After returning from the restaurant, Li Dong pushed open the door to his room.
That name was still running through his mind.
Luo Yu.
’Who the hell is this guy, anyway?’
Li Dong tossed his keycard onto the desk and did a quick search on his laptop.
The first result was his faculty profile page at the Capital University School of Mathematical Sciences.
His CV was laid out neatly.
In his first year of high school, Luo Yu’s parents sent him to a private school in Switzerland. He did his undergrad at Princeton, then followed his advisor to G?ttingen for his master’s. For his PhD, he transferred to the Ecole Normale Supérieure de France to study under a mid-career professor from Frenkel’s lineage who had been making great strides in recent years.
Li Dong even had some impression of the professor.
His recent papers on the p-adic Langlands Program were highly cited internationally.
A real heavyweight.
Luo Yu was credited as the second or third author on several of his advisor’s main publications.
He had some sole-author papers as well, but they carried significantly less weight than the ones he was on with his advisor.
His own area of focus was the p-adic Langlands correspondence.
Li Dong stared at the words for a few seconds.
This was a subfield within the Langlands Program, leaning toward the number theory side.
Last year, Capital University had brought him back, giving him a position as a specially-appointed research fellow and his own team.
This past March, a domestic tech blog had published an article about him.
The headline read: "Two New Stars of the Huaxia Mathematical Community: Li Dong and Luo Yu."
Li Dong clicked on it, skimmed it for a moment, and closed the tab.
The article painted a glowing picture of Luo Yu’s resume.
Of course, it made Li Dong look just as impressive.
The two of them were mentioned in the same breath, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
But Li Dong felt a pang of indignation.
He wouldn’t comment on Luo Yu’s actual academic level.
But as for his character...
Li Dong remembered what the man had said in the restaurant: "I could join your group to give you a hand."
’No comment. The guy’s character is seriously lacking.’
He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.
’You, Murong Fu, think you’re worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as me, Qiao Feng?’
After that silent wisecrack, he shut his laptop and flopped onto the bed.
Snow was still falling outside the window.
He rolled over and was asleep within minutes.
...
「The next day.」
The 2023 Huaxia Mathematical Society Annual Academic Conference officially kicked off.
The grand ballroom on the first floor of the Shangri-La Hotel had been temporarily converted into the main hall for the conference.
When Li Dong pushed the doors open, the place was already packed.
There were still over twenty minutes until the official 9:00 a.m. start time, and most of the people who had arrived were gathered in small circles in the lounge area by the entrance, greeting each other.
At this kind of event, most people weren’t there for the content of the talks anyway.
There weren’t many opportunities during the year to get several generations of the country’s mathematicians all in one place. Getting to know a couple more people or striking up a new conversation made the trip worthwhile.
Li Dong was no exception.
He wanted to make a few more friends.
’Er... except for Luo Yu.’
Li Dong entered the hall, his gaze sweeping across the crowd. He quickly spotted Liu Ruochuan, who was laughing boisterously.
He was currently surrounded by several people.
Having just been elected as an academician in November, Liu Ruochuan was the man of the hour.
Then, as if sensing Li Dong’s gaze, Liu Ruochuan turned his head and spotted him.
He then waved Li Dong over.
Li Dong walked over.
"Professor, congratulations!"
Liu Ruochuan rolled his eyes at him.
"Congratulate me? That was over a month ago. Why are you only saying it now?"
Li Dong did feel a bit awkward.
Over a month ago, he had been in his apartment in Jinling, wrestling with that preliminary paper, and had completely forgotten about it.
So he said, feeling a little guilty.
"Better late than never, right?"
Liu Ruochuan couldn’t be bothered to respond.
Liu Ruochuan gestured to a man standing beside him who looked a few years older.
"Let me introduce you. This is Lei Zhen."
Lei Zhen.
Li Dong had heard the name before.
From the Fudan University School of Mathematical Sciences, he worked in the field of partial differential equations. His main focus was on fluid dynamics equations, and he had done solid work all the way from compressible and incompressible flows to magnetohydrodynamics.
A recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars and a Changjiang Scholar.
Now in his early fifties, he was at the prime age for an academician candidacy.
He had been on the shortlist for the past two elections but had fallen short at the final stage each time.
Many in the academic world thought highly of his chances.
Li Dong quickly extended a hand.
"Hello, Professor Lei."
Lei Zhen shook it with a cheerful laugh.
"Li Dong! I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time, but Yan University protects you too well. I’ve never had the chance."
Seeing that he was so approachable, Li Dong bantered back.
"Now Professor Lei, that’s not quite right. I just gave a public lecture at Fudan a little while ago."
Lei Zhen paused.
A rare look of embarrassment crossed his face.
"I was giving a lecture at another university that day... I couldn’t make it."
"In that case, I’m sure your lecture was packed to the gills."
Li Dong replied smoothly.
"Not at all, not at all." Lei Zhen waved his hand quickly. "On the contrary, I heard your lecture was the one that was standing room only."
"You’re too kind."
"..."
The two went back and forth, their compliments growing more and more exaggerated.
Standing to the side, Liu Ruochuan couldn’t listen anymore.
"Alright, alright, stop acting as each other’s hype man."
Lei Zhen let out a hearty laugh.
"Old Liu, you’re wrong about that."
"Were we saying anything but the facts?"
Liu Ruochuan rolled his eyes.
"Fine, fine, whatever you say."
He waved his hand dismissively, his gaze lingering on Lei Zhen for a moment.
"You should be in the next class of academicians, right?"
The smile on Lei Zhen’s face faltered, but it quickly returned.
"Whether I make academician or not, it doesn’t affect my research."
He said it so naturally.
But after hearing that, Li Dong was filled with admiration.
Li Dong had met very few people who could say the words "whether I make academician or not" with such a complete lack of emotion.
...
「9:00 a.m. sharp.」
The hall gradually fell silent.
The conference officially began.
The first person to take the stage was Tian Gang, the president of the Huaxia Mathematical Society.
Tian Gang delivered the opening address in his capacity as president, reviewing the overall development of mathematics in Huaxia over the past year.
Next came a video address from Nakajima Katsuhiko, president of the International Mathematical Union, which mainly discussed the recent vibrancy of the Huaxia Mathematical Community in the fields of representation theory and geometry.
After that, Qiu Chengtong spoke briefly as a representative of overseas Chinese mathematicians, focusing on the cultivation of talent in fundamental mathematics.
Finally, Tian Gang concluded with the line, "May Huaxia mathematics go ever further," drawing thunderous applause from the entire hall.
The 2023 Huaxia Mathematical Society Annual Academic Conference was officially open.
After the opening ceremony, the conference moved on to its main event: the presentation of its two major awards.
The Hua Luogeng Mathematics Prize and the Chen Shengshen Mathematics Prize.
The Hua Luogeng Prize was awarded to the older generation of mathematicians who had dedicated the better part of their lives and made the most significant contributions to the Huaxia Mathematical Community. It was a recognition of accumulated work.
The Chen Shengshen Prize, in contrast, was awarded to the most dynamic young and middle-aged mathematicians under the age of forty-five. It was a recognition of sheer talent and drive.
One recognized endurance, the other, momentum.
Both were the highest honors in the Huaxia Mathematical Community.
The two recipients of the Hua Luogeng Prize were invited to the stage first.
Peng Shige and Zhang Weiping.
Professor Peng Shige was one of the founders of the fields of financial mathematics and backward stochastic differential equations. The theory of nonlinear mathematical expectation he established had become a fundamental tool in the field.
Professor Zhang Weiping had been consistently producing work in index theory and characteristic classes for years, and his interdisciplinary work in geometric analysis was brilliant.
As the two senior professors took the stage, the entire hall rose to its feet in applause.
Li Dong, in the audience, also applauded earnestly.
The applause died down.
The host thanked the two Hua Luogeng Prize laureates and asked them to step down, then prepared to announce the Chen Shengshen Prize.
However, when the host began to announce the presenters for the award, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly changed.
"...And now, please welcome the presenters for this year’s Chen Shengshen Mathematics Prize, Mr. Qiu Chengtong and Mr. Tian Gang."
The hall fell silent for a moment.
It was immediately followed by a flurry of whispers as people put their heads together.
The feud between Qiu Chengtong and Tian Gang was practically an open secret in Huaxia’s mathematics circles.
Over the years, the number of times the two had shared a stage at a public event could be counted on one hand.
Let alone a sight like this—the two of them standing side-by-side to present an award.
And yet this time, they were both going on stage together.
Many people in the audience exchanged bewildered glances.
But those who were there for the drama just watched the drama unfold, and no one said a word out of place.
Li Dong was also stunned for a moment but quickly refocused his attention on the stage.
Qiu Chengtong was the first to speak.
He took the microphone and glanced at the card in his hand.
"The first recipient is—Fu Bao Hua."
Applause broke out in the audience.
Li Dong joined in the applause.
But a less-than-serious thought flashed through his mind.
’A winner of the Chen Shengshen Prize personally came to the airport to pick me up?’
’...Damn, I’m impressive.’
After that internal wisecrack, Li Dong quickly schooled his features.
Qiu Chengtong went on to describe Fu Bao Hua’s contributions over the years.
A series of works on the resolution of Xin Qi singularities, which pushed forward a problem in Algebraic Geometry that had been dormant for many years, with related results being widely cited by international peers...
Qiu Chengtong finished reading.
The expression on his face was a little stiff.
He passed the microphone to Tian Gang.
Tian Gang, however, accepted it naturally.
He gave Qiu Chengtong a slight nod, then turned to the audience with a smile.
He didn’t rush to speak.
Gradually, everyone in the audience turned to look at him.
Tian Gang paused for several seconds.
Waiting until all eyes were focused on him.
Only then did he raise the microphone.
His voice was clear and resonant.
"The second recipient."
"—Li Dong."

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