Chapter 388 - 136: Campaign in Australia

Words : 1030 Updated : Oct 11th, 2025

After staying in Paris for nearly a week, Qiao Yu returned to Beijing. Although he said he had gone abroad, apart from the journey from the airport to the hotel, Qiao Yu actually spent only about three hours outdoors in Paris. The closing ceremony of the conference was on the last morning. After lunch at the hotel, Tian Yanzhen probably considered that Qiao Yu had rarely gone abroad and hadn’t gone out for sightseeing, so she took Qiao Yu out for a stroll with many professors. Obviously, the professors were not visiting Paris for the first time, so they didn’t need to look for directions. They directly led Qiao Yu along Pigalle Street in the Paris Eighth District outside the hotel and walked to the Avenue des Champs-Elysees. Learning that Qiao Yu wanted to buy a gift for his mother, they stayed on the Avenue des Champs-Elysees for a while. After much deliberation, Qiao Yu finally bought two watches, planning to give one to Qiao Xi and the other to Xia Keke. Qiao Yu initially wanted to buy a gift for Elder Yuan as well, but was persuaded not to by Tian Yanzhen. He was told to wait until his paper was published, and Ann. Math sent him his sample copy, then giving a copy to Elder Yuan would suffice. Qiao Yu had no alternative to this. Because although the gifts were bought by him, the money was from Tian Yanzhen. After shopping, they were led by the professors through Montaigne Avenue, past the banks of the Seine River, and took a distant look at the Eiffel Tower before returning to the hotel. Yes, they didn’t even go to take a closer look. According to one professor, someone had their phone snatched while taking photos here, so out of distrust for local security, the consensus was to just glance at it. To be honest, this trip was indeed disillusioning because the free air by the river was not only not sweet but also not very pleasant. Before coming to Paris, Qiao Yu had read some travel bloggers’ guides and impressions, always feeling they were somewhat exaggerated. After all, Paris is the capital of a developed country, so it seemed unlikely that the air would carry an unpleasant smell. Not to mention last year, due to hosting a grand event, the Seine River was treated with a hefty budget. But now it seems that the hefty budget was probably wasted... Even more unexpected was the extent of freedom here... People even seemed to enjoy the freedom of relieving themselves wherever they pleased. Apart from being astonished, Qiao Yu just felt like he had gained more knowledge. On the way back to the hotel, Qiao Yu asked in surprise, "Can’t they just make public toilets free?" The accompanying professor joked, "Actually, if you think about it, perhaps it’s a form of self-preservation. This way, the Germans might find Paris too disgusting when they come back with their tanks and just bypass Paris, choosing a southern route, for example, directly through the Alpine Mountains into Italy." The remark left Qiao Yu speechless and opened the floodgates for the accompanying professors. Strategies like entering Portugal via Spain to open and control the Atlantic coast, ensuring the safety of maritime supply lines; strengthening control over Belgium and Netherlands to stabilize the Western European front and then aiming at the English Channel... A group of mathematicians collectively transformed into strategists, enthusiastically advising the Germans, providing over ten strategic routes along the way. The scariest part was that they could still analyze the pros and cons of each route thoroughly... Yes, they all seemed to start as generals. This gave Qiao Yu the feeling that if you don’t understand geography well, you aren’t even qualified to study mathematics. The usually gentle and elegant professors discussed this so enthusiastically that it just made Qiao Yu feel even more humiliated... It seems that when he goes home, he not only needs to catch up on mathematics knowledge but also on detailed geography of various countries and various advanced war game knowledge, otherwise, he would be too embarrassed to continue at Yanbei University in mathematics. After returning to school, the first thing was to move. In fact, even before he went to Paris to attend the algebraic geometry conference, renovations had already begun upstairs. He even specifically asked the renovation workers about the renovation plans. Mainly it was waterproofing the roof, renovating the bathroom, and adding two walls. By the time he returned, the renovations were all done, and his belongings were already moved upstairs. As for his previous little room, it had once again become a storage room. After coming back, though he was very tired, Tian Yanzhen still came by to take a look around. The newly renovated place wasn’t bad. Although the room remained small, it spanned thirty to forty square meters, making it a well-equipped small suite. Upon entering, there’s a corridor leading straight to the bathroom at the back, a door on the corridor wall leading to a study of over ten square meters, and another door in the study leading to the bedroom at the back. It was much larger than the small room downstairs and most importantly met Elder Yuan’s requirements, with separate bathroom, study, and bedroom, and a north-south orientation. Provided the door connecting the study and bedroom was open. Most importantly, the third floor had much better lighting, making the whole place bright and airy first thing in the morning. The materials used were good too, and after several days of airing with the windows open, there was no strange smell in the room. To put it this way, with these living conditions, it could indeed outshine many doctoral students at Yanbei University. After all, dormitories at Yanbei University were really tight now, and many years ago, even master’s students had already stopped being provided with dormitories. Most doctoral students on the old campus could only live in double rooms, and those with special needs had to apply for a single room. "Satisfied?" Tian Yanzhen asked. "Actually, I was quite satisfied with downstairs, let alone here." Qiao Yu immediately replied.

Chapter 388 - 136: Campaign in Australia

Comments (0)