When Lu Zhou returned home, the sky was already dark.
He returned to the house that he had been away from for a long time. The moment he pushed open the door, the dust on his face made him sneeze.
"I should have hired a housekeeping company to clean this place regularly," Lu Zhou said as he waved his hand in front of his nose. He looked at the dusty hallway and felt a headache coming on.
Maybe I should go to the hotel tonight?
Lu Zhou thought about it and decided not to.
By the time he got to the hotel, it would take him enough time to clean his bedroom.
He spent around an hour with a broom and a rag. He finally cleaned up his study and bedroom.
Lu Zhou leaned the broom against the wall and looked at the clean study room. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and had a satisfied smile on his face.
"Now, there's only one thing left to do."
Before going to bed, he planned to finish today's work.
However, there was only one thing left to do.
Lu Zhou sat in front of his familiar desk. He spent around half an hour writing his resignation.
Looking at the completely dark sky outside the window, he put the two resignation letters into the drawer, turned around, and walked in the direction of the bedroom.
…
A special ceremony was held in the No. 1 lecture hall at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.
After Dean Goddard approved Lu Zhou's resignation, he awarded him the title of honorary researcher.
This title was similar to the honorary professor title at the university. It was mainly awarded to scholars who had made significant contributions to a research institution but could not continue to work there for various reasons.
"You are one of the most outstanding scholars in the history of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. As your colleague, your research results have left a deep impression on me. "
"Although it's a pity that I can't work with you, I still hope that no matter where you are, you can continue to move forward on the academic path."
Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I will."
There was a round of applause in the lecture hall.
Lu Zhou received the honorary professor title from Dean Goddard.
Including the honorary professorship awarded to him by Chancellor Eisgruber, as well as Columbia University and Jin Ling University, he had received honorary professorship titles from three universities.
Although Lu Zhou didn't deliberately collect these titles, he was very curious. When he passed away, would the history books use an entire page to list his academic titles?
After the ceremony was over, Lu Zhou was about to spend the rest of his time walking around. However, Professor Fefferman, who worked with him on the Navier – Stokes equation, suddenly stopped him.
He took out a pen from his pocket and said in a joking tone, "Even though Princeton doesn't have this tradition, I still want to give you something. I collected this pen at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Helsinki, and it's my favorite. I'll leave it in your care. "
Because of Lang Howard's "A Beautiful Mind", Princeton was famous for a period of time. What was most talked about was probably the Princeton style of giving away a fountain pen.
However, according to Nash himself, giving away a fountain pen was just part of the director's exaggeration, and there was no such tradition in Princeton. However, after the movie was broadcast, this joke was unexpectedly welcomed by the Princeton teachers and students.
After all, for the professors here, the most common things in their drawers were probably the fountain pens they collected from attending academic conferences.
The International Congress of Mathematicians in Helsinki that Professor Fefferman mentioned was the one where he won the Fields Prize.
"Thank you." Lu Zhou solemnly accepted the fountain pen and smiled. He then joked, "You gave me such a valuable gift, I'd be embarrassed if I didn't give you a gift in return."
Professor Fefferman smiled and said, "You should give me something, gifts should be given to each other. I remember there's a saying in China."
Lu Zhou guessed that Lu Zhou was probably trying to say reciprocity, but that wasn't a saying, it was an idiom.
Lu Zhou smiled and took out a fountain pen from his pocket.
Fefferman took the fountain pen from Lu Zhou's hand and looked at him with surprise.
"I didn't expect you to have it prepared."
"I just have it with me." Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "By the way, I collected this at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Rio de Janeiro."
"Oh yeah? Then I'll have to take good care of it. "Fefferman smiled and said," Oh yeah, speaking of which, do you still have your manuscripts? "
Lu Zhou: "I still have them, why?"
Fefferman: "If you don't plan on taking them with you, I suggest you donate them to the Firestone Library. Even though the old librarian seems a bit crazy, he's quite good at maintaining paper documents. "
Lu Zhou paused for a second.
Donate the manuscripts to the library?
He had never thought about this before.
Originally, he planned on giving them to his students as a souvenir. But thinking about it carefully, it was obviously better to give them to professionals than to amateurs.
Maybe one day, he would come back and take a look.
After all, he had poured his blood, sweat, and tears into each and every one of those pages.
Lu Zhou asked in an uncertain tone, "Will the Firestone Library collect those pieces of paper?"
Fefferman smiled and said, "Of course, and I think it's not just the Firestone Library, I'm sure any museum would be happy to take these materials."
…
After leaving the Institute for Advanced Study, Lu Zhou went straight to the Firestone Library.
When he arrived, the old man in a nightgown was taking a nap in his chair.
Even in Princeton, which was full of "freaks", it was still rare to see a freak wearing a nightgown in the library.
Lu Zhou still remembered the last time he came here to borrow Lyman Spitzer's manuscripts, and this old man made fun of him.
However, even though he had many quirks, his love for books was undeniable.
Perhaps it was because of this freak that the original historical documents and materials here could be preserved so well.
When the old man saw Lu Zhou appear at the door, he sniffed and let out a strange laugh.
"You're here?"
Lu Zhou looked at the creepy smile that could scare away people who came to borrow books. He sighed and said, "It's been so many years, don't you want to change your look? And your dry laughter. "
"What does it matter? Who cares what an old man is wearing?" The old man smiled and reached for his crutch. He stood up shakily and said, "Not to mention that in Princeton, which is full of freaks, I'm the most normal one."
[No, you're probably the most abnormal one.]
Lu Zhou thought in his mind, but he didn't say it out loud. Instead, he just casually asked a question.
"When do you plan on retiring?"
The old man smiled and said, "Retire? I'll probably have to wait until I'm in a coffin. "
When Lu Zhou heard this, he looked at him with surprise.
"I thought at your age, you would avoid the word coffin."
"Why should I avoid it? Do you think I can avoid death just by avoiding it? We will all decay one day, but our wisdom and knowledge will be left behind for future generations to admire, "said the old man as he stared at Lu Zhou with his turbid eyes. He then smiled and said," Tell me, are you here to borrow a book, or is there something else you need? "
Lu Zhou: "I plan on returning to China soon."
The old man said, "Oh," and didn't react at all.
After all, he was only responsible for this library. He didn't care about the personnel changes at Princeton or the Institute for Advanced Study.
Lu Zhou organized his thoughts and said, "When I was cleaning the house, I found a bunch of manuscripts. Some of them are related to Goldbach's conjecture, and some are related to the Navier – Stokes equation. It might take some time to sort them out … What I mean is, if you're interested, can you keep them for me?"
When the old man heard that Lu Zhou planned on donating the manuscripts to the Firestone Library, he finally had an interested expression on his face.
"Of course, this is the wealth of civilization. Give it to me, I'll keep it safe for you."
Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Whether it's the wealth of civilization or not, that's for future generations to judge. I just think it might be a bit troublesome to bring all of these back. I might not even be able to fit them in a few suitcases. Also, if one day I come back, I hope they'll still be the same. "
The old man smirked and said, "Don't worry about that. Just like how you're an expert in mathematics, I'm also an expert in literature preservation."
"Oh yeah? Then I'm relieved. "Lu Zhou paused for a second and joked," Oh yeah, by the way, if I borrow my own manuscripts, do I have to swear on the Bible? "
However, the old man didn't seem to have any sense of humor.
In response to this joke, he said it in a serious manner.
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