"Isn't this Professor Mochizuki? Nice to meet you."
Though he still wore a smile, the moment Scholze spoke, Lu Zhou caught the scent of gunpowder.
Apparently hearing it too, Professor Mochizuki raised his chin slightly, seemingly expressing his disdain through his nostrils as he replied mechanically.
"Hello, Professor Scholze. Long time no see."
"Yes, it has indeed been a long time. After all, it isn't easy to see you. We can't exactly trouble Mr. Shigefumi Mori to 'introduce' us every time."
"Hehehehe."
Watching the sparks flying wildly between the two, Lu Zhou, standing in the middle, felt a headache coming on.
When Shinichi Mochizuki had not replied to his email some time ago, he had assumed that Mochizuki had "blocked" him because of his blunt words. He had never expected the guy to come in person.
What he had not expected even more was that, by such a coincidence, the guy would run into Scholze here.
Frowning slightly, even Perelman could see that the two were at odds, so he cleared his throat and said.
"If you have something to settle, why don't you deal with it privately first? Then we can continue."
"No need." A sunny smile appeared on Scholze's face as he said, "Professor Mochizuki and I have no conflict whatsoever. Besides, you came at just the right time. We were discussing those five hundred pages of wastepaper—oh no, a paper."
Narrowing his eyes as he stared at him for a while, Shinichi Mochizuki said nothing. He merely turned to Lu Zhou.
"I have nothing to say to him. I came to see you."
Lu Zhou sighed.
"What a coincidence."
"Since everyone's already here, let's continue."
As he spoke, he turned toward the whiteboard. No longer bothering with the conflict between the two behind him, he began writing.