"When two mathematicians get together, it will be very difficult and unbearable to even just sit in on the hearing if they don't have the same knowledge or sufficient comprehension, but fortunately, I was fortunate enough to listen to the most intense exchange of ideas between the three top mathematicians in China at that time in the autumn of '80." —Excerpt from "Memories of Millet"

After Gu Mengxue and Junxin came to Professor Hu's office, they suddenly felt a sense of emptiness, as a freshman majoring in literature, actually ran to the mathematician's territory and participated in the discussion between them. It's a bit weird. I don't know why I wanted to come and see it at the time.

"What, nervous?" Junxin didn't need to look back to know Gu Mengxue's condition, and asked with a smile.

"No, it won't!"

"It's okay, Old Man Hua is very kind, I haven't seen Mr. Wang, but it should be in the same vein as Old Hua's temperament. Professor Hu is also an old pedant, as long as he doesn't disturb our conversation, there is nothing! Jun Xincai doesn't care about the hard-mouthed Gu Mengxue, after so many days of getting along, he can be regarded as getting to know Gu Mengxue a little bit, enthusiastic, sincere, but a little hard-mouthed and desperate to save face. So I don't break her heart.

Pushing the door in, strictly speaking, is not a polite measure, but frequenting this office, there are some unnecessary actions that can be completely omitted, and superfluous politeness is the biggest impoliteness for mathematicians.

Compared with the previous one, Professor Hu's office has become noticeably tidy, the manuscript paper and journals placed everywhere on the floor are gone, and he seems to be able to see the basic familiar words on the bookshelf behind Professor Hu's desk. The floor has become much cleaner, and the only thing that hasn't changed is probably the blackboards and boxes of chalk on the walls.

There were only three people in the office at this time, Hua Lao, Professor Hu and a tall and thin middle-aged man, Jun Xin guessed that this was probably Professor Wang Yuanwang. Professor Wang is a disciple of Hua Lao, mainly studying the content of analytic number theory, and has a high academic achievement, and many of the research he has cooperated with Hua Lao has laid the foundation for modern mathematics in China, which can be regarded as between the first and second generations of scholars in the Chinese mathematics community, and has a very high position in China.

Speaking of the generations of Chinese scholars, it is probably from the beginning of the Republic of China, the first generation of scholars are born in China, after learning domestic courses, began to study in Europe and the United States, and returned to China after graduating from famous universities, such as Hua Lao, Qian Lao and others. On the other hand, the second generation of scholars is based on the first generation of scholars, learning the knowledge of the first generation of scholars, and at the same time following up with foreign people, such as Professor Wang Yuan and others. These people are the same people who provoke the pillars of China's scientific research. The third generation of scholars refers to the students taught by these second-generation scholars, who are becoming an intermediate force in the scientific research community and are responsible for training the fourth generation of scholars.

In the 80s, it was the second generation of scholars who took the lead and acted as the middle force, and the third generation of scholars had not yet completely stepped out of the school gates, and some had not even entered the school. For example, Professor Shi Yigong, the top bull in the Chinese biology field in later generations, was the first student after entering the Department of Aquatic Biology in 86.

Wang Yuan's status is very special, he is a disciple of Hua Lao, but he has made pioneering achievements in his field very early, and has participated in many projects and topics of Hua Lao, which is not only a disciple of Hua Lao, but also a collaborator of Hua Lao. That's why there is a saying between the first and second generations.

Through the acceptance and recommendation of Hua Lao and Professor Hu, Junxin and Professor Wang can be regarded as acquaintances. After a few pleasantries, we got to the point, this article about the Modle conjecture.

The proof of the Modell conjecture applies a lot of geometric content, which is not Professor Wang's research field, but the Modell conjecture is a conjecture in the field of number theory, so it is closely related to his research. Half a month ago, after receiving a call from his teacher saying that he had found a mathematical genius who had proved the Mordell conjecture, Professor Wang immediately came to the door to ask for the manuscript, studied it for half a month, and then roughly looked at the entire proof process, and then came to Professor Hu's office to meet the genius who proved the Mordell conjecture.

The process of discussion is mainly that Hua Lao and Professor Wang are asking, and Junxin is answering. Often a question may only take ten minutes to think about, but the process of explaining the idea takes about an hour. In this way, half a day passed.

"What a great idea, very creative to apply the methods of geometry to the field of number theory!" After Junxin explained several important doubts, Professor Wang couldn't help but sigh.

"It should be said that the mystery of mathematics is really addictive, and it can surprise people everywhere!" Jun Xin, who was silent for a moment, retorted.

After hearing this, Hua Lao and Professor Hu also had a deep understanding and couldn't help nodding in agreement.

"Don't talk about that, Xiaojun's article is very well written, and there is nothing that needs to be revised. I'll just send it out! The question is which journal should I send it to? ”

"Needless to say, the four major journals are certain."

The so-called four journals refer to the top four journals in the field of mathematics, which are the "Acta Mathematical Sinica" in Sweden, the "Mathematical Inventions" in Germany, and the "Journal of the American Mathematical Society" and "Annals of Mathematics" in the United States. Among them, the highest impact factor in the field of mathematics is the first Swedish Journal of Mathematical Sciences, but other journals are not inferior to Acta Mathematica Sinica. For example, the "Annals of Mathematics" is a journal founded by Princeton, and the professors and scholars of the School of Mathematics of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton occupy half of the American mathematical community.

"Mathematical Inventions" and "Journal of the American Mathematical Society" are also the world's top journals, and their status is not inferior to the three major CNS journals in the eyes of other scientific researchers.

"I'll post it in Acta Mathematica Sinica!" Professor Hu suggested. He was born as a scholar in Europe and had spent time in France, so he naturally preferred to publish journals in Europe. The Swedish Journal of Mathematical Sciences is the best choice.

"Teacher, what do you think?" Professor Wang asked.

"Jun, what do you think?" Hua Lao didn't answer. Instead, I asked the person concerned, Junxin's point of view.

"Me? I would prefer the Annals of Mathematics founded by Princeton University in the United States. ”

"It's good!" Hua Lao didn't ask any reason and agreed. And Professor Hu has no objection, because Professor Hu graduated from the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, France, and no one looks down on anyone except the graduates of Princeton, even Harvard.

"It just so happens that the United States has been inviting me to exchange lectures there recently, and I have been in poor health recently, and I am troubled by all things in China, so I should go to the exchange in advance now!" Hua Lao made a decision immediately. "I have a bit of a friendship with Professor Griffith, so I'll show him your paper when the time comes. But you have to be prepared, after all, this is a problem that is close to 60 years old. As for what the preparations were, Hua Lao didn't say it clearly, but Junxin already knew it.