Anyway, Su Mucheng had already adapted to Qiao Ze's two states.
When deep in thought, he managed to multitask with ease, and when fully focused, he could achieve complete immersion in his work.
This is probably what sets a once-in-a-century genius apart from ordinary people.
So, after watching six episodes of an American TV series, it was six in the evening, dinner time.
Su Mucheng turned off the video, looked up at Qiao Ze, and seeing that her man had taken a break from his intense work, she asked, "Qiao, what do you want to eat tonight?"
"Anything's fine," Qiao Ze answered offhand.
"Oh, have you solved the first problem?"
"Yeah, I guess I've pretty much proved it; I'm just checking for any loopholes in the proof process," he replied.
"Uh..." Su Mucheng felt a bit dazed, then subconsciously glanced at the time on the computer.
Right, it was just after six, which meant that lunch should have ended around 12:30, totaling about five hours and forty minutes in work time.
Taking into account the difficulty of the problem itself, this seemed to have an almost absurdly beautiful sense of accomplishment.
"You've really finished proving it?" Su Mucheng stood up, curious, and leaned over to Qiao Ze's computer.
After all, as a math student, she was quite interested in problems of Goldbach's caliber, challenges not even the great Euler had been able to solve.
Unfortunately, she couldn't really understand it.
"Yeah, I found that applying theories from superspiral algebra greatly simplifies the proof process for problems about prime numbers," Qiao Ze explained.
Su Mucheng instantly felt relieved.
That sentence meant that many professors probably wouldn't understand it either, so it was perfectly normal for her not to get it at all.
"Oh, in that case, we should have something good for dinner to replenish the brain; you've worked hard again, Qiao," she said.
"This problem was supposed to be a break for my brain, actually. It was quite relaxing," he responded.
"Hmm... also true, I'll go get food then."
Su Mucheng left the research institute and decided to give Li and Xu a call.
After all, both were in the field of mathematics, and such good news ought to be shared. Most importantly, it shouldn't be kept in the dark, should it?
So, Su Mucheng first called Li Jiangao.
"Hello, Li," she greeted.
"Chengzi, what's up?"
"Nothing much, just that Qiao just finished proving Goldbach's conjecture today, and I thought I should let you know."
"Proved what? Goldbach? Goldbach's Conjecture?"
"Yes, that Goldbach."
"Wait, when did Qiao start studying number theory?"
"No, it's not that. Qiao just felt his brain was tired today and wanted to rest a bit, so he switched to a different proposition to tackle, and then he realized he could easily solve it with the current Qiao Algebra."
Well, upon hearing "easily solve the problem," Li Jiangao knew that continuing the conversation with Su was like talking to a wall and directly asked, "Is Qiao still at the institute?"
"Yes, he said he needs to check the paper for any loopholes in the proof. I'm off to get him food."
"I'm on my way over."
"Alright, I was also planning to call Xu."
"Good, you should let him know."
After hanging up, Su Mucheng inexplicably felt happy.
She immediately made another call to Xu.
"Su, thinking of your Uncle Xu all of a sudden?"
This was probably why Su Mucheng liked Xu Dajiang. No matter whether it was a phone call or a face-to-face meeting, the old man was always so warm and friendly.
However, it sounded like there was a bit of a noisy gathering on the other end, probably at a dinner party.
"It's , Qiao just completed the proof for Goldbach's conjecture, and I remembered you said before that if Qiao made any achievement, I should notify you right away, so I'm giving you a call to let you know," she said.
"Cough cough cough..." There was a spate of severe coughing from the other end, which finally smoothed out before he asked, "Goldbach? Qiao has proved Goldbach's Conjecture?"
"Yeah, don't get too excited. Qiao said it wasn't difficult with the ideas from Qiao Algebra."
"Not difficult? Okay, tell Professor Qiao I'll be right over."
"Uh... Li Uncle also said he's coming right away. Maybe you should finish your meal first. I'm just on my way to bring Qiao food."
"No problem, no problem, this is great news! I'll be right there soon, I can eat anytime... I mean, I'll talk about it after I get there."
"Oh, see you in a bit then."
After hanging up again, Su Mucheng realized where her good mood was coming from.
She genuinely enjoyed seeing others shocked and overwhelmed by her Qiao's achievements.
Qiao and Li Uncle were great in all respects, but both were just too humble, unwilling to tout their accomplishments.
It took someone like Xu Dajiang, who couldn't wait to broadcast the good news with a loudspeaker, to let everyone know just how strong her Qiao was.
After all, what's the point of keeping your light under a bushel?
At the dinner party, Xu Dajiang hung up the phone, his face already beaming with an apologetic smile.
"Xu, I heard from your phone call just now..."
Xu Dajiang spoke with gusto, "Haha, that's correct, great news indeed, did everyone hear it? I won't hold back anymore, Professor Qiao has likely conquered another global challenge, Goldbach's Conjecture. I must hurry and check it out, I won't eat today, you folks enjoy. Here's the deal, when Professor Qiao's paper gets published, I will treat everyone! Everyone present today is invited!"
"Xu, you're too kind..."
"Yeah, yeah, if you're busy, go ahead, no need to stick around."
"Alright, alright, no need to see me out, hey... Our institute's Professor Qiao, always picking the perfect time to surprise people. If only he had solved it two hours later? Then I could've enjoyed drinks and joviality with everyone here, what a pity! Next time for sure!"