"Who knows?" Song He laughed. "Whoever does something like this will get cursed at. The mathematicians who don't win an award will definitely accuse the rule change of being a conspiracy, saying Dewitt manipulated the candidates under the guise of fairness. In short, once yellow mud gets on your pants, even if it isn't shit, it looks like shit."
"I think Dewitt is actually rather detached from worldly concerns. Given his age and status, he had absolutely no need to carry out such a controversial reform and get himself covered in dirt. He's willing to bear the abuse. Maybe he really is selfless, hoping for better development in the mathematical community," Xiang Xiaotong said.
"You mean something like, 'If I don't go to hell, who will?'"
"Yes."
Song He smiled. "When something can't be proven, some people tend to believe in conspiracy theories, desperately imagining the darkest and most vicious possibility. Others are optimistic and imagine the brightest and most wonderful possibility."
"I belong to the latter group. I know the former might be right, and I'll prepare for the worst in what I do, but deep down, I choose to believe the latter. Life is more comfortable when your thoughts are filled with beautiful things." Song He spoke leisurely. "So I believe Dewitt sincerely wants the mathematical community to develop."
Xiang Xiaotong studied him with interest. "If a fifty-year-old disciple or grand-disciple under Dewitt won the award this year, would you still think that way?"
"Just a coincidence. Nothing but a coincidence." Song He chuckled.
"What if that fifty-year-old disciple or grand-disciple squeezed you out of the spot?" Xiang Xiaotong asked.
"I didn't have a spot to begin with." Song He shook his head. "At present, no one in the world can fully understand the proof of the Song