Chapter 1329: Interview with Nature
The opening ceremony was over.
As expected, the moment the door opened, Luo Wenxuan was surrounded by reporters.
“h.e.l.lo, Secretary-General Luo, where is Academician Lu?”
“I also want to know where he is, but I’m sorry, he’s the only one who knows the answer to that question.”
“h.e.l.lo, Mr. Secretary-General! According to our reporter’s statistics, ILHCRC promised a total of 320 million yuan in bonus today, with an average bonus of 3.2 million yuan! Is that true?”
“This is an arithmetic problem that anyone can calculate. As long as you don’t make a mistake, then it’s correct.”
“Who will bear this funding? Will the ILHCRC bear the full cost?”
“The research funds allocated by various countries bear 40%, the remaining 60% comes from donations from all walks of life.”
“h.e.l.lo, Secretary-General Luo, what if these problems cannot be completed, and no one receives these bonuses in the end?”
“The ILHCRC will set up a foundation to independently operate the bonus prize pool. We will achieve a stable growth of a.s.sets using a steady investment strategy. Even if the ILHCRC ceases to exist one day, this bonus will always exist until someone earns it!
“Also, these are the questions of the 21st century. If no one solves it in this century, solving it in the next century or the century after that is the same. If you can’t do it, someone else will… Excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom now. Please leave the questions for the press conference tomorrow. Thank you.”
Luo Wenxuan’s scalp was numb because of these countless problems. He didn’t want to say a word except for “f*cks sake” at this moment. An hour had gone by until he finally got rid of these troublesome reporters.
At night time.
Like usual, the conference organizers organized a dinner for academic exchanges.
With so many people attending, it obviously couldn’t be arranged in a hotel.
In order to entertain as many scholars as possible, the ILHCRC transformed the entire first floor of the International Convention and Exhibition Center into a dining hall. Partic.i.p.ants at the conference were provided free meals.
As for the prestigious scholars and other invited attendees at the No.1 and No. 2 conference rooms, they were arranged to have dinner at the nearby Yi Hao Hotel.
Even though Lu Zhou wasn’t interested in banquets, as the chairman of the ILHCRC and one of the protagonists of the Century of Physics Conference, he had to show up.
Most people came to the dinner just for him.
At the banquet at Yi Hao Hotel, Belinda, who had the honor of interviewing Lu Zhou during her interns.h.i.+p at CERN, was lucky enough to get a ticket to the banquet and interview Lu Zhou.
About nine years ago, she was just an editor for “Nature Weekly”. But now, she was the editor in chief of the main issue for “Nature”.
After so many years, she changed from a charming mature woman to a mother of three children.
When Lu Zhou heard that her husband was Professor Grayer who had helped him at CERN, he had a surprised look on his face.
Back then, he felt like there was something going on between those two people, but he didn’t ask any questions. He didn’t expect that after so many years, the two had gone from ordinary friends into a married couple.
After hearing this, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but sigh.
Time goes by so f*cking fast…
“I’m so jealous, you look almost the same as nine years ago.” Ms. Belinda smiled and said, “I heard that there is a mysterious power in the East that can make you stay young forever. Is that true?”
Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.
He obviously wouldn’t say that it was because of a prize drawn by the high tech system.
“Maybe I just age well… Of course, the same goes for you.”
“Oh thank you, but I know you don’t mean that, I am obviously not young anymore.” Belinda teased herself and said, “This is a rare opportunity. Can I interview you for a few questions?”
Lu Zhou happily said, “No problem, please go ahead.”
Ms. Belinda smiled and said, “The first question might sound a little boring, but many people are curious… Why did you spend 100 million yuan to offer a reward for the Grand Unified Theory?”
After thinking about it for a while, Lu Zhou said, “There are two reasons. One reason is that I think it is important, and the other is because… I think it can be solved within this century.”
In fact, the other reason was that he had more than enough money.
However, it would be arrogant of him to say that. He wasn’t a person that liked to brag.
“The physics community believes that you are the most promising person to solve this problem.”
Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Really? Maybe, but unfortunately… I might not focus my main research on physics, especially theoretical physics.”
The electrostrong interaction unification theory opened the door to the Grand Unified Theory, the void theory broadened the horizon of human civilization to the extra dimensions beyond time, and the hypers.p.a.ce theory added hope to faster than light travel.
Lu Zhou felt that he could be proud of his work as a physicist for the rest of his life, or even for multiple lifetimes.
If he wanted to achieve even more, he would have to build a warp drive or stick his head into the void to see what was inside that made The Observer civilization feel so scared.
As for other physics research…
It wasn’t that he was not interested, but Lu Zhou hoped to leave these growth opportunities to other potential scholars.
Belinda opened her mouth in surprise and asked, “Wait a minute, what do you mean? Are you… planning to retire from physics?”
If this is true…
This is huge news.
“That’s not true.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “It’s just that I can’t achieve greater success in this field; I should consider giving others a chance.
“No discipline can rely on the power of one person to achieve prosperity. Rather than creating more results in this field, I hope that my research can inspire people and let them create more miracles.”
Belinda was shocked by the thoughts revealed in this sentence.
After staring at Lu Zhou intently for a while, Belinda sighed emotionally.
“Is this the reason you left the mathematics world?”
“Left the mathematics world? No, I never left the mathematics world.” Lu Zhou shook his head lightly and said, “Instead of researching mathematics itself, I now pay more attention to how to strengthen its connection with other fields and how to apply it to solve more problems. This is what many excellent mathematicians like me are unwilling to do.”
Lu Zhou paused for a moment, smiled, and continued, “I think, my att.i.tude toward physics…
“Is largely the same.”