Super God-Level Top Student

Zhang Hongcai was utterly shocked.

Was this really Xu Changshu, who used to be so low-key at Yanbei, saying these words? What does it mean to say that with a bit more time, he might even be able to prove Goldbach's conjecture?

Must be getting carried away, and quite high at that.

Especially the "The mathematics you are dealing with now is already not the same as the mathematics we are researching" struck right at Zhang Hongcai's raw nerve.

Just a few days at Xilin and not only does he want to make it clear that he's severing ties with Yanbei Mathematics Institute, but he even dares to say that the research is different?

Isn't that too much?

Yet, what was more excessive was that after rendering him speechless, Xu Changshu even hastened to add, "Director Zhang, if there's nothing else, I will hang up, okay? I really do have a lot on my hands. I want to get things done quickly and continue working on my projects."

"No more issues, carry on with your work."

"Oh, then goodbye, Director Zhang. Beep beep beep..."

The phone hung up so swiftly that Zhang Hongcai hadn't even come back to his senses when the busy tone of the disconnection reached his ear.

After suppressing the urge to throw the phone straight out of the window, Zhang Hongcai suddenly felt a sense of desolation.

Being looked down upon by a professor who had left here—didn't that signify the end of an era?

...

As for Xu Changshu on the other end of the line, he truly did not feel that he had just hurt the fragile heart of a leader who had once been kind to him.

On the contrary, he thought he was being considerate of old times.

If it had been anyone else, he wouldn't have wasted so many words, let alone tell them how joyful every single day at Xilin Mathematics Research Institute was.

Xu Changshu believed that Zhang Hongcai could sense his happiness from the crucial information he had revealed.

After all, here they were tackling the newest material—stuff that could change people's perceptions of mathematics.

That is what mattered most, as for Goldbach's conjecture.

Well, outsiders are really making too much of a fuss over it.

...

Indeed, Xu Changshu, who transferred from Yanbei University to Xilin University, did not feel that he had brought his former mindset from Yanbei to Xilin.

No helping it, when Xu Changshu was at Yanbei, its School of Mathematics was undisputedly NO.1 in Huaxia.

After he arrived at Xilin Mathematics Research Institute, this place too became the undisputed NO.1 in Huaxia.

Lacking empathy, Xu Changshu completely failed to consider how incredibly frustrated his old leader, once at the helm of the former NO.1, must feel upon hearing his brash words.

Naturally, he also had no time to empathize with others' feelings—he was too busy!

As he had said on the phone, he had a lot on his plate, an overwhelming amount that was outright unfinishable.

...

Within the Xilin Mathematics Research Institute, the fact that Qiao Ze had proven Goldbach's conjecture didn't count as particularly earth-shattering.

Or rather, it was initially shocking, but after looking through the proof, one might rise to a similar thought as Xu Changshu: It seems so simple; given the time, I probably could have proven it too.

In fact, inspired by Qiao Ze, others had already begun doing so.

Now at Xilin Mathematics Research Institute, it wasn't just Qiao Ze who spent his leisure time studying number-theory problems like the Riemann hypothesis.

Although Qiao Ze hadn't yet figured out a better way to approach it, many professors felt that a lot of work could be done on this proposition using classification techniques for natural numbers found in superspiral algebra.

It wasn't that all the professors had received some sort of enlightenment, surpassing Qiao Ze's understanding of superspiral algebra—it was just that their goals were slightly different.

Qiao Ze aimed at fully solving the Riemann hypothesis, whereas the professors believed that moving the proposition forward by one step via superspiral algebra would be a victory.

The mathematical community never stipulated that research on a proposition required a complete resolution of the issue.

For globally recognized mathematical conundrums, conducting significant, progressive research that won reviewers' approval was enough to publish directly in one of the top four prominent journals of mathematics.

Qiao Ze might not care about such world-class journals, but as long as the current system ties academic titles and bonuses to top journal publications, other professors could not afford to be indifferent. Consider that most people at the institute were still associate professors and associate researchers—for them, there was no better opportunity to drop the "associate" titles than this time at Xilin Mathematics Research Institute.

Especially after the publication of Qiao Ze's paper on Goldbach's conjecture.

If foreign colleagues also find an angle, they might just beat them to the punch.

Though Xu Changshu lacked similar urgent thoughts, who wouldn't want to produce more results?

So, it wasn't just him who was busy—the whole Xilin Mathematics Research Institute was swamped, so much so that they had no time to worry about the impact Qiao Ze's paper was making in the mathematics community.

But what really irked them to the core was Dean Xu Dajiang, who exploited their labor and made them squeeze in time for lesson planning and lectures despite their busy schedule, seeming to have all the leisure in the world.

He was so free that, before the paper was published, he had the time to call every day to press for it, and once the paper finally was submitted, he still had time to phone daily, urging the part-time editors at "New Discoveries in Mathematics and Physics" to get the reviewers to expedite the process.

Yes, the professors at Xilin Mathematics Research Institute were responsible not only for the research in Qiao's Algebraic Geometry, for teaching undergraduate classes, but they also had to initially shoulder the editorial work of "New Discoveries in Mathematics and Physics."

Xu Dajiang, this sideline administrator, truly reveled in wielding his authority, pushing the institute's human resources to their limits.

Of course, there was a rationale.

Li Jiangao, the amiable director, and Qiao Ze, who didn't meddle in affairs, directly maxed out the institute's benefits.