Super God-Level Top Student
Chapter 951 - 361: Experts at Painting a Rosy Picture (Part 2)

Peter Schultz smiled politely and then habitually shrugged, refraining from commenting further.

Many of his colleagues had the habit of grabbing a drink after work; the atmosphere at the pubs near the university town was fairly decent. Most didn't drink excessively—nursing a single beer for the entire evening didn't cost much. After all, the salary of an ordinary professor wasn't particularly high.

But Peter Schultz didn't enjoy the pub atmosphere—too noisy, and the overpowering smells were headache-inducing.

Luckily, after exchanging a few more words, it was time for the two to part ways.

Strictly speaking, the University of Bonn didn't have a centralized campus. The university owned over 370 buildings scattered across the city, with various research institutes, seminar rooms, and academic departments spread all around the area. Peter Schultz worked in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.

As he walked into his office, he had already put the morning's minor episode out of his mind. He turned on his computer and prepared to start working.

Once the system booted up, the first thing to appear was a notification for new emails in his inbox.

Scanning through the email subjects briefly, Peter Schultz's gaze froze on one from a Huaxia email address—it was a reply from Qiao Ze.

Without hesitation, he clicked it open immediately. After carefully reading its contents, he was slightly stunned...

Was he being invited to Xilin?

To be honest, Peter Schultz had very mixed feelings about Qiao Ze.

As the director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton once commented, Peter Schultz had made tremendous contributions to the field of number theory, especially regarding his work on the Langlands Program. The highest praise was that Peter Schultz had sparked a revolutionary movement in algebra and geometry.

These achievements had earned him nearly all the prestigious awards in mathematics by the time he was not yet forty years old. Many mathematicians believed the task of solving the grand unification of mathematics would likely fall into his hands.

The only regret was that, compared to those prodigiously brilliant predecessors, Peter Schultz had yet to prove a conjecture of truly groundbreaking weight.

Meanwhile, Qiao Ze, at an even younger age, had elevated the Mass Gap Hypothesis to the Mass Gap Theorem.

While Peter Schultz marveled at Qiao Ze's genius, deep down there was still a trace of unwillingness to concede. Yet, truthfully, he couldn't find a reason to be dissatisfied—after all, he had attended that seminar and could only acknowledge that Qiao Ze's performance had been flawless.

Just as he decided to work harder to catch up, Qiao Ze went on to turn Goldbach's Conjecture into Goldbach's Theorem...

When news of this reached Bonn, Peter Schultz even had a fleeting sense that there weren't many unsolved mathematical challenges left. Recently, he had been devoting much of his energy to contemplating the Riemann Hypothesis.

If he could resolve the Riemann Hypothesis...

Well, for now, that was merely an "if."

So when he saw Qiao Ze's invitation, Peter Schultz felt somewhat conflicted.

But… whatever. He decided to check the attachment first.

He moved the mouse to the attachment's download button, opened the document, and within less than a minute, Peter Schultz was utterly engrossed.

For a pure mathematician, fresh and logically consistent mathematical theories are undoubtedly the most compelling.

...

In Xilin, two figures in a position to make significant decisions specifically met in an office over a report.

"You've read the Xilin Mathematics Research Institute's report too, haven't you? What are your thoughts?"

"Yes, I studied it late into the night. To be honest, I found myself thrilled. If we truly achieve what's outlined in the report—or even just half of it—Xilin would indisputably be Huaxia's one-of-a-kind smart city. It might even surpass that so-called internet hub city in sophistication."

"Haha, so you're tempted, then?"

"How could you not be?"

"I am, of course. Do you know what I find most remarkable about this report?"

"Please, tell me."

"Professor Qiao's thoroughness. He's even thought about the living conditions of low-skilled workers. If we achieve the level of automation outlined in the report, it could add 930,000 jobs to Xilin City. These positions could become accessible after no more than six months of training. Beyond that, theoretically, it could raise the city's minimum wage level."

"If the report proves accurate, the minimum wage in Tier 1 districts could reach over 3,000 yuan. Haha... if we pull that off, we'd leave internationalized urban centers like the Capital and Linhai City in the dust."

For workers, naturally, the higher the legal minimum wage, the better. For the city's finances, a higher number is also beneficial—after all, the minimum social insurance payment standard is tied to wages.

Moreover, when workers earn more, they're more willing to spend, fueling economic activity and increasing tax revenues.

However, for local governments, setting minimum wages too high isn't always good. Excessive labor costs can stifle enterprise investment enthusiasm—especially for small and medium-sized businesses, which might face survival challenges.

But per the plan in this report, those concerns would be mitigated. The intelligent automation goals would reduce costs in other areas for small and medium enterprises, enabling increased wages for workers instead.

"Indeed, if we succeed, Xilin could truly become a national—even global—model smart city. Plus, leading the way gives us an advantage: the initial groundwork would quickly convert into productivity.

When other cities across the country follow our example, they'll need to collaborate with the local enterprises we've nurtured here in Xilin. This could establish a positive cycle of industrial taxes, helping us gradually move away from relying on land as a financial resource. Sigh... though the upfront investment is a bit steep..."

"Enough—I know what you're thinking. I just called the provincial government moments ago, and they're very supportive. Do you think Professor Qiao submitted this report exclusively to us? I suspect even folks in the Capital are currently debating this proposal's feasibility.

That said, we shouldn't just sit here waiting for opportunities to fall into our laps. Here's the plan: convene a meeting this afternoon to establish the Smart City Preparatory Working Group. I'll serve as group leader, and you'll be my deputy. Start pushing forward the preparations for the smart city plan. Collaborate with various departments for baseline surveys.

You'll need to roll up your sleeves for this—I'm giving you a week to survey the entire city. Gather the foundational data and touch base with Xilin Mathematics Research Institute to draft a more detailed and sturdy report. Then, head to the Capital immediately to expedite the project's approval."

"Got it—mission accepted."

The two still left much unsaid.

If the smart city proposal materialized during their tenure, the mere experience alone would ensure bright futures for them elsewhere.

After all, compared to the national landscape, Xilin wasn't particularly known for economic prosperity.

...

For countless public officials in Xilin, the most noticeable change in the two years since Qiao Ze's arrival had been the increase in overtime. And this wasn't the kind of unproductive overtime spent attending endless meetings or theoretical training sessions.

This was hands-on, results-oriented overtime.

In retrospect, these changes seemed to have begun from the very first international seminar Qiao Ze hosted.

Fun fact: public servants aren't covered under "labor laws."

Still, most people didn't complain much. After all, while public employees in many cities were facing salary cuts, Xilin not only avoided such reductions but even managed a slight increase. For the massive cohort of grassroots civil servants, this was genuinely good news, providing some additional motivation.

Especially recently, rumors about Xilin preparing for smart city construction further boosted morale.

Work had already begun to set up a dedicated company overseeing the city's intelligent management. If successful, it wouldn't just mean higher salaries for grassroots civil servants; even contract workers in community roles could look forward to improved compensation.

This only added to everyone's enthusiasm. Particularly for community grid managers and volunteers in bustling areas and industrial zones—they were now swamped with data-collection tasks that were both time-sensitive and demanding...

If they weren't genuinely excited about the prospects, many likely wouldn't have made it through.

After all, most chose this line of work for the stable nine-to-five hours and relatively laid-back environment. When monthly salaries only ranged from two to three thousand yuan with no extra benefits, why push yourself so hard? But how could they refuse when leaders personally vowed that their hard work this time would translate into additional overtime pay?

Admittedly, not everyone was entirely driven by money. That said, in today's world, wages are also a measure of recognition for one's efforts.

All in all, in an astonishingly short time, Xilin City's entire system had been mobilized once again.