Selecting Students

After writing "History of Number Theory" for several days, Shen Qi received a list and related materials from the department.

There were five names on the list, and Shen Qi reviewed their application materials one by one according to their names.

The five individuals are all undergraduate mathematics students who will become graduate students in the Princeton Mathematics Department next January.

The department asked Shen Qi to choose at least one and at most two people from the five candidates.

These one or two people will become Professor Shen Qi's first batch of graduate students.

Let him mentor some graduate students first, so he can get some experience.

Shen Qi initially set his sights on securing two spots.

The third condition for advancing to the Math Level 14 is that Shen Qi's students must independently complete a mathematical project and publish at least one paper in one of the four major international mathematics journals.

It's a very simple principle: the more students Shen Qi has, the better. Among the mediocre, there will always be a student who excels academically and possesses strong independent thinking skills.

Shen Qi reviewed the first student's information. The photo showed an Asian male with the surname Kim, a Korea nationality, and an undergraduate degree in the Princeton Mathematics Department.

"This Korea student surnamed Kim came to Princeton University Mathematics Department after graduating from high school. He achieved almost straight A's during his undergraduate studies and published two SCI papers... It has to be admitted that the undergraduate education at Prince Town is outstanding. The academic level of undergraduate Mathematics Department students here is equivalent to that of graduate students at the other seven Ivy League schools."

After quickly reviewing the two SCI paper by the Korea student surnamed Kim, Shen Qi remarked that Princeton is a melting pot, where four years of transformation can turn mediocre people into talented individuals, and talented individuals into geniuses.

"Let's put the Korea students aside for now and look at the other students' information."

Shen Qi continued reviewing the files of the remaining four people.

The second person is also an undergraduate from Prince Town, an American, with excellent grades in all mathematics courses, and published a high-quality paper during his undergraduate studies.

At Princeton, regardless of their major, undergraduate students are required to participate in research projects and write papers starting from their junior year.

Princeton University places great emphasis on its undergraduate students, who have access to advanced experimental equipment that is typically only available to graduate students at other universities.

The third person is an international student, a Frenchman, who studied Mathematics Department.

The fourth student is an international student from Poland who completed his undergraduate studies at a Poland university.

"The fifth one is also an international student, a Chinese... Wow, a Chinese!" Shen Qi's eyes lit up. He was very pleased. Chinese mathematics has successors. A Chinese student who can be admitted to the graduate program of the Mathematics Department of Princeton University must be an outstanding individual.

The application materials were entirely in English, so Shen Qi could only guess and pronounce the Chinese student's name. "Yu-Lei, Torpedo?"

"Brother Torpedo is 21 years old this year and studied Mathematics Department at Shuimu University. Not bad, Tsinghua has finally been able to hold its head high for once."

"He represented the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad team at the IMO, winning both a team gold medal and an individual gold medal."

"That's pretty impressive, Torpedo Bro. Your experience is remarkably similar to mine."

Shen Qi is Chinese, and he will return to his motherland to serve his country.

During my time teaching at Princeton University, I was able to mentor as many Chinese mathematicians as I could, leveraging the Princeton's advantageous platform.

Shen Qi developed a fondness for talent and had already decided that Yu Lei from Shuimu University would be one of his first graduate students.

"Wait a minute..." Shen Qi noticed an unusual detail in the torpedo data.

According to available information, the torpedo participated in the IMO five years ago, which was held in London.

"Five years ago, in London... that's the IMO that Zhou Yu'an and I represented the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad team at!"

Shen Qi was extremely surprised. This torpedo guy was actually one of their teammates?

"Torpedo? Yu Lei?" Shen Qi suddenly realized, could the torpedo be Yu Lei?

"Looking at the photo, he doesn't look like Yu Lei at all." Shen Qi studied the photo in Yu-Lei's file repeatedly.

Yu Lei is one year younger than Shen Qi and Zhou Yu'an. The three of them were selected for the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad team five years ago, representing China and winning a team gold medal. All three also won individual gold medals.

Afterwards, Shen Qi and Zhou Yu'an were admitted to Peking University through the recommendation program, while Yu Lei was admitted to Tsinghua University through the recommendation program.

Even now, Shen Qi's memory remains vivid.

Yu Lei, that little boy, has small eyes and a round face. He's very shy and doesn't dare to speak to strangers.

Five years ago, during the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad training team, Cadre Liu, questioned Yu Lei: "Yu Lei I enclose (ε, ζ) in a circle and then remove it from the integration region, then when this circle shrinks to (ε, ζ), what can I obtain by the generalized Green's theorem?"

Yu Lei was terrified. He was trembling uncontrollably, but after trembling for a long time, he still couldn't come up with a coherent answer.

Recalling the past, Shen Qi smiled knowingly. He was 17 years old at the time, Yu Lei was 16.

My memory is stuck in the year Shen Qi was a sophomore in high school.

Shen Qi started university a year earlier than Yu Lei. Shen Qi stayed at Yenching University for two years before going to the United States to study.

Five years have passed in the blink of an eye, and Shen Qi and Yu Lei have never seen each other again.

Five years have sculpted a boy into a young man.

People are bound to change, both their inner selves and their outward appearance.

Only...

Yu Lei has changed so much!

Shen Qi could hardly believe that the 21-year-old Chinese youth in the photo in front of him was Yu Lei.

The young Chinese man in the photo has thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a dignified appearance; he is very handsome and possesses stunning good looks.

"Zhou Yu'an, come to my office." Shen Qi made a phone call to Zhou Yu'an.

Zhou Yu'an arrived at Shen Qi's office half an hour later, carrying a pile of documents and looking very busy.

"Old Zhou, you've been quite busy." Shen Qi poured Zhou Yu'an a cup of coffee.

"Speak quickly if you have something to say." Zhou Yu'an has entered a period of rapid academic advancement. He has recently been working on important projects with Professor Faltings and is feeling quite accomplished.

Shen Qi asked, "Do you remember Yu Lei? That cute little boy who was selected for the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad team with us?"

Zhou Yu'an immediately replied, "Of course I remember. At the Yu Lei got 30 points, I got 32 points, and you were the best, with 42 points and 1 extra. After all these years, it doesn't really matter how many points we got at the IMO back then, since all three of us were gold medalists anyway."

Shen Qi handed Yu Lei's file to Zhou Yu'an: "Take a look, is this Yu Lei in the photo?"

Zhou Yu'an glanced at it and immediately declared, "No, absolutely not! Yu Lei couldn't possibly be that handsome! Back in our year's math Olympiad training team, out of more than twenty people, Yu Lei was the ugliest."

"But the data shows that he is indeed Yu Lei. He won a gold medal with us at the London IMO and was then admitted to the Mathematics Department at Tsinghua University. There's no such coincidence in the world. Our math Olympiad team only had six official members." Shen Qi used data to support his point.

With a critical eye, Zhou Yu'an repeatedly reviewed Yu Lei's photos and information, and finally concluded. "If he is indeed Yu Lei, then the photos are photoshopped, or he has undergone plastic surgery."

Shen Qi asked, "I left Yenching University a long time ago. You stayed in China for two more years. Did you see Yu Lei when you were in university?"

Zhou Yu'an shook his head. "You know, Yanda and Tsinghua University are just across the street from each other, but the two families don't interact often. After our year's math Olympiad team disbanded, I never saw Yu Lei again."

"Never mind all that, I'll choose him as my graduate student." Shen Qi carefully put away Yu-Lei's materials, as if he had found a treasure.

"Huh?" Zhou Yu'an understood the situation. He said, "We were teammates on the math Olympiad team, and we won honors for our country together, including a gold medal at the IMO. Shen Qi, now that you're a professor, Yu Lei is your student. Won't this make Yu Lei feel uncomfortable? Have you consulted Yu Lei his thoughts?"