Chapter 62

The day Ji Zhixing graduated early, all the students at Guangling University knew about it.

Students from the School of Physics came to dormitory 310 in waves, and within half an hour, all of Ji Zhixing's textbooks from his freshman to junior year were taken.

Zhang Biao's dormitory was close to 310, and being in such a convenient location, he managed to get his hands on the textbook for "Computational Physics," a relatively difficult course in the third year. Touching the tattered book, he felt a pang of regret.

When I was in elementary and middle school, whenever a child from a relative's or neighbor's family graduated with good grades, their parents would always ask for their books.

Sometimes the books he received were filled with notes, and his parents hoped that by being influenced by them, he could also become a top student. Other times, the books he received were completely clean, without a single word on them, simply placed on the bookshelf as mascots, as if that would bring him some good luck in his studies.

He used to hate this kind of thing, but now he's grown up to the point where he'd do it on his own initiative.

Actually, he asked Ji Zhixing for his third-year textbooks as a lucky charm to help him pass his final exams. Since Ji Zhixing hadn't attended many classes in his third year, the textbooks should have been brand new and without a single word. Unexpectedly, almost every page was filled with notes.

These notes are clearly Ji Zhixing's own reflections.

Zhang Biao took out his copy of "Computational Physics," and comparing the two books side by side, he felt ashamed. He had attended classes properly, yet his textbook looked newer than Ji Zhixing's.

Over the past year, Ji Zhixing has practically risen to prominence overnight. His former classmates can't even come close to him, let alone catch up. He's been envious, and even a little jealous at times, but everyone has seen Ji Zhixing's hard work.

He doesn't play video games, doesn't use his phone, doesn't have a girlfriend, and has never even stepped out of the school gate for leisure or entertainment. This ascetic-like perseverance in studying has earned everyone's admiration and respect.

Now that he has read this book, Zhang Biao feels that Ji Zhixing is probably even more hardworking than he imagined.

Every word Ji Zhixing wrote in the book weighed heavily on his heart. He felt that if he didn't cherish the notes in this book, he would be tormented by his conscience.

After Qiu Lan finished her extra practice on the basketball court, she rushed to dormitory 310 upon hearing the news: "Zhi Xing, your textbooks..." Before she could finish speaking, she saw that there wasn't a single book left on the bookshelf.

Lin Lang patted him on the shoulder: "First come, first served. There's none left for you. Kneel down and be done with it."

Qiu Lan kicked him, her eyes still searching around unwillingly, and finally pointed to the only pen left in the pen holder and asked, "Can I have this pen?"

"It's not that it's impossible, it's just that the ink in the pen is all gone," Ji Zhixing said with a wry smile, as the others had already been taken.

Qiu Lan laughed heartily: "That's alright, I'll just use a different pen refill."

He has a quantum mechanics exam tomorrow, and he can't feel at ease without some kind of protective charm. A pen that Ji Zhixing used is surely more reliable than those Confucian temple blessing pens sold in the school supermarket, after all, Confucius himself was a pure liberal arts student back in the day.

Holding the pen in her hand, Qiu Lan sincerely offered Ji Zhixing a blessing: "I wish you all the best at the conference!"

Although Ji Zhixing didn't have to take final exams, he wasn't envious at all. He was only facing assessments from the college, while Ji Zhixing was about to face assessments from the global academic community!

The location of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is not fixed and varies from year to year, spanning major cities around the world, including the capital of China.

At the conclusion of the 29th ICM conference, it was announced that Professor Burton of the Harvard Institute for Mathematical Analysis would serve as the next ICM president. Therefore, although the 30th ICM conference was moved up at the last minute, it was still held at the president's residence, Harvard University, as is customary.

Guangling University attached great importance to this conference, as evidenced by granting Ji Zhixing early graduation and using his graduation thesis defense as a mock rehearsal for the conference's Q&A session. Furthermore, the university specially assigned Yan Anjin and Zhu Ren to escort Ji Zhixing to Harvard University for the ICM conference.

Although Ji Zhixing's paper on solving the Navier-Stokes equations has been recognized by academic editors and external reviewers of top journals, it still faces the test from the entire academic community before it can gain true and widespread recognition.

This battle is crucial for Ji Zhixing. Success would elevate Guangling University to new heights, while failure could mean a lifetime of humiliation—given the nature of the Chinese media, it's no surprise they'll hang Ji Zhixing on the pillar of shame for a century! And Guangling University will also face ridicule.

The closer the conference got, the more worried the principal became, so he made this special arrangement.

Yan Anjin can help with academic issues, while Zhu Ren can help with daily life matters such as passport application, airfare purchase, food, and accommodation. It can be said that they have considered Ji Zhixing very thoroughly.

Ji Zhixing had never been abroad before, so everything he saw was new and exciting. Yan Anjin and Zhu Ren were somewhat relieved to see that he still had the energy to take photos and send them to Xu Dongyang as promotional material.

A good mindset is crucial before an exam. If you're not in a good mindset, you might only be able to perform at less than half the level of knowledge you actually have. Conversely, a good mindset can lead to exceptional performance.

Upon arriving at Harvard University, the organizers had already arranged accommodation at the Harvard Square Hotel. It's only 200 meters from the ICM venue, a few minutes' walk.

Most of the mathematicians invited to the conference stayed here, while the surrounding Charles Hotel, Veritas Hotel, and other hotels were also filled with mathematicians and journalists who came spontaneously.

As soon as Ji Zhixing checked in, someone came to visit him—it was Professor Bolton, the chairman of this conference.

Professor Bolton is a tenured professor at Harvard University. He has made outstanding achievements in graph theory, differentiable mappings, singularity theory, and topology of differentiable manifolds. He won all the top awards in mathematics, such as the Fields Medal, the Wolf Prize, and the Abel Prize, and is hailed as one of the greatest mathematicians of the 21st century.

If there were a Nobel Prize in mathematics, then without a doubt, he would have won it.

When such a leading figure in academia came to visit in person, not only Ji Zhixing, but even Yan Anjin rose to receive him with great respect.

Zhu Ren wasn't an academic, so he didn't recognize Professor Bolton. However, he could tell from Yan Anjin's attitude that this gray-haired scholar was definitely a giant in the academic world. It's worth noting that at the press conference held at Guangling University, Yan Anjin hadn't reacted at all to the [unclear - possibly a reference to a specific person or event].

Professor Burton was round-bodied with a long white beard, and Ji Zhixing thought he looked like Santa Claus.

However, Professor Bolton wasn't there to offer gifts, but rather to "question" him. He said with a smile, "Young man, you've kept me and the entire academic community waiting for far too long!"

Huh? Ji Zhixing was a little puzzled. Didn't he come to the ICM conference on time?

Yan Anjin touched his nose and glanced in Zhu Ren's direction, feeling a little guilty about the matter.

In fact, according to academic practice, after Ji Zhixing successfully published a paper on the Navier-Stokes equations in a top academic journal, he should have taken the initiative to hold an academic conference to explain his research results in more detail and to discuss and debate with the scholars attending the conference.

Of course, not every paper needs to be accompanied by an academic conference. While there's no explicit threshold, not just anyone can host one. If someone lacks self-awareness about their own work and sends out invitations indiscriminately, they'll only face the embarrassing situation of a deserted audience.

However, Ji Zhixing's academic achievements are extremely groundbreaking, and can even be said to be the most important achievements in the mathematics community in recent decades. Therefore, he should have held an academic conference long ago.

However, Ji Zhixing was young and inexperienced and unaware of this custom, and Yan Anjin did not tell him either.

Professor Bolton continued, "You may not know this, but I actually did the external review for your paper published in the Journal of the American Mathematical Society."

Therefore, if Ji Zhixing were to hold an academic conference, he and Bruno, the editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Mathematical Society, should be on the invitation list.

But he waited and waited, checking his email every day, but he never received any invitation from China.

Later, he heard about the "New Advances in Mathematics" from Bruno and guessed that Ji Zhixing might be deeply resentful because he had encountered academic discrimination, and therefore had opinions about all journals.

This is certainly not incomprehensible, as Ji Zhixing is so young, only 21 years old.

Bolton recalled that when he was 21, he rushed to his teacher's house overnight after failing an exam, pointing at each question on the test paper and arguing until the teacher admitted to grading the test incorrectly.

Therefore, in Burton's view, even God must allow Ji Zhixing to have a bit of youthful spirit, or genius-like arrogance.

But Bolton himself was the originator of a series of new concepts and theories, and he highly valued scholars who could make breakthroughs in various fields of mathematics. Therefore, he could not stand by and watch such a young mathematician isolate himself from the academic world.

With his strong support, the 30th ICM Conference was held ahead of schedule for Ji Zhixing alone, which was a stepping stone for him.

Only then did Ji Zhixing realize that there was such a misunderstanding involved. The adult world is indeed very complicated; unbeknownst to him, this academic giant's mind had already gone through countless twists and turns.

He was about to explain, but then he thought that it might not be a bad thing to let the misunderstanding continue.

Chinese people have always been kind to others, but sometimes showing a little sharpness is the best way to avoid being taken advantage of.

Professor Burton is undoubtedly a highly respected figure, but the academic world is not without its superficial individuals who discriminate based on rank. The fact that such a leading scholar has shown such respect for Chinese scholars will naturally influence the attitudes of many.

Therefore, Ji Zhixing simply accepted the speculation that he was "ambitious" and "unruly." However, he still sincerely expressed his gratitude to Professor Bolton.

Zhu Ren was now filled with regret.

If he had known there were such intricacies involved in holding a conference, he wouldn't have needed a press conference at all! He could have just held an academic conference, which would have been world-class!

The editors-in-chief of eight top journals, plus eight external reviewers of Professor Bolton's caliber—just these 16 people are enough to make this academic conference surpass all other universities in the country. Not to mention the other scholars at all levels who will undoubtedly come to participate voluntarily.

If such an academic conference had actually been held at Guangling University back then, he dared to say that Guangling University's reputation, both domestically and internationally, would have immediately soared to the level of Yenching University and Tsinghua University!

"I regret it!" Zhu Ren glanced sideways at Yan Anjin.

You old Yan! He's not in academia and wouldn't know about this, but there's no way Old Yan wouldn't know. By keeping it a secret, he's let Guangling University miss such a golden opportunity!

If Professor Bolton hadn't been there, he would have grabbed Old Yan by the collar and given him a good scolding.

Yan Anjin looked at everything but Zhu Ren; he valued Ji Zhixing's long-term future more than the loss of the school.

He understood that the significance of the Navier-Stokes equations was enough to secure Ji Zhixing a higher-level reporting occasion.

Ji Zhixing's first public academic presentation can be considered the starting point for his formal foray into academia. A high starting point makes it easier to receive better treatment and achieve greater success in China's academic world, where seniority is highly valued.

Therefore, he concealed this routine report meeting, waiting for the international academic community to extend an olive branch. When other professors inquired, he claimed that he already had plans. After all, he was the dean of the Department of Physics and Ji Zhixing's mentor, and no one would make arrangements without his consent.

However, he never expected to be presented at such a high-profile event.

There couldn't be a higher starting point than this, Yan Anjin thought with satisfaction as he looked at Ji Zhixing. Having weathered countless storms, he naturally hoped that Ji Zhixing would have a smooth journey ahead.

Professor Bolton wasn't really there to denounce Ji Zhixing; he made a joke and then started giving him tips on things to keep in mind at tomorrow's ICM conference.

"You should be prepared that more than 8,000 people have submitted applications to attend this conference, and the questions you will face will likely be more intense than ever before."

The number 8,000 made Ji Zhixing's heart skip a beat. He had specifically checked beforehand that the largest number of mathematicians attending the ICM conference was more than 4,000, which was only about 1,000 more than the number at the press conference. He did not expect that the number of people this time would double!

8,000 people! Even if only one percent ask a question, that's still 80. Let's say each question takes an average of 5 minutes to answer; that would mean his voice would be working continuously for over 6 hours!

Ji Zhixing glanced at the director, wondering if the director had any dried sea buckthorn fruit in his suitcase.

In fact, academic presentations at the ICM conference have usually been time-limited, but this time is special because Ji Zhixing is the only speaker. There's no time limit for the presentation, and naturally, no time limit for questions. Even if there were a time limit, it certainly wouldn't have stopped the mathematicians from asking a barrage of questions.

Professor Bolton himself had a lot of questions, but he still very graciously gave Ji Zhixing his rest time so that he could recharge for tomorrow's conference.

Ji Zhixing was notified that the conference would start at 9:00 AM sharp. He left the hotel alone at 8:00 AM, leisurely walking to the venue to observe the situation beforehand. However, upon arriving at the venue, he was overwhelmed by the sheer number of people and quickly pulled out his phone to check the time again.

Standing next to him was a young blond man. Ji Zhixing asked him anxiously, "Excuse me, has the event been rescheduled?"

"It should still be nine o'clock, at least I haven't received any notification of a change," the blond guy, Blake, replied.

Seeing that Ji Zhixing had a Chinese face, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Are you Chinese? Do you know anything about Ji Zhixing?"

Uh... Ji Zhixing felt that probably no one in the world understood him better than he did.

Blake was an extremely enthusiastic person, and before anyone could speak, he continued, "I heard that Ji Zhixing is the same age as me. I hope he's at least not more handsome than me, otherwise Julianne will never look at me again."

Ji Zhixing looked at his face and thought, "Sorry, I can't help it, I was just born this handsome."

Once Blake started talking, he couldn't stop. He pulled Ji Zhixing aside and chattered on and on about how smart and beautiful Julianne was, how he had gone through a difficult transformation from a poor student to a top student in order to pursue her, and then the topic turned to his hellish research life at Princeton.

Ji Zhixing was a good listener, but Blake spoke very quickly, leaving him no room to interrupt. However, he didn't want to speak at all; he just wanted to use Blake's incessant talking to distract himself and relieve his tension.

Even though he felt he had made ample preparations, seeing so many people, and so many gray-haired scholars sitting in the front row, still made his heart race.

A large crowd was blocking the way, but Ji Zhixing could already see more than a dozen Fields Medal winners.

The Fields Medal is the highest award in mathematics, equivalent to the Nobel Prize in mathematics. More than a dozen Nobel laureates were sitting in the audience waiting for him to go on stage. Even though Ji Zhixing considered himself to have good mental fortitude, he couldn't help but delay his entry time again and again.

It was already 8:40, and Ji Zhixing had no choice but to prepare to enter.

This conference hall was built a long time ago and has a rather traditional layout, with only two front doors closer to the stage and a large back door that opens halfway down one wall. Ji Zhixing was standing at the front door, trying to walk inside.

Blake grabbed him: "Hey! There's no room inside!"

This venue is already the largest conference room at Harvard University, with 5,000 seats. More than 3,000 other people had to find a place to sit or stand in the corridors, aisles, or corners.

Blake arrived at eight o'clock, but the conference hall was already packed with people.

"No, I am...that..." Ji Zhixing pointed to the stage, somewhat embarrassed to reveal his identity.

Blake asked understandingly, "Is your mentor inside?"

Then he noticed that the Chinese man was clutching the USB drive tightly in his hand, and suddenly realized: "You are Ji Zhixing?"

Ji Zhixing nodded hurriedly and was about to step inside, but there was nowhere to put his feet.

"Excuse me!" Ji Zhixing tried to move in several directions, but couldn't get through—everyone thought he was trying to cut in line.

Before he could even frantically declare that he was today's reporter, Blake had already rushed in front of him and loudly cleared a path for him.

"Excuse me! Make way, the reporter needs to enter!"

“If you want to wait until the moon rises before you hear the report, then you can continue blocking this spot. Otherwise, you should tuck in your beer belly and let the reporter behind me pass.”

"Hey! Dude! Lift your butt up a bit, at least make room for one foot!"

With the help of the loud and large Blake clearing a path, Ji Zhixing finally broke through the crowd and was able to successfully reach the stage. Professor Bolton was waiting for him on the stage.

Taking advantage of the situation, Blake secured a prime spot at the edge of the stage, plopped down on the floor, pulled out his pen and paper, and prepared to listen attentively.

He really hadn't expected that the person listening to all his nonsense would be Ji Zhixing, but that wasn't the most important thing. The most important thing was that he was quite certain Julian wouldn't like Ji Zhixing, because Ji Zhixing was too handsome and refined.

At 9:00 AM sharp, Professor Bolton stepped forward to give a speech, briefly thanking everyone for coming and introducing Ji Zhixing's identity. He then left the stage to Ji Zhixing and went down to sit in the first row.

Ji Zhixing took a deep breath, opened the PowerPoint presentation on the USB drive, and began to elaborate on his thesis.

"Based on the law of conservation of flux number, all fluids differ only in whether they diffuse or accumulate..."

The outline of the PPT was naturally the detailed thesis of 379. After the graduation defense, Ji Zhixing added some details as appropriate.

Of course, a PowerPoint presentation can only show the underlying logic and reasoning; a full explanation is still necessary.

In the audience, some people listened intently, while others took out paper and pens to follow along with Ji Zhixing's presentation and calculations using the PPT.

Ji Zhixing's clear voice entered the ears of everyone in the room through the microphone. No one had time to nitpick his Chinese accent in English. Everyone was completely immersed in the journey of deciphering the Navier-Stokes equation.

More than an hour later, Ji Zhixing's report finally came to an end. But he didn't relax; instead, he became even more alert—the Q&A session after the report was the most important part!

Professor Burton asked the first question.

"I noticed that in the formula listed on page 39 of your PPT, the left side is the acceleration term, and the first term on the right side is the pressure gradient, the second term is the viscous force, and the third term is the shear force. However, for turbulent flow, the infinitesimal element can only be considered to be subjected to one surface force. Please provide a valid explanation for this situation."

This question was very similar to the first question Professor Ke Xueyuan asked during his graduation defense. Ji Zhixing simply modified his original answer and passed with ease.

Professor Lewis, sitting next to Professor Bolton, then asked, "If the force acting on the surface of the fluid element being studied is proportional to the area of ​​action..."

After a moment's thought, Ji Zhixing came up with an answer: "It can be divided into compressive stress perpendicular to the surface of action and shear stress along the direction of the surface of action..."

Once he got into the zone, Ji Zhixing forgot all about being nervous. Some of the questions he was asked were ones he had anticipated, while others were rather tricky, but he was still able to handle them.

Another hour passed quickly. Although Ji Zhixing's throat was sore, he felt increasingly relaxed. The top mathematicians sitting in the front rows had already finished asking their questions, and the scholars who had served as external reviewers for his paper, such as Professor Bolton and Professor Lewis, had relaxed smiles on their faces.

After all, Ji Zhixing's paper had been approved by them. If anything went wrong, it would be a double blow to their reputation and academic standing. Now that they had all confirmed the correctness of Ji Zhixing's approach to solving the Navier-Stokes equations from their own perspectives, everyone relaxed and listened to the various interesting questions from the mathematicians in the back row.

As the questioners moved further back in the seating arrangement, Ji Zhixing found it increasingly easier to respond. However, this didn't mean their questions were worthless. In fact, the diverse range of questions sparked Ji Zhixing's thinking, and he felt he could further refine his thesis upon returning.

Barker, the editor-in-chief of New Advances in Mathematics, sat in the fifth row, which was reserved for editors of major journals.

He watched Ji Zhixing speaking eloquently on stage and sighed inwardly. Solving the Navier-Stokes equations was a momentous event in academia, but *New Advances in Mathematics* had excluded him from the celebration, and all because of that idiot Edmund!

But precisely because of this, Balk had to bravely sit here despite the ridicule from his peers, demonstrating his support for Ji Zhixing.

Although he secretly hoped that if Ji Zhixing's academic findings were proven wrong, then "New Advances in Mathematics" would truly be saved. Unfortunately, this possibility was becoming increasingly slim, almost non-existent.

Below the stage, Yan Anjin became more and more relaxed as she listened, while Zhu Ren, on the contrary, became increasingly nervous. It wasn't that he understood much, but rather, how could there be so many questions? His heart, steeped in the Machiavellian tactics of the office, began to bubble with anxiety.

He moved closer to Yan Anjin and asked in a low voice, "Won't someone take this opportunity to make things difficult for Zhixing?"

Yan Anjin stared at the stage and gently shook her head: "There can't be such a fool."

At this level of academic conference, the questions can be divided into two categories.

First, the reporter's explanation was vague, forcing the listeners to ask detailed questions about any omissions.

Secondly, the subject matter is too profound and grand, or the scope of application is too wide, so that many problems can arise based on the subject matter itself or various application areas.

Ji Zhixing clearly belongs to the second type, and what Zhu Ren is worried about is basically impossible.

The world's top mathematicians are all in this venue. Experts can tell whether someone is deliberately trying to make things difficult. Even if someone has ulterior motives, they have to consider their reputation and image in the academic world.

The more accomplished and experienced a scholar is, the more he cherishes his reputation. The questions posed by people of mediocre ability are no challenge for Ji Zhixing, so there is nothing to worry about.

Zhu Ren breathed a sigh of relief and took out his phone to take photos from time to time. This academic conference would definitely be recorded in the history of Guangling University.

This conference has left a significant mark on the history of ICM, setting several historical records.

It was the most rushed event, had the most participants, the fewest and youngest speakers, the longest single presentation, the most questions asked, and it was also the most dangerous!

A note from the author:

The academic viewpoints in this chapter reference "Solving the Navier-Stokes Equations Using the Finite Volume Method and Columns" and "The Principle of Infinite Difference Solutions".