A genius? I just love studying.

Chapter 261 The Riemann Hypothesis
It was lunchtime, and a crowd had gathered in front of the blackboard. Professor Fefferman, holding a coffee, stood at the back of the crowd, watching Chen Hui write on the blackboard, and smiled faintly.

"The reservation-based time slot system uses discrete time windows, where participants pre-declare their preferred time slots, and the central scheduler allocates actual time slots based on these declarations. The goal is to minimize the maximum waiting time or maximize total utility."

It can be proven that, in Bayesian Nash equilibrium, considering the distribution of others' preferences, the expected utility is greater than the utility under W_ne & Q_ne.

Chen Hui put a checkmark next to the challenge target with a red pen, and then drew a smaller but more delicate ghost wearing glasses next to Li Zehan's ghost signature.

A low gasp and laughter rippled through the crowd.

"It seems you've adapted well to life here."

Fefferman, carrying a cup of coffee, squeezed through the crowd and came to Chen Hui's side.

"Sometimes I feel that maybe I was born to be here."

Chen Hui threw down the chalk in his hand, looking at his masterpiece with satisfaction; it didn't seem fake.

Fefferman remained noncommittal. He understood Chen Hui's situation; there might be S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the crowd right now.

"Have a meal together?"

Fefferman didn't say much, his gaze already fixed on the other end of the corridor, seemingly uninterested in the question on the blackboard.

Chen Hui looked at Li Zehan and said, "I'm sorry, I already have an appointment."

"It's okay, let's go together."

Fefferman looked at Li Zehan and nodded with a smile.

He had some impression of this international student from China, after all, there weren't many people in the Princeton mathematics department.

Li Zehan was somewhat flattered. No mathematician could refuse to have lunch with a big name like Fefferman.

Although Chen Hui is currently a world-class mathematician, no less than Fefferman, he didn't feel that way at all when he was with Chen Hui.

"OK then."

Seeing Li Zehan nod, Chen Hui naturally had no reason to refuse.

The three walked out of the crowd and headed towards the Court Club building, a Tudor-style building constructed in the late 19th century, which is over a hundred years old.

The building was originally located on the food street, but it was rotated 180 degrees and moved to the new site to make way for the new campus of ES+SEAS (Environmental Research and Engineering and Applied Sciences).

This is not the first time Princeton University has moved an entire building to preserve its historical character. They moved Corwin Hall back in 1963, and the famous Joseph Henry House was even moved twice in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Of course, their initial plan to demolish the building aroused dissatisfaction among Princeton alumni, professors, and even residents in the surrounding area, including Fefferman, who was walking next to Chen Hui.

He frequently visited the construction site during the later relocation of the building, which shows that he had a deep affection for it.

Led by Fefferman, the three entered the Court Club building without any hindrance.

The dining club is central to Princeton's campus culture. Court Club is self-governed by upperclassmen and has an extremely rigorous selection process. Applicants are required to undergo multiple rounds of interviews, covering topics such as academic interests, leadership, and social skills. The acceptance rate is usually less than 10%, and the annual fee of $5,000 is a negligible requirement.

Li Zehan stood in front of the building, somewhat hesitant, worried about what would happen if he were kicked out later.

He had previously applied for Court Club membership, but the result was not so pleasant.

The three of them—one a failed interviewee, two teachers—didn't seem like the kind of people who could get into this building.

"No, when you say 'eat,' you mean this place?"

"This is an upperclassman club. Not just anyone can go in. If you enter without permission, you will lose credits."

Li Zehan stopped Chen Hui, knowing that Chen Hui had only been here for a few days and it was normal for him not to know the rules.

However, Fefferman went in first, seemingly ignoring Li Zehan's words.

Chen Hui followed suit without hesitation.

"..."

Li Zehan was speechless. He knew that Chen Hui was in a very high position now and didn't believe in evil spirits. He thought that being kicked out later would be the best outcome, so he had no choice but to follow him.

But just as he reached the door, he suddenly remembered that Chen Hui and the other two were different from him; they were teachers and had no fear of losing credits.

At that moment, a tall young man dressed in a casual suit walked towards them.

"Oops."

Li Zehan gasped inwardly. He recognized the guy; he was the chief interviewer who had interviewed him.

"Professor Fefferman."

The young man greeted Fefferman with a bright smile, then immediately turned his gaze to Chen Hui, his expression becoming much more enthusiastic, "You must be Professor Chen Hui."

"Hello." Chen Hui nodded in greeting, though he didn't recognize the young man.

"Hello."

The young man's smile widened. "I'm O'Connor, the current head of the senior club. I sent you an invitation a couple of days ago."

"Oh, um."

Chen Hui nodded belatedly. He really hadn't paid attention to his email. As his fame grew, more and more people were sending him emails, so he had long since switched to a different private email address, which only people he knew well knew about.

"I knew you'd come. It's an honor to have you become the 1432nd member of the senior club!"

O'Connor reached out her hand to Chen Hui.

"what?"

"Good grief, when did you pass the senior club interview behind my back?"

Li Zehan looked at Chen Hui and muttered something.

O'Connor then looked at Li Zehan, whom he vaguely remembered. He seemed to be close to Chen Hui, so he explained on Chen Hui's behalf, "Of course, the winner of the Phil Award doesn't need an interview."

"..."

Li Zehan suddenly regretted that he should have just gone to the student cafeteria instead of following Fefferman to this club.

Sensing Li Zehan's gaze, O'Connor spoke again, "Professor Fefferman is a lifetime honorary member of our club."

"Well, you two have connections now, so why did you call me here?"

Li Zehan thought to himself, "Then, I'll leave?"

Fefferman seemed to hear Li Zehan's inner grumbling, and finally smiled as he looked at O'Connor, "Is it okay if I use my remaining points to bring someone out to dinner?"

"of course."

O'Connor gave an affirmative answer, "Enjoy your meal."

After saying that, he turned and left. The club hosts several formal dinners each week, serving classic American dishes, while informal times include buffets.

Have you decided what course you want to teach next semester?

After taking a piece of bread and a piece of grilled steak from his plate and sitting down at the table, Fefferman looked at Chen Hui.

"Analytic number theory".

Chen Hui had already made up his mind.

“Analytic number theory?” Fefferman’s right hand, which was holding a steak, froze in mid-air, then he quickly realized something. “So, the next target is the Riemann Hypothesis?”

"That's right!" Chen Hui admitted without hesitation.

Fefferman was both amused and exasperated. If anyone else had said that to him, he would have thought they were crazy.

But as Chen Hui spoke, he found himself pondering how long this guy would take to solve the Riemann Hypothesis—three years, or five?

It is indeed a strange idea, but this guy in front of me has such magic.

Unexpectedly, Chen Hui really got into a fight with the Millennium Problem.

The Millennium Problems are indeed good subjects for research, but each problem involves completely different fields. Even though the Yang-Mills equation and the Navier-Stokes equation are both partial differential equations, there are still huge differences between partial differential equations.

Are we going to start studying analytic number theory this time?
He was unaware of Chen Hui's conversation with Schultz; otherwise, he would have been able to guess why Chen Hui had suddenly started studying the Riemann Hypothesis.

"Aren't you considering continuing to study partial differential equations?"

Fefferman hesitated for a moment before asking, "Your classmates all have a very high opinion of you."

Clearly, he was already aware of what had happened in the seminar that morning.

"Partial differential equations are just a hobby; the Riemann Hypothesis is my goal!"

Chen Hui took a big bite of steak, his tone firm, the tender and juicy steak making him very satisfied.

He certainly wanted to continue researching the subsequent applications of the Navier-Stokes equations, but unfortunately, the conditions did not allow it. He understood that he needed to first appear as a harmless scholar to lower the guard of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents so that he could find a chance to go back. He believed that his family was also trying to find a way to rescue him.

Princeton was ultimately just a sanctuary, not home, and he would have to go back there sooner or later.

Seeing that Chen Hui had made up his mind, Fefferman stopped trying to persuade him. After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Fefferman looked up at Chen Hui as if he had suddenly remembered something, and asked, "Are you planning to take on a few students next semester?"

"Of course!"

"The era of doing academic research alone is long gone; now is not the time to be a hero."

Chen Hui nodded without hesitation, "If possible, it would be best if my students from Jiangcheng University could also come here."

"A very insightful point!"

Fefferman nodded. "In a few days, I'll have the admissions office send a few shortlisted resumes to your email. You can organize your own interviews."

"As for your student in China, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about it."

Princeton is not a place anyone can get into. Although it's true that one person's success can bring benefits to their entire family, it's clearly impossible to get into Princeton by relying on a professor.

"That's such a shame."

Chen Hui didn't seem to care much about the matter. After asking casually, he changed the subject, "Perfect timing. I think I need to take a few days off. If nothing unexpected happens, I should be able to come back before the next seminar."

"Oh? You're leaving Princeton?"

"I'm going to Cambridge; there's a million-dollar prize waiting for me to collect."

Fefferman smiled slightly, "I'll have him transfer the money directly to your account. You don't need to go to collect the prize. If you need money, you can come to me."

Princeton offered Chen Hui an annual salary of $500,000, which was quite good, and he didn't think Chen Hui would be short of money.

"Oh, I see. That's great."

"Lend me five hundred thousand dollars first."

"Five hundred thousand dollars? What are you going to do with it?"

"Buy a house!"

Fefferman remained silent, then shook his head with a wry smile, "I really underestimated the Chinese people's obsession with buying houses."

"Then you should wait for the Clay Institute's bonus to arrive. I don't have half a million dollars either."

His annual salary was certainly higher than Chen Hui's, but his expenses were also considerable, and he didn't actually have $500,000 in cash on hand.

"Then I'll trouble Professor Fefferman to urge them for me." Chen Hui readily agreed; he didn't want to leave Princeton unless absolutely necessary.

Fefferman nodded in satisfaction, whether from the steak or from his conversation with Chen Hui, it was unclear. Before leaving, he emphasized again, "Trust me, I can guarantee no one will dare to hurt you at Princeton."

"Thank you, Professor Fefferman."

Chen Hui expressed his sincere gratitude.

Many political heavyweights in America graduated from Princeton, and Fefferman, as the head of the mathematics department, naturally had some connections. Chen Hui did not doubt his promise.

……

In a four-story villa in Washington, Nick listened to Fefferman and Chen Hui's conversation and nodded in satisfaction.

After ousting his predecessor Fury and taking office, he devoted a great deal of energy to that Chinese scholar. As the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he had mountains of intelligence and affairs to deal with every day, but he would spend at least two hours a day on Chen Hui, which shows how much he valued him.

Fefferman's conversation with Chen Hui was clearly not a coincidence.

"Take on students, buy a house!"

Nick murmured softly, "Judging from Chen Hui's performance, he seems to have fully integrated into Princeton and seems to have the idea of ​​settling down here."

He knew, of course, that this was likely just Chen Hui's disguise, but once he had taken in students, Chen Hui couldn't just leave whenever he wanted. To use an old Chinese saying, "If you can run away from the monk, can you run away from the temple?"
Or rather, this was simply a temple that Chen Hui had deliberately built in Princeton.

"No wonder he's a Philharmonic Award winner, he's really smart!"

Nick gave a soft compliment.

As can be seen from Chen Hui's previous intelligence, Chen Hui is definitely not the kind of person who would abandon his students and run away alone, so this can be simply understood as Chen Hui handing over a pledge of allegiance to them.

"Wise choice!"

In this way, Chen Hui has a stable environment to conduct his research, and they are not forced to make some less-than-ideal decisions, resulting in a win-win situation.

"Unless Professor Chen makes any move to leave the country, do not disturb him, and do not let him leave the surveillance camera for more than three seconds!"

Nick gave instructions to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents around him.

Since Chen Hui had shown his sincerity, Nick felt he should reciprocate in kind.

Nick got up and left the monitoring room; he needed to deal with another headache.

In just one week, a total of 107 scholars left America for various reasons. These 107 scholars came from all fields, not just mathematics. Although they did not make any statements, Nick had a feeling that they would not be coming back.

Because 89 of these people returned to their home countries, not to attend the conference or to exchange ideas, but to look for jobs.

What puzzled him even more was that 32 of these 107 people were Americans!
If this trend continues, things could get very bad in a few weeks.

Moreover, hundreds of scholars have declined to attend conferences in the United States in recent days, and organizers of six large conferences have made last-minute decisions to change their venues...

Keeping someone around is a temporary pleasure.

This mess looks like it won't be easy to clean up.

Nick had a headache, which was why he was so happy about Chen Hui's performance. In his eyes, a person who didn't cause trouble was the most lovable person.

(End of this chapter)