Rebel Demon King

Chapter 483 All Souls Academy (4)

Looking at the church-like side building, Yan Funing deeply felt that only Gothic architecture can show such a gorgeous sense of ceremony. The light beige yellow sandstone bricks formed a huge wall, and the long and narrow walls were inlaid on it. The dome window is in the shape of a tombstone. Looking up, you can see the spiers with light gray roofs. Those spiers with barbs are like sharp pine nuts.
Feng Zhenzhen took Yan Funing's arm and walked on the stone-paved path. There was a towering wall beside her, and there was no door for entering. There was only a Gothic-style domed pylon in the center of the wall, just like the Pope's triple crown. Below the tower is a tall hollow black iron gate. Above the iron gate is a golden iris relief, shining in the setting sun, like a pile of jewels.

At this moment, standing on the side of the black iron gate was a tall man in a black Oxford uniform and a black cloak, and a blonde woman in a blue dress with a red rose headdress.

Feng Zhenzhen looked at the pair of men and women shining in the setting sun and said softly: "That's them, that girl is my classmate Gwen Seymour, she is the daughter of the Duke of Somerset, but the Seymour family has no power now , all relying on collecting land rent and renting out the Duke's mansion as a museum, but her boyfriend's family is very powerful, he is the heir of the Cavendish family, named William Perry Cavendish, and he himself is now The Earl of Burlington, who will inherit the title of Duke of Devonshire from his father in the future. The Cavendish family is rich in politicians and scientists, and William Perry Cavendish is not only very social, but also very accomplished in academics , published papers in the four major journals of mathematics like you. In the new version of "Jane Eyre", you will definitely remember the huge manor in it, the Chatsworth Manor is the filming location of these movies, and it belongs to his family."

"In fact, the Cavendish family used to be unable to make ends meet in his grandma's generation, but thanks to her grandma's proper management, the Cavendish family has regained its glory. Her grandma's biography mentioned that she and Queen Elizabeth, former Prime Minister Mike Mirren, former President Kennedy of the United States, XXXX before the Republic of China, and even Hitler's contacts, until today, the media said that she "can still easily facilitate the representatives of the Arab world and Israel to sit in the banquet hall of her manor for a 'secret talk', You can also invite the ambassadors of the United States and China to your home for afternoon tea."

Yan Funing nodded, and said in a low voice: "Zhenzhen, I really don't know what to say. I just raised an idea at random, and you have used such a large amount of resources."

Feng Zhenzhen didn't wait for Yan Funing to finish, and immediately interrupted Yan Funing's words, and replied pretending to be indifferent: "It's nothing! It's rare for you to come to Oxford to find me on your own initiative. I can't even satisfy your little wish of laughing, and I'm here in vain." I've been in Oxford for three years"

In fact, her tone was filled with a sense of happiness, Yan Funing turned to look at Feng Zhenzhen, and said very sincerely: "Thank you."

Maybe all he can do is say "thank you".

"Don't keep saying thank you to me, as long as you come to see me often and call me often." Feng Zhenzhen didn't know what Yan Funing was thinking, and said in a low voice.

At this moment, the two had already walked not far from Gwen Seymour and William Andrew Cavendish. The setting sun slanted and cast shadows on the wall. A pair of well-dressed British nobles stood in front of the black hollow iron gate. Gwen Seymour waved his hand, amplified the volume slightly and said in a pure London accent: "Gwen! Sorry to keep you waiting!"

After finishing speaking, Feng Zhenzhen let go of Yan Funing's hand, walked up to Gwen Seymour, leaned over and gave Gwen Seymour a warm hug, which was a hug ceremony between acquaintances.

"William and I just arrived at the gate of the academy." Gwen Seymour replied with a smile, stroking Feng Zhenzhen's back.

Then Feng Zhenzhen and William Perry Cavendish shook hands and greeted each other, because Feng Zhenzhen was not married, William Perry Cavendish did not kiss hands.

After letting go, Feng Zhenzhen stretched out her hand sideways and introduced to the two: "This is my friend Yan Funing. As I told you, Imperial College has a double master's degree in mathematics and physics. It has been published in the "Annual of Mathematics", "New Advances in Mathematics", and "American Mathematical Society". Journal” and “Acta Mathematica” have published papers”

This kind of introduction belongs to the Oxford style of pretentiousness. The two parties do not compare who has more money, but who has a higher degree and published more papers.

After a pause, Feng Zhenzhen and Zhang You half turned her head and introduced to Yan Funing: "This is Gwen Seymour, my classmate."

Yan Funing lowered his right hand and straightened his body, looked into Gwen Seymour's eyes, bent his body fifteen degrees, bowed in a standard manner, and said: "Good evening, beautiful lady, it's my first meeting, it's a great honor able to get to know you."

Gwen Seymour nodded slightly, and replied politely, "It's nice to meet you too."

Yan Funing straightened his body and turned to look at William Perry Cavendish. At this moment, the two were sizing each other up. Feng Zhenzhen said: "This is the Earl of Burlington, William Perry Cavendish, now I am a Ph.D. student at All Souls College, the most sacred college in Oxford, and I have also published papers in "Annals of Mathematics" and "New Advances in Mathematics."

Before Yan Funing could speak, William Perry Cavendish stretched out his hand to Yan Funing, and said with a smile: "If I'm not wrong, you are the author of "The Quasi-Isometric Sum of Einsteinian Manifolds." Deformation" and "A Method for Solving the L2 Extended Problem with Optimal Estimation and Application" by Chris Hilbert"

Yan Funing also quickly reached out his hand, held William Perry Cavendish together, and said with a smile, "It's indeed me. I didn't expect you to recognize all of this!"

William Perry Cavendish said: "When Zhenzhen told me this afternoon, I guessed it was you. So I agreed to her request without hesitation!"

"I've also heard the name of All Souls Academy for a long time, so I really wanted to come in and have a look. I really didn't expect to alarm so many people. I'm really sorry." Yan Funing said.

"If you are studying at our Oxford, maybe we are classmates now. To be honest, your book "Quasi-Isometrics and Deformations of Einstein Manifolds" is a great inspiration to me."

The two stood at the door and complimented each other, and even started discussing the thesis written by Yan Funing, holding hands in the air for a long time, Gwen Seymour, who was standing aside, looked at the hands of the two and couldn't help but said: "Oh! William. Every time you talk about mathematics, you are more excited than talking about me. Sometimes I always doubt whether you like me more or like mathematics more. Now it seems that my doubts are superfluous. You see, it will be dinner soon It's time, it's impossible for you to be seated later than the professors, right?"

William Perry Cavendish turned his head and glanced at Gwen Seymour, only to realize that he was too involved, he let go of Yan Funing's hand very sorry, and said apologetically, "I'm so sorry, I We all forgot that we came for dinner, let’s go in first and chat while walking.”

"It doesn't matter. To be honest, I usually do research alone and rarely communicate with others. I had a very happy chat with you just now. We all know mathematics. Usually when someone asks, 'Hey! Are you busy recently? What's the most embarrassing time, because we often have no way to explain to other people what we are doing!"

William Perry Cavendish laughed "haha", then blinked at Yan Funing, "Yes! Yes! Especially when my girlfriend asks."

"I heard a strong sense of superiority in your conversation." Gwen Seymour squinted at William Perry Cavendish and sneered.

William Perry Cavendish quickly waved his hand, "No, no, I didn't mean to look down on women, but mathematics is indeed somewhat insulated from women." See Gwen Moses' complexion, William Perry Cavendish Xu quickly said: "Obviously, if I had to choose between Mathematics and you, I would definitely choose to fall into your warm embrace, that's obvious."

Hearing William Perry Cavendish's words, Feng Zhenzhen and Gwen Seymour were indifferent. Only Yan Funing laughed, and even turned around exaggeratedly. Of course, Yan Funing didn't think that this person who only studied mathematics There was nothing funny in a bad joke, but he had to pretend to be amused by William Perry Cavendish at the moment.

"What's so funny?" Gwen Seymour asked a little puzzled.

William Perry Cavendish shrugged, "Sorry, obviously this is a joke about mathematicians' definition of 'obvious'. This is probably not understandable to people who don't study mathematics, so let's first Go in. Dinner is about to begin."

"Can you promise me not to tell jokes about mathematics today?" Gwen Seymour took William Perry Cavendish's hand and said with a smile full of threats.

William Perry Cavendish hurriedly said respectfully: "Of order, my beautiful sweetheart." After finishing speaking, William Perry Cavendish turned his head and said to Feng Zhenzhen and Yan Funing behind him: "Now let's go in. It’s time to show you how delicious the dinner at All Souls College is! I can swear it’s absolutely different from the British cuisine in your impression.”

Yan Funing replied: "I think this will be a very wonderful experience." Then he and Feng Zhenzhen walked into All Souls College with William Perry Cavendish and Gwen Seymour.

When he walked to the door, William Perry Cavendish showed his college badge, a coat of arms composed of three Tudor rose patterns, to the guards standing behind the door armed with live ammunition, and then handed him another The red invitation letter with the badge of All Souls College was printed on it. The guard in Oxford standard uniform opened it, took a look, accepted the invitation letter, and opened the door.

William Perry Cavendish turned back and said to Yan Funing: "Don't mind, our Oxford is a school that attaches great importance to ceremonies, and we must wear formal attire during the exam, and we must also wear a bow tie, black robe, and I wear white carnations for the first exam, red carnations for the last exam and pink carnations for the exams in between. So just get used to it”

Yan Funing nodded, and looked around the interior of All Souls College. The entire All Souls College is a square-shaped building. The square courtyard in the middle is a large piece of green lawn. Except for the main entrance, all openings are facing inward. The high walls Isolating this college from the outside world, the twin bell towers that symbolize the palace of profound knowledge face the entrance introspectively, silently and aloofly.

In fact, All Souls College is not like a college at all, but like a fortified miniature city, with a not-so-wide iron gate in the majestic porch, which is a pinhole to enter another world.

Anyone wishing to enter must present their identification and a certificate from the College Governing Council.

William Perry Cavendish led Yan Funing and Feng Xixi along the corridor. He enthusiastically introduced to them where the passing entrance leads. All Souls College looks like a one-piece building like the Pentagon. Actually the aisles are vertical instead of horizontal.This structure is conducive to keeping quiet and free from external disturbances.

Yan Funing was very glad to hear William Perry Cavendish's explanation, because William was completely different from the British nobleman he imagined. She doesn't have the pretentious air of being a nobleman.

In fact, Yan Funing never thought that he would have the opportunity to achieve his goals on the first day he came to Oxford. He was already prepared to spend a long time at Oxford University, so he only said that he would listen to Paul Barrett's class at the Natural History Museum. of.

But even if he was lucky, Yan Funing didn't think he would be able to see the target person today.

Finally, William and Gwen took Yan Funing and Feng Zhenzhen to the Twin Clock Towers. William introduced that their library was in the middle of the Twin Clock Towers. A sundial was installed on the window of the library, and a sentence was engraved on it: Time flies but cannot be forgotten. (Time flies but cannot be forgotten)
William Perry Cavendish stood under the sundial and said proudly: "This is my favorite of Wren's works. It was designed in 1659. Our UK is a country of sundials. We at Oxford University will especially The ancient art of sundials is so well preserved, as if in the shade of the academy walls people not only counted the course of the sun, but also learned the wisdom of astronomy and summoned the sun with the magic commandments in Latin."

Maybe Feng Zhenzhen and Gwen Seymour couldn't understand what William was talking about, but Yan Funing understood very well. He looked up at the sundial installed on the pointed window, thinking that it's no wonder that All Souls College doesn't allow people to visit. It is a time mark representing the Ouroboros. These great cultural relics cannot be destroyed or hidden, but the entire academy can only be closed.

"Actually, when I praise Oxford, I never say that it is our oldest university in the UK, nor that it has given birth to 4 kings, 46 Nobel Prize winners and 25 British prime ministers. What I am proud of is that it was born in 800 In the history of 800 years, I have witnessed the whole process of the empire on which the sun never sets from prosperity to decline, witnessed the bumpy road of human pursuit of truth and civilization, and dedicated countless masters to the world. [-] years of cultural precipitation have made Oxford an aristocratic complex and It is synonymous with the symbol of elites, and will continue to inspire young talents to persevere on this road to glory and dreams." William Perry Cavendish said affectionately.

At this time, the passers-by gave him some applause. William bowed generously to thank him, straightened up, pointed to the other side of the clock tower, and said to the not-so-large mahogany door through which someone was entering: "We The cafeteria is next to the library, so we can eat and go after reading! We have to go in before the tutors arrive!"

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Four people entering the mahogany door is like entering the interior of a church. Mahogany beams are placed on the empty ceiling, and the carvings on one side are very complicated. There are countless portraits hanging on the wooden wall below, and three mahogany tables run through the entire hall. The tables on both sides are long, and the middle table is short, resembling a "Chuan" character, and desk lamps are placed neatly on the tables, all lit up Therefore, although there is no chandelier on the top of the hall, it is very bright.

At this moment, the cafeteria is not full, especially on the shorter table in the middle, no one is sitting.There were a lot of people sitting on the tables on both sides, but they were not very full. These people were all wearing formal clothes, and most of them were wearing Oxford's unique black robes. It was obvious that they were all Oxford students, and they all Still a student with good academic performance.

William led the three of them to find an empty seat and sat down opposite each other, then said: "Harry Potter originally wanted to take pictures in the cafeteria of our college, but our dean refused to take down the portraits of previous deans. So the Harry Potter crew can only go to Christ Church College."

Yan Funing sat on the table and looked at the portraits that surrounded the entire cafeteria. Most of them were not famous people, but he didn't look at these portraits originally, but took the opportunity to see if there was any target person in the cafeteria, but it's a pity , he didn't see the person Li Jiting asked him to look for in All Souls College.

"Although they are not well-known, in fact their contributions are very great, but for some reason, they are not known." William thought that Yan Funing was wondering why the people in these portraits did not know each other, and said with a smile.

Yan Funing was about to speak, when some older people in loose black robes came in from the door, and immediately the whole cafeteria stood up, watching them respectfully as they entered and sat down on the table in the middle.

When all the people in this group were seated, beautiful girls in maid outfits came in at the side door of the cafeteria carrying silver tableware and porcelain bowls, and began to set the tableware for everyone in order.

When they sat down, William explained to Yan Funing in a low voice: "Only the instructor can sit at the middle table. We have to stand up when they are seated. We can't leave after eating. We have to wait for them to leave. Walk"

(End of this chapter)