After nearly ten hours of flying, the plane landed smoothly at the St. Petersburg airport. The passengers began to unbuckle their seat belts, ready to get off the plane.
Yang Yongan dragged his suitcase as he watched Lu Zhou walk away. He looked at his supervisor and carefully asked.
“Teacher, are you… not friends with Academician Lu?”
He noticed something back in Beijing. The look on Academician Wang’s face confirmed his speculations.
Because of this, he didn’t dare to get close to Lu Zhou, in fear of angering his supervisor.
After all, he was from Yan University. Even though he had a good relationship with Academician Lu, as a scholar of Yan University, it was better for him to please his supervisor instead.
Even though throughout that flight Wang Shicheng wanted to throw Lu Zhou off the plane, he still tried to deny everything.
“No, of course not! Who told you that? Don’t say that.”
Yang Yongan: “…”
Jesus, judging from his tone, it sounds like he’s lying!
Wang Shicheng looked at Yang Yongan silently for a second before he sighed and spoke in a warm tone, “There are some things you don’t have to worry about. I’m not particularly fond of him, but you guys are both millennials. You should try to form a good relationship with him, it’ll help you in the future.”
There was nothing else Academician Wang wanted to say.
Yang Yongan felt relieved.
Of course, he didn’t show it on the surface. He had a look of understanding on his face as he nodded.
“I understand, teacher.”
Prior to this, he worried that his teacher, and even the entire Yan University, had disliked Academician Lu. He worried that if he had tried to be friends with Academician Lu, it would stab him in the back.
However, it seemed like that wasn’t the case at all.
His supervisor only disliked Academician Lu on a personal level, he didn’t bring his personal matters into work.
What Yang Yongan didn’t know was that his supervisor actually despised Academician Lu. However, due to various reasons, his supervisor had to bow down to Academician Lu.
After all, Lu Zhou’s influence went far beyond mathematics and academia; it was at the national or even international level.
For scholars like him, who had gone far beyond the academic field, there was no such thing as belonging to a school of thought.
When it came to him…
He was his own school of thought.
Fortunately, Wang Shicheng didn’t exit the airport with Lu Zhou, otherwise, he would be in a wave of embarrassment.
In fact, when Lu Zhou exited the airport with Wang Peng, he himself was even shocked.
Outside the airport, more than a dozen black cars were parked on the curbside. A familiar-looking Russian guy took off his sunglasses and came forward with his arms wide open. He had a friendly smile on his face as he hugged Lu Zhou.
“Haha, welcome my friend, Academician Lu! Welcome to Russia! Do you still remember me?”
Lu Zhou shook his hand after breaking away from the hug and smiled.
“Hello, Mr. Georgiev… That’s quite an enthusiastic greeting.”
“I told you, if you ever come to visit Moscow, I will give you the most magnificent welcoming ceremony… This is St. Petersburg, but it’s close enough.” Georgiev smiled and said, “This is my daughter, Victoria, I believe you’ve met before. This is the Department of Energy—”
“We have met before as well,” Minister Novak said as he extended his right hand. “Welcome.”
With two ministerial officials greeting him, Lu Zhou felt a little embarrassed.
“You guys are too kind.”
“This is nothing. Like Mr. Georgiev had said, if you ever get the opportunity to visit Russia, we will pick you up at the airport in person.”
Minister Novak looked at a powerful man in a black suit and said, “Please allow me to introduce you to Maksim from the Federal Security Service, he will be responsible for your safety in Russia.”
The agent named Maksim was quite a taciturn guy, and he spoke concisely, “Hello, Professor Lu. Alpha team has already been stationed in St. Petersburg. Our security team will be responsible for the safety of the ICM conference. We will guarantee the highest safety standard for your academic activities here. If you encounter any security issues, please contact me via this phone.”
Lu Zhou took the retro-style flip phone and handed it to Wang Peng. He then smiled and said, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Lu Zhou could tell that the Russian security department was meticulously handling the safety of his visit.
After all, Russia wouldn’t want anything to happen to him during his visit.
It would affect their diplomatic relations and many other interests.
After making some small talk with Novak from the Department of Energy, Lu Zhou spoke with Novak about his schedule over the next two days.
“… We will send you to the hotel, and tomorrow morning the team will arrive at the hotel entrance at eight o’clock on the dot… Of course, you can leave anytime you want, preferably before noon.”
Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I don’t sleep in, I’ll arrive on time.”
Minister Novak smiled and said, “Then I hope you have a good time here.”
Before his visit, Russia officials invited him through diplomatic channels to visit the nuclear fusion power station that was under construction in St. Petersburg.
Therefore, in addition to attending the International Congress of Mathematicians, Lu Zhou also had another interesting visit he had to do.
However, that wouldn’t take up too much time, at most half a day’s worth.
Lu Zhou purposely arrived two days before the International Congress of Mathematicians as he wanted to deal with these “trivial” matters before the conference.
Lu Zhou walked to one of the cars and was about to get in. Suddenly, Victoria took half a step forward and gently pressed her hand on the car door. She smirked and looked at Lu Zhou.
“This is our second time meeting, and according to Russian culture, you should give me a hug.”
Lu Zhou: “That’s a thing?”
“Of course!” Victoria smiled flirtatiously and said, “Don’t you want to embrace our culture?”
Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit before politely hugging Miss Victoria.
However, the passionate Russian girl had more in mind.
She gave Lu Zhou a gentle kiss on the cheek, and he instantly blushed and flinched. He awkwardly let go and got in the car.
Jesus f*ck, is that Russian culture as well?
I feel like I just got taken advantage of.
That hug felt intense.
Yeah, a bit too intense.
Wang Peng sat shotgun and Lu Zhou sat in the back with Mr. Maksim from the Federal Security Service. Even though Novak told Lu Zhou that Maksim was only a field agent, it was obvious that Maksim was at a much higher ranking than just an agent.
Maksim noticed Lu Zhou had a nervous look on his face, so he smiled and spoke.
“Don’t worry, we will take care of you.”
Lu Zhou forced a smile and said, “I’m not nervous, it’s just that I haven’t traveled in a while… I’m not used to this.”
Maksim shrugged and smiled, displaying his row of white teeth, as he said, “Okay then, let’s talk about something relaxing… What do you think about Miss Victoria?”
Lu Zhou: “… What do you mean?”
“Like that hug.”
Lu Zhou didn’t know what to say. He thought for a second and spoke in an uncertain tone.
“… Like I was struck.”
Maksim smiled and spoke.
“Like struck by lightning? What a creative metaphor, oh Professor Lu, you’re such an interesting person.”
Lu Zhou: “…”
When the f*ck did I say lightning?