The early morning.
Lu Zhou was sitting in a restaurant at the Corinthia Hotel, enjoying some toast and coffee. After reading some emails, he logged onto arXiv and browsed the latest research results in algebraic geometry, differentiable manifolds, and number theory.
These days, the mathematics community had been relatively quiet. Nothing particularly interesting had been posted. In professional academic forums such as MathOverflow, most of the discussions were not about academic problems but rather gossips about the mathematical world.
Even though not everyone received an invitation to the ICM conference, the vast majority of mathematicians were following the conference happening at St. Petersburg closely.
Lu Zhou was reading a post about the predictions for the Fields Medal prize when a Russian man with a pair of sunglasses hanging from his shirt across from him asked, “Can you do me a favor and try to stay in the hotel today?”
Lu Zhou looked up from his computer screen and spoke.
“If you really want to know, yes, something happened.” Maksim wiped his glasses and said, “Someone has infiltrated the St. Petersburg power grid system and changed the lines of code. According to our national security intelligence office, this is a premeditated attack.”
Lu Zhou said, “… How can it not be premeditated?”
“You didn’t understand what I meant.” Maksim smiled at Lu Zhou and said, “I’m saying, this might be a premeditated attack against you.”
The atmosphere froze.
Everyone became quiet.
This was the first time…
Lu Zhou felt his life was being threatened.
Lu Zhou felt his throat getting dry, and he lifted his coffee cup and took a sip.
After a couple of seconds, he put down the coffee cup and spoke.
“… Honestly, that is a bit far-fetched. It’s just a nuclear power plant failure, it’s not against me personally.”
Destroying an entire nuclear power plant just to hurt me…
The Helios nuclear power plant was in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city. Even though the controllable fusion technology was clean and safe, it was still a nuclear reactor.
If something went wrong, it wouldn’t just be a political issue.
Lu Zhou wouldn’t be surprised if a war broke out.
“I think that the relationship between the two countries is more important than the Helios fusion power stations.”
Maksim put on his sunglasses and stood up.
He stared at Lu Zhou through the glasses and spoke.
“Basically, it seems like there are people out to get you. We’re not sure if they have more tricks up their sleeves. So, I hope you can stay in this hotel as we can 100% guarantee your safety here. If you leave here, that number becomes 90% or even 80%.”
“I know.” Lu Zhou nodded and looked at his computer screen as he said, “Even though I know who is behind this, I’ll try to keep my activities within the hotel.”
He had no intention to wander outside of the ICM conference.
If someone was onto him, it would be better for him to stay cautious.
“That’s the gist of it, I have something important to take care of, I wish you a pleasant day.”
Maksim waved goodbye and began walking away.
However, he walked past Lu Zhou, leaned down, and quietly spoke.
“… There are places with many girls you’d enjoy, I’m afraid we’ll have to go there next time.”
Lu Zhou suddenly choked on his coffee.
Lu Zhou coughed and put down his cup. He then wiped his mouth with a napkin and spoke.
“… No, thanks.”
“Haha, don’t be shy, my friend. There’s much more to life than science. If it weren’t for this accident, we would have had a lot of fun, but… maybe next time.”
Maksim patted his shoulder and walked away with a smile.
The news that the ignition of the Helios fusion reactor was delayed didn’t affect the people from St. Petersburg. The Pravda, which was the most authoritative newspaper in Russia, only had a small article mentioning the reactor at the bottom of the page. The article stated that due to the ICM conference and various other reasons, the fusion ignition would be delayed by a week.
However, some politically inclined people were able to smell that something was wrong.
It seemed like there was an invisible storm brewing over St. Petersburg and even the entire Russian power system…
After Maksim left the Corinthia Hotel, scholars from all over the world began to arrive at the five-star hotel, which had been vacated for the International Congress of Mathematicians.
In fact, most people arrived in the morning.
For example, Lu Zhou’s mentor at Princeton, Professor Deligne, as well as Professor Fefferman, who Lu Zhou worked with on the Navier–Stokes equations, as well as Faltings, had all arrived.
Lu Zhou only heard about it this morning.
However, Lu Zhou wasn’t fazed by the likes of Professor Deligne or Professor Fefferman appearing, what really stunned him was someone standing in the hotel lobby with a suitcase.
Her blonde hair was tied into a ponytail, swaying on her white long skirt. Her shoulders and body outline looked fuller than they were four years ago.
Lu Zhou walked out of the restaurant and walked toward the lobby elevators, where he instantly recognized her.
It seemed like Vera sensed someone staring at her. She looked around and noticed Lu Zhou.
“Professor…”
Her quiet voice was layered with surprise and joy, and her sapphire-like pupils were shining brightly.
She let go of her suitcase and jogged toward Lu Zhou.
Judging by her movement, if she didn’t slow down, she would bump into Lu Zhou.
However, this kind of physical contact was too intense for the young girl.
She got closer and closer to Lu Zhou and gradually slowed down in the midst of the nervousness.
She stood in front of Lu Zhou and blushed.
She then brushed her hair and said, “Long time no see…”
“Yeah, it’s been a while…” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Are you doing well?”
“Yeah… I’m good, no need to worry about me.”
Even though Vera answered confidently, Lu Zhou still felt worried.
Lu Zhou was about to keep on asking when he heard the sound of high heels stepping on granite floors.
“You’re making him more worried.”
The two looked over and saw Molina with two suitcases in her hand, one of which belonged to Vera.
Because Lu Zhou had seen Molina in Jinling last year, he felt like Molina hadn’t changed as much as Vera.
The only difference was that her usual long trench coat was replaced by a green short coat.
Her tomboy haircut, striped white shirt, and long khaki trousers gave off a Paris vibe.
Vera paused for a second and asked, “Oh? Why?”
“If you have any problems, just tell him. He’s a celebrity now, and you’re his apprentice, so he can definitely help you.”
“No, I’m really fine… Don’t worry about me.”
Vera took her suitcase and muttered thank you. She then quickly walked toward the elevator, forgetting to say goodbye to Lu Zhou.
Lu Zhou saw Vera walking toward the elevator, and he grabbed Molina aside and asked in a serious manner, “Aren’t you her teammate? How do you not know anything about her?”
“Obviously, my teammate hasn’t opened up to me. Also, do you really think I will tell you a lady’s secret without her permission?”
Molina rolled her eyes at Lu Zhou and walked toward the elevator with her suitcase.
Lu Zhou began to think.
Suddenly, he heard another familiar voice.
“Professor!”
Lu Zhou turned his head around and saw a young man with tanned skin and curly hair. The man was holding the arm of a Latino lady.
Lu Zhou didn’t immediately recognize who it was.
“Hey, Professor, it’s Hardy! You didn’t forget about me, right?”
“I know it’s you, I just need some time to process some information…”
Lu Zhou looked at the beautiful Latino lady and said, “You’re… married?”
Hardy smiled and said, “Of course! It’s been so many years, I’m getting old. I’m a professor now, it’s now or never. It is what it is.”
Lu Zhou: “…”
This kid, why does he always add a redundant sentence at the end…
I knew I shouldn’t have let him graduate so soon.
Hardy could tell Lu Zhou was a little annoyed, so after making some small talk, he took his new wife toward the elevator.
Apparently, they married two months ago, and they came to St. Petersburg to attend the ICM conference, as well as going on their honeymoon.
The reason why they chose to combine their honeymoon with the ICM was that the school would reimburse their travel expenses and also give them a certain amount as travel allowance…
After attending the ICM conference, they would fly to Italy and Greece.
Hardy was one of the few people Lu Zhou knew that would do something like this…
In addition to Hardy, Lu Zhou also saw Qin Yue in the hotel lobby.
Qin Yue had changed quite a lot over the past four years.
When Qin Yue first came to Princeton, Lu Zhou remembered that he was a shy but honest person, but now, Qin Yue was more extroverted, making people feel like he was reliable.
Lu Zhou was happy to see his students grow up.
The only thing that made him a bit lost was Vera’s health condition…
Hopefully, it wasn’t a big problem.
But Lu Zhou felt like Vera wasn’t telling the truth…
