On the second day of Christmas, it snowed in Jinling City.

Although nothing to look forward to, because Christmas was associated with Santa Claus, Lu Zhou remembered the fireplace in his former house in Princeton, and whenever it snowed heavily in New Jersey, he would move his place of work from the study to the living room, sit on the carpet in front of the fireplace with his back against the sofa, and let his mind wander in the endless universe and the search for truth.

Although it is far from the age to start nostalgia.

But looking at the snowflakes falling outside the window, Lu Zhou did miss it a little.

Sitting in the living room, holding the soup bag with chopsticks and dipping it in a vinegar dish sprinkled with ginger, and then stuffing it into his mouth, looking at the silver hanging on the dwarf pine tree outside the window, he suddenly spoke without warning.

"I'm going to have a fireplace in my house."

Wang Peng, who was standing in the living room, looked around and asked thoughtfully.

"Is it not enough heating?"

Lu Zhou glanced at him strangely: "Your thinking is very strange, why do you have to be cold to install a fireplace." ”

Slightly stunned, Wang Peng made a helpless expression, "I just asked casually...... Is there anything I can help me with? ”

Lu Zhou teased: "That's not necessary, unless you tell me that you will build a wall." ”

Although it was just a joke, I didn't expect Wang Peng to take it seriously, and after thinking about it seriously for a while, he replied seriously.

"There are experts in this area on the side of the General Staff."

Lu Zhou: "...... Are you Tinker Bell? ”

There's everything.

Wang Peng: "......? ”

In the end, Lu Zhou still did not trouble the people of the General Staff about the fireplace, but contacted the decoration design company that renovated the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study at the beginning, and asked them to help complete all the work from design to installation.

After all, there is really no need to occupy national resources for such a trivial matter.

Lu Zhou especially dislikes two things, one is to trouble others, and the other is to make a big deal out of a little thing.

At work, he never thought that he was any different from others and needed such excessive special attention, except that he was relatively smart and handsome.

If other people could treat him like an ordinary person, he would feel more relaxed.

And perhaps, this is one of the reasons why he has been single so far.

After receiving Lu Zhou's call, the decoration design company can be said to attach great importance to it.

Although compared to a million-dollar project, a mere fireplace is just a small business, but the decoration design company still showed the highest level of professionalism and attitude, almost the same day sent the designer and project team to Lu Zhou's home, and sent several alternative design drawings and quotations to Lu Zhou before the evening.

There are 15 sets of design schemes, all of which are designed according to the décor layout of the living room itself, and even a set of handmade wool rugs are included with each set of design plans.

Looking at those cost-effective design schemes that make people don't even want to bargain, Lu Zhou even suspects that he can't make money by doing his business, and he will have to lose money if he doesn't do it.

Although there is no reason to take the initiative to ask for a price increase from the standpoint of a consumer, looking at the offer of less than 5,000 and sending carpets, Lu Zhou, who really can't pass the threshold of conscience, finally couldn't help but speak.

"Is it really okay to be so cheap?"

The salesman who was in charge of negotiating with Lu Zhou, with a smile on her face that met social expectations, said to Lu Zhou politely and enthusiastically.

"No problem, you can rest assured of this, you are an important partner of our company, of course we will not cheat you. It has always been our company's business philosophy to bring the best quality service to customers at the lowest price, and the cost performance of products is also one of the core competitiveness of our company, I believe you will soon feel this. ”

Looking at the quotations and discounts under the design plan with a little headache, Lu Zhou pinched his eyebrows and asked, "I may be a little too good at math...... What the hell is this decoration package that buys 3588 and gives away silk handmade wool carpets worth 20,000 yuan and wall decorations worth 5888? ”

The salesman's sister Ying Ying smiled and said, "This is our preferential price." ”

Lu Zhou: "......"

What kind of discount is this Nima!

However, people want to make a loss-making business, and Lu Zhou is not easy to stop, and after hesitating for a while, which design plan he likes the most.

“…… That's it. ”

After confirming the design plan selected by Lu Zhou, the salesman lady ticked the bottom of the picture with a pen, and then looked at Lu Zhou politely and continued.

"Okay, we'll install it for you in the shortest possible time, when do you think it's more convenient for you?"

"I can do it, the construction time is scheduled in the afternoon...... Lu Zhou said and looked at Wang Peng who was standing next to the sofa, "Do you have time in the afternoon?" ”

Wang Peng's answer was as reliable as ever.

"I'm available 24 hours a day."

Lu Zhou nodded and continued to look at the salesman's young lady.

"That's two to six o'clock in the afternoon...... How long does it take to assemble? ”

The salesman's sister smiled and gave a number.

"Three days at the latest."

In fact, Lu Zhou did not wait for the third day at all, from the day after the contract was signed, and before the evening of the third day, the entire fireplace had been installed.

Euphemistically declined the salesman's sister's proposal to help him install floor heating pipes at home for free, and after paying the balance of 4,000 yuan, Lu Zhou politely sent the people from the decoration company outside the hospital, and after returning home, he couldn't wait to stuff it with smokeless charcoal bought from Haitao and lit the roaring fire.

Sitting on the woolen carpet on the sofa, listening to the sound of the fire crackling from time to time, and feeling the warm light of the fire, Lu Zhou yawned lazily, feeling as if he was going to fall asleep at any time.

"Comfortable ......"

He stretched comfortably, and just as he was about to take a nap, the ringtone of his mobile phone suddenly rang.

When he saw the name on the caller ID, Lu Zhou immediately pressed the connected button and put the phone to his ear.

Before he could speak, a familiar voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Zhou'er, are you busy this year?"

"It's okay, it's not as busy as last year," with a relaxed smile on his face, Lu Zhou's Adam's apple moved slightly, and after a pause of half a second, he continued, "Mom, you and Dad are over there in Gangneung, are you doing well?" ”

Hearing this "Mom", Fang Mei on the other end of the phone, the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes bloomed a flower, and she said with a relaxed smile.

"Don't worry about your parents, we'll be fine. Your dad will retire in a few years, and now he has nothing to do in the unit all day long, just drinking tea and reading the newspaper every day, not that I urge him to run and exercise every day, and now I don't know what it will be like to get rich. I just called to hear your voice and didn't disturb your work, right? ”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "How come? Work is not as important as you. ”

Fang Mei said with a sigh: "Don't say that, you are on the rise in your career now, you don't need to focus on me and your father, and our bodies don't need children to worry about." But I hope you are busy, but don't be too tired of yourself, your body is always the first priority, no matter how important things are, your body is not as important as your body...... By the way, are you busy around the Chinese New Year this year? If you're busy, your dad and I can take care of you. ”

"No, no, don't do this, I said I'm not busy!" As soon as he heard that his father and mother planned to come over to take care of himself, Lu Zhou, who didn't want to trouble them, hurriedly said, "This year is just in time for the end of the year, it's rare that there is nothing to do, so I'll come back for the New Year." ”

Fang Mei sighed and said, "You kid is good at everything, it's just too polite." ”

Lu Zhou couldn't laugh or cry.

"Mom, what did you say...... What am I polite to you? It's just that I haven't been back to my hometown for so many years, and I'm really a little homesick. Anyway, don't buy tickets, I'll drive back this year's holidays. ”

Although research is important, it cannot be more important than family.

What's more, the research on the Riemann conjecture cannot be completed overnight, and he has just solved the problem of the century of the quasi-Riemann conjecture, and he also needs a little time to relax his mood, sort out his thoughts, and change his mind by the way.

Of course, the most important point is that his parents are also old, and if he has time, Lu Zhou of course still hopes to go back to reunite from his side.

As for the work of the Lunar Orbit Construction Committee, everything is going according to plan, and there is no need for him, the general adviser, to make special arrangements.

If there is a need to make adjustments to the plan, or if something unexpected happens, he will naturally put down what he is doing and return to the front line of the scientific front to fulfill his duties.

Sure that there was no meaning of embarrassment in Lu Zhou's voice, Fang Mei showed a relaxed smile.

If she could, of course, she still hoped that her son would come home for the New Year. Although the son has developed very well in Jinling and lives in a big house, for them who have lived in Gangneung all their lives, this is their roots, their relatives and friends are here, and only here is the real life.

It is precisely because of this that even though Lu Zhou has mentioned moving to Jinling many times, they have never agreed.

"It's good to come back, come back and your mother will make dumplings for you to eat, and don't always be busy with work all day...... Hey, I used to let you study hard so that you could have a better future, but your father and I never thought that it would become like this. My dad and I can't help you with math matters, I just hope you don't spend all day in the lab ordering takeout, and when you have time, you should go out and walk around and contact other people. ”

Lu Zhou coughed lightly and said: "I have to correct it, don't believe what is filmed in the documentary, whether you study mathematics or physics now, you also have to contact people's ......."

Behind closed doors has only worked in the past.

Now, even if Lu Zhou wants to work behind closed doors, it is impossible to completely cut off contact with the outside world, at least Arxiv and several commonly used literature databases must still be used.

Fang Mei: "No matter what, it's good that you live happily by yourself, your father and I have reached this age, and there is no other hope except for looking forward to holding our grandson as soon as possible." ”

Lu Zhou Khan said: "This ...... Let's talk about it later, there will definitely be. ”

As if she didn't have any expectations, Fang Mei said as if she was comforting Lu Zhou and comforting herself.

"I hope so......"

Lu Zhou: "......"

Although he knew that the old lady didn't want to put too much pressure on himself when he said this, he didn't know why, hearing this "I hope", it inexplicably made him feel so much heartache......