Chapter 382: His Dao heart shattered once again

Yandong Garden.

Xu Qingzhou recounted the situation regarding the research institute in India.

From the Twin Prime Conjecture to the Polignac Conjecture, now their research on local smoothness had unexpectedly collided as well.

Song Yao offered a moment of silence for this Indian fellow; every research topic he chose ended up overlapping with Xu Qingzhou's, and he was being sanctioned time and time again.

Xu Qingzhou held Song Yao, the faint scent of her hair drifting into his nostrils, and he couldn't help but nuzzle her neck twice—it smelled like milk.

The hot breath hitting her sensitive skin made Song Yao shift uncomfortably, and she pushed him away. "Stop moving around, look at the news."

"Shall we go lie down in the bedroom to look?" Xu Qingzhou proposed.

"Heh."

Song Yao let out a scoff, not wanting to entertain this guy.

Xu Qingzhou wasn't in a rush, accompanying the school beauty as she scrolled through Weibo.

There were many topics concerning him.

"The Indians are quite arrogant."

"Truth be told, they really have the capital to be arrogant; this is a badass figure."

"Xu Shen is probably going to crash this time. Brother San is quite formidable in this area, and this person used to specialize in harmonic analysis research. The weak (1, 1) estimate for oscillatory singular integrals from before was likely figured out by this guy."

"Awesome, the netizens this time are capable; they can even dig up this kind of information."

"I believe in Xu Shen."

"You can't run scientific research on love alone. Your belief is useless; Xu Shen probably doesn't even believe in himself. Look at his history: that economic model, the computer field, the physics field..."

"Exactly. No matter how badass a person is, they only have 24 hours. If you put your energy into things in other fields, naturally you won't be able to produce any results in harmonic analysis."

"I predict Xu Shen will probably have to play the ostrich now."

Xu Qingzhou leaned back, resting against the sofa, and clicked his tongue with emotion: "It seems everyone still doesn't have a clear understanding of my strength."

Song Yao agreed, lowered her head to glance at the hand gradually sliding into her hem, and added, "Everyone still doesn't know that you are a super pervert."

"Mm, I am a pervert."

Xu Qingzhou admitted it frankly and nodded. "Tonight... do you want to... be a bit more stimulating?"

"I don't."

Song Yao refused expressionlessly. This guy was just incorrigible; the bathroom was already the limit of what she could cooperate with. As for the rest, hmph, don't even think about it.

"It's very stimulating." Xu Qingzhou continued to tempt her.

"I can make you feel stimulated right now, too."

"That won't be necessary..." Xu Qingzhou raised his eyes to look at the hand resting on his waist.

Xu Qingzhou didn't pay attention to the small episode on the internet; his life was quite leisurely—going to the library to read, cooking at home, or preparing for the defense on the 22nd.

On April 20th, he received a message from Xu Zhengyang, inviting him out for a meal.

At a mutton hotpot restaurant, the pot was bubbling with heat.

Xu Qingzhou entered the private room and, seeing the Tianzhulan on the table, was immediately surprised: "Today... we're drinking white liquor?"

Kong Xianbo nodded and said, "Old Xu brought it from home."

"Brother Yang, we've thought about it; no matter what, we have to accompany you for a drink today."

Zhai Ziqiang revealed a silly smile.

This made Xu Qingzhou shudder. Don't look at Zhai Ziqiang as if he were a bit dull; he was actually very cunning. For example, the first time he smiled like this, it was to get Xu Zhengyang to order extra food.

"What the hell?" Xu Qingzhou didn't understand what these three guys were trying to do.

Xu Zhengyang had already opened the liquor and, while pouring for Xu Qingzhou, said, "Old Xu, the brothers all know about your situation; you don't have to pretend to be strong."

"..."

Xu Qingzhou was a bit speechless.

"I already know about the Indian guy issuing you a challenge," Zhai Ziqiang said from the side.

Xu Qingzhou asked irritably, "Does this damn thing have anything to do with eating today?"

"Aren't you... um, how should I put it, you can't say you failed, you're just temporarily at a disadvantage, right? Come out for a drink to relax," Zhai Ziqiang said.

Xu Qingzhou roughly understood; these guys thought he was depressed and hiding at home. "I'm fine."

Xu Zhengyang patted Xu Qingzhou's shoulder and asked, "What have you been doing lately?"

"Reading, cooking for my girlfriend, occasionally going out for a run."

Hearing this, Xu Zhengyang put on an "I understand" expression. "Old Xu, giving up on yourself isn't your style. Be strong. Tonight, the brothers will drink with you; once you're drunk, you can forget everything."

Zhai Ziqiang also comforted him: "Brother Zhou, one failure doesn't represent anything; we all believe in you."

"Old Xu, I have experience in this regard."

Kong Xianbo raised his glass to clink with Xu Qingzhou and said, "What others do is actually just floating clouds; we must have our own direction and pace."

Xu Qingzhou took a sip of liquor, stopped pretending, and said slowly, "I have already proven the Local Smoothness Conjecture."

The private room fell silent.

"What did you just say?" Xu Zhengyang was slightly bewildered.

Kong Xianbo also lowered the glass he had brought to his lips, looking at Xu Qingzhou, a thought rising in his heart: Oh no, the familiar feeling is back.

Zhai Ziqiang froze, waiting for Xu Qingzhou to explain.

Xu Qingzhou smiled and said, "I have already solved the problems regarding the Local Smoothness Conjecture. The specific paper will be published by the middle of next month at the latest."

"That's not right, haven't you been busy with other things all along?" Xu Zhengyang scratched his head.

"Mm, does that affect me solving the local smoothness problem?"

"Badass."

Xu Zhengyang couldn't help but spit out two words.

Kong Xianbo drank his liquor silently. Damn it, he's showing off again.

After drinking a few sips, Xu Zhengyang clapped his hands, signaling everyone to listen to him: "Alright, since Old Xu is fine, I can only talk about my own troubles."

"What's wrong with you?" Zhai Ziqiang had already started to flush after two glasses.

"My family is planning to buy me an apartment..." Xu Zhengyang revealed a world-weary expression. "I'm currently struggling with where to buy it; should I buy a villa or a large flat?"

"..."

Kong Xianbo narrowed his eyes; this meal was getting a bit hard to swallow.

Xu Qingzhou smiled as he held his glass: "Buying a house? That's a big deal. Come, Old Xu, a toast to you."

"Old Xu, congratulations." Kong Xianbo exchanged a glance with Xu Qingzhou, immediately understood, and also raised his glass.

Consequently, Xu Zhengyang drank two glasses in a row, and immediately after, he saw Zhai Ziqiang smiling slyly. "Brother Yang, I toast you."

"Damn, you three bastards are trying to get me drunk?"

"Nonsense, we're congratulating you."

Xu Zhengyang's life was plain and simple; Kong Xianbo was more competitive than before, as the critical time for graduate school recommendations and awards was approaching.

As for Zhai Ziqiang, he was perhaps the most stable, having joined a small research group. He hadn't achieved much, but getting a recommendation for graduate school wasn't a problem.

"The research group took on a project. I struggled for 7 months, and yesterday the project bonus was issued: 4,000."

After drinking some liquor, Zhai Ziqiang had let go and sighed, saying, "With a subsidy of only 800 yuan a month, I find that being in these research groups is even more outrageous than being in a black brick kiln."

Xu Qingzhou couldn't help but laugh lightly.

He was used to it; he had seen even more outrageous distributions before.

For example, for a 1-million-yuan project, basically half would be gone to various parties when it was issued. Then, 180,000 would be outsourced to the research group, and the research group would still have to pay 90,000 to the school.

Of the remaining 90,000, the big boss of the research group would take half (45,000), 30,000 would go to the research group's public account to become the fund for paying graduate students every month, and of the remaining 15,000, the junior supervisor would take 10,000, and some workhorse would labor for nine months to get 5,000.

This was also the reason why everyone was very cautious when choosing a supervisor; after all, their supervisor might be the biggest leg they could hug in this field.

Furthermore, funding in the field of mathematics had always been relatively tight.

After the meal, which was originally intended to comfort Xu Qingzhou, most of the liquor ended up in the stomachs of Xu Zhengyang and the other two. Beer and white liquor were completely different concepts.

And so, Xu Zhengyang was still okay—this guy hadn't attended few drinking parties in his years of college—but Kong Xianbo and Zhai Ziqiang were already staggering as they walked.

The four of them returned to school leisurely.

"This scene feels just like when we were freshmen."

"Sigh, time flies damn fast. In the blink of an eye, we're already senior students."

Yandong Garden residential area.

Song Yao had already finished showering and was playing games with Ding Jiahui on the sofa. Through the door, she could hear some guy's singing.

"Just once is enough, I'll take you to see the end of the world, laughing heartily in the sunny days, arguing in the free and easy air..."

Creak~

The door opened.

Xu Qingzhou hummed a song as he returned home.

Not a single word of the content was missed!

"Mm, he's back... I'll stop playing after this round."

Song Yao glanced at Xu Qingzhou and found him quite energetic, with no major issues, so she continued talking to Ding Jiahui on the other end of the phone.

Song Yao was wearing a white camisole dress today, revealing her delicate collarbones and fair, smooth shoulders, which made Xu Qingzhou feel a bit greedy.

Seeing Xu Qingzhou wanting to come over to hug her, she clenched her fists, her mouth forming the words: "Shower."

Xu Qingzhou shrugged, turned around, went to the bedroom to take off his dirty clothes, and went to the bathroom in his boxers.

10 minutes passed.

Song Yao was typing away, chatting with Ding Jiahui. Seeing her boyfriend come out, she took the hairdryer to help him dry his hair.

The sound of the hairdryer soon disappeared in the living room.

Xu Qingzhou narrowed his eyes, bent over, and performed a "sofa-dong," looking down from above at the girl with the cold expression. "Little girl, do you know what it means to be wild after drinking?"

Song Yao blinked, her crystalline eyes looking at him without saying a word. She thought to herself that she hadn't drunk any alcohol anyway, so would she really be foolish enough to help him with anything?

But... why was she inexplicably looking forward to it?

Pfft~

She wasn't looking forward to it at all.

Song Yao's mood was quite complicated.

"Tonight, hehe..."

Xu Qingzhou laughed wickedly, lifted Song Yao's chin, and pressed his lips onto her soft, tender ones.

After teasing the school beauty, he pecked her again, laughed, and walked to the bedroom with a swagger. "Hurry up and tidy up, come in and serve your master tonight."

"You're crazy."

Song Yao looked at her boyfriend's back and cursed irritably.

After tidying up the living room a bit, she put on her slippers and went into the room.

But the boy who had just said he would be wild after drinking was, just like last time, already fast asleep.

"Pervert."

Song Yao chided, shook her head, tucked the quilt in for him, and went back out.

She threw Xu Qingzhou's clothes into the washing machine, sat down, and planned to read for half an hour before sleeping.

Xu Qingzhou's paper was already finished, and hers was two-thirds done; she could finish it by early May and defend with the seniors in mid-May. Her undergraduate life would end just like that.

This guy was indeed a pervert, both in his studies and in life.

Song Yao sighed, feeling a bit troubled; it seemed that in both these aspects, she couldn't really be better than Xu Qingzhou.

The road to keeping Xu Qingzhou as a kept man was becoming increasingly difficult.

22nd, 8:30 AM.

Xu Qingzhou and Song Yao had finished breakfast and were preparing to go to the School of Mathematics.

Because they were early, when they arrived, only Chu Jiangfeng was in the lecture hall.

"Professor Chu."

"Mm, hurry up and go prepare," Chu Jiangfeng said with a smile.

Xu Qingzhou didn't waste time, took his USB drive to the stage. After Song Yao greeted Chu Jiangfeng, she went to sit in the corner, sending messages to both family groups, which counted as a live broadcast.

Chu Jiangfeng sat down, drinking tea, waiting for the defense to begin.

【Abstract: This paper reviews the local smoothness of Fourier integral operators satisfying the cinematic curvature condition and related research. It discusses how to establish a variable-coefficient version of the square function inequality through bilinear methods.】

【Analysis of the difficulties in solving the Local Smoothness Conjecture, possible approaches, and its connections to other mathematical conjectures.】

Chu Jiangfeng looked at the paper in his hand and couldn't help but nod. Without a doubt, this paper would once again cause a shock in the mathematical community.

This kid—not to say there won't be anyone after him, but he could definitely be called unprecedented.

And he... was this kid's teacher.

Thinking of this, Chu Jiangfeng laughed happily.

8:50, the other teachers for the defense also arrived. The scene immediately became lively, and Xu Qingzhou went down to greet them.

The first to discover Xu Qingzhou was Professor Gu Zhizhong, followed by Academician Xu Shihui, who had once gone to Cambridge with Xu Qingzhou, then Academician Wang Lin, who had helped Xu Qingzhou verify the Twin Prime Conjecture, and finally, the last one was Professor Feng, whom he had met at the Quantum Research Institute.

Two minutes passed, and three figures sneaked into the classroom.

It was Xu Zhengyang and the others.

They happened to have no class today, so they arranged to come and witness Xu Qingzhou's defense.

After sitting down in the classroom, Xu Zhengyang started typing a message: "Just thinking about several academicians sitting below makes me feel terrible; I'm shivering."

Zhai Ziqiang: "Brother Yang, believe in yourself."

Xu Zhengyang sent a "love you" sticker.

Zhai Ziqiang: "Believing in yourself still doesn't qualify you to have several academicians come to listen to your defense."

Xu Zhengyang: "..."

Kong Xianbo didn't say much, waiting quietly for the chat, while sighing endlessly in his heart. They had clearly entered school together, but now this guy was already standing on the podium preparing for his master's defense.

Song Yao sat in the corner by the window, nodded slightly to greet Xu Zhengyang and the others, and then picked up her phone to continue answering Wang Xiaping's questions.

9:00 AM, the defense officially began.

"Good morning, teachers."

They were all acquaintances, so Xu Qingzhou didn't have much small talk and went straight to the point: "Today's defense topic: Local Smoothness of Fourier Integral Operators and Related Research. We all know that Fourier integral operators originated from pseudodifferential operators..."

Xu Qingzhou roughly introduced the paper and explained the key parts of his research.

Rather than a defense, it was more like a small report meeting.

"I noticed that the kernel function of the FIOs defined in (1.8) has a form. Please explain the FIO definition part," Academician Wang Lin spoke first.

As expected of an old professor, he started with detailed questions.

Xu Qingzhou thought for a moment and said, "I mainly use the distribution determined by the oscillatory integral to define FIOs. A smooth phase function is called non-degenerate if it satisfies these conditions."

As he spoke, Xu Qingzhou picked up a piece of chalk and wrote several rows of formulas on the blackboard.

Wang Lin smiled and nodded, very satisfied with Xu Qingzhou's answer.

Gu Zhizhong's eyes were full of appreciation. He took over the topic and asked in a deep voice, "Explain the formula (8.23) in the bilinear equivalent form in Part 8."

"By changing variables to rotate the center of O to the coordinate axis e..."

Xu Qingzhou had been prepared for this question long ago. Without the slightest pause, he explained to the people below while writing formulas on the blackboard.

The defense continued.

At the back of the classroom, Xu Zhengyang took out his phone: "Holy crap, how come I can't understand a single thing?"

Zhai Ziqiang: "Me too."

Xu Zhengyang glanced at Kong Xianbo and saw that this guy had a solemn expression, sitting upright. "Why isn't Old Kong talking?"

Zhai Ziqiang: "If nothing goes wrong, his Dao heart... has been shattered again."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 383 =====

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