Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Dean Lu did not lie to Lu Zhou. That million yuan check interview was the last interview. After that, even though online discussions about Lu Zhou was still fermenting, there were no media that entered the school and disturbed his daily life.
Later, Lu Zhou found out that the school actually blocked a lot of interviews for him. The few media that did interview him were all from big and influential media companies. The small and freelance journalists could not even enter the school.
After all, the campus was for learning.
Appropriate publicity would help to raise the perceptive of the school and increase its popularity. However, if the school did not have a good balance, it would disturb the quietness of the campus and squander the positive study lifestyle. The school leaders were well aware of this.
Lu Zhou went to ICBC on Saturday and under the supervision of the branch president of ICBC, he cashed the million yuan check.
Lu Zhou rejected those people selling insurance and financial products and quickly left the bank. He went on a DiDi cab and felt dizzy. The feeling was as if he was floating in a dream.
He had never been this rich.
He did not even know how to spend the money.
I guess I’ll save it?
The car stopped in front of the school and for the billionth time, Lu Zhou opened his phone to check the string of zeros in his bank account. His heart was beating a million times a second.
“… I have a million now. I guess I’m only 4 million away from mission two.”
Lu Zhou quickly calmed himself down and put his phone back into his pocket before walking to the street full of restaurants.
He found a random small restaurant to eat lunch and by the time he got back to school, it was already two o’clock in the afternoon.
He remembered Professor Tang’s phone call, so before he went back to his dorm, he went to the laboratory building to find Professor Tang at his office.
Once he arrived, Lu Zhou knocked on the door and when he heard a loud “come in”, he pushed the door and went in.
When Professor Tang saw Lu Zhou, he smiled and said, “You’re pretty famous these days.”
Lu Zhou laughed embarrassedly as he said, “Professor, please don’t compliment me. The media has been so annoying…”
The two master’s students in the office were doing research when they rolled their eyes and decided to ignore Lu Zhou.
Annoyed?
Give me a million, I’ll take care of your troubles!
You don’t even know how lucky you are. What a shame!
Professor Tang picked up his vacuum flask and sipped some tea before he said with a smile, “Oh? You look pretty happy to me. How about you go into show business?
Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly but he did not speak.
“Fine, I have to teach a class soon. I won’t banter with you. Let’s get straight to the point,” said Professor Tang. When he saw that Lu Zhou did not respond, he stopped making any more jokes. He added, “I have an invitation here. It’s from Princeton University. There’s an international mathematics conference in February, in Princeton. You’re invited to carry out academic reports on your study.”
Lu Zhou was confused as he asked, “Academic conference?”
Professor Tang smiled and said, “That’s right, academic process lies in communication. You should accept this opportunity as it’s good for you. This conference is highly influential in the international field of number theory. You’re the first undergraduate student in our school that received this invitation, so you should accept it. The school will cover all of your expenses. Don’t worry about it!”
Even if Lu Zhou used this opportunity to communicate with his peers, he would still gain a lot.
Lu Zhou took the piece of invitation from Professor Tang and nodded.
“I’ll go prepare for it then.”
Professor Tang said, “Take your thesis and do some minor edits. Write up a simple and concise speech. The focus is on the QA segment, a lot of mathematics researchers will probably ask you a lot of questions, so be ready for them!”
“I understand… Then, I’ll go now?” said Lu Zhou as he nodded.
“Don’t leave just yet, one more thing,” said Professor Tang as he smiled. He then added, “Secretary Liu is recommending you to join the Top Ten Chinese Youth selection. Don’t know if you’ll get selected, but at least there’s a chance.”
Top Ten Chinese Youth!
Lu Zhou’s pupils dilated.
He had heard of this “Top Ten Chinese Youth” selection campaign before. Apparently, it was jointly organized by the Chinese Youth Federation and was sponsored by ten major news organizations. The aim was to establish young talents as models to other young people. It had only been around for ten years.
It was as influential as the China Youth Five Four Medal!
Lu Zhou held his breath and his heart started to beat fast but he quickly calmed down.
First of all, it was still a question whether or not a proof of Zhou’s conjecture was worthy of the award. After all, this award was not for scientific research. It was for all industries across the country and it indicated social contribution.
Moreover, this award was politically influenced, so it was not as simple as it looked.
If Lu Zhou had a Fields Medal, that would highly increase his chances of winning.
Also, there were no free meals in this world.
The last time Secretary Liu came to the school in the name of congratulating Lu Zhou, it was actually to show the value the government placed on scientific research. This time, for Secretary Liu to suddenly vouched for Lu Zhou to enter in the Top Ten Chinese Youth, it might not be as simple as it looked.
Lu Zhou calmed down a bit.
He had no doubts about his IQ.
But…
As for his EQ, he was not so sure.
Lu Zhou did not give any clues and he merely smiled as he asked respectfully, “Professor, what do you suggest?”
Professor Tang smiled and said, “My suggestion? Depends on where you want to go in the future. If you want to enter into politics, this is a good way for you to get into the circle. Secretary Liu could help you in your future political career and you could become some big representative in the government. As for how far you’ll go, that’ll depend on your abilities.”
Lu Zhou was silent.
Instead of worrying, Professor Tang just sat there and drank his tea.
After a while, Lu Zhou suddenly smiled and shook his head, “I’m afraid politics is not my cup of tea.”
As a child whose father worked for the government, this proposal was quite tempting. If he could capture this opportunity, there could be a bright road in front of him. Head of the university, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences were all possible.
However, Lu Zhou was self-aware.
He was used to doing what he wanted and working in politics was not necessarily what he wanted.
“It seems that you’re quite self-aware. You don’t seem to be the political type anyways,” said Professor Tang as he smiled. He placed his vacuum flask on the desk and looked at Lu Zhou. With a nod, he said, “Since you’ve already made a decision, you should reject it. Just remember to be euphemistic in your rejection.”
Lu Zhou thought and said, “I’m a student. I don’t know much. I don’t deserve this honor… Should I reply like this?”
Professor Tang smiled and responded, “Clever.”