One moment, he was tearing through the abyss of algebraic geometry. The next, he was rubbing his stomach and complaining of hunger.
The old professor finally couldn’t take it anymore.
He pointed at Chen Zhuo and burst out laughing. The sound echoed through the spacious office, making the windowpanes tremble slightly.
"You little brat!"
Li Jianming chided with a laugh.
He walked over to his executive chair, picked up the gray knit vest, and put it on, fastening it one button at a time.
"No problem is bigger than dinner. Let’s go! Time to eat!"
With a wave of his hand, Li Jianming strode toward the door.
Halfway there, he suddenly stopped and turned to look at Wu Tao, who was still sitting on the sofa in a daze.
"Wu Tao!"
"Yes, Professor!"
Wu Tao quickly stood up.
"Take your notes and check them against the final equations on the blackboard, character by character! I want you to organize it all into a clean draft. You’ll have to figure out how to fill in the logical leaps yourself. If you get even one symbol wrong, you can forget about your thesis defense!"
Wu Tao’s face fell as he glanced at the blackboard covered in a feverish scrawl, then at the watch on his wrist.
It was 8:30 PM.
Wu Tao looked at his dozen-odd pages of messy notes, then back at the feverish scrawl covering the blackboard, and felt his will to live drain away.
"Professor, you two were making some huge leaps earlier... By the time I sort out the logic and copy out a clean draft, the cafeteria will definitely be closed."
Chen Zhuo walked over and patted Wu Tao’s shoulder.
"Thanks for the hard work, senior. Take your time with it."
Chen Zhuo smiled gently.
"The School of Physics just paid me a stipend. The professor and I are heading to the stir-fry counter at Cafeteria No. 2. When you’re done, come on over. I’ll treat you to some sweet and sour pork ribs."
Wu Tao’s eyes lit up when he heard that.
"The School of Physics paid you? How much? Enough for an order of braised beltfish?"
The image of the bank card holding two million yuan flashed through Chen Zhuo’s mind.
He nodded, his tone sincere.
"All the beltfish you can eat."
Li Jianming, who was listening to his two students’ conversation from the doorway, urged them on impatiently.
"Hurry up! Chen Zhuo, you’re with me. Don’t disturb his work."
Chen Zhuo agreed and followed Li Jianming out of the office.
The two of them walked down the stairs.
"Chen Zhuo."
Li Jianming, walking ahead with his hands clasped behind his back, suddenly spoke.
"Yes?"
Chen Zhuo responded.
"When the acceptance letter from the *Mathematical Annals* arrives, I’ll have the School handle it as quietly as possible. We won’t be publicizing your name for now."
Li Jianming didn’t turn around, his voice echoing in the empty stairwell.
Chen Zhuo raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
He didn’t really care about fame, but he was curious about Li Jianming’s decision.
"The tallest tree in the forest..."
Li Jianming paused.
"You’re only thirteen. A top-tier journal publication on graph theory is enough to make you a big name both in this country and abroad, but that’s not a good thing. You’ll be buried under conferences, social engagements, and titles. You won’t have any time to settle down and do real research."
Li Jianming rounded a corner, stopped, and turned back to look at Chen Zhuo.
"Besides, what we stumbled upon tonight... it’s too big."
The old professor’s eyes looked profound under the incandescent lights.
"The Hodge Conjecture. If even a whisper gets out that we’ve made progress on it—true or not—eyes from all over the world will be on you. You’ll become a target in the academic community."
Chen Zhuo nodded, showing he understood.
"Dean Fang had me sign an NDA. I guess he was also worried I’d run into trouble."
Chen Zhuo added casually.
"What do those brutes from the School of Physics know."
Li Jianming scoffed.
"They were trying to hide the technology. I’m trying to hide the person."
Li Jianming continued down the stairs.
"There’s not much more I can teach you here in our country. What you’re missing is the absolute highest level of knowledge and thinking in algebraic geometry. That’s not something you can get from a book. You need a mentor."
Li Jianming sighed.
"I’ll keep an eye out for opportunities abroad for you. For a problem of this caliber, you need to be somewhere with a sufficiently deep academic foundation."
Chen Zhuo followed behind him, saying nothing.
He understood what Li Jianming was saying.
They walked out of the School of Mathematics building.
The cool autumn night air against their faces was bracing.
In the distance, the lights of Cafeteria No. 2 glowed with a particular warmth against the night.
Students, finished with their evening study sessions, occasionally walked past in small groups, holding freshly bought grilled sausages or bubble tea.
Chen Zhuo took a deep breath of the air, which smelled of fallen leaves.
"Professor."
Chen Zhuo tilted his head, looking at the stubborn old man beside him.
"Actually, besides the sweet and sour pork ribs, we could also get some steamed sea bass today."
Chen Zhuo smiled warmly.
"The stipend Dean Fang gave me today was pretty generous. You could call it a gesture of goodwill from the School of Physics to our School of Mathematics."
Hearing these frivolous words, Li Jianming was so exasperated he felt like rapping Chen Zhuo on the head with the teacup he was holding.
"Unbelievable! Is that brain of yours only good for thinking about pork ribs and sea bass?!"
Li Jianming grumbled, but his pace quickened slightly.
"Walk faster. If we’re late, the chef at the stir-fry counter will have gone home for the night."
Chen Zhuo smiled and shook his head, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
Through the fabric, the bank card rested quietly against his chest. In his mind, fragments of the Hodge Conjecture continued to collide unconsciously.
’The two hardest things in the world.’
’Deciding what to eat, and what problem to solve.’
’You have to tackle them one at a time.’

Comments

Loading...