"Charles? Ha... We arrived yesterday," Roth Dugan turned and glanced at the tenured professor from Harvard University and responded offhandedly.
"Oh? You came yesterday? Ha, then you must have met with that... um, young fellow, how was the talk? I have to say, his paper is indeed brilliant! However, I still have some questions," Charles said.
"Unfortunately, we didn't get to see him. According to the Dean of the School of Mathematics at Xilin University, Qiao Ze is working on a very important preparation that should not be disturbed, as he plans to surprise us all at tomorrow's report session," Roth Dugan said with a shrug.
"A surprise?" Charles William blinked and then broke into a smile, "Haha, it seems we made the right choice. Although I arrived a day late, the surprise will be the same."
Edward Witten glared at Charles and said, "Professor William, since when is arriving just in time for a grand report session considered a bragging right?"
Clearly, arriving a day early but not being able to have an in-depth face-to-face discussion with Qiao Ze had left this world-renowned scholar somewhat unhappy.
"Oh, just a joke, alright, Professor Witten, I apologize. But this also makes us look forward to tomorrow's report session even more, doesn't it? Alright, I need to go check into my room. See you tomorrow."
"Well, Charles, I suggest you take a walk around here tonight. Although we didn't get to see Qiao Ze yesterday, we did go out for a spin. Despite it being nighttime, the streets of this city are really clean, extremely safe, and many places are particularly lively. For instance, there's a place called Tang Dynasty Nevernight City, where we even took lots of photos,"
Daniel added on the side.
This was indeed his true sentiment.
After all, the entire Xilin City was taking this conference extremely seriously, with the whole city coming to life. At night, lights and decorations were everywhere. As for cleanliness, to put it bluntly, even if a cigarette butt was dropped on a main thoroughfare or scenic area, it would certainly be swept away within two minutes—the limit of human organizational ability on Earth, how could anyone be dissatisfied?
"Oh! Unfortunately, I can't tonight, I need to adjust to this damned jet lag. I can only get a good night's sleep, as I certainly cannot doze off during tomorrow's report session... just as I said earlier, I have prepared several questions, hoping to get answers tomorrow. Well, damn, now I start to envy you guys."
After saying that, Charles bid farewell to a few professors and went to the front desk to begin the check-in process.
This scene was common today in nearby hotels.
Mathematicians and physicists from all over the world had already gathered in the hotels close by.
To hold this event, Xilin University of Technology had booked most of the rooms in the surrounding hotels well in advance.
It was easy for everyone to find people they knew to start communicating and interacting.
After all, besides attending lectures, conferences also served for the scholars as social and academic exchanges, among other things.
That is also why what was originally planned as a conference of around a thousand people ultimately expanded to 1500 attendees.
With more people, there were bound to be surprises. Although this report session had no scheduled poster presentations, some professors still displayed their latest research results directly in the hotel lobby.
Fortunately, after some communication, the staff expressed their understanding and designated a special area for this, avoiding any chaos. It turned out to be a different kind of scenery.
In any case, Xilin City had made all the necessary preparations.
Of course, what was most important was whether another person was prepared.
Xu Dajiang finally walked into Qiao Ze's office on the third floor.
This was also the first time he had seen Qiao Ze since he had specifically gone to his dormitory to look for him that day.
After more than a month, Qiao Ze seemed to have lost some weight.
But his eyes were even brighter.
The light shone on those eyes, seeming to sparkle... well, that must be the light of wisdom.
"I was just talking with the professors from the Capital, and I hurried over as soon as you called. By the way, I met with elder Yang this afternoon... Never mind, are the problems solved?" Xu Dajiang looked at Qiao Ze with hope in his eyes and asked.
Even his heart harbored a faint sense of pride.
As it stands, he's one of only two people, aside from Qiao Ze, who knew that Qiao Ze might announce a general solution to the Yang-Mills problem at tomorrow's conference.
Qiao Ze nodded slightly, then shook his head.
This reaction left Xu Dajiang a bit confused.
"Almost. I have derived a result, right here," said Qiao Ze, pointing to his head.
"Ah? Does that mean it hasn't been verified?"
"Yes, but I believe the result is correct. I've been carefully checking the derivation process since this afternoon, there's definitely no mistake," Qiao Ze asserted calmly.
Xu Dajiang swallowed involuntarily...
Well, that's even more thrilling.
The solution had been found, but not yet tested.
"If we put it on a supercomputer for verification now..." Xu Dajiang ventured to ask.
"It would take at least until tomorrow afternoon to get the results. So, it's not necessary. I know it's definitely correct. Let others verify it, our own verification wouldn't be very convincing," Qiao Ze shook his head.
Xu Dajiang nodded solemnly, choosing to trust Qiao Ze, though it seemed he didn't have much of a choice anyway.