A suburb of St. Petersburg, on the banks of the Fontanka Canal.

An old man in a black trench coat sat on a bench on the side of the road and glanced at his watch, as if waiting for something.

At this time, two young men of about seventeen or eighteen years old wearing baseball caps walked past him while slapping basketballs, and their elated faces seemed to be discussing something.

"Have you heard? The virtual reality system is in closed beta! ”

"I've heard about it a long time ago, it's in Jinling, damn! I really want to go. ”

"Don't think about it, we don't have a chance to be a little transparent with no fans and no topics, I don't believe they don't have the qualifications to make a decision. Speaking of which, have you seen the live action of James? He said in the live broadcast on youtube before that if Star Technology's virtual reality technology is really the same as that in SAO, he will eat the keyboard. ”

"Haha, what happened?"

"I don't know, but I've heard someone say that after he returned from Huaguo, he ordered a chocolate keyboard from a cake shop."

"Hahahaha!"

There was a pleasant smell in the air, and the laughter of the two young men faded away.

Professor Faltins glanced at their backs, his eyebrows curled slightly.

Jinling?

I didn't expect to hear a familiar word in this foreign country.

Thinking of that person, Faltins couldn't help but have a nostalgic expression on his face.

As for virtual reality and youtube, he ignored it.

Starting from smart phones, these old antiques have begun to gradually fail to keep up with the era of young people, and then to get familiar with something more trendy than smart phones, I'm afraid that even if he has this idea, he doesn't have the energy to do it.

At this moment, a middle-aged man with a beard and hair that was not very trimmed and full of cheap shopping bags walked up to the bench and stopped, and said in a tone full of surprise.

"You're really here."

Glancing up at him, Faltins said with a smile.

"Well, what's the problem?"

"No, I just thought it was strange, I didn't expect the famous Mr. Faltins to come in person......"

With a face peeking out of the small mountain of black bread he was holding in his arms, Perelman took a key from his pocket with his free right hand and threw it into Faltins' hand, "My house is a bit of a mess, I hope you don't mind." I'll open the door in a moment, please...... You can see it, I can't spare my hands. ”

"You're welcome," Faltins nodded, "do you need me to help you with that?" ”

Perelman shook his head in refusal.

"No, I'm not going to ask an old man to carry something for me."

The group walked into the neighborhood, and soon came to an apartment building that looked very cheap.

No one would have thought that the world-famous mathematician would live in such a single apartment of no more than 20 square meters, and the neighbors are either Russian aunts who live on pensions or unemployed people at home.

However, Perelman did not complain about their position.

After giving up the million-dollar prize of the millennial problem, he lived so poorly that he needed to rely on his mother's pension to buy bread, and in fact he himself was torn between ideals and realities, so he chose to fade out of mathematics and study mathematics in the same way that people studied mathematics before the nineteenth century.

Namely, lock yourself up.

In a sense, he is quite similar to Lu Zhou.

The only difference is probably that Lu Zhou will make public any staged results worthy of publication, even if he is too lazy to submit, he will hang a preprint, and he has not published his research results for a long time.

Putting the food in the kitchen, Perelman wiped his hands on his clothes before turning back into the crowded living room. He was about to ask Professor Faltins if he needed a cup of tea or water when he noticed the paper paper on the table.

With a look of obvious interest on his face, he stepped forward to pick it up and flipped through two pages.

"It's ......"

"As for the study of the Motive theory," Professor Faltings said, taking out a thermos from his wide trench coat and pouring himself a cup of hot water, as if he had been prepared for it, "the author of the paper has come up with the interesting idea of combining all the theories of oncohomology into an abstract geometric object. ”

Perelman succinctly commented: "Crazy idea. ”

Faltins: "Yes. ”

Perelman: "The Great Unification Theory? ”

Faltins: "Yes. ”

"I didn't expect there to be such an interesting scholar in this world...... Wait," Perelman looked at the abstract and felt a little familiar as he read it, and he couldn't help frowning, "This paper...... I always felt like something familiar. ”

There was a rare smile on Faltins' serious face.

"Looks like you've found out."

Perelman asked tentatively, "Lu Zhou?" ”

Faltins nodded, and said for a third time.

"Yes."

After a sip of hot water and a pause, he continued, "About three days ago, he submitted this paper to Mathematical Inventions. I don't know exactly what he agreed with Professor Holden, secretary general of the International Union of Mathematicians, and this is probably his first submission to Mathematical Inventions, but that's not the point. ”

"The point is that he actually solved a weak form of Grothendieck's standard conjecture and solved the fractional structure of the motive corresponding to the upper cohomology ring."

"That's right," Faltings nodded approvingly, "and sure enough, I'm right, and it's not enough for you to be the reviewer for this paper." ”

Looking at the paper in his hand, Perelman regained his expressionless appearance.

"You came to Russia to find me, probably not to find a reviewer for Mathematical Inventions. Besides, if you have my email address, this kind of thing can be explained clearly in one email. ”

Faltins nodded, "Of course, I'm not bored enough to take a plane for such a trivial matter. ”

Putting down the paper in his hand for the time being, Perelman did not speak, just looked at him quietly, waiting for him to continue.

Without going around in circles, Professor Faltings said bluntly.

"Come to the University of Bonn."

Perelman's answer was just as direct, even unceremoniously.

"I refuse."

As if he hadn't heard what he said, Professor Faltings continued.

"The world of mathematics has reached a critical crossroads, the Holy Grail that has lasted from the time of Archimedes to the present day is before our eyes, and the number and geometry are about to merge into one in an abstract form, and what we have achieved in the two fields of algebra and geometry until today is being connected into a straight line. Perhaps tomorrow algebra and geometry will be unified, and I am not surprised, but if I am unlucky, maybe this problem will not be solved until the next century. ”

Perelman muttered, "Isn't Lu Zhou working on this subject?" It would be nice to let him do it, and so far I don't see a problem that he can't solve. ”

"That's not necessarily, he found the anomaly on the 750Gev characteristic peak seven years ago that summer, and he still can't give a good explanation to physics, and I've heard old friends say that most people take it as a joke."

Perelman: "Physics is physics, mathematics is mathematics." ”

"Yes, physics is physics," said Professor Faltings, "but the point is not this, but the completion of this work for the future, which is not his task alone. ”

"We can't put all our expectations for the future on him alone, and if we don't have our own thinking, our scholarship will never prosper."

As he spoke, the old man looked at Perelman seriously and said in a sincere tone.

"The Bourbaki school needs your help, and the whole mathematical community needs your strength."

"At my age, many things are beyond my strength, and I implore you to come out of here and contribute to the cause you are passionate about."

Looking down at the paper on the table, Perelman pondered for a long time.

"I'll think about it."

As he spoke, he picked the paper off the table and shook it slightly.

"At least, when I'm done with this paper."