Chapter 190 - 142: Let Me Catch a Ride With You
Hans Country, 3:00 PM.
In a lecture hall at an ancient university on the Rhine Riverbank, a two-hour mathematics lecture was slowly drawing to a close.
On the stage, the speaker was a white man in his mid-thirties with flowing, long blond hair. He wore a well-tailored casual suit, exuding an air of scholarly elegance mixed with a hint of unruliness.
Had they not been in this classroom, anyone seeing him for the first time would likely have mistaken him for a moderately famous street artist or a member of a rock band.
He had just finished answering a question from a Black student in the audience about the theory of "Perfect Space."
The student was clearly not finished and wanted to ask another question, but the speaker glanced at the clock on the wall and smiled apologetically. "Let’s end here for today. For any further questions, we can communicate via email."
With that, he decisively announced the end of the lecture.
A good-natured laugh rippled through the students, followed by a burst of warm applause.
The speaker smiled and bowed to the audience before leisurely beginning to pack up his lecture notes and laptop.
Just then, a portly, pot-bellied middle-aged white man stood up from the front row and strode quickly to the stage. With a deferential smile plastered on his face, he approached the speaker and greeted him with the utmost respect.
"Good afternoon, Professor Schulz. Might I have a few minutes of your valuable time?"
The young professor, addressed as Schultz, looked up, still wearing a gentle and polite smile. "Sir, I have a flight to catch in two and a half hours for an academic conference in Cambridge. I hope you can be brief."
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man nodded and bowed profusely, quickly stating his purpose in a rapid-fire voice. "Of course, of course! I’ve come from the USA on behalf of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, to sincerely invite you to the World Congress of Applied Mathematicians being held in New Jersey at the end of this month."
After listening, Schultz shook his head with a smile, his tone tactful but his stance firm. "I’m very sorry, but I believe I’ve already clearly declined your invitation via email. My answer won’t change, even with you coming here in person."
His reasons for refusal were simple, but he had no interest in explaining them to a complete stranger.
As a 2018 Fields Medal recipient, a member of the Hans Country Science Academy, a foreign member of the Lion Country Royal Society, and the director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, Peter Schultz was long accustomed to receiving countless conference invitations from all over the world every week.
Hailed as the most dazzling genius in the global mathematics community in the last two decades, and even privately considered by some peers as having the potential to become the next Mathematics Emperor after Grothendieck, this young man naturally had the right to refuse the vast majority of these invitations.
He would only agree to the very few that genuinely interested him, or those he couldn’t possibly turn down due to heartfelt invitations from seniors he deeply respected.
Clearly, Princeton’s applied mathematics conference did not fall into either of these categories.
The middle-aged man seemed to have anticipated Schultz’s refusal. A flicker of expected disappointment merely crossed his face before he changed the subject, asking tentatively, "Professor Schulz, are you refusing us because you’ve already agreed to attend the world mathematics conference in the Huaxia Imperial Capital at the end of the month?"
The smile on Schultz’s face faltered slightly, and a flash of surprise appeared in his azure eyes. "How did you know that?"
The middle-aged man didn’t answer his question directly. The expression on his round, smiling face suddenly turned peculiar, and his tone shifted to a somewhat chilling, admonishing one.
"Professor Schulz, you’re a smart man. I hope you can make an accurate judgment of the current situation."
He said no more, gave Schultz a meaningful nod, then turned and descended the stage, quickly disappearing into the crowd.
Watching the man’s departing back, the smile on Schultz’s face vanished completely, replaced by a complex expression.
’He was certainly not the type of bookworm who only buried himself in academics, oblivious to everything else. He was, of course, aware of the increasingly fierce competition between the USA and the Ancient Eastern Civilization Country. But he had never imagined that the intensity of this competition had begun to so brazenly infiltrate the supposedly pure world of academia.’
His agreement to go to the Imperial Capital this time had nothing to do with any "situation."
It was purely because Professor Qiu Chengtong had personally invited him via video call.
Schultz had always held immense respect for this Chinese mathematician, who had made groundbreaking contributions to the field of Differential Geometry, and thus had gladly accepted.
He shook his head, momentarily pushing the unpleasant incident to the back of his mind. He bent down again, preparing to finish packing his things and head to the airport.
Just then, a voice, slightly aged but still resonant and powerful, sounded from behind him, speaking with a familiar casualness.
"Heading to Cologne/Bonn Airport? Perfect, let me catch a ride with you."
Schultz looked up abruptly. When he saw who it was, a delighted smile bloomed on his face, his voice filled with sincere respect.
"Mr. Faltins! What are you doing here?"
The newcomer was a kind-looking elderly man, balding on top, with gold-rimmed glasses. He wore a respectable dark jacket and had a gentle smile on his face.
It was none other than Gerd Faltins, one of the recognized leaders in the field of algebraic geometry today, a titan of the mathematics world who also held a Fields Medal.
Strictly speaking, Schultz’s doctoral advisor had been Faltins’ student. If one were to use the Huaxia method of calculating academic seniority, Faltins could be considered Schultz’s "grand-mentor."
However, no such term existed in Hans Country.
Schultz had always regarded Faltins as one of his most respected seniors. He was full of admiration for Faltins’ brilliant, historic achievements in mathematics, and always saw him as a goal to strive for.
...
...
In the private car heading to the airport, sitting in the spacious back seat, Schultz curiously asked Faltins, who was beside him, "Sir, where are you flying to?"
𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
"Nowhere," Faltins said with a wave of his hand, his face showing the distinct leisureliness of a retired old man. "This old man has been wandering around outside, and now I’m ready to go home and rest for a good while."
Hearing this, Schultz grew even more curious. "Where have you been?"
Faltins thought for a moment before replying, "Before coming back, my last stop was Gaul Chicken Country, to visit Professor Sel."
At the mention of this name, a touch of wistfulness entered Faltins’s voice. "His condition isn’t very good. He’s only lucid for a short time each day; most of the time he’s sleeping."
Schultz’s heart grew heavy upon hearing the news.
’Jean-Pierre Serre.’
’The legend, recognized by many peers as "the greatest living mathematician," now 99 years old, was ultimately unable to resist the erosion of time.’
Faltins seemed to notice his sadness and, by contrast, appeared quite calm. He patted Schultz’s shoulder and said in a serene tone that seemed to see through the ways of the world, "Peter, everyone meets their day. As a mathematician, Professor Sel’s important contributions will remain in this world forever. That is what’s most important."
Schultz nodded, his expression softening slightly.
Faltins gazed at the rapidly receding scenery outside the window and suddenly asked, "By the way, aren’t you going to the Huaxia Imperial Capital at the end of the month for that mathematics conference?"
Schultz’s heart skipped a beat when he heard the question. He immediately asked back, "Were you invited as well?"
"That’s right," Faltins nodded, admitting it freely. "I did receive an invitation. But I was already traveling at the time and couldn’t confirm my schedule, so I asked the organizers if I could attend remotely via video conference, and they agreed."