At the same time, Jinling University, Institute of Computational Materials.

Between nine and ten o'clock, it is often the quietest time in the institute.

Sitting at his desk, Liu Bo searched for the keywords of the top five journals in the impact factor of his discipline and his research direction according to the usual practice, confirmed whether the topic he was studying had a tragic crash, and then logged on to Arxiv to search for a few interesting papers and ideas, and threw the downloaded articles into the folder to mark them for later reading.

He did it very slowly, and it was not completed until almost ten o'clock.

Stretching, Liu Bo stood up from his chair and paced to Qian Zhongming's seat, glancing curiously at his screen.

"Yo, why are you sitting here early in the morning watching the news broadcast?"

"National Science and Technology Award Conference," glanced at Liu Bo, Qian Zhongming double-clicked the screen with the mouse, and switched to the full screen, "CCTV's live broadcast is not a news broadcast." ”

Suddenly remembering something, Liu Bo immediately asked.

"Incentive convention? By the way, is Lu Zhou also on it? ”

"Nonsense, do you know? He returned to China a few days before New Year's Day and has been in Beijing for almost two weeks. ”

While he was talking, the national anthem was played on the screen.

As the bigwigs took their seats, the camera gradually zoomed out, giving the audience a close-up view from the rear.

Looking at the scene where cattle gathered, Liu Bo couldn't help but ask with envy in his heart.

"What award do you think our Lu God can probably get?"

Staring at the computer screen, Qian Zhongming did not answer the question.

Because of this uncertainty, he didn't know how to answer.

However, while the two were chatting about this issue, someone in the office of the principal of the administration building, not far from the office of the administration building, next door to the computing materials, gave his own opinion on this difficult question......

“…… The first prize is difficult, but there should still be a second prize. ”

Sitting on the sofa and watching the picture on the TV, Academician Lu, who was cross-legged, commented with a smile while smoking a cigarette.

Academician Xu asked with a smile: "Don't talk about other contributions, let's just say that Goldbach's conjecture is not worthy of a first prize?" ”

"It's not a question of worthiness, it's a question of suitability."

Lighting the cigarette ash on the cigarette butt, Academician Lu smiled and squinted his eyes, and commented in a good manner, "The Natural Science Prize's focus on the theoretical field is more biased towards physics than mathematics. Moreover, after all, the awarding unit is not an academic institution, and other factors must be considered comprehensively compared to academic achievements. ”

"If his results are made in domestic research institutions, the probability of winning the award will be greater. If he has another ten or twenty years of work experience in domestic research institutions, this first prize in natural sciences is stable. ”

Lu Zhou is the master he has taken, and he is also the most satisfied student he has ever taken.

One's own talent is one thing, but the most important thing is diligence and a spirit of courage to explore.

After all these years, the CERN presentation is still fresh in his memory.

Academician Lu asked himself, if he stood in his position and was only an intern, I am afraid that he would not have the courage to stand on the lecture platform and express his different opinions in front of half of the experts in the theoretical physics field.

In his opinion, whether there is this first prize or not, it is actually not so important to that kid.

Because compared to his boundless achievements in the future, the brilliance of these medals is only a little bit of color.

Academician Xu sighed with emotion: "It's a pity. ”

Academician Lu laughed and said: "What's the pity, this kid's road is still long, you and I are in the ground, but I'm afraid he hasn't reached forty yet." Even if you don't get it this year, you can definitely get it before the age of 30. ”

Academician Xu was stunned for a moment, and then scolded with a smile: "You old thing! It's okay to curse yourself if you don't live for twenty years, what does it mean to curse with me? ”

also realized that his statement seemed to be a little wrong, Academician Lu coughed dryly, and waved his finger holding the cigarette butt, "This is just a metaphor, we will live for another forty years...... Okay, let's stop talking nonsense, let's get started. ”

The hour hand points to ten o'clock.

After the national anthem was played, the venue was silent, and the annual science and technology award conference finally officially began.

The scholars in the audience are the top scientists from various research fields and the Republic, and their research covers all aspects from natural sciences to engineering and technology. At this moment, everyone present is quietly waiting for the speaker's speech.

After some impassioned speeches, it quickly moved on to the main topic of the conference - that is, the award ceremony that everyone was looking forward to.

As is customary, the winners will be announced before the awards begin.

The first to be announced was the 2017 National Science and Technology Award.

The winners are Academician Wang of Jinling University of Science and Technology, and Academician Hou of the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

As a leader in the field of explosives in China, the former has made great contributions to the construction of the national military industry. The latter is the main founder of China's molecular virology, modern medical biotechnology, and modern infectious disease prevention and control technology system.

After the names of the two winners were announced, the scholars present gave warm applause to the two winners.

After the announcement of the list of the highest science and technology awards, the much-watched National Natural Science Award was followed.

Compared with the highest national science and technology award as a "lifetime achievement award", the latter is more similar to the "achievement award", which aims to reward Chinese citizens who are engaged in basic research, applied basic research, elucidate natural phenomena, characteristics and laws, and make significant scientific contributions.

In particular, the first prize of the Natural Science Award can be awarded this honor for the most outstanding research achievements of the Republic.

The last project to receive this honor was the "Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Oscillation Experiment" led by the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which caused a sensation in the international theoretical physics community at that time.

Just from the name of this award-winning project, it is not difficult to feel the weight of this glory!

When entering this session, the venue was exceptionally quiet, and everyone was quietly waiting for the speaker to announce the list of winners.

"Agricultural production is a non-negligible part of the national economy, and only by filling the stomach can we build a better future. The research on 'Molecular Mechanism and Variety Design of the Formation of High-yield and High-quality Traits in Rice' led by the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has achieved a breakthrough in the bottleneck of rice yield......"

"The first winner is, Academician Li Jiayang!"

The moment the name was announced, there was warm applause in the venue.

Wang Haifeng, who was sitting in the audience, clapped his hands vigorously.

For him, it doesn't matter who wins, as long as it's not that kid!

Soon, the name of the second winner was also announced, the main winner was Academician Tang Benzhong, and the winning project was "Aggregation-Induced Luminescence Technology".

When he heard the second name, the corners of Professor Wang's mouth opened a smile, and the clapping hand gradually slowed down, and the stone hanging in his heart also fell to the ground.

Generally speaking, more than 40 second prizes of the National Natural Science Award will be awarded, but the award of the first prize is cautious.

For example, from 10 to 12 years, there have been byes for three consecutive times without awards.

In the same session, the first prize was awarded twice in a row, and it is rare since the reform and opening up, and the last time it was awarded was even more retroactive to 06.

As for the three first prizes awarded in the same session......

I'm afraid it all goes back to the 80s.

After the applause ended, Wang Haifeng picked up the thermos cup on the table and took a sip of hot water.

If it weren't for the fact that the seats were too far apart, he would have liked to appreciate the look on the guy's face.

However......

Just when everyone thought that the dust had settled on the first prize of natural science, the voice in front of the hall sounded again.

"Goldbach's conjecture is a pearl on the edifice of number theory, and the Huaguo school of analytic number theory has left a brilliant chapter on this proposition......"

The moment he heard the voice, Wang Haifeng was stunned.

The little joy in my heart was shattered by the voice in an instant.

As if he had been petrified, he froze in his seat, opening and closing his dry lips and muttering to himself.

“…… How can it be. ”

This year, three first prizes were awarded!

That's impossible!

It wasn't just Wang Haifeng who was stunned.

Those who sigh for Lu Zhou's failure to win the first prize of this year's natural science award, those who gloat, and even those who are expressionless and indifferent......

Everyone was stunned for two seconds.

The word surprise was written on the faces of everyone in the room.

However, the voices coming from the front of the synagogue did not stop because of the mood swings of one or two people.

“…… Goldbach-Lu's theorem is a monument to the human mind and a gift from the Chinese people to the people of the world. ”

After a lengthy statement, the speaker paused for one second.

Then, in a solemn voice, he continued to proclaim.

"The third winner is—"

"Lu Zhou!"