Caishikou.
Just as he got out of the car and was about to go upstairs, his mother called him.
"Son! You won the International Mathematics Award? "His mother was very excited.
Zhang Ye said into the cell phone: "How did you know?"
His mother said: "It's already been reported on the news, so who wouldn't know! When will you be receiving the award? "
Zhang Ye chuckled and said: "In a few days. How's your trip over there?"
His mother said: "Didn't we just arrive in Tianjin? If we had known that such a big thing would happen, your dad and I wouldn't have gone out. I heard that you're the first Chinese person to win that Abel Prize or something?"
Zhang Ye nodded. "You and Dad should just take care of the kids. There's nothing much to do here anyway. Someone will help me with my passport and plane tickets."
He pressed the doorbell.
After a while, the door opened.
Zhang Ye sniffed. It was filled with the smell of stewed meat. "Whoa, it smells so good."
"Stewed pork ribs." Wu Zeqing smiled. "Hungry?"
Zhang Ye's appetite was whetted. "I wasn't hungry at first, but when I smelled it, I got hungry."
After closing the door, Wu Zeqing asked, "How are things over there? Have they gone through the procedures? "
"What procedures could there be? They just came over to congratulate me. Even the Chinese Academy of Sciences sent someone over, which made me feel quite flattered." Zhang Ye looked at Old Wu and said, "It's just that the people from the Abel Foundation are a little annoying. This bro did not offend anyone, but that bastard came over and started beating me up. He said that I didn't have enough experience and that it was just a fluke that I got the award. He said that it was a special case and that they had given special treatment to me. He was trying to tell me that the threshold for the award was very high and that I should be very grateful. Hur, I was so happy to hear that!"
Old Wu asked, "Then what did you say to him?"
Zhang Ye curled his lips. "Then how could I have anything good to say to him?"
"That's true." Old Wu laughed.
"After that, I humiliated him a little and came back," Zhang Ye said.
Suddenly, Peking University's Dean Pan called.
Zhang Ye answered curiously. "Dean Pan, didn't we just break up? What's the matter? Is there something you need from me? "
Dean Pan wondered, "Did you offend the people from the Abel Foundation?"
"No." Zhang Ye knew what was going on, but pretended not to know.
"That's strange." Dean Pan said, "That Johannes seemed to have a dark expression on his face after he finished talking to you. He looked a little emotional and even rejected the interview with the reporters afterward. Who doesn't know about your temper? You often offend people, so I'm worried about you, so I called to ask. You've really brought honor to our country, our Peking University, and our mathematics world by winning this award. I don't need to tell you how important this award is. It's definitely one of the top six international awards in the mathematics world, so don't mess it up. "
After hanging up, Zhang Ye waved his cellphone at Old Wu and said, "Look at this, it's just a trivial matter." He sat down and said, "Let's not bother about them anymore. I have to eat first. I'm hungry."
"Just wait."
"You've worked hard, Old Wu."
The dishes were all served, and they were quite sumptuous.
Zhang Ye and Old Wu watched the news on TV as they ate heartily.
Regarding the matter of Zhang Ye winning the Abel Prize, all the satellite channels in the various provinces and cities had reported about it. There was even Beijing Television Station's News Channel that did a ten-minute feature on this matter. Ten minutes might seem like a very short period of time, but one had to know that a news segment was not that long to begin with. For the afternoon news and evening news, the actual content would only last for less than half an hour. For them to dedicate ten minutes to an independent news segment, it was clear that they were placing great importance on it.
At the beginning of the segment, Beijing Television's news segment introduced in detail the origin and name of the Abel Prize, as well as the list of winners of the award in history. Every person on the list was either a world-famous mathematician or had been famous in the past. As the first Chinese national to win the award, Zhang Ye was undoubtedly very eye-catching.
In the middle of the segment, there were interviews with industry insiders.
Dean Pan, a research fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who was involved in mathematics research, was also interviewed. Looking at the background of the camera, it was actually from Peking University. It was likely that the Beijing Television Station's reporters had sent the first-hand information back right after the interview, and then it was broadcast on the afternoon news.
At the end of the segment, there were interviews on the streets.
The Beijing Television Station's reporters were interviewing the citizens on the streets.
A reporter asked: "What are your thoughts on Professor Zhang Ye winning the Abel Prize?"
The person being interviewed was a young man. When he heard that, his spirits were lifted. "How awesome! I'm still feeling so excited right now! "
The scene changed to another person being interviewed. This time, it was a young female university student. She said: "I'm a student from the Math Department and I'm in my second year this year. I really didn't expect that there would be a mathematician from our country who could win the Abel Prize one day. Teacher Zhang is my idol, and I want to set Teacher Zhang as my goal in the future. I want to bring glory to the field of mathematics, just like Teacher Zhang, and bring glory to our country!"
A middle-aged man: "My first impression is that he's too amazing! Zhang Ye lives up to his reputation! "
Another interviewee: "When I first heard the news, I was also very shocked. But then I thought about it. Since Dale's Conjecture has been solved by Teacher Zhang, winning the Abel Prize shouldn't be too surprising! Congratulations, Teacher Zhang, you've created yet another piece of history! "
A senior high school student: "I'll be taking my college entrance exam next year. In the past, I hadn't thought about which school or major I would apply for, but after I found out today that Teacher Zhang Ye has won the Abel Prize, I suddenly decided that I want to apply for Peking University. I want to enter the Math Department! Teacher Zhang Ye is too awesome! "
All the television stations were more or less the same, scrambling to report on this big news.
However, there was one exception. The most authoritative television channel that should be reporting on this news dropped the ball today — Central TV Department 1!
It wasn't that Central TV Department 1 did not report on this. With such a big event happening, they naturally wouldn't ignore it, nor could they possibly not mention a word about it. But in the end, only a few words were mentioned in the news broadcast. On Central TV Department 1's afternoon news, it was simply a brief that lasted for only a few seconds. The host only said a few words about how Zhang Ye had won the award, and then there was nothing else after that. Not to mention an interview, there wasn't even a picture or illustration of the scene. It was such a simple and understated manner that it left many people's jaws dropped.
But Zhang Ye was not surprised at all. He knew that this was an escalation of Central TV Department 1's freezing and banning of him. From now on, Central TV Department 1 was not only going to freeze Zhang Ye at work and not assign him any tasks, they were also going to start banning him from the news as well. They were doing it extremely ruthlessly!
Zhang Ye sneered in his heart and could no longer be bothered with them. He felt that he had not done anything wrong to Central TV Department 1. He had not rested for several months and had been working on the show day and night. During the recording of The Voice, he did not even go home once and ate and stayed at the office, all so that he could save some time for the new show. He had put in all his effort and the show became popular, but in the end, a man who was never content was like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. Jiang Naixiong, Jiang Yuan, and the other leaders of Central TV Department 1 were too greedy, so Zhang Ye could not help but retaliate. Was he in the wrong? He had a clear conscience.
Go ahead and mess around for now!
There will be a time for us to settle our scores!
...
The next day.
Many of Zhang Ye's friends called to congratulate him.
"Little Zhang, congratulations."
"Thank you, Brother Hu."
"Seeing that you're getting more and more valiant by the day, as your big brother, I'm also happy for you!"
Hu Fei, Yao Jiancai, Dong Shanshan, Ha Qiqi, and the others all sent their regards. The most noteworthy one was Zhang Yuanqi's manager, Fang Weihong. She actually got someone to deliver a flower basket to Zhang Ye's house. There were some congratulatory words written on it and it looked quite formal.
This made Zhang Ye quickly return the call.
"Sister Fang, I've received the flower basket," Zhang Ye said.
Fang Weihong smiled and said: "That's good. Congratulations."
Zhang Ye said: "Hur hur, thank you very much. It's just that it's too formal. This is the first time I've received something like this."
"It's only right that it be formal. This is not some kind of fake award, but a real academic award. It's even one of the top mathematics awards in the world, and it's also the first award to be given to our country. You've won glory for our country, so of course you have to send your congratulations in a formal manner. If I just called, it would be too insincere, hur hur. Besides, you don't have to thank me. This flower basket was ordered by Sister Zhang. The congratulatory words were all dictated by her," Fang Weihong said.
Zhang Ye said in surprise: "Yo, then I'm really honored. Alright, help me thank Sister Zhang."
The news of Zhang Ye receiving the award became even more heated!
"The Abel Prize is no longer the 'backyard' of the Westerners!"
"'Versatile' Zhang Ye makes his debut on the international stage!"
"The Abel Prize: An award that our countrymen have looked up to for 50 years!"
The internet, newspapers, and television stations were all scrambling to report on this. The congratulations from the people were also overwhelming. As this was an international award, no one came forward to disagree with Zhang Ye this time. Even his enemies did not say a word about it.
But at this moment, an interlude happened!
As there was not much time left until the award ceremony, and the matter was considered quite urgent, Zhang Ye had already handed his passport to the staff of Peking University yesterday. As Zhang Ye did not have a manager or team, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation. As such, the Peking University School Office had sent someone to liaise with the Abel Foundation. The original plan did not require much effort from Zhang Ye. At most, he only needed to show his face at the embassy. But as it happened, Zhang Ye and the Peking University School Office met with a snag when they were applying for the visa and were rejected by the embassy immediately!
The visa was rejected!
The reason given was that the paperwork was incomplete and the proof of contacting the Abel Foundation was not correct either!
The Peking University School Office staff were a little confused and quickly communicated with Dean Pan.
Dean Pan was also stunned. "The paperwork is incomplete? That can't be! "
The school office staff said: "Yes, everything was done according to the procedures. The paperwork with the Abel Foundation has also been processed and the invitation documents have already been sent over. Johannes should have communicated with the embassy already, right? Why couldn't it be done? And they even rejected the visa right away? There wasn't even any room for discussion? If we were to apply for the visa after it was rejected, we might be delayed. We'd better not miss Professor Zhang's trip to America to receive the award! "
Dean Pan quickly asked: "Where's Professor Zhang?"
The school office staff gave a wry smile: "Professor Zhang is right beside me right now."
"I'll go and ask again. I think there must have been some miscommunication." After Dean Pan hung up, he immediately went to contact Johannes. Later on, he also made a few calls to the embassy.
Meanwhile, Zhang Ye was squinting his eyes as he smoked outside. He did not know the visa rules of this world, so he did not interrupt.
Not long after, Dean Pan called back. The Peking University School Office staff came out to get Zhang Ye and went to the embassy again to communicate with them. After struggling for an entire morning, they still could not get it done. In the end, they were requested by the embassy staff to get the Abel Foundation to send over another set of paperwork. They also had to go to several other units and departments to get their stamps stamped on it. There were so many requests that the Peking University School Office staff could not understand. Actually, this was not the first time they had applied for a visa like this. The Peking University School Office staff and some of their scholars and professors would often go overseas for work, but the visas were always very easy to apply for. They just had to go through the procedures and it was never as difficult as Zhang Ye's visa. Besides, Zhang Ye was not just going on a simple business trip. He had been invited by the Americans, so how could it be so troublesome to apply for a visa!?
Alright then!
Since the Abel Foundation's paperwork is lacking, then we won't go through that procedure. We'll just go through Peking University's own work visa, that should be fine, right?
As such, the school office staff immediately made a call back and urgently drafted a document stating that Peking University was sending Zhang Ye on a research trip to America. After signing and stamping the document, they got someone to send it over immediately. However, the result was the same. It was still not approved. The reason was that they could not apply for two different visas within a week!
Only then did the Peking University School Office staff feel that something was wrong.
Zhang Ye was even more certain that Johannes or even the Abel Foundation's people were trying to trip him up. Zhang Ye had seen this kind of method many times before. It was not the style of the Americans, but rather the style of the Chinese people. Considering that Johannes had a Chinese wife and could speak fluent Chinese, Zhang Ye did not find it strange at all.
The Peking University School staff were getting anxious. Apply again a week later? It would be too late by then! The award ceremony was already over, so what was the use of applying? The Abel Foundation Prize had to be awarded in person!
The embassy staff were stubborn and would not budge no matter what they said. The school office staff hurriedly contacted Johannes, hoping that he could help mediate the situation.
"Hello, Mr. Johannes, we've run into some trouble here." The school office staff explained the situation to him.
Johannes pretended to be surprised and said, "Is there such a thing? Surely not, right? "
The school office staff said, "We can't get Teacher Zhang Ye's signature right now. We're all waiting at the embassy. Do you think you could help us out?"
Johannes said, "Maybe the Abel Foundation did not communicate well with the embassy. There might have been some problems in the middle, but I have some urgent matters to attend to right now and am overseas."
"Ah?" The school office staff said, "You're overseas?"
Johannes said, "I definitely won't be able to go back today. Contact me again tomorrow."
Zhang Ye had guessed correctly. This matter was indeed caused by Johannes. At this moment, Johannes was in a business suite of a hotel in Beijing. Beside him were his Chinese wife and two of his American friends. The four of them were having dinner in the room with steak and red wine.
When she heard Johannes say that he was overseas, his Chinese wife smiled.
"Haha, let's drink," a blonde American said.
The Chinese woman shushed them, then smiled and gestured for them to be quieter.
Yesterday at Peking University, Johannes, who was an official member of the Abel Foundation, was pushed back by Zhang Ye. This left Johannes brooding over it and when he got back, he started complaining to his wife and friends, scolding Zhang Ye for not knowing the rules and being a scoundrel. When his wife heard that, she was also very angry, so she came up with this idea. At that time, Johannes gave a call to his friends at the embassy and then contacted the people at the Abel Foundation. As a result, such a scene happened at the embassy today. Johannes was trying to regain his reputation and scare Zhang Ye a little.
Johannes naturally knew how important the Abel Prize was. From the news in the Chinese media over the past two days, he also knew how much importance China and Peking University placed on Zhang Ye this time. The signal that Johannes had sent out today was to let Zhang Ye know that he was the director of the Abel Foundation and also the contact person for this event. The entire itinerary was in his hands, and if he did not want Zhang Ye to get his visa, Zhang Ye would not even be able to go to America, much less receive the prize. There were many awards in the international mathematics world that were not organized by the same organization, so every award basically had its own rules and regulations. For example, some of the mathematics awards clearly stated that they would only be awarded to young mathematicians below the age of 40. Another example was the Abel Prize, which stated that if the person in question was not present at the award ceremony, the award would be forfeited. But of course, in the decades of history of the Abel Prize, there had never been a precedent of forfeiting the award.
For such an important international mathematics award, an award that was so highly regarded by your country, just as you were about to receive it, something like this happened. I don't believe that you wouldn't be anxious!
Johannes was thinking that no matter if Zhang Ye came to beg him or stomped his feet in anger, he would definitely be able to vent his anger and suppress Zhang Ye's arrogance so that he would never dare to speak in such a manner in front of him again. His goal would have been achieved! As for really not granting Zhang Ye a visa? Just so that he could not go to America? That was clearly not going to happen. Johannes would not dare to do that either. At most, he was just trying to scare Zhang Ye a little. He did not have the guts to really not allow Zhang Ye to receive the award. If that were to happen, then it would be a huge problem. Johannes was not stupid and would definitely not do that!
On the other end of the call.
His two American friends were already signaling him to hurry up. One of them even poured Johannes a glass of wine and gestured for him to hurry up and eat.
Johannes smiled into the phone and nodded in response.
The people from the Peking University administrative office said anxiously, "If you can't make it in time, just give them a call and let them know. If that doesn't work, then just get the Abel Foundation to communicate with the embassy again. The procedures and whatnot will definitely not be a problem. It's almost the day of the award ceremony, so I'm afraid that we won't be able to make it in time!"
Johannes put his arm around his Chinese wife's shoulders and rejected them with a smile. "This kind of thing can't be explained clearly over the phone. The people from the embassy don't know me either, so let's talk about it when I get back. Well, either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, get Zhang Ye to come and look for me. I'll contact them for you."
It was still tomorrow just now!
But in the blink of an eye, it was now tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?
The people from the Peking University administrative office were panicking. If this matter were to be messed up, they would not be able to bear the consequences and responsibility. This was the first time in the history of the Chinese people winning the Abel Prize!
However, Zhang Ye, who was standing nearby, had heard everything clearly. He was not as anxious or angry as the people from the Peking University administrative office. His expression was very calm as he walked over and stretched out his hand. "Pass the phone to me."
That person from the school administrative office was taken aback and subconsciously passed the phone to Zhang Ye.
Zhang Ye took it from him and said into the phone, "Mr. Johannes, let's not wait until tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Since my visa application has been rejected, then I know the attitude and sincerity of you and the Abel Foundation. Since that's the case, then there's nothing more for us to talk about. You might not understand me, but from now on, you will slowly get to know me. I'm also officially informing you right now that I'm not going to the Abel Prize for this year's award ceremony.
"What? What did you say? "On the other end, Johannes' expression changed as he hurriedly said," Wait a minute, wait a minute! "
While Johannes was still in shock, Zhang Ye had already leisurely hung up the phone and tossed it to the similarly dumbfounded Peking University administrative office staff.
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Everyone has worked hard today. I'm leaving now."
A youth from the school administrative office said in shock, "Professor Zhang, y-you're crazy?"
"Forfeit the award? You want to forfeit the award?! "
"Holy shit! Professor Zhang, don't mess around! You really shouldn't mess around! "
"Professor Zhang, don't scare us like that! Aiyo, hey, don't go! "
Zhang Ye was already out the door and driving away.
The remaining people from the Peking University administrative office were all panicking!
Something big had happened!
Something really big had happened this time!!
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