HPDBC Chapter 144 Forerunner
Chapter 144 Forerunner
It's time for a break.
With their tense nerves temporarily relieved, the attendees were scattered in twos and threes in the spacious lounge and long corridors, like a group of penguins who had just listened to a ghost story and needed to huddle together for warmth.
A long queue had formed in front of the automatic coffee machine not far away, and each exquisite little table was crowded with scholars holding paper cups and eating tea and snacks to replenish their sugar.
The air was filled with the hum of low conversations.
Su Hao didn't join in the fun.
He casually filled a disposable paper cup with some warm water, took a sip, and then turned and walked towards the end of the corridor.
He wanted to escape the noisy crowd for a while and find some peace and quiet.
However, he hadn't gone far when he caught a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.
Adrian, who had just stepped down from the stage, was now sitting alone on a bench at the end of the corridor.
This renowned middle-aged professor was now bent over deeply, clutching his head tightly with both hands, seemingly caught in some kind of extreme self-torture and inner conflict.
Is this guy not feeling well?
Out of politeness, Su Hao did not intend to disturb the professor's disheveled appearance.
He was about to pretend he hadn't seen anything and turn away without leaving a trace when he heard a slightly hoarse voice.
"Su Hao?"
Su Hao stopped and turned around, looking calmly at the other person.
"Ilya Cronin called me yesterday."
Adrian looked up, his gaze complex as he looked at the young man who was now gaining a reputation in academia.
"He told me very seriously that you are challenging the Riemann Hypothesis."
He hopes that, as someone who has been through it, I can offer you some useful advice.
"You know Professor Cronin?" Su Hao was slightly surprised.
"We worked in the same lab when we were young, we've known each other for a long time."
Adrian shook his head with a wry smile.
"I'm sorry, but looking at my disheveled state, I'm afraid I haven't been able to offer you any substantial help."
However... I owe a lot to Cronin's phone call today.
Today, for the first time in my life, I was able to completely shed my pretense and reveal my true, unbearable inner self in front of so many colleagues.
Seeing the middle-aged scholar's dejected and pained appearance, Su Hao couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him.
To outsiders, he was clearly a top figure who had left behind a wealth of academic achievements in the field of analytic number theory!
But precisely because he failed before that insurmountable mountain, he completely denied himself and stubbornly nailed himself to the pillar of shame as a "loser".
"Professor Adrian, I have read all your papers."
Su Hao suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, but carrying an inexplicable power.
"You are trying to approach the nontrivial distribution of zeros of the Riemann zeta function from the dual perspectives of statistics and analytic number theory."
This line of thinking remains remarkably novel even today.
"Although you have achieved certain preliminary results during the simulation process, you have also clearly proven one thing to me—"
If you continue down this road, you'll eventually crash into a dead end.
It is precisely because of your truly heroic work in "clearing the mines" that I am absolutely certain:
There is only a glimmer of hope if the mathematical language of probability theory and physics is forcibly introduced into this system.
Upon hearing these words, Adrian felt as if he had been struck hard by a heavy hammer!
He clearly had no idea that this young man, hailed as a god-level genius, had actually read through his papers, which had already been swept into the academic garbage heap, word for word!
Not only that, but it also easily and concisely pointed out the fatal flaw, and even indicated the correct direction for breaking the deadlock in the next step!
He suddenly raised his head, his parched lips trembling slightly, and stared blankly at Su Hao.
"Your research has been of tremendous help in establishing the direction for my next research project."
Su Hao looked at Adrian, who was deeply traumatized, and spoke sincerely.
"You have already left us, the younger generation, with an extremely valuable academic legacy."
At least, I did benefit greatly from it.
In my heart, you are a pioneer worthy of the respect of all who come after you.
Adrian's breathing suddenly stopped.
That was the trembling of a soul that had collapsed and was being pieced back together.
A few seconds later, the middle-aged man's eyes instantly turned red, like a child who had suffered a great injustice and finally received the approval of his elders.
"I see... I see..."
The middle-aged professor was trembling all over, and his throat was emitting hoarse murmurs like a broken bellows.
"My research... isn't entirely a pile of meaningless garbage!"
Su Hao didn't say another word, just nodded slightly, silently turned around and left the corner, leaving this space for self-redemption to him.
In the vast world of mathematics, no mathematician is ever an island.
Even someone as brilliant as Newton once admitted that his achievements were merely standing on the shoulders of giants.
Undeniably, even if they fail to reach the summit, these mathematicians who have followed one after another will use the last bit of strength in their lives to leave their bloody climbing marks on the cliff face.
These seemingly failed attempts will eventually become stepping stones, the most solid foundation for the next generation of climbers.
Su Hao recalled the vast amount of literature he had consulted during this period.
Those lines of cold formulas and between the lines are filled with the pain of countless authors who went blind from exhaustion and the frustration of utter despair.
With this thought in mind, Su Hao took a deep breath and regained his composure.
No matter how long it takes, no matter how many skeletons lie ahead...
I will definitely unravel it completely!
The thought that had been dormant in his heart was now spreading wildly in his chest like an uncontrollable wildfire.
......
One day later.
In the suburbs of Boston, there is an old, dilapidated residential area that seems to have been forgotten by time.
boom.
Su Hao casually closed the creaking door of the taxi, got out, and cautiously looked around at his surroundings.
The biting wind, like a knife, cut through the mottled and crumbling red brick walls, making a sharp whistling sound.
Su Hao zipped up his coat tightly, gripped his phone which displayed the navigation route, and walked deeper into the narrow alley, stepping on the fallen leaves scattered on the ground.
The street signs in the neighborhood were already badly faded and covered with vulgar graffiti repeatedly painted by thugs.
In the deepest part of the alley, in a dark corner where light barely reaches, Su Hao finally confirmed his destination.
Ding--
Su Hao pressed the dusty doorbell.
The room was silent, then extremely heavy and dragging footsteps slowly approached the door.
Click.
The old wooden door was pulled open, and a cold, damp atmosphere immediately rushed out.
That smell was from damp paper, thick dust, and the fermentation of old books.
In a daze, Su Hao felt as if he had stepped into a medieval bookstore that had never seen the light of day, and even breathing felt choking.
"Come in. You're much, much younger than I thought."
A face with deep wrinkles, white hair, and resembling that of a medieval wizard emerged.
Mikhail Olsen looked Su Hao up and down with his cloudy eyes, a hint of undisguised surprise flashing deep in his eyes.