It was 9 p.m. on Beijing time.

Presidential Suite at Sheraton Hotel.

Standing next to the floor-to-ceiling window, Lu Zhou received a call from across the Pacific Ocean.

"Your sister has arrived safely."

"Okay, I got it...... Thank you. ”

"You're welcome," Qin Yue on the other end of the phone smiled, "By the way, she lives in a student apartment now...... Either I'll give her your house, and I also have plans to rent a smaller apartment near the school. ”

When Lu Zhou left Princeton and returned to China, he handed over the keys to the small villa and the Ford Mustang in the nearby town to Qin Yue, and asked him to pay a property tax for him every year.

After all, the house is getting older and older, and after a long time, no one will live in it, and it will not be able to live in it. Especially in a state like New Jersey to the north, if there is no one left in the house in the winter, it is easy for the water pipe to freeze and burst the roof.

Although it is estimated that he will not have a chance to go back and have a look, Lu Zhou still likes the house and the fireplace inside.

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "No need, I mentioned this to her during the Chinese New Year, and she refused without thinking about it." I also thought about it later, it is not a downtown area, and I don't feel at ease that she lives in such a big house with a girl. If you're not going to stay, ask Vera or the other professors at Prince if they're interested. ”

In fact, for Xiaotong's thoughts, Lu Zhou can feel it in his heart.

On the one hand, she is very grateful that she has been spreading her wings to shelter her from the wind and rain since she was a child, and she is also very dependent on this feeling, but on the other hand, her personality is very similar to herself, she is the type who does not want to cause trouble for others, and longs to be able to live an independent life, and longs to be able to one day no longer rely on herself, no longer be her own little baggage, and even help herself in turn......

In fact, what Lu Zhou wants to say is that he doesn't mind being relied on by her, and he won't regard this dependence as a burden.

After all, they are family.

And the relationship between family members is itself maintained on a kind of mutual dependence......

Qin Yue smiled and said, "I didn't say that I didn't plan to live, I can rent such a big house for $3,000 a year, this kind of good thing is not found in the whole of North America." I just said that if your sister needs it, I'll go find the house myself. But it's true that it's not convenient for her to live in such a remote place as a girl. ”

Student accommodation in Princeton is a low value for money, but it is close to campus facilities and safe and secure. Qin Yue remembers that the building where Xiaotong lives seems to be a double apartment, and if there is a roommate, he can integrate into campus life faster.

After briefly asking Xiaotong about her situation over there, Lu Zhou put her matter aside for the time being and chatted with his former students.

"How? Are you still used to life over there? ”

Qin Yue smiled and replied, "I've always been quite used to it, and it's enough for me to have a place to concentrate on research." The only thing I don't get used to is that you're no longer there, and I can't learn from you when I encounter problems. ”

Lu Zhou: "You are already a professor, and you still want to learn from me, so you should think about it yourself." Speaking of which, what have you been working on lately? ”

"The Hualin Problem in Additive Number Theory...... : Speaking of this, Qin Yue couldn't help but sigh, "This thing thinks of me every day!" Sometimes I feel that it makes sense that there are few people who study number theory, and often you come across a problem that seems to be just a pure stacking of prime numbers, but when you dig deeper, you find that it is an algebraic geometry problem. However, polarized light is a method of algebraic geometry, but it cannot solve the problem, and finally it is necessary to introduce representation theory, p-adic theory, and so on...... And, of course, your group construction method. ”

"This is actually a good thing," Lu Zhou said with a smile, "isn't this how our science progresses?" ”

Qin Yue said helplessly: "That's true, but it's not very friendly to people who study these issues. Sometimes I wonder if there was a way to quickly and qualitatively figure out what we need to do to solve the problem......"

Lu Zhou: "I'm afraid this is not the category of mathematics, this is the category of metaphysics. ”

Qin Yue: "Maybe." ”

At this point, there was a sudden silence.

After chatting for so long, Qin Yue always felt that Lu Zhou had something to say as if he wanted to say something, but maybe because he didn't know how to speak, he kept going around in circles with him.

Just when he was hesitating whether to take the initiative to break this point, Lu Zhou, who was silent, suddenly spoke a little abruptly.

"Vera, she...... Are you okay? ”

Not surprised by this question, Qin Yue secretly said in his heart Sure enough, he sighed and said.

"I've asked for you, but I haven't heard anything useful...... She wasn't very willing to talk about her situation, and she didn't know if she had discovered something, but she was deliberately avoiding me now. Later, I tried to ask Lecturer Molina, who was working on the Riemann conjecture with her, but she didn't want to say too much. ”

Hearing this, Lu Zhou was silent for a while.

“…… Thanks, I see. ”

After a pause, he continued.

"If she really doesn't want to say anything, don't force her."

Qin Yue: "Are you going to hang up?" ”

"Well, if nothing else." Glancing at the wall clock on the wall, Lu Zhou continued, "After all, it's not too early on my side. ”

After hesitating for a moment, Qin Yue opened his mouth and asked, "Can I ask you a question?" I used to want to ask, about-"

Lu Zhou: "...... If it's an academic question, just ask. ”

Qin Yue, who was interrupted, sighed lightly and said, "Forget it, I still don't ask......

……

Sitting in the next room, Wang Peng, who had just finished shaving, was sitting on the edge of the bed, checking the equipment in the suitcase according to custom.

At this moment, there was a faint sound of footsteps in the corridor outside the door.

Sensing who it was from the sound of footsteps, he tossed his gear back into his suitcase, stood up, and walked to the entrance. Almost as soon as there was a knock on the door, he grabbed the doorknob and pulled it open.

"What's the matter?"

Standing at the door, Lu Zhou said casually.

"Drinking? I'm in for a treat. ”

From the expression on Lu Zhou's face, it seemed that he could see something, Wang Peng was silent for a few seconds and then said: "You can only smoke and not drink during working hours, but if you want to drink, I can accompany you." ”

"What's the way?"

Wang Peng replied bluntly: "Watch from the side, and carry you back when you get drunk." ”

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

"Drunk? I? Come on......"

Looking at Lu Zhou, who turned around and walked towards the elevator, Wang Peng didn't say anything, closed the door with his hand, and then followed him to the elevator, and even reached out and pressed the button on the floor where the bar was located for him.

Seeing this, Lu Zhou glanced at him and didn't say anything.

didn't say a word along the way, Lu Zhou, who walked to the front of the bar, sat on a round stool, and then looked at the bartender behind the bar and said.

"Have a glass of whiskey."

"Wait a minute."

Looking at the bartender's hand that was like a unicorn arm, Wang Peng had a vague premonition that Lu Zhou might drink a lot tonight, so after being silent for a while, he reminded him beside him.

"Tomorrow is the unveiling ceremony, I suggest you drink less."

As a result, what he didn't expect was that Lu Zhou, who had always been very obedient to persuasion, had changed his normal behavior this time.

"You don't care."

took the cup from the bartender's hand, rudely threw down Lu Zhou, who said such a sentence, and didn't say a word, just drank it cup by cup.

When it stopped, Lu Zhou couldn't remember it very clearly.

By the time he came to his senses, it was already the next morning......