902 Meeting in Beijing
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport. For your safety and comfort, please remain seated with your seatbelt fastened...”
Lu Zhou put away his notebook and pen.
He suddenly noticed the teenage boy next to him, who was wearing a baseball cap, was staring at his notebook.
Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and smiled.
“Wondering what I was writing?”
The boy didn’t seem to recognize Lu Zhou, so he nodded and spoke.
“Uncle, I think I’ve seen that formula before.”
Lu Zhou laughed.
This little sh*t...
Calls me an uncle, then humble brags.
Seen this before?
You don’t know who I am, but you’ve “seen” this equation before?
My as*!
Lu Zhou wanted to call him out but decided against it.
Lu Zhou ignored him, and after the seatbelt light turned off, he unfastened his seatbelt and walked off the airstair with Wang Peng carrying his bags.
The boy didn’t seem to care about Lu Zhou ignoring him. Instead, he pondered for a while and suddenly looked up.
“Oh, that’s... the Riemann zeta function!
“I knew I saw it before! I think it was on last year’s final IMO question...”
Wait a second...
This uncle is quite impressive!
He knows about the Riemann function?
But why is an old man like him doing IMO questions?
Suddenly, a chubby guy from behind patted his back.
“Bro, we’re getting off the plane, stop daydreaming.”
“Oh!” The guy quickly grabbed his luggage and said, “Okay, give me a second.”
“Stop screwing around, we have to go.”
“Okay, okay, coming!”
...
After Lu Zhou got off the plane, he saw someone familiar at the airport.
It was none other than Chen Yushan’s father, Chen Baohua, who worked at the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China.
Even though Lu Zhou hadn’t seen this man for a while, this well-groomed old man clearly recognized him.
Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.
“Uncle Chen... nice to see you.”
“Hello, Academician Lu.” Chen Baohua nodded and made an inviting gesture. “Get in the car.”
Chen Baohua was about to get in the driver’s seat.
However, Wang Peng stepped forward.
“I’ll take the wheel.”
Chen Baohua clearly recognized Wang Peng’s role, so he nodded and stepped aside.
“Ok.”
Thus, Lu Zhou and Chen Baohua sat together in the back seat.
They didn’t talk during the car ride, and Lu Zhou felt a little uncomfortable sitting there.
He didn’t know why, but Uncle Chen Baohua seemed to be a little reserved?
“My daughter went to your house during the holidays?”
Lu Zhou sat up straight and said, “Yeah... But she only stayed for a bit.”
“Oh, I see... No wonder.”
The old man sighed and stayed silent.
Lu Zhou wanted to chat with him, but Uncle Chen didn’t seem to look like he wanted to talk. Therefore, Lu Zhou placed his attention back onto the notebook inside his pocket.
This was his favorite way of killing time.
When he was immersed in the world of mathematics, a few hours felt like a few minutes...
...
This International Lunar Hadron Collider was held in Beijing’s city hall. More than 500 experts from the aerospace industry and physics community, as well as senior officials from participating countries, attended the meeting.
Even though this international conference was being organized by the State Administration for National Defense and China National Space Administration, the specific preparation work was done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs department.
Four different hotels were arranged according to the participants’ backgrounds.
During the duration of the conference, the entire 2nd Ring Road traffic was restricted. Lu Zhou could noticeably see that there were fewer cars on the road.
The car stopped at the entrance of the hotel. After getting out of the car, Chen Baohua spoke to Lu Zhou.
“This car is yours for now. You might have to stay in Beijing for a week or two, and it’s more convenient to have a car.”
Lu Zhou politely replied, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. It’s not my car anyway, it’s from the higher-ups.”
Chen Baohua looked at his watch and said, “It’s getting late, so I won’t waste your precious time any longer. Feel free to come for a cup of tea at my house some time.”
Chen Baohua nodded and gave Wang Peng the car key. He then turned around and walked away.
Wang Peng put the key in his pocket and spoke to Lu Zhou.
“I’ll carry your luggage, you should go check-in at the hotel.”
Lu Zhou nodded.
“Okay, thanks.”
Even though the workers at a five-star hotel would normally take the guest’s luggage upstairs, Lu Zhou’s luggage was special. Even staff members that had passed background checks were not allowed to touch his luggage.
Lu Zhou was about to check-in at the hotel front desk when he suddenly noticed a familiar-looking man standing next to him.
The old man noticed Lu Zhou as well when he looked over and happened to make eye contact with Lu Zhou.
The old man smiled and spoke.
“Oh, Academician Lu, what a coincidence, we’re in the same hotel.”
“Academician Wang?” Lu Zhou smiled and reached out his hand. “Great to see you.”
This man was Academician Wang Shicheng, the former chairman of the China Mathematics Society, one of the top leaders in the Chinese mathematics community.
However, despite the enthusiastic greetings, the two of them were just acquaintances.
They hadn’t had the best interactions in the past.
One was the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award when Academician Wang was pressured by Old Qiu and had to give the prize to Lu Zhou. The second was the academician elections, where due to various political pressures, Academician Wang had to give his vote to Lu Zhou.
After all, the state wanted Lu Zhou to have the two academician titles as a show of appreciation for his work.
If somehow Lu Zhou weren’t awarded with the academician title, the blame would be on Academician Wang.
Actually, Academician Wang was quite impressed with Lu Zhou.
He had been in the mathematics field for decades, but even though he produced good research in knot theory, he had done less in his lifetime than Lu Zhou had done in a year.
Lu Zhou was able to use his own image to elevate the international mathematics community’s impression on Chinese mathematicians. This wasn’t something that could be done by an ordinary genius.
Just like Ramanujan, there would one day be a Lu Zhou Prize, which would be established to encourage young scholars to continue pursuing the path of mathematics.
However, even then, Academician Wang wasn’t happy having to bend over backward for a millennial!
Especially since Lu Zhou refused to work at Yan University, he could foresee a cohort of excellent Jin University students becoming academicians, overthrowing the Yan University empire...
What triggered him the most was that he still had to put on a polite face for this kid.
“Speaking of which, Academician Wang, you were also invited to the conference?”
“My field of research happens to be closely related to mathematical physics. I’m also an honorary director of the Chinese Physics Society, so they sent me an invitation. Speaking of which, you’re going to speak on stage, right? Are you ready?”
Lu Zhou smiled and replied, “I’m ready. Hopefully, I won’t embarrass the Chinese academic community...”
“Haha, you’re too humble!” Wang Shicheng smiled and politely said, “The conference is happening in three days. If you have time, why don’t you visit Yan University? Our mathematics department has idolized you for quite some time now. Those scholars would love for you to sit down at Yan University and teach them some things.”
“Yan University is an amazing university, what could I teach them?” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I don’t mind visiting, I just don’t want to disturb you guys.”
Academician Wang Shicheng smiled and said, “Professor Lu, you’re too humble. There isn’t a university in the world that would refuse your visit.”
Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Okay, I’ll go tomorrow then. I’ll probably be busy after that.”
“No problem! Yan University’s doors are always open for you.” Academician Wang Shicheng smiled and said, “Okay then, you must be tired from traveling. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“See you tomorrow.”
Lu Zhou took his luggage and walked toward the elevator.
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