Celebrating
If you want to overturn my Doctoral Thesis, then of course I'll have to reason with you.
Ou Ye's language skills suddenly became incredibly fluent. She refused to be a goody-two-shoes or a spoiled brat; she wanted to rebel and argue her case.
This contrast greatly surprised the five Princeton professors present, Shen Qi was particularly nervous, ready to provide emergency care at any moment.
Professor Flamont, the lead examiner, spoke first, "Oh, please calm down. Professor Hanks was merely expressing his doubts; as the examiner, he has the right to do so, doesn't he?"
"Of course." Ou Ye looked at Professor Hanks, his chest heaving, his emotions still unsettled. "Professor Hanks, what is the specific description of the Ryan Principle?"
Professor Hanks said, "The Ryan Principle is a corollary based on the BHV Theorem. I've written it down in my notebook, but it hasn't been formally published yet. Its core idea is to use the simple congruence method and factorization... By the way, my second name is Ryan, so I'll call it the Ryan Principle for now."
"Uh..." Ou Ye was speechless. So, after all that, the Ryan Principle was something you made up yourself?
The three mathematicians, Bilou, Hannot, and Vautier, jointly proved the theory of the existence of essential factors and the representation of solutions to the Diophantine equation. Taking the first letter of their surnames, the BHV Theorem was derived, which is an important theorem in number theory.
Professor Hanks' Ryan's principle, derived from the BHV Theorem, deserves further verification. Ou Ye do not doubt that Princeton's mathematics professors are capable of innovating a theory, a principle, a theorem, or a corollary, but it's best not to discuss theories that haven't been formally published here.
So, you're trying to fool our Little Yezi... Shen Qi considered himself well-read, but he had never heard of the Ryan Principle. That was an immature product that Hanks himself had concocted; who would have heard of it?
Lyndon Strauss laughed, breathed a sigh of relief, and muttered to himself very quietly, "Hanks' little test; he's a real actor."
Professor Hanks looked at the chief examiner. "I have no more questions, but I reserve my opinion."
"Alright." Professor Flamont, the chief examiner, nodded and summarized the defense. "Oh, you have theoretically proven the Yesmanovich Conjecture using BHV Theorem, Lucas sequence, and other techniques. This appears to be a complete proof. The results will be announced soon. This concludes today's defense. Thank you."
After leaving the conference room, Ou Ye's body went limp and she couldn't stand up.
Shen Qi rushed forward to catch Ou Ye, then carried her on his back and headed towards the faculty dormitory.
"Are you weak?" Shen Qi asked.
"I feel completely drained." Ou Ye's internal energy was exhausted, leaving him in a weakened state.
"Little Yezi, you've really surprised me! How did you become so fluent in your speech?"
"Oh, I'm in a hurry!"
"I see. Professor Hanks is deliberately testing your resolve. His so-called principles are unreliable. Some professors like to play these kinds of tricks, but an honest person like me would never do that."
"I was so nervous just now, afraid that I wouldn't be able to pass and would have to start all over again."
"You definitely passed, don't worry, you did a great job."
Back in the faculty dormitory, Shen Qi carefully reviewed Ou Ye's Doctoral Thesis, "A Proof of the Yesmanovich Conjecture," while an exhausted Ou Ye fell into a deep sleep.
After Ou Ye woke up, Shen Qi told her with great certainty, "Little Yezi, after my review, I think you can graduate with your doctorate. You have completely proven the Yesmanovich Conjecture. You're very impressive. You were the first to solve this problem."
"Wow!" Ou Ye was overjoyed. If Shen Qi said it was OK, then it must be OK.
"Let's celebrate!" Shen Qi was in high spirits.
"How about we celebrate after the defense panel gives their results?"
"You don't even believe me?"
"I believe you! Let's celebrate!"
Shen Qi picked up his phone to make a call, "Call Zhou Yu'an and Yu Lei over, let's all have a good time and celebrate Dr. Ou's academic success."
Ou Ye snatched the phone away. "No, the two of us are fine."
"Where shall we go for some fun?" Shen Qi asked.
Ou Ye: "The seaside."
"Let's go to the beach."
This was a spontaneous short trip; New Jersey borders the Atlantic Ocean, and it's not far from the coastline by car from Princeton.
The vacation destination was Atlantic City, a city famous for its gambling industry, boasting stunning beaches and glittering architecture.
Having come to Las Vegas, one naturally had to visit the casinos. Shen Qi merely watched the spectacle without placing any bets or buying a single chip. He had sworn never to gamble in his life.
In Shen Qi's eyes, gambling refers to the kind where money is directly involved; betting on a meal or something similar doesn't count. If that were the case, Shen Qi would have already broken his vow long ago. He made a bet with three leaders of the Chinese Mathematical Society that at least five contestants in this year's CMO national finals would be able to complete the last question.
"Have you seen the movie '21'?" Ou Ye asked Shen Qi.
"I've seen it. That movie is based on a true story, and the male lead was based on a Mathematics Department student at MIT." Shen Qi stood next to a blackjack table, observing intently.
Three gamblers sat at the semi-circular card table and began placing bets. One bet $20, and the other bet $50—a little gambling for fun.
"Winner-winner, chicken-dinner!" the Asian-looking dealer called out with a smile, then began dealing the cards.
The very polite dealer wished his customer "good luck and may you eat chicken tonight."
The classic line from the game PUBG originated from American casinos. "If you win money, you can afford a chicken feast."
The dealer's blessing had no effect; the dealer's Blackjack won all three players' 20s, 20s, and 19s.
"Damn it, I lost even 20 points!" The gamblers left one after another, complaining about their bad luck.
Shen Qi and Ou Ye exchanged a smile, their understanding unspoken.
"Gentlemen, tonight is so wonderful, how about we try our luck?" The dealer warmly invited Shen Qi and Ou Ye to sit down at the table.
Shen Qi shook his head and led Ou Ye to the dining area.
"You go first," Shen Qi said to Ou Ye.
Ou Ye said, "The algorithm in blackjack movies is wrong; pure card counting models have flaws."
Shen Qi nodded and said, "That's right. We assume that the casino is absolutely fair and doesn't cheat, but in reality, the dealer cuts the cards, so the players definitely can't calculate accurately."
Ou Ye said, "So we can only calculate it by brute force. Qi, I want to try it out."
Shen Qi spread his hands. "Give me the bag."
Ou Ye handed the bag to Shen Qi.
Shen Qi pulled out $100 in cash and gave it to Ou Ye: "Come back when you lose it all."
"You cheapskate!" Ou Ye took the $100 and left.
Ten minutes later, Ou Ye returned with $800, having won $700, and handed it over to Shen Qi along with her initial $100 for safekeeping.
Shen Qi was surprised. "No way, you can really calculate that? You doubled it three times?"
Ou Ye made a V sign with his fingers. "Hmm, I'll be done after three doubles, the chance of losing the fourth one is over 80%."
"Dr. Ou, I didn't realize you were such a gambling master. This isn't your first time in a casino, is it?"
"It's my first time. Blackjack is so easy, you can learn how to play just by watching a movie."
"So what kind of mathematical model did you base your calculation on?" Shen Qi asked curiously.
"Give me a bag, and I'll tell you." Ou Ye smiled innocently.
"Give it to me!" Shen Qi pulled Ou Ye to the luxury goods store corridor outside the casino lobby, bought Ou Ye a Prada bag for over a thousand US dollars.
"Well, I won seven hundred, spent over a thousand, and in the end the casino still makes the profit." Shen Qi realized that coming to Atlantic City, it was impossible not to spend some money; casinos had many ways to empty a man's wallet.