Free Web NovelChapter 350: Chapter 231: Leaving No Room for Others!
Mathematicians all around the world, just like Terence Tao, were devoting themselves to research Zhao Yi’s paper and were also ready to tackle the tedious job of reducing the number 246.
It wasn’t just foreign mathematicians, but domestic ones too.
Mathematicians involved in number theory would be interested in the Twin Prime Conjecture. Those working in other fields who had an interest in number theory would also read the paper carefully.
Every mathematician hoped to cut down the number 246, bringing the proof of the Twin Prime Conjecture one step further.
The work was exceptionally meaningful.
It could be said that each reduction of the number 246 would result in an achievement worthy of the top four mathematics journals.
Of course.
The first step in their work was to thoroughly understand Zhao Yi’s paper.
At the same time. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Zhao Yi finally reunited with Lin Xiaoqing.
The two hadn’t seen each other for over a month, and both were happy to meet again. Lin Xiaoqing was standing on her tiptoes with her hands behind her back at the door.
"Are you alone at home?" she asked.
In the past few days, there had been extensive media coverage on Zhao Yi. So, she assumed there might be guests at his place.
Zhao Yi shook his head, "There are not many who know where I live. If word got out, I would have to move."
"That sounds horrible!" She laughed as she walked into the house.
Zhao Yi sighed, "You don’t know what it’s like. A swarm of people asking questions repeatedly and it feels like I’m talking myself hoarse."
Lin Xiaoqing listened and laughed.
She first went into the kitchen to look around, then into the bedroom where she briefly lifted the blanket to look under, then went into the living room and looked out the window deep in thought.
Following her, Zhao Yi said puzzled, "Are you investigating?"
"Yup!"
With her big eyes darting around, Lin Xiaoqing explained, "I am observing things in the room to analyze and assess your lifestyle."
"What have you discovered?"
"You haven’t been staying here in a while, there’s dust everywhere." Lin Xiaoqing touched the window sill and presented her dusty finger.
Zhao Yi rolled his eyes, "Maybe I was just too lazy to clean."
"Except for the bedroom, everything else is dusty, which contradicts common sense. So you cleaned the bedroom today, didn’t you?" Lin Xiaoqing looked straight into Zhao Yi’s eyes, batting her big eyes.
"..."
Zhao Yi suddenly felt a bit frightened and hurriedly asked, "When did you become a detective? I thought you were studying law?"
Lin Xiaoqing nodded, "But the faculty I am part of is called the Criminal Justice Institute. Investigation is a compulsory subject. I hope to pursue a career in criminal investigation and get into the police force just like my dad."
Then it dawned on Zhao Yi, "So basically, you wanted to see if any other girls have been to my place recently?"
"Who cares if other girls have been here or not! What does that have to do with me!" Lin Xiaoqing exploded like a cat that had its tail stepped on. She immediately became nervous and her cheeks turned a bit rosy due to agitation.
Zhao Yi quickly embraced her by the shoulders, whispering in her ear, "Xiaoqing, don’t worry. Just having your scent in my home is enough."
"What are you talking about!"
A blushing Lin Xiaoqing pushed away Zhao Yi. Perhaps because her mood changed too quickly, her face became even redder.
[Flirting, Target: Lin Xiaoqing, Study Coin +2.]
Perfect!
This was exceptionally hard!
Previously, back in Zhengyang, trying to earn Study Coins through conversation with Lin Xiaoqing was almost impossible.
Now, a sweet word was enough to add Study Coins. So timing is crucial.
After sitting on the sofa for a while, Zhao Yi turned on the TV and started to tidy the house with Lin Xiaoqing.
They also talked about the paper during the tidying process.
Zhao Yi sighed helplessly, "So I have to stay at home these days, otherwise I might not even get a good night’s sleep."
"And you’re letting me in?"
"Yes!" Zhao Yi gave her a hug from behind and whispered, "Don’t leave this weekend. I’ll drive you to school on Monday morning."
"In your dreams!"
Lin Xiaoqing instantly pushed him away, "I have to return to the dorm tonight. Otherwise, who knows what the girls there would say. They all know you’re my boyfriend."
"So we’re officially dating?"
"Who’s dating you!"
"Wait!" Zhao Yi suddenly realized a crucial issue. They hadn’t gone through any "breaking barriers" ritual, like a romantic confession. He found it juvenile.
But...
Maybe Lin Xiaoqing didn’t see it that way?
Considering it, Zhao Yi simply shook his head. A romantic confession ritual wasn’t his thing. After all, he wasn’t a teenager anymore.
The day passed warm and cordial.
After they had tidied up the house, Zhao Yi and Lin Xiaoqing cooked lunch together. After lunch, they cuddled up on the sofa and watched TV, eventually dozing off.
As it was almost evening, Lin Xiaoqing still decided to go.
Zhao Yi actually wanted to keep her there in a manly fashion, but found that Lin Xiaoqing’s strength was surprisingly greater than his...
So this is awkward...
"Ah!"
Zhao Yi sighed deeply and started preparing for his lecture the next day.
...
The next day at 10 in the morning, the largest classroom in the School of Sciences building was packed early on.
The front rows were occupied by school leaders, teachers, researchers, and visiting heavyweight scholars.
The back rows were filled with over two hundred students.
The large lecture hall, capable of accommodating three hundred people, was completely filled by 9:30.
Zhao Yi arrived just in time, and when he arrived at the entrance of the School of Sciences, he saw a familiar figure.
"Xiaoqing?"
"Zhao Yi..."
Lin Xiaoqing looked embarassed.
She wanted to surprise Zhao Yi and came quietly, only to find that there were checks at the entrance to the School of Sciences, and she simply couldn’t get in.
Zhao Yi found it amusing and took Lin Xiaoqing inside.
There were a few others with him: Fan Lei, Meng Zheng, Li Renzhe, and Xu Chao. His three dormitory buddies all planned to come and support him.
Zhao Yi didn’t need support, but it was important to take care of his brothers.
Xu Chao also came to listen to the lecture. The study of number theory was of no use to him, but he was interested to listen.
Today, the School of Sciences building was on guard, and unauthorized people would definitely not be allowed in.
Zhao Yi took a few people in.
On the way, they started discussing quietly, "This is the legendary Lin Xiaoqing!"
"Zhao Yi’s girlfriend!"
"Brother Chao, you know her? I saw you greet her."
"We lived very close to each other in Zhengyang, they’re childhood sweethearts..." Xu Chao helpfully whispered.
Lin Xiaoqing and Zhao Yi walked side by side in front of the others, their embarrassment transformed into shyness.
When they entered the lecture hall, they realized there were hundreds of people watching, which made them feel even more shy, but they maintained their smiles.
Zhao Yi arranged a front-row seat for Lin Xiaoqing, right next to a female professor from the Mathematics Department, and next to her was Qian Hong.
Qian Hong looked at Lin Xiaoqing and felt a loss in her heart that she couldn’t quite explain.
Youth!
Beauty!
Brightness!
If she could be ten years younger, she might be able to compare, but time was not on her side.
...
Zhao Yi stood on the platform.
Despite being in front of three hundred people, he remained unperturbed, as if nervousness simply did not exist for him.
"Hello everyone!"
Zhao Yi greeted everyone and then went straight to the point, "I’m here today to explain the proof of the bounded gaps between prime numbers, I suppose many of you have read my paper, but of course many of you haven’t."
Even though his audience were just ordinary students, aside from a few special cases, the lowest educational level among them was a master’s degree. Most of them were from the Mathematics Department, otherwise they would not have been able to understand what Zhao Yi was talking about.
He went straight to the topic, writing a column on the blackboard, "Assume there exists a finite number N such that there are infinitely many primes with a gap less than or equal to N."
"First, we define a set, LIM, as N approaches infinity..."
Zhao Yi’s explanation officially began.
During his proof, he continuously revised the value of N, but most of the first part of his explanation did not settle on a certain value for N. It was only after he had continuously revised it many times and settled on the value 246 that he made a transition to confirm that N does exist, proving that there are infinitely many prime pairs less than or equal to 246.
Zhao Yi spent two hours explaining, and most people listened attentively to the whole process, but not many understood it from start to finish, as most of the audience were still students.
Most of the highly-qualified math professors in the front row understood.
When Zhao Yi put down the chalk, the first person to stand up and ask a question was Professor He, who asked straightforwardly, "Zhao Yi, you made many revisions to ’n’ during your proof process. Some of these weren’t necessary, right?"
Zhao Yi explained, "In my proof process, I wanted to minimize the value of ’n’ as much as possible, but in the end, I found it difficult to reduce after 246."
"So, even without those revisions, you could prove the bounded ’n’, but only with a larger value. For example, the ’N’ you assumed in the first step was 50 million."
"Right!"
Zhao Yi answered affirmatively.
Professor He took a deep breath and continued, "Your explanation is much more detailed than your paper, isn’t it?"
"Yes."
Zhao Yi continued to nod affirmatively. He noted that Professor He’s level was truly high; he had grasped the content of both the paper and the lecture, and seemed to have caught a key point?
"I see."
Professor He’s reaction was somewhat unexpected. He shook his head with a bitter smile and gave his evaluation, "You didn’t leave any room for others at all!"
"Huh?"
Zhao Yi didn’t understand.
But Professor Zhou Li did. He smiled bitterly with Professor He and stood up, "I was thinking about reducing the number 246 earlier. Thankfully, Zhao Yi, after your talk, I realized the difficulty of trying to shrink this number is no less than your research."
"I don’t know how many people this time will..."
Professor Zhou Li shook his head repeatedly while speaking.
The lecture ended.
Everyone dispersed.
After a brief exchange with Professor He and Professor Zhou Li, Zhao Yi finally understood. Many mathematicians hoped to reduce the number 246, but they hadn’t heard Zhao Yi’s lecture and didn’t realize how difficult it would be.
So, it was certain that their efforts were bound to be fruitless!
It was like the person who initially proved the Goldbach Conjecture using the sieve of prime numbers, directly completing Chen Jingrun’s proof...
What was left for others to do? He left no room for others!
