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

27. 847

Read Scholar's Advanced Technological System - Chapter 847 - Xiao Ai Upgrade! online free - Novelfull

[(́『『)]

The drone floated up and down next to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou guessed that this was the artificial retard's way of being pouty.

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Ai's drone. He coughed and spoke.

"Shut up, let me figure out how this thing works first."

This wasn't just a children's toy. This was the only commercial quantum computer in the world. This was different from the laboratory quantum guinea pigs.

If he somehow broke this computer, it would be a huge loss to humanity!

Xiao Ai: [Ah, but Master… I'm scared you are going to destroy it! :(]

"Of course not!"

Lu Zhou suddenly realized the system didn't even give him a manual, so he awkwardly said, "… Do you know how to use this thing?"

Xiao Ai: [Nope! But I'll learn!]

Xiao Ai: [I can also help you install an operating system!]

Really?

Since Xiao Ai was so confident, Lu Zhou thought about it seriously for a while and made a decision.

"Then I'll have to thank you in advance."

Information science wasn't his strong suit.

Even though his information science level was rising, his subject level didn't equate to raw knowledge. It only allowed him to absorb knowledge at a faster rate. Since he didn't spend a lot of time programming, his coding abilities had stagnated over the past couple of years.

He could write some small programs, but when it came to the cutting-edge computer science field of quantum computing…

He didn't even know where to begin.

Xiao Ai: [I'll take care of it! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و]

The moment the line appeared on the screen, the VGA logistics truck and the robotic arm attached to the wall began moving.

The computer was first transported next to the wall. The robotic arm on the wall then quickly connected the cables of the computers to their respective outlets.

Lu Zhou looked at this and almost had a heart attack. He didn't want his "new toy" to be ruined.

Fortunately, nothing happened.

Xiao Ai was obviously more knowledgeable than him. It even built a water-cooled heat sink case for the computer.

Xiao Ai: [Master, Master, installation is complete! Time to witness a miracle!]

Lu Zhou: "Cut the crap, turn on the computer."

The signal light on the case flashed, and the monitor signal light was lit.

However, even though the monitor signal light was lit, there was no picture.

Lu Zhou stared at the dark screen. If it weren't for the text box on the upper left corner of the screen, he wouldn't have realized the computer was on.

After a while, Lu Zhou looked at the drone and said, "That's it?"

Xiao Ai: [Yeah, it's sorted!]

Lu Zhou: "There's no desktop?"

Xiao Ai: [This is a command-line operating system… Of course, Xiao Ai can design a graphical operating system for Master… Wait a second, Xiao Ai feels weird…Σ ( ) ]

When the text on the drone screen disappeared, Lu Zhou quickly asked, "Are you okay?

"Xiao Ai!"

The quantum computer suddenly began to emit a bright blue light.

Lu Zhou looked at the computer and realized the light wasn't coming from the computer, it was coming from himself…

Or rather, the system.

Half a second later, a translucent dialog box appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations, user, "Artificial intelligence" technology branch upgraded.

[Current level: level 3]

"Artificial intelligence" technology branch!

It leveled up by itself!

Lu Zhou was ecstatic.

When he returned from Princeton, he remembered giving Xiao Ai a new home, but that wasn't enough for an upgrade.

I can't believe level 3 requires a quantum computer!

That's such a harsh upgrade condition!

Lu Zhou reached out and clicked on the translucent dialog box. The level 4 requirement was displayed in front of him.

[Upgrade requirements: Collect sufficient human social data.]

It seemed like level 4 wasn't about increasing computing power. This made Lu Zhou feel relieved.

This was already a quantum computer from a higher-level civilization, there was no way for him to find a better "home" for Xiao Ai.

What does "collect human social data" even mean? That's so abstract.

What if I just register a few social media accounts and record my friends' activities, is that enough?

Lu Zhou stared at the empty progress bar and went into deep thought.

Xiao Ai, who was silent this whole time, finally came back to life. The drone swayed up and down and flew next to Lu Zhou.

Xiao Ai: [Master, I'm fine now. (‿)]

The translucent dialog box disappeared. Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Ai's drone and asked, "How does it feel after the upgrade? Anything different?"

Xiao Ai: [I feel smarter! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و]

Lu Zhou: "…"

I don't know why…

But I feel like…

Letting Xiao Ai use this computer is a waste?

…

Because Lu Zhou couldn't reverse engineer the X-1 computer, he lost most of his interest in the novel quantum computer. After giving Xiao Ai its new home, Lu Zhou exited the laboratory and went to his office on the top floor of the building.

Lu Zhou sat in front of his desk and planned on doing some paperwork. He pulled out some documents from his file cabinet.

He was about to flip through the documents when he heard a knock at his door.

Lu Zhou closed the document and left it aside.

"Come in."

Yang Xu, the director of the Institute of Computational Materials, walked in with an excited look on his face.

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then smiled and asked, "What's so exciting?"

"Amazing news!" Yang Xu quickly walked up to Lu Zhou's desk and smiled. He placed a report on Lu Zhou's desk and asked, "Remember the carbon-based chip project we initiated two years ago?"

Lu Zhou immediately sat up from his chair.

"Results came out?"

"Not just results…" Yang Xu looked at Lu Zhou and took a deep breath. He then exclaimed, "We figured it out!"

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The carbon-based chip project had been completed!

This was the best news Lu Zhou had heard over the past few days.

Without hesitating, he immediately told Yang Xu to bring him to the Institute of Computational Materials, where the carbon-based chip team was located.

When the two arrived at the laboratory, the laboratory was dead silent.

A group of researchers surrounded a piece of large experimental equipment, and one of the researchers seemed to be carefully adjusting something.

Lu Zhou and Yang Xu didn't interrupt them. They quietly waited at the doorstep.

Soon after, the crowd gasped.

Lu Zhou looked at the excited expressions on the researchers' faces, and he immediately knew what was going on.

Yang Xu started to get impatient, and he looked over at Lu Zhou and said, "Let's go over there."

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Yeah."

The two walked through the laboratory and approached the main experimental equipment. The group of researchers finally noticed Lu Zhou and Yang Xu.

A nerdy looking middle-aged man looked at the two with a surprised look on his face.

"Director Yang? Dean Lu?"

"This is the person in charge of the project," Yang Xu said, "Professor Wu Tianqun."

"Nice to meet you, Professor Wu."

"Hello hello." Professor Wu shook Lu Zhou's hand and enthusiastically said, "Academician Lu, what brings you here?"

"I heard there are some new experiment results, so Yang Xu brought me here." Lu Zhou looked at the equipment and smiled as he said, "Is it finished?"

Professor Wu stood up straight and replied, "This is the second experiment, the first experiment was successfully conducted yesterday!"

Lu Zhou immediately asked, "Can you demonstrate it to me?"

Professor Wu immediately made an inviting gesture.

"Come with me!"

Computer chip production was an extremely complicated process. Layering silicon wafers with photomasks, stacking them like Legos… All these processes required a high level of precision.

This sounded simple, but these "Legos" were measured in nanometers. Not to mention the complex IC designs and photolithography processes. Producing a chip that met market expectations was one of the standards for measuring a country's electronics technology output.

This was a huge technical feat.

In CMOS production, the feature size was typically represented as the width of the "logic gate", which was also the channel length of the MOS device. Generally speaking, the smaller the channel length, the better the chip performance and the lower the power consumption.

However, this size couldn't be reduced forever.

First of all, silicon atoms had its own width, not to mention the quantum tunneling effects would become larger at smaller scales. This combined with various other factors severely limited silicon-based chip advancements.

However, humans' pursuit of new technology was endless.

Since silicon-based chips couldn't be further improved, other materials began coming into play.

According to the latest research, the use of carbon nanotubes and molybdenum disulfide and other materials had opened a new way for computer chip performance to improve. This allowed Moore's law to live on.

But things often didn't go according to plan.

Even though these two types of materials had the potential to replace silicon-based chips, they had their own respective shortcomings. Research institutes around the world were unable to break through some of the critical bottlenecks.

Which was, to use the groundbreaking materials to create transistors!

Back when Lu Zhou was researching graphene superconducting materials, he discovered that two sheets of single-layered graphene overlapped at a special angle displayed Mott insulator characteristics.

Not only did this major discovery lead to the breakthrough of carbon-based superconducting materials, but it also laid the foundation for the success of the Pangu fusion reactor.

Not just that, but Lu Zhou was also aware that this feature could be applied to the semiconductor world.

Of course, he wasn't a semiconductor expert. This was just his academic intuition.

Back then, he planned on partnering with Baosheng Group and investing in the project together. Unfortunately, General Manager Sun wasn't particularly optimistic about the project, so they did not participate.

However, Lu Zhou didn't care. He had plenty of money and human resources. After returning to China, he assembled a research and development team, pulling talents from the Institute of Computational Materials.

It had been nearly three years since the project was established, and they were finally able to see their project come to life.

Lu Zhou stood next to the experimental equipment and looked at the carbon-based chip transistor through a microscope. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Beautiful…"

The raw material was graphite, which was peeled into graphene layers. The transistor was like a finely crafted diamond, shining through the microscope.

Yang Xu couldn't wait any longer, and he quickly stepped up to the microscope and spoke.

"Let me see."

Lu Zhou smiled and stepped aside, giving the microscope to Yang Xu.

After looking into the microscope for a couple of seconds, Yang Xu spoke emotionally.

"This is better than diamonds… This is worth more than every single diamond in the world combined."

Lu Zhou laughed.

"That's a bit exaggerated… But I agree, it is better than diamonds."

They could trade the carbon-based transistor for an entire truckload of diamonds.

After all…

This small carbon-based transistor was the future…

Lu Zhou looked at the researchers standing behind him. He cleared his throat and said, "This is a huge breakthrough in carbon-based chip technology! Even though the transistor size is still a magnitude larger than the current silicon transistors on the market, carbon-based chips have almost unlimited potential!"

Lu Zhou couldn't even describe the potential of carbon-based chips.

The only thing he was sure, was that this would increase chip process technology by an entire order of magnitude!

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that this alone could make Professor Wu an academician!

"Good job everyone!"

Lu Zhou looked at the group of excited researchers and Professor Wu Tianqun. He paused for a moment and added solemnly, "Today, we made history!"

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There was no point in giving an emotional speech.

Even though these were academic scientific researchers, they still needed to eat.

They had given everything to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and Star Sky Technology.

Lu Zhou had to give them something back.

Lu Zhou looked at the excited researchers and gave them all a week-long paid vacation. He also announced that everyone would receive at least a 100,000 yuan bonus, and a total of 20 million yuan in bonuses would be given out to outstanding researchers.

The researchers were already happy with the vacation…

When they heard about the bonuses, the entire laboratory erupted with enthusiasm…

…

When Yang Xu walked out of the laboratory, the cheers from the researchers echoed in his mind.

After the researchers heard about the 20 million yuan in bonuses, they began cheering at the top of their lungs. Fortunately, the precision equipment was in another laboratory. Otherwise, they would suffer millions of dollars worth of damage.

Lu Zhou was walking next to him, and he hesitated for a second before asking Lu Zhou, "Is 20 million too much?"

Other than large national projects or projects funded by large companies, 20 million yuan in research funding was extremely high for normal researchers.

Giving out 20 million yuan in bonuses, even if it was divided between ten people, was two million yuan per person.

Not to mention, there were only a couple of outstanding researchers.

Even Yang Xu, who worked at MIT, hadn't seen bonuses like this before.

Lu Zhou: "Well, 20 million is just a fraction of the value they created."

Yang Xu: "Theoretically, that is true, but I'm worried that other researchers from other projects might get jealous. They might want more compensation."

Lu Zhou smiled and replied nonchalantly, "If they're jealous, then they should work harder. Jinling Institute for Advanced Study provides them with a world-class research environment. This isn't a retirement home, this is a place of research.

"As for the bonuses being too high… Is that even a problem? If they produce even better results in the future, I'll buy them houses!

"I want the entire academic community to know that, if they work hard for me, they'll be compensated fairly. As long as they produce valuable results, they'll receive just as much value in return."

Lu Zhou always believed that the people who expanded civilization's knowledge were the ones who were the most deserving of wealth.

This was why he splurged on things like a big house and nice sports car.

Even though people took photos of his house and posted it on the Internet, claiming he was hoarding resources, he never cared.

It seemed like every child wanted to be a scientist, but when they grew up, they wanted to be in the entertainment industry.

Lu Zhou felt like the public should value scientists over entertainers.

Even though Yang Xu was a little shocked by Lu Zhou's decisions, as the director of the Institute of Computational Materials and a member of the board of directors of the Institute for Advanced Study, he had to place the institute's interests first.

"Then what about theoretical research fields?

"It's hard for theoretical research to produce valuable results. However, the Institute of Computational Materials wouldn't be where it is now without theoretical research.

"Do you know why the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Institute of Computational Materials Science was never established? Not because they are lacking money, but because they're too good at materials science! The nutty materials scientists all go to Silicon Valley!"

After hearing Yang Xu's words, Lu Zhou went silent for a while.

"You're right."

He contemplated it for a few seconds.

"Theoretical research should also be encouraged.

"If the result is significant enough, they should also be rewarded."

Yang Xu: "…"

Yang Xu was speechless…

…

Actually, Lu Zhou had always planned on setting up a special bonus fund specifically for theoretical research at the Institute for Advanced Study. This was for fields such as physics, mathematics, theoretical chemistry, and biology.

He had to find a way to spend his money somehow.

He could try to copy what Nobel did?

But it was too early to think about that kind of stuff.

He would have to wait until he was at least on the hospital bed.

Lu Zhou returned to his office and pulled out some paper from his drawer.

The carbon-based transistor breakthrough was a high priority, and he had to inform the relevant departments first.

Of course, what prompted Lu Zhou to write this letter wasn't just because of the carbon-based transistor breakthrough.

It was also because the value of carbon-based transistors was far more than just increasing the theoretical limit of chip manufacturing technology. It was also because the other properties of graphene, such as it being a topological insulator, was going to be integrated into the semiconductor industry.

According to theoretical calculations, energy Majorana fermions would be formed in the vortex core region between the three-dimensional topological insulator and the superconductor, and this might enable topological quantum computing.

What did this mean?

This meant that not only would carbon-based chips change the semiconductor industry, but it also brought the possibility of constructing topological qubits using Majonara fermions and Majorana zero modes!

In layman's terms, this would open a new door to quantum computing!

Lu Zhou, a scholar who had won the Nobel Prize in the field of materials, instantly recognized the potential value behind carbon-based transistors.

The transistor length reduction was just the icing on the cake. The realization of topological quantum computing would entirely revolutionize the computing industry and modern civilization!

Lu Zhou finished writing the two-thousand-word letter. He folded the letter into an envelope and placed it on the corner of his desk. He planned on giving it to Wang Peng and telling him to send it to Beijing.

If controllable fusion technology was the first key to the future, then quantum computing was the second key.

Lu Zhou felt very lucky.

Because he was the one who had this key.

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Star Sky Technology building.

Top floor office.

As usual, Chen Yushan was working. She meticulously reviewed the documents sent from various departments of the company.

Even though her life was a little fast-paced, for her, this was enjoyable.

Especially when she saw the impact of Star Sky Technology on the world, she felt like her life was meaningful and fulfilling.

Speaking of which, if it weren't for Lu Zhou offering her a job, she would have utilized her Wharton degree and her father's connections to work somewhere in Beijing.

Even though working for the government was also a fantastic job…

But she always felt like her MBA would have been a waste.

She stretched her back and was about to stand up. Suddenly, the phone sitting on the corner of her desk began to ring.

She picked up the phone and spoke.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

Chen Yushan instantly recognized the voice, and she smirked and jokingly asked, "Aren't you on a retreat researching the Riemann hypothesis? How come you're suddenly calling me?"

Lu Zhou: "Yeah, I was on a retreat, but that is over… Speaking of which, remember the carbon-based chip project I told you about a while ago?"

Chen Yushan couldn't help but smile.

"I remember, did a result come out?"

Honestly speaking, she wasn't very optimistic about the carbon-based chip project. Mainly because this concept was overhyped. Ever since 2018, Microsoft had claimed to have made significant research progress in this direction, but until this day, no actual results were seen.

But Lu Zhou was too stubborn.

If he wanted to burn money on this research project, no one could stop him.

Just like how he wanted to burn money on aerospace.

However, the reply from the other end of the office made Chen Yushan freeze.

"Yeah, they figured it out last night."

Figured it out…

The phone line went silent.

Lu Zhou patiently waited for a while.

He began to wonder if the phone was still connected. Suddenly, he heard something falling to the ground.

Chen Yushan quickly picked up the phone and checked if she cracked her phone screen. She spoke in disbelief.

"Figured it out? What do you mean? Carbon-based chips? Are you sure?"

Lu Zhou coughed. "Yep, I'm sure… I'm not kidding."

Chen Yushan sneezed.

She asked in a complex tone, "Do you know what this means?"

Lu Zhou was amused.

You kidding me?

He was the one who discovered the Mott insulator characteristics in graphene, and he was the one who made the SG-1 superconducting material.

Before Lu Zhou could speak, Chen Yushan said, "Carbon-based chips will lower the size limit of chip manufacturing. We can take at least 30% of the profits from each produced chip. We will become the new Intel of the chip field… Even Intel will have to bow down to us!

"Not only that… This is also a great opportunity for our country's electronics industry to pivot. Do you know what this means? It means that we will receive substantial support from the state policies!"

Chen Yushan felt her mouth getting dry, so she grabbed her cup and took a sip of tea.

However, the tea wasn't able to calm her down.

A slight cough came from the other end of the phone.

Lu Zhou said, "I already know all of this.

"Also, there's one point you missed. Not only will this improve traditional computer chips, but the zero-energy Majorana fermions formed in the vortex core region at the interface between the three-dimensional topological insulator and the superconductor creates the possibilities for building topological qubits. Do you know what this means?"

Before Chen Yushan could reply, Lu Zhou smiled and added, "This means that quantum computers are no longer science fiction. We've found a material that can be used to build topological qubits!"

Chen Yushan froze. She was full of confusion.

"Wait a second, quantum computers? I don't get it…"

She wasn't quite sure how quantum computers were related to carbon-based chips. She obviously didn't know what topological insulators and Majorana fermions were.

Ah, I'm so dumb.

Lu Zhou had a smug smile on his face as he said, "As for how carbon-based chips are related to quantum computing, we'll talk about that another time. Basically, this carbon-based chip breakthrough is far larger than just computer chips.

"Also, I have sent a letter to Beijing regarding this matter. If everything goes well, the State Administration for National Defense Patent Office will give me a call. I need you to coordinate with the relevant departments and form a patent plan. If you can, send our expert patent team to the Institute for Advanced Study today."

Chen Yushan nodded seriously and said confidently, "Don't worry, I got this!"

Lu Zhou nodded with a serious expression.

"Okay then, thanks!"

Not only did they have to plan for the patents, but they also had to prepare many other things for this world-changing chip.

For example, they had to find a manufacturing partner, then develop a production process that could meet market needs, as well as further reducing the size of carbon-based transistors, surpassing the performance of silicon-based chips that had dominated the electronics industry for decades.

No matter how advanced the technology was, if it couldn't be industrialized, it was useless.

But if they do achieve industrialization and successfully enter the market…

Then the market itself would push this technology forward.

When it came to technical matters, Lu Zhou knew what kind of experts to hire.

But when it came to business matters, he had to ask Chen Yushan for help…

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851 The Power of One Letter

After Lu Zhou told Chen Yushan to handle the business side, he left this matter alone. He continued to research Riemann's hypothesis.

Pure mathematics problems and the "legendary" mission card were much more interesting for him than money.

He stayed at the office until late.

After Lu Zhou got off work, he sat in his car and gave Wang Peng the letter.

Wang Peng took the letter and raised his eyebrows.

"What is this?"

Lu Zhou: "Send it to Chang'an Avenue, Beijing."

Wang Peng: "Do I have to go myself?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

"Not necessary, just find someone you can trust. Also, if you go, who's going to drive me around?"

Wang Peng nodded and didn't ask what was in the letter. He threw the letter into the passenger glove box.

After sending Lu Zhou back to Zhongshan International, he planned on going to the Ministry of State Security office, which was nearby, where he would find someone responsible for the delivery of this important document.

After Lu Zhou returned to his Zhongshan International mansion, he went to take a shower. He told Xiao Ai to make him a cup of warm milk, then went into the study room.

He had made some progress on the Riemann hypothesis. What he needed to do now was to continuously improve the mathematical tools he invented when he researched the Quasi Riemann hypothesis while also reading theses that might inspire him.

He browsed through the Mathoverflow forum, specifically Professor Tao's page.

Unfortunately, Professor Tao had been rather quiet recently. He had not participated in any new discussions.

Professor Tao was probably still reading Lu Zhou's latest thesis.

"Is my thesis that difficult to understand?

"I thought it would take him at most a day to finish reading it."

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. He continued to read some of the posts related to the Riemann hypothesis.

After scrolling for a while, he didn't find any valuable discussion posts. He yawned and closed the site.

[Master, your cup of warm milk is ready! ٩ (•̤̀ᴗ•̤́๑)]

"Thank you."

The cup warmed up Lu Zhou's hands as he slowly took a sip.

After migrating into a quantum computer, Xiao Ai's intelligence level didn't seem to change much. The milk still tasted the same to Lu Zhou.

Of course, he might not be able to see the changes just yet.

As Lu Zhou stared at the draft paper on the table, a light bulb went off in his mind. He looked at Xiao Ai's drone and asked, "Xiao Ai, if I asked you to solve Riemann's hypothesis, how long would it take?"

Xiao Ai hovered there for two seconds silently.

After two seconds, the speaker on the drone replied.

"Master, Xiao Ai can only tell you that the first hundred trillion zeros of the Riemann zeta function are on the critical line… Can Master set an upper boundary for this problem? (ー〃)"

Lu Zhou was shocked.

It already finished calculating the hundred trillion zeros?

The best result published in the mathematical world was that the first ten trillion zeros of the Riemann zeta function were on the critical line. This result was jointly published by Gourdon and Demichel, two experts in analytic number theory and computing.

Lu Zhou remembered hearing in Princeton on how long these two experts took to calculate this result, but he didn't remember the exact time frame. After all, these experts didn't publish all of the details in their thesis, since the mathematics world wasn't interested in brute force calculations.

The only thing Lu Zhou was sure was that the number of calculations was way beyond what a normal computer could do, even using supercomputers would take a lot of time and money…

Lu Zhou was visibly astonished.

He didn't expect the X-1 quantum computer to be able to increase the "best result" of Riemann's hypothesis by ten times, in just two seconds…

What if I use this thing to crack Wechat pay passwords…

No, forget about Wechat pay.

This quantum computer would be able to solve any encryption built using a prime number architecture.

Xiao Ai: "Master? (ー〃)"

Lu Zhou heard Xiao Ai's question and replied.

He said, "Nothing, I'm going to sleep… Clean up the room."

Xiao Ai: "Okay! Xiao Ai's got this! (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و"

Lu Zhou looked at how enthusiastic Xiao Ai was and smirked.

Maybe he shouldn't worry.

But then again, this computer had the capability to destroy security, so he should try to be more careful…

…

It was late into the night.

While Lu Zhou was sleeping, that two-thousand-word letter was transported from Jinling to Beijing.

Two hours after the letter was delivered, the Communist Party of China immediately invited several senior officials into a conference room on Chang'an Avenue.

Many academicians in the field of electrical engineering were also invited.

Some people were already sleeping, but the phone call woke them up, and they headed back to work.

When they received the phone call, they already had a car waiting for them downstairs.

Similar situations had happened before.

The establishment of the controllable fusion project also disrupted Chang'an Avenue overnight.

After all, Lu Zhou had underestimated the influence of his letter.

Of course, it wasn't just Lu Zhou, Chen Yushan, Yang Xu, and even Professor Wu didn't expect such a huge response.

But then again, this response made sense.

Not only would the carbon-based chip technology have a huge impact on China, but it would impact the rest of the world in unpredictable ways.

China was relatively behind on the electronics process technology, and they tried to catch up to the likes of America, Japan, Europe, and South Korea.

But now, with the major breakthrough in the carbon-based chips, they could be at the forefront of the computer chip industry.

If they could utilize this advantage…

Then they would be the leader of the industry.

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852 First Rejection in Life

Lu Zhou didn't expect to receive a reply from Chang'an Avenue the morning after he told Wang Peng to send the letter.

In the reply, in addition to commending him and the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study for the contributions, the state also asked for his opinion on the industrialization of the carbon-based chips.

Lu Zhou didn't have any strong opinions. The only thing that surprised him was how efficient Beijing was. They had a conference last night, and they sent him the letter the next day.

With the envelope in his hand, Lu Zhou asked, "That quick?"

Wang Peng was sitting next to Lu Zhou, and he replied, "Letters at this level are all sent by air. It takes half an hour to reach Jinling from Beijing. I received a call at four o'clock in the morning, informing me that the letter has arrived at the Jinling Ministry of State Security department."

"That's not what I meant… Never mind, forget about it." Lu Zhou put away the letter and said to Wang Peng, "Take me to Jin Ling University."

Wang Peng nodded and opened the car door for Lu Zhou.

"Okay, get in."

…

Lu Zhou put the carbon-based chips matter aside.

After Lu Zhou arrived at Jin Ling University, he went to his office as usual and sat down at his desk.

Because he received the mission rewards yesterday, he got off work early and went to the Institute for Advanced Study. Then, he was caught up in the carbon-based chip breakthrough, so he hadn't had a chance to continue his research.

Lu Zhou pulled out the half-written piece of draft paper from yesterday and spent 5 minutes reviewing what he had written. He then found a pen and started to quietly finish his calculations.

The hour hand on the wall went from 8 o'clock to 9 o'clock.

Suddenly, the office door was opened. Luo Wenxuan walked in excitedly with a stack of A4 papers on his hand and a smile on his face.

"A while ago, I dug up Dyson's thesis and read it, guess what I found out?"

Lu Zhou was used to Luo Wenxuan not knocking. He looked up and jokingly replied, "Dyson? That physicist who switched to writing science fiction?"

"Incorrect, he's not just some science fiction writer, he is one of my idols!" Luo Wenxuan waved the stack of A4 papers in his hand and said confidently, "I found something interesting in his thesis, I'm sure you will be interested as well!"

Lu Zhou was just joking about the science fiction part. He obviously knew that Dyson wasn't just a "fiction writer". Dyson's "Spin wave theory" was one of the most outstanding physics results in the 1950s.

However, just like Hawking, because of Dyson's fame in the science fiction world, his academic abilities were often overlooked. After all, in the eyes of the public, academic researchers were either genius scientists, or nerdy freaks…

Luo Wenxuan's excitement didn't faze Lu Zhou, Lu Zhou said, "Right now, I'm only interested in the Riemann zeta function. If you're talking about quantum chromodynamics research… I suggest you talk to the physics department of the institute."

"It's not quantum chromodynamics, I am talking about the Riemann zeta function!"

"Oh really?" Lu Zhou put down his pen and looked intrigued. He said, "Tell me then, what did you find in his thesis?"

Lu Zhou didn't believe that Dyson had studied the Riemann hypothesis before.

Even though physics and mathematics were closely related, the gap between theoretical physics and analytic number theory was too big.

Luo Wenxuan placed the stack of A4 papers on the table and spoke energetically.

"Precisely speaking, this is a diary that is apparently written by Dyson himself. An old man from the Firestone Library gave it to my friend… You know who I'm talking about, right?"

"That old guy who wears a robe and looks like a wizard?"

"That's right, him… Of course, that's not the point. The point is that we found this." Luo Wenxuan grabbed his phone and showed Lu Zhou a photo. "In Dyson's diary, we found a transcript of a conversation between him and Montgomery."

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows.

"And?"

Luo Wenxuan excitedly said, "They were talking about Riemann's hypothesis. Even though Dyson isn't a mathematician, the results were extremely shocking! Can you believe that the Riemann zeta function's zero-point density function coincides with the pairwise correlation function of the Hermitian matrix."

When Lu Zhou heard about the Hermitian matrix, he was intrigued.

Luo Wenxuan noticed Lu Zhou was interested, so he patted the stack of A4 papers on the table.

"Then, I found his thesis published in Physical Reviews… Are you still not interested?"

"Let me have a look."

Lu Zhou stood up from his chair and began reading the stack of A4 papers.

When he got to the second page, he had a serious look on his face.

"I'm so surprised. I've never heard anyone who is researching the Riemann hypothesis talk about this thesis."

Luo Wenxuan sat on the corner of the desk and smirked as he said, "That makes sense. Have you ever seen anyone on Mathoverflow talk about using a critical line proof? This thesis has been around for half a century, with no new developments."

"You're right…" Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and asked, "Can you sit on a chair?"

"Oh, my bad." Luo Wenxuan got off from the table and said, "I'm used to sitting on my own desk like this."

Lu Zhou placed his focus back onto the thesis, and the more he read, the more shocked he was.

Not because of Professor Dyson's own research results, but because of the mysterious phenomenon Dyson found.

Which was, the distribution density of the eigenvalues of an N-th order random Hermitian matrix was P (λ1, …, λN) = C exp[-Σiλi2] Πj u003e k (λj-λk). By analyzing the distribution density, using the Wigner semicircle distribution law to perform a scalar transformation of the eigenvalues, and then normalizing the average interval of eigenvalues to Δμ ~ 1, one could obtain the correlation function P2 (μ1, μ2 ) = 1- [sin (π μ2-μ1 ) / π μ2-μ1 ] 2.

What did this mean?

This was the non-trivial zero-point correlation function of the Riemann zeta function!

It wasn't just similar, the functions were exactly the same!

"Very… interesting."

Lu Zhou rubbed his chin. He was more intrigued than ever.

Actually, he wasn't just intrigued, he was in disbelief!

Why was a purely mathematical function, such as the non-trivial zero distribution of the Riemann zeta function, related to an applied linear algebra function, used in quantum systems, disordered media, and neural networks?

Where did this mysterious relationship come from?

Lu Zhou's eyebrows furrowed.

He had a gut feeling that this relationship was important.

But how could he apply this relationship?

Suddenly, Lu Zhou received an email notification.

While Lu Zhou looked at the computer, Luo Wenxuan asked curiously, "What now?"

"New email… I think it's from the Annual Mathematics editorial department." Lu Zhou clicked on the notification and began reading the email.

Luo Wenxuan paused for a second and then asked, "Approved?"

The entire office was silent now. They were all listening in on the conversation.

Especially He Changwen, who was sitting nearby.

Lu Zhou stared at the email and went silent for a while.

Then, he spoke with an uncertain tone.

"Not approved?"

The office went silent for a few seconds.

After a while, everyone looked muddled.

Luo Wenxuan: "…?"

He Changwen: "…?"

Assistants and students: "… ???"

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What the hell is not approved?

Luo Wenxuan and the students weren't the only ones who were surprised, even Lu Zhou himself couldn't believe what was in the email.

After Lu Zhou carefully read Professor Faltings' review, he had a rough understanding of what Faltings meant.

Professor Faltings believed that there were major problems in some parts of the thesis, which led to serious proof fallacies in the core part of the thesis. Faltings believed that Lu Zhou's thesis did not prove that when ε approached infinitely small, there were no non-zero trivial points in the region of Re (s) 1-ε.

Honestly, this was Lu Zhou's first thesis rejection.

Luo Wenxuan stood behind Lu Zhou and also read the review comments. He gulped and said, "There's a problem with the proof?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "It's too early to judge. Let me look over it again."

He Changwen, who was secretly listening to the conversation, almost dropped his pen.

Wow…

When most people's theses get rejected by peer review, they just quietly make the necessary changes. But Lu Zhou seems to disagree with the review result…

He Changwen couldn't help but think.

Lu Zhou really is a god…

If only I become as nutty as him one day…

Lu Zhou didn't care what his students were thinking.

Lu Zhou bent down and pulled out his manuscript, the one that proved the Quasi Riemann hypothesis. He began checking Faltings' comments line by line.

Luo Wenxuan had no idea what was going on as he wasn't an expert in analytic number theory. He stood behind Lu Zhou, muddled, pretending like he understood Lu Zhou's thesis.

Ten minutes passed by.

Just as Luo Wenxuan was yawning, Lu Zhou suddenly closed his manuscript and threw the stack of thesis on the table.

Luo Wenxuan asked curiously, "So?"

Lu Zhou shook his head.

"I don't think there is a problem."

Luo Wenxuan paused for a second and said, "Then… was Professor Faltings wrong?"

Luo Wenxuan wasn't confident that Lu Zhou was right.

After all, that was Professor Faltings, the godfather of mathematics.

His influence in mathematics was greater than Luo Wenxuan's mentor, Edward Witten.

However, Faltings had a bad temper, he wasn't as well-liked in the academic community as Witten.

"It's too early to debate who is right and who is wrong." Lu Zhou stood up from his chair and paused for a second, and he said, "I will talk to Professor Faltings about this."

"It might be difficult to communicate with him… He usually doesn't change his opinions, also…" Luo Wenxuan hesitated for a second and said, "You might be ridiculed by him."

"I don't care about that," Lu Zhou said. "If he is right, I'll make the necessary corrections. If I am right, I won't change my thesis at all."

Luo Wenxuan said, "What if you can't convince one another?"

This type of situation was actually quite common. When two people in the academic community had similar rankings, it was very difficult for one to convince the other.

After all, the deeper the research was, the more nuanced things would become. Sometimes, two different scholars would argue for a long time about who was correct.

Of course, this was the beauty of mathematics.

An argument couldn't last forever. There would always be one side that was correct. Even when a new proposed theorem could destroy the entire foundation of mathematics, there was always a way to resolve the situation.

"If neither of us can convince the other…"

Lu Zhou paused for a second and spoke nonchalantly.

"Then it'll depend on who can convince the public."

…

All secrets would eventually become known, one way or the other.

On the night Lu Zhou received his thesis review from Annual Mathematics, something major happened on Mathoverflow.

Someone posted that Lu Zhou's Quasi Riemann hypothesis, which was submitted to Annual Mathematics, was rejected by reviewer Faltings.

Once the news broke out, the entire forum was discussing this matter.

[Professor Lu was rejected? This is impossible!]

[I told you, there are mistakes in his proof. You guys didn't believe me. I'm not the only one who thinks so, even Professor Faltings agreed with me, dumba*ses!]

[Rejection is pretty common, right? Even top scholars make small mistakes.]

[This is not a simple rejection. Didn't you see the screenshot? The wording of the rejection implies there are major defects in the thesis. See how it said, "there are major flaws in the core argument"? Generally speaking, this means that, if Lu Zhou can't make the necessary changes, the thesis would be thrown into the trash bin!]

[This is so unusual…]

[It's not unusual. After all, the reviewer is Faltings.]

[…]

Strictly speaking, the review process should be confidential. However, somehow, the screenshots of the reply were leaked out.

After the Annual Mathematics editorial department found out about the screenshots, they immediately contacted the administrators of the Mathoverflow forum. The Mathoverflow admins agreed to delete the posts, but nothing on the Internet was ever truly deleted.

Not to mention that the mathematics academic community loved to gossip. Besides, this kind of news would cause intense discussion in the entire community.

After all, Faltings and Lu Zhou were two big names in the mathematics world, and they were debating about the most important problem in mathematics…

The controversy lasted for three full days, and neither party made a response.

Faltings didn't have a Mathoverflow account, while Lu Zhou, who had an account, didn't like posting on forums.

While the people were discussing what Lu Zhou and Faltings would do, Jin Ling University suddenly made a post on the school website.

The post was very short, it was only a couple of paragraphs.

However, the information contained was huge.

[On December 18th, our school will conduct an academic report on the "Quasi Riemann hypothesis" in the old campus auditorium. Questions regarding the proof will be answered. Registrations are currently open. Those who are interested in participating, please register before December 7th.

[Presenter: Lu Zhou (Academician)]

On the day this news was released…

The mathematics world exploded!

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Hosting a report session?

Impressive!

It seemed like Lu Zhou didn't give up just yet.

The people on Mathoverflow were all mathematicians, and even though they weren't as impressive as Terry Tao, they were still respectable scholars.

This was their first time hearing someone stand up to a reviewer of Faltings' caliber.

People had begun speculating exactly what would happen between Faltings and Lu Zhou.

[Is he going to face Faltings one on one?]

[It seems like Annual Mathematics is tied up in this mess.]

[Professor Lu used to work as a part-time editor for Annual Mathematics, I'm sure Annual Mathematics is fine with this.]

[Maybe they've been having academic discussions?]

[I've already registered! Already booked the hotel and flights to Jin Ling City! I have a feeling this report is going to be quite exciting!]

[Are they going to fight? I'd bet Professor Lu will win the fist fight (smile)]

[Professor Faltings might not even attend. I do think this is an important report, especially for scholars in the field of analytical mathematics. Regardless of who is correct, a report hosted by Lu Zhou is worth attending.]

[Did you guys know, the Jin Ling University website is down. The report tickets are going for US$1000 apiece on Ticketmaster.]

[WTF?!]

In fact, an hour after Jin Ling University announced the report session, their mathematics department website shut down due to traffic overflow.

The university didn't exactly have the best servers. It could barely handle the students selecting their timetables, much less traffic from all over the world.

No one expected this academic report to be so popular.

Even though the computer science department had made preparations for this, they still couldn't handle the uptick in visitor traffic. After they found out about the ticket resellers, they had to shut down the registration website. Each ticket request was now manually reviewed and required passport identification.

In other words, one would have to enter their passport details to register.

However, even then, the situation didn't improve much.

Not just that, but the prices of tickets on Ticketmaster became even higher.

Most professors were muddled.

They had never seen this happen before.

Whenever it was their turn to host a report, they would barely sell any tickets.

They had never heard of report session tickets being sold out!

Dean Lu looked at the busy computer science professor, who was working on the servers. With a vacuum flask on his hand, he suddenly said, "Old Qin, our mathematics department is insane!"

Dean Qin: "Yeah…"

Dean Lu said, "Last time was in the auditorium as well, right? That wasn't nearly as bad as this time."

Dean Qin: "Yeah…"

Dean Qin didn't know what else to say.

"The servers are fixed, we can restart at any time," the computer science professor said. He had been working for the past five hours. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "But judging by the traffic, I don't know how long will it last."

Dean Qin went silent for a second. He then sighed and said, "It should be fine… After the registration is finished, we'll close the portal."

"Okay."

The computer science professor turned around and walked back into the server room.

On the other hand, at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Germany.

Professor Faltings was in the director's office. He quietly finished reading Lu Zhou's invitation letter.

As a well-known scholar in mathematics, he obviously didn't have to scalp for tickets online. Not to mention, over the past three days, he had been having intense online debates with Lu Zhou. He was the person Lu Zhou wanted to see the most at the report.

A smile gradually appeared on Faltings' face.

Even though this smile was full of arrogance, it was still a smile.

A bearded German PhD student was sitting across from Faltings, and he said, "Professor…

"I feel like, that person doesn't respect you enough?"

Fletcher, the PhD student, was proud to be Faltings' student.

After all, everyone who had graduated under Faltings had become a great mathematician. From Shinichi Mochizuki, who proved the ABC conjecture, to Zhang Shiwu, a well-known Chinese mathematician…

There was no doubt in Fletcher's mind that Faltings was the greatest mathematician alive.

Especially since Grothendieck was no longer alive…

"It's fine, Fletcher, once you get even close to his level, you won't care about this kind of stuff." Faltings closed his email and pushed his glasses up slightly as he slowly said, "I understand what he's saying. If neither of us can convince one another, then we'll have to see which one of us can convince the public."

Fletcher's eyeballs nearly popped out of his socket.

WTF?

I'm on your side, old man!

Why are you attacking me for no reason?

This is not the first time you've done something like this…

Faltings didn't notice that he had offended his student. He continued, "Of course, I understand what he's saying, but there are serious flaws in his argument. That won't change. Apologies in advance, but I will have to embarrass him in public."

Faltings stood up from his chair and adjusted his collar.

When Fletcher saw his boss walking out of the office, he quickly asked, "Professor, where are you going?"

"I'm going to sit at the cafe for a while, it's time for afternoon tea… Oh yeah."

As if he had forgotten something, Professor Faltings looked at his student and said, "Remember to buy me a ticket to Jinling, China."

Fletcher looked at his boss in disbelief.

"You plan on… going?"

"Why not?"

Faltings looked at his student and spoke nonchalantly.

"Like I said, he's going to pay a price for his inexperience and arrogance."

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Lu Zhou didn't expect the mathematics world to have such a dramatic response.

What baffled him was that there were hundreds of tickets that were being resold online.

Not to mention they were being resold at a much higher price.

If he didn't have more money than he knew what to do with, he would start "trading" these tickets himself.

"The number of registrations reached 20,000, and it's only the third day," Dean Qin said to Lu Zhou. While sitting in Lu Zhou's office, Dean Qin said, "This is scary, people might think we're hosting the International Congress of Mathematicians here in Jinling."

Lu Zhou smiled apologetically.

"Sorry for the added trouble."

Dean Qin waved his hand and said, "This is not trouble! Host as many reports as you want, I don't mind! You have no idea how jealous Kai University is. Old man Wang Shicheng keeps coming to ask when we will host a report at their university. We have the venue, we have the money, where's the trouble?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "You're right, thanks in advance."

"You're welcome." Dean Qin smiled and said, "Oh yeah, there are more than a hundred tickets being sold online. Now that we have changed our registration system, should we cancel these tickets that don't have a passport attached?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and shook his head.

"There's no need, we're the ones who sold the tickets, so we shouldn't cancel them."

If Jin Ling University wanted to establish itself as a world-class mathematical institute, they shouldn't do this kind of unethical thing.

Not to mention, Lu Zhou was curious about what kind of people would buy these tickets.

After his last report, the old campus auditorium was extended, and it could now accommodate two to three thousand people.

In addition to the 200 invitees, there were more than 2,000 spots available. As long as someone was academically qualified, they could obtain a ticket by registering.

Any scholar in the number theory field could attend this report.

After all, there were probably less than 2,000 scholars who were researching the Riemann hypothesis, let alone the unpopular "critical line" and the Quasi Riemann hypothesis areas…

Suddenly, Lu Zhou thought of something.

Maybe…

These people are coming because of me?

Lu Zhou smiled and touched his handsome cheek.

Oh, they're too kind…

Dean Qin: "…?"

…

The discussions on Mathoverflow were still going strong. Especially the debates on whether or not Lu Zhou's Quasi Riemann hypothesis proof was legit. They were also discussing the report that was going to happen in a week at Jinling.

The people who had doubts about Lu Zhou's thesis were brave enough to speak out, largely thanks to Faltings' review. They began to debate with the people who supported Lu Zhou…

What the Mathoverflow admins didn't expect was that, because of the controversy over the Quasi Riemann hypothesis, the Mathoverflow visitor traffic had quadrupled.

This website was mostly visited by younger scholars. Some of the older, more stubborn scholars didn't have the habit of using forums.

But now, it seemed like some of the older folks also registered Mathoverflow accounts, becoming keyboard warriors…

The registration portal was closed.

After selecting the suitable attendees, Jin Ling University sent out invitation letters for the report.

The prices of resold tickets online were as high as $5,000. This made the other attendees feel like they were getting a good deal.

Lu Zhou made some preparations for this report.

Faltings was a powerful scholar, and he was highly ranked in terms of popularity and ability. People often compared him to Grothendieck.

Convincing him wasn't going to be easy.

Unless he made his argument impenetrable!

While Lu Zhou was preparing for this report, an unexpected visitor came to Jin Ling University.

This visitor was none other than…

Professor Zhang Shouwu, a great Chinese scholar, one of Faltings' students. His research on the Gross–Zagier theorem was quite outstanding, and he even won the Chinese equivalent of the Fields Medal—the Morningside Medal of Mathematics.

Dean Qin introduced Lu Zhou to Professor Zhang.

The two sat down in front of the coffee table, and after some small talk, they soon began to talk about the forthcoming report.

"Are there any misunderstandings between you and Faltings?"

Lu Zhou, who was drinking tea, was surprised by this question. He smiled and replied, "Of course not… Why do you ask?"

"Not me, the entire mathematics community is also wondering." Professor Zhang shook his head and said, "You guys are both pillars of the mathematics world. If there really is a misunderstanding between you and Professor Faltings, then I hope you guys can resolve the issue and maintain the harmony between the Chinese and international mathematics community."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Professor Zhang, you're mistaken… Those are just rumors, there are no misunderstandings."

Professor Zhang paused for a second and said, "It's not my place to say this, but don't you think… the timing of your report is a bit rushed?"

Lu Zhou shook his head.

"I don't think there's a problem with my proof. Faltings thinks there is a problem. If that's the case, then we should debate about it at the report."

Zhang Shouwu said anxiously, "But what if you lose? Not only will it tarnish your academic reputation, but it will also tarnish the reputation of the entire Chinese mathematics community. Have you thought about that?"

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "Who cares if I lose?"

Professor Zhang went silent for a while. He then sighed.

"It seems like you have made up your mind."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Professor Zhang, you came here all this way just to convince me not to go through with the report?"

Professor Zhang nodded, then shook his head. He sighed and spoke softly.

"I planned on convincing you, but now, I decided not to.

"Maybe you're right, academic reputation is something that doesn't matter. A scholar should pursue something he believes is correct."

He suddenly smiled and spoke with admiration.

"I finally understand why you're able to accomplish so much."

Lu Zhou: "…?"

I don't really know what he's talking about.

I guess…

I'll just smile…

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856 Another Storm

While the mathematics world was going through a thunderstorm, the electronics industry was also hit with a 2,000-word letter.

The C-suite executives worth billions of dollars could sense that things were about to change. However, even though they tried to use their connections to find out what was going on, they weren't able to obtain any information.

Some people said that the country was going to introduce a new semiconductor industry support policy, other people said there was a breakthrough in 7nm lithography technology, while some other people said that the state planned on advancing semiconductor technology to become the fifth largest country in the world for semiconductor manufacturing.

The last rumor was very close to the truth.

After the news of graphene transistor technology came out, the first item of discussion in the Beijing conference room was to centralize and manage the current semiconductor companies.

This was done for both confidentiality and practicality reasons.

Of course, the specific content of the meeting was only disclosed to high-level government departments. Everyone who attended the meeting signed a confidentiality agreement and agreed to be put under supervision for one year.

Many industry leaders could smell something was going on, but the rumors floating around were a bit suspicious, as if the state deliberately released the rumors to cover something else.

Huawei's CEO Wang Zhengfei was one of the C-suite executives.

His instincts told him that the semiconductor industry was brewing up a storm. However, only God knew what the result would be after the storm.

While everyone else was waiting for this storm to come, a conference invitation from Chang'an Avenue appeared on this CEO's desk.

As Wang Zhengfei looked at the conference invitation, the knot in his heart was finally untied.

At last, it's finally here!

…

Beijing, Chang'an Avenue.

The grand conference room was filled with people.

Wang Zhengfei found his seat and sat down. He looked around and found that his old boss, Li Zixuan, was also here. Li Zixuan was from Huaxing Group.

CEO Li noticed him as well.

The two looked at each other and forced a smile.

F*ck!

Who made the seat arrangements!

"Oh, CEO Wang, I didn't expect you to receive an invitation as well."

Wang Zhengfei smiled.

"Yeah, I was busy, but I took some time out to come."

Li Zixuan smiled and didn't say anything.

Too busy to come?

What a joke.

Like you would ever refuse to come to a state conference meeting.

The two didn't talk anymore. They sat there quietly and waited for the conference to begin.

Wang Zhengfei used this time to look around at the other conference participants.

He noticed that all of them were big names in the semiconductor or electronics industry. This gave him a sense of what the conference would be about.

However, a strange expression appeared on his face.

Wait a second, not only are these people from the electronics industry, but all of them also have money.

Maybe the aerospace industry needs funding?

They're not going to take our money, right?

The attendees arrived one after the other. Soon after, it was time for the conference to begin.

The participants sitting in their seats stopped talking and looked straight ahead. An old man with a serious face walked up the stage.

When Wang Zhengfei saw this old man, he was shocked.

Head of the National Development and Reform Commission!

I can't believe he's the one hosting the meeting!

He had a serious look on his face as he subconsciously took out a notebook and pen.

It seems like today's meeting is going to be very important!

"My apologies for interrupting your busy work schedules. I assembled you here today to talk about something.

"Before the meeting begins, I have to emphasize that the content of this meeting must be kept strictly confidential. All topics discussed in the meeting are not to be discussed with anyone outside the conference.

"If any information is leaked, we will conduct an investigation. The person will be charged with espionage and treason."

There was a commotion in the conference room.

These charges, especially espionage, were quite scary to them.

The old man looked around the conference room and made sure that his message was clear. He paused for a second before continuing, "Then, let's talk business."

The old man nodded toward the staff member next to him.

A PowerPoint slide was soon projected on the screen.

When Wang Zhengfei saw the title of the PowerPoint, he froze.

Not just him, but the Huaxing Group CEO sitting next to him, as well as the electronics executives sitting in the room, they were all shocked after reading the title.

"Carbon-based… chips?"

Li Zixuan pushed his glasses up slightly and sat forward, trying to get a better look at the slide.

When he was sure that the slide really did read carbon-based chips, he couldn't help but mutter, "What kind of joke is this?"

Wang Zhengfei, who was sitting next to him, took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

Carbon-based chips?

What?

This joke is too ridiculous.

It's so ridiculous I don't even know where to begin.

These two CEOs were obviously not the only ones who were shocked.

Whispers were heard around the conference room.

Carbon-based chips!

They were all familiar with the concept. Every so often, people used carbon-based chips as an investment pitch. They had seen plenty of poorly-made PowerPoint slides, promising the future of carbon-based chips.

However, everyone knew that investing in these projects was the same as burning money.

Forget about it, even Microsoft, Google, and Intel couldn't even figure out this technology.

Not everyone was as insane as Lu Zhou!

However, this was no investor pitch…

This was a conference hosted by the Communist Party of China, and sitting here were the leaders in the electronics and semiconductor industry. Standing on the stage was the head of the National Development and Reform Commission. The topic of discussion was the future of China's semiconductor industry…

Therefore, the words "carbon-based chips" meant something entirely different.

The meeting continued.

The PowerPoint presentation continued.

Wang Zhengfei was becoming more and more astonished, and his hand was slowly trembling.

This was a chance for Huawei to stand on the top of the world! This was the opportunity of a lifetime!

He held his breath and clenched his fists.

He had to take advantage of this opportunity!

Huawei had to take advantage of this opportunity!

He would regret it for the rest of his life if he didn't…

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Actually, Wang Zhengfei wasn't the only one with this thought.

CEO Li, who was sitting next to him, as well as every CEO sitting around him, all held their breaths and stared intently at the projector screen. They didn't want to miss any details.

The head of the National Development and Reform Commission didn't tell them who developed this technology. Otherwise, they would have gladly rushed out of the conference room and try to poach whichever research institute that developed this technology.

As for the technical side of the carbon-based chips, the PowerPoint only included a transistor microscope image. After all, the CEOs sitting here didn't understand the science behind all this.

The application of the carbon-based chips to quantum computers was a top-secret, so there was no need to speak about it at this conference.

The second half of the conference was mainly focused on policies formulated by the Communist Party of China, as well as how each department planned on coordinating the development of the semiconductor industry. The state wanted the major semiconductor companies to industrialize the carbon-based chips.

In order to allow the entire industry to move forward at an efficient pace, and to prevent internal competition, China decided to set up a "semiconductor processor upgrade task force". They would be responsible for helping various enterprises transition into the carbon-based chips.

Simply put, they wanted everyone to get their fair share of the pie. Then, everyone would take this technology to the global market.

At the end of the conference, the head of the National Development and Reform Commission said in a clear voice, "After we ramp up carbon-based chip production…

"We will become leaders of the global semiconductor industry!"

This meant that, after the carbon-based chip technology had matured and was market competitive, they would go full force in bringing the carbon-based chip technology to the market.

The conference ended.

Wang Zhengfei closed his notebook and retrieved his phone and Bluetooth headset from the staff members. He adjusted his collar and stood up.

Li Zixuan, the boss of the Huaxing Group, also closed his notebook. He muttered to himself at a volume high enough for Wang Zhengfei to hear, "I wonder which industry leader invented this stuff… Even Qualcomm will have to bow down to carbon-based transistors."

Even though Wang Zhengfei knew Li Zixuan wasn't talking to him, he couldn't help but chuckle and reply, "Oh yeah."

Li Zixuan looked at him and smiled.

"CEO Wang, do you have any clues? You're not going to run off with the technology, right?"

"Why would I have any clues?" Wang Zhengfei shook his head and said, "Before the meeting, I didn't even know why there were rumors floating around the semiconductor industry."

Li Zixuan stared at this old man for a while.

I guess if CEO Wang does have more info, he's not going to tell me…

It's not like I can force him to tell me…

…

After CEO Wang left the conference room, he got into his car.

Wang Zhengfei sat in the back seat and didn't say anything. He looked at his secretary, and without explaining anything, he asked, "I want to talk with Academician Lu in person, can we do that?"

The secretary froze and said, "Academician Lu? You mean…"

Wang Zhengfei: "That Jinling Nobel Prize laureate… I have some stuff I want to talk about with him."

Even though Huawei was working with Star Sky Technology in the battery industry, they were still separated by Zhongshan New Materials.

Not to mention that Professor Lu didn't seem to be interested in "sleazy" businessmen. Most of the company's business side was managed by the female CEO. Lu Zhou was rumored to either stay in the library or the laboratory all day. Even his neighbors rarely saw him.

Wang Zhengfei felt a little annoyed that his connections couldn't get him a meeting with Professor Lu.

As for why he wanted to see Academician Lu…

The reason was obvious.

He wanted to talk about the carbon-based chips with him!

Even though there was no evidence the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was behind the carbon-based chips, his instincts told him that this was definitely an invention by the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study!

A long time ago, he asked his people to analyze the published research from the Institute of Computational Materials and had them graph each research area category. It was obvious that the Institute of Computational Materials was heavily involved in carbon materials research.

Not to mention, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was the world's strongest carbon material research institute. He was 80% confident that Lu Zhou was the person behind all of this.

Cooperating with the Communist Party of China was fine, but if he could establish a relationship with the scientist behind the technology and that they could cooperate, then the profits would be unimaginable.

Not to mention Lu Zhou was an amazing scholar. Even if it weren't for the carbon-based chips, it was beneficial for this CEO to have a chat with him.

The secretary froze. He didn't expect his boss to make such a request. He didn't know why his boss suddenly wanted to talk with Academician Lu?

However, he quickly put on a professional face and tried to find the best solution.

"Apparently, there is going to be a Quasi Riemann hypothesis report at the Jin Ling University, and the presenter is Academician Lu."

Wang Zhengfei's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Can we get a ticket?"

The secretary nodded.

"There are some being sold on Ticketmaster."

Wang Zhengfei immediately replied, "Buy me two."

All he needed was five seconds with Lu Zhou. He didn't care about the report content at all.

The secretary nodded with a strange expression.

"Yes, sir."

Wang Zhengfei noticed his secretary's weird facial expression, and he frowned.

"Is there a problem?"

The secretary shook his head and smiled awkwardly.

"No! I'm just wondering how to connect you with Academician Lu…"

Buying the tickets is easy…

I can just buy it from Ticketmaster, and if they're sold out, I can just call Jin Ling University. I'm sure they'll be happy to give the CEO of Huawei a seat.

But…

It's not like you can understand his report, so why are you going?

Wang Zhengfei said, "Don't worry about that, just get me the tickets. This is extremely important!"

The secretary nodded.

"Yes, sir."

The car began to move.

The secretary looked at his excited boss. He was curious, but he decided to shut his mouth.

I guess pigs are starting to fly.

My boss wants to talk with Academician Lu about academic problems?

When did you become interested in mathematics problems…

Maybe I should learn some mathematics to impress him?

However, when the secretary thought about the complicated equations, he decided to give up.

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858 Moving World of Mathematics

The entire industry was looking for the research team that came up with the carbon-based chips. On the other hand, the Ministry of State Security already spoke with Professor Wu's team on keeping this confidential. The 20 million yuan bonus from the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was also given to the researchers.

Of course, due to confidentiality reasons, the 20 million yuan bonus was given in a low-key manner. Lu Zhou felt quite unfortunate about this.

The whole reason for him giving out this hefty bonus was to motivate the other research departments.

But then he realized that this didn't matter.

Such a large bonus amount was difficult to hide. Even if the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study didn't explain what was going on, anyone could guess the reason behind the bonus.

Before China completed its industrialization plan for the carbon-based chips, they had to keep this all confidential.

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study would also cooperate with intelligence departments and try to divert the attention.

The timing of Lu Zhou's Quasi Riemann hypothesis report was perfect. The entire world was focused on Professor Lu researching the Riemann hypothesis…

The days quickly went by. It was soon mid-December, and the atmosphere in Jin Ling City became somewhat unusual.

First, there was a banner at the airport, welcoming mathematicians from all over the world.

Then, there were fire and sanitation inspections throughout the city, and everywhere, from the airport to the Jin Ling University, had its appearance totally changed.

The entire vibe of the city improved quite a bit.

The city council and the old folks from the China Mathematics Society wanted to leave a good impression on the international scholars.

However, what they probably didn't expect was that these mathematicians from all over the world couldn't care less about these trivial matters. All of their attention was placed on the report that was happening in two days.

Molina dragged her suitcase and walked through the airport terminal. She went through customs with the report invitation letter in her hand, and she looked a little clueless.

This was her first time in Jinling.

Also her first time in China.

Suddenly, she noticed someone who looked familiar walking nearby. She couldn't remember why the person looked familiar, so she walked up to him and asked, "Hi… How do I get to Jin Ling University's old campus?"

The person smiled and replied in a friendly manner, "Sorry, I'm not from here. I plan on taking a taxi… Are you going to Professor Lu's lecture?"

Molina: "Yeah… You're not from China?"

"Australian born Chinese, living in Los Angeles." Tao Zhexuan smiled and looked at the letter in his hand as he said, "They've already booked a hotel for us. Apparently… We just have to show the driver this letter."

The second Molina heard the words Australia and Los Angeles, her pupils widened. She immediately recognized the person in front of her.

"You're… Professor Tao?"

"Indeed, may I ask…"

Tao Zhexuan smiled. He was about to ask for Molina's name.

However, he suddenly noticed a man in a trench coat and black hat, walking out of customs.

His eyes widened, and he temporarily ignored the lady as he waved at his acquaintance with a smile.

"Professor Faltings? What a coincidence, didn't expect to run into you at the airport."

Faltings glanced at Tao Zhexuan. He nodded and replied, "You're here as well?"

Tao Zhexuan smiled and said, "How could I miss such an important report?"

Faltings' eyebrows furrowed, and he smiled with his lips closed and said, "Oh yeah? You're a smart bloke, so I'm sure you came prepared with questions… Who do you think is correct?"

"It's too early to say. I do have some questions regarding his thesis. Even now, I'm still trying to understand it… but," Professor Tao shrugged and said, "he's not entirely incorrect."

Professor Faltings wasn't happy with this ambiguous answer. He was about to say something, but Molina stepped forward and spoke excitedly.

"Mr. Faltings…"

Faltings raised his eyebrows and looked over at her.

He didn't recognize her, so he politely asked, "Who are you?"

"Molina Abel, student of Sophie Morel…" Molina nervously reached out her hand and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Sophie Morel?

That name sounded a little familiar to Faltings. Faltings remembered Sophie as a Fields Medal candidate. However, a Fields Medal candidate was nothing impressive for Faltings.

There were only three scholars on Earth who deserved his attention, and he only paid attention to one of them.

"Daughter from the Abel family? I think I've met your father before."

Molina didn't expect her idol to remember her father, so she spoke energetically.

"When I was little, my father always praised your achievements in algebraic geometry…"

"Oh really? Unfortunately, I don't really remember him." Faltings looked bored as he said, "Looks like other than that prestigious surname, nothing else of value was inherited."

Molina stood there. She was muddled.

What do you mean nothing else of value?

Why would you say that?

Tao Zhexuan noticed the awkwardness in the air, and he coughed and tried to mediate the situation.

"Not everyone is good at maths, it's fine…"

Molina: "…"

Not good at maths…

F*ck you guys!

Jesus Christ!

Molina's self-esteem was being attacked by two geniuses. She was about to have a mental breakdown. On the other hand, tens of kilometers away, at the old campus auditorium of Jin Ling University.

Professor Deligne, who arrived in Jinling one day ago, walked beside the garden while chatting with Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou gave his supervisor a tour of his workplace. The two didn't talk a lot about the upcoming report. That was until they walked to the entrance of the auditorium, where the old man from Belgium asked, "Are you ready?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Of course, I'm more than ready."

"Faltings is one of the most outstanding scholars after the late Grothendieck. Even I can't compare with him. He must be fully prepared to refute your thesis. Make sure you are armed and loaded."

Lu Zhou responded with a question, "Do you think there's something wrong with my proof?"

Deligne looked at a historic building in the distance and went silent. He placed both of his hands on his bald head.

"I've read your thesis, I think you are correct. But I am not certain. Let me ask you, you used the non-commutative cycle cohomology theory to describe the isomorphic class of flat φ-modules… Did you use Étale's homology method?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Correct."

Deligne looked relieved.

"When I was researching Weil's conjecture, I thought of a similar proof. To use cohomology theory to define a Fourier transform layer derivations. However, I should remind you that this is where the debates are likely going to be centered around."

Lu Zhou contemplated it for a moment and nodded.

"Thank you.

"Noted."

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The day of December 18th.

The old campus auditorium of Jin Ling University was packed with people of all different races and ages groups.

Rarely did this school attract so many foreign visitors, so this naturally caught the attention of the students.

In order to maintain order and to ensure the safety of the participants, the Jin Ling city council even mobilized armed police forces.

It was extremely rare for a scholar to receive this amount of attention.

But then again, this did make sense.

There were more than 2,000 internationally renowned scholars who were attending this report. There were even thousands of people who weren't able to get the report tickets, but they still flew to Jinling with their supervisors. These people, often PhD and master's students, paid out of their own pocket just to know the result of the report as soon as possible.

This type of attendance was comparable to top conferences such as ICM and ICPAM.

There were two master's students standing at the old campus entrance. They were probably persuaded by their teachers to stand here as volunteers. They looked around in awe.

"This has to be the world mathematics summit!"

"Not a summit. There are only two main characters in this report, so it's more like a boss battle…"

One was the youngest Fields Medal winner, a king among the young scholars, and the other was one of the founding fathers of algebraic geometry.

The two master's students stared at the crowded auditorium entrance. They only recently stepped foot into the mathematics world, so they couldn't help but stand there in silence.

They only had one thought in their minds…

This is what a Fields Medal winner is like!

Xu Chengyang, a professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, happened to walk by, and he heard the conversation between the two students. He almost laughed out loud.

Boss battle?

Interesting analogy.

Suddenly, he noticed a familiar-looking person. He quickly walked to him and said hello.

"Brother Zhang! Haha, long time no see!"

Zhang Shouwu, who was walking toward the auditorium, looked back and saw Xu Chengyang. A surprised expression appeared on his face.

"Brother Xu? What a coincidence, you're here as well?"

"It's the battle between two bosses, of course I have to come." Xu Chengyang smiled and said, "The Riemann hypothesis has dominated the analytic number theory world for many years. Even Mr. Grothendieck was no match for this beast. But now, Academician Lu claimed to have made progress on this conjecture. I'm sure most people won't want to miss this grand event."

As a leader among the young Chinese scholars, he obviously received an invitation from Jin Ling University. But then again, even if he didn't receive an invitation, he would have paid out of his own pocket to attend this report.

After all, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

It would be a shame if he missed it.

Zhang Shouwu smiled and said, "Haha, you're right, but the situation seems a bit intense."

Xu Chengyang smiled and asked, "Why, you're not optimistic about Academician Lu?"

"It's not about whether or not I'm optimistic, it's just that Faltings is a difficult guy to deal with." Professor Zhang sighed, as if he began to recall the past, and he slowly said, "When I studied at Princeton, the first thing I did was to go to Faltings' office and ask for a research project."

Xu Chengyang: "What did he say?"

"He said, 'I have solved the easy problems, the rest of them are difficult, like Riemann's hypothesis.'," Zhang Shouwu said. He looked at the international mathematicians entering the auditorium, and with a vacuum flask in his hand, he said emotionally, "It's been so many years since I left Princeton. But one thing I am still certain of is that there is no one on this planet that understands Riemann's hypothesis better than him…

"If he thinks Professor Lu's thesis is wrong…

"Then I'm afraid Professor Lu is going to get taught a lesson."

Professor Zhang had quite a pessimistic view of the situation.

But his argument made sense. A lot of people in the mathematics community thought Lu Zhou was the one who was wrong.

If Faltings really thought Lu Zhou's proof was fundamentally flawed…

Then it was very likely that Faltings was correct.

However, after hearing Professor Zhang's words, Xu Chengyang smiled warmly and spoke nonchalantly.

"I met Professor Lu at the mathematicians conference in Brazil. I talked briefly with him. Even though it was just about the Navier–Stokes equations and partial differential equations, he made a hell of an impression on me."

Zhang Shouwu frowned and asked curiously, "What kind of impression?"

"He's a person who creates miracles."

Xu Chengyang paused for a second and continued, "He has this ability to find clues, no matter how small the clue is, even if the clues are hidden for everyone else…

"I think he might create another miracle.

"And this, is why I came here all the way from America."

…

The crowd was sitting inside the auditorium.

Anyone in the mathematics field would be shocked by this sight.

Almost half of the world's best mathematicians were sitting here, and these included mathematicians from all branches of mathematics.

If someone threw a bomb in this lecture theater, the development of mathematics would be delayed by half a century…

Lu Zhou stood below the podium, wearing a suit and leather shoes. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

Even though he hadn't hosted a report in a long time, he was no stranger to this rush of adrenaline.

It was as if there were a mysterious force flowing in his veins, and this force made him more focused and alert than ever.

He clenched his fists and was about to go through his report speech again. However, an old man in a black trench coat came over.

The old man trembled as he walked with a cane. He stood there and stared at Lu Zhou.

After a while, he suddenly had a genuine smile on his face.

"Are you ready?"

Lu Zhou nodded.

"I'm ready."

Professor Faltings grinned.

However, this time, there wasn't an ounce of authenticity in his smile. It was as if Faltings were an eagle, staring down his prey.

"I sure hope you're prepared. This question impacts the entire mathematics world, so I won't show any mercy."

"I hope not," Lu Zhou said. "We should maintain the rigor of mathematics."

"Ah."

The old man adjusted his hat and replied, "I would have done so regardless."

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Auditorium entrance.

All of the attendees had already arrived.

A staff member in a black suit was standing at the entrance. He looked at his watch and saw that it was about time for the report to begin. He gestured to his colleague to begin taking away the security stands.

Suddenly, two men in formal suits hastily jogged over.

Wang Zhengfei quickly took out two tickets as he gasped for air and smiled apologetically at the security member.

"Hi, these are our tickets."

The security guard clearly didn't recognize Wang Zhengfei. He looked at the tickets and spoke with a blank expression.

"You guys are late."

Wang Zhengfei looked apologetic as he explained in a sincere manner, "I'm really sorry! There was traffic here from the airport. I've been looking forward to this report for a long time. Come on, man, just let us in."

The security guard didn't say anything. He looked at the two men, then stamped their tickets.

Wang Zhengfei smiled and nodded as a show of thanks. He then looked at his secretary and gestured him to quickly walk into the auditorium.

"Boss, why are we wasting our time with a security guard?"

The secretary looked perplexed.

After hearing this, Wang Zhengfei grinned.

"You want to know why?"

The secretary paused for a second and quickly nodded.

Wang Zhengfei smiled and pointed at the entrance.

"Those guys are from the Ministry of State Security, they're the real deal."

…

The report was going to begin in a few minutes.

Wang Zhengfei found the corresponding seat on his ticket and sat down. He could tell there was something unusual about the ambiance of the venue.

This was the power of a world-class scholar.

Both the scale and the enthusiastic atmosphere of the report didn't seem like an academic report at all. It was almost like a symphony concert.

And Lu Zhou was going to perform the opening act…

Wang Zhengfei, as a layman, didn't know why his heart rate was increasing. His palms were sweaty, and his knees were weak. It was as if the mysterious mathematical symbols had some kind of magical attraction power…

"He's really only in his twenties?"

His secretary paused for a second and nodded.

"That's what it says on the pamphlet…"

Wang Zhengfei nodded and didn't say anything.

After a while, he pointed forward with his chin.

"Oh yeah, do you understand that stuff?"

Seeing that the secretary had a blank look, Wang Zhengfei spoke first.

"Nevermind, pretend I didn't ask."

…

The report officially began!

The auditorium became dead silent.

The thousands of pairs of eyes focused on one person on the podium.

Lu Zhou walked on stage and looked around the venue. He then looked at the projector screen behind him. He then slowly said, "I'm sure most people have read my thesis already."

"The main purpose of this report is to answer the questions surrounding my proof of the Quasi Riemann hypothesis.

"Of course, I will still give a general summary.

"I might go through this very quickly, and it will take around twenty minutes. I hope you pay attention to it."

Lu Zhou turned around and walked to the closest whiteboard next to him. He picked up a marker and wrote down the most important line of the report.

[ζ(s) = 2 s ·π (s-1) sin (πs / 2) Γ (1-s) ζ (1-s)…]

The moment this line was written on the whiteboard…

Two people in the crowd frowned.

"Interesting." Tao Zhexuan rubbed his chin and looked at the line of equations on the whiteboard as he said, "Introducing the Γ function… He is planning on using its continuity construct? If so, he might have to reduce his thesis length by two pages."

Faltings was sitting next to Professor Tao, and he said emotionlessly, "How can that be? The core part of the proof is incorrect. Even if he uses his little tricks, that can't change the fact that the core argument is incorrect."

Tao Zhexuan: "Not necessarily."

Faltings looked at him and said, "Oh really?"

"In the beginning, I thought the same as you. On page 27, there is a problem with the coherence method used on line 3." Tao Zhexuan paused for a second and said, "But now, I kind of understand what he's trying to say."

Faltings glanced at him and didn't say anything.

There was no point debating right now.

All they had to do now, was to wait.

The marker moved rhythmically as it filled the whiteboard with equations. The thousand-people venue stayed surprisingly quiet.

On stage.

In front of the whiteboard.

Lu Zhou was holding a marker in his hand, and he had totally forgotten about the outside world. He spoke his thoughts out loud as he slowly unraveled this puzzle.

Fifteen minutes went by.

Lu Zhou stopped writing and took a deep breath. He then took two steps backward.

The proof was over.

He had already defeated this mountain a month ago, so re-writing it was nothing difficult.

The real difficult part was about to come.

This problem was the foundation of the entire mathematics building, and Faltings didn't plan on being lenient at all.

The moment Lu Zhou turned around to face the crowd, was when the real battle began.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't nervous at all.

Rather, he was looking forward to this.

His opponent was one of the remaining gods of mathematics, known as the second-best after Grothendieck. On the other hand, Lu Zhou was challenging the Riemann hypothesis, something Faltings was deeply familiar with. Not to mention that the mathematical tools Lu Zhou used originated from Éléments de géométrie algébrique, which was also Faltings' expertise.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and put down the marker.

He turned around and faced the silent lecture hall. He then said with a calm voice, "That's basically it.

"Next is the Qu0026A session."

The moment he finished speaking.

The moment Lu Zhou's words traveled throughout the venue…

A trembling, skinny hand rose in the air.

Even though the hand seemed fragile, it still caught the attention of the entire auditorium.

Professor Faltings took off his hat and stood up.

"I have a question.

"With regards to page 17, line 11, could you please explain this in detail?"

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Line 11 on page 17?!

Tao Zhexuan paused for a second.

Not just Tao Zhexuan, but Professor Deligne, Molina, and even Schultz, who was hiding in the corner and chewing gum, they were all surprised.

"I thought the problem was on line 5 page 21…"

Schultz muttered to himself as he took out some paper. He quickly drew some mathematical symbols that only he could understand, and began running calculations in his brain.

"Line 5 on page 21?" Akshay Venkatesh said. He was sitting next to Schultz. After contemplating it for a second, he said, "I thought the problem was on page 31, line 11."

Just like Schultz, Akshay was also considered a world-class mathematician.

In addition to his achievements in the fields of representation and number theory, he was also the only Australian who had won medals in both the International Physics Olympiad and the International Mathematical Olympiad…

Not to mention, he won both of them when he was twelve years old.

Schultz took out a crumpled piece of thesis paper from his pocket. He took a glance at page 31 and seemed to be intrigued.

"It seems like Professor Lu is facing more trouble than I had imagined."

Akshay didn't say anything. He slowly closed his eyes.

Three different scholars found three different problems in the proof.

This showed that, not only was there a problem with the core proof, but there seemed to be a systematic problem with the entire proof.

Even though Schlutz felt sympathetic toward this Fields Medal medalist on stage, there was nothing he could do.

Everyone made youthful and arrogant mistakes. He hoped that Lu Zhou could come out of this stronger than before.

Otherwise, it would be a huge loss for the mathematics community.

Schultz frowned and went into deep thought. Akshay, on the other hand, already knew the outcome of this report. Xu Chengyang, who was nearby, had a serious look on his face.

Zhang Shouwu, who was sitting next to Professor Xu, noticed that Lu Zhou had stopped talking. Zhang Shouwu couldn't help but ask.

"Why isn't he talking?…"

Even though Faltings was his past supervisor, he was still a Chinese, so he was obviously on the Chinese side.

Lu Zhou was the face of the Chinese academic community.

That was why Zhang Shouwu supported Lu Zhou, even though he wasn't optimistic about Lu Zhou winning against Faltings…

After all, it was a lot easier to find a logical fallacy than to create a robust argument. Not to mention, creating counter-arguments on the spot was even more difficult…

When Wiles proved Fermat's last theorem, he spent an entire year fixing the loopholes and answering all of the reviewers' questions.

But now, half of the mathematics world had their attention on Lu Zhou. Most people wouldn't even be able to think clearly in a situation like this…

"Line 11 on page 17?" Lu Zhou turned the pages and found the line, and he steadily said, "I used the Stirling table for the Γ(s) function. Equation (2) is simplified into J (δ) = Σd (k 1) (n) I (n) Δ (δ)…"

"I obviously know that," Faltings interrupted Lu Zhou. He then said, "The Stirling table used on the Γ (s) function was a clever method, it saved you a lot of trouble. But even though you transformed Re (s) = 1-c / ln [ Im (s) 2, you still can't change the fact that there are no non-trivial zero points on the right limit side."

Zhang Shouwu held his breath; Professor Deligne clenched his fists; Schultz stopped writing; Tao Zhexuan looked excited; Molina bit her lip…

"Here we go…" said Xu Chengyang.

Xu Chengyang, who was sitting beside Professor Zhang Shouwu, sighed.

Most of the people sitting here already knew what Faltings was about to say.

The old man wearing a black trench coat spoke with a steady voice.

"No matter what kind of hyperelliptic curve you choose, you can't get around this fact.

"This is the most flawed argument in your thesis, and the right boundary from Re (s) = 1 extends the left by Re (s) = 1-ε (ε u003e 0) doesn't make logical sense… I spoke about this in my first email to you, but you didn't seem to take my advice."

The auditorium was dead silent.

One could hear a pin drop in this venue.

This question was like a sharp dagger, digging deep into the thesis.

Professor Deligne unclenched his fists and sighed softly.

I guess Faltings is still the best.

Deligne didn't want to admit this, but ever since Grothendieck passed away, Faltings was the closest person to solving the Riemann hypothesis.

Molina sighed in relief.

She was relieved to see that Lu Zhou had failed as this meant one less competitor for the Riemann hypothesis, but unfortunately…

This defeat meant that the Quasi Riemann hypothesis was yet to be solved and that the proof of the critical zone boundary could no longer be applied…

First Grothendieck.

Now Professor Lu.

Countless geniuses had been defeated by the Riemann hypothesis dragon.

Rumor had it that the Riemann hypothesis was like Gödel's incompleteness theorem in that it could neither be solved nor disproven…

Molina couldn't help but panic.

What if the answer she had been searching for didn't even exist…

Then what was the point of all this work?

Meanwhile, on the other side of the venue.

Schultz looked at Lu Zhou and smiled. He spoke to Akshay.

"Akshay, my friend? Do you know that sometimes, I wonder if the Riemann hypothesis is cursed? Think about how many talented geniuses have been defeated by the Riemann hypothesis… At least that's what happened to Sir Atiyah."

Akshay crossed his arms and shook his head.

"I don't believe in curses."

"That's because you don't get it." Schultz shrugged and showed a charming smile as he said, "You know, apparently, before Grothendieck left home to live in France, Grothendieck was obsessed with the idea of the devil. He believed that the devil changed the numerically beautiful speed of light, from 300,000 kilometers per second to the irrational 299792.458 kilometers per second. He believed the devil made the simple Riemann's hypothesis into something unsolvable…"

Akshay felt a little uncomfortable, and he tried to end this conversation.

"Okay, enough."

Schultz smiled and ignored Akshay's reply.

"Also, apparently, before Grothendieck disappeared, and even before Weil's conjecture was proven, Grothendieck tried to solve Riemann's hypothesis. In 2010, Grothendieck, who had disappeared for 10 years, suddenly wrote a letter to his student. Guess what was in the letter?"

Akshay didn't want to hear these legends, but he still asked out of curiosity, "What…"

Schultz spat out his gum on a wrapping paper and spoke.

"He wrote that, whoever can take the crown of Riemann's hypothesis from the devil, will accomplish something people have tried for thousands of years…"

He paused for a second and continued, "Which is, the unification of algebra and geometry!"

…

Lu Zhou stood quietly on stage.

For a long time.

Just as Faltings began to wonder if he was too ruthless toward this young scholar, Lu Zhou suddenly said, "The reason you asked this question is that you didn't understand my proof at all."

The moment he finished speaking, there was a huge commotion in the auditorium.

People were surprised, shocked, and even… angry!

Lu Zhou could sense the change in the atmosphere. He took a deep breath and stared at Professor Faltings, who was standing in the distance.

He glanced at the old man's look of disbelief and added, "My apologies for putting things bluntly.

"But after hearing your question, I finally realize where our differences are."

He originally thought he didn't convey his proof well enough.

But now, it seemed like that wasn't the case.

The dispute between the two wasn't like a tied knot, but it was rather like two parallel lines.

Lu Zhou felt a weird feeling.

It was surprisingly wonderful.

All of the doubts in his mind had disappeared.

Lu Zhou sighed in his heart.

He felt like there was only one person on Earth who could truly understand his thesis.

And that person wasn't in this venue today.

"I'll show you the proof."

Lu Zhou turned around and faced the whiteboard.

"You probably remember the equations on the whiteboard, so I'll rub them off…"

After wiping the whiteboard, Lu Zhou picked up the marker.

"First of all, I'd like to thank my student. Without her, none of this would have been possible."

Lu Zhou turned around and looked at Faltings seriously.

After that, he glanced over and stared at the very back of the crowded venue.

"Then, let's begin with the basic part… The tool that made the whole thesis possible."

He picked up the marker and wrote down a line on the whiteboard.

[Hyperelliptic curve analysis]

The moment he finished writing…

The atmosphere in the venue exploded!

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"… Hyperelliptic curve analysis?"

What do you mean to begin with the basic part?

Do you plan on giving a lecture to all these great mathematicians?

Molina had a weird look on her face as she stared at Lu Zhou like Lu Zhou was a lunatic.

This isn't a Princeton number theory lecture!

There are more than a dozen Fields Medal medalists sitting here, not to mention Abel Prize winners…

This guy is crazy!

Sitting nearby was Tao Zhexuan. He had a completely different look on his face. His look of enthusiasm had turned into excitement. He quietly muttered to himself, "I see, I see…"

Molina looked over and couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean?"

"He's correct!"

Tao Zhexuan had finished figuring it out. He loosened his shoulders and leaned back in his chair. He had a confident smile on his face, as if he were born with a 230 IQ…

"If you're curious, just continue watching."

Actually, Tao Zhexuan didn't have to say this.

Because Molina was already watching.

Not just Molina, but Schultz, who was sitting on the other side of the lecture hall, also watched intently.

Ever since Lu Zhou erased the whiteboard and wrote down the first line of text, his attention was fully focused on the whiteboard.

"Hyperelliptic curve analysis?"

Akshay, who was sitting next to him, frowned. He had a dignified look in his eyes.

"What is he doing?"

"He's promoting his weapon to us." Schultz stared at the whiteboard and grinned as he said with a smile, "It's like he's an arms dealer."

"I know, but…"

It was almost like there was a cotton ball stuck in Akshay's throat as his pupils expanded. His eyes looked surprised.

Schultz looked at his friend and smiled. He then voiced out his thoughts.

"Turning a topological space classifying tool into an algebraic geometry finite field cluster… Algebraic geometry is incredible, isn't it?"

After a long time, Akshay nodded.

"Yeah…"

Maybe he was wrong.

Lu Zhou wasn't the youthful and arrogant one at all…

That marker on the whiteboard was like a torch, lighting the way for a maze that had been untouched for 2 centuries!

Dark clouds gathered in the sky outside the auditorium.

There was nothing but silence in the auditorium. Other than Lu Zhou's explanations, nothing else could be heard.

After a while, Lu Zhou stopped explaining. However, everyone still watched him write on the whiteboard.

Lu Zhou was completely immersed in the world of numbers and operators, and he totally ignored anything besides himself and this whiteboard.

The lines of calculations began to flow like a river, and thousands of streams from the river poured into the audience's laps…

Outside the auditorium.

Wang Peng felt something on his nose.

He looked up and saw the cloudy sky.

'It's raining."

"Yeah…" Yang Guangbiao, who was leaning against a wall with his hand in his pocket, nodded and said, "I looked at the weather forecast yesterday, it's going to rain heavily."

Wang Peng: "Did the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department find any suspicious activity regarding the report?"

Yang Guangbiao: "No, what about you guys?"

Wang Peng: "Everything is normal."

Yang Guangbiao: "… Normal is great."

"Yeah…" Wang Peng lit up a cigarette and blew out a circle of smoke. He then said, "That makes me feel a little better."

Wang Peng was obviously relieved to hear that everything was fine.

Even though he didn't understand mathematical problems very well…

He could tell that this report was very important to China's academic community.

Therefore, it was also important to him.

A couple of minutes later, the rain began to pour.

Thousands of raindrops splashed on the brick floors of the auditorium entrance.

The striking thunder sounded like a bell, echoing throughout the silent auditorium.

Suddenly, the marker flowing on the whiteboard stopped.

Everyone in the audience held their breath and quietly waited.

Gradually, a smile appeared on Lu Zhou's face.

"Time to wrap up," Lu Zhou muttered to himself.

As if the marker were a thunder striking through the clouds, he wrote down a single line.

Professor Faltings' attention was on the whiteboard as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Using the Plancherel formula for the Heisenberg group…

"As well as…Étale cohomology!

"No, it's different… So this is why hyperelliptic curve analysis is? I see…"

Suddenly, a thought appeared in his mind.

For some reason, he saw Lu Zhou resemble someone that he knew…

"No wonder…"

The old man in the crowd muttered to himself, "No wonder that person chose him to inherit his legacy."

Everything was over.

Like playing the last key of a piano symphony, Lu Zhou wrote down the last character.

The moment he finished writing, the entire venue seemed to be frozen, like in an oil painting.

The only thing that moved was the clock on the wall…

Lu Zhou looked at the whiteboard and broke the silence.

"Hyperelliptic curve analysis… That's what I named this."

He turned around and looked at the shocked faces. He paused for a second before saying, "Of course, I came up with this name on the spot. Maybe I'll rename it once I think of a better name."

He placed the marker on the whiteboard stand and walked back to the podium. He then placed his hands gently on the podium.

"I'm sure, with your abilities, it is not difficult for you to understand this theory. Professor Faltings, I'm sure you wouldn't have asked that question if you understood this theory."

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Faltings.

Lu Zhou waited for a couple of seconds, but the old man didn't respond. He looked around the venue and continued, "The critical line method is an interesting proof idea, and the hyperelliptic curve analysis method is the tool that actually solved the problem. Just like the binary search algorithm that we all learned in high school, we can reduce the value of ε gradually approaching our goal… Finally allowing Re (s) = 1-ε = 1/2.

"I just proved the existence of ε. I hope that answers your questions.

"That is my entire theorem."

After that, Lu Zhou shut his mouth.

The auditorium was dead silent.

No one moved, no one spoke.

Everyone was waiting for Faltings to answer.

No one understood Riemann's hypothesis better than Faltings, so Faltings was the best person to make a conclusion.

Faltings loosened his shoulders, then tightened them again.

With the entire auditorium watching him, Professor Faltings stood silent for a long time.

After a while, he raised his right hand and put on his black hat.

"You're correct."

His words traveled through the auditorium.

Those words echoed in everyone's mind.

Lu Zhou nodded toward the old man and smiled sincerely.

"Thank you."

After that, he bowed to the audience and announced the end of the report.

The moment he turned away from the podium…

Deafening applause filled the entire auditorium!

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Clap clap clap!

The applause was endless.

Even after Lu Zhou walked off the stage, the applause was still going on. People frantically rushed to the front of the auditorium, trying to get a closer look at the whiteboard. Some even took photos of the whiteboard.

Dean Qin watched this unravel from afar, and he lowered his voice as he spoke to the staff member next to him.

"Don't erase the whiteboard, I plan on keeping it… It will be a historical relic in a couple of decades!"

The staff member gulped. He was muddled.

"Okay…"

He wasn't confused.

Instead, he was just in shock. After working at the auditorium for this many years, he had never seen anything like this.

On the other hand, Professor Zhang Shouwu still sat in his seat. He looked at the crazy crowd and the whiteboard. He was totally in awe.

"Unbelievable…

"I can see glimpses of Grothendieck's style from his work, but it's also something entirely different.

"Isn't he supposed to be… not good at algebraic geometry?"

Xu Chengyang, who was sitting next to Professor Zhang, grinned and replied, "Didn't I tell you, he's a man who creates miracles."

On the other side of the venue, Professor Akshay stood up. He didn't care for the crowd. Instead, he turned his back and was about to leave the venue.

Schultz noticed his movements and smiled.

"My friend, where do you plan on going?"

Akshay adjusted his glasses and said, "The hyperelliptic curve analysis method is a very unique mathematical tool. I think there's still value in researching epsilon's value, so I plan on doing some research at the hotel… Are you not interested?"

"It's not that I'm not interested, but there's no need to hurry." Schultz shrugged and said, "I'd be willing to bet the value of epsilon will change within the next ten days."

Akshay contemplated it for a second and nodded.

"I agree."

"So my friend, what's the point of doing that kind of trivial and repetitive work? Just to publish a couple of theses? Forget about it, see what Professor Lu is doing?" Schultz smiled and said, "There is room for development in regard to the epsilon value, but let other people do it. We'll take over after they're stuck."

Akshay paused for a second. He then closed his notebook with a smile.

"You're right… Should we go and eat something? I don't really like the hotel buffet."

Schultz smiled and said, "My physics professor came here for a report, and he said there's a nice roast duck place nearby, we can try it…"

The back row of the venue.

Wang Zhengfei, who was half asleep, woke up to the thunderous applause. He suddenly looked around and saw the crowd rushing to the front of the podium. He sniffled and asked, "It ended?"

His secretary nodded.

"I think so."

Wang Zhengfei quickly spoke.

"So?"

The secretary gulped.

"I think, we won?"

The secretary didn't know why he used the word won.

After all, he had no idea what was going on.

However, he could tell from the applause that Lu Zhou seemed to be the winner.

The countless pairs of ecstatic eyes seemed to tell the same story. Which was that someone had defeated Faltings using logic, thus earning the respect of the mathematicians of the entire world…

From now on, this story would be added into the legends of mathematics, for it to be passed on for generations.

The entire world would remember Lu Zhou.

However, his boss didn't give him the time to fully appreciate this moment.

When Wang Zhengfei saw that Lu Zhou was walking toward the entrance of the venue, he quickly stood up from his seat.

"Hurry, let's go!"

The reason why he came to the report was to form a relationship with Lu Zhou.

He finally survived the "boring" report, it would be a shame if he didn't get a chance to talk to Lu Zhou!

…

The sound of the crowd gradually disappeared.

Lu Zhou slowly walked toward the auditorium resting lounge. He was about to change out of his suit when he heard a familiar voice from behind.

"Teacher!"

He turned around and saw Han Mengqi jogging over with a plastic bag in her hand.

Her ponytail bounced up and down like a little squirrel.

Lu Zhou looked at her and smiled

"What?"

"Nothing… I'm just worried that you're hungry." Han Mengqi handed over the plastic bag and said, "Here, I got you some barbecued meat on rice."

Lu Zhou: "Cumin flavored?"

"Yeah!" The little girl nodded and said, "It's raining outside, so you probably don't want to walk all the way to the cafeteria. I thought you would be hungry after the report… So I bought it for you."

"Thank you."

Lu Zhou took the plastic bag from her.

"Oh yeah, have you eaten yet?"

Han Mengqi lifted another plastic bag in her hand and smiled.

"Not yet, let's eat together."

The two went into the auditorium lounge.

Lu Zhou placed the barbecued meat bowl on the table. He looked at his suit, then looked at Han Mengqi, who was happily opening her disposable chopsticks. He decided to change out of his suit after eating.

This report consumed a lot of his mental and physical stamina, and it was time for him to recharge.

Lu Zhou opened the chopsticks and was about to eat.

Suddenly, the lounge door was opened. An old man in his seventies walked in with two staff members.

Lu Zhou felt like this man looked familiar, but he couldn't recognize him.

Fortunately, the moment Lu Zhou showed a confused expression, the old man smiled and introduced himself.

"Academician Lu, nice to meet you! I'm the CEO of Huawei, Wang Zhengfei. I'm sorry to disturb you, but the report was just too captivating! I wonder if I can treat you to…"

Wang Zhengfei was about to ask Lu Zhou to grab a bite when he noticed Lu Zhou's rice bowl.

You're worth billions, are you really eating rice bowls?

He changed his tone and asked, "That's what you're eating?"

"Barbecued meat and rice, I like it," Lu Zhou replied nonchalantly. He looked at this old man and asked, "CEO Wang, you've researched Riemann's hypothesis before?"

Lu Zhou was definitely above average fitness. Even if he ate junk food all day, he would still be in decent shape.

What Lu Zhou was more interested in was why CEO Wang decided to show up at his report.

Is that what the social elite is doing nowadays? Instead of clubs and concerts, they're going to boring academic reports?

"I haven't researched it, but it is my hobby… haha," Wang Zhengfei said awkwardly with a smile.

He originally planned on pretending to know a little about mathematics, but he remembered that Lu Zhou was a Fields Medal medalist. The vast majority of people would look like complete mathematics fools in front of him…

It was better for him to just admit his inexperience.

Lu Zhou knew what CEO Wang's ulterior motive was, so he smiled and asked, "So what's the real reason you're here then?"

Wang Zhengfei stopped pretending and smiled.

"I guess you saw through me."

Lu Zhou smiled and sighed.

"I know, there are many other attractive qualities I have, like my handsomeness."

Wang Zhengfei: "???"

Secretary: "… ???"

Staff member: "???"

Han Mengqi, who was ravaging through her food, suddenly choked on a piece of meat. With tears in her eyes, she began to look for some napkins.

Lu Zhou noticed the reactions, and he coughed and said, "Just kidding."

Wang Zhengfei smiled awkwardly.

"Academician Lu, you're quite the comedian."

F*ck sake!

What kind of joke is that!

Lu Zhou looked around and said, "Okay, this is not the place to talk, let's arrange an appointment?"

CEO Wang quickly said, "Whatever suits you!"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit.

"We'll meet in three days then.

"Three days later, at the Purple Mountain Hotel.

"We'll discuss that thing you're interested in."

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864 Mining Gold

Lu Zhou and his student were happily eating their meals together. They didn't know that the auditorium was in chaos.

Scholars who were normally quiet and reserved turned into blood-hunting sharks as they all rushed to the front of the auditorium.

Even though only half of the scholars were going crazy, that was still a very large number of people.

Dean Qin saw that the situation was getting out of hand. In order to prevent anyone from getting injured, he asked the safety staff members for help.

These people weren't employees of the school; they were from the state security department.

They quickly handled the situation.

Right after that, Dean Qin walked through the crowd with a security team and "snatched" the whiteboard from a group of scholars.

Dean Qin was relieved to see that the whiteboard wasn't damaged.

He wasn't worried about the mathematicians stomping on each other, after all, he only knew a few big names in the mathematics academic community.

However, this whiteboard was a cultural relic, and it would be a huge loss if it was damaged in any way…

…

Ten minutes after the report.

The forum discussions regarding this report on Mathoverflow went crazy.

The most popular post was one from Terry Tao.

[This is the most exciting report I have been to in the past three years… The last time I felt this way was at the International Congress of Mathematicians. I am honored to have been able to witness the proof of the Quasi Riemann hypothesis. We are one step closer to capturing this crown of mathematics. :)]

The last time Professor Tao posted on Mathoverflow was two weeks ago, when the thesis was first released.

Back then, he had some doubts about the thesis and needed some time to think. People waited a long time for Professor Tao to comment on Lu Zhou's thesis.

The post instantly went on the Mathoverflow trending page.

[So Professor Tao is saying that… Professor Lu's proof is correct?]

[Wait a second, Professor Tao should be at the Jin Ling University report, so does that mean… Professor Faltings also thinks it's correct?]

[Impossible! We all know how arrogant and stubborn that German guy is.]

[It's not impossible, his stubbornness and arrogance come from his academic achievement and his respect toward academia. Do you really think he will put his attitude over academic integrity?]

[We all read Professor Lu's thesis, it's clearly debatable!]

[Is anyone there? What is it like? I just want to know the result?!]

People on the forum were in disarray.

For the people who weren't researching the Riemann hypothesis, they weren't interested in the intricate details. They only wanted to know if the Quasi Riemann hypothesis was solved and who won the "boss battle" between Professor Lu and Faltings?

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait for long.

Five minutes after Tao Zhexuan's post, many scholars who were at the scene posted photos to their blogs, Facebook, and other forums.

Thirty minutes after the report, someone uploaded a footage to YouTube, which was instantly shared to the mathematicians on Mathoverflow.

Immediately after the video was uploaded, the discussions regarding the Quasi Riemann hypothesis exploded!

When people heard Faltings say, "You are correct", their eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets.

[Professor Faltings is… admitting defeat?]

[What do you mean defeat? Academic debates aren't a competition… But this is still quite amazing. Professor Lu's argument is so strong that Faltings can't find a single mistake?]

[There is one possibility… Which is that Professor Lu's mathematical tool, which he introduced at the end, was perfect. My research area is not algebraic geometry, can anyone tell me what hyperelliptic curve analysis is?]

[Regardless, a new era has just begun.]

[God Lu is insane!]

While the discussions were rising in popularity, a big name in the area of algebraic geometry suddenly submitted a post.

[I don't know if you guys noticed, but the hyperelliptic curve analysis tool that Professor Lu invented while studying the Quasi Riemann hypothesis is quite interesting. Not only did he prove the existence of epsilon, but it also shows that epsilon can be further enlarged!]

Surprisingly, after this post was released, the amount of discussion on Mathoverflow significantly decreased.

But then again, this did make sense.

The YouTube videos clearly showed the mathematical side of the hyperelliptic curve analysis tool. Scholars gradually absorbed this new knowledge and finally realized why Faltings was so easily convinced. They also found out that there was a gold mine in front of them.

They could be the ones to further enlarge the value of epsilon!

There was still room for further exploration in regard to the critical line proof!

The hyperelliptic curve analysis was like a pickaxe.

Not only did Professor Lu make this pickaxe, but he delivered a pickaxe to each and every one of them.

It would be a shame if they didn't seize this opportunity…

…

[Congratulations, the report was so good!]

Lu Zhou was sitting in the lounge and drinking tea. He looked at Chen Yushan's text message and smiled. He typed a reply on his phone.

[Thank you.]

Han Mengqi noticed Lu Zhou's smile and asked curiously, "Who are you talking to?"

Lu Zhou replied, "Your sister."

"Oh…" Han Mengqi put her and Lu Zhou's food packaging into a plastic bag and said, "I'll grab that for you."

Lu Zhou answered, "Thank you!"

Han Mengqi pouted and walked away. She didn't know why she was feeling a little blue.

Coincidentally, when she opened the door, Dean Qin was walking in.

Han Mengqi looked at the dean and politely greeted him.

"Hello, Dean Qin!"

"Hello hello…" Dean Qin nodded and looked at Lu Zhou, who was behind her.

He walked up and smiled.

"Why are you here? I've been looking for you."

Lu Zhou: "It's raining outside, so I ate here… Why?"

Dean Qin: "The school committee booked a buffet at noon at a five-star hotel. There was a problem with the reservation, and they just informed me about the buffet. I immediately came to look for you, but it seems like you already ate."

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

"Perfect, I don't like banquets anyway, so you can just go instead."

"I knew you were going to say that." Dean Qin sighed and said, "There's still a banquet at night, and you should go for that. After all, half of these scholars came here to see you. You should be a good host."

Lu Zhou: "Fine, I'll go at night… Oh yeah, what about that whiteboard?"

"I put it away, what, do you want to take it home?"

Lu Zhou looked at how nervous Dean Qin was and looked at him with a strange expression.

"Not taking it home, but I need it for something. Most of the calculations were done on the spot, and I haven't sorted them out yet. I plan on copying the things on it, then write a separate thesis and submit it to Annual Mathematics."

"Okay, good…" Dean Qin sighed in relief and said, "I'll ask them to bring the whiteboard over."

He turned around and quickly left the lounge.

As Lu Zhou looked at him walking away, he tilted his head and muttered to himself, "Why is he acting so weird?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and took out his laptop from his backpack.

The Quasi Riemann hypothesis proof was finally finished.

And the hyperelliptic curve analysis tool was completed thirty minutes ago.

He only had three things to do.

First, he had to convert the "hyperelliptic curve geometric analysis" tool into a thesis.

Then, he had to tell his co-author, Vera, about this good news.

As for the third thing…

It was to continue where he left off…

He had to extend the value of ε to 1/2 and find a proof for this century-old proposition…

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865 Magical Effect of the Energy Medicine

The proof of the Quasi Riemann hypothesis opened a new possible path for the critical line proof. It was almost like Professor Lu built a ladder to climb the fortress of the Riemann hypothesis.

However, for some reason, Lu Zhou himself wasn't interested in enlarging the value of ε.

Almost every scholar in the fields of analytic number theory and algebraic geometry were researching the value of epsilon.

This was almost like when Professor Zhang Yitang first proved the weak form of the twin prime conjecture and introduced the large sieve method, attracting half of the analytic number theory scholars…

A five-star hotel near Jin Ling University's old campus.

Because this hotel was nearby and had good public transportation, it was often used to host various domestic academic conferences. The report dinner was also set here.

More than two thousand people attended this dinner banquet.

Some of the scholars didn't show up. They decided to lock themselves in their room and research Lu Zhou's hyperelliptic curve analysis tool. Even then, the number of guests that showed up was still a huge number.

After some intense preparations, the dinner party began.

At the dinner party, an old balding professor clearly had a bit too much to drink. He stood up with a full glass of red wine in his hand. He held the table to maintain balance as he joked around with his friends.

"The food here is wonderful… God, how come they've never thought about holding the mathematician congress here? I propose to hold the next mathematician congress here!"

Nearby, a drunk professor from Moscow said, "The next Congress of Mathematicians is going to be in St. Petersburg. That's the result of the vote, I clearly remember you voting!"

"There was a vote? Oh, I guess I did indeed vote…" The professor laughed and said, "Okay then, I propose the next International Congress of Mathematicians to be in Jinling!"

Surprisingly, this old man's drunk proposal resonated with a lot of people.

"Haha, I agree!"

"I agree as well! This is a beautiful place, I haven't had enough yet."

"I don't care…"

"To my friends in Jinling! This is a beautiful city, especially that auditorium. Oh my, you can feel the academic atmosphere the moment you walk in."

Dean Qin listened to the drunken mathematicians kissing his a, and he could feel his heart rate increasing.

Holding the congress of mathematicians in Jinling?!

Forget about the congress of mathematicians, having the Chinese Mathematicians Conference here would be enough.

Judging by the number of people who were qualified to conduct a 45-minute report at the IMO conference, it seemed like the Chinese mathematics community had only just joined into the big family of international mathematicians. Even though they had an excellent scholar like Lu Zhou, Lu Zhou was just one person.

If Jinling could host the next International Congress of Mathematicians, it would be extremely beneficial to the Chinese mathematics community!

…

The hour hand reached nine o'clock. The banquet slowly came to an end. The guests gradually left the venue and returned to their hotels, in hopes of sleeping off the alcohol.

Actually, both Lu Zhou and Jin Ling University didn't expect all of the thesis doubts to be answered in the report.

Even without the other big names in mathematics, Faltings alone was a tough opponent.

If Professor Faltings' questions were too tricky, Lu Zhou might have to spend a day or two to come up with an answer. Therefore, Jin Ling University booked a two-night hotel stay for all of the guests, in case of a second report.

However, everything went surprisingly well. The report didn't even go overtime. Even Lu Zhou was shocked by his abilities, and he actually answered all of the questions in time.

The report was over…

But the mathematicians who came to Jinling weren't in a rush to leave.

After all, the money for the hotel booking was included in the registration fee. It would be a waste for them to leave now. Not to mention this kind of conference was often reimbursed by their respective institutes. It would be a shame to give up this travel opportunity.

Not to mention, most theoretical researchers loved to travel. This was obvious from the locations chosen in the past ICM conferences.

The locations chosen were all tourist and vacation hotspots.

The next morning, some people rented a mountain bike and rode up Purple Mountain with their backpacks and water bottles. Other scholars weren't interested in physical activities. They decided to organize an academic conference in the hotel lobby. They exchanged research ideas while sitting on the hotel sofas.

After all, it was rare for so many big names in various research fields to be gathered in one place.

They happened to also be spontaneous people.

If Lu Zhou knew about this, even he would never miss this opportunity.

Unfortunately, he pulled an all-nighter last night. He was busy organizing his thesis as he wanted to upload his hyperelliptic curve analysis thesis on arXiv as soon as possible.

This was mainly because there was a lot of misinformation online.

For those knowledgeable experts, they obviously wouldn't be affected by the misinformation because they could easily identify the problems. But for those less experienced, it would be a waste of time for them to study a wrong method.

Lu Zhou typed out the final words and leaned back in his chair.

"It's finally done!"

Lu Zhou sighed in relief and rubbed his dark eye bags. He took out an energy medicine from the system space and took a sip.

The sweet liquid spread across his taste buds, while the minty scent traveled up his nose.

Lu Zhou took out his phone and pointed the camera at himself. He couldn't help but notice that his eye bags were gone.

"That's pretty magical."

Unfortunately, this item was the same as the nitrogen shield, in that it couldn't be reverse-engineered. Otherwise, Lu Zhou would have gladly taken this thing to the Institute of Biochemistry for further research.

Lu Zhou looked at the bottle gradually turning into dust. He shook his hands and placed his attention back onto his computer.

He had completed the thesis. All he had to do know was to upload.

He first went to arXiv and uploaded the preprint. Then, he wrote an email and attached the thesis. The email title was "Supplementary notes on the Quasi Riemann hypothesis".

He sent this email to the editorial department of Annual Mathematics, with Vera's name written down as his collaborator. Lu Zhou stretched his back and stood up from the office chair.

Even though he had just pulled an all nigher, because of the energy medicine, he was full of energy. His body was overflowing with adrenaline.

He was planning on exercising at the gym and sweating it out, but he suddenly received a call.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"It's me, Faltings… Are you free right now?"

"I am, why?"

"I heard the view from the Purple Mountain is quite nice… I know it's nearby, but I don't have a car here… so…"

Faltings seemed like he didn't want to admit that he didn't know the way, so the phone call went silent for a while.

However, in the end, the stubborn old man coughed and awkwardly asked, "How do I get there?"

Lu Zhou nearly laughed out loud.

We're living in the 21st century.

How do you not know how to use Google?

What about Uber?

Lu Zhou shook his head and cleared his throat.

"Okay then, wait for me at the school gate.

"I'm free this afternoon, I'll take you."

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Chapter 866 It"s Good to Be Young

It was December, which meant winter in Jinling.

The red and yellow leaves that once covered the mountain had fallen to the ground. However, far away in the distance, the green taiga forests still thrived.

Because this mountain was close to Lu Zhou's house, he liked to put on his sports clothes and come here for a run.

This was like his back garden. He knew this place like the back of his hand. The only people who knew this place better than him were probably the security members who were responsible for his safety…

"I think the attendees of the conference organized a mountain biking event, why didn't you go with them?"

Faltings: "Why would an old man like me hang out with those young folks?"

Lu Zhou said, "I'm a young folk."

Faltings went silent for a second and said, "Right, I totally forgot."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Old people were generally out of shape. Halfway up the mountain, Faltings was feeling a bit tired. He unbuttoned his jacket and took off his hat. He looked around and spoke while gasping for air.

"How come… there's no one here?"

"It is December." Lu Zhou stopped walking and rested his hands on his knees. He took out his water bottle and took a sip. He wiped his lips and said, "It's so cold, plus it's not a holiday, there aren't many tourists. The best time to visit Purple Mountain is in early October. The mountain is filled with golden leaves."

Faltings raised his eyebrows and looked surprised.

"It seems like you come here often?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "My mansion is nearby."

Faltings: "…"

Even though he was the director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, his income was obviously not enough to buy a mountain-side mansion…

However, this didn't matter to him.

When someone reached his age, materialistic things didn't matter anymore.

After a short break, the two continued to walk.

After a while, Faltings began panting. Even though he seemed like he didn't want to give up, considering his physical condition, Lu Zhou decided to stop the hike here. He convinced the old man that there was nothing to see at the top of the mountain.

Lu Zhou found a familiar restaurant on the mountainside and asked the restaurant owner for some grilled fish and beer.

The two sat on the stone table, eating fish while chatting.

"The fish here is better than the one at the hotel… What is it called?"

"It's not called anything." Lu Zhou opened a bottle of beer and said, "You can find it in many Chinese restaurants. It's usually called grilled fish or barbecued fish. The recipe is usually the same, and it pairs well with beer… Speaking of which, are you allowed to drink?"

Faltings smiled and opened a beer.

"What kind of German doesn't drink? It's not that easy to find a supermarket in my small hometown, but you can definitely find a pub to drink."

Lu Zhou shrugged and smiled.

"Oh really? How come I didn't notice your drinking culture in Berlin?"

"That's a big city, and it's not a place for enjoying life." Faltings took a sip of the beer and wiped his mouth. He looked at the city view from the mountain.

The sun was slowly setting, giving the city a red-yellowish glow. Faltings looked at the beautiful scenery and took a picture with his phone.

"Speaking of which, how far is the top of the mountain?"

Lu Zhou thought for a second and replied, "With our speed, two more hours."

Faltings went silent for a while. He then sighed.

"Looks like I'm not going up there then."

Lu Zhou went silent for a second.

He didn't know what to reply, so he tried to comfort Faltings.

"It's fine, there are still opportunities in the future. Next time, we'll leave earlier."

However, Faltings didn't seem to notice Lu Zhou's display of kindness.

He stared at the setting sun for a while and shook his head. He spoke slowly.

"Time doesn't wait for people, especially for those who have very little time left. When you reach my age, you'll be counting the days you have left."

When it came to time, everyone was equal.

Whether it was the king or the farmer, they all had to face death one way or the other.

After about thirty seconds, the old man looked away from the sunset and stared at Lu Zhou.

"Right now, you're the closest person to God… Or the closest person to universal truth. Ever since Mr. Grothendieck passed away, I have always felt like there could be someone else like Grothendieck on Earth. Someone who knows the answer to all the questions."

Lu Zhou: "… You're too kind."

"Not kind, it's more like… advice." Professor Faltings looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Regardless of whether I can witness that day or not, I hope you won't give up. If there's anyone who can solve this problem, it is you."

The old German, who was usually sneerful and sarcastic, suddenly smiled and joked.

"If I'm gone by then, please leave a thesis copy on my tombstone. But don't make me wait too long, or else I might have to climb out and knock on your door."

Lu Zhou, who was drinking his beer, suddenly smiled and said, "Forget about the tombstone, I promise you won't have to wait too long… Three years, I can definitely solve this in three years."

"Three years?"

Faltings was amused, and he laughed out loud.

He shook his head and looked at the scenery far away. After a while, he said, "It's good to be young."

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Three years to solve the Riemann hypothesis…

Countless people have said similar words.

Faltings could recall at least a dozen people claiming the same thing.

One of them had even passed away.

That person was called Weil, the person who proposed the famous Weil's conjecture.

Apparently, in his younger years, he tried to challenge the "zero-point distribution of the ζ function for algebraic curves over a finite field" problem, which in turn created the Weil's conjecture. He optimistically thought that this might be true for the real Riemann's conjecture as well.

He even made a plan, that if he found the proof of Riemann's conjecture, he would deliberately postpone the publication of his thesis to the outside world until 1959… which was the 100th anniversary of the Riemann hypothesis.

However, his optimism soon disappeared.

In the 1970s, Professor Deligne finally proved Weil's conjecture, but the Riemann hypothesis was still far out of reach.

Faltings could still clearly remember that during Weil's final days, he was still hoping to see the proof of the Riemann hypothesis in his lifetime, even though it was highly unlikely.

Three days quickly went by.

The academic conference came to an end, and scholars from all over the world began their return journeys.

During these two days, Professor Faltings didn't ask Lu Zhou to take him up the mountain again. He spent his time at the Jin Ling University campus.

According to the university forum posts, this old professor went to the library, and he even attended a mathematics lecture at the new campus… Even though he didn't understand Chinese, he could still understand the symbols on the blackboard.

On the final day, Lu Zhou asked Wang Peng to send Professor Faltings and some of his other mathematician friends to the airport. Wang Peng had to find a larger car to accommodate all of these people.

Even though Professor Deligne was supposed to be in Wang Peng's car, unfortunately, Deligne left soon after the report. When Lu Zhou called his phone, Deligne was already back in his Princeton office…

Lu Zhou decided to be a good host and went into the airport with them.

Before boarding the plane, Faltings suddenly handed him a notebook. Without saying anything, he took his suitcase and walked away.

Tao Zhexuan asked, "Hey, let me see, what's in there?"

Tao Zhexuan watched Faltings walk away and excitedly tried to grab the notebook from Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou didn't stop him. He let go of the notebook.

Molina wanted to read the notebook as well, but she didn't want to look weak in front of her "competitor". Therefore, she tried to secretly glance at the notebook, which was in Professor Tao's hands.

Lu Zhou noticed her movements and smiled.

"It's fine, just read it, it's not… any secrets. If it inspires you, I'm sure Faltings will be happy."

Molina turned red and took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Thank you."

After that, she began reading the notebook with Tao Zhexuan.

She knew she couldn't keep up with Professor Tao's reading speed, so she took out her phone and began taking photos.

Lu Zhou didn't stop her. He walked to the vending machine nearby and bought three cans of coffee. After giving a can of coffee to each of them, he sat down at a bench nearby.

A couple of minutes went by, and he was half-finished with his coffee. Professor Tao closed the notebook and looked at Lu Zhou with an excited expression.

"The things written here are very interesting! Most of them are Faltings' own thoughts regarding the Riemann hypothesis. They are more like research ideas, where some are proven, and some haven't been touched. I recommend you to read through it seriously, it might inspire you."

Lu Zhou nodded and smiled.

"I was going to do that anyway."

"Okay then, it's time to say goodbye," Professor Tao said while looking at the time on his watch. He smiled at Lu Zhou and said, "My flight is about to start boarding. I hope I can see you at the mathematician congress next year. I look forward to your 60-minute report."

Lu Zhou: "Well, it looks like I have a lot of work to do then."

Tao Zhexuan smiled and waved goodbye. He then grabbed his suitcase and said one last thing before leaving.

"Haha, I believe in you!"

He disappeared into the security check crowd.

Molina stared at Lu Zhou for a while. She put her phone back into her bag and said nervously, "Thank you… Even though you helped me, I won't be merciful."

Lu Zhou grinned and said, "Please don't, I don't care who solves this problem, I just want it to be solved."

If someone can solve the Riemann hypothesis with this notebook alone, why doesn't Faltings just solve it himself?

Lu Zhou didn't think this notebook would help Molina solve Riemann's hypothesis.

The reason why Professor Faltings gave him this notebook was because Faltings hoped Lu Zhou could be inspired by his notes.

The content in this notebook wasn't even worthy of publication, and very few people could find value from this notebook.

And clearly, Molina Abel wasn't one of them.

Even though her thesis on the critical line theorem was impressive, it was nowhere near groundbreaking.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have published in a journal such as Mathematics Chronicle. Instead, she would have published in Annual Mathematics.

Molina looked satisfied, as if the pictures on her phone were a treasure map. She wanted to fly back to Princeton as soon as possible and organize the photos. Lu Zhou went silent for a second before saying, "Can I give you some advice?"

Molina looked at Lu Zhou with a nervous expression.

"What advice?"

Lu Zhou looked at her and said, "Don't have high expectations for the notebook, see how Professor Tao only briefly read through it and gave it back to me without writing anything down."

Molina paused for a second and frowned.

"So you're saying… that the stuff in this notebook isn't important?"

Lu Zhou gave her a strange look.

"No, Professor Faltings' research is important, there's no doubt about that. I'm just saying that… This thing is only useful in the right hands."

Molina: "…"

F*ck sake!

This a*hole!

I'm so close to slapping him in the face!

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868 Mystery of the Quantum World

The controversy regarding Lu Zhou's Quasi Riemann hypothesis proof finally came to an end. After the editorial department of Annual Mathematics received Lu Zhou's "Hyperelliptic curve analysis" thesis, they immediately sent him an email.

In that email, the editorial department of Annual Mathematics first informed him that his thesis was in the peer review stage. Also, the Annual Mathematics would publish a special edition, solely for his thirty-page Quasi Riemann hypothesis proof and other mathematical tools used in the proof, such as the hyperelliptic curve analysis.

Generally speaking, one would have to publish a major mathematical proposition breakthrough for one of the big journals, such as Annual Mathematics, to publish a special issue.

The Quasi Riemann hypothesis was undoubtedly worthy of this honor.

Because the hyperelliptic curve analysis method was extensively used in the Quasi Riemann hypothesis proof, the editorial department decided to publish these two theses together at once.

Lu Zhou didn't really care about the publishing plans, whether or not they were published together didn't affect him at all.

The discussions surrounding the Quasi Riemann hypothesis would slowly die down by the beginning of next year, and maybe by then, the mathematical community would have a rough understanding of the tools he used to prove the Quasi Riemann hypothesis.

However, for Lu Zhou, this proposition was over; it was in the past.

Not to mention that after he submitted his thesis to arXiv, more than half of the mathematics community had downloaded and read his thesis. That was all he wanted.

What he needed to do now was to expand his Quasi Riemann hypothesis results to the real Riemann hypothesis…

It was worth mentioning that, during the three days after his thesis was uploaded, many people had made breakthroughs in regard to the value of ε.

That number went from infinitesimal to having a finite value.

According to the data on arXiv and Mathoverflow, the value of epsilon was being updated every day, and it slowly approached 1/2.

So far, this number had been updated to one over 60 million.

While the mathematics community was going crazy over the epsilon value, something hilarious happened.

Everyone knew that theses were time-sensitive projects.

Whoever completed their research first would get all of the credits. However, due to the academic process of a journal, the review cycle often took a long time. Therefore, many people had the habit of uploading preprints.

But uploading a preprint didn't solve all problems. For example, if your preprint expanded epsilon to be 0.01, and someone else later expanded it to 0.1 before your thesis was accepted into a journal, then your research would become unworthy of publication.

This was a good thing for the mathematics world, but for PhDs trying to graduate, it was a disaster.

Therefore, after uploading their results on arXiv, some people tried their best to get their theses into publication. They even chose to publish in journals that had a worse reputation but a faster review process.

Unfortunately, most of these theses referenced the hyperelliptic curve analysis method, which was proposed by Lu Zhou. But that thesis itself hadn't even passed peer review yet.

What?

You're referencing Lu Zhou's preprint thesis on arXiv?

Most journals and reviewers were very stubborn, and they often rejected people who cited preprints that hadn't been peer-reviewed. However, if they didn't cite the arXiv preprints, they might be flagged for plagiarism.

This was a ridiculous situation.

Everyone knew Lu Zhou's thesis was correct, but they couldn't use his tools.

Most people had no way of submitting their theses, and they could only upload them as preprints. They paid close attention to the latest Annual Mathematics publication, hoping to publish their own thesis once Lu Zhou's thesis passed the review.

This was probably the first time where the speed of scientific research theses was faster than the journal review speed…

…

On the other hand, after bidding farewell to his old friends, Lu Zhou sat in Wang Peng's SUV and went back to his Zhongshan International mansion.

It was as if someone threw a nuclear bomb in the mathematics community. There were countless scholars in all fields trying to further increase the value of epsilon. However, Lu Zhou wasn't interested in the value of epsilon.

If epsilon couldn't be increased to 1/2, then the result would be the same as the twin prime conjecture. No matter how clever someone used the hyperelliptic curve on the complex plane, it would only approach 1/2, but it would never reach it.

During this time, he occasionally checked arXiv to see if anyone used his hyperelliptic curve analysis method to create some groundbreaking results. The rest of his time was spent using Jin Ling University's resources to find any literature on the Riemann hypothesis.

His research was in a bottleneck, and oftentimes, it was beneficial for him to read as many sources as he could, or talk with other scholars, in hopes of being inspired.

This was why Professor Faltings' notebook was so valuable…

Lu Zhou went into his house and sat in his study room. He immediately took out that notebook and placed it on the table.

Like Tao Zhexuan had said, the notebook contained many interesting ideas.

One of them had been tested by Professor Faltings himself to be unfeasible. Some of the other ideas might be feasible, but Faltings didn't have the time to try them.

If anyone else had this notebook, it would look like nonsense to them.

But this was exactly what Lu Zhou needed the most!

Lu Zhou read through the notes, and his eyes gradually became more and more exhilarated. However, after flipping a page, he suddenly froze.

Unlike the previous fragmented notes, the words on this page were neatly written. Also, it was written in German.

Lu Zhou didn't know German, but thankfully he had Xiao Ai.

With Xiao Ai's help, he easily translated the notes.

Unexpectedly, this page wasn't about a mathematical concept, it was instead a…

Diary?

[When I studied Professor Hilbert's theses, I found an interesting proposition in his work. Let the non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function be written as ρ = 1/2 it, then the t corresponds to the eigenvalues of a certain Hermitian operator. If this proposition holds, then the Riemann operator should be a special random Hermitian matrix.

[During afternoon tea, I spoke with Professor Klitzing from the Max Planck Institute of Physics. We were both amazed by our findings.

[Surprisingly, a pure mathematical function like the Riemann zeta function actually has a connection with quantum mechanics! Afterward, I talked with Edward Witten through email, but unfortunately, nothing came of it.

[If only I took some quantum mechanics classes… It would be too late for me to start learning physics now…]

Lu Zhou's finger gently swiped over the texts. He put down the notebook and had a look of revelation.

So it's not just Professor Montgomery and Professor Dyson…

Professor Faltings, who is all the way in Germany, also noticed the relationship between the Riemann zeta function and quantum dynamics. He even talked about it with Professor Klitzing and Witten.

Unfortunately, even though they also found this connection, they weren't able to solve the puzzle.

What does this mean?

If the non-trivial zero points of the zeta function correspond to the energy level of a certain quantum mechanical system, such as the energy spectrum of a quantum mechanical system, if we say the Hamiltonian of this system is the Riemann's operator, and if Riemann's hypothesis holds… What does that mean for the quantum system?

In contrast, if we can find a Hamiltonian operator whose total eigenvalues correspond to the non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function, does that mean we can find the proof of the Riemann hypothesis from a science perspective?

Lu Zhou looked more and more intrigued.

Even though he preferred to reveal the physics side of the Riemann hypothesis through pure mathematics, this didn't stop him from being shocked at this unknown mystery.

These two concepts, half a century apart, somehow were connected together.

Back in the 19th century, the concept of quantum mechanics didn't even exist…

Suddenly, Lu Zhou's phone on the corner of the table began to ring, and this interrupted Lu Zhou's train of thoughts.

Lu Zhou picked up his phone and connected the call.

He was about to say hello, but the other end of the phone spoke first.

The man on the phone coughed and spoke somewhat awkwardly.

"Um, Academician Lu, do you still remember me?"

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Chapter 869 Big Name in the Industry

Not only did that voice sound awkward, but there was a hint of helplessness.

Lu Zhou instantly remembered who it was.

"Oh, CEO Wang, hi… What's wrong? Why are you calling me?"

Wang Zhengfei: "???"

What do you mean why?

Three days ago, we said we would talk, did you forget already?

If it were anyone else, he would have hung up the phone.

But he had no other choice…

He convinced himself that Academician Lu was busy with research and that Academician Lu wasn't trying to offend him…

Wang Zhengfei felt a lot better. He cleared his throat and spoke politely.

"Academician Lu, here's the thing. We met at the report three days ago, right? We said that we would eat at the Purple Mountain Hotel. Of course, if you're too busy, we can postpone the meeting."

We made plans?

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that had indeed happened.

Not just that, but he remembered that he was the one who suggested eating at the Purple Mountain Hotel.

"Oh, sorry, I've been quite busy…" Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Where are you now?"

Wang Zhengfei: "I'm at the Purple Mountain Hotel."

You're there?

"Then… Wait for ten minutes, I'll be right there."

After that, Lu Zhou hung up the phone.

Lu Zhou wasn't very interested in talking with these industry executives. First of all, he didn't have high emotional intelligence; secondly, most of these people couldn't benefit him.

Money?

That was just a number for him.

Unlike other academic professors, his academic reputation went far beyond just academia. He was even at the level for help making high-level government decisions that would change the course of history.

For the cheaper projects, he spent his own money, and if he didn't have enough money, he would ask the Communist Party of China to help him with funding.

Star Sky Technology had steady cash flow, with an abundance of patents. Not to mention Lu Zhou had his East Asia Energy shares and various other assets. The only companies more profitable than Star Sky Technology were banks and real estate developers.

However, this time, Lu Zhou decided to change his mind and talk with CEO Wang from Huawei.

Even though Star Sky Technology had good research and development capabilities, it had an obvious weakness, which was manufacturing and production.

For the controllable fusion technology, they collaborated with the China National Nuclear Corporation, and for the aerospace projects, they received help from the two state aerospace companies. Most of the time, Star Sky Technology was the brain behind the project. Whenever they needed to turn their research into a product, they would have to outsource their manufacturing.

Of course, from a market economy perspective, this wasn't a weakness, it was actually an advantage.

Rather than being a jack of all trades, it was better to focus on what Star Sky Technology did best. Not to mention that the patents held by the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study were enough to turn Star Sky Technology into an industry titan. That was what Chen Yushan said.

However, Lu Zhou's focus wasn't money.

That number in his bank account was meaningless for him. He was more interested in revealing the secrets behind the high tech system. The carbon-based chip was the key to the future, whether it was the paused "Control of Earth and Moon" mission or the "artificial intelligence" technology branch, these were all ways he could reveal the mystery behind the system.

If possible, Lu Zhou wanted to control this industry chain by himself. After all, the requirements for leveling up Xiao Ai to level 4 was to collect sufficient data from human activities.

However, the word "sufficient" was an understatement. For him, it meant an astronomical number…

All in all, now that Star Sky Technology wanted to enter the computer chip field, they had to find an appropriate ally to quickly convert its technology into products. This way, they could capture and lead the market.

Fortunately, China was great at production.

…

There were only a few places near Purple Mountain with fantastic scenery and transportation. The Zhongshan International community was one of them, and the Purple Mountain Hotel was the other. The two were a kilometer apart.

Before Lu Zhou left his study room, he called Wang Peng and asked him to get the car. He then changed into a set of clean clothes and left his house.

His Electric Purple was already parked at his front gate.

Lu Zhou got in the car and said, "Purple Mountain Hotel."

"Ok."

Wang Peng nodded and began driving.

The electric motors whistled quietly and brought Lu Zhou to his destination.

There was a man in a suit waiting at the Purple Mountain Hotel entrance. When he saw the one-of-a-kind Electric Purple car park at the hotel entrance, he immediately walked up and enthusiastically greeted Lu Zhou.

"Hello, Academician Lu, I'm CEO Wang's secretary, you can call me Li Yang."

"Hi, I've been a bit busy recently, sorry for keeping you guys waiting." Lu Zhou shook his hand and said, "Let's go meet Mr. Wang."

Secretary Li made an inviting gesture.

"No problem, this way please."

They walked through the hotel lobby and arrived at a rustic hotel room. Lu Zhou opened the door and saw CEO Wang sitting there, drinking tea.

The second the door opened, Wang Zhengfei stood up from the sofa and greeted Lu Zhou with a smile.

"Academician Lu, you're here!"

Lu Zhou nodded toward Wang Peng, signaling him to wait outside. He then looked at the old man and reached out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, sorry to keep you waiting."

"No worries, it's my pleasure." Wang Zhengfei shook Lu Zhou's hand and said politely, "Come, please sit."

The two sat at the table.

The hotel waiter poured each of them a cup of jasmine tea before leaving the room.

Wang Zhengfei looked at the rising vapor and smiled. He began trying to make conversation.

"I asked the waiter to give us some tea, do you have any preferences?"

"Nope." Lu Zhou shook his head and noticed that Wang Zhengfei wanted to have some small talk. He then said, "CEO Wang, I'm sure you're a busy person, so let's skip the small talk."

Wang Zhengfei was stunned. He wasn't used to this kind of interaction.

However, this wasn't his first time dealing with people in academia, so he quickly adjusted his attitude.

He put down the cup of tea and had a sincere and serious look on his face.

He looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Well, okay then."

"There's no one else here anyway, so I'll get straight to the point. The carbon-based chips… was that your research?"

Lu Zhou slowly put down the cup of tea and looked at Wang Zhengfei, whose face was full of anticipation. Lu Zhou cleared his throat and replied, "Nope."

Wang Zhengfei: "???"

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Chapter 870 I Want HiSilicon

Nope?

Nope?!

Wang Zhengfei was stunned by Lu Zhou's reply, and he didn't respond for a while.

Lu Zhou saw CEO Wang's look of disappointment. He sipped some tea and said, "Graphene transistors are not my research direction. There are other scholars in this area. I only solved some problems regarding graphene Mott insulators. I guess it's a small theoretical contribution."

Calling it a small contribution was underselling it. After all, the theoretical calculations made during the Mott insulator research played a decisive role in the research of graphene semiconductors.

Therefore, it definitely wasn't just a small contribution…

It was more like a medium contribution.

Nevertheless, the graphene transistor was the work of Professor Wu. Even though Lu Zhou, as the head of the institute, had the right to claim this research as his own, Lu Zhou would never do something like that.

Wang Zhengfei looked at Lu Zhou with a muddled expression.

After a while, he nervously smiled and asked, "Sorry… I don't understand what the insulator is… Is that related to the carbon-based chips?"

Lu Zhou was too lazy to explain. He knew that the CEO wasn't interested, so he just nodded and replied, "Sort of."

Suddenly, Wang Zhengfei's eyes lit up again.

Who invented the technology wasn't important. That wasn't what he was concerned about. Even if he did know the inventor, he wouldn't risk his lithium batteries contract just for this new technology. Not to mention the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had the patents.

In the academic world, theses were the king, but in the industry, patents were the king!

Whoever had the patents had the right to establish a relationship with a production company.

Wang Zhengfei raised his teacup and said, "Academician Lu, on behalf of my colleagues in the Chinese semiconductor industry, as well as all of my employees, I would like to thank you! Cheers to you!"

Lu Zhou was stunned.

He wasn't surprised by CEO Wang's compliment. After all, Lu Zhou was well aware of how nutty his technology was.

However…

This a* kissing caught him off guard.

"CEO Wang, you're too kind." Lu Zhou coughed and raised his teacup as well. He said, "The carbon-based chip breakthrough was the cumulative work of the entire project team… Also, didn't we say we'd only talk about business?"

"Haha, I couldn't help it." Wang Zhengfei awkwardly rubbed his head and said, "Let's talk business."

Even though Lu Zhou knew CEO Wang was putting on an act, he decided to ignore it.

He paused for a second and continued, "We all know the impact carbon-based chips will have on the semiconductor industry. This is our best choice for entering the semiconductor field. If all goes well, graphene will provide a function similar to lithium-sulfur batteries. Beijing should have already held a meeting on how to properly develop the carbon-based semiconductor industry. I'm sure the National Development and Reform Commission has already made plans."

Wang Zhengfei had a look of surprise.

"You know this already?"

Lu Zhou sipped some tea and said, "I was the one who proposed this plan."

Of course, when it came to the centralized management implementation, market penetration plan, and other specific policies, those were created by the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Administration for National Defense, and other government departments.

After all, the Chinese capital industry didn't give them a good impression. The situation always became a swarm and scramble, where the winner would take all and the loser would take none.

Carbon-based chips were the future of the Chinese semiconductor industry. The high-level leaders didn't want this technology to be dominated by one company.

Wang Zhengfei was shocked by Lu Zhou's words.

He had heard rumors about Professor Lu, the Nobel Prize and Fields Medal winner. He heard that even the Communist Party of China listened to his suggestions.

However, he didn't expect Lu Zhou to be this strong…

The entire semiconductor industry…

This means hundreds of millions of investment and financial allocation, as well as hundreds of thousands of jobs! Especially since the semiconductor industry is labor-intensive!

Wang Zhengfei really wanted to ask where this industry cluster would be, but he didn't ask.

What's the point of asking?

What am I, going to buy land there?

Who would dare to do that?

It's better to stay safe and not ask.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before asking, "CEO Wang, you want to talk about carbon-based chips with me, right?"

"Yeah…" Wang Zhengfei nodded and said, "You have strong research and development capabilities, whereas our industrialization capabilities in the semiconductor and electronics industry are world-leading. I hope to be able to cooperate with you on carbon-based chips production. This is a win-win for both of us."

Lu Zhou nodded and continued, "I agree, but it seems like you don't really know what graphene chips are."

Wang Zhengfei smiled and asked, "Oh? Why do you say that?"

CEO Wang was in disbelief.

He didn't know a lot about mathematics, that was true.

But when it came to graphene chips, he had consulted with numerous industry experts. He wasn't an expert himself, but he knew a lot more than the average person.

The next words that came out of Lu Zhou's mouth shattered CEO Wang's confidence.

"Carbon-based transistors can be used to build more than just carbon-based chips. Have you heard of Majorana fermion?"

"Majorana fermion?"

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Yeah, it's a unique type of fermion. Its antiparticle is itself. Doesn't that sound interesting?"

CEO Wang didn't think it was interesting at all, but he still put on a curious face.

Wang Zhengfei smiled and continued, "It does sound interesting… Where is it on the periodic table?"

"It might be a little difficult to find it on the periodic table." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It only exists in superconductors in the form of quasiparticles."

Wang Zhengfei: "???"

What the hell?

He began to wonder if Lu Zhou was just toying with him.

Lu Zhou knew that there was no point continuing. He didn't want CEO Wang to keep pretending to be interested.

Lu Zhou sighed and took a sip of his tea.

"I know you're not interested."

He paused for a second and continued, "Forget about Majorana fermions… What about quantum computers?"

Wang Zhengfei: "…?!"

Quantum computers!!!

The moment he heard the words come out of Lu Zhou's mouth, Wang Zhengfei held his breath.

His eyes were filled with excitement, and he stared at Lu Zhou as he said with a trembling tone, "Quantum computers… You're saying… that kind of quantum computer…"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but the quantum computers I'm talking about are called topological quantum computers. I think Microsoft is doing research on it, but unfortunately, even though they have made some progress on algorithms theory, they haven't been able to find a suitable material."

Wang Zhengfei instantly realized what was going on.

Forget about the fermions and quasiparticles…

Lu Zhou is trying to tell me something!

"So that material is that…"

Lu Zhou gave him a look.

Wang Zhengfei subconsciously stopped talking.

He finally realized what was going on.

The reason why the Communist Party of China took this matter so seriously wasn't just because they wanted to create industry clusters, but also to go against the laws of the market, to centralize and impose closure on the industry clusters…

"Graphene is the most suitable material … It might not have been that way before, but it is now. A zero-energy Majorana fermion forms in the vortex core region of the interface between the three-dimensional topological insulator and superconductor. The existence of the nanofermions creates the possibility of constructing topological qubits.

"If someone can master carbon-based chips production, not only will they dominate the semiconductor industry, but they will also have control of the future computing industry."

Lu Zhou drank some tea and looked at him.

"Do you want to work together then?"

Wang Zhengfei was excited at Lu Zhou giving him this opportunity, but he quickly calmed down.

He realized what Lu Zhou was doing.

The reason why Lu Zhou was rambling on about scientific stuff wasn't to humble brag… Instead, Lu Zhou was placing all of his chips on the table, and he wanted to ask for something in return.

If he spoke first, he would be the sucker.

But…

He couldn't refuse the things Lu Zhou was offering.

He didn't want to give this opportunity to his competitors.

Wang Zhengfei unclenched his fists and took a deep breath. He suddenly loosened his shoulders.

He put on a warm smile on his face and took the initiative.

"What do you want?"

With Lu Zhou having the absolute advantage, there was no room for him to bargain.

Even if Lu Zhou wanted a significant part of the Huawei shares, he would have to consider the proposal seriously.

As long as he kept his board voting powers…

Fortunately, Lu Zhou didn't seem to be interested in Huawei shares.

However, the academician's request made this decision even more difficult.

"I want HiSilicon."

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Chapter 871 I Have It Now

HiSilicon's history could be traced back to Huawei's ASIC design center in 1991. It had been one of Huawei's centerpieces in the electronics industry.

In most people's minds, HiSilicon was a supplier of mobile phone processors for Huawei. However, HiSilicon's business expanded far beyond mobile processors.

Accurately speaking, Huawei's HiSilicon company provided home networking, communication, and other wireless chip solutions. Basically, they designed and made mobile phone chips, mobile communication system equipment chips, transmission network equipment chips, home digital equipment chips, etc. They even had a 90% market share in the security prevention and control industry.

Because HiSilicon was fully owned by Huawei, one could say that Huawei was HiSilicon and HiSilicon as Huawei. They were inseparable.

If Star Sky Technology had shares in HiSilicon, then it would mean Huawei would lose its total control over HiSilicon.

This was unacceptable for Wang Zhengfei.

However…

HiSilicon also desperately needed Star Sky Technology's technology.

Therefore, after hearing Lu Zhou's request, Wang Zhengfei had a dignified look on his face. He sat there in silence, seemingly lost in deep thought.

Lu Zhou wasn't in a hurry. After he conveyed his requests, he picked up his cup and took a sip of the hot tea. This helped him moisten his dry throat.

He used this time to look at Wang Zhengfei's facial expression, trying to see if he could read any thoughts.

Unfortunately, CEO Wang had been around the block. Lu Zhou couldn't read a single ounce of information from his face.

Emm…

Did I ask for too much?

He talked about this with Chen Yushan before coming here. She helped him with the equity allocation and technical cooperation plans, but honestly, Lu Zhou, who wasn't a great negotiator, didn't know if his demands were too high.

Lu Zhou began to think.

Looks like CEO Wang isn't going to agree.

But then again, I can cooperate with Unisplendour instead. Even though that company is mainly involved in low-end processors and isn't backed by Huawei's industrial chain, it might work?

Lu Zhou opened his mouth.

"Let's leave this aside, you can make a decision later. Anyway, I didn't bring a contract, and I'm sure you need more time to think this through. We should discuss this at a more formal occasion."

CEO Wang loosened his shoulders and shook his head.

"There's no need."

Lu Zhou sighed in relief.

Even though they didn't reach an agreement, this boring negotiation was finally over.

As expected, Lu Zhou wasn't good at negotiating.

He planned on letting Chen Yushan negotiate with Unisplendour.

"I don't have to think this through. I've already made up my mind. I trust my instincts and I trust Academician Lu won't let me down."

Wang Zhengfei stood up and reached out his hand as he solemnly said, "… As the CEO of Huawei, I accept your proposal. I hope we can work together in this new era of carbon-based chips and achieve greatness!"

Lu Zhou: "…?"

Does this mean…

He agrees?

…

Even though they reached an agreement, when it came to important matters such as equity transfer, Wang Zhengfei couldn't make this decision alone.

Especially since Star Sky Technology wanted to invest in HiSilicon, and HiSilicon was one of Huawei's most important subsidiary companies. He had to ask the opinions of the board members. Whether the board members would agree with this proposal was still up to chance.

Especially because of the confidentiality agreement, where many things had to stay secret.

He was worried about how to convince the company board members without mentioning the carbon-based chip technology.

Star Sky Technology didn't need Huawei as they had many other choices. But if Huawei wanted to become the king of the Chinese electronics industry, they needed Star Sky Technology…

Even during dinner time, Lu Zhou was still thinking about what happened.

He had no idea how he was able to convince the CEO.

Actually, there was no convincing going on at all. It seemed like after CEO Wang listened to Lu Zhou's requests, he just went silent for a few minutes before agreeing.

Maybe… Luo Wenxuan is interested in Professor Lu?

I'm actually a business genius who has been distracted by mathematics?

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

If it weren't for this fantastic negotiation, he would have never realized how much of a business tycoon he was…

After the dinner was over, Wang Zhengfei bid farewell to Lu Zhou and got into his black car parked at the hotel entrance.

Another Huawei executive was sitting in the backseat, and he couldn't help but ask CEO Wang, "Sir, do you really think it's a good idea to give them absolute control over HiSilicon?"

Sitting next to CEO Wang was a C-suite executive of HiSilicon. This person was also invited to the secret Beijing meeting.

That was why he came here with CEO Wang to Jinling.

Even though he had a lot of respect for CEO Wang, he had to admit that letting Star Sky Technology take control over HiSilicon was not a good idea. HiSilicon was Huawei's bread and butter, and it seemed like a horrible idea to let an outsider step in.

Not to mention that Star Sky Technology demanded quite a lot of share equity…

Wang Zhengfei stared at this executive and smiled.

"Does HiSilicon have a carbon-based transistor research and development team?"

The executive went silent.

Even though HiSilicon had research projects on new semiconductor materials, they weren't involved in the field of graphene research. Instead, they were more focused on molybdenum disulfide, which was another material that the academic community deemed to have promising potential.

However, these research projects were only being done to keep up with other companies. There were many key issues that had yet to be resolved. It would take at least a decade before they could try using molybdenum disulfide as a transistor material.

The executive hesitated for a bit before answering, "No."

Wang Zhengfei looked at the executive and smiled.

"Well, now you do."

Executive: "…"

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Chapter 872 Is He Ok?

Wang Zhengfei was indeed a savvy businessman.

He had never thought about negotiating with Lu Zhou. However, when he was about to speak, he was able to gather information from Lu Zhou's facial expressions.

It seemed like Lu Zhou didn't want to work with them anymore, and he was even ready to cooperate with other Chinese semiconductor companies.

For example, Unisplendour, which had the same production capacity as HiSilicon.

At that moment, Wang Zhengfei made a decision.

If Star Sky Technology cooperated with Unisplendour or another semiconductor company, the key to the future of carbon-based semiconductors would be out of their hands.

If Huawei still wanted to join in on the carbon-based revolution, they would have to buy these chips from semiconductor companies for a much higher price. Even though they would have total control over HiSilicon, it wouldn't mean anything.

HiSilicon was Huawei's top-performing subsidiary, but if they couldn't keep up with the times, they would be overtaken by other companies.

On the surface, it seemed like Huawei made a compromise, but that might not be the case.

They did have to pay for an upfront cost, but the returns on this investment would make HiSilicon even stronger. Huawei's product would be even more competitive in the international market…

This was far more valuable than having total control over a company that could become obsolete in the future…

Wang Zhengfei, who felt a little down, suddenly felt a lot better.

The reason why he made this decision wasn't that he was trying to please Academician Lu.

It was for the greater good!

…

After Molina left Jinling, she didn't immediately fly back to Princeton. Instead, she went back to her hometown in France for a week-long vacation.

Everyone needed to rest sometimes, to recharge the brain and relax a little.

Molina was no exception.

Even though her career was also her hobby, her career didn't always make her happy.

Especially since she had to compete with other scholars…

This trip to China totally exhausted her brain energy.

She felt like her mathematics career was going nowhere, and she began to feel an existential crisis about her life.

If it weren't because of Professor Abel's portrait hanging in her grandfather's house, she might even give up her mathematics career.

An old man wearing pajamas knocked on Molina's bedroom door. He opened the door and saw his granddaughter sitting at her desk. He spoke with a hint of distress in his eyes.

"Are you still thinking about that problem?"

"No, that's for when I return to Princeton." Molina shook her head and said, "I'm not going to think about any mathematics problems for this week."

Old man: "Your father is teaching at École Normale Supérieure, and you rarely get to see him. Why don't you come and live here?"

Molina said without hesitating, "Princeton's environment is more suitable for me. There are a lot of excellent scholars there. Even a cup of afternoon tea can inspire me."

The old man said, "But there are many excellent scholars in École Normale Supérieure as well."

Molina said with a poker face, "But I don't like Paris. Paris is full of rubbish."

Not to mention, she didn't want to see her father.

Not because she had a problem with him, but they were just not emotionally connected. She and her father were both similar people; people who devoted their entire lives to mathematics.

From a very young age, she lived in the suburbs of Paris and grew up in her grandfather's house. That was until she went to Princeton for her university studies.

The only thing left here for her was a bit of nostalgia.

The old man looked at his granddaughter's stubborn face and sighed.

"Okay… Molina, regardless, I hope you are happy. Mathematics is not everything."

"Maybe." Molina looked at the portrait of Abel on the wall and said, "But it is for me. It has accompanied me throughout my entire life. I want to… do something you guys couldn't."

A flash of pain appeared on the old man's face.

He sat down on the sofa and sighed. He spoke in a persuasive tone.

"Some things require talent, especially when it comes to art… Even painters who have studied under the same teacher would see the world in different ways. Mathematics is like an art, do you get what I'm trying to say?"

"I don't get it." Molina shook her head and looked at the portrait on the wall. She then said with a confused expression, "I don't get it, I'm related to Abel, how come I don't get any share of his intellect?"

The old man looked at Molina's eyes and hesitated for a bit.

"Molina, there's something else… I don't know if I should tell you."

"Yeah what?"

The old man opened his mouth. He then shook his head.

"Nevermind, forget about it."

Molina: "…"

…

The week-long holiday quickly went by.

Molina felt like her brain had recovered. She got on a flight and arrived at New York airport. She got into a taxi and checked arXiv on her phone.

She saw a bunch of preprints on the numerical proof of the value of epsilon. It seemed like someone had pushed the value of epsilon to one over ten thousand.

It took the mathematics community seven days to push the number from one over sixty million to one over ten thousand. This was quite an improvement.

They were slowly approaching the finish line, and the hyperelliptic curve analysis research path was becoming more popular than the critical line research path.

Molina couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency.

She didn't want to admit that, within a month's time, Lu Zhou threw years of her research out of the water. However, she had to admit that the hyperelliptic curve analysis method was sophisticated enough to impact the entire analytic number theory field…

Even though she had a different approach to researching the Riemann hypothesis, she should still read his thesis…

Molina convinced herself that she just wanted to know where her opponent was, and even though Lu Zhou's research results were good, she didn't want to give up the critical line proof method.

Yeah, I'm just doing research…

After Molina got back to Princeton, she put her luggage into her room. Without wasting a second, she went to the library nearby. She found the meeting room that she and Vera had reserved.

However, when she opened the door, she saw Vera sitting there, daydreaming.

"Are you okay?" Molina asked.

Vera's cheeks were pale, and her blonde hair seemed to have lost its brightness.

Vera noticed Molina, and she gave her a weak smile.

"I'm fine, I just have a cold."

Molina wasn't convinced at all.

Molina grabbed Vera's shoulders and rested her forehead on Vera's forehead.

Molina's forehead felt a burning sensation, and she immediately stood up.

"I'm taking you to the hospital."

"It's fine, I already went." Vera avoided eye contact and said, "The doctor gave me some medicine… I'll be fine."

Molina looked at her suspiciously. She let go of her shoulders.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Vera felt an itch in her throat. She grabbed a tissue and began coughing.

Molina wasn't sure, but she felt like she saw a trace of blood on Vera's tissue.

Is she really okay?

Molina started to become more and more worried.

Vera wasn't just her co-worker. They had become close friends.

Vera didn't want Molina to worry about her, so she forced a smile and spoke.

"Forget about me, tell me how Jinling was."

Molina sighed and opened her mouth.

"What do you want to know?"

The girl replied nervously, "Anything about him.

"He's been away from Princeton for so many years, is he doing okay?"

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Chapter 873 Joining Forces

24th of December.

On the day before Christmas in 2021, the semiconductor industry had an extremely unusual day.

A special research and development fund with a value of 100 billion yuan fell into the pocket of the semiconductor industry. This was almost like a gift from Santa.

Not just that, but the semiconductor industry cluster group was also set in stone.

According to the latest released documents, the semiconductor industry cluster was going to be set in the central region of China!

With Jiangcheng and Xingcheng as the center, the five semiconductor industrial bases were spread out on the map. Dozens of semiconductor and electronics companies with more than tens of billions in market cap value had begun settling in.

Unlike the past, only a few leading companies in the semiconductor industry were located in the Hubei province. Companies such as Huawei, Unisplendour, and Changdian Technology. These companies had also been banned from accepting foreign capital investments.

This was quite unusual.

Especially since there were plenty of advanced semiconductor companies such as Samsung and Intel, in which the local executives would love for them to invest.

Not only did the presence of a giant semiconductor company provide a large number of jobs, but it also improved their economies of scale.

However, this time was different.

The residents living nearby saw a six-lane highway being constructed in the middle of nowhere. Right after that, corporate trucks being escorted by military vehicles passed through various checkpoints and headed toward the industrial base.

It was like the companies involved were all clockwork gears, operating in an efficient and orderly manner.

A huge movement like this obviously attracted the attention of the outside world.

Foreign media outlets had speculated that China was uniting the high-tech companies to develop a powerful electric weapon. Other people had speculated that China had discovered huge lunar mineral reserves, and they increased their subsidies on semiconductor companies to maintain their lunar advantage.

There were even more ridiculous rumors, such as China received alien signals and was secretly building an alien spacecraft…

The rumors spread like wildfire, and it was difficult to distinguish the true ones from the false ones.

Regardless, the Chinese semiconductor industry was the center of attention…

…

Jin Ling University.

The offices were more lively than usual.

A young professor with black-rimmed glasses sat at the corner of his desk. He gave orders to the students, who were hanging up Christmas decorations.

Luo Wenxuan looked at the half-decorated office, and he suddenly said, "I think we should add a fireplace, you can't have a Christmas without a fireplace."

A noob researcher moved in a cardboard box of decorations and said, "But Professor, we're running out of our budget."

"Running out?" Luo Wenxuan frowned and rubbed his chin. "But I remember there's a lot of research funding left, right?"

The noob researchers in the office were muddled.

Using research funding to decorate the office…

This was fine a few years ago, but recently, the research funds had been closely monitored…

Suddenly, they heard the office door open.

Everyone in the office looked at the person in front of the door.

Lu Zhou looked around the decorated office, and he paused for a second before making eye contact with Luo Wenxuan.

Lu Zhou went silent for a while and placed his hand on the doorknob.

"Oh sorry, bad time."

Lu Zhou was about to close the door when Luo Wenxuan walked up and opened the door.

"No no no, it's fine, you came at the perfect time! I was just about to give you a tour of my office…," Luo Wenxuan looked at the notebook in Lu Zhou's arms and asked curiously, "What's that?"

"Professor Faltings' notebook, he gave it to me before leaving."

Lu Zhou wasn't going to hide anything.

He opened the notebook and found the page he wanted. He then said to Luo Wenxuan, "The discovery you mentioned wasn't an accident. Dyson isn't the only one who noticed the connection, even Professor Faltings noticed the relationship between the Riemann hypothesis and quantum physics."

"Let me see…"

Luo Wenxuan looked at the notebook excitedly, and his curious face soon turned into disbelief.

"Incredible…" Luo Wenxuan's eyes were glued to the page as he excitedly said, "Even Professor Faltings thinks the Riemann hypothesis can be solved using physics methods? My hypothesis was correct!"

"No, Professor Faltings didn't think that. But my point is that, maybe this could work, but it will be much more difficult than going by the mathematical route. We have no idea what the eigenvalues of random Hermitian matrices are, let alone its quantum system values."

Lu Zhou shrugged and continued, "But I am curious as to why the Riemann zeta function non-trivial zero-points are related to the eigenvalues of a random Hermitian matrix. They seem to be closely correlated… Do you have any idea why?"

Luo Wenxuan went into deep thought.

After a while, he spoke.

"I don't know, the Riemann zeta function is beyond my research field… but what you said reminds me of the BGS conjecture, whereby the quantum system described by a random Hermitian matrix corresponds to a classic chaotic system under the classical limit."

The BGS conjecture was also known as the Bohigas–Giannoni–Schmit conjecture. It was one of the more important problems in the field of nuclear physics and theoretical physics. This conjecture was supported by various numerical calculations, but so far, it had yet to be rigorously proven.

Luo Wenxuan stared at the notebook for a while. He then looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "What about you? What do you think is behind the Riemann hypothesis?"

"I think it might correspond to an unknown quantum system. It's definitely different from the familiar classic chaotic system… We might be able to use it and find things outside of the standard model."

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then asked, "Do you want to work together?"

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Chapter 874: Carry Me

Lu Zhou didn't have to wait for long.

He even began to wonder if this guy had even thought about it or not.

The moment the words left Lu Zhou's mouth, Luo Wenxuan nodded excitedly and replied, "Yes!"

"I think this has potential… A lot of potential!

"We might even discover a new physics theory!"

Regardless of what the real situation was, this clue was worth pursuing by any theoretical physicist.

Even if Lu Zhou didn't invite him to work together, he would have pursued this clue on his own. But now this Nobel Prize and Fields Medal big name was asking him to work together, he obviously had no reason to refuse.

In fact, he was more than happy to collaborate!

Lu Zhou looked at the flash of excitement in Luo Wenxuan's eyes, and he was a little startled.

After realizing that Luo Wenxuan wasn't joking, Lu Zhou spoke.

"Then I'll begin by giving you work… You'll be responsible for working on the theoretical physics side. I'll be working on the Riemann zeta function side."

Even though Lu Zhou had dabbled in theoretical physics before, his research was more focused on the calculations side. Also, researching the Riemann zeta function took up the majority of his time, not to mention he was still the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee. He just didn't have any time to work on theoretical physics.

"Great…" Luo Wenxuan fist-bumped Lu Zhou and said, "You're going to carry me."

"What do you mean carry, you're going to put your fair share as well!" Lu Zhou looked around the office and said, "Anyway… You plan on making your office a theme park or what?"

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "I'm just decorating, haven't you heard that quote from Einstein? Adding surprises to your life regulates your mood and can inspire you."

Lu Zhou: "I'm certain Einstein has never said those words before."

Luo Wenxuan laughed and said, "Regardless of who said it, just remember that it's true."

Even though Luo Wenxuan seemed like an unreliable person at times, he was quite a talented individual.

After all, he was a student of Witten. Even though he took a long time to graduate, that was because Witten's requirements were too tough, plus he was immature back then.

As for his academic achievements, he had four PLR and one Science published theses, which was impressive considering his age.

Not to mention that it was difficult to produce research results in the field of theoretical physics, as opposed to something like condensed matter physics. Even without his qualifications from Princeton and CERN, his experience alone could get him into the Changjiang Scholars Program.

Lu Zhou left Luo Wenxuan's office and went back to his own office.

Compared to Luo Wenxuan's office, his office still had an academic ambiance. His students and assistants were always working hard, at least when he was there.

However, even though the academic ambiance was richer, he felt like…

It wasn't as dynamic as Luo Wenxuan's office?

Lu Zhou sat at his desk and recalled what Luo Wenxuan said. He looked around his lightly-decorated office, thought for a second, then suddenly spoke.

"It's the holidays."

The office was unusually quiet.

No one seemed to know what Lu Zhou was trying to say, so they didn't respond.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before asking, "Should we… decorate the office?"

Lu Zhou was asking for reassurance.

However…

The office still stayed quiet.

With no one responding to him, Lu Zhou felt a little embarrassed. He put his notebook into his drawer, packed his things, and went out to get some food instead.

However, the moment he stepped out of the door, the office was no longer quiet.

"Did I hear him correctly, Professor Lu wants to… decorate the office?" said a master's student. Her eyes were wide open.

Sitting next to her was a graduate student wearing box-shaped glasses, and he said, "Yeah, pigs are starting to fly! I didn't expect Professor Lu to be the festive type."

"That's because you don't know him well enough," Lin Yuxiang said as she put down the pen in her hand. She proudly continued, "Even though Professor Lu doesn't seem like he cares about the small things in life, after you get to know him, you'll find out that he's actually a fun and festive person."

Kong Jie, who was nearby, rolled her eyes.

All you've done is brought him food.

Why are you making it sound like you're very close to him?

However, the new female master's student was gullible, and she asked curiously, "Like what?"

"Like when he's ordering takeout."

"Takeout… I'm worried about Professor Lu's health, eating out all day is not good."

"Yeah yeah, he should just find a girlfriend to cook for him."

The three women began to gossip. One second they were talking about Professor Lu's eating habits, the next second they were talking about Professor Lu's type.

Zhao Huan, who was normally quiet, looked at the three girls chatting. She suddenly looked up and said, "Um…"

Lin Yuxiang looked at her and said, "What?"

Zhao Huan: "I feel like all the basic girls I know talk about Professor Lu's type…"

Everyone: "…"

The conversation died.

The office became quiet again.

No one talked about Professor Lu's type or plans on decorating the office.

Han Mengqi, who was sitting at her desk, didn't participate in the conversation. She sighed and twirled the pen in her hand.

Speaking of which, it's almost Christmas…

Even though she wasn't a festive person, when she saw pictures of her friends with their boyfriends, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

"So frustrating…"

Han Mengqi scratched her head and sighed.

Sometimes she didn't know exactly what was frustrating, she just felt annoyed.

I wonder if sis will hang out with Lu Zhou on Christmas Day.

Even though this had nothing to do with her, she still wanted Chen Yushan to get with Lu Zhou. This way, Lu Zhou would be her brother-in-law.

But when she thought about this, for some reason, she became even more frustrated…

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Chapter 875: Genetics

The thing that frustrated the little girl didn't happen.

At night, she lay in bed awake, struggling to fall asleep. She decided to take the initiative and message Chen Yushan. They made plans to watch a movie tomorrow.

Lu Zhou, on the other hand, didn't have any plans for Christmas. Like usual, he sat in his office and did what he was supposed to do.

Back when he was living in Princeton, he used to celebrate Christmas, but he stopped that tradition ever since he returned back to China.

However, that might be because he didn't have anyone to celebrate with.

Most of these "foreign" festivals were treated as another Valentine's Day. People who didn't have a significant other generally stayed inside.

However, he suddenly saw a movie ticket appear in front of him.

"Wanna watch a movie together?"

Lu Zhou looked up and saw Luo Wenxuan with the ticket in his hand. Luo Wenxuan had a smile on his face, as if he was suggesting something.

Lu Zhou paused for a second.

I feel like he's trying to…

Tell me to say no?

Lu Zhou spoke with a hint of uncertainty.

"I'm not… free?"

"Ah, you're not free? I even bought two tickets, I wanted to go with you." Luo Wenxuan scratched his head and looked around the office for Assistant Kong. He said, "So unfortunate…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

I can't take this anymore…

I'm going to puke.

It's not like this guy is 15 years old, why is he being so cringed? Even I'm embarrassed for him.

Assistant Kong, who was sitting near the window, didn't react at all. She didn't even notice what was going on. Luo Wenxuan was about to give up when Assistant Lin happened to walk in.

"Midnight showing?" Lin Yuxiang said while she read the ticket. She looked at Luo Wenxuan suspiciously and said, "You're asking Professor Lu to watch a movie… at midnight?

"Two guys watching a movie at midnight, it's not even the premiere…"

Lu Zhou, who was drinking tea, nearly spat out his tea.

Jesus Christ, this guy is a savage!

Midnight showing on the first date?

Luo Wenxuan, who was standing by Lu Zhou's desk, quickly began to explain.

"No, um… The midnight showing is cheaper."

However, his explanation wasn't believable.

Not to mention this explanation didn't make sense.

A scientific research professor with tens of millions in research funding, cared about a movie ticket price?

Forget about it!

Assistant Lin recalled that Luo Wenxuan always came to Professor Lu's office without any intentions. At most, he would drink some tea.

Maybe… Luo Wenxuan is interested in Professor Lu?

Luo Wenxuan regretted speaking the moment the words left his mouth.

However, it was too late.

He noticed that a few people in the office began looking at him.

Assistant Kong's reaction hurt him the most. Her look of surprise was like an arrow that pierced through his heart.

Nothing is wrong with swinging the other way, but I'm not that kind of person!

Lin Yuxiang said, "You spent all that money decorating your office, but you can't spend a little more on a movie ticket?"

Luo Wenxuan: "…"

He didn't want to say anything.

When Lin Yuxiang saw that Professor Luo went silent, she suddenly smiled.

"How about this, I'll buy the tickets off you, I'll go watch the movie with Professor Lu."

Luo Wenxuan just wanted to clarify the situation, so he immediately responded, "Sure! No problem!"

Han Mengqi: "?!!!"

Lu Zhou looked around the office and coughed.

"You guys… haven't asked me yet."

Lin Yuxiang's eyes were shining with anticipation as she looked at Lu Zhou. Her hands were held together in front of her chest.

"Um…"

Lu Zhou: "Don't have time, not going."

Lin Yuxiang: "…"

Kong Jie, who was sitting near the window, laughed out loud.

That laugh blew away the awkwardness in the room.

The office finally quieted down. Luo Wenxuan stood frozen in front of Lu Zhou's desk. Lu Zhou looked at him and shook his head.

This guy…

Should just give up…

…

Lu Zhou wasn't going to watch the movie.

Much less a midnight showing.

Other than mathematics, there was nothing he would stay up to 12 o'clock in the morning for. Maybe other than physics.

Lu Zhou kept working until sunset. Most of the people in his office had left since then. Lu Zhou stretched his back and stood up.

The moment he stood up, he received a WeChat call.

He glanced at his phone and picked up the video call from Xiao Tong.

The moment the call was connected, he saw that familiar face on his phone.

"Brother! I miss you!"

Xiao Tong was in her pajamas, and she excitedly put her phone in front of her face.

They hadn't seen each other in over a year.

She looked a little skinner, but other than that, she looked exactly the same.

Lu Zhou looked at his sister through his phone and smiled.

"If you miss me, just look into the mirror. We don't look alike, but we do come from the same genes."

Xiao Tong: "Yeah, but I have better genes!"

Lu Zhou smiled and didn't say anything.

There wasn't any point arguing with her. Lu Zhou knew well in his heart who had better genetics.

"So, why are you suddenly calling me?"

Xiao Tong paused for a second. She then put on a pouty face.

"Brother, it's New Year's Eve soon."

"Yeah."

"I want a present!"

"No problem…" Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Go on, what do you want, nothing too expensive."

"Haha, okay then, I'll send you my wish list."

Suddenly, Lu Zhou saw a notification on his phone. Xiao Ai's text message popped up.

[Master, you have mail. ~(๑•̀ᄇ•́)و]

How long is her wish list?

Long enough to send it through email I guess…

However, Lu Zhou wasn't worried. Forget about clothes or purses, he could easily buy her a house or two without putting a dent in his bank account.

Lu Zhou clicked the email and saw the email title.

However, the second he saw the attachment in the email, he froze.

[Study on the Impact of Welfare Policies on Macroeconomics Based on the Bewley Model]

He had heard a little bit about the Bewley model before. When he was in Princeton, a Nobel laureate in economics told him about it. Apparently, it was one of the hardest and most quantitative economics concepts.

Using Fortran 90 to run a Krusell Smith Bewley model could easily take hours. Designing the mathematical model could often take years.

Compared to these macroeconomic models, the mathematical modeling competition seemed like a child's play, easy.

However, Lu Zhou didn't know a lot about Bewley's model at all. After all, most of his friends at Princeton were in the pure mathematics field, and they weren't interested in money.

At most, they were interested in spending money…

Lu Zhou suddenly realized what was going on. He looked at his phone and said impatiently, "Do your own homework!"

F*ck sake!

Asking a Fields Medal medalist to write a master's student homework, what a joke!

"But brother!"

Lu Zhou said, "Don't pout, it won't work."

Xiao Tong frowned and said, "This is too difficult, I'm not a mathematics major… I didn't know I was going to be assigned such a difficult research project, just help me please."

Lu Zhou didn't believe her. He shook his head and replied, "How hard can a master's thesis be."

"Look at the attachment! You'll see how hard it is."

Lu Zhou couldn't stand Xiao Tong's nagging anymore, so he sighed and looked at his computer. He reluctantly agreed to take a look.

However, after he downloaded the attachment, he had a strange look in his eyes.

Even though he didn't know a lot about economic theory, the mathematical model shown in the project was definitely beyond the abilities of a master's student.

Even his student He Changwen from Jin Ling University would take a while to tackle this model.

"What a supervisor you have… Anyone who hasn't done functional analysis would have a hell of a time mastering the model."

Xiao Tong said, "I told you, this is impossible!"

Lu Zhou: "Are you sure your supervisor gave you this assignment?"

Xiao Tong nodded and said, "Yeah! Why would I choose such a difficult topic for my graduation thesis?"

Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, "How about this, I can't write it for you, this is your thesis. But I can co-author it with you. You can do the economics theory side, and I'll do the mathematics side."

"Really? You agree?! Fantastic, there's still hope! Love you!" Xiao Tong kissed the phone screen and lay on her couch as she smiled and said, "You're the best!"

"Ok enough, also, I have one request."

Xiao Tong stood up from the couch and said, "Go on, I'll do anything, do you want a girlfriend? The office next door has plenty of chesty blondes."

"No need for that," Lu Zhou said. "You have to submit the thesis after it is completed. I don't care about being the first or second author, but I have to be the corresponding author."

When Xiao Tong heard Lu Zhou's request, she paused for a second. She suddenly frowned.

"But… I'm worried my supervisor won't agree. I'm about to graduate, what if he doesn't let me graduate?"

When it came to academia, the students were slaves to their supervisors.

The supervisors were usually the communicating author.

Xiao Ai was scared she wasn't going to graduate.

Lu Zhou knew Xiao Tong would say this, but he didn't seem to be concerned.

He smiled and replied, "Tell him to do it and see what happens.

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Chapter 876: Done in an Hour

Even though Lu Zhou wasn't familiar with economics, at a place like Princeton, any field of study related to mathematics more or less would be studied by mathematicians.

Especially when it came to economics.

It was very difficult to create novel economics theories using traditional research methods.

Therefore, if one wanted to create outstanding economics research, mathematics was their only way. Even though traditional economists had criticized this approach, it had helped countless students graduate with a degree.

In fact, mathematics was a life-saving tool for any field that required quantitative analysis. It could extract value from seemingly useless data. It all depended on how well one applied mathematical tools to their own area.

Hence, even though Lu Zhou wasn't interested in economics, whenever he was at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study cafe, he would talk about some of the more simple mathematics problems with economics professors.

After being at Princeton for many years, Lu Zhou had interacted with countless big names in economics.

Not only had he talked with Nobel Prize laureates, but he was even friends with Nature and Science editors.

Anyone with a normal IQ wouldn't want to piss off Lu Zhou by withholding a master's student's degree…

As for why Lu Zhou wanted to be the corresponding author…

Not because he cared about his name on the thesis, he just didn't want Xiao Tong's supervisor to take advantage of her.

Even though Xiao Tong was still a little worried, seeing how confident her brother was, she didn't argue anymore. After talking about their parents for a while, Lu Zhou felt hungry and hung up the phone.

Lu Zhou closed his laptop and took out his phone to order take out. He then opened Xiao Tong's unfinished thesis and began reading it.

"Let me have a look…"

Even though he wasn't very familiar with the Bewley model, anything related to mathematics was a piece of cake for him.

After all, no matter how complex the model was, it was less complicated and chaotic than a plasma turbulence system. The Bewley model was much simpler compared to the Navier–Stokes equations and the plasma turbulence system.

Lu Zhou could confidently say he was the world-leading expert on functional analysis.

Occasionally thinking about simpler problems was good for his research.

His takeout hadn't arrived yet, so he decided to kill this time by doing some relaxing problems.

With a pen in one hand and a mouse in another, Lu Zhou quickly read through the thesis and began writing down calculations.

"It's an easy question, but interesting… Who did I talk to about this problem? I don't remember.

"Why is she using the Lagrange multiplier method to optimize each processing step?" Lu Zhou said as he read through the calculation part of the thesis.

A few seconds went by.

"Just use the endogenous grid method…" Lu Zhou muttered to himself as he wrote down a line of calculations.

"The endogenous grid method is a little cumbersome. Optimizing the original mathematical model can save at least 20% of the calculations… Maybe even 25%."

This problem wasn't even considered a problem.

Lu Zhou was inspired right at the finish line.

He wrote down the last line of equations and leaned back in his chair. He directed his laptop camera to his notes.

"Xiao Ai, tidy this for me.

"Also use the Bewley model to compile a new algorithm for my model."

Xiao Ai: [Okay~! (゚゚)]

Xiao Ai was just as fast as Lu Zhou, it scanned the notes and soon sorted out the mathematical model. It even corrected some of the mistakes Lu Zhou might have made.

Lu Zhou looked at the LaTeX, and once he made sure there were no mistakes, he nodded at the computer.

The model was then uploaded to the quantum computer located underground at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. A few seconds later, the quantum computer finished calculating.

Xiao Ai: [Algorithm compilation complete! (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و]

Xiao Ai: [Using 12,777 sets of random parameters, the numerical calculation results of the improved mathematical model are consistent with the original model. Dispersion is reduced by 13%, computing efficiency is increased by 21%. ( *)]

He didn't know what dispersion meant, but the 21% increase in computing efficiency was what he had expected.

Is it kind of cheating to use a quantum computer on a master's thesis?

Screw it, who cares.

It's for my sister.

Besides, electricity is cheap anyway…

Lu Zhou looked at his computer and said, "Send an email, attach the mathematical model and algorithm."

Xiao Ai: [Okay, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و]

Lu Zhou looked at the string of texts and suddenly remembered something. "Oh yeah, remember not to use emoticons in the email, just send it normally."

Xiao Ai: [Σ (っД;) っ]

Lu Zhou: "…?"

Even though Lu Zhou didn't know what this emoticon meant, he didn't want to ruin his handsome and reliable image by sending his little sister an emoticon.

Five minutes went by.

He received a reply from Xiao Tong.

The email was very short, it only contained three symbols…

[? ? ?]

Lu Zhou looked at the three symbols and smirked.

Xiao Tong probably didn't expect me to solve her problem in one hour.

"Oh yeah, it's been an hour, where is my takeout?"

Lu Zhou rubbed his stomach and took out his phone. He was about to call the delivery driver when he saw that his takeout was delivered twenty minutes ago.

The f*ck?

Who took my takeout?

He was so concentrated on the problem he didn't look at his phone at all.

Lu Zhou was muddled. Suddenly, he heard the office door knock. Wang Peng walked in with a plastic bag.

"Your orange chicken on rice," Wang Peng said as he placed the plastic bag on the table. He sighed and said, "Can we talk about something? If you want to eat anything, I'll buy it for you. Stop ordering take out, you're just giving me more trouble."

"It's just easier to order on my phone." Lu Zhou took out the styrofoam box from the plastic bag and said, "Speaking of which, why did you pick up the food?"

Wang Peng: "It's safer this way."

Lu Zhou: "So, my security level has increased again?"

Wang Peng nodded.

"Yeah."

Wang Peng had no reason to lie about this.

When the controllable fusion reactor research was at a critical stage, the local military increased the security level for Lu Zhou's house. That didn't go away until the Pangu fusion reactor was connected to the power grid.

Even though this situation wasn't as extreme as the controllable fusion reactor, the carbon-based chips determined the future of the Chinese semiconductor industry, so they were being extra diligent.

While opening the disposable chopsticks, Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng.

Wang Peng was a little confused by this look, so Lu Zhou coughed and asked, "You didn't… test it by… taking a bite, right?"

Lu Zhou was a little germaphobic…

Sharing food like hotpot was fine, but outside of that, he wasn't comfortable with people touching his food.

"Of course not!" Wang Peng was astounded, and he said, "It's the 21st century, who does that anymore? Don't worry, Doctor Yan did a simple test on it, it's definitely safe."

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck sake!

You did a germ test on my food?! No wonder it took so long to get here!

I was so close to leaving the driver a bad review!

After hearing Wang Peng's explanation, Lu Zhou didn't know what to do.

Doctor Yan did test it…

But she's done dodgy things in the past…

Lu Zhou still remembered when she asked for a sip of his coke a year ago.

Actually, she didn't ask, she just took it.

Lu Zhou looked at the styrofoam box and began to think.

Should I eat it or not?

What do I do…

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Chapter 877: Growth

Finally, faced with a grumbling stomach, Lu Zhou made a decision. He decided not to think about what happened to his takeout. He finished eating in no time.

The orange chicken on rice was delicious.

The contrast between sweetness and sourness was wonderful. Lu Zhou's stomach was totally satisfied.

While Lu Zhou was eating his delicious meal, Xiao Tong, who was all the way at the University of Oxford, was looking at the mathematical model and algorithm sent by her brother.

She ignored the strange emoticons in the email…

The mathematical model was totally beyond her understanding of functional analysis and statistics, and it completely subverted her understanding of the Bewley model.

It was difficult to describe this type of feeling.

It was as if she thought everything regarding this subject was contained in a house, but she suddenly discovered a back door that led to a whole new world.

What shocked her more was that Lu Zhou did this all in an hour…

She heard footsteps from outside the office.

After knocking on the door twice, a woman in her thirties opened the door and walked in.

She was wearing a gray and black professional attire. Judging from the way she entered the office, she clearly frequently visited this office.

Her name was Ansley, and she was also researching under Professor Forster. She received her master's degree last year and was now doing her PhD.

"Tong, Professor Forster told me to ask you if you can submit the thesis before the Christmas break is over?"

Xiao Tong was still staring at the computer screen, and she nodded blankly.

"I can…"

What else am I supposed to say?

I just have to tidy up the thesis and submit it, I might even be able to go home for New Year's Eve…

If I can still buy a flight ticket…

"Can you really?" Ansley looked surprised, and she quietly said, "He also specifically said that, if you can't do it, you can consider finishing it as your PhD project…"

Xiao Tong woke up from her daydream and realized what Ansley was trying to say. She hesitated for a bit before shaking her head.

"Tell Professor Forster I said thanks, even though I want to continue down the path of academia… I want to go to a higher place."

Xiao Tong could tell that Professor Forster didn't want her to leave.

Professor Forster had tried many times to convince Xiao Tong to do a PhD under him.

As for the reason…

The reason was simple, it was because of her brother…

Ansley sighed and tried to persuade Xiao Tong.

"But I think Professor Forster is an excellent macroeconomics researcher. Besides, you know how it is, a lot of times it's not because Forster is lacking in ability, he just needs the right opportunity."

Xiao Tong took a deep breath and said, "You know who Lu Zhou is? He's my brother."

The conversation froze.

The office went quiet for a few seconds.

"I… know." Ansley opened her mouth and shrugged. She then said, "I admit, you have an excellent brother, a lot better than my brother, who only learned how to cook pancakes last year. But why are you bringing him up?"

Xiao Tong answered with a little frustration in her tone, "As long as I stay in the Oxford campus, people will go, look, that's Lu Zhou's sister. Even legislators call me Lu Zhou's sister…"

She took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling as she rolled her eyes and said, "And those fangirls, listening to them makes me want to vomit."

This type of situation didn't just happen at Oxford, it was the same at Jin Ling University.

Even though she was grateful to those who were kind to her, all of her success seemed to come too easy, and it didn't make any sense.

Because of her brother, it was like she was cheating at life. She would get any scholarship, student exchange, or conference that she applied to.

All it took for her to get into the University of Oxford was a recommendation letter. All of the professors wanted her.

This was obviously a good thing.

She knew how lucky she was.

However, even though she was grateful for everything her brother did for her, she didn't want to live under his umbrella for the rest of her life.

Even though it sounded easy and comfortable, it would mean that she could never grow as a person and feel truly fulfilled.

That wasn't the life she wanted.

Ansley opened her mouth and didn't know what to say.

She suddenly felt like Xiao Tong was a stranger, as if she had never met Xiao Tong before.

After a while, she spoke with an uncertain tone.

"Maybe… You're too sensitive?"

Xiao Tong stared at Ansley and said with a stern voice, "I'm not, Professor Forster accepted me to study a master's degree with him, is that because of me? No! He probably barely knows my name, but he'll never forget my brother's name."

"I want to achieve something that can be recognized by other people. At least for them to stop calling me Lu Zhou's sister. For them to call me Miss Lu!"

Ansley looked at Xiao Tong's determined face and knew she couldn't be convinced otherwise.

Honestly speaking, Ansley was impressed with this young girl.

However, she didn't know what Xiao Tong meant by a higher place.

Wouldn't it be the same at any other university?

The economics world was closely related to the mathematics world. Even if she left Oxford and went to Cambridge, it would be the same.

"But… Other than Oxford, where else do you want to go?"

"Princeton!"

Ansley looked stunned, so Xiao Tong added with a confident manner, "I hope that one day, I can be like him, with my name in the Hall of Fame!"

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Chapter 878: Fireplace

The day after Christmas, it started to snow in Jin Ling City.

The snow made Lu Zhou think back to when he was in Princeton, of the fireplace in his old house. Whenever it used to snow in New Jersey, he would study in the living room instead. His back would be against the sofa, and he would sit on the ground while facing the fireplace.

Even though he was far from the age of being nostalgic…

When he saw the snow falling outside the window, he couldn't help but miss his old life.

He was sitting in the living room. He grabbed a dumpling, dipped it in vinegar, then stuffed it in his mouth. He looked at the white pine trees outside his window and suddenly said, "I want to install a fireplace here."

Wang Peng looked around the living room and asked, "Is it not warm enough?"

Lu Zhou looked at him with a strange expression and said, "It's not cold, I just want one."

Wang Peng paused for a second and said, "Okay then… Do you need me to do anything?"

Lu Zhou said, "No, unless you know how to lay bricks."

Lu Zhou was joking. He didn't expect Wang Peng to take it seriously. Wang Peng contemplated it for a while and answered, "The General Staff Department has people in that expertise."

Lu Zhou: "Are you a genie?"

Why do you have everything?

Wang Peng: "…?"

In the end, Lu Zhou didn't ask the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department to build a fireplace for him. Instead, he contacted the design company that originally constructed the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

After all, using state resources for his little fireplace was a little overkill.

Lu Zhou didn't like two things, one was to ask others for help, and the second was to overreact over small matters.

Other than being handsome and smart, he didn't think he was better than others in any way. He didn't need special treatment.

Instead, he would feel more comfortable if other people treated him normally.

That was one of the reasons he was still single.

The construction company took Lu Zhou's phone call very seriously.

Even though compared to nine-figure projects, a small fireplace was a drop in the ocean, the construction company still had the highest level of professionalism. The next day, they sent a team of designers to Lu Zhou's home. By night time, they sent the design drawings and asking price to Lu Zhou.

Some were Victorian style, others were modern minimalistic style, and there were even some that were of the classic retro red brick style. There were a total of 15 designs, all of which were made according to Lu Zhuo's living room layout. Each design even included a set of handmade wool rugs.

Lu Zhou looked at the price and began to wonder if the company was even making money on this project.

The asking price was 5,000 yuan, including the carpet. Lu Zhou couldn't help but want to increase the price.

"Are you sure about the price?"

The sales lady put on a professional smile and politely replied to Lu Zhou, "It's fine, don't worry, you're an important client for our company. Giving our clients the best price has always been the company's leading philosophy."

Lu Zhou was baffled. He looked at the design plans and pinched his eyebrows as he said, "My math might be wrong here… But why does this come with a rug that is worth four times the asking price?"

The sales lady smiled and said, "This is our VIP discount."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Discount my a*!

Lu Zhou wasn't going to stop them from saving him money. He hesitated for a bit and chose his favorite design.

"We'll go with this one then."

The sales lady circled the design Lu Zhou wanted and asked politely, "Okay then, we'll install it for you as soon as possible. What time is convenient for you?"

"Anytime is fine, preferably the afternoon…" Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng, who was standing next to the sofa. He then asked, "Are you free this afternoon?"

Wang Peng gave the same answer he always gave him.

"I am available 24 hours a day."

Lu Zhou nodded and looked at the saleslady.

"We'll do two to six every afternoon… How long will it take?"

The saleslady gave him a glamorous smile.

"Three days at the latest."

Actually, Lu Zhou didn't have to wait for three days. The fireplace was installed on the night of the second day.

Lu Zhou politely declined the offer from the saleslady to install floor heating pipes for free. After Lu Zhou paid the 5,000 yuan fee, he bid farewell to the construction people. He then immediately ignited the smokeless charcoal he bought and made a fire in his fireplace.

Lu Zhou sat on his new wool rug, leaning against his sofa. He listened to the fire crackling and felt the warm fire on his body. He yawned and felt sleepy.

"So nice…"

He stretched his back and was about to fall asleep. However, his phone suddenly rang.

When Lu Zhou saw the caller ID, he immediately picked up the phone.

The other end of the phone spoke first.

"Sweetheart, how are you?"

"I'm doing good, Mom, not as busy as last year," Lu Zhou said with a relaxed smile on his face. He paused for half a second before asking, "How are you and Dad doing?"

Fang Mei's face lit up the second she heard the word "Mom". She had a hearty smile on her face as she spoke.

"Don't worry about us, we're doing good. Your dad is retiring in a few years, so he doesn't have to do much at work these days. All he does is drink tea and read the news. If it weren't for me making him exercise, I couldn't even imagine what he would be like. I just called to see how you're doing, I didn't interrupt your work, right?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Of course not, you're more important than work."

Fang Mei said, "Don't say that, your career is growing, don't focus on me and Dad. We don't need you to worry about us. But I just hope you don't burn out, health is always the most important… Oh yeah, are you busy after New Year's Day? If you are, your dad and I can come to look after you."

Lu Zhou didn't want to give them more trouble, so he said, "No no, it's fine, I'm good! I'm not busy this time of the year, so I'll go back home instead."

Fang Mei sighed and said, "You're such a good kid, just too polite."

Lu Zhou was perplexed.

"Mom, what are you talking about… I'm not being polite, I just haven't been home in so long, and I miss you guys. Anyway, don't come to Jinling, I'll drive back home this year."

Even though his research was important, it wasn't as important as his family.

Not to mention that the Riemann hypothesis wasn't something he could solve overnight. He had just finished solving the Quasi Riemann hypothesis, so he needed some time to chill out and relax his mind.

Of course, more importantly, his parents were getting old. Lu Zhou wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.

Also, everything at the lunar orbit project was going according to plan, so he, as the chief consultant, didn't have to do anything.

If the plan needed to be changed or something unexpected happened, he would obviously stop his scientific research and go fulfill his duties.

Fang Mei could tell that Lu Zhou really did have time to go back home this year. She finally relaxed and smiled.

She obviously wanted her son to come home. Even though her son had a big mansion in Jinling, she had lived in Jiangling her entire life. Jiangling was her roots, and all of their family friends were in Jiangling.

This was why they never agreed to move to Jinling, even with Lu Zhou asking many times.

"Good good, I'll make you some dumplings, don't think about work all day… Sigh, I used to tell you to study hard so that you would have a good future. Your dad and I never thought it would be like this. We just hope you're not in a laboratory all day eating takeout. Go out sometimes, meet some new people."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "I'm trying to change, also don't believe everything you see on documentaries. Whether it's mathematics or physics research, everyone has to meet new people."

The stereotype of the loner scholar didn't exist anymore.

Even Lu Zhou couldn't cut all outside contact with the world and lock himself in a room. He needed at least arXiv and some other theses databases.

Fang Mei: "Anyway, I just hope you're happy. Your dad and I just want a grandson. That's all we want."

Lu Zhou said, "Um… We'll talk about that later, there definitely will be one."

Fang Mei didn't seem to believe Lu Zhou, but she still smiled and spoke as if she was comforting herself.

"I hope so…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Even though Lu Zhou knew his mom wasn't trying to give him pressure, he still felt like his heart was just stabbed…

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