With a pair of hands, a pen, and a few large bags of scratch paper, he solved the world's problem: Goldbach's conjecture, he was the mathematical genius Chen Jingrun.
However, in fact, he still has an unknown side, and at the age of 47, he was determined to marry a beautiful 29-year-old female military doctor.
Although the two were very different in age, the two still got married and gave birth to a son, and when the son was 15 years old, Chen Jingrun died.
What happened to their son now?
The statements in this article are based on reliable sources of information and are detailed at the end of the article.
01. Addicted to mathematics in the early stage, I accidentally met true love
Chen Jingrun and his wife met, one of the indirect reasons is because of mathematics.
When he was young, Chen Jingrun suddenly showed his love for mathematics, and his peers loved to read all kinds of magazines and picture books, but he held "Ancient and Modern Mathematical Thoughts" and "Geometry Originals" and other mathematical masterpieces every day.
Because of his love for mathematics, in 1950, he entered the Department of Mathematics and Physics of Xiamen University and began to further study Xi mathematics.
At that time, he didn't go to any popular attractions near Xiamen University, he didn't go to Gulangyu Island, and he didn't even watch the movies that college students loved to watch.
It can be said that he likes to read books to the point of obsession, even if he doesn't have a book in his hand, but he still thinks about books.
His classmate Yang Xi'an said that once it rained heavily, everyone else hurried to find a place to shelter from the rain, but Chen Jingrun was the only one who walked slowly in the rain, with a thoughtful expression on his face, as if he was thinking about something.
Until Yang Xi'an shouted at him: Aren't you afraid of the rain?
Chen Jingrun was shocked to realize that it was raining.
For mathematics, Chen Jingrun is extremely serious, and he has his own set of learning Xi methods.
Just like mountaineering, others choose shortcuts as much as possible, but Chen Jingrun is not, he must walk all the roads to the top of the mountain, and walk every road again, and he must remember every road in his heart to feel satisfied.
He is also like this for mathematics, so Chen Jingrun has a very solid foundation in mathematics, and his grades are also very good.
Because of his rigorous attitude towards mathematics, Chen Jingrun also dares to speak and question.
As an authoritative figure in the mathematical field at that time, Hua Luogeng's remarks were sought after, but Chen Jingrun was not like this.
In 1956, Hua Luogeng published a mathematical article called "Theory of Stacked Prime Numbers", which caused great repercussions at the time.
However, after reading the article, Chen Jingrun felt that there were many mistakes in this article, so in a serious manner, Chen Jingrun published his own paper "The Problem in the Tower" in response to Hua Luogeng's article, questioned Hua Luogeng, and also pointed out the problems, and also made revisions.
At that time, there were very few people who dared to question Hua Luogeng, but Chen Jingrun was one of them.
After Hua Luogeng saw Chen Jingrun's article, he did not feel embarrassed by this, but felt that Chen Jingrun was a mathematical talent, so with the help of Hua Luogeng, Chen Jingrun entered the Institute of Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Although Chen Jingrun entered the work here, but the conditions were not as luxurious as others thought, Chen Jingrun's salary was not high, coupled with his frail and sickly body, he had been living a hard life, but most of the people in the institute at that time were not in good condition, and it was very good to be well fed and clothed.
However, Chen Jingrun didn't care about this, after entering the institute, he put all his mind on mathematics, and the rest of the entertainment activities, including socializing, were almost non-existent.
In this way, he usually lives in a 6-square-meter hut with a pot of boiling water, a few steamed buns, and a little side dish, and stays all day just to study mathematics.
When the power went out, he lit a kerosene lamp, and the room was very simple, only a broken chair, but Chen Jingrun was reluctant to throw it, so he turned the chair sideways, just enough to sit.
There was also a bed, which was both a bed and a table, and under the bed were sacks of scratch paper.
It was in this environment that he kept calculating and finally proved the most difficult part of Goldbach's conjecture: 1+2.
You must know that if you want to calculate this result, you can't use a calculator, you can only calculate it by hand, and you have to calculate 3.6 million items, at least ten years. But Chen Jingrun only took a month.
But because he has been obsessed with mathematics in the first half of his life, he has always been single, at this time he is in his forties, not married, many friends of the same age have been married early, and some even have grandchildren.
Chen Jingrun didn't care about these things, but in fact, he just didn't meet the right person.
02. Unexpected shifts
Because Chen Jingrun studied Goldbach's conjecture day and night, not long after the end of the study, he fell ill.
This is simply commonplace for Chen Jingrun, who has always been frail and sickly, he was admitted to the hospital for treatment, and met a beautiful female military doctor in the hospital.
This female military doctor's name is You Kun, and she has always taken good care of Chen Jingrun, she knows that Chen Jingrun's health has not been very good, every time Chen Jingrun comes to the hospital, she has to patiently remind Chen Jingrun what things can not be eaten, and what things are recommended to eat.
Unconsciously, Chen Jingrun had some extra feelings for this female military doctor named You Kun, and You Kun always just kept the idea of her own job to take care of him, but she was full of curiosity about a celebrity like Chen Jingrun in her heart.
I have to say that Chen Jingrun is really a bold person, and in terms of feelings, after determining his mind, Chen Jingrun said his thoughts to You Kun straightforwardly.
You Kun is very embarrassed, Chen Jingrun is 44 years old, and he is only 29 years old, this age gap is too big, right?
But Chen Jingrun is another person, as long as he recognizes one thing, he will stick to the end, in order to pursue Youkun, he tried his best.
Math problems weren't very difficult for him, but it was a challenge to win her heart.
Chen Jingrun is not a very good talker, he will not use those rhetoric to make women happy, so he has to express himself with silent love.
Almost every day, Chen Jingrun had to stay downstairs in You Kun's house, and he stayed for a long time, You Kun knew that he was not in good health, and he couldn't bear to let him stand in the cold wind, so he always let him in to warm up.
Maybe it's really a long-term relationship, You Kun also saw Chen Jingrun's determination, and finally was moved by him, broke through the barrier of age in his heart, and agreed to marry him.
At this time, Chen Jingrun was 47 years old, You Kun was also 22 years old, and the two had a son after getting married, and their lives were very happy, but the good times did not last long, and Chen Jingrun's health began to deteriorate more and more.
03. Died of illness, and his son became an outstanding talent
As Chen Jingrun gets older, the more sick he gets, which can be described as riddled with diseases.
Even so, Chen Jingrun refused to rest, he only had mathematics in his heart.
Even in his later years, Chen Jingrun was hospitalized in the hospital, and he had to emphasize to the doctor every day that the infusion would not prick his right hand, so that it would not affect his work.
In the last days, Chen Jingrun didn't even have the strength to hold a pen, and his speech was slurred, but Chen Jingrun still insisted on working, using gestures and simple language to communicate and answer questions to every student.
On March 19, 1996, Chen Jingrun died in Beijing at the age of 63, when his son Chen Youwei was only 15 years old.
Perhaps inheriting his father's excellent genes, Chen Youwei had excellent grades since he was a child, and went to Canada to study Xi business with his own ability. And because of his father's relationship, he learned Xi mathematics.
Chen Youwei, like Chen Jingrun when he was a child, especially likes to read, and he reads "Number Theory" the most, because this book records Chen's theorem about Chen Jingrun.
However, unlike his father, Chen Youwei does not want to concentrate on only studying mathematics, he wants to broaden his mind and get in touch with other industries.
In 2019, Xiamen University, where Chen Jingrun once studied, held an alumni reunion, and Chen Youwei attended on behalf of his father and joined the volunteer "Jingrun Youth".
He was also influenced by his mother, You Kun, to start a medical company, and is now the deputy general manager of the Beijing headquarters of Xiamen Meiya Pico Information Co., Ltd.
Now, although he is not engaged in mathematical research like Chen Jingrun, he has established one "Jingrun School" after another with his own ability, cultivating generations of outstanding talents.
Chen Jingrun let us see a math warrior who still worked hard and studied knowledge in the difficult years, while Chen Youwei let us see a strong patriot who was shrouded in the huge aura of his father, but still insisted on himself, did what he wanted to do, and although he was different from his father, he made contributions to the motherland.
Resources:
[1] Guangming.com - "Chen Jingrun: Forever Innocent Mathematical Giant" https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1766536052076728993&wfr=spider&for=pc