A United Front Was a Formidable Force

The center held its first "Shen Qi Mathematical and Physical Research Center Theoretical Breakthrough Award" commendation ceremony, where Shen Qi presented honorary certificates to the nine award winners.

The certificate of honor was made by an outside advertising company; it's quite exquisite, and its appearance is comparable to a Nobel Prize certificate.

Although Shen Qi is already quite familiar with everyone, a proper sense of ceremony is still necessary.

Sales teams that are constantly hyped up and perform mysterious rituals often rank among the top sellers.

Sometimes research teams also need a pep talk and a ceremony. Shen Qi presented Li Zhenqiang with the gold medal certificate. "Dr. Li Zhenqiang, congratulations."

Dr. Li Zhenqiang won a gold medal worth 1 million yuan. This guy, who was lagging behind in his undergraduate studies, suddenly broke out during his doctoral studies and entered a period of rapid rise in his mathematical career.

Li Zhenqiang was the first of Shen Qi's undergraduate classmates in the Mathematics Department to get married. The saying "settle down before you start your career" was proven true in Li Zhenqiang's life.

With his child only two months old, Li Zhenqiang desperately needed money. He held Shen Qi's hand tightly and spoke frankly to his old squad leader, "I used to regret choosing to major in mathematics, and I still regret it now. But that's life. We choose one of two paths that we'll both regret, and then we walk down that path."

"Let's talk about philosophy sometime." Shen Qi, the soon-to-be father, understood Li Zhenqiang's changing mindset. The life insights that fathers gain are something only fathers can truly understand.

"Dr. Xiao Junlong, congratulations." Shen Qi presented Xiao Junlong with the silver award.

Similar to Li Zhenqiang's academic background, Xiao Junlong has the purest Yenching University Mathematics Department background, having completed his undergraduate, master's, and doctoral studies at Yenching University.

Xiao Junlong is also short of money. He has been dating his beloved for a year or two and is now preparing to get married.

It seems like everyone is short of money.

Zhou Yu'an, a Princeton graduate, had a house as soon as he returned to China. He was always frugal and even stingy. He didn't have a girlfriend, but he was also short of money.

Zhou Yu'an was promoted to head of the Mathematics Room by Shen Qi at the end of last year. He won a silver medal worth 500,000 yuan this time. He had nothing to say; he admired Li Zhenqiang.

The third silver award was given to Sha Dongdong.

Shen Qi felt most guilty towards the theoretical research group in the Physics Room.

"Old Sha, I know you're the loneliest person in the whole center. I recruited you from Wuhan University, but I haven't given you a stage to fully showcase your academic talents. I assure you, theoretical research in fundamental physics will be the top priority of the center's next step," Shen Qi said sincerely to Sha Dongdong.

"Long live understanding, long live understanding." Sha Dongdong didn't expect Shen Qi to be so decisive. He just handed out the millions of yuan in bonuses without hesitation. Shen Qi is the most charismatic leader in the entire Yanda University.

Sha Dongdong's girlfriend, who is ten years younger than him, is young and beautiful. She and Sha Dongdong live in a cramped 40-square-meter apartment. Sha Dongdong is desperately short of money, and the 500,000 yuan reward is a godsend for him.

After the meeting, Shen Qi held a private meeting with Zhou Yu'an, Li Zhenqiang, and Xiao Junlong.

"The three of you are the three musketeers and the pillars of our center's mathematics field." Time will tell. After observing for several years, Shen Qi concluded that, in terms of mathematical ability, apart from Shen Qi, Zhou, Li, and Xiao, these three guys who graduated from the Mathematics Department of Peking University, are the strongest in the entire center.

The other five Mathematical Research were recruited by Shen Qi from outside. It's not apparent how different their academic levels are after a few months; it will take time to see who is better.

As it turns out, these three guys from Yenching University were indeed better at math.

Shen Qi didn't practice nepotism; everyone was judged based on their abilities.

"Three cobblers can outwit Zhuge Liang. So, Boss Shen, what do you need us to do?" Zhou Yu'an sensed that Shen Qi had called the three of them together for a private meeting because he was planning something.

Shen Qi said, "Zhou Yu'an specializes in Partial Differential Equations and Differential Geometry, while Xiao Junlong focuses on Mathematical Physics. The combination of your professional expertise makes you very suitable for tackling a difficult problem."

"NS equation?" Zhou Yu'an and Xiao Junlong exclaimed in unison.

"That's right, it's the NS equation. The two of you together are arguably the strongest lineup in our center." Shen Qi was very optimistic about the combination of Zhou Yu'an and Xiao Junlong.

"Aren't you going to participate?" Zhou Yu'an asked Shen Qi.

"Of course I have to be included! Let's solve the Navier-Stokes equations together, are you interested?" Shen Qi asked.

"I'm so interested!" Xiao Junlong rubbed his hands together excitedly.

"Full of anticipation," Zhou Yu'an said with great enthusiasm.

Shen Qi looked at Zhou Yu'an: "Brothers united, their strength can break metal. Zhou Yu'an, this should be our first official collaborative project."

"Let's start with the Navier-Stokes equations for our first project, Boss Shen. No questions asked, let's get started!" Zhou Yu'an's fighting spirit ignited.

Li Zhenqiang, who studies Algebraic Geometry, found himself helpless with the Navier-Stokes equations. He asked Shen Qi, "Then what should I do?"

Shen Qi said, "You're really strong. You'll be given another role; you'll shoulder a heavy responsibility that will change the history of mathematics."

"No... really?" Li Zhenqiang immediately understood that Shen Qi was up to something big.

But this matter is so big that even Dr. Li Zhenqiang, the winner of the 1 million gold medal, is intimidated by it.

"The Langlands Program can be said to be the closest to a Mathematical Grand Unification framework, while the SLW system explains the possibility of Mathematical Grand Unification from another perspective. However, neither the Langlands Program nor the SLW system has completely answered the question of Mathematical Grand Unification. I have always been hesitant to confront the question of Mathematical Grand Unification head-on because of my limited ability," Shen Qi said with great feeling.

"Now I understand. If we don't take the initiative, we'll never have a chance to solve the most important problem in the History of Mathematics. The second project I want to talk about today is the Mathematical Grand Unification Project. I will be in charge of this project, and Li Zhenqiang will be a member of the project team." On an extremely ordinary day, Shen Qi decided to do something extraordinary.

"Boss Shen, you're in charge? Then I have nothing to say, let's do it!" Li Zhenqiang's confidence suddenly exploded. As a mathematician working in Algebraic Geometry, being able to join the Mathematical Grand Unification made his life's choice of mathematics as his lifelong career worthwhile.

"Dear Director Shen, you're leading the Mathematical Grand Unification, guiding us in advancing the Navier-Stokes equations project, focusing on improving fundamental theoretical research in central physics, and developing drugs. How can you manage all of this?" Zhou Yu'an didn't doubt Shen Qi's academic abilities in various aspects, but this undertaking was too large. Shen Qi was human, not a god; he couldn't possibly work 24 hours a day.

Shen Qi, with his left arm around Zhou Yu'an and his right arm around Xiao Junlong, said, "So, brothers, you guys need to help me share the burden. The foundational work for the NS Equation project will mainly be handled by Lao Zhou and Lao Xiao. If you guys build the basic framework well, I believe I can deliver a fatal blow to NS Equation in a short period of time."

"I've been following the Navier-Stokes equations for many years. For those of us who study Mathematical Physics, this equation is the ultimate boss. I do have some insights, you could call them my personal opinions, which I can share with Lao Zhou and Director Shen," Xiao Junlong said.

"I also have some personal insights, which were passed down to me by my Doctoral Supervisor, Faltings. However, he said that the Navier-Stokes equations might not even have a general solution, so his research in recent years has been more focused on topics that are easier to implement. If he were to become obsessed with the Navier-Stokes equations, he definitely wouldn't Fields Medal before he turns 40." Zhou Yu'an also revealed some information that had never been made public before.

"So you two have your own agendas. Well then, hurry up and finish writing the project proposal so we can get it approved as soon as possible." Shen Qi instructed Zhou Yu'an and Xiao Junlong to leave first.

Li Zhenqiang remained in the Director's Office. Shen Qi said to Li Zhenqiang, "The Mathematical Grand Unification is even more difficult, and the two of us alone are not enough. Ou Ye is a very good candidate, but as you know, she is pregnant and will be breastfeeding after giving birth. Therefore, in the early stages of the project, I will take on the number theory part of the work and work with you to get this project started."

"You know how strong I am, I have a lot on my plate. Don't expect me to do much work in the early stages. The reason I initiated the Mathematical Grand Unification as early as possible is because this project cannot be completed in one or two years. Initiating it earlier allows for the allocation of resources earlier. Algebraic Geometry is the key to the Mathematical Grand Unification, and number theory is another key. You should start working on the Algebraic Geometry section first, Ma Chaofan can be your assistant," Shen Qi said.

Li Zhenqiang shook his head. "Old Ma, forget it, I'd rather find a graduate student as an assistant."

"You dislike Old Ma that much?"

"This Dr. Ma, who returned from Brown University, well, I'm not talking badly about my colleague behind his back, I'm just stating the facts. Old Ma has academic ability, but deep down he doesn't want to be anyone's assistant. He just wants to do a awesome, big project all by himself, to go down in history, and be worshipped by thousands."

"Oh, I see. Zhenqiang, you can go back now. We can start writing the project proposal." Shen Qi told Li Zhenqiang to get back to work. He needed to have a heart-to-heart talk with Lao Ma.

However, Lao Ma wasn't a key figure. Shen Qi had a more important, influential person in mind whom he needed to talk to.

As Zhou Yu'an said, Shen Qi has spread himself so thin, pushing forward so many important research projects at the same time. Can Shen Qi manage to keep up?

Shen Qi's strategy is to unite all forces that can be united and to allocate all available resources.

For the project of Mathematical Grand Unification, Shen Qi can't rely on anyone else; he can only lead an elite team to attempt the challenge.

The Navier-Stokes equations, Mathematical Physics, and fundamental theoretical research in Physics Room are interconnected.

Shen Qi also had to work with his wife to make medicine, so his time was indeed very tight.

Shen Qi needs a senior figure of equal standing to help him oversee the work in fields such as the Navier-Stokes equations, Mathematical Physics, and fundamental physics research.

This person must possess master-level academic expertise and strategic vision, and enjoy a high reputation and status in the international academic community.

This person shouldn't be struggling to make a living; he has already achieved financial freedom. His only wish is to witness some academic questions being perfectly answered in his lifetime.

Shen Qi had a perfect candidate in mind for the role of a powerful figure. He called an old friend, "Hey Edward, I saw the photos you posted on Twitter, so you're traveling to Hong Kong now? Really? Hong Kong is a fantastic city, you've fallen in love with it? Hey, you said you fell in love with the capital when you last came here too."

"Why not continue your journey north with your wife? I'll be waiting for you in the capital. Edward, I need a technical advisor; are you interested?"