Chapter 178 - 173: And You Will Also Surpass Me
In the hallway, Li Dong had just finished a phone call.
Just then, a message from Qi Yu came in.
[Qi Yu]: Junior, thanks for your help earlier. Gu Ming’s semi-Markov model has been verified; the data matches up.
After replying with "You’re welcome," Li Dong headed toward Science Building One.
An interview?
He really didn’t want to go.
Back when he was at Sixth Middle School, he had also gotten interviews after winning first place in the Huaxuan Cup.
Luckily, Sixth Middle School had been very supportive, blocking all the interviews under the pretext that "the student needs to focus on preparing for the college entrance exams."
He never expected that after enrolling in Yan University, the school wouldn’t block them for him.
So he ambled slowly to the third floor of Science Building One.
Liu Ruochuan was already waiting at the entrance of the lecture hall.
"Can’t you walk any faster!"
Liu Ruochuan strode over.
"Hurry up and get your head in the game. Remember not to spout any nonsense later. Project a positive image, got it?"
Li Dong rolled his eyes.
"Professor, I really don’t want to do this interview. I have a paper I want to read..."
"It’s with CTV."
The moment the words left his mouth, Li Dong quickened his pace.
"Where are they, Professor? Let’s go."
Liu Ruochuan: "..."
...
Inside the lecture hall, several CTV staff members were setting up lighting rigs and adjusting camera positions.
If it were a typical interview, Liu Ruochuan wouldn’t have come personally. He would have just had any other professor accompany him.
But this was CTV.
The face of Huaxia.
When it aired, the entire country would see it.
’If this kid pulls his usual act on camera... Just thinking about it gives me a headache.’
"You have to be modest," Liu Ruochuan reminded him again. "None of that humblebragging nonsense of yours. Even Teacher Tian called you out on it last time."
Li Dong looked completely innocent.
"??? When did I ever humblebrag? I’ve always been very modest."
Liu Ruochuan: ...
’Forget it. I’m not going to argue with this kid.’
Just then, the female reporter walked over with a smile.
"Hello, Li Dong. I’m Su Lan, the reporter for this interview."
She looked to be in her early thirties, with short hair and a sharp, professional outfit.
"Don’t be nervous. This is a recording, not a live broadcast. If you misspeak, we can discuss editing it or doing a retake. It’s no problem."
Li Dong nodded.
"Okay, Su Lan."
Liu Ruochuan whispered a correction from the side, "Address her as Reporter Su."
"It’s fine, it’s fine." Su Lan waved her hand with a smile.
Everything was ready.
The red light came on.
The cameraman by the rig gave a thumbs-up. Su Lan adjusted her posture and began her opening remarks for the camera.
"If the youth are strong, the nation is strong. If the youth are wise, the nation is wise. In the Huaxia Mathematical Community, a nineteen-year-old freshman is redefining the meaning of the word ’genius’ at an astonishing pace."
"His first academic paper was published in *Mathematics of Computation*, a top-tier international journal in the field of Computational Mathematics. It proposed a brand-new dimensionality reduction algorithm for multi-point evaluation of the Riemann Zeta function, shattering the world record in the field in one fell swoop."
"His second paper was published in *Mathematical Annals*, hailed as the foremost of the ’four great journals’ in the world of mathematics."
"In this paper, he advanced the research on Montgomery’s Conjecture on Association from its previous boundary of |α|<1 all the way to the complete interval of |α|∈[0, 4], achieving the most critical breakthrough in this area in decades."
Su Lan’s voice was steady, every word crystal clear.
She had clearly done her homework.
A few department heads sitting in the back row to observe exchanged glances.
’CTV reporters really are the real deal.’
Su Lan then pivoted, and the camera slowly pushed in on Li Dong.
"Today, let’s get to know this young man: a freshman from Yanjing University’s Yuanpei College, Li Dong."
"Li Dong, I’d like to ask you a question on behalf of all your peers across the country who are studying hard..."
Su Lan’s tone was friendly.
"Do you have any personal study tips you can share with everyone?"
Li Dong thought for a moment.
"I actually think the learning environment is very important," he said earnestly.
"If you surround yourself with outstanding people, you’ll naturally become outstanding too."
This was the truth.
The titans in the Cyan Dragon Study Group—Newton, Joule, Maxwell... any one of them was among the most brilliant people in human history.
He was only studying so desperately to keep up with them.
Of course, to the ears of the Yan University leadership, his words had an entirely different meaning.
The department heads in the back row nodded slightly.
’He’s praising the excellent academic atmosphere at Yan University.’
’This student doesn’t just have a high IQ, his EQ is high too.’
Su Lan had clearly come to the same conclusion as the university leaders, and she praised him with a smile.
"Indeed. It seems the academic atmosphere at Yan University is excellent."
She then asked a few more questions about his research focus.
"What was the catalyst that made you want to challenge Montgomery’s Conjecture on Association?"
"This problem is a notoriously tough nut to crack in analytic number theory. Many veteran mathematicians can spend half their lives on it and might not make a single step of progress."
Li Dong said, "Because I find it interesting."
He paused, then added, "And it’s not just this area I find interesting. I’m going to try many other areas in the future."
In the back row, Liu Ruochuan’s expression darkened.
’Just as I thought.’
’I was right.’
’This guy wants it all.’
Anyone in pure mathematics knew that dedicating yourself to one area could take a lifetime of effort, and even that might not be enough.
But this kid... "I’m going to try many other areas." He said it as casually as ordering a few extra dishes in the cafeteria.
Soon, Su Lan asked some other questions about his daily life at Yan University, difficulties he encountered in his research, and so on.
Li Dong answered each one, his performance unremarkable and by the book.
Watching from the back, Liu Ruochuan breathed a small sigh of relief.
’Not bad. The kid has managed to keep it together today.’
The interview was drawing to a close.
Su Lan asked the final question. "Li Dong, is there anything you’d like to say to your peers across the nation who are watching on TV and studying hard?"
The moment she asked the question, Liu Ruochuan’s heart leaped into his throat.
He didn’t know why, but he had a powerful intuition that the kid was about to start something.
And he was right.
Li Dong smiled at the camera, his tone calm yet resolute.
"I will win the Fields Medal before I’m 30. And you..."
"will surpass even me!"
As he finished, the entire conference room fell silent.
Su Lan was stunned for a second, then suppressed the inexplicable excitement rising in her chest and nodded with a professional smile.
"On behalf of all the students watching at home, thank you for your encouragement."
Meanwhile, the expressions on the faces of the department heads in the back row were a sight to behold.
Although Liu Ruochuan was rubbing his temples, he couldn’t suppress the smile creeping onto his lips.
After the interview, the staff began to dismantle the equipment.
Liu Ruochuan walked over, looking exasperated. "Didn’t I tell you to be more modest?"
Li Dong replied righteously, "Professor, you’re the one who said young people should have a sharp edge. Otherwise, can you even call them young?"
Liu Ruochuan sighed. "Forget it. What’s said is said. I don’t want you to take it back. Just go and make it happen."
After a moment, he added, "There are a few other things I need to tell you."
"The university’s Office of International Cooperation and Exchange gave me a call."
"Oh?"
"They said they’ve received many letters from foreign universities."
"Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Cambridge, ETH Zurich... basically every school you can name."
Liu Ruochuan looked at him. "They want to invite you for an exchange visit, or to enroll directly as a graduate student."
He paused.
"You’ve probably received quite a few yourself, right? What are your thoughts?"
Li Dong paused, looking blank.
"I’ve received a lot?"
He thought back carefully.
"But I haven’t received a single one."
Liu Ruochuan: "...How long has it been since you checked your email?"
Li Dong thought for a moment and said, "I only use it when I’m submitting a paper. I don’t really check it otherwise."
Liu Ruochuan closed his eyes, speechless.
He could almost picture it: Li Dong’s academic inbox, filled with invitations from Peter Sarnak of Princeton’s math department, Timothy Gowers from Cambridge, and Zhang Wei from MIT.
And this master had magnificently ignored all the invitations from these giants.
Speechless as he was, Liu Ruochuan still spoke with sincerity.
"In certain academic fields, foreign countries are indeed a bit ahead of us."
"If you want to go abroad and see for yourself, as your teacher, I won’t stand in your way."
"But I hope you’ll come back."
He said this with great earnestness.
He didn’t want to use that special support program Teacher Tian had mentioned to make him stay.
Because he knew in his heart that if you use terms and conditions to keep someone, they’ll leave as soon as someone else offers better ones.
It would be meaningless.
Li Dong shook his head and said with a smile, "Professor, I don’t want to go abroad."
"I think learning is something you can do anywhere."
"And if there’s something I really can’t learn here, I’ll just poach a few professors and bring them back."
He thought for a moment and added, "Besides, I can’t get used to foreign food. It’s so sweet and greasy, and not spicy at all."
Liu Ruochuan chuckled at his response.
He might have said it jokingly, but his meaning was clear: he wasn’t leaving.
After laughing, Liu Ruochuan said.
"There’s one more thing. Teacher Tian and I discussed it privately."
Li Dong was taken aback.
"Teacher Tian is preparing to lead the effort to nominate you for the Young Top-Notch Talent track of the National High-Level Talent Special Support Program. At the same time, using your achievements as the core, he’ll put you on the special fast-track recommendation channel for exceptional talent."
"If you were actually planning to go abroad, this would be much more difficult to arrange."
Li Dong was stunned.
The Special Support Program—he had heard of it.
’Case-by-case consideration, support as needed.’
’Doesn’t that mean I’ll be able to research whatever I want in the future?’
Of course, there would probably be some restrictions and mandatory clauses.
But Li Dong automatically ignored that part.
"So, Professor, I can get selected just by publishing a few papers?"
Liu Ruochuan gave him a look that said, ’In your dreams.’
"Of course not. Which brings me to the second thing."
"Tomorrow, Lin Wei is bringing his team over."
"He’s coming this time to officially move forward with the practical deployment of the algorithm on an immersion lithography flow field control system."