The Reincarnated Science Whiz

Chapter 50: The Paper Is Published

A middle-aged man and woman emerged from the room. Although the woman was slightly older, she bore a striking resemblance to Jing Tian—a mature woman still radiating charm. It wasn’t hard to imagine that in her youth, she must have been a breathtaking beauty. The man wore a shirt and exuded an air of authority—clearly the dignified presence cultivated by long years in a position of power. “Good afternoon, Uncle and Aunt. I’m Qin Yuanqing. It’s all my fault—I should have come to pay my respects long ago!” Qin Yuanqing hurried forward to greet them. It went without saying that these must be Jing’s mother and father. Seeing the displeased look on Jing’s father’s face, Qin Yuanqing’s heart skipped a beat. How could he have forgotten this? A daughter is her father’s little comfort—now that she’d been “stolen” away, it was no wonder he was in a bad mood. Qin Yuanqing silently berated himself for being so careless. “Young man, come on in and have a seat!” Mrs. Jing beamed, sizing up Qin Yuanqing as she spoke, her smile growing even broader. “Not bad, not bad. You may look a bit ordinary, but you’re clearly a sensible and well-behaved young man.” He instantly felt like crying—was she really being that mean? Sure, he wasn’t a heartthrob, but he was at least somewhat handsome. What did she mean by “a bit ordinary-looking”? Then he heard nothing but praise from Mrs. Jing. Qin Yuanqing muttered to himself: Could this be what they mean when they say a mother-in-law grows fonder of her future son-in-law the more she looks at him? Qin Yuanqing carried the bags inside, with Jing Tian linking her arm through his. The moment they stepped into the house, Qin Yuanqing instantly understood what it meant to be wealthy and what a mansion truly was. The living room was furnished with rosewood furniture that clearly had seen many years of use—likely antiques. The walls were adorned with landscape paintings, including, surprisingly, works by Qi Baishi and Zhang Daqian. “You two go ahead and have some tea and chat while I go cook!” Mrs. Jing took Jing Tian by the hand and led him into the kitchen. “No, Aunt Jing, how can you leave? Qin Yuanqing instantly felt the pressure mount. Mr. Jing’s face was stern and serious, making him seem truly unapproachable. “Here, Little Qin, have a cup of tea!” Mr. Jing brewed a cup of tea and handed it to Qin Yuanqing. Qin Yuanqing was flattered and quickly accepted the teacup. “How are your studies going, Little Qin?” Mr. Jing asked. Qin Yuanqing smiled shyly. “Uncle, my studies are going well. I just proved the ‘Mason Prime Zhou’s Conjecture,’ and it won’t be long before I can prove the ‘Twin Prime Conjecture.’ ” “The Zhou Conjecture? The Twin Prime Conjecture?” Mr. Jing looked completely bewildered. What were these? Why had he never heard of them? Seeing this, Qin Yuanqing quickly explained Mason primes, Zhou’s Conjecture, and their significance to Mr. Jing, then went over the Twin Prime Conjecture again. But Mr. Jing still looked completely bewildered, so Qin Yuanqing gave up immediately—explaining this to a layperson was like playing the lute to a cow; no matter how much or how carefully he explained it, it was useless. “Uncle, look—this is a text message from *The Mathematics Chronicles*, a top-tier United States mathematics journal. They’re going to publish my paper in today’s issue.” Qin Yuanqing opened his email and showed it to Mr. Jing. “Not bad, not bad. Writing a paper as a freshman and getting it published in a top journal in the United States—that’s excellent.” Mr. Jing’s attitude immediately improved considerably. Sensing the change in Jing’s father’s attitude, Qin Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief—this father-in-law was really a tough nut to crack. They then turned to discussing the upcoming National Day military parade. This gave them common ground, and they chatted about all sorts of things—such as whether the National Day parade would surpass the “Parade of the Century” and how many people would participate. “Very good, very good. You’re doing great, Qin. I never expected you to have such strong patriotic feelings or such confidence in the country’s future development,” Mr. Jing said approvingly. Then he changed the subject: “These days, many young people idolize foreign cultures and always think the Moon is bigger on the other side. That’s not a good attitude.” “Dad, you probably don’t know this, but Qin Yuanqing is truly outstanding. During military training, he composed a military song on the spot called ‘The March of a Strong Army.’ It caught the attention of leaders from the General Political Department and the Publicity Department, and it’s now being promoted throughout the entire military.” Jing Tian set a plate of crabs on the table and said proudly, “How could the boyfriend I chose not be outstanding? If he weren’t, I wouldn’t even give him a second glance!” “You wrote *The Strong Army Battle Hymn*? Now I remember—Old Xu did mention that he was deeply moved when he heard a freshman singing at Shuimu University. I never imagined it was you, Little Qin!” Jing’s father’s attitude warmed considerably. “Let’s have a good drink together later, just the two of us. From now on, we’re family.” Nice move! Qin Yuanqing just wanted to cheer out loud at Jing Tian’s assist. Jing’s dad went over Qin Yuanqing’s background and family situation, finding nothing to object to. When he heard that Qin Yuanqing had entrusted his money to Jing Tian for safekeeping, Jing’s dad said with a smile, “Little Qin, my daughter’s been spoiled since she was little and spends money like water. You need to keep your money yourself—don’t let Tiantian handle it, or she’ll definitely squander it.” “Dad, what are you talking about?” Jing Tian, who had overheard this, immediately objected: “Every property I’ve invested in recently has gone up by at least 10 percent—and it hasn’t even been a month yet!” Jing’s father just smiled without saying anything further. Soon, Mrs. Jing had the meal ready—six dishes and a soup, all home-style fare. Everyone sat down at the table and began eating in turn. Mr. Jing laughed, “I’ll go get a bottle of Maotai I’ve been saving for ten years. An old comrade-in-arms gave it to me back when I was in Guizhou Province!” Before long, Mr. Jing returned holding a bottle of Maotai, covered in a layer of dust—clearly it had been stored for a long time. As soon as he opened the bottle, the aroma of the liquor filled the air, making one’s pores open wide; just one whiff was enough to tell it was a fine wine. Guangdong Province, Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, outside a classroom building. As the bell rang to signal the end of class, a middle-aged man gathered his things and stepped out of the classroom. This man was Zhou Haizhong, a mathematics professor at Sun Yat-sen University. Since 1981, he had published more than 120 papers in academic journals covering linguistics, mathematics, information science, and emerging interdisciplinary fields. The concepts he proposed—‘Fuzzy Mathematical Linguistics’ (1986), ‘Linguistic Chaos Theory’ (1991), and ‘Network Linguistics’ (2000)—have garnered significant attention within the mathematical community. In particular, the scientific conjecture he put forward regarding the distribution of Mason primes—a famous mathematical problem—was internationally named the ‘Zhou Conjecture,’ bringing him widespread renown. Just as Zhou Haizhong was about to return to his office, he happened to see Director Chang from the School of Mathematics walking toward the classroom, beaming with joy and holding a journal. “Professor Zhou, congratulations!” As soon as they met, Chang Wenxing cheerfully shook Professor Zhou Haizhong’s hand, shaking it vigorously, “Congratulations, congratulations!” Completely bewildered by the shaking, Professor Zhou Haizhong looked at Director Chang with a puzzled expression. “…Director Chang, aren’t you… getting something mixed up? Why are you congratulating me out of the blue?” Director Chang paused for a moment and asked, “Haven’t you seen the latest issue of *Mathematics Chronicles*?” “I haven’t paid much attention to it in a long time; I haven’t been following math-related news lately,” Zhou Haizhong said, shaking his head. Mathematician was just one of his identities; his most significant identity was that of a linguist. Therefore, when introducing him, people usually referred to him as a linguist or a professor—not a mathematics professor. Compared to his achievements in mathematics, his accomplishments in linguistics were far more substantial. Director Chang said nothing, but shoved the journal into his hands and said with a smile, “Then take this home and read it—from page one to page fifteen. Once you’re done, you’ll know why I’m congratulating you!” Filled with questions, Professor Zhou Haizhong took the journal back to his office. He casually set his briefcase on his desk, leaned back in his office chair, and, still puzzled, opened *Mathematics Chronicles*. The moment he turned to the first page and saw the title of the paper, he froze in shock. “A Discussion on the Distribution Patterns of Mason Primes and a Proof of the Zhou Conjecture”! Zhou Haizhong felt as if he’d been struck by lightning; his whole body trembled. Ever since he had proposed the Zhou Conjecture, he had devoted a great deal of time to proving it, but unfortunately, his efforts had ultimately ended in failure. Naturally, he had hoped that another mathematician would prove this conjecture—then the Zhou Conjecture would no longer be a conjecture, but the Zhou Theorem. Once Zhou Haizhong came to his senses, he quickly began reading, verifying the results with a pen as he went. He had to admit that the paper was logically rigorous, with clear and precise equations and no flaws whatsoever—it had indeed proven the “Zhou Conjecture”! “Why didn’t I think of approaching it this way!” Zhou Haizhong set *Mathematics Chronicles* down on the table, and before he knew it, tears were streaming down his face—tears of joy. So many mathematicians have put forward famous conjectures, yet died without ever seeing them proven. It had been only a little over a decade since he proposed the Zhou Conjecture, and now someone had already proven it—he was luckier than most mathematicians. “Qin Yuanqing, a freshman at Shuimu University!?” Zhou Haizhong flipped to the first page and, upon seeing the author’s biography, felt a moment of disbelief. “Is that the student who scored a perfect score on the college entrance exam? I never imagined that so soon after entering college, he would have already proven my conjecture.” Meanwhile In the Shuimu University Department of Mathematics, ten copies of *Mathematics Chronicles* had already been received. One by one, the mathematics professors flipping through the journal let out gasps of surprise. They never expected that the first paper in *Mathematics Chronicles* would be about Mersenne primes and a proof of the Zhou Conjecture—and that the author was actually from their own university, Shuimu University. This... I’ve never heard of anyone researching a solution to Zhou’s Conjecture. Qin Yuanqing！？ The professors’ first reaction was that it was impossible—what a joke! There were more than a dozen professors at Shuimu alone researching Mason primes, yet none had managed to prove it. This showed just how difficult the conjecture really was—how could a freshman possibly have proven it? But after repeated verification, the author was indeed Qin Yuanqing, a student at their university—his cell phone number, QQ ID, and email address all matched exactly. The professors in the Department of Mathematics had no choice but to accept this reality. Their first instinct was to contact Qin Yuanqing—they simply had to make a fuss about it. After all, Shuimu University published countless papers last year, but only a mere five made it into top-tier journals. This shows just how difficult it is to publish a paper in a top-tier specialized journal. Many professors struggle to publish even a single paper in their entire careers, yet here was a freshman who had just started the semester and already had such a paper to his credit.