Start as a top student and move towards the stars and the sea

Entering the campus of MIT for the first time, Ning Chen was still full of respect for this world's top university.

In the history of MIT, a total of 97 Nobel Prize winners, 8 Fields Medal winners, and 26 Turing Award winners have been born.

Compared with the brilliant achievements created by these predecessors, the achievements Ning Chen has achieved so far also appear to be bleak.

Under the guidance of the staff, we came to the auditorium. At this time, many people were already sitting in the auditorium.

Many of these people looked quite young, and Ning Chen felt that they should be big names in the academic world.

After all, it is difficult for ordinary people to participate in an award ceremony of this level. This is a truly top international academic award.

Sitting in his seat, Ning Chen noticed that people were looking at him from time to time.

Ning Chen felt that maybe it was because he was too young that he stood out in the auditorium.

After all the guests were seated, the award ceremony began soon.

The first winner is an American physicist whose research results have verified that Einstein's gravity theory is applicable to the cosmic level.

The second winner is from Germany and has made outstanding research results in the field of algebraic geometry.

Since there are only three winners of the Simmons Scholar Award this year, Ning Chen knew that it would be his turn to go on stage to receive the award next.

Ning Chen was not sure how the order of receiving the awards was arranged, whether it was sorted according to a certain method, or in a random order.

However, Ning Chen vaguely felt that maybe he was deliberately arranged to be the last one to receive the award.

“The last winner of this year’s Simons Scholar Award is Ning Chen, a mathematician from China!

During this year's research, Ning Chen published three blockbuster papers in AMS, and successfully solved the Qiu Chengtong conjecture that has troubled the mathematics community for more than 50 years.

According to reviewer Simon Donaldson's evaluation, Ning Chen's academic achievements are very groundbreaking. While solving Qiu Chengtong's conjecture, we also created many new mathematical theories, which will provide us with great help in studying other mathematical problems in the future...

Amid everyone's applause, Ning Chen walked to the award podium.

Not sure if it was his own illusion, Ning Chen just felt that the applause he received was louder than the previous two winners.

After Ning Chen received the medal, he entered the familiar part of his acceptance speech.

Ladies and gentlemen, hello everyone, I am Ning Chen from Shengzhou University in China.

First of all, I am very grateful to the Simons Foundation for recognizing me. This is a great honor and a great motivation for me.

Before this, I never imagined that I would be able to win such an important academic award.

After I received the award-winning email from the Simons Foundation, I subconsciously thought it was a scam email and wanted to delete it immediately... Fortunately, I held back and checked the email carefully. The sending address confirms that the email is authentic.

Hearing Ning Chen's words, the guests at the award ceremony couldn't help laughing and applauded Ning Chen again.

“Here, I would like to thank Shengzhou University for training me and allowing me to conduct various research work wholeheartedly.

I also want to thank one person in particular, that is Professor Qiu Chengtong.

Professor Qiu Chengtong is not only the proposer of this conjecture. When I wanted to study Qiu Chengtong's conjecture, Professor Qiu Chengtong gave me a lot of encouragement, giving me the courage to study such a conjecture that has been unsolved in mathematics for many years.

During the entire process of my research on Qiu Chengtong's conjecture, Professor Qiu Chengtong also provided me with a lot of help, which helped me avoid many detours during the research process...

Ning Chen's gratitude to Qiu Chengtong is very sincere. It can be said that without Qiu Chengtong, Ning Chen would not be here today.

Finally, I would like to thank the Simons Foundation again for its recognition of me. I will continue to explore upward and make my own small contribution to the entire mathematics community.

Amidst another round of applause, Ning Chen walked down from the award podium and returned to his seat.

When he just watched Ning Chen receive the award, Liu Xu was very moved and his eyes were even wet.

Ning Chen, you are really great! You spoke very well on the stage just now, and you didn't have stage fright at all in such a big occasion!

At this age, Liu Xu rarely showed his inner emotions like he did just now.

But this time, Liu Xu was really affected by Ning Chen's award and felt proud of Ning Chen from the bottom of his heart.

In fact, when he just received the award, Ning Chen was not really nervous at all, but he completely suppressed this emotion in his heart.

After several experiences in big scenes, Ning Chen's psychological quality has also been significantly improved. Even in the face of many people's eyes, he can speak very smoothly without any jamming.

As Ning Chen finished receiving his award, the award ceremony came to an end.

Everyone stood up and left the auditorium one after another, and Ning Chen and Liu Xu were also preparing to leave.

At this time, a staff member from the Simmons Foundation came over.

Mr. Ning Chen, please don't leave yet. Mr. Simmons will invite you and your companions to a dinner later.

After hearing what the staff said, Ning Chen was stunned for a moment, and then immediately agreed.

OK, thanks.

In fact, this arrangement was very reasonable, because Ning Chen also felt a little hungry at this time.

Under the guidance of the staff, Ning Chen and Liu Xu came to a nearby restaurant.

There were far fewer people attending the dinner than at the award ceremony just now. It was obvious that this dinner was of a higher level.

After sitting down according to the instructions, an old man walked over to Ning Chen.

Ning Chen, hello, we finally meet!

When Ning Chen heard this, he turned around and looked over, and found that it was an old man he didn't recognize.

However, those who can come here are all the top figures in the world's academic world. Ning Chen also stood up very politely and greeted the old man.

I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Simon Donaldson, and I'm one of the reviewers on your three papers.

Upon hearing the name Simon Donaldson, Ning Chen immediately stood in awe of the old man.

So you are Professor Simon Donaldson! I have always admired your research results. I didn't expect to see you today. This is really an honor for me!

Ning Chen naturally knew that Simon Donaldson was the winner of the Fields Medal, and his status in the international mathematics community was not lower than that of Qiu Chengtong.

Ning Chen, I am also very honored to meet you here. Speaking of which, when I first saw your paper, I couldn't wait to see you. Today, this wish finally came true!

In front of Ning Chen, a junior, Donaldson did not put on any airs. It was obvious that Donaldson really admired Ning Chen.

The two of them felt like they had just met each other, and soon they started chatting enthusiastically.

Donaldson and Ning Chen chatted a lot about Qiu Chengtong's conjecture, and Ning Chen answered them very patiently.

After some exchanges, Donaldson became even more convinced of Ning Chen's talent in mathematics. Without sufficient accumulation, he would never be able to talk eloquently on these issues.

While Donaldson and Ning Chen were communicating, dishes of food were being served to the table one after another, but both of them were completely focused on mathematics and did not even notice that the meal had been served.

Donaldson, pause your communication for a moment and let that Chinese kid eat!

After being reminded by others, Donaldson noticed that all the food on the table had been served.

Sorry, I'm an old man who has this problem. I get carried away when it comes to math. Let's eat first.

It's okay, Professor Donaldson, I do that from time to time.

However, Ning Chen did feel a little hungry. Seeing that everyone was already moving, Ning Chen stopped being polite.

The meals on the table all look very exquisite, including steaks, cheesecakes, spring lamb racks, jambalaya, salads, various desserts, etc.

Ning Chen tasted each dish in turn, and each dish was very delicious. It was indeed much more delicious than those ordinary Western restaurants in China.

The waiter in the restaurant poured red wine for everyone, and Liu Xu whispered in Ning Chen's ear:

Ning Chen, let's stop drinking. We must stay sober here.