Lin Chaoxi wondered, what was she thinking before she saw this piece of paper?
If now is a time cutoff point.
Before the deadline, the dragonfly spread its wings at low altitude. Lao Lin refused to answer. Manager Zhang finished his story. Outside the window, a gray car was leaving the street.
It seemed as if everything was coming to an end.
Yes, before seeing this piece of paper, even she herself probably felt that everything was beyond redress.
But what is the reality?
In fact, Lin Chaoxi had not intended to read the contents of the paper carefully, but at a glance she suddenly noticed a word that she had quickly become familiar with in the past few hours - graph isomorphism.
She took another look at it before she confirmed that it was a typed copy of an email.
The email is in English and looks like a formulaic template. Look up - dear lin.
And the signature...
The signature is editorial office.
Lin Chaoxi frowned, sat down on Lao Lin's office chair, and began to read carefully.
Her English was fairly good, so reading a simple reply letter was not difficult for her. But after reading it once, twice, and three times, she felt as if all the blood in her body was rushing to her heart, her limbs were cold, and even her hands holding the paper were shaking slightly.
Manager Zhang was still sitting on the sofa. Seeing that she looked strange, he came over and took a look at what was in her hand.
"An email reply. I thought you found Lao Lin's diagnosis letter."
Lin Chaoxi shuddered, realizing that this was another joke. If it was a traditional plot, what she would have unexpectedly seen was a diagnosis report of a serious illness that Old Lin had hidden from her, but in fact, the letter in her hand was probably more despairing than any serious illness report.
After a brief moment of shock, Lin Chaoxi calmed down. She had experienced many ups and downs today, and this was no less.
"Can I borrow the computer?" she asked Manager Zhang.
"There is a password. I'll ask someone for you. There should be a record of it..."
"Let me try it first." After getting permission, Lin Chaoxi directly turned on Lao Lin's office computer. The screen lit up, she entered a string of numbers, and after pressing the Enter key, the computer was unlocked.
Manager Zhang was speechless: "Father and daughter are of the same mind."
Lin Zhaoxi explained: "It's easy to guess, this is his favorite number."
Lin Chaoxi began to search for the editorial office in the signature. Then she realized that she was stupid. This was a top mathematics academic journal, and many world-renowned mathematical research had been published in it. Lin Chaoxi became more serious.
The email was sent several months ago and the entire reply said three things.
1. Thank you Lao Lin for your response.
2. Professor Feng’s paper manuscript is still under review. The editorial department attaches great importance to the academic misconduct reported by Lao Lin and hopes that Lao Lin will submit more evidence.
3.The deadline is June 30th.
June 30th is circled in red.
The exact time is displayed in the lower right corner of the computer.
14:11 6/30
Lin Chaoxi froze in front of the computer.
Her first reaction was to ask Lao Lin what was going on, but she had indeed experienced a lot today, and instinctively knew that she should not make a phone call now, but instead sort out the clues.
Several important pieces of information can be inferred from this letter.
First, Professor Feng’s graph isomorphism paper is indeed related to Lao Lin.
First, Lao Lin believed that Professor Feng had committed academic misconduct in his thesis design and had already written a letter to the editorial department.
Third, due to various reasons including manuscript review, the editorial department has given Lao Lin a deadline of today to submit evidence.
Lin Chaoxi's eyes flashed with the image of Lao Lin leaving the noodle shop. There was a thin mist on the glass door. He just left without saying a word.
She knew for sure that Lao Lin had given up.
He did not submit any so-called evidence, would not make any further comments on the matter, and was even unwilling to tell her any story behind the incident.
He did not go on.
But why?
If it was just that he couldn't submit the supplementary evidence, Lao Lin wouldn't have turned around and left. He had been through so much in his life, and he had always been open and honest, and even wrote a letter, but he gave up at the last minute.
So, what happened?
Lin Chaoxi pursed her lips, remembering that in the evening not long ago, under the fiery red sunset, she had stood beside Pei Zhi and watched the boy copy a few pages of paper.
At that time, she was still immersed in the excitement of the modeling competition that had just ended. She was even more confused after being warned by the boys about the "academic circle".
When she got home that night, Lao Lin was watching a girl idol show in the yard, and she asked Lao Lin about the "academic circle." Now thinking about it, she can still recall Lao Lin's casual answer.
——It’s not as good as you think, nor as bad as you think.
That's what Lao Lin said, with a bit of quiet contemplation, but still relaxed and peaceful.
There were soft cicada chirps in the yard, and my breath was like the scent of honeysuckle. It really was only a few days. But now that I think about it, it seems like a dream.
In her dream, she held those pieces of paper in her own hands, but she never thought that one day when she walked out of the dream, she would encounter such reality.
She casually placed the cell phone on Lao Lin's desk. Lin Chaoxi's hand trembled a little when he picked up the phone, but he was able to control himself well.
There were several missed calls on the screen, they were from Lao Lin, and many unread messages. But she didn't open WeChat, nor did she call Lao Lin back, but directly pressed another number.
If Lao Lin had written letters to the editorial department, it was possible that he had written letters to other people.
The beeping sound continued for a long time.
It lasted so long that she felt her fingers go numb, as if she was in the depths of an extremely quiet universe.
Until someone answered the phone and said "Hello" softly.
The background music exploded, the magnificent school gymnasium was filled with noise, and students were shouting excitedly.
Although her ears were filled with noise, Lin Chaoxi felt as if in this big world, there were only her and the person on the other end of the phone.
They stood facing each other, surrounded by darkness, as if there was no one else around, and no more important things to do. She could hold the letter and ask him questions without any hindrance, without any preparation: "I want to ask a question."
"good."
"I know you are adhering to the confidentiality principle, so you only need to answer me 'yes' or 'no'. If it is not convenient to answer, please keep silent."
"I will."
"On the day after the modeling competition, I went to your office to see you. I was given a few pages of paper to copy. They were important materials related to the graph isomorphism paper that Professor Feng was going to publish, right?"
"yes."
"It's a letter, a letter to Professor Zeng?"
"right."
"The letter was received by Professor Zeng recently, less than a month ago?"
“Yes.”
"Does that letter reveal Professor Feng's academic misconduct?" Lin Chaoxi asked.
There was silence on the other end of the line.
“Isn’t that possible to answer?”
"No." Pei Zhi's voice sounded faintly.
"I do not understand."
“No, the letter did not reveal the academic misconduct of Professor Feng Deming as you said,” Pei Zhi said. “Zeng’s letter, from beginning to end, explained the problems in Professor Feng’s proof paper.”
"What's the problem?"
"Although Professor Feng has completed the proof, unfortunately, exact graph isomorphism should not be an NPC problem." Pei Zhi paused. Although they were very far away, Lin Chaoxi heard Pei Zhi say clearly, "The anonymous author of the letter hopes that Professor Zeng will convey this point of view on his behalf, that is, the proof is wrong."
Pei Zhi's statement couldn't be clearer. The receiver was still filled with noisy background noise, but it was a little quieter. Lin Chaoxi was stunned for a while before he realized what was going on.
What she heard outside the door panel that day, "proving that the frame is wrong", was definitely not an illusion.
All her guesses were completely overturned, but everything also had the best explanation.
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