Awakening Elementary School System in University

’Even the scraps cut from the proofing process are enough for others to publish in top journals. Just how precious must the achievement itself be!’

"Alright," Professor Faltings said with a smile and a wave of his hand. "It’s almost three in the morning here on the East Coast of the USA. Let’s hand the microphone over to Professor Deligne so he can bring this great performance to a perfect close."

The screen switched instantly.

Another legendary mathematician, Pierre Deligne—his hair and beard white but his gaze as sharp as an eagle’s—appeared on the screen.

Although it was late at night where he was, there wasn’t the slightest hint of drowsiness on Professor Deligne’s face.

Unlike the amiable and witty Professor Faltings, Professor Deligne’s expression was exceptionally serious.

He got straight to the point the moment he spoke, his voice steady and clear:

"After today, this algorithm will likely be named the ’Chen Lin Algorithm’."

He paused, his deep eyes staring quietly into the camera from across the screen, and slowly added another sentence.

"But I hope that this will by no means be the most important achievement of your life."

"You are still young," Professor Deligne said, his tone carrying an unquestionable certainty. "I believe you will go much further in the future."

At this point, he suddenly mentioned a name that seemed completely unrelated to today’s topic.

"My teacher, Mr. Grothendieck, once believed that compared to Fermat’s Last Theorem and the Goldbach Conjecture, which have been around for much longer, the importance of the Riemann Hypothesis surpasses that of the other two combined.

"He deeply regretted that he would not live to see the day the Riemann Hypothesis was proven."

The serious expression on Professor Deligne’s face gradually faded, replaced by an incredibly sincere look of hope and blessing—that of a senior for a junior.

"So, I sincerely wish you, Mr. Chen Lin, that you will also be able to make progress on the proof of the Riemann Hypothesis in the future."

"This, I believe, is the legacy passed down between each generation of mathematicians. We continuously solve old problems, only for new ones to appear, left for the next, younger generation of mathematicians to tackle."

"And now," a gratified smile finally touched the corners of Professor Deligne’s mouth, "you too have joined this great process."

With that, he gave a solemn nod to the camera and concluded his speech.

The entire hall was once again drowned in thunderous applause!

This time, the gazes directed at Chen Lin contained something entirely different.

It was a mixture of awe, adoration, and expectation!

After all, this was the person "hand-picked" by the living legend, Professor Deligne, as someone with a chance to solve the Riemann Hypothesis!

Perhaps not many in the audience could fully understand the entirety of Chen Lin’s hour-plus-long demonstration today.

But every single person present had definitely heard the famous name of the "Riemann Hypothesis"!

Moreover, the profound meaning behind Professor Deligne’s final words was simply self-evident!

It was almost equivalent to a public acknowledgment that Chen Lin had joined the ranks of the brilliant mathematicians who would go down in history, becoming one of them!

Amid the applause and cheers, however, Chen Lin fell into deep thought.

Grothendieck, one of the greatest mathematicians of the twentieth century, had been dead for over ten years.

After receiving the [Little Mathematician] title, Chen Lin had looked up some basic information. In those ten years, while humanity had made some minor progress in researching the Riemann Hypothesis, a final proof was still nowhere in sight.

However, in contrast, the entire scientific community’s hope for a proof of the Riemann Hypothesis was growing by the day.

Physics, cryptography, computer science... too many cutting-edge fields had hit theoretical bottlenecks. And it’s possible that a final proof of the Riemann Hypothesis could break through all of them in one fell swoop.

Chen Lin knew very well.

’With the heaven-defying power of my [Little Mathematician] title, as long as I’m willing to invest enough time, I should be able to solve this problem.’

’But how long is "enough time"?’

’A year? Ten years? Or even longer?’

Chen Lin didn’t know.

That was precisely why he had consciously avoided those unsolved century-old problems, which naturally included the Riemann Hypothesis.

However, just now, Professor Faltings’s words had suddenly given Chen Lin an epiphany.

’That’s right!’

’The proof for the generation-decoding algorithm I demonstrated today... every single one of the steps I omitted could be published in a top journal!’

’What does that prove?’

’It proves that the value of research isn’t just in the final result. The novel mathematical tools, methods, and even intermediate products generated during the process are also extremely valuable!’

’Since that’s the case, why should I be so fixated on whether I can completely prove the Riemann Hypothesis?’

’Even if I can’t reach the end because it takes too much time, as long as I can propose some valuable new methods and ideas, or even partially advance the research on this problem, that would still be an incredibly worthwhile endeavor!’

’But...’

Chen Lin frowned again.

’It’s a good idea, but it doesn’t quite align with my original plan.’

’According to my previous plan, my research focus should be on exploring a new algorithmic structure superior to existing neural networks. Plus, the company’s business also needs my [Little Mathematician] ability.’

’If I divert my energy to researching the Riemann Hypothesis, my schedule will definitely be tight.’

’After all, I can only safely use the [Little Mathematician] title for three hours a day.’

’It’s obviously not realistic to try and advance two profound research directions at the same time with just that much time.’

’Looks like I need to plan this out more carefully.’

As Chen Lin mulled this over, his thoughts began to drift.

Just then, the resounding voice of Director Feng Yunhai from the stage pulled his attention back.

"Next, let us give our warmest round of applause and welcome Vice Minister Xie from the Ministry of Education to give the closing remarks for this conference!"

The entire hall erupted in thunderous applause once more.

Chen Lin looked up at the stage.

A middle-aged man in a dark suit was walking steadily toward the microphone, guided by Director Feng Yunhai.

Chen Lin had no idea when this Vice Minister Xie had entered. When he came off stage after finishing the sixth whiteboard, he had seen the Vice Minister sitting beside Academician Liang, applauding him with a nod and a smile.

On stage, Vice Minister Xie took the microphone, first surveying the entire audience before speaking in a standard, official tone.

"Esteemed experts, scholars, and students, good afternoon."

"First, on behalf of the Ministry of Education, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations on the complete success of this International Mathematics Conference!"

Applause rang out once more.

Vice Minister Xie waited for the applause to subside slightly before continuing, "A moment ago, I had the honor of being here to witness in its entirety the stunning demonstration by our student, Chen Lin.

"Frankly, having been away from university campuses for many years, I couldn’t understand every single detail. However, I could still keenly feel, from the reactions of the experts and scholars present, just how remarkable the results achieved by Chen Lin today are!"

He changed his tone, his gaze turning to Chen Lin in the audience, filled with undisguised admiration and encouragement.

"The example set by Chen Lin fully demonstrates that the nation’s investment and efforts in higher education over these years are bearing delightful fruit!

"Our younger generation is fully capable and confident of carving out a place for ourselves on the front lines of global scientific research!"

The hall erupted in fervent applause again, with some of the Huaxia students so excited their faces flushed red.

Vice Minister Xie paused, then continued, "Here, I would also like to take this opportunity to encourage Chen Lin, and all the young students present. I hope you will all maintain this passion for science and continue to embody this spirit of daring to explore and innovate, contributing to our motherland’s scientific research and to the great rejuvenation of the Huaxia nation!"