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Chapter 193 Midlife Crisis
Of course, Qiao Yu couldn't know that a group of bigwigs had held a meeting specifically for him. After all, every year the members of the Fields Review Committee are strictly confidential, at least in name only...

I'm just afraid that someone might have bad intentions.

There are people in this world who don't care about winning an award, but there are also people who dream of winning an award. The former are rare, while the latter are many.

After all, if you win any of the top world awards, you will basically have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of your life.

Be it science or anything else.

However, even if Qiao Yu knew about this special meeting, he would probably think it was only natural.

After all, he solved the Riemann hypothesis!
However, he did receive another formal invitation letter from the organizing committee of the International Congress of Mathematicians.

Just as Tian Yanzhen had encouraged him before, he officially obtained the qualification to give the opening speech at the conference.

Of course, the fact that this invitation letter could be sent directly to his email also showed that after some discussion, Tian Yanzhen and Yuan Zhengxin agreed to let him attend the World Congress of Mathematicians held in Philadelphia.

However, Tian Yanzhen specifically told him that he would only be able to stay in Philadelphia for two days to attend the conference before returning home.

In Qiao Yu’s understanding, it means going there specifically to show off and then running away.

But it doesn't matter. Qiao Yu just wants to go there and get all the bonuses.

Although Qiao Yu did not know that the Fields Medal Selection Committee held a meeting specifically for him, since he had solved the Riemann hypothesis, Qiao Yu guessed that he would definitely win this year's Fields Medal.

Even if those mathematicians really have the nerve to not give him the award this year, at least he will definitely get the prize money for going to the Clay Mathematics Institute this time.

There is a precedent for this. The Clay Institute also intended to award the prize directly to Perelman at the World Congress of Mathematicians.

After all, when it comes to giving out bonuses, choosing such a grand occasion can also give the greatest publicity.

Qiao Yu is not Perelman, who can treat a million dollars as nothing. Not to mention that he earned extra money.

Especially since he made money abroad and spent it at home, in a sense, Qiao Yu felt that this could be considered a national hero.

Qiao Yu always remembered what his grandfather said: no one should get the advantage, especially not the Americans. After all, those people have already taken advantage of the whole world.

There was one thing that Qiao Yu didn't know: under his influence, some people wanted to come back.

……

Princeton is full of greenery in July. The whole town seems to be covered with green and looks full of vitality.

Although it is summer, the temperature in Princeton is actually not that high. It is generally between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius, and there are rarely extreme temperatures.

In particular, the historic Princeton University is an open university that is directly integrated into the entire town. Although there are fewer students during the summer vacation, the tourists who come here to visit the school do not make it seem deserted.

At this time, in the quaint office building on campus, Lott Dugan was still working in his office.

Like professors at Chinese universities, the vast majority of American university professors choose to continue working during the winter and summer vacations.

Especially for those research-oriented professors, summer vacation time is quite valuable, after all, there is no interference from teaching tasks.

The winter and summer vacations every year are golden times for writing and revising academic papers and books, and applying for research funding.

Not to mention that Lott Dugan currently serves as the editor-in-chief of the Annals of Mathematics.

But today he was not the only one in the office, there was also a visitor. What made him most regretful was that the visitor came to resign.

"Zhang, can't I change your decision?" Lott Dugan sat on the sofa, looking at Zhang Shuwen, and asked regretfully.

"Professor Dugan, I considered it for nearly half a year before I finally made up my mind." Zhang Shuwen replied with a smile.

"But you can still help China train a lot of students in Princeton. And it's convenient to go back, it only takes a day." Lott Dugan advised.

This statement was somewhat self-deceptive, Zhang Shuwen could only shake his head and insist: "I still want to go back."

"So, is it because of Qiao Yu?" Lott Dugan asked.

Zhang Shuwen thought about it, then nodded and said, "It's partly his fault."

Lott Dugan sighed and said, "I had originally planned to invite Qiao Yu to Princeton for some time at the World Congress of Mathematicians. But you came to submit your resignation. Zhang, you know, I have always hoped to invite Qiao Yu to Princeton."

Zhang Shuwen was silent for a moment, then replied, "When I get back, I'll help you talk to Qiao Yu about this. But I think we have to wait until he officially starts his doctorate."

Lott Dugan complained, "This is exactly what I can't understand. In what capacity do they plan to have Qiao Yu give the opening speech at the International Congress of Mathematicians? An undergraduate who hasn't even graduated yet?"

Hearing this question, Zhang Shuwen smiled and did not answer.

In fact, he knew the answer to the question, after all, he had been in contact with Yuan Zhengxin.

According to Yuan Zhengxin, Qiao Yu had almost obtained enough credits to graduate from college, and Tian Yanzhen originally wanted Qiao Yu to graduate directly this summer.

But Qiao Yu himself felt that it was too early, and he planned to wait until he came of age next year.

In Yuan Zhengxin's words, no one knows what's in that little guy's mind.

It was just that in the eyes of Tian Yanzhen and Yuan Zhengxin, there was no need to argue with Qiao Yu about such a small matter, so they just let him be happy.

Anyway, it doesn't matter whether I graduate this year or not, it's just a nominal diploma. What Qiao Yu does every day is no different from a research-oriented professor.

All I can say is that only those with talent can really do whatever they want.

"Well, since you have decided, I will approve it. Thank you for your contribution to Princeton over the years."

After complaining, Lott Dugan gave his final response.

Although he had never heard of the saying that a forced melon is not sweet, he knew that there was no need to force a mathematics professor who was no longer interested in Princeton to stay.

"Thank you, Professor Dugan." Zhang Shuwen greeted with a smile.

"When do you plan to return to China?" Lott Dugan asked.

"After attending the International Congress of Mathematicians, I will go back with the Chinese delegation." Zhang Shuwen replied.

Lotte Dugan nodded. This sounded like the most suitable arrangement. After all, it was only half a month away from the International Congress of Mathematicians.

This conference will surely be lively. At least Chinese and Chinese-American mathematicians will definitely go if they have time.

The youngest Fields Medal winner in the world would deserve a biography even in the United States, not to mention that he is the first Fields Medal winner from China.

Although there have been Chinese people who have won this award before, such as Yuan Zhengxin and Tao Xuanzhi, the former had already become a U.S. citizen when she won the award, while the latter was simply born in Australia.

Lott Dugan even knew that this was the point at which many people criticized the Chinese education system.

Although there have been great achievements in various mathematical competitions, only a few scientists have actually won world awards.

So Qiao Yu made history.

Not only is it a breakthrough from zero, but the breakthrough is a big bomb. It's like a country that has never won an Olympic gold medal, but once it wins it breaks the world record.

"Well, that's plenty of time. I wish you great success when you return to China."

Lott Dugan stood up and shook hands with Zhang Shuwen.

This is also the posture of seeing off guests.

The mood must have been bad for Lott Dugan.

The attempt to bring Qiao Yu over failed, but instead a very capable Chinese professor was lost.

If it were a few years ago, he might have tried to persuade him more, but now that Zhang Shuwen feels that returning to China will lead to better development, he doesn't want to persuade him any more.

Even if one is not very sensitive to the external environment, one knows that the current situation is completely different from that of more than ten years ago.

At such a time, China suddenly produced a stunning mathematical genius like Qiao Yu, which actually made Lot Dugan feel a lot of emotion.

Whether America can become great again is a big question. He always feels that God is abandoning America.

……

It was already night in Berkeley. "Frank, do you need to talk?" Frank's wife suddenly asked when he was about to go to bed.

"What's wrong?" Frank asked subconsciously.

"You've been in a bad mood lately." said the woman who had just laid down on the bed next to him.

"Have it?"

Frank frowned. Well, although he had been worried about a lot of things recently, he didn't show it too much when he was at home.

I can only say that these women are too sensitive.

"Saren's grades have never been very good, and you used to be very patient. But now you scold him at every turn, and that's not right!"

The woman said seriously.

Frank suddenly realized.

Seren was naturally his son, and he also had a daughter named Ellowyn. For some reason, both of them had poor grades.

My sister Ellowyn was fine, after all, she was still in the first grade, but Seren was different, she was already in the fourth grade.

You have to know that these two children are not attending the kind of public school that promotes happy education. Instead, they are attending the best private school nearby, the kind that places great emphasis on teaching.

Seren's grades were at the bottom of the class. If Frank could tolerate Seren before, now he couldn't stand it any more when he thought of Qiao Yu.

Not to mention that Chinese Americans place more emphasis on education, their families can be considered as scholarly families. And although there are no public magnet schools that offer special courses in Berkeley, if you want to go to a good private middle school, the applicants will be strictly screened.

The most important thing is that, just like in China, the tuition fees for good private high schools are very expensive, nearly 30,000 US dollars per year.

But just like in China, if you are a student with outstanding academic performance, you can get many financial aid programs. You can even get a full tuition waiver. If your academic performance is very poor, it will be very troublesome.

For example, tuition fees will be higher, and he may even need to use a lot of resources. Schools in this country are really good at making full use of the various resources of students' parents, especially private schools.

On the one hand, the school will encourage parents to invest in the school through various donation programs.

On the other hand, we will also evaluate the parents' professional background, personal network and other resources, and use this to carry out projects through the parents to expand our social influence.

If Seren had good grades, it would naturally save him a lot of trouble. Perhaps he would not have thought of this before.

After all, Frank still attaches great importance to his two children.

But now that there are children from certain families who have been like a thorn in my heart, my thoughts are naturally different.

So when he heard about Salem's recent poor grades, Frank couldn't help but wonder how he could have given birth to such a stupid son...

Isn't it said that mixed-blood people are better? !

Really, let alone catching up with Qiao Yu. Even if Salem was only half as smart as Qiao Yu, he could go to any high school in the country. Even top schools like Horace Mann School and Phillips Exeter Academy.

You have to know that being able to enter these top private schools is basically equivalent to getting a pass to those top universities.

At the very least, the students around you are the future pillars of this country. After all, the students in these schools are either rich or noble.

Well, to put it bluntly, Frank now unconsciously compares Seren with Qiao Yu. After being extremely disappointed, it is difficult to control his emotions.

He may not think it's a big deal, but his family will naturally feel differently.

Frank was silent for a moment, then explained, "You know, Salem has grown up, so I have to be stricter with him."

Obviously this excuse did not convince the women around him.

"That's not true, Frank! Don't you feel it? Ever since the problem with the geometry Langlands project, I feel like you've changed completely and you spend less and less time at home.

And when you get home, you either don't say anything or you get angry! Both kids are afraid of you now! They don't even want to share what's going on at school with you. And do you remember how long it's been since we last had sex?

I've been wanting to talk to you for a long time, but you've been putting it off. But today I feel like this can't go on any longer! We have to talk."

The woman's question silenced Frank again.

What could he say?
All I can say is that keeping something secret put too much pressure on him.

Especially when he unconsciously compared his current son and daughter with Qiao Yu, and the women around him with Qiao Xi.

The higher Qiao Yu's achievements, the more his mentality collapsed. To the point that he really couldn't control his temper at all in many cases.

Really, there were many times when he wanted to divorce the woman. Maybe that would make him feel more relaxed.

Frank believed that if he really took the initiative to propose, the woman would simply agree. But he had too many concerns.

On the one hand, his career still needs the support of the girl's parents.

On the other hand, although California law advocates no-fault divorce and the court will not consider the fault that caused the breakdown of the marriage, there is still the issue of spousal support.

Especially after having the second child, my wife quit her job and mainly stayed at home to take care of the two children.

This means that once they divorce, not only will the distribution of family assets favor the woman, but he will also have to pay a considerable amount of alimony every month, at least to ensure that the woman's living standard does not drop too much.

Moreover, their marriage has lasted for more than ten years, which is a long-term marriage in the legal sense.

So the court is likely to rule that he needs to pay alimony for a long time, and he may have to wait until the woman remarries or finds a good job before he can stop paying.

Especially since he is Chinese. Frank can easily guess that if they really divorce, the court will definitely not support him.

The most terrifying thing is that even if the woman asks for a divorce, the court will still rule the same.

Don't ask Frank how he knows so much. As a cautious person by nature, when he first had this idea, he asked a professor at Berkeley Law School for some cases and studied them carefully.

You should know that Berkeley's School of Law is also one of the top law schools in the country, and has long been ranked in the top ten.

So for Frank, not only did he not dare to mention the word divorce, he was even afraid that a woman would mention the word divorce to him.

After all, the no-fault divorce principle followed in California means that divorce proceedings can be initiated as long as one party declares that the marriage is irreparable, without providing any evidence or reasons at all.

So when the woman resolutely wanted to have a good talk with him, Frank now didn't even dare to say no!

So Frank took a deep breath, took the woman's hand, and began to apologize sincerely.

"I'm sorry, dear. You know, I've been under a lot of pressure since the work on the geometric Langlands conjecture was disproved! I need some time. Believe me, it will be fine after a while!"

"Why is there so much stress? Didn't Pop-Pop help you?"

"In fact, Pop-Pop has been helping me all along, but this puts more pressure on me. If I can't produce decent results, I will be sorry for all the things Pop-Pop has done for me."

Frank suppressed his helplessness and said.

This is true.

Although Lucas Eisen has always been a good parent at home, Frank is well aware of what kind of person his wife's grandfather is at work.

If he angered this man, it would be hard to say whether he would still recognize him as his grandson-in-law. He couldn't say these words to the woman, otherwise it might be considered as trying to sow discord among family members...

"Well, why don't we go on vacation after the World Congress of Mathematicians? Europe or Hawaii. You should take some time off. I'll talk to Pop-Pop for you. It'll be a good opportunity to repair your relationship with the kids."

The woman thought for a moment and said.

She had been thinking today that if Frank continued to treat her in the same perfunctory manner as before, she would divorce him.

After all, Frank not only ignored her during this period, but also affected the two children.

But Frank's attitude today was sincere, so she decided to give him another chance. After all, who doesn't have times when they are stressed? Maybe he will be fine after adjusting.

"Well..." Frank hesitated for a moment. He wanted to say that he might be very busy after the conference, but when he saw the woman's expression, he swallowed the words back.

"Okay, after the conference is over, I'll arrange things and we'll go on vacation. As for where to go, you decide. I'm fine with it. I'll definitely accompany you guys when the time comes."

(End of this chapter)