Chapter 172 - 128: 2 Rewards
At that moment, the office door was suddenly pushed open.
CREAK—
The soft sound shattered the slightly awkward yet somewhat curious atmosphere in the office.
Two men walked in, one after the other.
The one in the back was Director Guo Qizhi of the School of Mathematics. His usually cheerful face now held a trace of obvious excitement.
The older man walking beside him appeared to be around Director Guo’s age. He was slightly taller and wore a neatly pressed, dark gray Zhongshan suit, his hair combed immaculately. Though his face held a gentle smile, he exuded the natural aura of someone long-accustomed to power, an air that commanded respect.
Chen Lin didn’t recognize the old man, but as soon as he entered, his sharp, profound gaze landed directly on him. He was clearly here for Chen Lin.
Upon entering, Director Guo was about to call out to Gu Ming when his eyes swept the room and landed first on Chen Lin, who was sitting on the sofa, and the open copy of *JAMS* on the coffee table in front of him.
Director Guo’s eyes instantly lit up, and he hurried over in a few long strides.
"Your paper has been published?!"
Chen Lin looked at Director Guo’s face, which was flushed with excitement, and nodded silently. A new round of internal complaints began to brew.
’Seriously, can’t you people come up with a different opening line?’
’Why does everyone have to ask a question they already know the answer to?’
Director Guo, oblivious to Chen Lin’s silent grumbling, was about to say something, but the older man in the Zhongshan suit smiled and spoke first.
His voice was deep and resonant, with a steady, magnetic quality.
"I’ve read your paper. The proofs and calculations are quite outstanding. You truly deserve the praise from Professor Tao Zhexuan."
’Praise?’
’Terence Tao?’
’Who?’
Chen Lin was full of questions.
’The name sounds Chinese or of Chinese descent, but who is he? Is he famous?’
"T-Terence Tao?!"
Upon hearing this name, the graduate student, Senior Brother Ni, was once again profoundly shocked!
Terence Tao!
The super-genius mathematician of Chinese descent who proved the Erdos Discrepancy Problem, refuted the Periodic Tiling Conjecture, and was hailed as "the smartest person in the world"!
The man who held the Fields Medal, the MacArthur Fellowship, and countless other top-tier awards—a recognized "living legend" in the modern mathematics community!
A god-tier figure like him had personally praised this junior brother of his, who was several years younger than him?!
Senior Brother Ni felt his worldview utterly shatter at that moment.
"Ahem!" Professor Gu Ming was the first to recover. He gave a dry cough in the direction of the petrified Senior Brother Ni and prompted, "Ni, pour a couple of glasses of water for the two professors."
"Oh! Oh, oh! Right away!"
As if waking from a dream, Senior Brother Ni scrambled to comply. He walked toward the cabinet with the tea set with a stiff, uncoordinated gait, his movements as rigid as a marionette’s.
The unfamiliar old man smiled and waved his hand. "Gu, don’t be so formal. I just tagged along with Guo to have a look. I’ll be leaving shortly."
"This is Dean Zhuang from our School of Mathematics," Director Guo said with a smile, introducing him to the still-clueless Chen Lin.
Chen Lin finally snapped back to reality. ’Wow, the dean himself.’ He immediately shot up from the sofa and said respectfully, "Hello, Dean."
"Hello, hello. No need to be so formal, please sit." Dean Zhuang looked at Chen Lin, his eyes full of unconcealed admiration. He nodded for Chen Lin to sit down before taking a seat himself in the single armchair nearby.
"So you must be Chen Lin. I’ve been meaning to meet you for a while, but I was held up by a mathematics conference in the USA. I only got back last week."
At this, Dean Zhuang seemed to recall something. He sighed wistfully and said with a smile, "It’s true, we old-timers are getting past our prime. For these difficult problems in new, cutting-edge fields, we really have to rely on your generation."
This high praise made Chen Lin a little embarrassed. He cleared his throat and said modestly, "Dean Zhuang, you flatter me. I was just tinkering on my own and did a little research, that’s all. It’s hardly anything earth-shattering..."
Dean Zhuang looked at Chen Lin, a hint of a smile flashing in his seemingly all-seeing eyes.
"Heh, in a couple of days, you’ll understand why I said that."
’Again?’
’What’s with that "heh" now?’
Chen Lin felt a little lost. He could only vaguely grasp that his paper might have indeed caused quite a stir in the academic world. But he had no real idea just how big of a stir it was.
After all, when it came to the various rules and impact assessments of the academic world, he was a complete amateur.
The only thing he was sure of was the raw power of the [Little Mathematician] title. Since this was the result of a month of his grinding, it seemed only natural that it would be impressive.
Dean Zhuang seemed to notice Chen Lin’s confusion, but he didn’t explain further. Instead, he changed the subject and said in a joking tone, "Originally, according to our school’s regulations, a student who publishes a paper as the first author in one of the four major SCI mathematics journals can receive a ten-thousand-yuan bonus.
"However, I hear you’re now a big boss with project revenues in the millions. I’m afraid ten thousand yuan might not even catch your eye anymore."
When Chen Lin heard this, he immediately grew anxious.
’Are you kidding me? Every little bit counts! Who would ever complain about having too much money?’
He was just about to open his mouth to express his continued eagerness for the ten-thousand-yuan bonus, but Dean Zhuang didn’t give him the chance and continued:
"So, after discussing it with Director Guo and Principal Chang Kai, we’ve decided to give you two different rewards instead."
Dean Zhuang’s voice wasn’t loud, but every word landed clearly in Chen Lin’s ears.
"First, what Principal Chang and you originally discussed was that after you graduate early, you would be directly appointed as a researcher at Yannan University. However, given the excellent academic level you’ve demonstrated, the university and our School of Mathematics have unanimously agreed to upgrade your appointment directly to Special Professor in the Department of Mathematics."
’Professor?’
Hearing this word, Chen Lin’s first reaction wasn’t excitement, but confusion.
’What’s so great about being a professor?’
’I guess... it’ll give Mom and Dad more to brag about to relatives and friends?’
That was the first thought that flashed through his mind.
’Hmm... the salary must be higher than a researcher’s, right?’
As for things like social status and prestige, he really had no concept of them at the moment.
After all, Chen Lin had never planned on making a career in academia, so he had never bothered to look into these things.
But before he could think about it in detail, Dean Zhuang announced the second reward.