Xu Kaizhi looked at Feng Zechun. "Old Feng, have you finished reading the paper?"
"Not yet. I was waiting for you to come," Feng Zechun said. "I'm getting on in years, and my mind isn't as sharp as it used to be. I'm afraid I might miss something important, so I figured we'd read it together and discuss it as we go."
Xu Kaizhi smiled warmly. "Huang Tian, you might have to sit here and wait for a while..."
"No problem."
Xu Kaizhi nodded. "All right, Old Feng. Let's start at the first page and work our way through!"
Xu Kaizhi and Feng Zechun placed the stack of manuscripts on the glass table, then took pens and clean sheets of scratch paper from a nearby drawer. They began reading the paper page by page.
The paper wasn't particularly difficult for the two of them to follow. Its key lay in its entirely new way of thinking and its innovative research methods, not in difficult calculations. Whenever they encountered a somewhat complicated calculation, they worked it through on paper and soon moved on.
Whenever they came across something they couldn't immediately understand, they asked Huang Tian to explain. He broke it down and laid it out for them, and the two men quickly caught on, nodding again and again.
Time passed slowly, from high noon to sunset. The magnificent orange-red light streamed through the spotless glass windows and fell evenly over the sofa, the chairs, the table, and the people in the room.
Xu Kaizhi and Feng Zechun took a deep breath and turned their attention to the final small step in the manuscript. If it held up, then the whole paper was undeniably correct.
By now, though, their mathematical intuition—honed over many years—had already given them a powerful premonition: there was no way the final step would fail.
"Construct an approximate solution, perturb the model..."
Xu Kaizhi murmured, then bent back over the pages.
A long while later.
Only after the sun had completely dipped below the horizon, leaving the sky streaked with pink clouds, did Xu Kaizhi and Feng Zechun finally put down their pens. They exchanged a glance, then turned together toward Huang Tian, who had been waiting quietly. Smiles spread across their faces.
Xu Kaizhi's eyes shone with deep admiration. "Congratulations, young man. You've accomplished something outstanding."
Feng Zechun went a step further and clapped Huang Tian on the shoulder, laughing heartily. "Unbelievable! I never thought I'd have a talent like you among my students, Feng Zechun! Ha ha ha, this is wonderful! Huang Tian, don't rush off afterward. Your teacher's treating you. Stay and let's enjoy a good meal together and give our stomachs a treat!"
In academic circles, it was perfectly common to reward yourself with a good meal after achieving something.
Huang Tian didn't refuse. "Then thank you, Teacher."
"Don't mention it. It's just a meal," Feng Zechun said cheerfully, then turned to Xu Kaizhi. "Old Xu, what do you think of Huang Tian's paper?"
He wasn't asking whether the paper was correct. He meant which journal they should submit it to, and whether the university could approve the publication fees.
Xu Kaizhi took out his phone. "We've never had a situation like this before—a former student producing a major work after graduating. I'll have to discuss it with Principal Yang."
Principal Yang was Chang University's vice president and a leading expert in computer science and artificial intelligence.
"I'll step outside and make a call. I'll be right back."
Xu Kaizhi went to a corner of the corridor outside the lounge and dialed.
Inside the lounge, Feng Zechun said to Huang Tian, "Don't worry. You're one of our students. Even though you've graduated, this place is still your alma mater. Old Xu will definitely get you a great deal."
Huang Tian smiled and nodded. With his extraordinary hearing, he had already heard what Xu Kaizhi was saying on the phone. Xu Kaizhi was indeed reliable. Right from the start, he had made it clear to Principal Yang that Huang Tian would unquestionably be the paper's first author. That was extremely important.
The first author was the most important name on a paper. Whether it was for promotion, securing a grant, or giving a talk, that was the person people paid the most attention to.
Xu Kaizhi then began discussing the submission and publication fees...
About twenty minutes later, Xu Kaizhi returned with a beaming smile. Seeing his expression, Feng Zechun hurriedly asked, "Old Xu, what did they say?"
Xu Kaizhi looked at Huang Tian and spoke frankly. "Your paper is unquestionably valuable, Huang Tian. It overturns a mistaken consensus the mathematical community has held for decades about defocusing nonlinear wave equations, and its methodology introduces complex-valued solutions, offering a whole new way to study other equations with similar stabilizers. It absolutely belongs in one of the top four journals.
"My personal recommendation is that you submit it to Inventiones Mathematicae. The other three top journals don't publish many papers in PDEs, whereas Inventiones Mathematicae is different. Its editors have broader interests, so it's more likely to accept your paper.
"Of course, that's just my personal advice. If you'd rather submit it elsewhere, Forum of Mathematics, Pi would also be an option. It's only been around for a little over a decade, but the papers it publishes are all major contributions, and it enjoys roughly the same standing in the field as the top four journals."
Editors at different journals had different tastes. It was best to submit a paper to a journal that suited it. Otherwise, even if the work was good enough for the journal, an editor might still reject it.
Huang Tian always took the advice of experts in fields he didn't know well. He answered decisively, "Let's submit it to Inventiones Mathematicae."
"Good. Now that we've settled on the journal, there are a few other things to discuss," Xu Kaizhi said. "First, you'll be the paper's first author. We won't allow anyone to fight you for that position or steal your work. Second, the university will reimburse all expenses, including the publication fees. Once your paper is published, the university will also award you 300,000 yuan in research funding. That's not a huge sum, and I'll see if I can get you a little more..."
At this, he looked a little embarrassed and rubbed his hands—a rare sight. "It's just... the university has one small request. We hope you'll list yourself as affiliated with the School of Mathematics' research group, and put Chang University down as your institutional affiliation..."
Chang University's mathematics program wasn't among the top-ranked in the field, but it wasn't at the bottom either. It was somewhere in the upper-middle range. The university had published plenty in top journals, but getting a paper into one of the very best four was still exceedingly rare. That was why they had made this request: it was a chance to get their name out there.
How could Huang Tian refuse such a small request? He had nothing else to list, anyway. It wasn't as if he could put down his former company—that would be ridiculous.
Besides, the university was offering him a substantial research grant. Thirty thousand? No, three hundred thousand yuan might not seem like much, but for an ordinary family, it amounted to several years' income.
"That's no problem," Huang Tian said with a smile.
Xu Kaizhi immediately let out a sigh of relief. "Then everything's settled!"
Feng Zechun burst into a hearty, boyish laugh and grabbed both men by the arms. "Since we've got everything sorted out, let's go enjoy that feast!"
Before you continue