Chapter 515 - One of the worlds Top 10 Mathematical Conjectures! (1/2)
Chapter 515: One of the world's Top 10 Mathematical Conjectures!
The countries taking part in this event went to their allocated spots in the yard. Every country had placed writing boards at their exhibit booths with translations and a display area to showcase the contributions of their nations to the Mathematics world. The prize and topic for this round of compet.i.tion were displayed as well.
”Go for it!”
”Beat them!”
”Don't lose this time!”
“Children, don't cry anymore. Let your teachers get back at them for you!”
The Chinese park visitors were cheering them on and some of the foreign park visitors were also cheering their own country's teams on. It was a lively scene.
The prizes were announced.
The United Kingdom's team had revealed a scholars.h.i.+p check at their display booth worth 50,000 pounds, a very generous amount. Next, one of their team's staff members revealed the topic which most of the visitors could not understand, but the other countries' teams of mathematicians or the partic.i.p.ants of the Math Olympiad could understand what they saw. It was the same as previous years, where the United Kingdom team did not propose an extremely difficult topic, but it wasn't easy either, and the common conclusion that everyone reached was that it could be solved.
The display booth for the Chinese team was hosted by the team leader, w.a.n.g Yiming, and deputy leader, Xin Ya. Han Henian and some other seniors of the Mathematics world were around as well. As they were the hosts of this year's event, their display booth was also allocated a larger area. Many people had come and several authority figures of the Mathematics world were also present. Some of them were standing around in the Chinese team's display booth, while others went around to other countries' display booths to check out their topics.
The prize put up for the Chinese team's question was an ink painting, likely drawn by a famous Qing dynasty painter. The painting was of an eagle, looking very ferocious and lifelike, and drawn with vigorous but finely detailed brush strokes. The possible value of this painting was not low, probably around the range of several millions. As for the topic, this year, the Chinese team had proposed one of greater difficulty than they had in previous years. If it were too easy, there would surely be a loss of face if someone were to answer it too quickly. A mathematics expert from China had suggested this new topic with regards to geometric drawings. After discussing with people like Xin Ya and Han Henian, they decided that it would be used as their topic for this event. They had even spent quite a bit of effort on it.
The j.a.panese team.....
The Korean team....
The prizes and topics were displayed out one by one.
”Wah.”
”The Koreans have put up a rather good prize.”
”Yea, it's quite valuable.”
”Germany has a good one too.”
”j.a.pan's prize is a little miserly, it looks pretty worthless.”
Even if they did not understand the topics, the park visitors would still understand the value of the prizes. They were standing around pointing and making comments of each nation’s prize. They were on higher ground than where the event was being held and could not enter the event area, as there was barricade tape encircling the area. Only some of the related organizers and media personnel were allowed in, but from where they were, they could still view the whole event very clearly.
Wu Zeqing was in the event area too and was chatting with several other leaders of other higher inst.i.tutes of learning.
Han Henian just noticed Wu Zeqing's presence and was stunned for a little while before greeting her. ”President Wu, what would you be doing here today?”
Wu Zeqing smiled and replied, ”I was just coincidentally at this place.”
Nanjing University Mathematics Department's dean stroked his beard and laughed. ”Teacher Han, you're really brave. I heard that you confessed to President Wu on Weibo?”
Around him, a few other mathematicians also laughed along in a kind manner. Han Henian might be a rookie in the Mathematics world, but his background was very good. He had a lot of potential and many of the Mathematics world's elders had high hopes for him.
When they brought up this subject, Han Henian felt a little embarra.s.sed and coughed awkwardly.
That dean said, ”Our President Wu is not someone you can just woo so simply. You've got to buck up. If you really manage to win her over, then you'd make all of us in the Mathematics community very proud.”
Han Henian laughed dryly. ”Sure, I will try my best.” As he said so, he noticed Wu Zeqing's expression. She was looking especially beautiful today in her dignified qipao dress.
Wu Zeqing still maintaining her gentle smile said, ”It's better to stay focused on the event activities for now. It's starting already, isn't it?”
Everyone could sense that Wu Zeqing did not want to be involved in this sort of gossip and so made no mention of it anymore. Not all jokes should cracked blindly in this way.
With the mention of the event, those mathematicians' expressions became serious. ”Little Han, are you going to attempt any of the topics?”
Han Henian nodded. ”I'll go ahead then. If I can't do it, there's still Professor Xin and Professor w.a.n.g.”
A senior mathematician said, ”You've got to crack the Americans' topic. We're the organizers this time, but our kids could only placed third. So all of you have got to work hard to gain back our honor.” With a pause, he continued, ”The Americans were too atrocious last year and purposely set an unsolved Math Problem*. Hopefully, they won't repeat such behavior again this year.”
Han Henian replied, ”I understand.”
At this moment, the Americans were the last to reveal their prize.
When everyone saw it, they were stunned.
A few blond-haired American mathematicians took out a small box, placed it on the display stand and opened the cover. In it was a green jade thumb ring that had engravings on it. Looking at the oxidation on it, it was definitely an old antique, an old jade ring at least a few hundred years old. Because the quality of the jade was not too good, it was probably from the Qing Dynasty where these stone deficiencies were generally more accepted and not like the standards of modern days, where people always asked for crystal clear types or solid green jade, but in terms of value, this would not lose out to the higher-grade jade stones, as it was considered an antique!
There were experts in the crowd.
”A jade thumb ring?”
”That engraving! It should be a palace treasure!”
”Was this smuggled out from the palace in the past?”
”It has to be. That oxidation shows that it’s at least a few hundred years old!”
Much of the history in this world had not changed. The days of the Siege of the International Legations also existed in this world, so it was highly possible that this jade thumb ring was seized from the houses in the capital or the royal family and smuggled out of the country. It was not known how the ring got into the hands of these American mathematicians, or why they put it up as a prize for their topic. Generally speaking, this event was also used as a platform to promote the culture of the countries. The teams would usually bring out something that was representative of their country's culture as the prize, but no one would have expected the American team to use an item that was looted from the Chinese for the prize at a event that was held in China. What's more, it was an event held at Summer Palace! This was the kind of situation which should only exist in a person's imagination!