"Let’s analyze this, Professor Luo left us with two tasks, the first one is to deflect the conversation."

"The second is to keep him from being dragged away."

"As a man, it would be inappropriate for me to hang on to him, so Teacher Qian, let’s divide the workload. I will go deflect the conversation, and you be sure not to let him get pulled away!"

Xu Chao’s thinking was extremely logical. After analyzing Professor Luo’s instructions, he immediately collaborated with Qian Hong and split the tasks.

Qian Hong immediately felt the pressure.

Realistically speaking, Yanhua University is also one of the top universities, but in the capital, its competitiveness is not considered top-tier. This is mainly because it is overshadowed by Shuimu University and Capital University, along with other schools like Renmin University, University of Science and Technology, Aerospace and other colleges, each with their own unique features and not worse than Yanhua University.

Yanhua University is simply smaller in size, and the computer science department has a late start. Science is truly captivating but cannot compare to Capital University.

In short, it lags a bit in competitiveness.

Everyone knows Zhao Yi has a promising future; every domestic university wants him to study there.

Now that Zhao Yi is on Yanhua University’s turf, it is important that he doesn’t get snatched away by another school, or else it’s a one-way trip.

"What to do?"

Qian Hong took a position behind Zhao Yi and noticed a professor from Shuimu University touting how great Shuimu University is, how their rankings are increasingly progressive among the top dozens worldwide, and they are not inferior to top overseas universities, and so on. She immediately felt threatened.

It’s crucial to do a good job here!

Qian Hong completed her undergraduate, masters, and PhD at Yanhua University while also working as a lecturer. She has a strong sense of belonging to the school, and she hopes that Zhao Yi can stay too.

"Hold on to him... but if he wants to leave, I can’t stop him!"

"If he leaves..."

After pondering for a good while, Qian Hong decided to bite the bullet, walked up to him, and clung to Zhao Yi’s arm.

Hold on!

Grip tight!

Zhao Yi had been standing in the crowd all the while, dressed in thick clothing. At first he didn’t think much about it, but it started to feel different after some movements.

It was a different sensation!

This feeling of being completely surrounded was a bit... awkward. There were people all around, and he didn’t have the chance to truly appreciate the feeling!

Zhao Yi pretended to not notice, constantly attempting to pull his arm out, only to find it gripped more tightly the more he tried. With all the wriggling around, he started to feel embarrassed.

What’s up with Sister Awesome?

Could it be that she was moved by my gallant demeanor during my speech and has fallen hopelessly in... cough cough.

This can’t be right!

Zhao Yi quickly shook his head vigorously. After responding to a few professors’ enthusiasms, he started to find things a little overwhelming. All around him were praises, which were fine once or twice, but too much of it eventually lost its charm.

Half an hour later.

Most of the people in the venue had dispersed, and Zhao Yi found an opening to slip out.

Beside him clung Sister Awesome!

He pulled his arm out forcefully, locked eyes with Qian Hong, gave a light cough and said, "Sister... I mean, Teacher Qian, I don’t really know how to say this as I don’t have any experience rejecting women. But, the thing is, we’re rather, yes, the word is... incompatible."

"You’re a good person, gentle, pretty..."

Zhao Yi shook his head as he spoke and started walking away.

Qian Hong, flush and indignant, was wound up tightly. She still asked, "Where are you going?"

"To the lab!"

Zhao Yi turned his head and replied, "Xu Chao and I have an appointment to visit your Intelligent and Automation Lab. He even promised to let me copy an encrypted applet, the one that allows robots to recognize color."

"Let’s go!"

"I’m in a rush, I must return tomorrow!" After beckoning Xu Chao, he left.

Xu Chao gave Qian Hong an amused smile before following suit.

Qian Hong stood rooted to the spot for a moment, her face cooling. She dissected the series of events: Professor Luo instructed them to ’keep an eye’ on Zhao Yi, preferably taking him to the lab, which coincided with Zhao Yi’s original plan of going to the lab after the speech.

So...

Did she cling to Zhao Yi’s arm for such a long time, get mistaken for having a crush on him, was bluntly rejected by him, totally embarrassed herself, all for nothing?

Qian Hong sucked in a deep breath right there and then, and she finally thought of the ’instigator’. "Xu! Chao!"

"Why didn’t you say so earlier!"

"And you, Zhao Yi! How dare you reject me!"

"Ah~~~"

She felt like she was going crazy!

...

Xu Chao was also confused. He planned with Zhao Yi to go to the lab, fearing that others might be too enthusiastic and use inappropriate means to directly pull Zhao Yi away.

He only asked Qian Hong to be on guard.

Why did Qian Hong cling to Zhao Yi’s arm and not let go?

Could it be that...

Xu Chao nodded vigorously. He had sensed something was off yesterday, and it turned out just as he had imagined.

They were indeed incompatible.

Qian Hong was explicitly rejected... hahaha...

The more Xu Chao thought about it, the funnier it got.

Qian Hong was considered a flower among the faculty of Yanhua University and even eligible for the ’Most Beautiful Teacher’ award, yet she was rejected by a boy who hadn’t even started college yet.

How interesting!

Taking a deep breath to suppress his urge to burst into laughter, Xu Chao continued with the task at hand and took Zhao Yi on a tour of the lab.

The Intelligent Automation Laboratory at Yanhua University was newly established, a merging of two labs, and quickly recognized as a key provincial lab with state-of-the-art equipment.

The lab had advanced basic computers, as well as a plethora of high-end accessories, including data acquisition cards, high-end cameras, laser imaging devices, and two graphics devices.

This was all standard.

There was a separate room set aside for mechanical devices. Among them was a technologically advanced robotic arm that was even more sophisticated than the one Zhao Yi owned.

But the real highlight was the massive server.

Xu Chao explained its performance level. Although not as powerful as a supercomputer, it was still running at twenty or thirty percent efficiency of one.

In fact, much of the equipment in a computer-related lab tends to be redundant, with most of it serving as mere decor. Some mechanical devices were only used occasionally for adjusting programs. The most valuable things were those unseen, like the software.

Xu Chao continued to introduce Zhao Yi to the research outcomes.

Of course, the lab software was confidential. Xu Chao had only promised Zhao Yi a copy of the base program for color recognition in robots — encrypted several times over, making it impossible to restore the original code.

Soon, Professor Luo Zhijin arrived.

Professor Luo came with a negotiating posture. His intention in asking Xu Chao and Qian Hong to bring Zhao Yi to the lab was to use it as a bargaining chip to attract him to study at Yanhua University.

"Zhao Yi, if you come to Yanhua University, this lab will always be open to you!"

"You will have free access to all equipment and computers, and you can choose to participate in any research and development."

"Even the server..."

After some deliberation, Professor Luo made a weighty offer, "You could even apply for the use of this large server. As long as your request is reasonable, I would approve it."

That was a big offer.

The lab’s server, worth tens of millions, often requires proposals and applications before anyone in the lab could use it.

Zhao Yi’s eyes shone at the proposal.

A provincially key lab, fully opened to an undergraduate student with the potential to apply for server use, sounded almost unbelievable.

Professor Luo’s sincerity was persuasive.

Zhao Yi carefully weighed his options and found himself without a reason to refuse. His top choice had been Capital University after deciding on a science major, but he knew that he wouldn’t be granted such privileges there.

Yanhua University was also a top academic institution, known for its scientific studies.

Additionally, being tutored by He Mingcheng...

Zhao Yi nodded in agreement.

He didn’t know much about He Mingcheng, but he was sure that he could learn traditional mathematics and computer knowledge at any university.

But He Mingcheng had an exclusive research area - fuzzy mathematics.

There were very few deep-rooted researchers in fuzzy mathematics in the country, and it was indeed closely related to brain thinking patterns.

Perfect.

Zhao Yi was indeed interested in making ’human-like’ intelligence.

...

Zhao Yi didn’t stay in the capital for long, declining all other invitations and leaving by plane on Monday morning. He was not only going back to school but also rushing to draft his thesis.

Proving Collatz Theorem was a matter of urgency!

An opportunity to leave his name in history!

By the next morning, the incident had escalated. The media reported the lecture, and the internet was filled with discussions and arguments.

Some believed Zhao Yi had proven the Collatz Theorem.

Others did not.

A message was circulating in the academic field, "The proof of Collatz Conjecture is found in the process of proving ’Effective and Irrelevant Carry Filtering.’"

"Collatz Conjecture is proven using binary operations."

As the saying goes, ’better to believe it than not.’ Zhao Yi hadn’t published a thesis on the Collatz Theorem, merely stating that he had proven it. However, if someone identified the proof method and published the thesis ahead of him, wouldn’t the claim of proof switch hands?

The temptation was too powerful!

Anyone who could prove the Collatz Conjecture would undoubtedly be recognized as a top mathematician and achieve instant fame and success.

Therefore, many were secretly studying Zhao Yi’s lecture video, trying to fully grasp ’Effective and Irrelevant Carry Filtering’ to find the proof method for ’Collatz Theorem.’

Some professors who understood ’Effective and Irrelevant Carry Filtering’ started to consider proving the ’Collatz Theorem’ using a binary operation.

Professor Li Yilai was one of them.

As soon as he returned, he entered his lab and started conducting binary operations to Collatz charts, hoping to find a consistent pattern and inspiration from the vast amount of 0s and 1s.

But it was all in vain.

Zhao Yi wasn’t afraid of others proving it in a short time when he said that the idea of proof was based on binary operations.

If the proof process was divided into ten key points, the knowledge of binary operation would barely meet half a point. With a multitude of brain-boggling challenges to face, without the right ideas, it would be impossible to prove.

Zhao Yi managed to go through the process due to "Connection Law". Like solving a Rubik’s Cube, simple operations don’t require much energy, no matter how large the quantity.

With only zeros and ones in binary, "Connection Law" can easily help find the method.

Others meticulously researched rules and methods using binary operations, which for sure would consume a large amount of time, making short-term achievement impossible.