Chapter 457: I really should have beaten him more in the past

Rongcheng.

As the plane landed, the familiar city layout appeared in his line of sight.

From Boston to Kyoto, and then to Rongcheng, they were all modern metropolises, yet the styles of these cities were vastly different.

July and August were the hottest times in Rongcheng. As Xu Qingzhou and Song Yao pushed their suitcases out, they immediately felt a wave of heat rushing toward them.

"Familiar accent, familiar temperature."

Xu Qingzhou sighed with emotion. Having been away for too long, he really wasn't used to the temperature in Rongcheng; it was hot and stuffy.

The one who came to pick them up this time was Xu Shouyun. July 3rd was Xu Qingzhou's birthday, and August 5th was Song Yao's birthday; the dinner for both families had been moved to Tuesday.

Among the many vehicles, Xu Qingzhou spotted the old Magotan at a glance and pushed his suitcase over.

"Dad."

"Uncle Xu."

Xu Shouyun nodded with a smile, and he and Xu Qingzhou lifted the suitcases into the trunk.

"Whoa~ so heavy~"

Xu Shouyun lifted the suitcase and actually couldn't lift it at first, then he saw Xu Qingzhou easily lift the case and shove it into the car.

"It's just some daily necessities, clothes, and shoes. Let me do it."

Xu Qingzhou smiled, took his own suitcase from his father's hands, lifted it, and put it in the trunk, all in one smooth motion.

Facts proved that working out regularly with the school beauty Song still had its uses.

"Let's go, get in the car."

Xu Shouyun greeted them, thinking to himself that this kid had really changed; he looked much sturdier and had more spirit than before. Having a girl keep him in check really made a difference.

Half a year later, this kid had transformed into a professor at two universities.

The Xu family had really, damn it, become a family of high intellectuals.

Xu Qingzhou climbed into the passenger seat to avoid his father acting like a chauffeur.

"Xiaoyao, you've adjusted your jet lag, right?" Xu Shouyun asked with concern.

Song Yao answered. She was the type who didn't talk much; usually, it was middle-aged women like Wang Xiaping who would pull her aside to ask this and that, which would make her talk more. But to avoid appearing perfunctory, she gave an "Mm" and continued, "I've adjusted."

"We young people have good health; we're fine after two or three days. Haven't you been fishing with Uncle Song lately?"

Xu Qingzhou took over the conversation.

"Taking a break this week; I went last week."

Xu Qingzhou said, "Is it that thing my mom mentioned, where you and Uncle Song each bought a fish to bring back?"

"..."

Xu Shouyun suddenly felt that, just as his wife had said, he should have beaten him more in the past.

Song Yao pursed her lips and smiled. She had also heard her mother talk about this incident; they had spent the whole afternoon busy for just a few small fish, and in the end, they went to the vegetable market to buy one, claiming they had caught it themselves.

In the end, a neighbor let it slip, mentioning they had seen old Song at the vegetable market.

"Xiaoyao, you two are back. What about that cat?"

"We sent it to a cattery for boarding."

The three of them chatted for a while, and Xu Shouyun said to Xu Qingzhou, "By the way, your principal came to visit a few days ago, asking when you would be back."

"Is there something up?" Xu Qingzhou asked.

Xu Shouyun nodded and said, "He said it's not easy for you to come back during the school term, and he wants to invite you to give a speech to the students at Chengnan Middle School."

"No problem."

Xu Qingzhou nodded. The principal seemed to be called Chen Jin; he had already come to visit old Xu and the others several times.

"Good, then you can set a time with him."

6:30 PM.

Xu Qingzhou and his father dropped Song Yao off at the entrance of her residential compound, exchanged greetings with Song Shisong and the others, and politely declined the invitation to come over for dinner before returning to Wutong Residential Compound.

Pushing the door open to enter the house, one could smell the nostalgic aroma of home-cooked food.

The layout of the house hadn't changed; it looked like it had just been deep-cleaned.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Wang Xiaping wiped her hands and came out of the kitchen, greeting them, "You're quite fast. You two, hurry up and wash your hands, it's time to eat."

"Okay."

Xu Qingzhou pushed his suitcase into the bedroom, washed his hands, and picked up a bowl to serve rice.

When Wang Xiaping came out, Xu Shouyun had already taken out the treasured liquor from the cabinet. Seeing his wife glaring at him, he chuckled, "Just a little bit."

"Drink less."

Wang Xiaping urged; they were getting on in years and couldn't go wild like they did when they were young.

Xu Shouyun poured two small glasses.

"You've been on the road all day, you must be tired. Eat more."

Wang Xiaping put a piece of pork rib into Xu Qingzhou's bowl.

"That's enough, Mom, are you feeding a pig?"

Xu Qingzhou shoveled down two bowls of rice. It was the same seasoning, but what he and Song Yao made was different; it wasn't that it didn't taste good, but they just couldn't make this specific flavor.

Xu Qingzhou served some soup and told old Xu and the others about his future plans.

For example, his annual salary was 500,000 USD, and that was without adding commissions for research projects and the like.

The old couple listened in amazement.

One moment it was 1 million, the next it was 500,000; money didn't even feel like money anymore.

At the old Song family's home.

The three of them were also sitting lively at the table, chatting about Song Yao's studies and her relationship with Xu Qingzhou.

A night passed, and a new week began.

Xu Shouyun and Wang Xiaping went to work.

Xu Qingzhou, on the other hand, slept until he woke up naturally and went out slowly to find something to eat. Ever since he graduated, Wang Xiaping stopped making lunch, as both of them ate at their workplaces.

He called the principal in the morning and scheduled the speech for Friday.

During the day, he stayed at home to look through materials for the report meeting, organizing the problems that hadn't been resolved during the exchange meeting.

What he was currently working on was the proposition of prime number generation and encryption algorithms.

The Riemann Hypothesis, on the surface, seemed to be a purely complex variable function problem, but if analyzed from the Euler product formula, the left side of the formula was exactly the series expression of the Riemann zeta function when re(s) > 1.

And the right side was an expression for prime numbers.

The distribution of prime numbers was related to encryption algorithms.

In this regard, he truly didn't have much of an opinion, nor did he have any intention of conducting in-depth research.

Propositions like the weak form of the Goldbach Conjecture and the generalization of Dirichlet's Theorem were all based on the premise that the Riemann Hypothesis held true; Xu Qingzhou's proof would establish these propositions as theorems all at once.

But it was currently still under verification.

The time at home felt like it had been pressed on the fast-forward button, and in the blink of an eye, it was Tuesday.

8:30 AM on this day.

"Whoa, you're finally willing to go out?" Wang Xiaping stuffed her work documents into her bag, eyeing Xu Qingzhou who was washing up.

"I made an appointment with Song Yao to have breakfast together, glug, glug~"

Xu Qingzhou rinsed his mouth.

Although Song Yao was on vacation, she couldn't stay idle either; she was reading the book list recommended by Professor Morton, "A Course in Game Theory," a classic in game theory, focusing on non-cooperative games and strategic analysis.

In addition, there were some things on development economics, involving issues such as structural transformation, inequality, and institutional analysis.

Xu Qingzhou knew that the school beauty Song was actually holding her breath.

She didn't want to be too far behind him.

He didn't try to persuade her either; being proud and aloof was the school beauty Song's attribute.

This season in Rongcheng was as hot as a boiler; only the mornings and evenings were suitable for strolling outside. During the day, even a slight movement would leave one covered in sweat, so one could only find a shopping mall to hole up in.

"I'm off to work." After Xu Qingzhou finished washing up, Xu Shouyun and Wang Xiaping were already walking out with their bags.

"Okay."

Xu Qingzhou wiped his face.

The hotel for dinner in the evening had already been booked; they would go directly there after old Xu and the others got off work.

At 8:50 AM, he changed into clean clothes and left the house on time.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 458 =====