Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The atmosphere suddenly solidified.
It was as if time were frozen.
There were two women that walked by, and they looked at them with interest as they smirked and whispered to each other.
Even though it wasn’t polite to speak loudly in public, no one would blame a courageous girl for confessing her innocent crush.
Of course, there were also guys that gave Lu Zhou dirty looks…
These two stared silently at each other in this crowded airport drop-off sidewalk.
It was like Vera’s confession exhausted all of her courage.
Her white cheeks that were covered by her blonde hair gradually turned red. Her face felt like it was burning, like steam could come out at any second.
She never spoke so loud before, not even when she was lecturing.
Nor had she ever confessed to anyone.
Will he respond?
He’s going to reject me, right?
What if I get rejected?
There were a million thoughts in the girl’s mind.
However, for her, these problems were more difficult and complicated than the Collatz conjecture, and there wasn’t one question she could analyze and find the answer to.
After all, this was the first time she had ever had a crush on someone.
As for Lu Zhou…
He was standing there dumbfounded.
The dumbfounded expression slowly disappeared from his face, and he went silent for a while before he replied calmly, “Sorry, I can’t promise you anything.”
The moment she heard this, her blue sapphire-like eyes began to water.
Vera gently bit her lower lip, and she looked down at the ground like an insect as she quietly said, “Do… you like someone else?”
Lu Zhou: “Oh no, not at all.”
Rather, he had never liked anyone. He didn’t even know what having a crush on someone felt like.
He thought about it carefully and realized he never liked anyone growing up.
Maybe responding to her confession is a good choice.
After all, he couldn’t avoid the issue of love. He was already 25 years old, and he should start thinking about having a significant other.
If he lived alone for the rest of his life, like Newton or G. H. Hardy, he would be fine with it. He didn’t have any obsession with having offspring.
After all, compared to his DNA, there were things that would be more worthy to leave behind.
However, even though this was his opinion, due to traditional Chinese culture, his father would kill him if he were to actually do this.
He had to consider other people’s feelings too.
However, even then, he was clear that giving out an empty promise was irresponsible.
Regardless of what happened, he’d be on a flight back to China in an hour.
Vera used all of her courage to look up, and she stared straight into Lu Zhou’s eyes.
There wasn’t an ounce of evasion from Lu Zhou’s dark pupils.
However, because of this, being rejected made her even more depressed.
There was a flash of despair in Vera’s blue sapphire-like eyes, and she lowered her head.
“Is it because I’m too ugly…”
Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “No way, it’s not.”
If you’re ugly, then there’s no one on Earth who can be considered pretty.
Objectively speaking, even though her figure was a bit petite, judging from her face alone, she was undoubtedly gorgeous.
At least that was Lu Zhou’s opinion.
Vera quietly said, “Then… is it because my boobs are too small?”
Lu Zhou gently coughed and said, “… No… what are you talking about.”
Speaking of which, why would you suddenly bring up such a private topic?
However, he wasn’t sure whether or not there was a direct correlation between love and chest size.
“Then… why?” Vera looked up at Lu Zhou and said, “If you’re worried about my identity, I’m not your student anymore. Plus I…”
She looked back down at her feet and mumbled in a fragile voice, “… I waited all this time.”
Lu Zhou went silent for a while.
He looked down at Vera and thought for a second. He then slowly spoke.
“You’re an adorable girl.”
When Vera heard Lu Zhou use “adorable” to describe herself, her cheeks began to feel warm again.
She wasn’t sure what to respond, but Lu Zhou spoke first.
“The reason why I can’t respond to your confession has nothing to do with the fact that you were my student, and it also has nothing to do with what you talked about.
“It’s because I’m not available for an intimate relationship…”
“I won’t drag you down,” Vera interrupted Lu Zhou and quickly said, “I can research by your side. I will try to catch up to you… You don’t need to spend a lot of time on me, as long as you’re willing to let me be with you.”
Lu Zhou quietly waited for Vera to finish talking. He then looked at her in the eyes and said in a serious tone, “It’s not that I’m worried about you dragging me down, it’s that I don’t want to drag you down.”
The pair went silent for a minute or so.
After that, the conversation died.
Lu Zhou looked at her thin lips that were moving slightly.
However, she spoke so quietly that he wasn’t sure what she said.
When Lu Zhou was about to ask her, Vera suddenly looked at him in the eyes and stood up straight.
“I won’t give up…”
There was an unusual sense of courage in her eyes.
This was the first time Lu Zhou had ever seen this expression on her face.
“You told me that if I win the Fields Medal, you’ll promise me anything.”
Did I say this?
Lu Zhou carefully recalled the past, but he seemed to have forgotten ever saying this.
He probably just casually said it in a conversation. After all, Vera was a timid and shy girl, and she didn’t look like someone who would ask for something ridiculous.
However, Lu Zhou didn’t expect that not only did she take it seriously, but she was bringing it up now.
“Really?” Lu Zhou smirked and said, “If you still haven’t given up by then, I’ll have to agree to you.”
It had only been a year since the mathematics conference in Rio de Janeiro, the next conference would be three years later.
Not to mention, winning a Fields Medal wasn’t that easy.
Even though she solved the Collatz conjecture and improved the Group Structure Method to a certain extent, she didn’t produce any striking and outstanding results.
From an outsider’s perspective, solving a mathematics conjecture was an amazing achievement.
However, the mathematics community was more concerned with the mathematical tools created in the process of solving conjectures, or any kind of new mathematical theory.
Because of this, the mathematical community viewed Lu Zhou as the biggest contributor to the Collatz conjecture. This was because, since the beginning of this research project, it was clear that Lu Zhou had an idea of how to solve this conjecture.
However, Lu Zhou didn’t agree, and he was against this viewpoint.
Therefore, even though Vera had the potential for a Fields Medal, it would take at least seven or eight years for her to win one…
By that time, she’d probably be a little more mature…