The Reincarnated Science Whiz

Chapter 21: The Mathematics Award

The training intensity for this second session was even higher than the first. Morning sessions ran from 8:00 a. m. to 12:00 p. m. , afternoon sessions from 2:00 p. m. to 5:30 p. m. , and evenings were free time for the participants to manage as they pleased—whether sleeping or working through math problems, no one would interfere. Qin Yuanqing noticed that the material covered by the instructors was clearly more advanced than during the first training camp, and they would occasionally incorporate introductions to papers from major mathematics journals published over the past year as supplementary material. It was also during this training camp that Qin Yuanqing learned about the Seven Millennium Problems in mathematics. These seven problems are: the P vs. NP problem, the Hodge Conjecture, the Poincaré Conjecture, the Riemann Hypothesis, the Yang–Mills existence and mass gap, the existence and smoothness of the Navier–Stokes equations, and the Becher and Swinnerton-Dyer conjectures. For any of these seven major mathematical problems, if someone were to solve it, publish the solution in a mathematical journal, and have it verified by various parties, the solver would receive a $1 million prize from the Krey Institute in the United States. The more he learned, the more Qin Yuanqing had to admit that the United States is indeed the world’s sole superpower. To put it simply, in mathematics alone, 15 of the world’s top 20 universities in mathematics are in the United States, and the top five are, without exception, American universities. Mathematics is hailed as the foundation of all sciences; given the United States’ strength in mathematics, its technological prowess naturally cannot be weak. Even ten years from now, Huaxia will still lag far behind the United States in the field of high technology. This fact must be taken seriously; we cannot afford to be blindly arrogant, or the consequences could be dire. Among these seven major mathematical conjectures, the Poincaré Conjecture was proven by mathematician Grigori Perelman from Russia in November 2002 and July 2003. After verification by various parties, the mathematical community ultimately confirmed that Perelman’s proof resolved the Poincaré Conjecture. In August 2006, the 25th International Congress of Mathematicians awarded Perelman the Fields Medal. The Fields Medal, first awarded in 1936 and with a history spanning more than seventy years, is one of the highest international honors in the field of mathematics. Since the Nobel Prize does not include a category for mathematics, the Fields Medal is often hailed as the “Nobel Prize of Mathematics.” The Fields Medal is awarded every four years to no more than four recipients, each of whom receives a pure gold medal and a cash prize. Furthermore, recipients must be mathematicians under the age of 40, which prevents mathematicians from winning the award based solely on seniority and experience. Unfortunately, to date, no person of Huaxia ethnicity has won the Fields Medal; both the mathematician Shing-Tung Yau, who won the award in 1982, and the mathematician Terence Tao, who won it in 2006, are of Huaxia descent. Huaxia people and people of Huaxia descent are two completely different concepts! In addition to the Fields Medal, the mathematical community recognizes two other major and highly influential awards: the Wolf Prize and the Abel Prize. Anyone who wins any of these three major awards can, without exception, be considered among the very best mathematicians, and each enjoys immense prestige. As for domestic mathematics awards in China, the main ones include the Chen Xingshen Mathematics Award, the Zhong Jiaqing Mathematics Award, and the Hua Luogeng Mathematics Award. However, their fame is primarily confined to Huaxia and the surrounding sphere of Huaxia civilization, and their international influence ultimately falls somewhat short. Early on New Year’s Eve, the team leader announced the end of the second training camp, and everyone dispersed. Qin Yuanqing hurried to the main gate with his suitcase, hailed a taxi, and sped off to the airport. Sitting in the backseat of the taxi, Qin Yuanqing closed his eyes slightly and entered the system space: Host: Qin Yuanqing Age: 19 IQ: 165 Emotional Intelligence: 100 Subjects: Chinese: Level 6 (80,000/100,000,000) Math: Level 9 (30,000/10,000,000,000) English: Level Physics: Level 7 (3,000/100,000,000) Chemistry: Level 6 (70,000/10,000,000) Biology: Level 6 (90,000/100,000,000) Physical Fitness: 10 Although this training camp was shorter than the first one, Qin Yuanqing still gained a great deal from it. His math level finally reached Level 9, just one step away from Level 10 in the beginner system. His skill level was also clearly a cut above the rest of the team. According to the team leader, as long as Qin Yuanqing performed to his usual standard, an individual gold medal at the IMO was a sure thing. Qin Yuanqing also understood that the difficulty of IMO problems pales in comparison to that of domestic CMO problems, which is why students who undergo the grueling training of the domestic CMO often achieve excellent results at the IMO competition. In the history of the Huaxia Math Olympiad Team, there had never been a case like Qin Yuanqing’s—scoring a perfect score on every exam during both training camps. As for his Study Coins, they had quietly accumulated to 3,000 again, but Qin Yuanqing hadn’t touched them yet, since he wasn’t sure which area to use them to improve. At the airport, after checking in and passing through rigorous security checks, he made his way to the waiting area to await boarding. If all went smoothly, he would arrive at Lutou Island Airport by noon. Unlike trains, however, while aircraft are fast, delays are common; delays of one or two hours are quite normal, and it’s even possible for a flight to be canceled that same day. Qin Yuanqing could only silently pray that the aircraft would take off without a hitch. When the announcement for boarding began, Qin Yuanqing quickly got up and headed toward the boarding gate; as for his luggage, which was too heavy, he had already checked it in. After passing through security, Qin Yuanqing boarded the aircraft. The gentle voices of the beautiful flight attendants guided each passenger through the process. Seeing how young, attractive, and well-proportioned they all were, Qin Yuanqing couldn’t help but feel a sense of wonder. It’s said that in Western countries, flight attendants are merely service staff, so they’re mostly middle-aged women. But in the East, things are different—beauty and a great figure are key criteria for selection. They’re required to smile showing eight teeth and be gentle and considerate, though he couldn’t figure out why—it’s not like they’re secretaries. Later, he heard that flight attendants actually need a master’s degree, which earned him a thorough scolding from Brother Qiang. Then, aside from their good looks, flight attendants’ lives are often accompanied by all sorts of scandals—such as passionate affairs between flight attendants and captains, unbreakable ties between flight attendants and wealthy passengers, or flight attendants letting loose in bars… and so on. Negative news like this has never ceased. Qin Yuanqing once saw a question on Zhihu: “Would you be willing to marry a flight attendant?” The answers were split down the middle, but men who’d dated flight attendants or whose ex-wives were flight attendants were, without exception, against the idea. Qin Yuanqing has also given this some thought. If it were just a casual fling, he’d naturally be willing. But if it were a flight attendant as a wife, then he wouldn’t want that. A wife is someone you build a life with, not just for show. A flight attendant as a wife would be too insecure—you never know when you might find yourself wearing a “green hat.” He didn’t know whether the rumors about flight attendants’ private lives were true or false, but as an ordinary person, it was best to keep his distance. As the aircraft took off, the roar in Qin Yuanqing’s ears was a bit uncomfortable, though it was only during takeoff and landing that it really bothered him. He ate a boxed meal on the aircraft, along with some snacks, then picked up a mathematics journal to read. It was a foreign-language mathematics journal, written entirely in English. In the past, Qin Yuanqing would have found it as incomprehensible as a foreign language, but now he had no major trouble reading it. Ever since the second training camp, the coach had been encouraging them to read professional math journals. Huaxia’s influence on the international stage was still far from sufficient—and this would remain the case even ten years from now. Qin Yuanqing quietly read the papers in the journal, and time slipped by unnoticed. It wasn’t until the aircraft began its descent that he snapped back to reality and put the journal away. He would have to return this journal by the time the third training camp rolled around. Looking out the window at Lushi Island, it seemed somewhat desolate during the Spring Festival—but that was to be expected. The vast majority of Lushi Island’s population consists of migrants, particularly from Southern Fujian. Come the Spring Festival, everyone heads home to celebrate, leaving the island much less crowded. After the aircraft landed, Qin Yuanqing waited half an hour before retrieving his luggage. Instead of heading straight home, he took a taxi to Zhongshan Street to buy some gifts—for his parents, his two older brothers and their wives, and his six-year-old niece. Zhongshan Street is Lushi Island’s main commercial thoroughfare, but unlike its usual bustling atmosphere, it seemed rather quiet on New Year’s Eve. More than half the shops were closed, and it took Qin Yuanqing an hour to gather all the gifts he needed. Just as he was about to head home, a gust of wind blew a flyer into Qin Yuanqing’s hand. He was about to toss it away when he happened to glance at it—it turned out to be an That’s right—the Jianfa Residential Complex, built in 2008, had an initial launch price of 9,000 yuan per square meter. But as the financial crisis took hold, the real estate market entered a deep freeze, and now the price had plummeted to just 5,000 yuan per square meter—equivalent to the original land acquisition cost per square meter. The developer was clearly taking a massive loss. Thinking about how this area would later become the most expensive in Huli District—with excellent surroundings and property prices generally reaching 100,000 yuan per square meter—Qin Yuanqing felt that with the money he had on hand, he could easily invest in a unit here. It would take just eight years for his investment to increase twentyfold—what other investment could compare to this? With that in mind, Qin Yuanqing wasn’t in a hurry to head home—after all, he’d still make it in time for the family reunion dinner. He took a taxi to the Jianda sales office, where the sales manager offered even more incentives: a 10% discount, three years of free property management fees, and a complimentary parking space. Qin Yuanqing signed the purchase contract on the spot, paying the full amount for the 120-square-meter unit in cash, and left his cell phone number; the sales manager would naturally handle the rest. Qin Yuanqing felt as if he were dreaming. If he’d waited until later to buy this unit, it would have cost at least 15 million—an amount an ordinary person couldn’t afford even if they went without food or drink for a lifetime. And now, even before graduating from high school, he was already a homeowner! Qin Yuanqing walked out of the sales office as if in a dream. A private car arranged by the sales office was already waiting to take him directly to the ferry terminal. After arriving at the pier by ferry, Qin Yuanqing boarded the shuttle bus home, still feeling quite moved. This investment was definitely a huge windfall—though he also felt a twinge of guilt. Sigh—the evil real estate industry, the evil property speculators. Who knows how many people have become “mortgage slaves” because of this, with a lifetime of hard work turning into nothing but a pile of steel and concrete? They dare not quit their jobs or have children, yet so-called “experts” criticize young people for lacking responsibility, and now they’ve even rolled out a three-child policy.