Chapter 22

He muttered under his breath that it was impossible and had to be fake. After all, the conjecture had stumped so many people; how could the young man before him possibly solve it?

Just as he was about to close the livestream, however, what the young man wrote next made his eyes light up. His gaze and attention followed Jiang Ye's writing of their own accord, reading on line by line.

The École Normale Supérieure of Paris.

This famous school.

In a spacious classroom, it was not just the professors of the École Normale Supérieure of Paris who were present. Many students had also come to attend the lecture, packed tightly together.

And the person at the lectern.

Was none other than the famed prover of Weak Goldbach's Conjecture, Harald Helfgott.

On the screen projected at the lectern was, without a doubt, Jiang Ye.

As everyone watched with rapt attention.

A student suddenly stood up and spoke. "I have a question, Professor Helfgott. Do you think this man from Dragon Country can solve Goldbach's Conjecture?"

Helfgott thought for a moment, then shook his head. "For now, I still can't be certain. I haven't found any obvious problems yet, but I can't rule out other possibilities."

"That man from Dragon Country is very bold. He's used an entirely new method, and I have good reason to believe that he really might be capable of tackling this conjecture. In his work, I can see traces of the circle method, such as contour integrals and the residue theorem. No one among the younger generation today can stand alongside him, and even my older colleagues can't match him."

"As for whether he has actually proved it, I don't dare draw a conclusion. I need to ask others for their opinions."

Yes.

For a proof of a major conjecture as unprecedented as this, it was utterly impossible to reach a conclusion in a short time. He was not the only one who needed time; his peers researching the same field needed it too.

"If possible, it would be good if he could hold a presentation." Helfgott turned back to the screen, anticipation gleaming in his eyes.

The student nodded after hearing this, then sat down and sent a message to a friend in the media on his phone.

"Jiang Ye may have proved Goldbach's Conjecture."

Outside.

International viewers had been protesting, demanding that the production team take action and intervene.

But when they saw that the production team still had not responded.

They flew into a rage out of embarrassment and turned their guns on Jiang Ye, vehemently insisting that he could not possibly solve Goldbach's Conjecture.

"Two and a half centuries have passed since Goldbach proposed this conjecture in 1742. Mathematicians around the world have held the torch high, passing it from generation to generation as they studied this problem. And the result? Not one has succeeded."

"To be more specific, the latest progress on Goldbach's Conjecture so far was the '1 + 2' proved by mathematician Chen Jingrun in 1966. It caused a sensation in the world of mathematics and pushed progress forward by a huge leap."

"Now, fifty or sixty years have passed without any progress, and you're telling me a twenty-year-old can solve Goldbach's Conjecture? That's the biggest joke in the world."

"Exactly. Even a genius needs to build up enough knowledge. He might solve it someday, but it's absolutely impossible now."

"Do you people from Dragon Country really think that just because he kept scrolling his mouse wheel in front of the computer, he actually learned and absorbed all that knowledge? Please stop dreaming, okay?"

Faced with the international viewers' well-reasoned mockery, the domestic viewers were at a complete disadvantage even if they wanted to argue back.

Meanwhile, the domestic internet had split into two camps, endlessly arguing over whether Jiang Ye could solve Goldbach's Conjecture.

On one side were ordinary netizens, who believed Jiang Ye could solve it and that a miracle would happen.

On the other were young scholars from academic circles. They understood much more clearly how difficult Goldbach's Conjecture was and did not think Jiang Ye could do it.

"He proved Zhou's Conjecture and the Beal Conjecture. He'll prove Goldbach's Conjecture too. It's not impossible for a miracle to happen."

"Yes, we believe he can create a miracle."

"As his compatriots, we naturally hope he can prove Goldbach's Conjecture too, but we can't support him blindly."

"Fuck you, supporting him means we're being blind?"

"What? You actually believe he can solve a math problem no less difficult than the Riemann Hypothesis. If that's not blind, what is?"

"What he should be doing most right now is setting up a safe place. Once he's ensured his safety, he can delve into mathematics."

"Exactly. This is another consequence of our education system: he doesn't know how to adapt."

"Heh, if he really does prove it, just wait to get slapped in the face!"

At that moment, winds and clouds surged across the globe.

Everyone was discussing it fervently.

And when several mathematics professors from the world's top universities posted on Twitter, claiming that Jiang Ye had a chance of proving Goldbach's Conjecture.

Public discussion, already in an uproar, boiled over once again.

Before long.

The domestic authorities released a news announcement at home and abroad: "Well-known domestic professors and a new generation of Chinese mathematicians, including Terence Tao, Yun Zhiwei, Xu Chenyang, and others, have all expressed confidence in Jiang Ye."

Chapter 22: Leaving a Spark for Human Civilization, the Recorder of Time (Kneeling to Beg for All Kinds of Support)

Elsewhere.

Backstage at the international livestream, a document was hurriedly delivered into the chief director's hands.

"The International Mathematical Union says that more than two hundred mathematicians want you to find a way to have him hold a presentation on Goldbach's Conjecture."

The chief director flew into a rage. "Fuck, we're a survival show, not a math competition show. Fuck..."

Although the chief director kept raging and cursing.

He still did not dare offend a group of more than two hundred mathematicians lightly, much less dismiss or ignore their request.

So he placed a call to the financial backers behind him, the Ten Conglomerates.

"The presentation can wait until after the show. Right now, every second he spends on the show burns through a huge amount of funding. It's not worth it."

"Then what about the International Mathematical Union's request?!..."

"We'll talk to them. You should think about how to stop him from just going on solving problems like this."

"Okay."

After hanging up, the chief director breathed a sigh of relief. He then looked at the young man on the screen and fell into thought.

Inside the library.

Time flew by.