945 More Than an Hour!

When Krugman read this email, he wasn’t sure what the emoticon meant.

“It’s five minutes to seven.” Professor Angus looked at his watch and said, “Are you sure he meant seven o’clock at night?”

Professor Krugman smiled bitterly and shook his head.

“Honestly speaking, I’m not sure, I’m not even sure if he’s talking about today or tomorrow.”

“You should clarify with him!”

Professor Angus sighed and spoke.

“I’m going to get a bite… I can’t just wait here forever. I suggest you get something to eat as well. The food service is ending in an hour. It’s not good to go to bed on an empty stomach.”

Professor Angus picked up a dinner plate and was about to grab his food. Suddenly, someone walked through the door.

Professor Krugman’s eyes lit up when he saw the familiar face… He stood up and enthusiastically walked over.

“Haha, welcome! Professor Lu, it’s nice to meet you!”

Professor Angus put down his plate and walked over as well.

“You’re finally here!”

“I’m not late, am I?” Lu Zhou looked at his watch and said, “Close, I’m right on time.”

Professor Krugman patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder and said, “It’s fine, we’re happy to wait for you. Let’s eat and talk, I’m starving.”

Lu Zhou said, “You haven’t eaten yet?”

Professor Angus said, “We were waiting for you.”

Lu Zhou awkwardly smiled and spoke.

“… You should’ve eaten first, I don’t really mind.”

Professor Angus and Professor Krugman became silent and looked at each other.

So what you’re saying is…

F*ck sake!

Why didn’t you tell us earlier?!

…

The three men carried their plates full of food and sat by the window.

Professor Krugman looked at the empty seat next to Lu Zhou and remembered something, so he took out his phone from his pocket.

“I have to make a call.”

Lu Zhou nodded. He was starving, so he reached for the knife and began to crack open the lobster on his plate.

After a while, Professor Krugman returned from his phone call.

Lu Zhou’s sister Xiao Tong was walking next to him, the one who flew to Princeton just a few days ago…

“Hi… brother.”

Xiao Tong awkwardly waved and sat next to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou wasn’t surprised, so he smiled and asked, “How’s it going? Are you settling in well at Princeton?”

“It’s fine…” Xiao Tong scratched her head and said, “Aren’t you surprised I’m in Shanghai?”

Lu Zhou smirked.

“Professor Krugman is here, so I’m guessing he probably brought you as well. Let me guess, when you guys landed, did he ask you to call me and ask me to come?”

Xiao Tong’s eyes were wide open.

“What? How did you know?”

“Wait a second, you didn’t call him?” Krugman looked at Xiao Tong and awkwardly said, “Just to be clear, I didn’t ask her to call you to come. I just asked her to call her family and tell them that she’s safe.”

Lu Zhou: “What’s the difference?”

“Okay then.” Krugman shrugged and said, “I apologize, I was trying to get you to come, but I swear I wasn’t being malicious.”

Professor Angus, who was sitting next to Professor Krugman, said, “Professor Krugman is doing this out of kindness. He wants you to witness the impact your research has made on the economics field… Actually, I’m sure you’ve seen that the Lu Bewley model is now one of the most popular concepts in economics. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Nobel Prize Committee considers you for an economics prize.”

“It’s too early to talk about that, they still owe me a physics prize for the electrostrong interaction. They should give me that first.”

Lu Zhou smiled and turned his face to Xiao Tong, who was looking a little anxious.

“How come you didn’t tell me you are in Shanghai?”

Xiao Tong sighed and spoke.

“Okay, I’ll be honest… I thought you were going to laugh at me.”

Lu Zhou said, “That’s not being honest, come on now.”

Xiao Tong was shocked. Lu Zhou paused for a second and continued, “Actually, you don’t have to worry about causing me trouble.”

Xiao Tong blinked and spoke.

“What… are you saying?”

Xiao Tong had a flash of astonishment and consternation in her eyes.

It was as if she was caught in a lie.

Lu Zhou said, “Because isn’t that what this is about?”

Lu Zhou smiled and sighed.

“Actually, people always want something from me, and I’m responsible for a lot of things. Things like the ILHCRC ceremony, these are all quite troublesome for me…”

In fact, he knew what Xiao Tong was thinking.

On one hand, she wanted to rely on her brother, but on the other hand, she wanted to be independent. She didn’t just want to be Lu Zhou’s sister; she wanted to be a strong, mature person…

Lu Zhou totally sympathized with his sister.

After all, Lu Zhou was the same; he never wanted to ask anyone else for favors…

Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at his sister.

“… You’re my sister, I’ll do anything for you.”

Xiao Tong’s eyes began to water.

“… Brother.”

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Tong and rubbed her head.

“Don’t hide things from me in the future! Remember what I told you when you were doing your undergrad?”

Xiao Tong sniffed and began to choke up.

“What? It’s been so long, how am I supposed to remember…”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I told you that we’re going to win a Nobel Prize in Mathematics.”

Professor Angus suddenly said, “There’s no mathematics Nobel Prize, only economics!”

“That’s right, I agree with Professor Angus,” Professor Krugman said as he shook his head. He calmed down and said, “Of course, even though there is no mathematics award, that doesn’t mean a mathematician can’t win a Nobel Prize… If you continue to do research on the Lu Bewley model, you’re going to win a Nobel prize eventually.”

Lu Zhou said, “Haha, you’re right, there is no mathematics Nobel Prize… I was just kidding.”

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Tong and spoke with a serious look on his face.

“After I left the afternoon report, I thought for a long time.

“My mathematical model was confusing to such a great scholar like Joseph. Even though Joseph was wrong, that must mean there’s something wrong with my model as well.

“Thus, I made some improvements to the Lu Bewley model.”

Lu Zhou took out the stack of folded A4 papers from his pocket and placed it in Xiao Tong’s hands. He said, “These are the draft papers for the improved Lu Bewley model.”

Lu Zhou said to Krugman, “Even though it is not as useful as you described, from a mathematical perspective, it is more rigorous and operable.”

Professor Krugman and Professor Angus were totally confused. Lu Zhou smiled at Xiao Tong, who was holding the stack of A4 papers, and said, “This time, your brother took more than an hour.”