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Chapter 220 Are ordinary people like us not suitable for mathematics?
On September 9, no matter how unwilling Lott Dugan was, the report meeting had already begun. For him, this trip to China was to attend the report meeting.

But everything he had seen in the past two days did not allow him to rest well, so he simply got up early that day, intending to do some serious work and meet with Qiao Yu before the report meeting.

This morning the lectures were held in the Centennial Auditorium of Yanbei University. The first lecture by Qiao Yu lasted from 9:30 to 11:30, a full two hours.

But there are quite a lot of people who share the same ideas as Lott Dugan.

For example, Tao Xuanzhi.

In fact, Tao Xuanzhi arrived in China a day earlier, but because he arrived later than Peter Schultz, Qiao Yu had already closed the door to visitors.

Or he turns off his cell phone and doesn't reply to emails. This kind of extremely resolute attitude of refusing visitors is really frustrating.

Of course, it cannot be said that these distinguished guests were ignored. After all, Qiao Yu's mentor and Qiao Yu's mentor's mentor came out to receive them...

When asked about Qiao Yu, the two replied, "Who knows what that guy is busy with?"

When Tao Xuanzhi learned that Qiao Yu had chatted with Peter Schultz for a whole day before his retreat, he specifically inquired about the room where the German genius professor lived and went to meet him.

Then he was shocked by Peter Schultz's decadent look. After all, that was the first time he saw this mathematician, who usually cared about his image, with an untidy beard...

Moreover, she seemed absent-minded when chatting with him, and kept saying things that he could hardly understand.

For example, the question of whether it is meaningful for ordinary people like them to study mathematics.

To be honest, Tao Xuanzhi didn't know what kind of blow Peter Schultz had suffered to say such a thing...

It's not that Tao Xuanzhi doesn't know how to be humble, but if he and Fields Medal winners like Schultz are just ordinary people in mathematics, then the threshold for being an ordinary person is undoubtedly too high.

How would other math professors who have never won a Fields Medal think? How would those mathematicians who have devoted their entire lives to math research but have not been able to publish a single paper in one of the four top journals think?
Aren't they even worthy of being ordinary people?
This also made Tao Xuanzhi even more curious about what Peter Schultz talked about with Qiao Yu and why his mental state suddenly became abnormal.

Unfortunately, when asked about this, Peter Schultz only said: "Why rush? You will know the answer at the report meeting in two days."

Then he kept silent.

It's embarrassing. If a Fields Medal winner doesn't want to talk about a certain issue, no one can do anything about it...

You can't torture him, right?

Tao Xuanzhi could only return empty-handed, but his curiosity was obviously stronger, and he even felt a shadow cast over his heart...

There are many people who are as curious as Tao Xuanzhi. In fact, most of the big names who have made achievements in mathematics are very curious people.

The big guys are already well-informed, not to mention that everyone is gathered in the same place to attend the lecture, so they are undoubtedly even more well-informed.

Moreover, mathematicians are just like ordinary people, so it is inevitable that news will be a little exaggerated during the dissemination process.

They are now not only curious about the content of Qiao Yu's report, but also why Peter Schultz suddenly became so depressed.

After all, at the International Congress of Mathematicians, Qiao Yu solved the Riemann hypothesis, and Peter Schultz was one of the reviewers. They just sent their blessings and everything was normal.

Who wouldn’t want to know what the two talked about that caused Peter Schultz to suddenly break down?
So when Lott Dugan arrived at the Centennial Lecture Hall in advance and entered the VIP lounge using the invitation code that he had reserved last night, he saw a lot of people, but he didn't see today's protagonist Qiao Yu.

Lott Dugan, who has been busy trying to understand China's national conditions to resolve his doubts these past two days, is even more confused?
What? Everyone rented a car to go out these past two days? Why did you all come here so early this morning? The lecture is about to start, why are you all here to join in the fun?

Fortunately, all the people resting in the VIP lounge were acquaintances, and even Pierre Delini was there.

After Lot Dugan greeted several people, he immediately went to Pierre Delini and asked, "Why are you here too?"

Pierre Delini looked at Lot Dugan speechlessly and asked strangely, "If you can come, why can't I?"

Lott Dugan explained with a smile: "That's not what I meant. You know, I haven't been in Yanbei these two days. You have been here all the time. Haven't you met Qiao Yu? Why did you come here in advance? And these other people..."

Pierre Delini smiled and said, "You also know that so many people are waiting here in advance, so guess why?"

Lot Dugan frowned and said in surprise: "You wanted to see me these past two days, but have you seen me?"

Pierre Delini nodded, and then added succinctly: "Not only that, Qiao Yu started to refuse visitors after chatting with Peter Schultz for a whole day. Peter Schultz was in a very bad state and even began to doubt whether he was suitable for mathematics."

This sentence contained too much information and had too much impact, even more so than the conclusion he had drawn from wandering around China in the past two days. It made Lot Dugan stand there in a daze, not knowing what to say for a long time.

Are you kidding me?
Who is Peter Schultz?

A talented mathematician highly praised by the entire West, he was hired by Bonn as the highest-level W3 professor at the age of , becoming one of the youngest full professors in Germany. Before he was , he had won almost all the awards in mathematics.

In 2013, he won the Ramanujan Prize; in 2015, he won the Cole Number Theory Prize and the Fermat Prize; in 2016, he won the Leibniz Prize; in 2018, he won the Fields Medal...

Hailed by the academic community as the Mozart of mathematics; the leader of the algebraic geometry revolution!
Lott Dugan felt that his imagination had never been so barren as it was today, because he really couldn't think of what this character talked about with Qiao Yu that made him feel that he might not be suitable for mathematics.

Even international jokes are not made this way.

Lott Dugan subconsciously looked around the VIP room, and sure enough, he did not see Peter Schultz.

"What did they talk about?" After a while, Lott Dugan asked in an amazed tone.

"How should I know? I came here with you, and they met while we were still on the plane. Besides, if I had known, I wouldn't have come to join in the fun now." Pierre Delini sighed.

He regretted that he should have come a day earlier so that he could meet Qiao Yu together with Peter Schultz.

Although he looked calm at the moment, he actually felt anxious like many others.

It would be good to know what the two people are talking about even one second earlier.

"If you can't meet Qiao Yu, you can always meet Schultz. Just go and ask him!"

"The problem is that he refuses to tell me, and when he is pushed into a corner, he just turns hostile and kicks me out. What can you do? Even though you are the editor-in-chief of the Mathematical Yearbook, he already doubts whether he is suitable for mathematics. Will he still care about your face?"

Pierre Delini sneered.

Lotte Dugen was ashamed. In front of Peter Schultz, his identity as the editor-in-chief of the "Annals of Mathematics" was indeed not prestigious, and had nothing to do with whether he continued to study mathematics.

As long as there are no obvious loopholes in the papers of Fields Medal winners, many journals will rush to publish them. Not to mention that Peter Schultz is still in his prime.

Which journal editor would offend such a big shot for no reason?
"So everyone is waiting for Qiao Yu just to find out what he talked about with Peter Schultz?" It took Lott Dugan a long time to utter this sentence.

"Aren't you curious?" Pierre Delini asked back.

Lott Dugan was speechless.

Then he nodded honestly and said, "I'm very curious! I'm going crazy with curiosity! Could it be that Qiao Yu didn't come early this morning? It's almost nine o'clock, and the report meeting will start at half past nine."

Pierre Delini nodded silently, stood up a little irritably, and said, "I'll go find Tian."

"I'll go with you!" Lot Dugan also stood up. The two's sudden actions immediately attracted a lot of attention, but before anyone could ask questions, the person they were looking for hurriedly walked into the VIP room where they were accommodated.

Yes, there was no need for them to look for her, Tian Yanzhen came here on her own initiative.

Then the eyes that were originally focused on the two of them immediately focused on Tian Yanzhen.

……

Tian Yanzhen just felt confused at this moment.

After Qiao Yu talked with Peter Schultz, he naturally knew about Peter Schultz's abnormal reaction.

He could guess that the content of their conversation was probably related to the project Qiao Yu had recently applied for. Most likely it was about computer quantum simulation or something like that.

But he really didn't know what they talked about specifically.

Everyone thought he could contact Qiao Yu, but the fact was that Qiao Yu just said that he had made a great achievement and would go all out to do something in the next two days, and then turned off his phone...

Yes, it's closed! Tian Yan really couldn't find Qiao Yu. What if he delayed his students' breakthrough?
What's even more outrageous is that I finally got in touch with him yesterday. I knew he went to the computer room rented by Xiyu Technology Company and said he would come early this morning, but he suddenly called him again just now...

I have to come later because I have to wait for a result. The meeting with several senior leaders that I had scheduled yesterday morning has to be rescheduled to after the report meeting.

Really, Tian Yanzhen almost went crazy after hearing this!

It doesn’t matter whether I meet with these big guys in the morning or not, the key is that the report meeting cannot be delayed!

But before he could ask if he could arrive on time at 9:30, the other party hung up the phone. And then no one responded to his calls or WeChat messages...

What can he do?
I could only suppress my anxiety and call Mr. Yuan.

Fortunately, the old man said: "You have to trust Qiao Yu, he knows the importance of this matter!"

This sentence made Tian Yan feel more at ease, and then he could only clean up Qiao Yu's mess with a huge headache.

"Everyone, I'm sorry, there is an emergency. Qiao Yu can only come when the lecture starts. You don't have to wait here, you can go to the lecture hall first."

At this time, the VIP room was full of big shots who had already reserved seats in the front row. They were the kind that even if they arrived late, they would not be unable to find a seat because there were too many people.

But at this time, they could only look at each other in confusion, completely confused about the situation, and almost going crazy!
The report meeting was about to begin, but suddenly there was an emergency. Will it affect the report meeting? What the hell was going on?
However, before everyone could gather around Tian Yanzhen, Qiao Yu's tutor spoke again: "Everyone, I'm sorry, I still have to contact Qiao Yu. I can't let him be late for the report meeting later. That would be an accident."

It made so much sense, and coupled with Tian Yanzhen's tone which was slightly anxious, everyone was stunned.

I can only watch Tian Yanzhen come and go in a hurry...

Lot Dugan was completely stunned. He felt that this trip to China was full of weirdness. He subconsciously looked at Pierre Delini and asked a nonsense question.

"Then what do we do?"

"What else can we do? Let's go to the hall instead of attending the report meeting?"

……

Outside the Centennial Lecture Hall, in addition to many mathematicians entering in an orderly manner, there were also many reporters guarding each entrance, hoping to gain something.

After all, for reporters, the popularity of both Riemann's paradox theorem and the youngest Fields Medal winner has not completely faded.

Everyone hopes to take this opportunity to interview some important person.

If we can get a chance to interview Qiao Yu and ask him one or two questions, that would be the best, as Qiao Yu has no shortage of traffic. Even if this hope is slim.

Even if I can't interview Qiao Yu, it would be nice if I could stop some top mathematician and interview him.

Everyone likes to listen to these foreign mathematicians praising Qiao Yu, which will definitely attract traffic
It would be even better if it was insults or insults. Although people don't like to hear it, it can cause controversy or even a war of words, which will attract more traffic.

Unfortunately, it is difficult, and at present these mathematicians are very conservative.

What's more, some well-informed reporters also knew the story behind Peter Schultz's meeting with Qiao Yu, which made things even more exciting.

It would be big news if we could interview either of them in advance.

Unfortunately, they were likely to be disappointed. As the time for the lecture approached, fewer and fewer people lingered outside the Centennial Auditorium.

They never saw Qiao Yu and Peter Schultz.

Well, this seems to be normal.

Maybe there are internal passages in the Centennial Hall that they don't know about?

It was already 9:20, and most of the invited mathematicians had already entered the venue.

The reporters finally lost their patience and started entering the venue.

Although I definitely don't understand it, it's good to take more shots. After all, it's not easy to get an admission ticket.

And this report conference is full of topics.

Of course, there are also people who are waiting outside the door with the last glimmer of hope.

Sometimes luck really favors those who like to expect miracles, although their ideas are often unrealistic.

With just five minutes left before the lecture was to begin, a black sedan pulled up directly on the front lawn of the Centennial Auditorium.

Then a teenager with a bag under his arm and a phone in his other hand pushed open the car door.

The reporters who were still standing outside the door recognized the young man at the first moment. Their bodies were even faster than their brains, and they rushed over immediately.

"Dr. Qiao, Dr. Qiao, I heard that after you talked with Professor Schultz, Professor Schultz decided to retire. What did you talk about? Will these contents be reflected in today's report meeting?"

The young man, who was rushing towards the Centennial Hall with his head down, suddenly stopped and looked at the reporter who had been stopped by the security guard at the door. He asked curiously, "Who told you that Professor Schultz has the idea of ​​retiring?"

"Many mathematicians say so," the reporter responded immediately.

"Haha, no. Professor Schultz is just a little depressed because he knows I'm going to put another nail in the coffin of old mathematics today! Sorry, I'm going to be late. Let's talk again when we have a chance."

After saying that, Qiao Yu rushed into the Centennial Lecture Hall.

Another minute wasted. If he doesn't hurry up, he'll be late!

(End of this chapter)