Since Perelman had only bought food for himself, and enough for the coming week at that, the group did not have the nerve to stay. They had no desire to make life difficult for this great genius.
Before they left, Scholze tried mentioning that this year's IMU Congress would be held in downtown Saint Petersburg, but all he received was an "Mm," with nothing further.
Judging by the expression on the recluse's face, he had little interest in either Scholze's suggestion or the International Congress of Mathematicians, which would begin in two days.
Before they left, however, he did ask Lu Zhou when his presentation would be and roughly what he would discuss. When he heard that Lu Zhou only planned to give a brief summary of his previous work, disappointment appeared on his face, and he said nothing more.
After leaving Perelman's home, Scholze squinted in the bright sunshine outside, then suddenly heaved a sigh.
"Looks like I made this trip for nothing."
Lu Zhou gave him a puzzled look. "Why? Weren't you here to visit an old friend? You've seen him, so why say you came for nothing?"
"Visiting an old friend was only one of my goals." Scholze looked helpless as he continued, "Actually, Professor Faltings asked me to come."
"Faltings?" Lu Zhou asked.
Scholze nodded and continued, "Yes. He wants to invite Perelman to the University of Bonn to take part in a grand plan."
"...What grand plan?"
As though he had expected that description to pique Lu Zhou's interest, Scholze smiled and waggled his eyebrows, keeping him in suspense.
"If you're interested, keep an eye on Professor Faltings's sixty-minute presentation. He'll explain the plan in detail there. In short, we need an outstanding expert in topology, differential geometry, and differential topology. Perelman, who proved the