“Ten years ago, I never would have imagined myself coming here. But now, I’ve been here many times.”
“I’ve only been here twice,” Schultz said as he dragged his suitcase. “It feels different each time I come here.”
“It’s my first time,” an old man in his 50s said. He looked at the people walking into campus and said, “I’ve only seen this place in movies before.”
Faltings: “Oh, really? What do you think?”
The old man smiled and said, “The movies are all lies.”
Standing next to them was none other than Professor Holden.
As the secretary-general of the International Mathematical Union, he came to Jin Ling City mainly to negotiate with the Chinese Mathematicians Association and the local Jin Ling City government, to discuss the upcoming International Congress of Mathematicians conference.
The reason why he was here with Faltings and Schlutz, was to visit Lu Zhou.
Schultz smiled and said, “You would be even more surprised if you went to the library. I’ve been to many libraries, but rarely are the seats as packed as theirs. I think you even need to make a reservation for a seat.”
“Really?” Professor Holden said, “I think we should go visit… Speaking of which, how do we find Professor Lu? Do you guys know where his office is?”
Faltings and Schultz made eye contact as they had a strange look on their faces.
“Do you know?”
“No… I thought you knew.”
“I’ve only been to Jinling’s city center area before.”
Professor Holden had an awkward look on his face as he coughed.
“… I’ll go ask around.”
He dragged his suitcase and walked up to the entrance guard. He used a translation app on his phone to assist him.
“Hello, how can we get to Lu Zhou’s office?”
The guard looked at the three foreigners standing outside the gate. He took out three documents from his drawer and handed it out of the booth.
“Academician Lu? Fill in this form first.”
Professor Holden looked at Faltings and Schultz and said, “Let’s fill this in first.”
…
On the other hand, there was a meeting going on in a conference room at Jin Ling University.
Because of what happened during the last meeting, Principal Xu criticized Director Chen from the international department, for the ideological possession of the domestic academic circle, especially in the university administrators.
He also emphasized on how to truly become an international university, how to manifest one’s influence and take on good fundamentals.
Principal Xu was quite emotionally attached to Jin University.
Even though this wasn’t his alma mater, he had worked here for more than 10 years.
At his age, it was difficult to attain any academic achievements. His main goal was on education for the new generation, to cultivate talents for the university and country.
Fortunately, thanks to Professor Lu, everything was trending in a good direction.
However, by contrast, as Jin University’s strength continued to grow, the hidden dangers also began to manifest itself.
If everything went well, he might be able to work as the principal for another five years. However, after five years, someone else would take his spot. No one knew how the new Principal would do…
In order to give the university a bright future, he wanted to accomplish everything in the next five years.
He did not seek to restore the former glory of the university. Instead, he wanted to prepare Jin University for the future, after his departure.
He did not want to destroy the dreams of countless young scholars.
Principal Xu unscrewed his vacuum flask and took a sip of hot water. He was about to say something when he heard a knock outside his door. His assistant walked in.
“Principal.”
Principal Xu looked at him and said, “What?”
“The security department called. They said internationally renowned scholar Professor Faltings, the director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, Professor Schultz from the University of Bonn, and Professor Holden, the secretary-general of the International Mathematical Union, want to visit Academician Lu.”
Whispers were heard in the conference room.
Everyone was astonished.
Principal Xu paused for a second and asked, “Why did the security department call then?”
The assistant replied, “Because they are here already.”
Principal Xu’s mouth was wide open. He looked around the conference room and spoke.
“Think about what I said, how to become an international institution, what kind of status we need. This meeting is over!”
After that, he rushed out of the door.
…
Perelman visiting a few days ago was already an earth-shattering event.
But now, Lu Zhou saw Professor Faltings and the others standing at his office door. He even began to wonder if Xiao Ai had secretly put a virtual reality helmet on his head, constructing a fake reality.
Of course, that was impossible.
He clearly remembered the taste of the dumplings for his breakfast.
Lu Zhou didn’t expect that not only did his paper attract Perelman from the wild, but it even caught the attention of Schultz and Faltings.
“I’m just going to get straight to the point, do you still need people for your project?”
Lu Zhou heard Professor Faltings’ question and snapped back to reality.
“You’re also here for…”
Faltings didn’t say anything, he just looked at Schlutz.
Schultz had a helpless expression as he nodded.
“… Professor Faltings is only accompanying me, I’m the one that wants to join.”
Lu Zhou looked at Faltings and did not know what to say.
The old man coughed and spoke.
“You know that Professor Schultz’s research area is mainly in the field of complete geometry, and its main problem is the unification of algebra and geometry. After reading your paper, we agreed that the area you are currently researching is the most promising one. He wants to come on an exchange for a year. As for me…”
Professor Faltings coughed and spoke.
“As for me, I’m just here to look around. I might stay for a while. Of course, if you need my help, just tell me… If you guys don’t need anyone, you can just tell me, no hard feelings.”
“… Of course not, there’s always room for my friends.” Lu Zhou smiled as he reached out his hand. “Welcome to the research project.”
Professor Faltings shook his hand.
If there was a reporter nearby, they would definitely be taking photos.
This was a historic handshake for a special occasion.
On one hand was the strongest young mathematician the world had ever seen, and on the other was Professor Faltings, one of the existing leaders of the Bourbaki Group, one of Grothendieck’s disciples.
This was a handshake between two giants!
“With the help of all of us, there’s no way we can’t solve the Grand Unified Theory,” Schultz said as he smiled. “Should I open a bottle of champagne? I can buy one.”
“Let’s save the celebration for after we solve the problem,” Faltings said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He spoke in a serious way, “Even though we have achieved a certain amount of success, there are many problems to be solved. We might have to solve Grothendieck’s standard conjectures first.”
Of course, it could be easier than they had thought.
The Grand Unified Theory could lead to the solution of a series of mathematical propositions related to cohomology theory and Grothendieck’s standard conjectures.
However, things were often more complex than they seemed.
However, Lu Zhou was more optimistic and relaxed than Faltings.
Lu Zhou looked at his friends and asked, “Regardless, you guys came all the way here, so I have to treat you to a meal first. What do you guys want to eat?”
“Roast duck is good…” Professor Holden suddenly said, “I’ve always wanted to try it.”
Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.
“No worries, duck it is.”
