Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“F*ck me, this is nuts!”
Xu Chenyang’s hands were red from clapping. He usually never swore but he couldn’t help himself.
Although he wasn’t the person standing on stage, nor had he even met Lu Zhou before, he still couldn’t help but be excited. He was genuinely cheering from the bottom of his heart.
The Millennium Prize Problem that troubled the mathematics community was solved by a Chinese scholar.
This wasn’t just one person’s miracle.
It was a miracle for the entire country!
Xu Chenyang was certain that after today, even people who knew nothing about mathematics would read Lu Zhou’s name on television and newspapers.
This honor was even greater than the Fields Medal.
Rather, the Fields Medal would be honored to be awarded to Lu Zhou.
“…”
Zhang Wei sat next to Xu Chenyang; he stared at the man on stage and didn’t say anything.
He was completely shocked.
When Zhang Wei took off his glasses to wipe his foggy lens, he saw his own reflection in his glasses.
Originally, he was invited to do a 45-minute report. He didn’t expect to witness a historic moment.
CCTV had never broadcasted the Fields Medal award ceremony before. At most, they would include a snippet of the International Congress of Mathematicians.
However, tomorrow’s CCTV broadcast might be an exception.
But Lu Zhou didn’t really care about these things…
On stage.
The thunderous applause echoed in Lu Zhou’s ears. His heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest. When he looked at the crowd, he felt somewhat dissociated.
After ten seconds, he finally came back to life.
The applause gradually ended.
The audience sat back down.
Although his report had ended, the presentation didn’t.
Next up was the most crucial stage of the report.
Even though his report was stellar, even though he had successfully convinced many people, there were still doubts among people.
He would answer the questions one by one during the Q&A session.
His ability to successfully answer the questions would determine if his thesis would be accepted and recognized by the entire academic community…
…
The Q&A session was longer than Lu Zhou had thought.
Tao Zhexuan was the first to ask a question; it was about the L Manifold.
Then Fefferman, Qiu Chengtong…
Almost all of the big names in the partial differential equation field asked a question.
Lu Zhou provided detailed answers to all of these questions.
Time flew by quickly during the Q&A session.
By noon, the questions were still coming.
Everyone was feeling hungry, and so, the organizers had to announce intermission. They consulted Lu Zhou for advice and decided to schedule a second Q&A session in the afternoon.
Lu Zhou finally had some time to rest. He then sighed in relief as he walked off stage.
However, before he could go to the toilet, he was surrounded by people who were waiting outside the lecture hall.
Surrounding him were journalists, scholars, as well as his admirers. Not everyone had the opportunity to witness this historic moment, and many people were waiting outside the lecture hall.
“Professor Lu, hello, I am a reporter for Columbia TV…”
“… Please let Daily Mail interview you!”
“How is the result? Is there a general smooth solution to the three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equation? Is it smooth?”
“God Lu, can I shake your hand?”
“Let me take a photo! Just one photo, I want to post it on Twitter! Oh sh*t, don’t step on my foot!”
“Can I have your contact information, I have some mathematics questions I want to ask you…”
Lu Zhou was shocked by the enthusiasm of these people. He didn’t expect the crowd to be outside the lecture hall.
But after all, this was the quadrennial International Congress of Mathematicians, and so, this was understandable.
In addition to the invited participants, there were people that paid out of their own pocket to attend the conference. The International Mathematical Union didn’t exclude any math enthusiasts from participating in this nine-day long event.
However, when Lu Zhou looked at the energetic crowd, he started to have a headache.
He still had a Q&A session in the afternoon, and he was tired and hungry. He just wanted to find a place to eat and take a nap. He didn’t have the time nor energy to deal with these people’s demands.
Fortunately, the conference organizers anticipated this, and Lu Zhou managed to escape the crowd with help from staff members…
…
At noon, the organizer of the conference, the International Mathematical Union, provided a free simple lunch for everyone.
The lunch was an authentic black bean on rice with mate tea and a ball of chocolate as dessert. Although it wasn’t anything fancy, it was quite filling.
Lu Zhou wandered around the hotel restaurant holding a plate of food. When he found a quiet corner, he then sat down.
The second he sat down, his three students came over.
“Professor, I just saw your report, you’re so cool!”
Hardy sat across from Lu Zhou as he waved his fist excitedly. It was almost like he had just witnessed a football match.
Qin Yue, who sat next to him, nodded excitedly as well; he looked unusually energized.
However, he didn’t like to talk as much as Hardy as he wasn’t good at expressing his feelings. He could only come up with one word.
“Epic!”
Lu Zhou smiled and responded.
“Jealous?”
Hardy: “Of course!”
Qin Yue and Vera didn’t say anything, but they all nodded.
A one-hour report was already nutty.
A special report session that was organized just for him? That was beyond nutty!
Lu Zhou looked at his students and smiled. He then said in an encouraging tone, “If you’re jealous, then go work hard! There will be a day where you will stand on stage, sharing your knowledge with the world. The future is yours.”
Hardy: “… Professor.”
Lu Zhou: “What?”
Hardy scratched his head and said, “Nothing… I just wanted to say that I’m 25 years old, one year older than you. If you’re old, then we’re going to be old as well…”
Lu Zhou: “…”
Shut up!
…
Lu Zhou finished his lunch and returned his empty plate. He then quickly left the hotel restaurant.
There was still half an hour until the second Q&A session. He planned to go back to his hotel room to take a nap. He wanted to recharge before the afternoon session.
Suddenly, Vera, who didn’t say a word, caught up to Lu Zhou’s footsteps and stopped him at the corridor outside the restaurant.
“… Professor.”
When Lu Zhou heard her voice, he stopped walking. He then turned around and looked at the little girl.
“What?”
Vera was embarrassed to express her feelings. However, the two other students already sent their congratulations. Therefore, Vera made up her mind and blushed while congratulating Lu Zhou.
“You looked… handsome on stage.”
Lu Zhou was embarrassed.
With a smile, he said, “Of course.”
