Chapter 614: Can We Chat Properly
Lu Zhou didn’t really care about where the report was held.
For the stuff that was unrelated to academia, he would be happy for someone else to do it for him.
Normally speaking, an academic report was a very troublesome thing to host. Not only would one have to worry about the guests eating and sleeping, but they would also have to consider all of the possible unexpected situations that could happen. However, for Jin Ling University, this was the opposite.
Because of Lu Zhou’s international academic reputation and the reputation of the existence of a solution to the Yang-Mills equations in the mathematics and physics community, it was foreseeable that there were going to be many big names that would be attending this report session.
Being able to host an academic conference of this caliber was obviously beneficial for the school’s academic status.
Especially for a school that was interested in showing themselves on the international academic stage, they were more than happy to help Lu Zhou host this report.
The organization of the report became a top priority for the university. The administrative departments held several days of meetings, and they talked about everything from the safety of the meeting to the placement of the water cups, to the dishes at the banquet.
Inside the princ.i.p.al’s office.
Princ.i.p.al Xu found several teachers who were involved in administrative work to further discuss some of the report arrangements.
However, he suddenly heard a knock at the door.
When Princ.i.p.al Xu saw Academician w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng at his office door, he paused for a second.
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng was the chairman of the China Mathematics Society, and he was one of the leaders of the mathematics community at Yan University. Even though Princ.i.p.al Xu wasn’t a mathematician himself, he was still well aware of Academician w.a.n.g’s reputation in academia.
Princ.i.p.al Xu immediately knew his intentions.
However, he pretended like he didn’t know anything.
“Oh, Old w.a.n.g, what brings you from Beijing? You didn’t even tell me you were coming.”
Academician w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng walked to the sofa and sat down. “I had a meeting in Jiangsu. After the meeting, I came here to look at my old friend. What? Am I not welcome?”
Haha!
You never talk to me normally, now you think of me as a friend?
Only a dumb*ss would believe you!
“What do you mean?” Princ.i.p.al Xu smiled and looked at his a.s.sistant next to him. “Xiao Yang, go and get Academician w.a.n.g a cup of tea.”
“Okay.”
Xiao Yang immediately stood up and walked to the cabinet. He then took out the tea set.
After the tea was ready, the two of them began to chat casually while drinking tea. The teachers that had administrative responsibilities were left aside. They looked at each other and didn’t know what was going on.
Half an hour had pa.s.sed by, and w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng finally couldn’t handle it anymore.
Even though he tried to divert the conversation to Lu Zhou and the Yang-Mills equations multiple times, Principle Xu would always quickly avoid the conversation.
He put down the teacup and looked at Princ.i.p.al Xu.
“Old Xu, to be honest, I came here to ask for help.”
Princ.i.p.al Xu said, “Oh yeah?”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng cleared his throat. He then said, “A while ago, Professor Lu published a thesis in Annual Mathematics, right? It’s about the existence of a solution to the Yang-Mills equations. A lot of the professors in my department looked at it and felt that the thesis was very well written.”
No sh*t.
Who doesn’t know it’s good?
Did you win a Fields Medal or a Crafoord Prize?
Princ.i.p.al Xu still smiled on the outside, but he didn’t say anything.
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng continued to speak slowly, “But I’m sure you also know the rules of academia. For this type of major mathematics proposition, a thesis is not enough. Surely one would have to host a few report sessions and express their views to other scholars? This proposition can only be considered solved after answering all of the questions.”
Xu Jian said, “Oh, what do you mean?”
Professor w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng stopped hiding his intentions, and he said, “I don’t mean anything… It’s just that, Yan University wants to invite Professor Lu to do a report.”
“Oh sure, this is easy, I’ll ask Professor Lu for you.” Xu Jian smiled and said, “If he agrees, then I’ll allow it. The second report session will be at Yan University.”
Academician w.a.n.g, who had a smile on his face, nearly vomited.
“This… isn’t appropriate, right?”
Xu Jian asked confidently, “What’s wrong?”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng said, “This kind of important international event shouldn’t be done in Jinling, it should be done in Beijing.”
Xu Jian: “Oh, are you looking down on Jinling?”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng slapped his thigh and said, “No, that’s not what I meant. I meant that Yan University has a higher status in the international mathematics community, and we have experience in organizing international mathematics reports. Let us do it, we can show the international community the sophistication of the Chinese mathematics world!”
Xu Jian said, “We also have experience hosting international academic conferences, and it’s also our duty to show the world the strength of Chinese mathematicians. Don’t worry about this.”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng said, “Old Xu, you know the level of mathematics at Jin Ling University, so why are you fighting this?”
Plus, Xu Jian, you’re a computer scientist, why are you stepping into the mathematics world?
However, Xu Jian wasn’t happy. He didn’t slap the table, but he spoke impolitely. “Does Yan University have a Fields Medal?”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng paused for a second and shook his head.
Xu Jian: “What about a Crafoord Prize?”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng was muddled, and he shook his head.
Xu Jian said, “Oh yeah, we have both of them.”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng: “…”
F*ck sake!
Can you just have a normal conversation with me?
Seeing how this conversation was going sideways, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng shook his head and stood up.
“Old man, you’re being unreasonable. I’m not going to talk to you. Where is Professor Lu? I’m going to talk to him.”
“Professor Lu is not here.”
“Where is he?”
Xu Jian rolled his eyes and said, “Don’t ask me, find him yourself.”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng: “…”
After w.a.n.g s.h.i.+cheng left Princ.i.p.al Xu’s office, Princ.i.p.al Xu looked at the muddled teachers inside the room.
Princ.i.p.al Xu then asked in a stern manner, “Did you hear what that old piece of c.r.a.p said?
“He thinks we can’t do it!
“I repeat again, this report will affect the glory of Jin Ling University! It will affect our future!
“If anything goes wrong, I’m blaming it on you guys!”