Jingcheng Foreign Studies University, Female Dormitory Building No. 8, Room 306.
"Yang Ning, where's Xiao Zong? Didn't she come back with you?"
A tall, sturdy girl was eating a bowl of malatang with gusto. Catching sight of the round-faced girl pushing the door open, she asked offhandedly.
Yang Ning shut the dorm door, set her backpack onto the desk, and slumped into her chair, stretching out her arms with a contented sigh. "Ah, nothing beats the dorm... Xiao Zong's still at the library. She'll probably be back a bit later."
The tall girl asked, "Have you had dinner yet? What did you eat? Was it good?"
"I did! Had my favorite satay beef noodles!"
"Can't you ever switch it up? Is that stuff really that delicious?"
"Aiya, you don't understand, it's so fragrant! One bite, and you feel like you're floating on air."
The tall girl was at a loss for words. "It doesn't hold a candle to stone-pot chicken cutlets or wontons in bone broth. If you tried something new one of these days, you'd see."
"We'll see, we'll see!"
Yang Ning leaned back comfortably in her chair and pulled out her phone. "Any good dramas out lately? I've been studying all afternoon and I'm exhausted."
The tall girl shook her head. "These days, I only rewatch old shows. Domestic entertainment has gone down the drain. None of the new dramas are worth watching."
Yang Ning sighed dejectedly. "Guess I'll just scroll through some videos then. Sigh—"
She opened Ledou and swiped through short videos, giggling after just a few moments.
Until...
"Huh? Wow, he's handsome! Wait, why does he look so familiar?!"
She sat bolt upright and read the video's caption word by word: "'Changda alumnus Huang Tian publishes a paper in one of mathematics' Big Four journals...'"
*Thud—*
"Ow, that hurt!" Yang Ning drew a sharp breath and rubbed her knee, which had just slammed into the desk.
The tall girl turned around in surprise. "What's with you, jumping out of your skin like that?"
Enduring the ache, Yang Ning turned her phone screen around, wearing a look of shock and disbelief. "Look at this guy. Isn't he Xiao Zong's boyfriend?"
The tall girl leaned in with a bewildered look. "Huang Tian? A paper? Well, the name seems to match."
"The face is what matters! His face! Plus, Xiao Zong went to Changda too!" Yang Ning said excitedly.
The tall girl said hesitantly, "No way, could it really be him?"
She pulled out her own phone, opened Zong Wenjun's Moments, and found the pinned photo of Zong Wenjun and Huang Tian together.
She glanced down at the photo, then looked back at the face in the video on Yang Ning's phone.
"Holy crap, they're identical!" she gasped.
Yang Ning nodded vigorously. "I know, right? Same name, same university, practically identical looks—it's definitely him!"
She slapped her forehead. "Let me search for more info about him!"
Picking up her phone, she searched "Huang Tian." Instantly, video after video popped up.
She clicked randomly on one and checked the comments section:
"Changda is incredible!"
"Who posted my husband on Ledou? I didn't even dare lay a finger on him!"
"How come I never saw a younger brother like this in the palace?"
"Such an amazing young man! [Flowers] [Flowers]"
"Even though I don't understand it, seeing words like 'blow-up' gets me hyped right away! [Facepalm]"
"I tracked down the paper and gave it a look. It feels a bit like the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in implosion dynamics? That was a key issue in early nuclear research and is now crucial for the Shenguang series in controlled nuclear fusion..."
"What on earth are you talking about?! [Gritting teeth]"
"With geniuses like Huang Tian around, I can happily remain a piece of trash..."
"..."
As Yang Ning scrolled through the videos, her eyes shone. The tall girl abandoned her show entirely, opened Weibo, and searched for "Huang Tian" as well.
After a while, *click*, the dorm door swung open.
Carrying a light-green backpack, Zong Wenjun stepped inside, only to jump in surprise the moment she crossed the threshold.
Three "sinister and ferocious" faces instantly crowded close to her.
"Xiao Zong, how could you keep such amazing news from us?"
"Don't you love us anymore?"
"Hehehehe—"
With her backpack pressed against the back of the door, Zong Wenjun looked completely bewildered. "What... what are you talking about?"
The three roommates paused. Yang Ning asked, "Wait, haven't you seen the videos yet?"
"What videos?" Zong Wenjun set her backpack on her desk and pulled out her phone in confusion.
"Here, just search for 'Huang Tian.'"
"Huh?"
Zong Wenjun paused, opened Qiandu, and searched. Photos of Huang Tian immediately popped up; in just a day or two, an encyclopedia entry had already been created for him.
Beneath the entry was an editorial commentary from Renren Daily regarding Huang Tian:
"...Recently, the name Huang Tian has caused quite a stir in the domestic mathematical community. This young man of only twenty-four years has, as the first author, published a landmark paper in *Inventiones Mathematicae*, one of the internationally recognized Big Four mathematics journals...
In the public's impression, those capable of publishing papers in such top-tier academic journals are almost entirely experts and scholars from renowned institutions both at home and abroad, individuals who have undergone prolonged, systematic academic training.
Yet Huang Tian's journey has broken this conventional mold. After earning his bachelor's degree, various circumstances led him not to pursue further education, but instead to enter the workforce.
According to this publication's understanding, over the past year or more, even while immersed in demanding daily work, he dedicated all of his free time to research in the field of partial differential equations...
Huang Tian's success is by no means an accidental flash of inspiration. It is the fruit of relentless dedication and the purest love for mathematics that has brought him his current achievement.
He has proven to us that the pursuit of truth is not necessarily confined within an ivory tower..."
After reading the entire article and seeing the several photographs attached, Zong Wenjun felt completely dazed.
"Xiao Zong, is it him?" The three girls blinked their bright, expectant eyes.
Zong Wenjun pursed her lips. "I think so."
It wasn't a matter of "thinking so"—it was definitely him. She had recognized him with a single glance at the photos. After all, having spent years together, how could she fail to tell? It was simply that the news came as such a shock that it left her head spinning.
Yang Ning grabbed her arm. "Why don't you message him and ask?"
Zong Wenjun slowly sat down in her chair, thought for a moment, nodded, opened Feixin, and sent Huang Tian a message.
[Are you busy right now?]
[Rabbit-patting-head.jpg]
The three onlookers nearly collapsed. The tall girl threw her head back in despair. "Jiejie, just ask him straight out! Why ask if he's busy first?"
Right as the words left her mouth, a reply popped up on the screen.
[Not busy. I just finished reviewing some materials and am out on the balcony taking in the night view.]
"He replied! Quick, ask him! Ask him!" Yang Ning urged excitedly.
Zong Wenjun shared the link to the Renren Daily article she had just read.
[Is this you?]
*Whoosh—*
[Yes, it's me.]
"Wahhh! It really is him!" The dorm room erupted into chaos. The tall girl seized Zong Wenjun's arm, shaking it relentlessly, too excited to string a coherent sentence together.
By now, Zong Wenjun had gradually recovered from her stupor.
[!!! That's incredible!]
[It was just a small breakthrough. Nothing too crazy.]
[A huge breakthrough! This is one of the Big Four journals, even harder to publish in than CNS!!]
[Haha, then I'll gladly accept your admiration.]
[Are you planning to pursue further studies now? Will you stay at Changda, or come to one of the universities in Jingcheng?]
[No rush for now. I'm currently working on a new topic and am close to getting results. I'll consider my options once that's done.]
[Mhm!]
After chatting a bit longer, Zong Wenjun put her phone down. Her three roommates were still ecstatic.
Yang Ning said with yearning in her eyes, "A publication in one of the Big Four! With an academic achievement like that, becoming a professor won't be a problem at all. I just looked it up, and a few years ago, a single Big Four paper was enough to qualify someone for the Distinguished Young Scholar program! His future is limitless!"
"I bet plenty of domestic universities are extending olive branches to him right now. He could go straight into a doctoral program, become an associate professor or full professor immediately upon graduation, and pull in hundreds of thousands or even millions a year easily. He's set for life," the girl wearing black-rimmed glasses remarked with admiration.
The tall girl looked at Zong Wenjun enviously, then stretched out her arm and flexed her firm muscles. "Sigh, why can't I find a boyfriend like that? Is it just because I'm 182 centimeters tall?"
Yang Ning stood on tiptoe and patted her arm sympathetically. "You'll find your own love someday."
"Yang Ning, that look in your eyes is suspicious..."
"Is it?"
"Take a punch from me!"
The dorm erupted in laughter and playful scuffles. Zong Wenjun smiled as she watched them mess around.
***
Meanwhile, in the campus guesthouse at Changda's Qianhu Campus, Huang Tian's phone vibrated slightly.
"The research bonus has arrived..."
He picked it up and saw a notification from his banking app. Changda's after-tax research bonus of three hundred thousand yuan had been deposited, without a cent missing. His total savings now stood at a little over 340,000 yuan.
Well, after working for over a year, he had only saved around forty thousand, and that was with frugal spending.
After a moment's thought, he transferred fifty thousand yuan to Mother Huang, attaching a voice message:
"Mom, I recently made some breakthroughs in my research, and the university awarded me some prize money. I transferred a bit over to you and Dad—use it for whatever you need."
Both Father Huang and Mother Huang were from the countryside. His father had attended school up to the third year of junior high, while his mother had only completed the fourth grade of primary school and didn't recognize many characters. Consequently, Huang Tian always communicated with her through voice messages or direct calls.
Not long after sending the message, his ringtone went off.
Huang Tian glanced at the screen; sure enough, it was Mother Huang calling.
"Xiaotian, why did you suddenly send so much money over..."
The moment she spoke, her voice was laden with anxiety, clearly worried that something had gone wrong on his end.
"Mom, didn't I tell you? It's an award from the university. I transferred some for you two to spend." He carefully explained the whole story from start to finish before Mother Huang half-believed him.
"Go check on Ledou. You should be able to find videos about me. Once you watch them, you'll understand."
"Okay, okay."
Mother Huang hung up and searched her phone for the Ledou app. She only ever watched video channels on Feixin and wasn't accustomed to other video apps.
Finding Ledou, she tapped it open and swiped continuously. After five or six videos, Huang Tian's face finally appeared on the screen.
"...Huang Tian is undoubtedly an exceptional young mathematician, endowed with an acute mathematical intuition and formidable mathematical talent far beyond ordinary men..."
Listening to the narrator's explanation in the video, the astonishment on her face grew deeper. Swiping through several more videos, Huang Tian's image appeared once again.
"...Every era brings forth geniuses, and Huang Tian is unquestionably one of the shining stars of our time. Although various reasons prevented him from pursuing advanced degrees at his university back then, through his own hard work and talent, he has still taken a solid step forward on the academic path..."
The more she watched, the more a flurry of mixed emotions washed over her heart. It began as disbelief, gradually transformed into pleasant surprise and relief, and finally brought tears to her eyes.
Only after a long while did she compose herself and call Huang Tian back.
"Hello, Mom?"
"I just saw the videos about you on my phone. You've... you've really made something of yourself."
Mother Huang spoke softly. "I won't accept that money. Keep it for yourself to buy whatever you need. You're out there working on your own, so take good care of yourself. Your dad and I don't really have anything to spend money on here."
"It's fine, it's not that much money, so just keep it. Besides, Chinese New Year is only a month or so away. Keep it to buy some new things for the house.
"Also, tell Dad to stop doing freight loading work. That's too heavy and exhausting. The money I'm making now is more than enough to support the whole family. If he really gets bored sitting around, he can find some lighter work..."
After a great deal of persuasion, Mother Huang finally agreed to accept the transfer. However, she emphasized that she was merely keeping it safe for him to buy a car and an apartment later on. As for Father Huang changing jobs, she only promised to discuss and consider it with him.
Huang Tian didn't push the matter. Whether dealing with financial adjustments or shifts in mindset, both required time.
After hanging up, Huang Tian walked back into the room from the balcony, sat on the off-white sofa, and opened his laptop. Multitasking effortlessly, he cultivated while reviewing literature.
Resolving the Navier-Stokes equations was not particularly difficult for him; the overall framework and line of thinking were already mapped out in his mind. The reason he wasn't in a hurry was that he intended to build a new mathematical tool along the way—
In modern mathematics, solving a problem was important, but the method and tools developed to solve that problem were often far more crucial.
For instance, Galois theory was initially proposed merely to study the solvability of polynomial equations by radicals.
Yet the emergence of that theoretical tool vastly inspired the development of modern branches of mathematics, such as group theory and field theory, marking the dawn of abstract algebra, while also influencing topology, number theory, physics, and various other fields.
In truth, that was the very purpose behind the Clay Mathematics Institute establishing the seven Millennium Prize Problems: solving the problems was undeniably important, but creating new, highly effective, and broadly applicable mathematical tools was of far greater value.
"Geometric reconstruction, fiber bundles, topological constraints, dynamical systems, scaling analysis... I'll spend a bit more time reviewing the cutting-edge literature across each branch, and then construct a relatively complete tool..."
Once the tool was established, the problem of the Navier-Stokes equations would naturally be resolved.
Furthermore, from that point onward, almost all research related to fluids—whether the design of aircraft and automobiles, weather forecasting, blood flow through vessels, ocean circulation, or the evolution of galaxies—would be inseparable from this tool!
"Perhaps ten days, a month at most, and I'll be able to build it. When that time comes, what will the outside world name it? Huang Tian's Theory?"
Smiling faintly, he scrolled rapidly with his mouse, skimming the papers at lightning speed as countless words and symbols reflected like a torrent within his pupils...
Chapter 154