Recaps

At the flag-raising ceremony, Principal Liu announced that sophomore Xiao Yi had placed first among 4.5 million candidates in the Nine Provinces Joint Examination with 725 points. Xiao Yi received a ten-thousand-yuan scholarship and went onstage to accept his award.

• Chen Wei guessed that Xiao Yi would receive an award, and Xiao Yi confirmed it before Luo Penghua told Chen Wei to stand properly.
• Principal Liu announced that a student had taken first place in the Nine Provinces Joint Examination, shocking students across the school.
• Principal Liu revealed that Xiao Yi had scored 725 points, five ahead of second place, and explained that he was a sophomore preparing to take the college entrance examination with the seniors.
• Principal Liu announced a ten-thousand-yuan scholarship for Xiao Yi and invited him onstage to receive it.
• Xiao Yi left Class 3 of Science Stream and walked to Principal Liu in front of the assembled students.

Xiao Yi received a 10,000-yuan scholarship for placing first in the senior-year exam, and Principal Liu let him arrange his own study schedule. He began studying alone in the library study room, drawing on the vast knowledge he had gained from reading forty books and mathematical papers.

• Liu Songlin presented Xiao Yi with a 10,000-yuan scholarship placard and told him the money would be transferred to his bank account.
• Xiao Yi returned to class, joked with Chen Wei and his classmates, and announced that he would stop attending lessons.
• Luo Penghua told Chen Wei that Principal Liu had allowed Xiao Yi to arrange his own time and study in the study room.
• Chen Wei abandoned the idea of asking for the same privilege and resolved to study harder after Luo Penghua pointed out his physics score.
• Xiao Yi studied in the library and reflected on how reading forty books and Andrew Wiles's paper on Fermat's Last Theorem had expanded his mathematical knowledge.

Xiao Yi decided to write his first mathematics paper before enrolling at USTC and asked Professor Liu Bin for advice on choosing a topic. After Xiao Yi revealed that he had read Andrew Wiles's original proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, Liu Bin agreed to recommend number theory topics.

• Xiao Yi concluded that the college entrance examination was manageable and set his sights on becoming the top scorer while preparing to write a paper before enrollment.
• Xiao Yi called Professor Liu Bin and asked for advice on selecting a paper topic.
• Xiao Yi chose number theory because reading Andrew Wiles's original papers on Fermat's Last Theorem had sparked his interest.
• Xiao Yi told Liu Bin that he had read the original papers in Annals of Mathematics and was rereading the forty mathematics books Liu Bin had given him.
• Liu Bin was astonished by Xiao Yi's preparation and offered to recommend potential number theory topics.

Liu Bin introduced Xiao Yi to number theory and sent him possible paper topics and research papers. Xiao Yi became interested in the Absolute Remote Abelian Conjecture topic, which he thought suited him perfectly.

• Liu Bin explained how number theory sought patterns in integer problems such as the Riemann Hypothesis, Fermat's Last Theorem, the Twin Prime Conjecture, and Goldbach's Conjecture.
• Liu Bin advised Xiao Yi to read number theory papers and sent him several possible topics and papers by leading researchers.
• Liu Bin reminded Xiao Yi not to pressure himself to finish a paper within four months before ending their call.
• Xiao Yi examined the topics and focused on Analytic Resolution of Nonsingularities and the Absolute Remote Abelian Conjecture.
• Xiao Yi read that the topic extended a conjecture proven by Shinichi Mochizuki and decided it suited him perfectly.

Xiao Yi chose an especially difficult mathematics topic combining number theory and algebraic geometry, while Liu Bin unknowingly sent it to him by mistake. As the 2020 Gaokao approached, Xiao Yi’s classmates wished him luck, and he waited outside Exam Room 4 for his first exam.

• Xiao Yi decided to work on a difficult topic involving number theory, algebraic geometry, and anabelian geometry.
• Liu Bin noticed he might have sent Xiao Yi the obscure topic by accident, but hurried to class without checking further.
• Luo Penghua announced the school’s Gaokao closure and told the class that Xiao Yi would take the exam with the seniors.
• Chen Wei led the class in wishing Xiao Yi success, and Xiao Yi promised he would win the Gaokao top scholar title.
• On June 7, Xiao Yi waited outside Exam Room 4 for the Gaokao to begin.

After finishing the college entrance exams, Xiao Yi devoted himself to writing his challenging mathematics paper while awaiting the results. When his 741-point score made him Hui Province’s science-stream top scorer, Shangjing University and Tsinghua University admissions teachers arrived at his home to recruit him.

• Xiao Yi continued working through difficult material for his paper, gradually making progress.
• On June 24, Xiao Guohua answered the door to teachers from Shangjing University, who congratulated Xiao Yi on becoming the province’s science-stream top scorer.
• The Shangjing University teacher revealed Xiao Yi’s 741-point score and asked whether he would apply to the university.
• Teachers from Tsinghua University arrived and argued with the Shangjing University team over who had arrived first.
• Xiao Guohua and Du Xin realized the two top universities were competing to recruit Xiao Yi, and Du Xin became tearful with excitement.

Xiao Yi’s Gaokao top-scorer result brought Shangjing University and Tsinghua representatives to his home to recruit him, but USTC’s admissions director arrived with a richer offer. The rivalry ended when Xiao Yi announced that he had already agreed to attend USTC.

• Xiao Guohua explained that Xiao Yi was a second-year high school student already committed to USTC through its Young Scholars Program.
• The Shangjing University and Tsinghua representatives proposed ways for Xiao Yi to enroll early and argued over their mathematics programs and benefits.
• Wang Enqing, USTC’s admissions director, arrived with a group and congratulated Xiao Yi on scoring 741 and ranking first among National Paper B provinces.
• Wang Enqing offered Xiao Yi tuition, accommodation, meals, monthly allowances, and competition rewards to join USTC’s Gifted Class.
• Xiao Yi said he had agreed to go to USTC.

Xiao Yi turned down recruitment offers from Shangjing University and Qinghua because he had promised to attend USTC, and his family supported his choice. After the universities’ teachers left, news of Xiao Yi’s record-breaking Gaokao score as a high school junior spread nationwide.

• Xiao Yi refused Shangjing University and Qinghua, explaining that he had promised Professor Liu he would attend USTC.
• Xiao Guohua supported his son’s decision, and the visiting teachers accepted Xiao Yi’s choice before leaving.
• Wang Enqing thanked Xiao Yi’s family and began discussing the details of his enrollment at USTC.
• Xiao Yi focused on his paper while public attention shifted to Gaokao results across the country.
• Netizens learned that Xiao Yi had scored 741 as a high school junior and had topped the science stream in Hui Province and all regions using Gaokao Exam Paper B.

Xiao Yi’s 741-point Gaokao score and decision to honor his agreement with USTC drew widespread attention, leaving him overwhelmed by reporters and messages. At a televised interview, he said he had no regrets about choosing USTC over Shangjing University and Tsinghua University because it was closer to home.

• Netizens marveled at Xiao Yi’s perfect scores in math and Science Comprehensive and praised him for keeping his promise to attend USTC.
• Xiao Yi struggled with the attention from reporters and online messages, which disrupted his work on a paper.
• Xiao Yi attended an interview at the Affiliated High School on June 26, where students, parents, teachers, and school leaders watched.
• Xiao Yi thanked his school and homeroom teacher Luo Penghua during the interview, pleasing the school leaders.
• Xiao Yi told the reporter that Shangjing University and Tsinghua University were fine, but USTC was closer to home, so he felt no regret about his choice.

Xiao Yi accepted a ten-thousand-yuan sponsorship from Anhui Provincial TV and received his school’s thirty-thousand-yuan scholarship after becoming the provincial top scholar. His classmates joined him for a graduation photo, and a month later he had returned to researching his paper.

• A reporter offered Xiao Yi a ten-thousand-yuan sponsorship, which he accepted after filling out the form.
• Principal Liu Songlin presented Xiao Yi with a thirty-thousand-yuan scholarship plaque.
• Teacher Luo brought the students of Class 3 of Science Stream to celebrate with Xiao Yi and take a graduation photo.
• Xiao Yi, Principal Liu Songlin, and the classmates posed for a photo, with Xiao Yi wearing graduation robes.
• Xiao Yi returned to researching his paper, and a month passed.

Xiao Yi completed and checked a twenty-five-page paper proving the Absolute Remote Abelian Conjecture, then learned that Ruthless Continuous Study had reached lv3. He sent the paper to Professor Liu for review, and Professor Liu was stunned by its title.

• Xiao Yi finished deriving the paper’s final conclusion and organized his work into a twenty-five-page document.
• Xiao Yi checked the derivations and received a notification that Ruthless Continuous Study had reached lv3, increasing its learning-efficiency bonus.
• Xiao Yi worried that the paper might have too little value for a Core Journal and sent it to Professor Liu for advice.
• Professor Liu opened Xiao Yi’s paper and froze when he saw its title, “Non-singular Analytic and... the Absolute Remote Abelian Conjecture.”

Liu Bin discovered that Xiao Yi had chosen a highly difficult conjecture topic and claimed to have proved it. As he carefully reviewed Xiao Yi’s rigorous paper, Liu Bin found no errors but realized the proof had exceeded his expertise.

• Liu Bin recognized Xiao Yi’s paper topic as a difficult conjecture he had once suggested and asked why Xiao Yi had chosen it.
• Xiao Yi explained that the topic interested him because it involved Algebraic Geometry and seemed harder than the others.
• Liu Bin told Xiao Yi the topic was beyond his level and tried to reassure him that researching it had still been useful experience.
• Xiao Yi said he believed he had proved the Absolute Remote Abelian Conjecture and had checked his derivation.
• Liu Bin began examining the paper and found its proof rigorous, but he could not understand parts of it because they lay outside his expertise.

Liu Bin admitted he could not evaluate Xiao Yi’s paper on Far Abelian Geometry and brought it to Academician Hu for review. Hu recognized the topic and guessed Xiao Yi might have written it, but dismissed the idea, leaving Liu Bin amused by how close he was to the truth.

• Liu Bin told Xiao Yi that he could not understand or assess the paper and would ask Academician Hu to review it.
• Liu Bin praised the paper’s rigor, calculations, methods, and writing, while Xiao Yi blamed its difficulties for calling it not very good.
• Liu Bin printed the twenty-five-page paper and took it to Academician Hu’s office.
• Hu Guangde recognized the paper’s topic as one he had once assigned to Liu Bin and asked who had written it.
• Hu guessed Xiao Yi might be the author, then rejected the possibility because he thought Xiao Yi had not studied long enough.

Hu Guangde examined a mathematics paper and judged it strong enough for leading journals, while Liu Bin revealed that Xiao Yi had written it. Hu Guangde was stunned by the revelation and kept the paper to study further.

• Hu Guangde began reading the paper, criticizing its abstract and formatting while praising its rigorous mathematical derivations.
• Hu Guangde became absorbed in the paper and worked through its calculations for about an hour.
• Hu Guangde said the paper could be submitted to leading journals, including IHES, if it contained no major errors.
• Liu Bin revealed that Xiao Yi had written the paper, leaving Hu Guangde astonished.

Hu Guangde confirmed that Xiao Yi had independently written an exceptional paper in Far Abelian Geometry and finished reviewing it. He judged it worthy of submission to IHES and told Liu Bin to ask Xiao Yi to prepare an English translation.

• Hu Guangde questioned whether Xiao Yi had written the paper and asked Liu Bin to run a plagiarism check.
• Liu Bin and Hu Guangde found the paper had a similarity rate of 3.14%, and Hu Guangde asked Liu Bin to leave the paper with him for review.
• Three days later, Hu Guangde told Liu Bin that Xiao Yi’s paper was rigorous, highly valuable, and among the best recent work in Far Abelian Geometry.
• Hu Guangde told Liu Bin to notify Xiao Yi and remind him to translate the paper into English for submission to IHES.

After Hu Guangde praised Xiao Yi’s proof of the Absolute Remote Abelian Conjecture, he and Liu Bin urged him to submit it to a prestigious international journal. Liu Bin helped Xiao Yi prepare the paper and advised him to claim sole authorship and protect his work.

• Xiao Yi was stunned when Liu Bin told him Hu Guangde considered his paper one of the best recent works in Far Abelian Geometry, and Hu praised his talent.
• Hu Guangde and Liu Bin recommended that Xiao Yi translate the paper and submit it to Publications mathématiques de l'IHES rather than a domestic Core Journal.
• Xiao Yi translated the paper, and Liu Bin helped him revise its formatting and wording before recommending submission to IHES.
• Xiao Yi asked whether Liu Bin should be the corresponding author, but Liu insisted Xiao Yi list only himself because he had completed the paper independently.
• Liu warned Xiao Yi that academia could be unclean and advised him to protect his work and achievements.

Xiao Yi submitted his first paper to Publications Mathématiques de l'IHES and resumed studying while awaiting a decision. At the university, Hu Guangde took charge of writing the Hua Luogeng Mathematics Class entrance exam and planned to devise questions that could challenge Xiao Yi; days later, an IHES editor began work with more than fifty submissions waiting.

• Xiao Yi submitted his paper to Publications Mathématiques de l'IHES and told Liu Bin that he had sent it in.
• Liu Bin informed Hu Guangde, who said he would contact the journal's editor-in-chief and expected the paper might be published within three months if all went well.
• Dean Chen gave Hu Guangde the Hua Luogeng Mathematics Class applicant list, and Hu Guangde noticed Xiao Yi's name among the students selected for the second-round exam.
• Hu Guangde volunteered to write the written exam questions, then asked Liu Bin to help him think of questions that could stump Xiao Yi.
• Editor Evans arrived at the IHES journal office in Paris and found more than fifty unread submissions in the review system.

IHES editor Evans examined a paper on Far Abelian Geometry submitted by a Chinese high school graduate after Editor-in-Chief Bojielun asked him to review it carefully. Evans expected to reject it, but the rigorous paper impressed him as he read.

• Evans rejected several early submissions that fell short of IHES standards.
• Evans noticed that the fifth submission had been marked for the editor-in-chief’s attention and found that its author was a Chinese high school graduate.
• Evans asked Bojielun why the paper had been prioritized, and Bojielun told him to review it carefully and provide a brief evaluation.
• Bojielun explained that Mr. Hu, an old friend, had recommended the paper and bet Evans 50 euros that he would keep reading it.
• Evans began reviewing the paper, and its rigorous derivations made him abandon his plans for a tactful rejection.

Evans became absorbed in a high school student's paper on Far Abelian Geometry, recognizing its remarkable quality despite struggling to follow parts of the proof. He decided to finish reading it before speaking with Editor-in-Chief Bojielun.

• Evans studied the paper and worked through calculations until David warned him that his actions could look like plagiarism.
• Evans realized he had lost his wager with Bojielun and owed him fifty euros, but chose to keep reading the paper.
• David tried to read the paper but could not understand it, while Evans praised its methods and detailed explanations.
• Evans called the student a rising star in mathematics and said he would find Editor-in-Chief Bojielun after finishing the paper.

Evans persuaded Editor-in-Chief Bojielun that Xiao Yi’s paper on Far Abelian Geometry might be publishable, despite its author being a high school student. Bojielun sent it to Peter Scholze for expert review, leaving the paper’s merit and its possible relevance to Shinichi Mochizuki’s abc conjecture proof unresolved.

• Evans told Bojielun that Xiao Yi’s paper might be suitable for their journal and revealed he was preparing to contact Peter Scholze or Jacob Stix for a review.
• Bojielun read the paper, could not follow its mathematics, but recognized its professional writing and agreed to seek expert review.
• Bojielun called Peter Scholze, who agreed to review the paper and promised to respond within two or three weeks.
• Evans suggested Scholze might be interested because of his dispute with Shinichi Mochizuki over the abc conjecture proof, while Bojielun doubted Xiao Yi’s paper could resolve it.
• Evans left without returning the fifty euros, and Bojielun resumed his work after sending the paper to Scholze.

In late August, Xiao Yi learned that fifteen universities would hold a joint mathematics-class entrance exam, with questions set by academicians, after Academician Hu’s plan to challenge him sparked wider interest. Xiao Yi joined the exam group and opened the syllabus, where an unusual question type stopped him cold.

• Liu Bin told Xiao Yi that his paper remained under expert review and that his mathematics-class assessment would take place on August 29.
• Liu Bin explained that Academician Hu’s plan to set difficult questions had led academicians from fifteen universities to organize a nationwide joint exam.
• Xiao Yi joined the exam’s QQ group and saw applicants from several universities worrying about the abstract syllabus and their chances of admission.
• Xiao Yi opened the syllabus and froze when he discovered that it included a kind of question he had not expected.

Xiao Yi learned that the university mathematics examination would test whether students could abstract methods from research papers, then prepared for the exam and arrived at USTC. There, he met fellow examinees and was introduced to the young Ye Cheng, who insisted they address each other as scholars.

• Xiao Yi read the exam outline and realized the afternoon test would ask examinees to identify mathematical methods in papers and apply them to new problems.
• Chen Muhua recognized Xiao Yi in the group chat, praised his college entrance exam score, and exchanged good wishes with him.
• Xiao Yi accepted Chen Muhua's friend request and returned to reading Zhang Yitang's paper on the Twin Prime Conjecture.
• Eight days later, Xiao Yi arrived at USTC for the joint examination and found many young Gifted Class students among the examinees.
• Ye Cheng greeted Xiao Yi as Scholar Xiao, and Xiao Yi asked him to use his name instead; Ye Cheng proposed they call each other scholars.

Xiao Yi discussed Ye Cheng’s ambitious plans and his anxiety about the afternoon mathematics exam before finishing the test in twenty minutes and handing it in. His early departure left the other young math competitors, including Ye Cheng, stunned.

• Xiao Yi learned that Ye Cheng planned to pursue advanced mathematics and hoped to win the Fields Medal before turning forty.
• Ye Cheng admitted he was nervous about the afternoon exam, and Xiao Yi gave him an uncertain answer about his own confidence.
• The proctors distributed the exam papers, and Xiao Yi quickly saw that the three questions resembled easier Math Olympiad problems.
• Xiao Yi solved all three questions in twenty minutes and handed his paper to Professor Xu.
• Professor Xu was astonished by Xiao Yi’s completed answers, while the other examinees and Ye Cheng stared in disbelief.

Xiao Yi entered the afternoon exam as the candidates and proctors prepared for a mathematics test built around passages from research papers. While academicians argued over their students and Schultz’s claim about the abc conjecture, Xiao Yi recognized the first passage as a paper he had already read.

• Xiao Yi arrived at the examination hall, where Ye Cheng praised his performance and Xiao Yi modestly said he would wait to see the questions.
• Academicians Liao Huan and Hu Guangde argued over whether their universities had the stronger candidate as the remote proctoring meeting began.
• The academicians discussed Peter Scholze’s claim that he had found evidence against Shinichi Mochizuki’s proof of the abc conjecture, reportedly through a paper on Far Abelian Geometry.
• Hu Guangde mentioned that one of his students had recently written a paper on Far Abelian Geometry, prompting Liao Huan to tease him.
• The afternoon exam began with two questions drawn from mathematics papers, and Xiao Yi recognized the first passage as an excerpt from Chen Jingrun’s work on the Goldbach Conjecture, which he had already read.

Xiao Yi quickly understood the exam questions drawn from Chen Jingrun’s and Zhang Yitang’s papers and began solving them as soon as the exam started. Ye Cheng watched in disbelief, then refocused on his own work while the proctors gathered behind Xiao Yi to observe.

• Xiao Yi recognized the first excerpt as Lemmas 8 and 9 from Chen Jingrun’s paper and judged that its inclusion-exclusion methods made the question manageable.
• Xiao Yi identified the second excerpt as coming from page twenty-six of Zhang Yitang’s paper on the Twin Prime Conjecture and anticipated that most examinees would struggle with it.
• When the exam began, Xiao Yi immediately started answering the first question while Ye Cheng remained baffled by the excerpt.
• Ye Cheng saw that Xiao Yi had finished the first question and had already begun writing on the second.
• Ye Cheng noticed that the three proctors had moved behind Xiao Yi to watch him solve the questions, then returned his attention to his own paper.