In a hallway on the fourth floor of the School of Mathematics at Yan University, Li Dong arrived at Tian Gang’s office door.
Pushing the door open, Li Dong saw Tian Gang sitting behind his desk with a helpless expression.
"Come in, have a seat."
Li Dong obediently sat down across from Tian Gang.
Tian Gang began to speak, his tone half-admonishing and half-resigned.
"Your Teacher Liu came to me to complain. He said you haven’t attended any math-related classes for a while now."
The Teacher Liu that Tian Gang mentioned was, of course, Liu Ruochuan.
Truth be told, Tian Gang had recently decided to stop competing with Liu Ruochuan for Li Dong as a student.
Was it because he didn’t want to?
Of course not.
The main reason was that last week, he had run into Gao Yuanlin from the School of Physics.
Gao Yuanlin had sidled up with a grin and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Old Tian, Li Dong is truly gifted in mathematical physics. How about you let us at the School of Physics spend some more time with him when you can?"
At the time, Tian Gang hadn’t caught the underlying meaning, thinking it was just polite chatter.
It wasn’t until he returned to his office that he finally parsed the real meaning behind those words...
’So the School of Physics was trying to poach him!’
What right did Gao Yuanlin have to snatch a student from him, Tian Gang?
Tian Gang’s face darkened on the spot, and he nearly smashed his teacup.
But then he thought of someone else, and his expression turned strange.
’Well...’
’Let them fight over him, then.’
’Li Dong is Liu Ruochuan’s student, after all. If he can’t keep an eye on him, who’s to blame?’
With this line of thought, everything suddenly became clear. He decided to wash his hands of it and see if Liu Ruochuan could hold on to this prized treasure that was Li Dong.
Back in the office, Li Dong wore a similarly helpless expression after hearing what Tian Gang had to say.
"Teacher Tian, you can’t blame me for this. It was Teacher Liu who told me to get some proper rest and not push myself too hard."
He said this with a completely sincere look on his face.
His words made Tian Gang laugh in exasperation.
"Rest?"
"And your idea of rest is going to the School of Chemistry?"
"To attend Professor Zhang’s classes?"
Li Dong replied matter-of-factly, "At least I don’t have to work on a research project."
Then he added silently to himself.
’At least, not for now.’
Tian Gang was taken aback for a moment.
’Hmm... I guess there’s nothing wrong with that logic.’
So he decided not to argue the point with Li Dong any further.
Instead, he said directly,
"Do as you please, but don’t forget that mathematics is your foundation."
Then, changing the subject,
"Did you submit that paper of yours? Where did you send it?"
"I submitted it to the Mathematical Annals."
Li Dong answered crisply.
"Are you confident it will be accepted?" Tian Gang looked at him seriously.
Li Dong made an "OK" sign with his hand.
"Don’t worry, Teacher Tian."
’The bonus already came through. How could I not be confident?’
Tian Gang didn’t know what he was thinking, but seeing his confidence, he nodded.
Since Li Dong himself was so sure, he wouldn’t say any more about it.
All they could do was wait for a response from the Mathematical Annals.
"If this one gets accepted..."
Tian Gang mused with a sigh.
"You’ll have three papers published in top journals."
"If this one passes review, the Fields Medal will basically be a sure thing."
"And after that... the Abel Prize, the Wolf Prize..."
"You could very well win the grand slam."
He looked at Li Dong earnestly.
"Have you ever thought about just focusing on mathematics and delving deeper down this path?"
Li Dong looked back at him just as earnestly.
"Teacher Tian."
"I’m only a freshman."
Tian Gang didn’t understand what he meant.
"So?"
"Haven’t I delved deep enough already?"
After saying that, Li Dong added, not in the least bit modestly,
"I’m already a pretty big deal in the world of mathematics, wouldn’t you say?"
Tian Gang didn’t deny it.
To deny it would be to lie to himself.
If this paper was also published in the Mathematical Annals, Li Dong’s reputation in the mathematical community might truly be on par with someone of Terence Tao’s caliber.
A freshman.
In Huaxia, at Yan University, this was something completely unprecedented.
If this didn’t count as delving deep, then who in the world did?
Seeing that Tian Gang didn’t object, Li Dong continued,
"That’s why I want to go and explore other fields."
As he spoke, there was a light in his eyes.
It was the light of a desire to explore the unknown, a pure thirst for knowledge.
Tian Gang had seen that light before.
Back when he was studying at Princeton, a few of his peers who later rose to prominence had that very same light in their eyes.
Li Dong paused, then added,
"But I won’t give up on mathematics, Teacher Tian."
"After all, without mathematics as a tool, I won’t be able to get very far in other fields."
Hearing this, Tian Gang finally felt a little relieved.
"Mm."
"As long as you don’t give up on math, that’s fine."
The words had barely left his mouth when Li Dong delivered the final blow.
"Especially physics. It’s even more inseparable from math."
Tian Gang’s face immediately darkened again.
He was once again reminded of Gao Yuanlin’s smarmy grin.
"Get out, get out, get out."
Tian Gang waved his hand dismissively.
"I told you to rest, not to study. You seem to misunderstand the meaning of the word ’rest.’"
Li Dong chuckled slyly.
His laugh only made Tian Gang more disgruntled. Remembering something else, his face grew stern again.
"Sometime this weekend, go buy yourself a nice set of clothes. Something formal."
Li Dong blinked. "What for?"
Tian Gang shot him an irritated glance.
"That seminar at Sunshine Hall last time... what on earth were you wearing?"
"I don’t go to formal events, so what I usually wear is fine," Li Dong muttered under his breath.
"Fine?" Tian Gang sneered.
"At the opening ceremony for new students next semester, you’ll be giving a speech as the representative of the upperclassmen."
"Huh?" Li Dong was stunned.
"Also..." Tian Gang continued.
"The university’s bonus for those journal articles you published has come through. You’ll need to cooperate with the university’s promotional activities."
The moment he heard "bonus," Li Dong’s interest was piqued.
"How much?"
Tian Gang rolled his eyes, exasperated by this money-grubbing attitude.
"Don’t ask me. You think I have time to worry about such trivial matters?"
"...Alright."
Li Dong said resignedly.
"I’ll go buy them this Saturday, then."
Tian Gang waved his hand, signaling that he could get lost.
Only then did Li Dong leave the office, satisfied.
As the door closed, Tian Gang leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.
In truth, he had been struggling with something for days.
Which path should Li Dong ultimately take?
Even if he did end up stepping into the world of physics, he would never be able to leave mathematics behind.
There was no doubt about that.
But as for the mathematics side of things...
He sighed again.
’Yan University really isn’t the best choice for Li Dong.’
’To be even more blunt, all of Huaxia might not be the best choice.’
’Princeton, the High Research Institute, the Ecole Normale Superieure de Paris, IHES...’
’Those are the places that can truly propel a Fields Medal candidate to the pinnacle of the world stage.’
’But Li Dong... he’s a special case.’
’That algorithm, and that whole business with Huaxuan National Power Equipment... Tian Gang knew about it.’
’So how could this knot be untied?’
Just as he was worrying about this, an English greeting came from his office doorway.
"Professor Tian, busy?"
It was Penrose, holding a cup of tea and strolling leisurely past.
Tian Gang answered casually.
"Not too busy. Where are you off to, Professor Penrose?"
"Mm, I’m headed to Professor Liu’s office. He said he bought some new fine tea."
With that, Penrose was on his way.
As Tian Gang watched his retreating back, a thought suddenly went DING in his head.
’Eh?’
’What if... I have Li Dong poach another professor?’
’If Li Dong’s paper gets published this time, it might not be impossible...’
The more he thought about it, the more feasible the idea seemed, and he couldn’t suppress a smile.
’But...’
’I can’t be the one to orchestrate this personally.’
’This has to be Liu Ruochuan’s job.’
Thinking of this, Tian Gang picked up his phone and sent a WeChat message to Liu Ruochuan.
[Ruochuan, come by for a chat when you have a moment.]

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