Cheng Jianguo offered a few explanations, but the more he explained, the more confusing it became.
Jiang Xue's gaze grew colder and colder. In the end, he simply shut up, turned to look at Cheng Che, and wanted his son to say something on his behalf.
Cheng Che pretended not to see it.
He stood up, said, "I'm going back to my room to pack my things," and left.
Jiang Xue's voice came from behind. "Why are you running? Come back here!"
He didn't go back.
Inside the room, Cheng Che opened his suitcase and began packing his things.
It's summer in Melbourne now. He checked online; the high is 26 degrees Celsius, the low is 14 degrees Celsius, and sometimes it can soar to over 38 degrees Celsius.
Bring several short-sleeved shirts, a jacket, and sunscreen.
He had almost finished packing his clothes, so he sat down at his computer and opened his email.
Professor Liu's reply was at the top of the inbox.
He clicked on it.
The letter is short, but it contains a lot of information.
Professor Liu said that after submitting his paper to the Annals of Mathematics, he also sent a copy to several professors in the Department of Mathematics.
The institute organized three verifications. The first was done by two doctoral students supervised by Professor Liu. The second was done by a professor in the institute who works on algebraic number theory and his team. The third was a joint review by several professors.
Three verifications yielded the same conclusion: the proof is complete, logically rigorous, and without any loopholes.
The leaders of the School of Mathematical Sciences were very pleased.
They held a video conference yesterday specifically to discuss this matter, and they want to invite Cheng Che to give a lecture at Peking University.
However, Professor Liu politely declined on Cheng Che's behalf, explaining that he had to go to the Australian Open to compete.
The hospital leaders expressed some regret.
They couldn't possibly think that playing tennis was more important than scientific research.
But then I thought about it again, Cheng Che's achievements in tennis are indeed impressive, so I understood.
In his letter, Professor Liu also mentioned that after the paper is officially published, the School of Mathematical Sciences will improve Cheng Che's salary and intend to hire him as a specially appointed associate professor.
Cheng Che stared at the words "Specially Appointed Associate Professor" for a few seconds.
Professor Liu explained it very clearly: Specially appointed associate professors are non-tenured positions with the same benefits as associate professors, including salary, housing allowance, and research start-up funds, but they do not have a formal professional title.
Cheng Che breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, it wasn't a real professor.
It wasn't that he was being pretentious; the requirements for the system trial were clearly stated.
I published in an international academic journal once during my undergraduate studies.
If you get a formal professional title and lose your undergraduate status, it might backfire and be counterproductive.
He wrote back to Professor Liu, briefly thanking the institute for its recognition and saying that he was currently preparing for the Australian Open and would thank him in person after the tournament.
After sending the email, he shut down his computer and pulled his suitcase closed.
He hasn't told his parents about this yet.
It's not finalized yet; we'll discuss it once everything has settled down.
Two days later, Cheng Che set off ahead of schedule.
From Spring City to Magic City, I met up with Qin Lie, Chen Wei, and seven or eight staff members from the studio.
Wilson also sent several staff members to accompany him, responsible for coordinating the Australian Open's event affairs.
The flight from Magic City to Melbourne takes eleven hours.
Cheng Che took a nap on the plane, and when he woke up, the plane was descending.
He glanced out the window; the sky over Melbourne was a deep blue, with vast plains and a winding coastline stretching below.
In the seat next to him, Qin Lie leaned back in his chair, his eye mask pushed up to his forehead, revealing very obvious dark circles under his eyes.
Chen Wei was in an even worse state, huddled under the blanket, her face pale.
Everyone else in the studio looked completely drained.
Cheng Che felt fine.
With his stamina of 80, coupled with his Enduring Progress Without Fail and Self-Healing Instinct, the eleven-hour flight felt like a nap to him.
The plane landed.
Staff from Wilson's Melbourne branch were waiting at the exit, holding up signs, and led them to two minivans.
The hotel is located in the city center, not far from Melbourne Park, about a 15-minute drive.
Cheng Che lived in a single room; the others lived on the same floor.
After putting their luggage away, the group went to the hotel restaurant for a meal.
Cheng Che ate normally, Qin Lie had little appetite, and Chen Wei only drank a bowl of soup.
Back in his room, Cheng Che took a shower, sent messages to his parents to let them know he was safe, sent one to Guo Xin, and then sent brief messages to Yan Ruanning, Su Miaoyin, Su Qingyue, and Pei Jingshu "Arrived in Melbourne."
The four replies arrived almost simultaneously.
Yan Ruanning: Get some rest and good luck in the competition.
Su Miaoyin: Is Melbourne hot? Did you bring enough clothes?
Su Qingyue: I'm waiting for news about your competition.
Pei Jingshu: I checked the schedule. When is your first round match? I want to watch it live.
After replying to everyone, Cheng Che put his phone on silent, drew the curtains, and lay down.
There is a three-hour time difference between Melbourne and China. It is currently 10 PM local time, which is 7 PM in China.
He closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.
He was sleeping soundly.
Unbeknownst to him, at that very moment, in the editorial office of the Annals of Mathematics, several reviewers were arguing heatedly around a conference table.
"This proof is incorrect." An elderly professor with graying hair slammed a printed copy of the paper on the table. "On page 17, regarding the lower bound estimate of the Weil height function, he used a lemma that does not hold."
A middle-aged man wearing glasses next to him flipped through his annotated copy and shook his head.
"I read it three times, and the lemma is true. It's the same thing as Corollary 3.4 in Bombieri's 1987 paper, only he phrased it differently."
"What do you mean by 'replace'? I don't accept that!"
"You may not agree with it, but you can't deny the completeness of this proof. Three branches, three paths, all connected. This is something no one has accomplished in decades."
The old professor paused for a moment, then picked up the paper again, turned to page 17, and read it again.
He stared at it for a long time.
Then he put down his paper, took off his glasses, and rubbed his temples.
"Okay," he said, his voice lowering, "I can't find a problem with this proof."
The others around the conference table simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.
The editor-in-chief sat at one end of the long table and remained silent.
He spoke at that moment, his tone very calm.
"Then let's move on to the next round of peer review," he said. "Let's also let the external reviewers take a look."
He paused for a moment, then added.
"By the way, check out this author, Cheng Che... wait, is he... an undergraduate student?"
He glanced through the author information in the submission system, his brow furrowing slightly.
Nineteen years old? An undergraduate student?
A moment of silence fell over the conference room.
No one answered.