163: Chapter 163: The exact same questioning

The CCTV reporter stood up, picked up the microphone, and looked directly at Zhao Yang: "Hello, Student Zhao Yang, I am a reporter from the CCTV News Channel. First, congratulations on achieving such a monumental success."

"I would like to ask, as a freshman in the biological sciences major, why did you choose to cross over and research such profound pure mathematical theory? And how did you overcome the professional barriers in this process?"

The gaze of the entire room focused on Zhao Yang again.

Zhao Yang pulled the microphone in front of him a bit closer. His expression didn't fluctuate at all from facing a national live broadcast; his eyes were very calm.

"Thank you for your question."

Zhao Yang's voice spread through the entire auditorium via the speakers.

"But in fact, I already addressed this question once last year."

Zhao Yang sat behind the long table, leaning forward slightly toward the mic. His gaze swept over the sea of lenses and recording pens below; his tone had no ripples. "Right here in this auditorium, after I published that TIP paper."

Hearing this, several senior education reporters in the front row nodded one after another.

They had done their homework and naturally remembered that six months ago, when this freshman crossed fields to publish in a top-tier computer image processing journal, he had faced similar questions about professional barriers.

"But since someone asked today, I'll answer it again."

Zhao Yang paused and said calmly.

"First, the essence of science is to explore truth, and the underlying logic of truth is constructed by mathematics. In my understanding, Biology is the study of the surface layer of life phenomena, while mathematics is the tool to analyze the laws behind these phenomena."

His voice diffused through the giant speakers on both sides of the hall, his tone rational and direct amidst the calmness.

"So, this isn't called 'crossing over'; it's just downward compatibility in terms of research tools."

He looked into the lens of the CCTV live camera directly in front of him and said calmly: "As for professional barriers, they only exist in the current system of disciplinary division, which are man-made thresholds established for the convenience of ordinary people to learn step-by-step."

"The so-called division of disciplines should never be a means to limit us. When I found that existing mathematical tools could not meet my computational needs for the world's underlying logic, I could only go find or derive a new tool myself."

Zhao Yang's tone remained steady, as if stating the simplest common sense.

"Proving the twin prime conjecture was just a byproduct generated while I was perfecting my own logical system."

Zhao Yang's voice fell.

The entire auditorium fell into a dead silence.

There was no expected inspirational story of tearfully working late under the lamp in the dorm or overcoming all odds to look up data.

Nor were there the cliché speeches thanking the school, mentors, or the era.

Zhao Yang's answer was extremely rational.

He said proving a problem of the century was just a byproduct?

The reporters below looked at each other. In their years of work, they had interviewed countless academicians, scholars, and so-called prodigies.

Without exception, those people would appear humble and low-key in front of the camera, even deliberately downplaying their talent and emphasizing that their achievements were due to sweat and teamwork.

But this eighteen-year-old young man in front of them just slammed the word 'genius' into everyone's faces.

After a brief silence came even more frantic recording. Text live-bloggers from several portals excitedly typed this impactful quote word-for-word into their live threads.

Meanwhile, on the online live threads and the Online forum, people watching the CCTV broadcast began to spam comments like crazy.

"Holy crap! That's so badass?"

"It still has to be God Zhao! Arrogant enough! Cool enough! I love it!"

"Truly impressive! But I think only he has the right to say such things!"

...

"Next, Reporter Zhao from Southern Weekly, it's your turn to ask a question."

Minister Liu of the Propaganda Department wiped the sweat from his forehead and quickly pushed the process forward.

Reporter Zhao wore a gray jacket and gold-rimmed glasses, looking like a refined scoundrel. He stared at Zhao Yang and asked slowly with a peculiar tone.

"Student Zhao Yang, according to our understanding, this top-tier paper, which is 128 pages long, only has your name as the author."

"And?"

Zhao Yang looked at Reporter Liu with a calm gaze and asked back.

The reporter continued.

"People can understand you producing a TIP paper in just over half a year, and they can understand a paper in a Nature sub-journal."

"But it's only been two or three months since you published those papers. No matter how much of a genius you are, you had basically never participated in mathematical research before..."

"After all, Analytic Number Theory is an extremely complex system. Even for a top doctoral student in mathematics, completing such a paper would require years or even over a decade of teamwork."

"May I ask, was this paper truly completed by you alone?"

The dagger was revealed.

Once this question was thrown out, the air in the auditorium instantly became tense.

This kind of question again.

Sitting on the stage, Zhao Yang felt no ripples in his heart and even couldn't help but roll his eyes.

These reporters, or rather, the vast majority of ordinary people in this world, really have no creativity at all.

When they face a creation or achievement that exceeds the upper limit of their cognition, their first reaction is never to understand, but to doubt.

They always try to use their meager experience to measure the boundaries that a genius can reach.

Zhou Limin Zhou Limin, sitting next to Zhao Yang, furrowed his brows tightly.

He knew the media's tactics too well. This kind of question was a trap; as long as there was any loophole in Zhao Yang's answer, tomorrow's headlines would become 'Genius youth evasive in the face of doubt, authenticity of paper in question.'

To protect the school's star attraction, the Zhou Limin immediately leaned forward and reached out to press the microphone switch, intending to cut off this topic forcibly.

But at the very moment the Zhou Limin's finger was about to touch the switch.

Zhao Yang directly reached out his left hand, blocking the president's hand, and shook his head slightly, signaling that he would answer it himself.

The Zhou Limin was stunned for a moment. Looking at Zhao Yang's steady profile, he eventually withdrew his hand.

Zhao Yang turned his gaze toward that reporter from Southern Weekly and leaned back against the chair.

He didn't sit upright; his posture appeared somewhat lazy.

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, revealing a faint smile that wasn't quite a smile, as he said with a grin:

"Right here, just a few months ago, one of your colleagues asked me almost the exact same question."

Zhao Yang's voice echoed in the grand auditorium.

"Then not long ago, during the New Year, in Changcheng, Gan Province, my hometown, I also encountered almost identical doubts. At that time, someone posted on a forum saying I was a fake, packaged by others."