Chapter 76: It’s Good To Be Utilitarian

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

The sky was completely dark but the research building was still brightly lit when Lu Zhou knocked on Professor Tang’s office and walked in.

Actually, he already had an idea as to why Professor Tang called him over.

Just a second ago, he received the thesis acceptance letter from [Mathematics Chronicle]. It was actually sent two days ago but he missed it.

However, Lu Zhou could not believe that it was published so quickly. It was like the Mathematics Chronicle journal was in more of a hurry than him.

Seeing that his thesis received so much respect, Lu Zhou could not help but feel flattered.

The moment he walked in, Professor Tang put down his pen and looked at the graduate student working next to him.

“Wong, go pour a glass of water.”

That master’s student named Wong pushed his glasses and stood up.

Lu Zhou said, “It’s okay, I’ll do it myself.”

“No, let me,” said Wong as he placed a teacup on the coffee table before pouring water into an electric kettle. He said respectfully, “I’m pouring water for the master.”

“Thanks…”

As Lu Zhou looked at the full cup of tea, he reluctantly accepted Wong’s kindness.

Lu Zhou sat on the couch and looked at the magazine next to his teacup. It was the latest English version of the journal [Mathematics Chronicle]. Lu Zhou flipped to page thirty and instantly recognized the thesis he wrote.

[Discussion On The Distribution Law Of Mersenne Prime Numbers And Proof Of Zhou’s Conjecture]

“The thesis in Mathematics Chronicle, did you write this?” asked Professor Tang with a serious tone as he sat behind the desk.

“Yeah,” said Lu Zhou as he nodded and looked at Professor Tang with a strange expression.

Who else could it be?

Is there another Lu Zhou in the University of Jin Ling?

The two master’s students in the room sucked in the cold air and looked at Lu Zhou in respect.

No wonder Old Tang admires this guy so much!

He proved a world-class mathematics problem, yet he is still so calm.

If they proved a world-class mathematics problem and published the thesis in a core journal, they would be jumping up and down in joy. They would get the scholarship from the school and then asked their friends to go out for a meal.

“…”

Lu Zhou was so calm that Professor Tang did not even know what to say.

Honestly speaking, Professor Tang was confused when he read the thesis.

Not because of the thesis itself, but because of the person that published it.

He had never thought that Lu Zhou would actually figure something out about Mersenne primes. He wanted Lu Zhou to get his feet wet, but he had not expected it…

Then…

Who would’ve thought that this kid was going to make such a significant achievement in this field?

He dropped a nuclear bomb onto the entire field of number theory…

“… Your accomplishments in the field of number theory exceeded my imagination. I thought you are only talented in the field of functions, but it seems that I was wrong,” said Professor Tang as he shook his head. He then said, “I’ve taught so many smart students in my life but you are the most talented one that I have ever seen.”

Not only was Professor Tang impressed, but he was also confused.

Normally speaking, a person’s energy should be limited. It was bad for an academician to focus on many things, but it seemed that this limit did not apply to this kid.

It seems that there really are geniuses in this world that defy common sense.

Lu Zhou was embarrassed at his compliment so he laughed it off before he said in a humble manner, “Professor Tang, you’re exaggerating. I was only casually inspired. I’m not as strong as you say.”

“Huh, okay.”

Professor Tang’s voice was one of disbelief and Lu Zhou did not even know what to say.

Professor Tang’s “huh” obviously meant that he saw through Lu Zhou’s attempt at being humble.

Old Tang is too smart!

At this moment, the office door was suddenly pushed open.

Two peopled walked in.

The first person was Dean Lu of applied mathematics and the other man was someone Lu Zhou could not recognize. However, with the way the man was staring at Lu Zhou, he clearly came after him.

Dean Lu walked in and was about to shout at Professor Tang when he saw Lu Zhou. He then hurried forward to ask, “You proved Zhou’s conjecture?!”

Lu Zhou looked at the energetic Dean Lu before he nodded and said, “Yea… Is there a problem?”

Dean Lu did not say anything but the old man next to him smiled and spoke first, “There isn’t a problem. I’ve read your thesis, the proof process is quite good. It really deserves the praise of Professor Deligne.”

Praise?

Deligne?

Who?

Lu Zhou was confused.

The two master’s students had a shocked expression on their faces.

Deligne?

Viscount, the Belgian king! The guy that proved Weil’s conjecture!

Professor Tang coughed and said, “Wong, go pour some tea for the professors.”

Wong stood up silently and walked towards the tea set on the cabinet.

The strange old man said, “Old Tang, don’t need to be so polite. I’m just here for a bit and I’m leaving soon.”

“This is the head dean of our department, Dean Qin,” explained Dean Lu when he saw Lu Zhou’s confused face.

Lu Zhou stood up and said, “Dean, nice to meet you.”

“Hello, hello, don’t need to be polite. Sit down,” said Dean Qin. As he looked at Lu Zhou, he nodded his head in approval before saying, “So, you’re Lu Zhou. I’ve been wanting to meet you for a while. But I was in Norway doing an academic conference, so I didn’t get the chance. I only came back last week.”

“When I was in Norway, I talked to Mr. Newman about the linear functional paper that you sent a few months ago, and he spoke highly of you. He told me that you would be able to achieve groundbreaking results in five years. I had not expected this day to come so quickly. I just came back from Norway and you had already written such a shocking thesis in a field very different from functional number.”

Dean Qin finished and sighed. He then smiled and said, “Us old people are becoming more and more useless. We have to rely on you young people to prove these mathematics conjectures.”

“Dean Qin, you’re too kind,” said Lu Zhou. He coughed out of embarrassment before saying, “It’s not that shocking…”

Dean Qin looked at Lu Zhou. He then smiled and said, “Oh, wait till tomorrow. You’ll know what I’m talking about.”

What did he mean by “oh”?

Lu Zhou was confused.

When Dean Qin saw that Lu Zhou did not speak, he said, “It’s late, I still have to discuss some matters with Professor Tang. You should go now.”

Lu Zhou wanted to leave anyway. Since he had finished the mission, he wanted to go and get his reward in the system space.

Therefore he smiled and said, “Then I’ll go… Oh yeah, Dean Qin, is there a scholarship for solving this kind of world-class mathematics problem?”

Professor Tang laughed and said, “This kid, all you care about is money. Can the value of a world-class be measured with money?!”

Lu Zhou nodded. He wanted to say yes, but he stopped himself.

Dean Lu and Dean Qin laughed.

“There is a scholarship. Our school strongly supports outstanding scientific research like this!” said Dean Qin. As he smiled, he said, “But as for the exact scholarship, the school will have a meeting about it. Right now, I can’t make any promises, but we won’t treat you badly!”

Lu Zhou was overjoyed and he replied, “Thank you, dean!”

Dean Qin waved his hand and said, “You’re welcome.”

Lu Zhou left the office and closed the door behind him.

Dean Qin smiled and said, “That kid is quite talented.”

Professor Tang sighed and said, “Yeah, he’s just a bit too utilitarian.”

“It’s good to be utilitarian.”

“Good? I think you have to focus in order to do research well,” said Professor Tang. He shook his head and said, “His talent in mathematics is the highest I’ve ever seen. If he just focused on research, he would achieve great things.”

“Oh? I think that utilitarianism and enthusiasm go hand in hand,” said Dean Qin with a smile. He continued, “The real problem is stubborn people.”

Professor Tang shook his head and did not respond.

He had seen too many geniuses that wasted their talent.

Learning was not dancing or singing. If one wanted to make achievements, one must be able to withstand loneliness. One must learn to actively shield oneself from distractions. This might be unfair to those that contributed towards the advancement of science, but since they had chosen this path of exploring the truth, they would have to bear it all.

Maybe the professor’s perspectives were different.

Dean Qin hoped that Lu Zhou could make achievements in the University of Jin Ling. He hoped to mark the proof of Zhou’s conjecture with the label of the University of Jin Ling so that the university could become famous in the academic circle of China or even in the world.

However, whether it was at the University of Jin Ling or at Princeton, or somewhere else,

Professor Tang only hoped that this kid would further advance himself in mathematics.

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