Xu Dajiang was startled, then quickly became alert.
He had been through it all, even a senior professor from the school banging on his desk because a project had been cut.
But this was the first time he had seen someone come to ask for help so humbly.
So he immediately thought of some not-so-good possibilities.
No way?
Zhao Guangyao was almost sixty years old; could he still get involved in some messy, romantic scandal and be threatened?
Old but vigorous?!
When he spoke, he chose his words carefully, "No, Zhao, you first calm down, tell me slowly what's going on. Don't scare me, what could be so serious? Look, we have been colleagues for so many years, I will certainly help if I can. What exactly is the problem? It doesn't involve a student, does it?"
"Ah... it actually does involve a student." Zhao Guangyao sighed, his face mournful, then picked up the laptop he had brought with him.
Xu Dajiang was dumbfounded.
He was only worried about young, single professors like Li Jiangao having this kind of problem, but he never expected an old man close to retirement to get caught up in something like this.
What did bringing a laptop mean?
Was he being blackmailed with photos that had been secretly taken? Was he that frivolous?!
Looking at the deep furrows on Zhao Guangyao's face and thinking about the content of the photos, Xu Dajiang suddenly shivered.
"Zhao, are you out of your mind... Don't bring out the laptop, I don't want to see it... How could you... How could you do right by Wang?"
This grave declaration stunned Zhao Guangyao, who stopped what he was doing with a puzzled look and turned to Xu Dajiang, asking in surprise, "No, Xu, what do you mean? What does this have to do with my wife?"
He just wanted to show Xu Dajiang the email Qiao Ze had sent him and explain his thought process at the time, seeking understanding.
The other party directly refused to look, and even accused him of betraying his wife?
Luckily, they were both intelligent people. In less than a second, Zhao Guangyao tasted the implication of Xu's words and his face reddened, saying, "No... Xu Dajiang, what are you suggesting?! What are you thinking? You see me as that kind of person?! The student I mentioned is that Qiao Ze, the new high school student that just arrived at the school!"
"Ah?!" Xu Dajiang instantly realized he must have misunderstood.
Now that was awkward!
For a moment, the two old men just stood there, exchanging helpless glances...
Fortunately, Zhao Guangyao was feeling too weak today, and remembering that he still needed Xu Dajiang's help, he was the first to soften.
"That... never mind..."
Even if he started learning from his mother's womb, he could only have studied for eighteen years...
How did he research both Group Theory and non-Euclidean geometry to at least a doctoral level?
Not to mention comparing with ordinary people, even if you put Qiao Ze among a bunch of geniuses, wouldn't those geniuses immediately seem rather ordinary?
It's mind-blowing, really, Xu Dajiang felt like he was going to explode!
He thought he had rated Qiao Ze highly enough, but it turned out he had still underestimated this kid.
If this letter truly came from Qiao Ze, did he still need to worry about how many points Qiao Ze scored on the final exams?
Even if it was zero in every subject, there was no need to care, right?
No, he still had to care... after all, public relations still had to be done.
Ninety-nine percent of people online don't know a damn thing about academia, but at least they understand scores!
Just if Xilin University of Technology trains this kid well, in the future he would purely be a national treasure!
So what if Yanbei University School of Mathematics is ranked first in the country?
Princeton Mathematics Institute claims to be the cradle of mathematicians?
Could you find me an 18-year-old mathematical genius eligible for dual doctorate degrees?!
Zhao Guangyao was almost in tears watching Xu Dajiang staring blankly at him.
Could you make a sound already?!
Alright then, since this guy wasn't speaking up, he had to say it, "Cough cough... Old Xu, when I first received this letter, I didn't even know our school had somebody like Qiao Ze. I thought he was some domestic bigwig in geometry guiding a doctoral student. It just so happened, I also thought about how my paper was rejected by 'Geometry and Graph Theory', then I started thinking about networking."
"Ah, then I wrote back to him. You can also see that letter. Ah, actually, the reason I came to find you wasn't for anything else. After all, I'm not familiar with the kid. Could you please call the kid over and have a good talk with him? It's best not to let this matter spread outside.
Otherwise, where will I put my face and stay in the school?"
"Oh..." Xu Dajiang finally snapped out of his daze.
He had absorbed half of Zhao Guangyao's words, but the other half didn't actually need to be heard, as after reading Zhao Guangyao's reply, Xu Dajiang roughly understood.
He couldn't help but subconsciously comfort him, "Ah, Old Zhao, you don't need to be so agitated. Can I tell you something? Do you know how the kid was discovered by Little Li?"
"Hmm?"
"He only took ten minutes to find an error in a Group Theory paper published in Princeton's 'Mathematics Annual', and then he pointed it out. What's more terrifying is that that day, including professors from Jiang University and Xi'an Jiaotong University, several professors verified the paper was indeed incorrect using his method. How about that? Feel better knowing this?"
"What the hell? Group Theory? You're telling me he even understands Group Theory?!"
Now it was Zhao Guangyao's turn to be stunned.