Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The news traveled faster than the plane. Before Lu Zhou could fly back, the news was already rampant in China.
The first report was naturally the CTV interview.
However, this was different than the previous news broadcasts. This time, CCTV actually treated him as a piece of trending news. They placed him on the main channel and spent one minute broadcasting the Goldbach’s conjecture and Crafoord Prize.
Most people who knew about Chen Jingrun’s “1+2” was familiar with Goldbach’s conjecture. However, most people did not know about the Crafoord Prize.
After all, no one in China had ever won this award, so there was no publicity about it in China. Only people in the industry knew about this award. As for the rest of the people, they had better things to do.
However, now that a Chinese person had won the award, the situation was different.
Fundamental science was a relatively weak area in China compared to applied science. Although a Crafoord Prize was not as significant as a Nobel Prize, it was still quite respected in the field of natural sciences.
The emergence of a distinguished young scholar was enormous for the nation’s self-confidence and driving force. Even though the effect could not be seen on paper, it was subtly affecting the entire field.
In the small town of Guangneung, Lu Zhou’s family sat around the table while they ate.
The news was playing on TV.
Moreover, it happened to be an interview between Lu Zhou and CTV.
When Xiao Tong heard the familiar voice, she looked up. The moment she saw her brother’s face on TV, her eyes suddenly widened.
“F*ck… Bro?!”
“Stop swearing! You’re about to go to University. Be more elegant.”
Fang Mei criticized Xiao Tong, but she was not very angry because her attention was focused on the TV as well.
As for Lu Bangguo, he was completely stunned. He had even stopped eating.
“This kid… Did he win the Nobel Prize?”
Xiao Tong said, “Dad, are you blind? He won the Crafoord Prize.”
“Hey, don’t call your dad blind…” Lu Bangguo chided. However, he could not contain the smile on his face.
He stopped eating and went to look for his phone to call his son.
No answer the first time.
The second time, Lu Zhou picked up.
“Hey, you’re doing pretty well for yourself. How come you didn’t tell us?”
When Lu Zhou heard the familiar voice, he had just got off the plane. He smiled and said, “I wanted to give you guys a surprise.”
Lu Zhou felt that it was boring to tell the news over the phone. His dad probably did not even know the difference between the Crafoord Prize and the Nobel Prize. The TV would show his interview anyway, so he wanted to surprise his family.
“I just got off the plane… Someone is calling me, I have to go. I’m going back home in two days anyway.”
Lu Bangguo smiled and said, “You’re pretty busy, aren’t you? Who’s calling?”
Lu Zhou, “I think the school, bye.”
Lu Zhou was actually right, the phone call was from the University of Jin Ling.
However, it did not matter if he picked up or not. The second he picked up, he saw Dean Qin on the phone as well as several students who were holding a banner at the airport entrance.
[Congratulations to Lu Zhou, a mathematics professor at Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, who conquered the Goldbach’s conjecture and won the Crafoord Prize.]
The banner was so huge that Lu Zhou could not even pretend to not see it.
Also, it was not just Principal Xu and Dean Qin. Lu Zhou even saw Secretary Liu and some people in suits that he had never met.
It did not matter whether they were strangers. As a famous scholar, he had to spend some time dealing with politicians.
Due to Lu Zhou’s status was a Crafoord Prize winner, he was heavily promoted by government propaganda. 2 years ago, he was only a potential Fields Medal winner.
As an internationally renowned scholar, many rules did not apply to him.
When Principal Xu saw Lu Zhou, he shook his hand tightly.
“Professor Lu Zhou, you have brought such great glory to the University of Jin Ling and our country. On behalf of all the teachers and students at the University of Jin Ling, thank you!”
Lu Zhou smiled humbly and said, “Principal, you’re too kind. I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do as a scholar.”
Principal Xu was a scholar. Even though he was not in the field of mathematics, he studied information security. As a scholar himself, he knew that Lu Zhou did not want to waste time on the celebration, so he did not linger around the airport for too long.
The principal said a few kind words and introduced Lu Zhou to Secretary Liu and the other city politicians.
There were also two politicians from the province. They were representing his importance to the country.
Not only that, the provincial leaders even leaked a message; that even the central government valued Lu Zhou greatly.
The provincial politicians only smiled and did not give any specifics.
Lu Zhou did not stay at the airport for too long. He quickly got on his personal ride sent by the school.
Dean Qin and Principal Xu were riding along in Lu Zhou’s car.
After some small talk, Dean Qin cleared his throat and changed the topic.
“… Here’s the deal, after some discussion with our school and department, we want to give you an honorary professor title. Are you interested?”
Honorary professors were different than visiting professors or special professors. The former was only a title, while the latter two had actual work contracts and faculty positions.
With University of Jin Ling’s reputation and historical heritage, having a title of honorary professor would definitely be beneficial to Lu Zhou. However, University of Jin Ling’s mathematics department was quite weak, which was a bit unfortunate for Lu Zhou.
However, Lu Zhou did not care. After all, University of Jin Ling had taught him so much. He was proud to be a University of Jin Ling alumnus.
Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Of course, but the process wouldn’t take too long, right? I’m going back to Jiangling in a few days.”
Xiao Tong was about to take the college entrance examination, so Lu Zhou had to visit her. He would rather sort out the formalities after he got back to America.
He took a month long vacation from Princeton, so he had tons of time.
Dean Qin smiled and said, “It won’t take too long. Most of the documents have already been prepared. We can give you the honorary professor certificate after your report!”
Lu Zhou nodded and smiled as he said, “Then, thank you so much.”