2026, summer.
The old campus of Jin Ling University.
The mottled shadows of trees were reflected on the old stone walls. The cicadas on the tops of the sycamore trees seemed to have stayed the same since ancient times. In this bustling city, the tranquility of the smell of books remained.
But today was a bit unusual for this old campus.
Scholars in formal attire walked through the brick road in front of the entrance. Foreigners went into the old buildings built during the Republic of China period.
Overnight, it was like they had returned to a few decades ago; the quaint old campus seemed to have traveled through time and space, restoring the glory of the university’s previous years.
No, technically, more glorious than ever before.
Back then, although some foreigners came here to give lectures, most of them came with their heads held high, arms swaying. But now, regardless of skin color, age, or sex, people’s faces were mostly filled with humble expressions.
No one was more noble than anyone else.
Everyone was equal before knowledge.
No one felt inferior for their skin color or culture.
It was an understatement to call Jin Ling first in Asia.
As if to celebrate the rejuvenation of the university, even the withered vines on the courtyard wall seemed to have re-emerged with new buds.
“Professor Qin.”
Qin Yue, who was standing under the parasol tree, snapped back to reality when he heard someone calling him.
He gently pushed the gold-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose and glanced at the assistant next to him.
“Is it starting?”
The assistant nodded excitedly and spoke with excitement.
“One hour left! The conference organizing committee called just now. They hope you can go backstage and prepare.”
Four years ago, at the St. Petersburg International Congress of Mathematicians, the leader of the International Mathematical Union announced that the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians would be held in Jinling.
This news inspired the mood of all Chinese mathematicians. It excited the mathematics departments at all Chinese universities.
As expected, Jinling University had taken over the organization of this international mathematician conference and set the venue at their old campus.
In order to host this world-renowned event, they had been preparing for four years!
It was finally time to see their results.
“I see… Call them back, I’ll go right away.”
Qin Yue withdrew his gaze from the old campus in the style of the Republic of China and looked at the foreign scholars who were taking pictures under the old stone wall. He couldn’t help but smile.
“Speaking of which, when was the last time so many people gathered here at the old campus?”
An assistant standing next to him was slightly taken aback. He then said with a smile, “It seems to be a long time ago… If I remember correctly, it was about two or three years ago when Academician Lu held a report here.”
Two or three years ago…
Qin Yue’s eyes suddenly dimmed a bit. His tone also brought a touch of sadness and nostalgia.
“It’s been two years…”
Time flies…
Everything here reminds me of him, but he is no longer here…
In the backstage.
The staff member helped Qin Yue take care of his appearance and straightened his tie.
About two years ago, not long after the news of Lu Zhou’s death spread, he quit his job in Princeton and boarded a flight back to China. He came to Jin Ling University, where his most respected mentor once worked.
In fact, before his resignation, Professor Fefferman had always deliberately trained him to become his successor, wanting him to take over as the dean of the Princeton University mathematics department.
However, faced with Professor Fefferman’s offer, his decision remained unchanged.
Lu Zhou told him more than once that he wanted to build Jin Ling University into the world’s top mathematics center.
Lu Zhou was no longer there, but his wishes still remained.
It was up to him to finish the job!
Qin Yue still remembered that when he returned to China, Jin Ling University was in a sad atmosphere, especially in the mathematics department.
In some sense, his return could be considered as a revival of the morale at the university’s mathematics department.
As one of the most favorite students of Academician Lu during his lifetime and an internationally renowned number theory scholar, he took over the torch and became the dean of the mathematics department, replacing the retired Dean Qin.
In two years, thanks to his efforts, the mathematics department of Jin Ling University had become a world-class department. It had left its domestic counterparts far behind.
As the new standard of the Lu Zhou school of thought, he would stand on this international stage and speak out as a Chinese scholar on behalf of the Chinese mathematics community!
The opening ceremony of the International Congress of Mathematicians had finally begun.
Like in previous conferences, after the Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union delivered a speech, Qin Yue, who represented the Chinese mathematics community, walked to the front of the stage and read the opening speech.
Immediately afterward, there were a series of high honors and awards in mathematics, such as the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize and the Fields Medal.
Several winners came to the stage and took over the medals from the Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union, with a Chinese music performance playing in the background.
This grand theatrical performance officially opened the curtain for this world-renowned event…
“… This is the most exciting conference I have ever participated in!” Professor Witten had an excited expression on his face. Professor Deligne said to him, “I’m not sure what this feeling is, but this is much more exciting than the ballet in St. Petersburg… and the show in Rio de Janeiro.”
In fact, objectively speaking, the ballet performance at the St. Petersburg conference was good, but they had a lack of funding. As for the latter performance, although it looked very lively, it was a bit too intense. In addition, because of Rio de Janeiro’s serious security problems, if it weren’t for Lu Zhou’s wonderful lecture, the conference would have been a disaster.
“I am interested in whether I can see anything interesting at this conference…” Deligne’s eyes moved toward the poster display area outside the hall. He suddenly showed an unexpected expression in his eyes.
Witten sharply noticed the change in the expression on his old friend’s face. He raised his eyebrows with interest and said, “It seems that you have found something.”
“Yeah.”
Professor Deligne did not give an explanation. He walked straight toward the direction of the poster display area.
Out of curiosity, Witten followed his old friend through the dense crowd. They stopped in front of a whiteboard that seemed ordinary.
Professor Deligne frowned slightly as he looked at a line of calculations on the whiteboard.
“… Cauchy–Riemann equations?”
The young man standing in front of the whiteboard suddenly showed an unexpected look on his face.
“Yes, that’s right… I can’t believe it, are you researching this direction too?”
Obviously, the teenager did not recognize Deligne.
Professor Deligne smiled faintly and said, “I’m not researching this direction, I just think the mathematical method you used is a bit familiar… If I’m not mistaken, the 3rd part of your equation should be an L-manifold. The research project you are studying is a corollary of the Hodge conjecture.”
A shocked expression appeared on the boy’s face. He stared at the old man, as if he were looking at a monster.
“Who are you?”
“It doesn’t matter who I am. I’m just curious.” Professor Deligne looked at the poster hanging next to the whiteboard and said, “Since you are researching the Hodge conjecture, why not treat it honestly? Write it on the poster.”
The young man’s face showed a trace of shame. He scratched his head embarrassedly and replied, “I wanted to, but I felt… like it would be a bad idea.”
If he were a little older, it would be fine. But because of his young appearance, even if he was seriously researching this world-class problem, he would be laughed at.
Professor Deligne smiled faintly and said calmly, “The things you worry about are not important at all. Academics are never judged by age. I had a student that was already a world-renowned mathematician at your age.”
“Wow, really…” The boy’s face was full of shock. His mouth opened wide in surprise.
“What’s your name?
“Li Mo…”
Professor Deligne nodded.
“Li Mo… An interesting name. You should be more confident in your research results. At your level, you’re better than 90% of the professors at Princeton.”
Professor Deligne looked at the young man and continued to ask, “By the way, who is your professor? I want to chat with him.”
A touch of pride immediately appeared on Li Mo’s face.
However, the proud expression did not stay on his face for long. It was soon replaced by a touch of sadness and loneliness.
“You might not be able to talk with him anymore…”
Professor Deligne frowned.
“Why?”
Li Mo shook his head and smiled apologetically. “My supervisor… was Lu Zhou.”
Lu Zhou…
The moment he heard the name, Professor Deligne’s pupils shrank.
It was like opening a closed door, his memory poured from the bottom of his heart, making him feel a touch of sorrow.
He had deliberately refrained from remembering that name for the last two years.
“You’re Lu Zhou’s student.” Witten smiled and said, “I have a feeling that it won’t be long before you win a Fields Medal.”
Li Mo smiled embarrassedly and scratched the back of his head.
“I will work hard… My supervisor told me before, that I should keep my eyes on the long-term and not take IMO results too seriously, and that I should set my goal on the Fields Medal.”
“Hahahaha, really? That’s really exciting.”
Deligne said unceremoniously, “Are you sure you’ll live to see that day happen?”
Witten coughed and said, “You should be more confident in me. I still have ten years or so left. Also, a magnificent era has just begun. If I fall right at the beginning… wouldn’t that be unfortunate?”
Just when the two old men were arguing about their age, a loud exclaim spread from the No. 1 lecture hall not far away.
On the stage, Han Mengqi wrote down the last line of calculations on the whiteboard. She gently put down the marker in her hand.
The transcendence of the Riemann-zeta function at odd positive integer points.
This was the research project Lu Zhou left for her when she insisted on turning to pure mathematics research.
She still remembered what he said at the time. He did not ask her to prove the whole proposition. He only asked her to make a slight breakthrough in this area. Even if she found one undiscovered transcendental number, she would be able to graduate.
And now, she obviously exceeded Lu Zhou’s expectations of her at that time.
Not only did she find the transcendental numbers on the zeta function, but she also proved the validity of the entire proposition.
That was, for any n≥1, ζ(2n+1) was also a transcendental number!
Although it took her a long time…
But she finally did it!
“Unbelievable… She is extremely proficient in the application of mathematical tools. Especially the part of the unified theory of algebraic geometry… This is not something a young mathematician can do.”
Schultz’s face was full of shock.
What was proven by the little girl on the podium was the famous Quasi Riemann’s hypothesis in mathematics. Although he had not researched this area, judging by how long this problem had been in existence, it had to have been difficult.
Professor Faltings glanced at Schultz.
“Are you kidding? What kind of newcomer who has just started to study mathematics uses this level of a question as a research topic?”
The old man cast his gaze on stage. His cloudy eyes narrowed slightly.
“But she doesn’t look familiar.”
“She seems to be a student of Lu Zhou.” Schultz said, “I think… I have seen her in his office.”
“His student…”
It seemed that there was nothing strange about this anymore. Professor Faltings leaned back on the chair and spoke confidently.
“It’s too late this year… But the next Fields Medal will definitely have her name on it.”
Schultz glanced at Professor Faltings in surprise, but he didn’t say anything.
Logically speaking, this should indeed be the case.
Number theory itself was one of the most complex fields in pure mathematics. A major breakthrough in this field was worthy of a Fields Medal.
In addition, she was a student of Lu Zhou, so no one should have any objections.
“Stop talking about others.” Professor Faltings continued after a glance at Schultz, “I have always wanted to find the opportunity to ask you, how is your research going?”
“You mean that?” A charming smile appeared on Schultz’s face. “Of course, that research project is about to end. Or, to put it in another way, it’s almost time to publish the paper.”
Faltings: “Are there any journals willing to accept your research?”
“I haven’t found one yet… After all, this research project is really not easy to classify.” Schultz smiled awkwardly and politely. He continued, “If it is not possible, we plan to publish it at any random journal… I don’t particularly care about impact factor anyway.”
Professor Faltings didn’t say much. He just looked up at the podium and said, “A scholar’s golden age is only ten years or so. It took two years for such a result… Was it worth it?”
Schultz went silent for a while.
After a long time, he watched the young woman bow and thank the audience. He then shrugged and said, “For me, this means an end. An end of the expedition from two years ago.”
“So it should be worth it.”
…
Perhaps because of Lu Zhou’s reputation, this year’s International Congress of Mathematicians was particularly lively.
The Quasi Riemann’s hypothesis was proven by Lu Zhou’s student!
After the first report meeting on the first day ended, the atmosphere of the entire conference was pushed to a climax.
However, as far as Han Mengqi was concerned, this was nothing worth celebrating.
She knew very well that the work she had completed was nothing more than a small achievement on the basis of her supervisor; it was far from a breakthrough.
Han Mengqi walked into the backstage lounge and was about to change out of her formal wear. However, the door of the lounge suddenly opened, and an acquaintance walked in.
“… Doctor Yan?”
Han Mengqi looked at her puzzledly, not sure why she appeared here.
She walked to Han Mengqi and asked with a serious expression, “Can I ask you something?”
“What is it?” Although she didn’t think she could help her, Han Mengqi still replied politely.
Yan Yan: “Your sister is missing, I want to know where she went! Do you have any clues?”
After going to Beijing, Chen Yushan seemed to have evaporated from the world, disappearing from everyone’s sight.
The only clue was that she had visited 301 Hospital once and visited several doctors; all funded by Star Sky Technology.
After that, no one knew where she went.
In fact, this incident did not attract anyone’s attention at the beginning, including her resignation from Star Sky Technology. Most people just expressed their regrets, thinking that she was overwhelmed and needed to rest for a while.
After she disappeared for a long time, many people around her realized the seriousness of the problem.
Since this was not a criminal case, nor did it seem to be done by foreign forces, this matter was eventually transferred to the intelligence department of the People’s Liberation Army General Staff Department.
Yan Yan, who had just been transferred into the intelligence department, had very limited resources at her disposal. She could only use the most basic method of interviews and investigations to ask people.
After hearing Yan Yan’s question, Han Mengqi shook her head blankly.
“I don’t know…”
Seeing how Han Mengqi didn’t know anything either, Yan Yan suddenly became anxious and spoke.
“You are her sister, yet you don’t have any ideas? Has she ever said where she really wants to go?”
“Really wants to go…” Han Mengqi opened her mouth. When a piece of memory suddenly appeared in her mind, a touch of surprise appeared in her eyes.
Yan Yan asked immediately, “What are you thinking?”
“Really wants to go… There is a place, but it should be impossible.”
A strange expression appeared on Han Mengqi’s face.
Can she really go that far?
After all, with the current technology on Earth, forget about reaching a star system outside the solar system, even the Kuiper belt may not be reachable…
