Genius of the Rules-Style System

Chapter 325: Chapter 219: So I’m Not Worthy of Having a Name?

Although Zhao Yi felt that trying to influence people was not quite his style, every person’s existence in the world invariably impacts others, and Zhao Yi had already begun to influence Shuimu University and Capital University.

For instance, their domestic standing in the realm of academic mathematics suffered a challenge.

Shuimu University and Capital University are the top two universities in the country, leagues ahead of all other institutions. They attract the best students and benefit from the best policies.

The other universities pale in comparison.

For foreign scholars, like Qiu Chengwen, the prime choices are Capital University and Shuimu University. After falling out with Capital University, his options narrowed down to Shuimu University.

Why didn’t he choose other universities?

Three words: Huge difference!

With the advantage of optimal student quality and policy support, Shuimu University and Capital University indeed became the most prestigious universities domestically. Regardless of the majors they launch, even the newly established ones, they are able to recruit the most brilliant teachers and researchers, enabling a speedy entry to the top five of national major rankings.

Especially for majors related to mathematics.

In most domestic mathematical major rankings, Shuimu University and Capital University hold the top two positions, constantly competing with each other, while other institutions struggle to even get on the playing field.

Shuimu University and Capital University also carry significant influence in other mathematical academic areas.

Domestic mathematics is, it could be said, dominated by these two universities.

This statement is not an exaggeration.

For instance, Yang Zhen from Capital University, who reportedly was promoted by the Mathematics Association, became the first mathematician domestically to deliver a one-hour speech at the International Mathematical Congress.

Of course,

This is not an established fact,

But the point is, it reflects the position of Shuimu University and Capital University in the Mathematics Association.

However...

This year’s domestic Mathematics situation embarrassed Shuimu University and Capital University.

At the International Mathematical Congress held in Madrid, Spain, two mathematicians from China both gave speeches. One represented the Science Academy, Chen Ming, and the other was the talented high school student Zhao Yi who enrolled in Yanhua University, thus can be considered to be representing Yanhua University.

A team of mathematicians was sent by Capital University and Shuimu University, an ensemble of a dozen or more personnel. Yet none were invited to give a long speech.

This attests to the fact that Chen Ming’s and Zhao Yi’s work and research are recognised by the international mathematical community. Whereas Capital University and Shuimu University failed to even secure recognition for a single achievement, let alone research productivity.

This put them in an awkward position.

Shuimu University and Capital University boast strong research and teaching teams. However, despite all these years, they still don’t have a mathematician recognized internationally. This reminds people of Qiu Chengwen’s comments about Chinese mathematics at the turn of the millennium, "The severe shortage of ’world-class results, lack of leading mathematicians, severe talent outage..."

What these two universities lack most now is mathematical research that can influence the world.

As soon as Zhao Yi’s two papers were published in "Mathematical Progress," Yanhua University attracted a large number of mathematicians. For a brief moment, it seemed to have become the university with the highest academic standard in mathematics domestically.

This left Shuimu University and Capital University in an increasingly uncomfortable situation.

Yanhua University used to play ’the sidekick’ role.

Now, the ’sidekick’ has suddenly ’broken out.’

Not only was Yanhua University noticed domestically because Zhao Yi enrolled there, its reputation also extended abroad, even many foreign scholars have heard of Yanhua University.

This is the propulsion of a top-tier scholar.

The Chinese mathematical academia lacks leading mathematicians with significant influence, whereas a top mathematician could even impact a university.

Qiu Chengwen is a perfect example.

Qiu Chengwen has his own mathematical foundation, his students are spread across all the universities, many of whom have become top professors. Even Yang Zhen, the unrivalled mathematician from Capital University who once had a heated debate with him, was once Qiu Chengwen’s student during his study in the United States.

In the Chinese concept, one always respects heaven, earth, the king, parents, and teacher, the teacher-student relationship is considered a lifelong bond.

During the feud between Yang Zhen and Qiu Chengwen, Yang Zhen was at a natural disadvantage. After all, Yang Zhen was not only Qiu Chengwen’s student, but also received a lot of help from him during his doctoral studies and subsequent research.

Everyone knows this.

It is foreseeable that with further mathematical achievements or major award winnings in the future, Zhao Yi’s personal influence will only grow bigger, also catalysing the growth of the Mathematics Department at Yanhua University.

Zhao Yi’s rise is now unstoppable. Given his age, it is no surprise that whatever achievements he might make in the future would feel inevitable.

So...

The effort to poach Zhao Yi from Yanhua university is not just Qiu Chengwen’s initiative anymore.

The whole of Shuimu University has taken this matter seriously.

In the new issue of "Mathematical Progress," Shuimu University’s Mathematics Department had a meeting after a week of its release, targeting Yanhua University and Zhao Yi specifically. The agenda was to do everything possible to recruit Zhao Yi to Shuimu University — either as a student or an academic member. So that if Zhao Yi makes any academic achievements in the future, these could be linked to Shuimu University.

Of course, this would upset Yanhua University. But for a talent like Zhao Yi, Shuimu University no longer cared.

The same went for Capital University.

Capital University has an International Mathematics Research Center. They are also hoping to recruit Zhao Yi to work or conduct research there.

...

Zhao Yi was unaware that he was about to face a second poaching attempt by the two top domestic universities. One thing comes as a relief though, in the past few days, fewer mathematicians came to the Intelligent and Automation Laboratory to check the data.

Perhaps this was because a single viewing sufficed, after all, the conclusion is often more important than the content.

After those who saw the twin prime solution lost interest in further data checks. After all, since the data’s conclusion was already made public, if one wanted to find clues for the Twin Prime Conjecture, it would be better to focus on the analysis of the paper, studying the three-dimensional tremor waveforms.

On this day,

Zhao Yi went to school for his usual classes, and when he walked into the advanced math classroom, a look of utter despair spread across Hu Zhibin’s face.

This big shot, who had managed to publish two papers in "Mathematical Progress" in one fell swoop, was actually here in his advanced math class, listening to the fundamental principles of advanced math.

Was this even reasonable?

Hu Zhibin even made several mistakes during his lecture, and all he wanted was for Zhao Yi to come up and explain. But he knew that it was unlikely he could persuade him to do so.

The main problem was, there were many advanced math classes in one semester. Zhao Yi could come and give one or two lectures, but it wasn’t feasible for him to do it every time.

So he didn’t give any lectures at all.

After class.

A few reporters stopped Zhao Yi on his way out. Zhao Yi gave Fan Lei an apologetic smile, but Fan Lei could only respond with a mix of admiration and jealousy.

Fan Lei was just an average student!

He was Zhao Yi’s roommate and even signed up for the same classes with him. Being with Zhao Yi put a lot of pressure on Fan Lei because he felt like he was constantly overlooked.

On the contrary.

Fan Lei was already accustomed to being in the limelight, but now he had to adjust to playing second fiddle. Regardless, he still stood to one side, waiting for the interview to end.

The reporters were not academic journalists but were from a local TV station in the capital. Their questions were quite layman, such, "Could you explain what the three-dimensional shaking waveform diagram is? What is the significance of this function?"

Zhao Yi could only provide a simple explanation, but even that seemed to confuse the reporters.

The subsequent questions had nothing to do with academic research, "Could you share your thoughts on mathematics? For instance, tell us about your special connection with mathematics..."

This sounded like a personality interview.

There were many such examples in textbooks. Like Da Vinci and his egg painting, Edison selling newspapers to fund his experiments, and even the British mathematician, Wiles, who had been fond of Fermat’s Last Theorem since the age of ten.

In short.

Outstanding individuals usually have a unique connection with their chosen fields from childhood.

But Zhao Yi was bewildered by this question. A special connection with math?

How should he answer this?

He hesitated for a moment, thoughtfully began, "I’m actually not that fond of mathematics."

This answer was unexpected to the reporter, "Why?"

"Because..."

Zhao Yi nodded affirmatively and said, "Mathematics is extremely complex and troublesome."

"...."

"...."

A 19-year-old mathematical genius, who published four papers in top-tier mathematics journals within a year, was claiming that maths is too troublesome and complicated?

What the hell was he talking about!

Obviously!

The reporter was baffled.

Perhaps Zhao Yi was not in a good mood today or was he drained from all the research work?

Yes, that must be it!

If the research was too complex, it was understandable that he found it tedious.

Thinking that Zhao Yi was a renowned mathematical genius within the country, the reporter decided to avoid any negative reporting and quickly changed the subject.

The reporter spotted Fan Lei standing to one side, walked over, and asked, "You’re quite close with Zhao Yi, aren’t you?"

"Yes, we’re roommates and good friends, and also, my name is Fan Lei." Fan Lei responded with a smile he thought was rather charming.

The reporter nodded and said, "Young man, can you tell me what Zhao Yi is like, from your perspective?"

"Zhao Yi is incredibly gifted. I’m not clued up on his research work. But he has an amazing talent for basketball, and he’s pretty good at football too; we usually play together. Oh, and he’s also good at video games, a real DOTA expert. And, my name is Fan Lei ..."

"Oh." freёwebnovel.com

The reporter nodded in agreement. He realized interviewing someone close to Zhao Yi was the right choice and continued with his questions, "What do you think is the reason behind Zhao Yi’s accomplishments in mathematics?"

"Why? How the hell would I know!"

Fan Lei seemed a bit annoyed. He called out to Zhao Yi and said, "The interview is over, right? Let’s go eat before the cafeteria runs out of good food."

"Okay."

The two of them left without looking back.

The reporter was left standing there, unsure of what just happened. He could understand Zhao Yi getting annoyed with the interview.

But this student?

Most of the students would be excited for an interview, right? He had no idea that Fan Lei, who just left, was cursing under his breath, "Damn it!"

"I’ve already told him, my name is Fan Lei, my name is Fan Lei, my name is Fan Lei, and he just keeps calling me ’student’, ’student’, ’student’..."

"So I’m not even worthy of a name, huh?"

...