Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
During the middle of May, the atmosphere of Jinling was somewhat unusual.
As the report date was getting closer and closer, scholars from all over the world flew to Jinling. This city, which had never had an international academic culture, had become more and more popular as an academic hotspot.
After Jin Ling University announced the report, whether it was the hotels that provided accommodation or the municipal government of Jin Ling City, they all took this matter seriously. From the cleaning up of the streets to coordinating traffic, the city government had given the green light on things that were outside of Jin Ling University’s control.
After all, this kind of world-class academic conference attracted more than a thousand scholars and was the center of attention of the physics and mathematics communities. This kind of event only happened once every few years. Being able to host a report like was an honor for the school, and it was also an opportunity for Jin Ling City to present itself to the international community.
It wasn’t just about the reputation of the city, it was also about politics; they all had to take this event seriously.
At the entrance of the InterContinental Hotel.
An old man, who was wearing a black jacket, carried his suitcase up the stairs and stood at the hotel entrance. He then looked at his watch. A man in a gray suit walked out of the hotel elevator and greeted him.
When Faltings saw the person walking out of the hotel elevator, he raised his eyebrows.
“I didn’t expect you to come here first.”
Klitzing smiled and said, “You’re too slow, I’ve been here for two days already.”
Faltings: “Have you met him?”
“Yeah, I went to Jin Ling University yesterday to meet him. It seemed like he’s doing well. He took me to visit the Institute for Advanced Study and some other interesting places nearby.” Klitzing paused for a second and said, “Arriving early is a good thing.”
Faltings’ expression didn’t change as he said, “You know I don’t care about those kinds of things.”
Klitzing shrugged and said, “I know, I also care about what you care about. But the report is going to start tomorrow. Let’s wait until tomorrow to think about these troublesome matters.”
Faltings felt like Klitzing made sense, so he didn’t say anything else. He carried his suitcase and went into the elevator with Klitzing.
The entire hotel was booked just for the three-day [a]report. Theoretical physicists and mathematicians from all over the world were living here.
On the way to his hotel room, people constantly greeted Faltings, who nodded in response. He was quite surprised, especially when he saw Professor Sarnak from Princeton and Andrew Wiles from Oxford University.
“I didn’t expect to see so many old friends here.”
“After all, this question has troubled the mathematics and physics community for a long time.” Klitzing smiled and said, “We all want to know the answer.”
Faltings: “That’s not what I meant.”
Klitzing raised his eyebrows with interest.
“Oh yeah?”
“Mathematics is getting younger.”
Faltings paused for a second and muttered to himself, “This a good thing.”
…
The day of the report.
The crowd was packed into the grand auditorium at the old campus of Jin Ling University.
Professor Deligne wore a black hat, which covered his shiny head, and a black jacket. He walked to the third row in the venue and sat next to Edward Witten.
“Aren’t you doing a report at CERN? How come you have the time to come all the way to the other side of the Pacific Ocean?”
“I heard there’s an interesting report going on, so I came.” Witten smiled and said to his old friend, “Plus, my research partner Professor Wilczek suddenly stopped his work and insisted on coming here. I didn’t want to stay in Switzerland alone, so I thought it would be better to come. How about you?”
“I mean he is my student…” Deligne noticed Witten’s look of surprise, and he asked, “What?”
Professor Witten coughed and said, “Nothing, I forgot that Professor Lu even studied algebraic geometry.”
Deligne: “…”
The front of the auditorium wasn’t the only busy place. On both sides of the auditorium were people who were responsible for maintaining the order of the conference. There were also logistical workers who had been working since 6 am.
Every great event had countless people working behind the scenes.
In order to do a good job of organizing this conference and not get laughed at by Yan University, Principal Xu personally came to the venue to command the logistics staff. Dean Qin was also working hard. In fact, he was even more nervous.
Even though he wasn’t the one giving the report, his hands were still drenched in sweat.
This was the first time that Jin Ling University’s mathematics department stood on an international stage; it was their first time facing the world.
One could say that not only did this report affect the future of the mathematics department, but it also affected the future of Jin Ling University…
There was only half an hour left until the report.
Lu Zhou’s quiet green room was in contrast with the loud venue. He quietly sat at the table. He was calculating something while writing on the draft paper.
He heard footsteps from outside the door.
Lin Yuxiang gently knocked on the door and walked in. She was wearing a red dress.
“Professor, it’s about to begin.”
Lu Zhou twirled his thumb around the ballpoint pen and looked up at the chandelier on the ceiling. He then stood up.
“Okay, got it.”
Lin Yuxiang saw that Lu Zhou was walking to the closet, and she said, “Do you need me to help tie your tie?”
“No.”
Lin Yuxiang sighed.
Even though she knew he would say this, the way he refused her wasn’t euphemistic at all…
Lu Zhou picked up the suit from the closet and put it on. He walked in front of the mirror and looked at himself.
After he confirmed that he was still a handsome fellow, he tightened his tie and walked out the door.
Han Mengqi was standing near the entrance of the green room. When she and saw Lu Zhou walk out of the room, she cheered, “Teacher… You got this!”
“Yeah.” Lu Zhou nodded and casually said, “Of course I do.”
[a]is it a three day report? previous sentence seems like so
