulled his suitcase out of the trunk and said, "Thanks, come to China when you're free."

"For sure!"

The past two days, Lu Zhou had been exchanging mathematics problems with this genius. Even though they had a twenty years gap, they got along unexpectedly well. Tao Zhexuan was the one who offered to send Lu Zhou to the airport and Lu Zhou had swiftly agreed.

It was not boarding time yet, so Lu Zhou waited in the terminal and read a newspaper. It was the Daily Mail.

Suddenly, a headline attracted his attention.

[The mathematics problem that plagued the community for more than a century, the Riemann's conjecture, was proved by Professor Enoch, from the University of Addo Ekiti, Nigeria!]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

The f*ck?

How come I don't know anything about this?

Lu Zhou logged onto the arXiv website to check if it was still in the peer-review process.

He quickly found this thesis on arXiv.

Before Lu Zhou could even start reading the thesis, he had already lost his interest. This was because the thesis was classified as General Mathematics.

Arxiv gave the General Mathematics classification to common folks that wanted to get into mathematics. Theses thrown into this category were basically worthless.

Lu Zhou: "…"

He finally knew why Daily Mail was blocked on Baidu search.

Western journalists had to fact check their sources more vigorously.

Riemann's conjecture was not only a million-dollar theorem. Proving it meant that thousands of other derivative theorems would also be proved.

For example, a Swede named Koch proposed a more accurate expression of the prime number theorem which was based on Riemann's conjecture. His theorem was: π(x)=LixO( x·lnx).

If the Riemann's conjecture was proven to be true, then so would his theorem.

If the Riemann's conjecture was proven to be false, then thousands of other similar formulas would be buried with it.

The influence of this thing was unimaginable.

Lu Zhou skimmed through the thesis and closed the website.

The thesis used some elementary mathematics to "prove" Riemann's conjecture, so it was a waste of Lu Zhou's time.

Lu Zhou could probably guess why the Clay Institute ignored this guy.

Every country had a "politically righteous" problem.

Maybe one day he would also challenge the crown of mathematics; Riemann's conjecture. Right now, there was one problem. The Goldbach's conjecture and the collaboration with Professor Frank had taken all his time…

…

After flying for a dozen or so hours and after a transfer, Lu Zhou finally dragged his suitcase out of the airport.

This time, University of Jin Ling did not send a welcoming team. Perhaps Dean Lu saw the effects of what happened last time. However, the crowd at the airport was not small either.

There were a few Mercedes that were parked at the entrance. Lu Zhou did not know that the school was so rich.

When the pedestrians who were walking by saw the black Mercedes, they thought that there was a big celebrity coming. They then started to take pictures.

Dean Qin got off the car and shook Lu Zhou's hand.

"Congratulations, Lu Zhou!"

Lu Zhou shook Dean Qin's hand and said politely, "Dean Qin, you're too kind."

Dean Qin smiled and said, "What do you mean? You're the number one person in domestic number theory! This treatment is necessary to take our hero home! Stop waiting outside and get in the car."

Since the cars were already there, Lu Zhou did not refuse. He got on the same car as Dean Qin.

The school knew that Lu Zhou had moved out of his dorm, so they arranged a hotel nearby for him.

The school staff helped him with his luggage.

A science reporter from CCTV wanted to interview him.

Normally, Lu Zhou would refuse to do interviews. However, when he thought about that million yuan check, he accepted the interview.

University of Jin Ling's reputation had always been good, but it was slightly behind Aurora University and Zhi University. The reason was that there were no famous alumni at the University of Jin Ling.

After Lu Zhou became famous, the number of people that applied to University of Jin Ling mathematics department doubled. Even the popularity of other majors increased, and the University of Jin Ling finally experienced the effects of fame.

It was foreseeable that in 2016, a lot of young students would enroll in this beautiful campus, and jump into the pool of mathematics.

With regard to this, Lu Zhou was pleased.

After all, he had lived here for three years. He hoped that his school would get better and better.

After the interview, Lu Zhou went back to his hotel and went to sleep straight away.

He slept until afternoon. When he woke up, he brushed his teeth before he went to the cafeteria for lunch. He then went to the school auditorium.

Dean Qin and Principal Xu were at the auditorium.

"Student Lu Zhou," said Principal Xu Jian. He shook Lu Zhou's hand and smiled, "You just got back from America, right? You must be tired!"

Lu Zhou had not graduated from the University of Jin Ling, so he still kind of counted as a student.

It was mainly because of this that Principal Xu did not know what else to call him.

Directly calling his name felt a bit serious since Lu Zhou had not started his PhD yet.

"No no, I'm not tired at all," said Lu Zhou. He smiled and said, "If my school needs me, I would definitely come!"

Dean Qin said, "This time, our event for the Annual Person Award will go on CCTV! Have you thought of a speech?"

"It's going on CCTV?" asked Lu Zhou. He was surprised.

He originally thought that at most, it would appear on local TV.

After all, University of Jin Ling was not Shuimu. Even though the annual awards were significant, there were way more universities stronger than the University of Jin Ling.

"Long story, it's mainly because of you," said Principal Xu. He smiled and said, "Our country is paying more and more attention to science. The investments are getting bigger. We need a young role model for all of the young scholars. Anyway, how is your speech? Do you need help?"

Lu Zhou did not prepare his speech at all.

After all, he did not feel any pressure from such a small prize. He just wanted to improvise it and he thought he could use his previous speech for the Cole Prize as a reference.

But now, it seemed that he was caught unprepared?

"I remembered it," said Lu Zhou with a smile.

"Haha, okay then," said Professor Xu. He smiled and looked at Lu Zhou seriously as he continued, "Have a good performance. All of this depends on you!"

To raise his morale, Lu Zhou said, "Yes, I'll complete the task!"

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Chapter 218: It's Been A Worthwhile Four Years

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Since it was CCTV, Lu Zhou had to take his speech seriously.

After Dean Qin and Principal Xu left, Lu Zhou sighed and took out his phone. He prepared to get outside help.

But who should he ask?

Maybe post on Weibo?

But he felt like he would be attacked by his fans for "bragging".

Suddenly, Lu Zhou had an idea.

After Xiao Ai went from Level 1 to Level 2, he had yet to test what it could do. He could use this opportunity to see how smart this thing was.

[Xiao Ai, help me write a 500-word reward speech!]

A short time passed by.

Xiao Ai: [(ᐛ")_? ? ? ]

Lu Zhou: "…"

Motherf*cker!

I was too naive to count on this thing.

Lu Zhou sighed and stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

I guess I have to rely on myself.

…

The reward ceremony started.

The finale of this ceremony was the graduate student Annual Person Award, so Lu Zhou's speech was last.

The first person to speak on stage was the undergraduate Annual Person.

Lu Zhou admired them from backstage.

The student's achievements were stellar and comparable to last year.

The genius student from the computer science department won the award. He came first in his school three years in a row.

Maybe because of last year, this year's award ceremony was not as exciting. Lu Zhou's achievements overshadowed everyone else.

However, the physics department had a big player. A nutty fourth-year student went on stage.

Soon, the undergraduate awards ended and it was time for master's students. The powerful physics department competed against the engineering department.

Unsurprisingly, Brother Qian also stood on this podium.

As a crucial member of Professor Li Rongen's research team, his knowledge of carbon nanomaterials surpassed many PhD students. His SCI thesis impact factor was 9, and he had published at least three theses during his degree.

He deserved the honor of this year's special scholarship!

Soon, it was Lu Zhou's turn.

They even changed the background music when he stood on stage.

A big projector behind him showed his achievements.

[2015 Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner, winner of international number theory award, Cole Prize. Proved Zhou's theorem, twin prime theorem, and Polignac theorem…]

Ordinary people would be happy with just one of those achievements.

When he stood on stage, the honor of the previous winners was overshadowed by him.

Lu Zhou took the microphone and looked at the audience.

Whether it was his mentality or the mentality of the audience, it was different than from a year ago.

He could feel it.

Actually, while he was talking to Shi Shang on WeChat, he was informed that the name "God Lu" was spreading around campus.

Completed his undergrad in two years, master's in one year and got an offer from Princeton while most people his age were still in their third year…

The students almost started to treat him as an actual god and pray to him before exams…

Maybe some people did actually prayed to him?

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke in a relaxed tone, "Thanks, professors and teachers, that have helped me. Thank you, University of Jin Ling, for giving me this honor, and thanks to the leadership team and the audience that came…"

"… I'm honored to stand on this podium again!"

"I can talk a lot about mathematics, just like I have at countless conferences. However, I don't want to talk about mathematics now. I want to talk about our university…"

"… Many of you only recently stepped into university and you're still carrying the curiosity and excitement from high school, and you're wondering what you should do before the enthusiasm disappears."

"… Or second and third years, you guys probably want to go home, but were forced to come here by the student union…"

The crowd laughed. They had not expected Lu Zhou to be so down to earth.

Lu Zhou smiled as well.

Dean Qin kept trying to remind Lu Zhou that this was live on CCTV, so Lu Zhou should not mess around.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and continued, "There are also people like me, about to leave campus."

The crowd went silent.

Dead silent.

Unprecedented silence.

Lu Zhou grinned and spoke with emotion, "In the summer of 2014, I was in the school's computer room, pulling an all-nighter. I then handed the baton to my teammate, who didn't let me down."

"In October, the same year, I went to Beijing and won the Higher Education Society Cup. This was my first contact with scientific research…"

Lu Zhou talked about his Zhou's conjecture discovery, his entrepreneurship, carbon nanomaterials, and his conference at Princeton.

He spoke for a long time, and he was soon out of time.

However, no one reminded him as they were all immersed in his speech.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes in the crowd stared at him, waiting for him to continue speaking and to continue talking about life experiences that they had never even heard of.

Finally, he made a conclusion of what happened over the past 6 months.

"Summer of 2015, I was at CERN headquarters with Professor Lu and Student Yan, representing the LHCb China Cooperation Group."

"Same year October to December, I won the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award and Cole Prize in Number Theory."

Lu Zhou paused for a moment. He then smiled and continued, "I don't have much to say about my learning experience. The librarian knows more about that than me, but I hope my personal experience can give you a little insight."

"Always welcome life and be interested in your surroundings."

"Go discover your passion, go discover your talents. Monetize your talents and infuse your enthusiasm."

"You don't have to be a researcher like me. The university doesn't exist only for academics. University exists as a way to find yourself, to find a platform for your life."

"Whether you are studying in the library or socializing with the student union, they are all parts of soul searching."

Lu Zhou made a final conclusion and blessing for his schoolmates.

"I wish you to have a worthwhile four years at university."

"Thank you!"

Lu Zhou bowed.

The venue was silent for half a second.

Then, everyone applauded.

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Chapter 219: Human Nature

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

When Lu Zhou was walking down from the stage, he heard people shouting his name. He even saw some people with tears in their eyes.

That was an impromptu speech as he did not do much preparation in advance.

As for why it made everyone so emotional…

Maybe it was because his speech was meaningful.

The award ceremony had not ended yet. After the vice principal gave a speech, Lu Zhou and other winners returned on stage.

Principal Xu shook hands with everyone and presented them each with a certificate of honor.

When it was Lu Zhou's turn, the principal held his hand tightly.

Then, the old man looked at him with approval and said, "Nice speech."

Lu Zhou relaxed and smiled as he said, "Thank you."

The old man smiled and said, "I should be the one thanking you."

The award ceremony came to an end.

All the students stood up and vowed to look forward to the new year by reading "Oath of the Pillar". They vowed to not forget their heart, to look forward to the new year, and to bravely chase their dreams.

…

The dinner party was on the top floor of the cafeteria.

After the award ceremony came to an end, Lu Zhou went to the backstage lounge. Before he could change his suit, a cute girl and a few of her roommates walked over.

Lu Zhou looked at her and thought that she was from the student union. He asked, "What's up?"

"God Lu! Um, can I ask for your contact details…?"

She was stuttering and her face was bright red. She clearly had not come prepared. She was obviously peer pressured by her friends.

Lu Zhou looked at the curious and excited girls. He did not want to give them a hard time, so he asked, "Is QQ okay?"

"Great!"

Her voice cracked due to the excitement.

Lu Zhou nodded and took a pen from the table, he wrote down a string of numbers and handed it to her.

A lot of people had his QQ number, so he did not mind giving it out.

It was not like he had time to message anyone anyway.

"Thank you!"

The girl eagerly took the note and ran away like a frightened deer.

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

If they say handsomeness is a sin…

Then I must be a sinful man…

Lu Zhou looked at himself in the mirror like a narcissist. He then remembered that he had to return the suit. Just as he was about to undress, the lounge door was suddenly pushed open again.

This time, it was President Lin, from the student union.

Lu Zhou thought she was here to collect the suit and he was about to tell her to wait outside when she spoke first.

Lin Yuxiang looked at Lu Zhou with a smile and said, "Lu Zhou, your performance was great. Some of my girlfriends started crying."

Lu Zhou said, "Why did you phrase it that way?"

What do you mean crying!

Why did you make it sound like a bad thing?

Lin Yuxiang tilted her head and pretended like she did not understand him.

Yet, it was obvious that she did it intentionally.

Lu Zhou changed the topic and asked, "What's up?"

Lin Yuxiang nodded and said, "Dean Qin wanted me to ask you, when do you plan on going over? There are a few higher-ups of the city that want to meet you."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Then I'll go over now."

Lin Yuxiang nodded her head.

Suddenly, she noticed his collar.

Her eyes lit up.

"Well, I'll pass that on to Dean Qin. Oh yeah, your collar is tilted, let me…"

"It's fine, I'm about to return the suit anyway," said Lu Zhou. He then smiled and said to Lin Yuxiang, "Can you return the suit for me?"

Lin Yuxiang: "…"

…

The University of Jin Ling was one of the top universities in the country. It had affiliations with the Central Ministry of Education. Its place in the local talent training strategy was undoubtedly huge.

Lu Zhou's international glory and potential attracted interest from the government.

However, this was related to politics.

Lu Zhou was not good at politics, but he still knew a little.

In the future, he wanted to live and work in Jin Ling. If he wanted to move up the ladder, he had to form great relationships with the local government.

Lu Zhou knew Dean Qin's intentions.

The school was providing him a platform to connect with people from outside the academic circle.

Lu Zhou was the focus of the dinner party.

The youngest Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner, and winner of Cole Prize in Number Theory, plus a Fields Medal candidate… Never mind the young scholars, even old professors were interested in talking with Lu Zhou.

As such, Lu Zhou was there for a long time.

By the time he returned to the hotel, it was already 11 o'clock.

He slept until afternoon the next day. When he woke up, he washed his face before he opened his suitcase and took out two boxes of gifts. He then left the room.

The gifts were the fish oil that he bought at the duty-free store. It was a kind of supplement and it could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and memory loss caused by aging.

He wanted to give it to Professor Lu and Professor Tang.

Lu Zhou first went to Professor Lu's office. However, he was still in Belgium. Professor Lu said that he might go to CERN for a while later this year.

Therefore, Lu Zhou placed the gift on the table and left a note on it.

Lu Zhou did not know when the academician would come back, but when he did, he would definitely see the gift.

Lu Zhou then left Professor Lu's office and went to the mathematics building.

…

Lu Zhou opened the office door and walked in. When Professor Tang saw the gift in Lu Zhou's hands, he smiled, "I thought I taught you better!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm still your student so you can teach me now, but you still have to accept this gift."

The gift was inexpensive, but it was meaningful.

Also, since Lu Zhou was no longer an undergraduate student, he could be more casual with the professors.

Not to mention that when he graduated next year, he would be going overseas. He had to give the teacher something before he left.

Professor Tang looked at Lu Zhou and smiled as he said, "You don't have to bring a gift next time you visit me. Xiao Wang, go pour Lu Zhou some tea."

"Okay!"

Xiao Wang got up and walked to the cupboards. He skillfully operated the tea set and electric kettle.

Lu Zhou thanked Xiao Wang. He then sat down on the sofa and said to Professor Tang, "I can't just bring nothing. It feels wrong if I don't give you something… Also, this isn't just my gift. It's also from Luo Wenxuan. There are also some photos in the bag that Luo Wenxuan said he took in South America. He said he wanted to give you an artistic gift."

"That kid, I guess he didn't forget about me," said Professor Tang. He smiled and said, "How is it? You're about to go overseas next year. What plans do you have for the future?"

Lu Zhou said, "I plan on working at Princeton after I get my PhD. Then I want to come back to University of Jin Ling and teach."

"Okay, I support you," said Professor Tang as he nodded. He then said, "The qualification of overseas research is important… But it seems that you have it all figured out. I guess I won't ask any other questions. Do your best."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Yes, for sure."

Professor Tang smiled and teased, "Oh yeah, when do you plan on getting a partner?"

Lu Zhou was caught off guard by his question and he stammered, "This… This depends on fate, there's no hurry."

Professor Tang smiled and said, "You're not in a hurry, but other people are. Dean Qin talked about you with me last time. He said he's scared that you'll find someone overseas and never come back. Also, there's a couple of professors that have been asking me to set their granddaughter up with you. Think about it?"

Lu Zhou nearly spat the tea out of his mouth. He then said, "Don't… Not like this."

Professor Tang smiled and said, "Haha, I'm only kidding."

Lu Zhou nodded quickly.

Yeah, Dean Lu's granddaughter…

This is sad but if Dean Lu looks like that, I can't imagine how his granddaughter would look like.

The office was quiet for a bit.

Lu Zhou did not talk. He just drank his tea quietly.

As Professor Tang looked at his successful student, he nodded happily.

After a long time, he said, "Go ahead, you can go."

Lu Zhou stood up and said: "…"

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Chapter 220: Bro, Insurance?

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

From the Cole Prize monetary award plus the million yuan from the University of Jin Ling, Lu Zhou earned $1.6 million yuan within one month. This was enough for a down payment.

Lu Zhou stood in the bank as he looked at his account balance.

It seems that all handsome guys are lucky.

He had already cashed the cheque from the university. As for the $10,000 USD check, he did not bother cashing it out since he would need USD for Princeton.

Suddenly, a man in a suit walked over and started talking to him.

"Bro, do you want to buy insurance? Our insurance reimburses all kinds of accidental injuries. It's like an investment!"

Lu Zhou turned around and looked at the man.

He smiled at the salesman and said, "No, thanks."

After that, Lu Zhou turned around and left the bank. He got on his bicycle and rode back to school.

While on the road, Lu Zhou could not help but think.

Maybe I should get a car?

I'm about to go to America. I heard that one must have a car over there, especially in the rural town of Princeton.

Lu Zhou made a decision.

A month before Chinese New Year, he was going to get his driver's license.

…

Lu Zhou stayed at the school until New Year's Eve. He then got on a train and went all the way back home in Gangneung.

Lu Zhou dragged his suitcase to the door and pressed the doorbell. He heard footsteps behind the door.

"Brother!"

Xiao Tong opened the door with a smile.

Lu Zhou had not seen her in over a year and she had grown a lot taller.

However, no matter how tall she was, in Lu Zhou's mind, she would always be that crying little sister that was bullied.

Lu Zhou smiled and rubbed her head before he dragged the suitcase into the house.

He looked at the kitchen and asked, "Where's dad and mom?"

Xiao Tong said, "They went to the supermarket! We're eating fish tonight!"

Lu Zhou smile and said, "What about you?"

"I'm doing test papers! I'm such a good kid!" said Xiao Tong as she looked at Lu Zhou with puppy eyes. She then asked, "Bro, where's my gift?"

As expected.

I knew it.

Back at the duty-free store, Lu Zhou video chatted and asked her to pick her gift. She had stared at the beautifully packaged chocolate in awe.

After Lu Zhou bought the gifts for his professors and parents, he still had a few hundred dollars worth of USD left. He could not be bothered to exchange it for RMB, so he bought her a box of chocolate.

Xiao Tong was similar to him. No matter how much she ate, she still remained skinny.

Lu Zhou handed the suitcase to Xiao Tong and said, "It's in the suitcase, help me put it in the room and give your brother some water."

"Okay! Brother, you're the best!"

She smiled mischievously and pecked him on the face before she dragged the suitcase into his room.

Lu Zhou looked at her and smiled. He then walked to the kitchen and found his parent's tea collection. He made himself a cup of hot tea.

When Lu Zhou walked back to the living room, he saw Xiao Tong walking out of his bedroom with her "trophy".

Lu Zhou looked at the plastic bag in her hand and said, "Don't each too much at once. Otherwise, I won't be able to recognize you when I get back from Princeton."

"No way, I can't even eat it all at once anyway," said Xiao Tong.

Lu Zhou, "Do whatever. Speaking of which, when did you learn how to do makeup?"

He did not only give her chocolate but he also gave her some makeup and skincare products from Clinique.

Clinique was a big brand in America, and it was cheaper at the duty-free store.

Xiao Tong was a good kid who never asked for anything.

Now that Lu Zhou was rich, he would not treat his sister badly but it was a bit early for high school students to do makeup…

Xiao Tong said, "Oh you're talking about this? It's for my friend."

Lu Zhou, who was drinking tea, was stunned, "You bought it for a friend?"

"Yea," said Xiao Tong. She added, "I calculated the cost. A set of makeup and skincare products nets me a thousand yuan! I'll go to school tomorrow and give them to Xiao Yan, then I'll pay you back the costs."

You're selling them?!

Lu Zhou nearly spat the tea out of his mouth.

He went to California to gain glory for his country. He was a little shocked at his sister.

Lu Zhou wiped his mouth and said, "I asked you to pick a gift for yourself, and you wanted to make money?"

"Ah… Bro, don't be unhappy," said Xiao Tong. She looked at Lu Zohu and said quietly, "How about… We split the profits?"

This kid!

No sense of introspection at all!

Lu Zhou sighed and waved his hand, he said, "It's fine, just keep the profits… I don't need the money anyway. Also, don't worry about money, your priority right now is to study. Just put it this way, this time your bro went back to the University of Jin Ling and received a scholarship. Guess how much it was?"

Xiao Tong's eyes widened as she asked, "How much?"

Lu Zhou said, "A million!"

Xiao Tong looked at her brother in surprise and said, "University of Jin Ling is that rich?"

"Of course, it's a top university! As long as you have the excellence to back it up, you'll be awarded," said Lu Zhou in a serious tone. He then added, "That's why. Knowledge is the greatest wealth. Xiao Tong, do you understand?"

Although not everyone was awarded as much as Lu Zhou…

Xiao Tong said excitingly, "I understand! I promise to study hard! I'll get into University of Jin Ling and fill in your shoes!

Lu Zhou could not help but think.

Why do you sound so fake…

I don't know if I believe you.

Let's see if you'll say the same thing when you start studying.

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "There's no need to fill in my shoes… In short, I hope that you won't worry about money since we're not poor anymore. If there are difficulties, I'll definitely help you solve them. Just study hard. If you're interested in money, you can do finance or accounting."

The reason why he worked so hard was largely in part to give Xiao Tong a chance to go to university without any worries.

If it was only his tuition and living expenses, his family could afford it.

However, he was a man.

He could not let his sister suffer like him.

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Chapter 221: Speech Under The Flag

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Jiangling High, school playground.

The crowd stood under the flag.

Pairs of sleepy eyes watched the flag being raised under the morning sun. They then watched the man walking onto the platform.

This week's flag-raising ceremony was different than usual as the high school had invited a special guest.

This special guest was not old. In fact, he was in his early twenties. Three years ago, this guest was just like them, sitting in one of the classrooms here.

However, now, the teachers were proud to have taught this guy. Every time his name was mentioned, smiles would surface on the teachers' face.

He was none other than Lu Zhou, the youngest Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner, Cole Prize winner, and Ten Thousand People Initiative participant!

Lu Zhou took the microphone from the headmaster. He cleared his throat and spoke with a warm voice.

"Let me introduce myself, I'm an alumnus here. I graduated in 2013. My name is Lu Zhou."

"I'm honored to be given the opportunity to stand here and speak with my schoolmates."

"And what I want to talk to you today is about my university…"

Lu Zhou was being quite modest.

The school was honored to have him here, and not the other way around.

The popularity of Jiangling High had blown up due to Lu Zhou's success.

Honestly, Lu Zhou's success did not have anything to do with Jiangling High, but he did attend the school.

After all, education was education. His high school gave him the foundation for his success.

Some of the teachers that taught him were even given "special teacher" awards.

On the playground, the third-year students at the third class squad.

Xiao Tong stood at the tip of her toes and looked at the flag.

She was not even paying attention to her brother's speech!

Next to Xiao Tong was her best friend Li Wei. She was the one who bought the makeup from Xiao Tong. When Li Wei saw that the teacher was not paying attention to them, she poked Xiao Tong's arm and asked quietly, "Tong Tong, is that your brother?"

Xiao Tong lowered her voice and said excitedly, "Yea, why? 21-year-old PhD. Do you want me to introduce him to you?"

Li Wei blushed and said, "Piss off, he's too old."

"Just kidding. Even if you want, I won't give him to you," said Xiao Tong. She poked her tongue out and gave her a playful smile. A few male students in her class had butterflies in their stomachs.

High school kids were innocent compared to students in universities.

In a small city, a girl that had good grades, decently attractive, and an open personality would be the goddess in the minds of countless boys.

Xiao Tong fitted in this category.

Unfortunately, this goddess had yet to express any interest in any boys. This caused many boys to divert their attention onto Li Wei instead.

However, now, looking at Lu Zhou, the boys understood the reason.

People naturally loved to compare.

Compared to her brother, these boys were nothing…

…

After New Year's Day, Lu Zhou rested at home. He would chat with his parents, or teach mathematics to Xiao Tong.

In his spare time, he would study some Goldbach's conjecture material. There was still room for improvement under the circle method and sieve method. He would also reply to Professor Frank's emails.

In addition, he was learning how to drive.

It was easy for Lu Zhou.

Maybe it was because of his calm personality. He would never accidentally hit the gas pedal when he was supposed to break.

In order to get his driver's license as soon as possible, he low-key bribed the driving instructor.

In a small town like his, money could get a lot of things done.

Within thirty days, Lu Zhou successfully obtained his driver's license.

Next was to recite the rules of the local road of New Jersey.

He had experience driving in China so it would not be difficult to get one overseas.

Lu Zhou even consulted Luo Wenxuan about this.

Time quickly passed by. It was soon February, and only a few days left before Chinese New Year.

Lu Zhou was taking a walk with his father at night. When he looked a the familiar roads, he suddenly said, "Father."

Lu Bangguo, "What?"

"Xiao Tong is about to go to university, how about we renovate the house?"

Lu Zhou remembered that when he was in high school, his parents were planning to renovate the house after their kids went to college.

Although Xiao Tong was still a bit far off from university, Lu Zhou was already halfway done.

Not to mention, he had some spare cash.

Lu Bangguo smiled and said, "No worries, we can do it when you have your own house and family."

Lu Zhou had a weird expression.

He was going to stay at Princeton for a while.

Lu Zhou did not beat around the bush as he said, "Dad, here's the thing. After Chinese New Year's I'll get my master's degree, then I'll go to Princeton for my PhD. I have around $10,000 USD, plus the scholarships at Princeton. There's no use for my RMB anyway, so how about I just put it with you?"

"How much?"

"A million…"

Lu Bangguo nearly choked on his own spit when he heard the number.

Lu Zhou patted his back and said, "Dad, take it easy."

Lu Bangguo stood straight and said, " You… Keep the money! Didn't I already tell you? Save it for a house, save it for marriage! I can still work, so I don't need it!"

Lu Zhou said, "I'm still far off from marriage, and Xiao Tong is about to go to University."

Lu Bangguo said sternly, "Don't worry about your sister, I can get her to university."

Lu Zhou knew that his dad would say this. He sighed and said, "Do you want her to be like me?"

He still had more to say.

However, silence ensued.

The financial situation at home was not good back then. Lu Bangguo had to provide for two kids and a sick wife. As a lower-middle-class worker, it was difficult for him.

Lu Zhou was the one to propose paying for his university expenses. At first, Lu Bangguo was strongly against it. However, after coming back to reality, Lu Bangguo accepted.

Lu Zhou knew that this had always bothered his father.

Lu Bangguo always thought that he let his kid down…

Other people's fathers would host university acceptance parties for their kids. However, he allowed his own son paid for his four-year living expenses and tuition.

Lu Zhou did not say anything. He waited for his father to slowly finished smoking the cigarette.

After a while, Lu Bangguo finally sighed and said, "I know that you care about your sister, but the university doesn't cost that much."

When Lu Zhou heard this, a smiled emerged on his face.

He knew that at last, his father had agreed.

"It isn't just Xiao Tong. I care about you guys as well. After all, I'm overseas and I want you and mom to live well," said Lu Zhou with a smile. He then said, "This is settled."

Lu Bangguo said, "What do you mean settled? Who is the head of the family? Did I agree?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Then dad, do you agree?"

Also, didn't you agree last time already?

Lu Zhou remembered that last time his father said that he could make the decisions.

Lu Bangguo thought for a moment before he said "Sure, I agree. Just do it your way."

Lu Zhou: "…"

I don't understand your logic…

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Chapter 222: Another Graduation Year

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

This year's Chinese New Year was no different than before.

Dinner with relatives, fighting with cousins, and…

Being urged by the elders to find a partner.

There was nothing else to talk about as Lu Zhou's studies were spectacular. The elders had to find something to grill him on. As for marriage, it was a bit early since 22 was the legal marriage age.

However, they could grill him on getting a partner.

After all, he could not get married without preparation.

In short, this year was like in previous years and Lu Zhou had a lively Chinese New Year.

However, happy times were always short-lived.

After Chinese New Year, Lu Zhou packed his bags and was ready to leave.

Lu Bangguo took a day off from work and sent Lu Zhou to the train station. He smiled at Lu Zhou and asked, "Do you want me to send you?"

"No need, this isn't my first time traveling," said Lu Zhou. With his backpack on him, he said, "Take care of yourself, I'll visit you guys next year."

Lu nodded and said, "Okay then, take it easy. Also, be careful. I've been watching the news lately and there's been a fight over there. Anyway, just don't provoke others. Study hard. Also, remember to call…"

"Okay!"

In his father's eyes, there was only China and the rest of the world. There was no difference between North America and North Africa.

Lu Zhou was well aware of his father's lack of geography knowledge.

However, Xiao Tong would still complain about it.

Lu Zhou sat on the train moving toward the east. He returned to University of Jin Ling campus.

Since Chinese New Year had already ended, many students had returned to school.

The day before leaving, Lu Zhou post it on his WeChat news feed. Professor Lu Shenjian was already back in China, so Lu Zhou went to visit him.

…

Lu Zhou stood in front of the office door and knocked.

Soon, a voice came from behind the door.

"Stop knocking, come in."

Lu Zhou pushed the door and walked in.

When Professor Lu saw Lu Zhou, he put down his vacuum flask. With a smile, he asked, "Hey, it's been a while since I last saw you. How are you?"

It had been a while. Lu Zhou had not seen Professor Lu since October at the Chinese Mathematics Society conference.

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "Not bad, how about you?"

Professor Lu, "I'm alright. Although I couldn't celebrate Chinese New Year, Brussels was quite rewarding."

Lu Zhou walked to the desk and asked, "Is there any new discoveries in theoretical physics?"

He had been focusing on Goldbach's conjecture and driving recently. Apart from replying to Professor Frank's emails, he had not been paying attention to the theoretical physics community.

"There hasn't been any new discoveries. This meeting was mainly to sort out that work that has been done before," said Professor Lu. He paused for a moment before continuing, "However, there's one thing that might interest you. In the meeting at the University of Brussels, we talked about the 750 GeV problem… The situation doesn't seem good though."

Intrigued, Lu Zhou immediately asked, "Can you tell me the specific situation?"

Professor Lu nodded and said, "It's not much, but the main thing is that the confidence value hasn't reached the standard confirmation yet. It's close to 3-sigma, but it's slightly off. Also, in recent experiments, the characteristic peak even disappeared."

Lu Zhou was stunned, "Disappeared?"

He had not heard Frank talked about this in the emails.

Professor Lu nodded and continued, "Yeah… Although it's possible to explain this with quantum fluctuations, the probability is low. Some people guessed that there was a problem in the detector sensors… But honestly, that probability is low as well. CERN recently completed the upgrade to the Large Hadron Collider, so there should be nothing wrong with the equipment."

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he asked in an uncertain tone, "Is it a dimension problem?"

This guess was something that he and Professor Frank disagreed on.

When Professor Lu heard this proposition, he said, "Dimension?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yeah, but not a dimension in a broad sense, but in a sense of 'pseudo-Euclidean space'. That is, Minkowski's space-time theory…"

While speaking, Lu Zhou wrote down a few equations on a piece of draft paper. He did not dare to write too much.

It was not because of privacy reasons. From the perspective of academic ethics, he could not disclose research to a third party.

The stuff he wrote down were all unconfirmed theories such as the theories that Lu Zhou and Frank disagreed on.

Professor Lu looked at the lines of equations on the page. He thought for a long time then said, "There's this possibility, but it's difficult to prove. Because the collider is part of the reference system, it's hard to take ourselves out of the timeline… You haven't perfected this theory, right?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I only thought of this on the spot, so it hasn't been perfected."

"Thinking of this on the spot is impressive," said Professor Lu as he looked at Lu Zhou and nodded. He then said, "You don't need to pressure yourself so much. Finding the characteristic peak is CERN's responsibility. Theoretical physics is developed through constant trial and error. All of our theories are just speculations… "

"… But, your point of view is interesting. If only you could shave off the rough edges," said Professor Lu as he smiled. He then said, "I originally wanted to test you, to see what you learn this year. It seems that isn't necessary now."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What do you mean isn't necessary…"

Professor Lu smiled and said, "Oh? How about I give you a test then?"

Lu Zhou coughed and replied, "Never mind."

He had already bought his ticket and god knows when this test would be.

Professor Lu smiled and did not say anything else.

He opened his drawer and pulled out two certificates before handing them to Lu Zhou.

"The degree certificate and graduation certificate is here. Just go to the administrative building later and finish the procedures."

Lu Zhou took the two certificates from Professor Lu and said, "Thank you, professor!"

"You're welcome. You earned this through your own hard work. Honestly speaking, I really don't want to let such an excellent student go so soon," said Professor Lu. He smiled and said, "But since you won the Cole Prize, it would be a waste of time for you to stay here. You should go to a higher platform to do scientific research. Congratulations on your graduation!"

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Chapter 223: Embarking On A New Journey!

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

I finally graduated.

Lu Zhou was on the way to the administrative building with his certificates and he was feeling a little depressed.

However, he was not depressed for long.

For him, his graduation ceremony was over once he received the Annual Person Award and the special awards.

He had been mentally preparing himself for this.

Lu Zhou finished the remaining procedures at the administrative building. However, he did not return to his hotel. Instead, he went to the Academic Affairs Office and borrowed a master's gown from there.

A master's gown was not that different from a bachelor's gown. The only difference was that the tassel on the hat was dark blue instead of black.

However, this small change was meaningful.

After Lu Zhou put on the gown, he went to the photography store in front of the school. He then hired a photographer to help him take a few photos around the school.

With these photos, he thought he would not be lonely when he was studying abroad.

After Lu Zhou finished his photo shoot, he picked three of the best photos and sent it to his friends' news feed on Weibo.

The caption was a one-liner.

[Happy Graduation!]

Lu Zhou looked at the line of words on the screen and smiled.

Princeton, here I come!

Lu Zhou sent it before he turned off his phone. He planned on checking it later.

While he was walking back to his hotel, his Weibo's comment section blew up.

[? ? ?]

[Didn't you just graduate last year? Why are you graduating again?]

[Jesus, he graduates faster than I can write a thesis.]

[Sad. I wanted to procrastinate on my phone, then I saw this post… I'll go write my assignment.]

[This guy has only been at university for three years!]

[Not correct, God Lu has only been at uni for two and a half years…]

[This study god is amazing!]

…

Teachers, roommates, classmates, supervisors…

Lu Zhou had already bid them farewell last year. It would be a little awkward if he did it again.

This time, Lu Zhou left quietly. He packed his bags and took a train to Shanghai airport.

Lu Zhou sat in the terminal and turned on his VPN. He opened his computer and logged onto the Brussels International Theoretical Physics Conference website. He then downloaded several summary papers from the conference.

He was about to study them when a notification from Han Mengqi popped up.

[Teacher! Are you leaving? ]

When Lu Zhou saw his student's message, he smiled. He typed a reply.

[Yeah.]

[It's the college entrance exam in a few days, go study!]

Han Mengqi did not reply for a while.

Lu Zhou thought she went to study, but another message came through.

Han Mengqi: [Are you on the plan now?]

Lu Zhou: "…"

[How can I reply to you on the plane?]

Han Mengqi realized that she asked a dumb question. She was in the classroom. She laughed and looked at her teacher. She then replied: [Then teacher, when is your flight?]

Lu Zhou: [In like an hour.]

Han Mengqi: [Ok!]

She did not say anything after that.

After a while, Lu Zhou closed the chat window.

This chick won't come here, right?

There's no way…

She's probably in school at Jinling. There isn't enough time to come to Shanghai.

Lu Zhou's judgment was correct.

Nothing happened as he got on the plane and embarked on a new journey.

…

After a dozen or so hours of flying, the plane landed at Philadelphia Airport.

It was raining when Lu Zhou got on the plane, but it was clear blue skies when he landed.

The east coast sun shined on Lu Zhou's face as he stood outside the airport with his luggage and looked around. He then walked toward a road.

The day before yesterday, he sent Luo Wenxuan a message. They agreed to meet up.

At the coffee shop outside the airport, Lu Zhou saw that familiar car and Luo Wenxuan who was standing next to it.

"Haha, Lu Zhou! You're finally here!"

Luo Wenxuan walked over and gave him a warm hug. He then patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and said, "Not bad, everyone gets fatter over the new year but you looked skinnier?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Maybe because I didn't eat that much? How long have you been waiting here?"

Luo Wenxuan, "Not long, maybe around an hour."

Lu Zhou, "Wow, let me buy you some food."

Luo Wenxuan waved his hand, "No it's fine. It's your first day here in America, I should be the one treating you. There's a nice Sichuan restaurant in Philadelphia. I know the boss. Get in the car first, we can talk about where to eat later."

Luo Wenxuan helped Lu Zhou with the luggage. He then started the car.

While driving, Luo Wenxuan said, "Remember to put your seat belt on. Oh yeah, do you plan on getting a driver's license here? The cars here are very cheap. I can recommend a place to buy one."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I actually do have plans for that."

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something. His phone was still charging in his luggage.

"Oh yeah, my phone is still in my suitcase…"

Luo Wenxuan, "Is there an emergency?"

Lu Zhou shook his head, "No… It's fine, I'll just wait until we are at the restaurant."

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "Yeah, good idea. It's not easy to find parking around here."

The two chatted along the ride. At the same time, on the other side of the Philadelphia International Airport, a silver-white car parked 200 meters away from the coffee shop.

A slender, long-haired woman stood on the sidewalk. She held her phone and whispered in Chinese.

"How come he hasn't responded yet?"

"Is the flight delayed?"

Her stomach rumbled.

She sounded a little resentful.

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Twenty minutes later, Lu Zhou took his phone out of his suitcase.

He unplugged the cable and was about to open his WeChat when he suddenly received a call.

Lu Zhou looked at the caller and was stunned. He quickly picked up.

Before he could speak, a familiar voice came from the phone.

"Where are you now?"

Chen Yushan stood at the airport exit. She was looking at the pedestrians.

"I'm eating… Why?"

Chen Yushan was pissed.

You, you're eating!

I'm here waiting on an empty stomach!

Chen Yushan took a deep breath and asked, "You're already in Philadelphia?"

"Yeah," answered Lu Zhou. He heard from her voice that something was wrong and so, he asked, "Don't tell me, you're here as well…"

Lu Zhou finally knew why Mengqi said "Ok".

Speaking of which, he remembered that she said she would be in Philadelphia at this time of the year. She even said to call her when he arrived in Philadelphia.

However, Lu Zhou was a little confused.

It's been so long, who would remember?

Chen Yushan said, "Send me your location."

She then hung up the phone.

Lu Zhou had a headache.

He felt a little bad making her wait at the airport for so long. He opened WeChat and quickly sent her his location.

She did not respond.

After a minute, a message came through.

[Wait for me, don't eat yet!]

Luo Wenxuan was flipping through the menu when he saw Lu Zhou's dumbfounded expression. He then asked, "What's wrong?"

Lu Zhou put away his phone and said, "Nothing… Let's get an extra pair of chopsticks."

Luo Wenxuan, "Your friend's coming?"

Lu Zhou said, "Yeah, how about I pay for this, and you can treat me later?"

Luo Wenxuan shook his hand and said, "No, it's fine. Just curious, is your friend a guy or a girl?"

"Girl…" answered Lu Zhou. He then asked, "Why?"

Luo Wenxuan sighed and looked up as he said, "Nothing, I lost again."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Lost at what?

…

Maybe the traffic on the road was good as Lu Zhou only waited for ten minutes before he saw a familiar figure walking in.

Chen Yushan walked next to Lu Zhou and sat down. Her face was filled with resentment.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Sorry, I really didn't know you were at Philadelphia, so I didn't call you. Also, how did you know I was on that flight?"

Chen Yushan, "Mengqi told me… Why didn't you tell me you were coming? You didn't even open your phone!"

Lu Zhou sighed in his heart.

As expected, this was all Mengqi's doing.

However, this was his fault. He did not expect Chen Yushan to have such a good memory.

Luo Wenxuan sat there awkwardly until he finally asked, "This is?"

Lu Zhou remembered that these two did not know each other, so he smiled and introduced them.

"This is Chen Yushan, studying an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. This is Luo Wenxuan, studying a PhD at Princeton."

Chen Yushan smiled politely and said, "Hello."

"Hello, hello…" Luo Wenxuan started to think.

Lu Zhou is nutty.

Girls in Switzerland, girls in America…

The food finally came.

Luo Wenxuan graciously asked the two to start eating.

Chen Yushan was hungry, so she quickly started to dig into the food.

The moment she had her first bite, Lu Zhou saw that her cheek turned red instantly.

"So spicy!"

She was caught off guard and nearly choked.

She started to tear up!

Chen Yushan coughed and wiped her mouth. She then put down the chopsticks and started to look for water.

Lu Zhou knew that she could not handle spice, but he did not know it was this bad.

In this regard, Mengqi was a lot better.

"Are you okay?"

Chen Yushan took a big swig of water and patted her chest. Her eyes were still watering when she answered, "I'm fine… Why is this so spicy?"

Most of the Chinese food in America was westernized. They were mostly spicy and sweet, and even Sichuan restaurants did not have that authentic spice.

She had been at Philadelphia for a month, and this was the first time she had eaten something this spicy.

Luo Wenxuan smiled awkwardly as he said, "The restaurant is owned by Chinese people. Since I know the boss, I asked him to cook it more authentically… Sorry, Lu Zhou didn't tell me! How about I ask the boss to cook something else for you?"

Lu Zhou looked at him speechlessly.

Why is it my fault?

"No, it's fine, I can just drink water."

Chen Yushan took the kettle and filled her cup with water.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a moment before he said, "That cup is actually mine."

Although he did not know which side he drank from earlier, he knew for sure that it was his cup.

The moment he said this, she stopped pouring the kettle.

The previous situation was urgent, so she did not think much about this.

However, after being reminded by Lu Zhou, Chen Yushan obviously realized this.

Her face turned red again.

Finally, she pretended as if nothing had happened. She stood up and went to get a new cup.

"Oh, I'll get you a new one…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Okay then…

At least make it sound like you're sorry.

On the other hand, Luo Wenxuan ate quietly.

He was third-wheeling.

He wanted to curse at Lu Zhou.

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Chapter 225: Haunted?

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Lu Zhou had not seen these people for a long time, so they chatted for a long time.

They sat at the restaurant for two hours.

After paying the bill, the three people walked outside.

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yushan and said, "I'm really sorry about today… After I get my license, I'll treat you to good food."

Chen Yushan immediately replied, "Ok, it's a done deal. I'll remember!"

It seemed that she already forgave Lu Zhou for making her wait.

Lu Zhou patted his chest and said, "No worries, I won't forget!"

The two split up. Chen Yushan went back to the University of Pennsylvania while Lu Zhou got on Luo Wenxuan's car and went to Princeton.

On the car, Lu Zhou fastened his seat belt and asked, "How's the situation over there?"

Luo Wenxuan said while driving, "What aspect?"

Lu Zhou said, "Like, living?"

Luo Wenxuan said, "Living? There are pros and cons. But you shouldn't worry too much. Mathematics and physics are Princeton's top subjects. I can probably arrange a single bedroom for you. But honestly… I think sharing with others are more interesting."

Lu Zhou said, "Is it not troublesome?"

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "It's fine. It's interesting to make friends with people from different countries. The room will be lively, and the four people will share a living room. There are even parties on the weekends. I met my ex-girlfriend at a party."

Lively?

No, thanks.

Lu Zhou laughed.

If it was up to him, he would prefer a quiet place.

While driving, Luo Wenxuan talked about the campus lifestyle at Princeton. Somehow, the topic drifted onto his ex.

Lu Zhou listened quietly.

He was about to fall asleep when Luo Wenxuan finally parked the car.

"We're here."

Lu Zhou looked outside and saw a familiar building.

We're already here?

Luo Wenxuan got off the car and helped Lu Zhou with his luggage. He then said, "I'll help you run your school errands. I'm guessing last time you didn't have a chance to really explore Princeton, so you might get lost."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Thanks."

Indeed, last time he was at Princeton, he spent most of the time in the hotel solving the twin prime conjecture. Once he solved it, it was already the last day of the conference and he had to catch a flight back home.

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "No need to thank me, we're all friends here. We're supposed to help each other."

He then took Lu Zhou to the administrative building.

…

As one of the oldest universities in America, Princeton had an English influence on its architecture. The buildings were Oxford-styled and old-fashioned.

Like the two bronze tigers in front of Nassau Hall that stood tall in this ever-changing world.

Most of the people that graduated here would go on to work at an investment bank on Wall Street.

Luo Wenxuan took Lu Zhou to Nassau Hall but he did not accompany Lu Zhou inside. Instead, he waited outside with Lu Zhou's luggage.

Lu Zhou walked into the historic building and quickly found the admission office.

Inside the office was a beautiful woman in her thirties. She had a tan and a ponytail. From her clothes, she looked like an assistant.

Maybe someone told her that a Chinese student would report here because she looked at Lu Zhou and swiftly asked, "Did you bring the documents?"

Lu Zhou took out the documents and said, "They're all here."

The woman looked at the documents. She then opened a drawer.

"Your student status is already registered. This is your student ID card and dorm room key. The room number is on the key. Your dorm is here…"

The woman circled on the map and handed it to Lu Zhou. She smiled and said, "I hope you have a good time studying here."

That's it?

Lu Zhou blinked and looked at her.

She asked, "Is there anything else?"

Lu Zhou looked at his student ID and key before asking, "What about my supervisor?"

"This is up to you," said the woman. She looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Most people have already chosen a supervisor before they enrolled, but your situation is a bit special. My suggestion is to listen to a few lectures and find a supervisor that fits your style… Of course, hopefully, the professor has time. It's best to get this done as soon a possible."

So you're saying I have to interview myself?

Lu Zhou thought that the school had already arranged a supervisor for him.

Still, this was better.

If his supervisor was not a good fit, it would be very troublesome.

Lu Zhou walked out of the building and saw Luo Wenxuan.

"Is the procedure done?"

"I guess."

"Who's your supervisor?"

"I haven't thought about it yet…"

"Haven't thought about it yet?" asked Luo Wenxuan. He looked at him strangely as he said, "I thought you already decided."

Lu Zhou said, "I still haven't… Can you recommend someone to me?"

Luo Wenxuan said, "If you're going into mathematical physics, I can recommend my boss, Edward Witten. If you want to focus on number theory or algebra, Deligne is a good choice. If you were here a couple of years ago, you could even choose Fermat's last theorem's prover, Andrew Wiles. But unfortunately, he left in 2011. There's also Gerd Faltings, prover of Modell's conjecture, also a big name in number theory…"

It seemed that other than girls, Luo Wenxuan was quite knowledgeable.

After all, he was studying under Edward Witten.

Lu Zhou took note of his suggestions and nodded as he said, "I'll think about it."

Luo Wenxuan smiled as he asked, "Do you want me to sent you to your dorm?"

Lu Zhou said, "No need, I can just find it on the map."

"Ok, then just call me if you need me."

"Yeah, for sure!"

After separating from Luo Wenxuan, Lu Zhou followed the map and walked toward his dorm.

His dorm was located in a quiet corner of the Princeton campus and it was not far.

Lu Zhou's sense of direction was excellent and he found the place very easily.

He had already seen the photos of the dorm online, so he was mentally prepared. However, when he was standing in front of the dorm building, he was still amazed by it.

It's really…

Too retro!

This colonial-style English building was more than 90 years old. Although it had been renovated several times, its appearance had not changed much.

The red brick walls and dark green vines made it look like an old mansion.

Is this building haunted?

Lu Zhou walked in.

While he was dragging his suitcase upstairs, he saw a person standing on the stairs.

Lu Zhou could not see her face clearly, but it was obviously a lady.

The lady smiled at him.

"You're finally here."

Lu Zhou recognized the voice and was shocked.

The f*ck?

Is this place haunted?

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As a clear-minded atheist, Lu Zhou did not believe in ghosts.

Once his eyes adjusted to the dark corridor, he finally recognized the person.

"Molina?"

When the French lady heard Lu Zhou called out her name, she smiled and said, "I knew you would come here… Why didn't you call me? I could've picked you up."

This problem again…

Lu Zhou coughed and changed the subject, "I got my friend to do it… Where is Room 211?"

"Up the corridor, to the left," said Molina as she pointed with her finger. She then said casually, "Oh yeah, have you chosen a supervisor yet?"

Lu Zhou, "What?"

"I'm saying that if you haven't chosen one yet, I recommend my supervisor Sophie Morel," said Molina. She looked at Lu Zhou seriously as she continued, "My previous invitation is still valid, our project needs you."

Sophie Morel?

Lu Zhou looked at her with surprise.

Molina raised her eyebrows and asked with a smile, "Are you surprised?"

"Yeah…" Lu Zhou nodded.

Sophie was one of the popular candidates for the Fields Medal, a French mathematician.

However what surprised him was not the name Sophie, but it was Princeton's ability to attract talent.

No wonder Princeton was named the center of mathematics for America…

Lu Zhou suddenly understood why Princeton wanted to steal him from the University of Jin Ling.

It was all for Princeton to win the Fields Medal…

With her arms crossed, Molina smirked and said: "…"

"Thanks for your invitation, but I refuse."

Lu Zhou walked pass Molina and dragged his suitcase to the end of the corridor.

What a joke.

There's a 99% chance I can win the medal, why would I choose a supervisor with an 80% chance of winning it? Is she crazy?

…

Lu Zhou originally planned on listening to a few lectures and find a suitable supervisor. It turned out that he underestimated his own value in regards to how "attractive" he was to the professors at Princeton.

He was invited to an academic exchange and coffee party. While he was eating at the exchange, a young female assistant started to talk to him. Soon, she was asking Lu Zhou about his supervisor.

Luo Wenxuan was even worse. He recommended Lu Zhou numerous professors at the start. However, he would not stop bragging about Edward Witten. A Mexican dude nearby said something like, "That trash?", which resulted in Luo Wenxuan nearly starting a fight.

Lu Zhou knew that he had to do.

To prevent more fighting, he had to make his own decision as soon as possible.

Lu Zhou went to Nassau Hall and got a list of supervisors. He studied the list for an hour before he finally chose Professor Deligne as his first candidate.

The reason was simple.

Algebraic geometry was an important tool for studying number theory and it was also one of Lu Zhou's shortcomings. Lu Zhou wanted to study Grothendieck's original manuscripts, but after he got the files from Academician Xiang Huanan, he found out that he could not understand French at all.

Professor Deligne was a stellar student of Grothendieck. There were only two people in history that had won the Fields Prize, Wolf Prize, and Crawford Award. One of them was Qiu Chengtong and the other was Deligne.

Lu Zhou could learn a lot from Professor Deligne.

After the interview, Lu Zhou thought that this serious professor would test him rigorously. He had not expected Professor Deligne to look at his research material and passed the interview on the spot.

Professor Deligne stood up from his desk and took a gray trench coat from the hanger.

"Welcome to Princeton's big family. I'll help you sort out the relevant paperwork."

"My research group mainly focuses on "standard conjectures". Of course, I have no strict requirements for you. I won't constrain your development. From my observation, you're a scholar who is suited for independent research. If you want to join my research project, I'll welcome you with arms open. If you don't want to, you can complete a task I give you and finish your own thesis at the same time. You can get your degree either way."

Deligne paused. He looked at Lu Zhou and continued, "Of course, my expectations for you are higher than other people. Your graduation thesis must be Annual Mathematics level. If all goes well, you could get your PhD next year. If you're too lax and waste your talent, you may never get your PhD."

Lu Zhou, "I understand… I'll think about your suggestions."

Deligne nodded and said, "Okay… No worries, I understand. Try to get back to me within three days."

Lu Zhou: "…"

…

The Riemann's conjecture was different from the twin prime conjecture or Polignac's conjecture. The conjecture could be summarized in one line: "all non-trivial zeros of the Riemannζ function are located on the complex plane Re ( s) = 1/2".

However, solving it was a massive project. It was like building a skyscraper.

Just like the Poincaré conjecture, Smer introduced the high-dimensional concept in the 1960s. Without Qiu Chengtong's theory of "developing geometric structures with nonlinear differential equations", in which he developed in the proof of the Karaby conjecture, there would be no Hamilton's breakthrough in the "Ricci Stream", and the 93-year paper on the singularity theory. There would be no final proof of Perelman.

This was the characteristics of Millennium Prize Problems. Even a genius, like Perelman, could not skip over previous work and directly established the proof of Poincaré conjecture.

Even if Gauss came back alive and had an extra 80 years, he would not be able to solve it.

Riemann's conjecture was the same as it was even more difficult than Poincaré conjecture.

It was like a mountain, and all of the mathematicians were at the bottom of the mountain. They had no idea how tall the mountain was.

The only thing they knew was that this mountain was nearly impossible to solve. If someone could solve Riemann's conjecture, even five Fields Medals would not be enough…

If someone skipped all of the unsolved problems and used a new mathematical method to solve Riemann's conjecture, the situation would likely be the same as the professor from Nigeria, who was not even a mathematician.

This was akin to people that wanted to use rocks and lightning to create a computer. It was completely out of reality. The Clay Institute would collect hundreds of theses a year and all of them were worthless.

Of course, the mathematicians were not completely at lost. Possible ideas were the "40% zero points" of Kangrui's critical line theorem, or the three mathematicians who recently proposed to introduce the Riemann's conjecture into a special case of quantum mechanical systems.

There was also algebraic geometry methods.

For example, the Wei's conjecture that was proved by Deligne (one of the most brilliant achievements in the pure number field in the 1970s), was often referred to as the "cottage version" Riemann's conjecture.

As for the "standard conjecture" that Professor Deligne said to Lu Zhou, it was the general form of Wei's conjecture. It was proposed by Grothendieck, the "Pope" of modern algebraic geometry.

If Professor Deligne wanted to fulfill his teacher's long-cherished wish of proving Riemann's conjecture, he would have to face the standard conjecture.

When Lu Zhou returned to his dorm and laid in his bed, he started to seriously think about Professor Deligne's offer.

Right now, he had two choices.

One was to join Professor Deligne's research project. Although the standard conjecture could increase his mathematics experience, it would delay the progress of his system mission. Especially since he did not know how much work Professor Deligne had done, or had yet to be done.

The other option was to go solo. He could concentrate all of his energy on Goldbach's conjecture, and use it as his PhD graduation thesis.

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Chapter 227: Another Way

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The food club was one of the many cultures in Princeton. There were two "cafeterias" on both sides of Prospect Avenue.

Of course, the differences between a club and cafeteria was still very big. Especially those clubs who were run by students as their groups were often non-accepting.

For example, aristocratic children from Boston would not allow rednecks from Texas to join their clubs unless the person had high achievements in a certain field.

As such, one could tell a person's social class from where they were eating.

The most famous clubs were the Ivy Club and Tiger Shop. Before the court order in 1991, they would not recruit females. They only recruited the "elite".

Lu Zhou did not think too much of it. He heard that Ivy Club had good food. He only had to pay $5,000 USD per year for as much food as he wanted. There was also an unlimited supply of coffee, so he went to sign up.

After that, he was informed on some dining etiquette rules and was soon accepted into the club.

He thought that he would have to go through an interview like everyone else and fight for his spot.

He actually wanted to practice his interviewing skills.

However, it seemed that society was quite welcoming to those with abilities.

Right now, sat opposite him was one of the senior members of the Ivy Club: David Lawrence. A PhD student in history.

Lawrence was a very common surname in the US. If one were to meet a Caucasian family with the surname Lawrence from Boston, one would not be able to help but wonder if they had ties to the Kennedy.

The reason why Lu Zhou was accepted into this club was due to David Lawrence's help.

Since Lu Zhou did not care about cultural background or nationalities, he naturally became David's good friend.

He was Lu Zhou's first friend since arriving at Princeton.

It had been two days since his meeting with Professor Deligne. He still had not made a decision yet.

After listening to a lecture, Lu Zhou went to the Ivy Club for dinner.

David was also there, so the two sat together with their food.

They started to talk about their plans after graduation. David smiled and asked Lu Zhou, "Are you interested in investment banking? If you are, I can recommend a few good places for you."

Lu Zhou, "I don't really have an interest in employment since I prefer to do research."

David smiled and said, "Oh really? Don't you think using mathematics to finesse the financial markets is also very exciting? Maybe you could even earn a Nobel Prize."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I haven't studied financial mathematics before. If you're so interested in finance, why don't you do a finance degree instead of history?"

David tapped the wine glass and said, "I actually didn't want to come here. My first choice was to study an MBA at Wharton. But my dad stubbornly sent me here because he's a Princeton alumnus… At first, I also studied mathematics like you, but that stuff was way too hard for me. Therefore, I changed to history."

Lu Zhou was cutting his steak when he sensed a girl staring at him. He sighed.

This guy's a good friend, he's just a bit too handsome.

Even Lu Zhou had to admit that David was beating him in the looks department.

"It seems that every family has their difficulties… But isn't there an MBA at Princeton?"

"Nope," answered David. He smiled and shook his head, "Princeton is the only Ivy League school that doesn't have a business school."

However, even though there was no business school at Princeton, there were many successful entrepreneurs.

For example, the founder of Amazon was a Princeton graduate.

The reason why top companies liked to recruit from Princeton, was mostly because of its academic resources and background. It was also partly due to Princeton's rich alumni association.

While the two were chatting, a lady wearing a black dress walked over.

David noticed that she was not walking toward him, so he smiled and said, "It seems that you have a date? I won't be in the way."

"No, it's fine. You can sit here."

Lu Zhou tried to explain himself.

However, David did not listen.

"Haha, I won't third wheel you two. I'm done eating anyway, see ya."

David got up and left with his tray.

"…"

Lu Zhou looked Molina and sighed before he said, "Miss Molina, what now?"

Molina did not waste time. She stared at Lu Zhou and asked, "Fine, I know you chose Professor Deligne… But are you not interested in our research project at all?"

Lu Zhou sighed.

He obviously knew what her research project was about.

She invited him last time.

He had not expected that her supervisor was as crazy as her.

Lu Zhou, "Your research project is completely unrealistic, it's like building a house on Mars… Let me guess, to prove Riemann's conjecture, you would have to build a new theoretical framework and use that to solve it."

Molina said with excitement, "We are doing that right now!"

Lu Zhou, "Did you succeed?"

Molina shook her head and hesitated before she said, "Soon!"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "So, not yet?"

Lu Zhou knew why her supervisor, Sophie Morel, was so impatient.

The 2018 International Mathematician Conference was in two years. There were only four Fields Medal spots, and two were already confirmed.

One was Peter Schultz, the one that created the most promising mathematical frameworks in today's algebraic geometry: "PS theory".

While other people were "solving problems", Schultz, on the other hand, built a tool. A tool created when solving problems was more important than solving the problem itself. Schultz had already won the Philippine Wind Vane EMS Award (European Mathematical Society Award), and there was no doubt that the Fields Medal was his.

The other was the prover of the Polignac's conjecture, Lu Zhou. Although Lu Zhou did not create a mathematical framework like the "PS theory", he solved many important problems.

The Polignac's conjecture was worthy of a Fields Medal.

Qualifications were not involved in the Fields Medal selection process and only the results mattered. This was why Grigori Perelman was able to win the Fields Medal Award. However, he did not accept it as he did not want fame or money.

Grigori Perelman had refused numerous awards including those from the European Mathematical Society which awarded him the Young Mathematician Award.

There were only two spots left for the Fields Medal. A possible candidate was Fernando Marques, a Brazilian guy. The 2018 mathematics conference was going to be held in Brazil, which made it even more interesting.

Other candidates were people like Geordie Williamson, who had also received the EMS Award, or Maryna Viazovska, the Ukrainian mathematics goddess.

If Sophie Molina could contribute to Riemann's conjecture, such as updating Kangrui's "critical line" from 40% to 50%, her chances of winning would greatly increase.

However, Lu Zhou did not understand why Molina was also impatient.

She was a long way from a Fields Medal…

Molina rubbed her hair and stared at Lu Zhou. She said in a certain tone, "My supervisor and I can spend the rest of our lives this problem since I don't plan on producing results soon anyway."

Are you that obsessed?

Lu Zhou put down the knife and wiped his hands with the napkin. He then said, "Then… You go ahead. Don't drag me along. I have other stuff to do."

Molina raised her eyebrows, "Professor Deligne's research project?"

Lu Zhou laughed.

Speaking of which, this time Molina actually gave him a little inspiration.

He had been entangled between the two choices that Professor Deligne threw at him. At the same time, Goldbach's conjecture also gave him two tempting choices. The choice of methods.

Should I use the circle method or sieve method?

Both methods seemed to have reached their last steps, but only a little off.

If this is the case…

Lu Zhou's eyes suddenly lit up.

He spoke.

"Goldbach's conjecture."

This time, he used a certain tone.

Molina was stunned and she nearly laughed out loud.

"Sorry… I'm not doubting your ability, but I just couldn't hold it in. It seems that I'm right, you are crazy."

Molina asked, "Do you plan on using the circle method or sieve method?"

Lu Zhou heard this question and smirked.

"Neither."

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