Lu Zhou could clearly notice that the grandfather and granddaughter didn’t seem to like each other.
Lu Zhou wasn’t sure what the reason was, nor did he want to get involved in other people’s family business. After explaining his intentions for coming here, he followed the old man’s footsteps and came to an oil painting at the bottom of the stairs.
The person in the painting had blonde curly hair that was parted in the middle. The young face looked mature, confident… and a little handsome.
However, it was less handsome than Lu Zhou.
Besides this, there didn’t seem to be any clues Lu Zhou was hoping for; it was just a simple portrait.
“This painting was created in 1835… According to his relatives, it was created by a small well-known Norwegian painter at that time,” the old man said to Lu Zhou while standing behind him.
In fact, this relative was Professor Abel’s fiancee, but the old man purposely left out that detail.
Lu Zhou looked at the old man and spoke curiously.
“So this painting is almost two hundred years old.”
“Sort of, it’s probably the most valuable thing in this room… But it’s still not worth that much money.”
The old man couldn’t remember how much he bought it for. But since he could afford it on his tiny salary, it couldn’t have been anything particularly expensive.
After all, not everyone was interested in portraits of mathematicians, let alone a “short-lived” genius. It was difficult to sell it for a high price unless there was a special hobbyist who would be willing to pay a huge price to buy this for their collection, or if a museum was willing to buy this painting.
The long history of this painting did not give it value. After all, its value depended on the artist’s reputation, Abel himself, and the background of the painting.
“Other than this painting and Abel’s notes, is there anything else from Professor Abel?”
The old man nodded.
“This is it.”
Lu Zhou nodded and pondered for a while. He suddenly said, “Speaking of which, I have a question.”
“Yeah?”
“Apparently, Abel never married in his life, are you… his blood relative?”
When the old man heard this question, he had a flash of panic on his face.
“… Maybe.”
Maybe?
Lu Zhou saw the old man hesitating. He paused for a second and had some doubts in his mind. He wisely diverted the conversation.
“So, where did you get these things?”
“From a collector.”
Lu Zhou immediately asked, “Can you still contact him? I mean, can you introduce him to me?”
The old man shook his head and said, “That guy passed away a few years ago, so I’m afraid I can’t help you. If you are interested in Professor Abel’s relics, the notes are the only things left. I didn’t expect my granddaughter to give them all to you. But… I hope you can take good care of them.”
Lu Zhou saw a glimpse of shame in the old man’s eyes, and this confirmed his guess.
I knew it! Being a “descendant” of Professor Abel was probably a lie made up by this old man. From what I know, the genius only lived up to his twenties and had only one fiancee. The probability of him having children was almost impossible.
No wonder Molina was so emotionally unstable last night.
Lu Zhou remembered Molina’s coldness toward the old man just now at the doorstep. After a moment of silence, he suddenly spoke.
“Last night, your granddaughter was very emotional… I mean, not because of me.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s a bad lie, right?”
The old man had a depressed look in his eyes.
He shook his head. He was full of regret as he muttered, “I couldn’t help it… Who would have thought that her father would take it so seriously? I didn’t think it would turn out this way.”
Lu Zhou looked at the regretful old man and sighed. He spoke softly.
“I think the reason why she is angry and emotional is not that she isn’t a descendant of Professor Abel, but rather, it is because the person closest to her actually lied to her… For nearly thirty years.”
Family bloodline was meaningless in the science world. Most genius ideas were created by chance. Great scholars were inevitability created, but it was more due to chance, not genetics.
Perhaps the descendants of great scholars had an educational advantage over their peers and were more likely to go into academia. But it wasn’t guaranteed that they would become a great scholar as well.
Lu Zhou paused for a second before saying, “I am an outsider, and I know this is none of my business, but I would suggest you apologize to her…”
Hurt, the old man shook his head and said, “She will not forgive me, and I will not forgive myself…”
“Whether she forgives you or not is her choice. Whether you forgive yourself…” Lu Zhou paused and continued, “Actually, you shouldn’t blame yourself too much. I can see that she is truly passionate about mathematics. Although talent comes naturally, I don’t think she went on a wrong path.
“In fact, it might even be better if she stops putting expectations on herself.”
The old man was blaming himself for ruining his granddaughter’s life. But from Lu Zhou’s perspective, that might not be the case.
There was no way someone could follow the path of mathematics for more than two decades solely based on a sense of purpose due to her ancestors.
It might be good for Molina to know the truth.
This would help her mentality.
Although it was difficult for her to become a first-class scholar, she was already a leader among second-class scholars. If she calmed down and concentrated on research, she might come close to winning a Fields Medal before the age of forty.
Of course, whether or not she could actually win was another story.
After all, hard work wasn’t the only thing it took to go from a second-class to a first-class scholar.
In addition to hard work, there was also a bit of luck involved.
The people that succeeded despite the odds being stacked against them were one in a million.
After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, the old man went silent for a while.
After a long time, he spoke.
“Thank you, maybe you’re right.”
Lu Zhou nodded sincerely and said, “Just a suggestion.”
