What should come is always coming.

The last day of July.

Despite 10,000 reluctances, Lu Zhou finally stopped his unfinished research and began to pack his bags for the upcoming International Congress of Mathematicians in St. Petersburg in early August.

As for the 60-minute presentation, after some inner struggle, Lu Zhou finally chose to be on the safe side, made a brief summary of the work he had done in the field of Riemann zeta function in the past few years, and then uploaded the paper to the website of the International Congress of Mathematicians.

In fact, this is the right posture to give a presentation at the International Congress of Mathematicians.

Whether it is a 45-minute or 60-minute presentation, it is not prepared for the release of a major research achievement, but only a platform for scholars who have made outstanding achievements in various fields to make a summary report on the research results of the past few years.

After all, for many important topics, especially in the field of number theory, it is too difficult to make something in a few years.

It is even naïve to think that the time and effort you put in will definitely pay off.

"Xiao Ai, do you think I should bring a coat over?"

Jinling in August is still summer, and it is too hot to wear a short-sleeved shirt to go out on a land boat, but I heard that the weather in St. Petersburg has begun to get cooler, and I don't know if it will be cold after going there.

Floating next to Lu Zhou, the drone with a small TV hanging flashed a string of words at an even speed.

Xiao Ai: [...... St. Petersburg is located on the Baltic Sea coast in northwest Russia, 59~60 degrees north latitude, belongs to the temperate continental climate, the temperature range in August is between 13 degrees and 20 degrees, although the temperature is not high, but it is recommended that the owner wear a windbreaker or leather jacket, pay attention to prevent colds. (??????)?? 】

"That's right...... Then bring this trench coat on. ”

Retracting his gaze from the small TV and seeing that the suitcase was already stuffed, Lu Zhou thought seriously for a while, pulled out a few short-sleeved pieces from it and threw them back into the wardrobe, and stuffed a black windbreaker jacket into it instead.

This dress he still remembers, the last time he went to Berlin to receive the award, he wore it.

It's been so many years in the blink of an eye, but I didn't expect it to fit so well on my body.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhou couldn't stop sighing in his heart.

It seems that the legend that "whoever proves the Riemann conjecture will be immortalized" is really not without any basis.

He also proved that a weak form of the Riemann conjecture, the quasi-Riemann conjecture, has already begun to bear fruit in the point of eternal youth.

Just when Lu Zhou was proud in his heart, the screen of the small TV floating next to him suddenly flashed slightly.

Xiao Ai: [Master, there is a video call request, see if the IP is from North America~ (?????) 】

Xiaotong?

Or is it Vera?

didn't ask who it was, Lu Zhou said directly: "Help me pick it up." ”

Xiao Ai: [Roger!] (??????)?? 】

The screen flashed and quickly cut to the interface of the video call.

Looking back at the person who appeared on the screen, a hint of surprise appeared in Lu Zhou's eyes, but he didn't expect that the call was from him.

"Wei Wen?"

“…… Professor. ”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Why did you suddenly think of calling me?" ”

"Because of some things......" his expression opened a little embarrassed, but at this moment, Wei Wen suddenly noticed that Lu Zhou was packing, so he asked curiously, "Are you planning to go to St. Petersburg to attend the IMU conference?" ”

"Well, there's a sixty-minute debriefing waiting for me over there...... Speaking of which, how have you been doing? I heard Qin Yue say that you seem to have obtained the lecturer qualification of computational materials science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, are you still used to life there? ”

Just as he said this, for some reason, Wei Wen's expression on the other end of the video suddenly became a little bitter.

I saw him shake his head and sigh.

"Not good, don't mention it, I ...... I'm almost unemployed. ”

Unemployment?

The hand that was sorting out the suitcase stopped, and Lu Zhou, who was squatting next to the suitcase, stood up, turned his unexpected gaze to Wei Wen in the small TV, and asked with a frown.

"Unemployed? What's the situation? You...... Is there any trouble running in? ”

In Lu Zhou's impression, Wei Wen's academic ability is good, especially his talent in mathematical modeling is quite outstanding. Since he turned to the study of computational materials science under his own advice, he has fully developed his talent in this area, and it is said that he has published three articles in the four top journals.

Lu Zhou really couldn't think of any reason for MIT to reject such an excellent scholar.

What's more, it's still his own apprentice......

Even with this halo, it won't be so miserable as unemployed, right?

Seeing that Lu Zhou didn't seem to be clear at all, Wei Wen, who probably guessed what it was, smiled bitterly and said, "Have you been in retreat recently?" ”

Lu Zhou frowned and asked, "Sort of...... Does it matter? ”

"It doesn't matter, it's just that you haven't heard of it...... A little surprised," sighed, Wei Wen continued, "It's not just me who is in trouble, most of the Chinese scholars in science and engineering in the entire MIT are not doing well recently......"

It took five minutes for Wei Wen to briefly tell Lu Zhou what had happened.

It turned out that at the beginning of July, the White House suddenly issued a special decree signed by the president, requiring the embassy to tighten the issuance of student visas.

On the surface, this doesn't seem to have much to do with mathematicians who work as lecturers at MIT.

But in fact, almost immediately after the signing of this decree, MIT, Stanford and other major science and engineering universities suddenly changed their attitudes towards in-service Chinese lecturers and professors overnight, not only tightening the distribution of scientific research funds, but even restricting normal teaching behavior.

Not only the faculty and staff who have worked for a few years, but even some scholars who have worked in the United States for more than ten years but have not obtained American citizenship have been seriously affected.

According to the grapevine, the reason for this situation is that someone from the FBI has interviewed the boards of directors of major polytechnic universities. Although it has not affected their work for the time being, such news still makes many postdoctoral students, lecturers, and professors working at MIT shudder......

“…… In fact, I saw some signs as early as two years ago, but I didn't expect it to develop to this point now. ”

Lu Zhou was silent for a while and said, "What do you say?" ”

Sighing, Wei Wen continued: "Nominally, MIT's global admissions criteria are to select talents based on the ability of 'academic ability, personality traits, and global vision', but in the past two years, there has not been a single international student from mainland China. ”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "This is indeed a bit unusual. ”

Although there is no explicit rule, there is indeed not a single student from China on the admission list released by MIT and Stanford in the past two years, and the only few Chinese students are also from domestic high schools in the United States.

The situation that is now happening to Chinese scholars at MIT is clearly exacerbated on this basis.

“…… Now the academic environment is becoming less and less friendly, and it is completely the same as ten years ago. Some time ago, I talked to a Chinese professor of materials science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology about this issue, and China's achievements in a series of cutting-edge scientific fields such as nuclear fusion and Yuegong have stimulated the most sensitive nerves in the United States. ”

"Especially last year, when the Ares plan failed, you saw that there was a lot of boos all over North America, and the pessimism was leading to a resurgence of McCa/Since. It's clear to you, even in class, that some white students' hostility towards you is not just a matter of racism. ”

Speaking of which, Wei Wen's tone was also a little unpleasant.

"Now the whole academic community is rumoring that Congress will soon introduce tougher restrictions and make people panic. I don't know how long I can do this job, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow, maybe one day I will suddenly be unemployed. ”

Lu Zhou: "You study mathematics, do you also have an influence on this?" ”

"After all, my research is not pure mathematics, and I still cooperate with the materials science laboratory of MIT, and then some people suspect that I am a spy, and someone from the FBI has come to me," Wei Wen himself shook his head amusedly, "A spy who helps them process experimental data, a spy who helps them do scientific research...... Tsk, if it weren't for the fact that the paper hadn't been sent out yet, I would have wanted to apply for withdrawal from the group. ”

Lu Zhou was silent for a while, and then said, "...... If you can't get around, come to Jinling, now the academic atmosphere here is already very good, what is your annual salary at MIT? I'll give you the same one at the current exchange rate. ”

Although before making this call, Wei Wen was indeed ready to return to China.

But for some reason, after hearing Lu Zhou's invitation, he began to think seriously about this issue, but finally hesitated.

After being silent for about a minute, he gritted his teeth and said.

"Thank you......"

"But I still want to make some achievements first, at least a thousand people and then come back."

Even though he knew that in the current environment, it was difficult for him to make something by himself by being stared at like a thief by others, but he was still unwilling to give up so simply.

After all, he fled back without any results......

He always felt a little unwilling.

Although he was a little worried about whether his students would encounter any trouble, Lu Zhou still understood his thoughts and nodded and said.

"Then you have to be careful outside, across the Pacific Ocean, even if you are in trouble, it will be difficult for me to help you."

Wei Wen nodded and thanked him: "Well, thank you for your concern, I will pay attention!" ”