The penthouse atop the Shanghai Tower resembled an island suspended above the clamor of the mundane world. Beyond the huge curved floor‑to‑ceiling windows sprawled an urban sea of lights stretching to the horizon; the Huangpu River flowed silently like a black satin ribbon studded with diamonds. Inside, the design was minimalist and severe—cold metal, polished marble, and dark wood elements dominated, with only a few areas of soft indirect lighting diffusing small patches of warmth in the vast space, barely dispelling the alienation brought by height and silence. The air here seemed thinner than below, carrying a texture almost solidified, alien to daily life.
Yue'er stood before the window, yet her gaze wasn't fixed on the dazzling light‑display beneath her feet that symbolized the pinnacle of human material civilization. Her vision seemed to pierce through the glass, reaching toward more distant, unknown dimensions. The waves of skepticism from the mathematics community, like distant cosmic background radiation, faint yet continuously stimulating her nerves. Those sharp technical doubts, those fundamental interrogations about path correctness, hadn't completely dissipated despite Mozi's and Xiuxiu's encouragement; they were merely temporarily sealed away by her rational armor. She knew the trial for her "intellectual child" had just begun; in the years ahead, she would need to devote immeasurable mental effort to defending, revising, proving—or… accepting failure.
A gentle chime from the doorbell broke the indoor silence. Xiuxiu and Mozi arrived almost simultaneously. Xiuxiu had shed her usual lab attire, wearing instead a crisp dark casual outfit, a trace of unconcealable weariness between her brows—marks from confronting the immense planning, more‑precise manufacturing demands, and intangible pressures from international attention following the EUV prototype's success. Mozi remained in his well‑tailored dark suit, yet his brow slightly furrowed, deep in his eyes a vigilance and gravity belonging to a capital hunter—detectable only by Yue'er and Xiuxiu—that shadow of financial sniper quietly looming like a sword of Damocles above the massive capital empire he'd built.
Without excessive pleasantries, the three moved tacitly to the area carpeted with soft rugs in the living‑room center, settling on the wide sofa, forming a stable triangle. The air carried a silent tension—external pressures encountered in their respective fields compressing inward, seeking resonance and release here.
Xiuxiu spoke first, her voice carrying an engineer's directness: "I feel things have changed since the Singapore summit. Before, we worked behind closed doors on our own; now… it's like being thrust into a spotlight—no, a searchlight." She paused, looking at Mozi. "Your side—have you sensed it too?"
Mozi didn't evade; he nodded slightly, tone steady yet weighted: "Yes. Some unfriendly funds have started positioning targetedly in the market. Methods professional, objectives clear. Not scattered players—coming for us." He didn't elaborate on the peril of "joint‑pool operations" or "cornering," but Xiuxiu and Yue'er could both sense that icy malice from capital's deep sea in his brief description.
Yue'er sighed softly, taking up the thread; her voice, like a clear stream in a secluded valley, seemed especially distinct in the spacious room: "My preprint… the response has been more… intense than I imagined." She used "intense," encompassing both appreciation and sharp skepticism. "Many doubts target the theoretical foundation. I need time, more solid work to respond, or… rebuild." She acknowledged her inner uncertainty. "The road to truth seems more rugged than I thought, filled with crossroads and mist."
The three fell into brief silence. Outside, the city remained clamorous; yet within this triangular space, it seemed to concentrate skepticism from mathematics' sacred halls, threats from global capital markets, and covetousness and suppression following cutting‑edge technological breakthroughs. The challenges each faced, though different in nature, resonated strangely here, weaving an invisible, pressure‑laden net.
Mozi broke the silence, his gaze sweeping Yue'er and Xiuxiu, eyes profound: "We're walking unconventional paths. Yue'er attempts to connect P/NP and Langlands—challenging one of mathematics' most fortified bastions; Xiuxiu aims to conquer EUV and next‑generation lithography—assaulting the global semiconductor industry's highest peak; and I…" He smiled self‑deprecatingly. "…try to use algorithms and capital to seek certainty's holy grail in markets filled with greed and fear—even now, attracting giants' gaze."
He leaned forward slightly, tone becoming extremely solemn: "We three are like three planets dislodged from their original orbits, gravitationally drawing together, forming a new, fragile yet possibility‑filled system. But this new system clearly isn't welcomed by the old cosmic order. Skepticism, sniping, suppression… these are inevitable gravitational perturbations and cosmic dust we must endure."
Yue'er raised her eyes, looking at Mozi, then Xiuxiu. She saw that pioneer's tenacity and defiance in Xiuxiu's eyes; she saw that protect‑all determination and strength deep in Mozi's gaze. External pressure, instead of frightening her, acted like a strange quenching agent, clarifying and solidifying something within.
"Perhaps…" Yue'er spoke softly, as if sorting threads in her mind. "…perhaps the connection between us isn't definable by any traditional relationship." Her gaze clear, carrying a mathematician's logic and a philosopher's insight. "We're drawn together by intellectual resonance, drawn closer by ideal congruence, then interwoven by fate's arrangement. This bond transcends simple friendship, love, or partnership. It's a… **symbiosis** based on highest‑level cognition and emotional recognition."
Xiuxiu nodded vigorously, chiming in: "Yue'er‑jie is right. We three are like three core subsystems of a most‑precise lithography machine—light source, optics, and wafer stage. Each independent, with completely different physical principles and technical implementations, but only when we coordinate precisely, perfectly cooperate, can we carve tomorrow's chips." She looked at Mozi. "Mozi, your capital is like the **energy source** and **control system** driving this huge machine; without stable, powerful energy and precise command, even the best light source and optics are just ornaments."
Mozi met her gaze, a glimmer of understanding flashing in his eyes; he looked at Yue'er: "And Yue'er's mathematics and truth are like the machine's **underlying algorithm** and **design principle**—they define the pattern we want to carve, guide where energy and light should go, how they should act. Without correct theory and algorithm, however much energy and however precise the mechanics, they'd only operate blindly in darkness."
A truly relieved, light‑filled smile appeared on Yue'er's face—first in many days: "So the division of labor is clear, also fate‑bestowed talents and missions for each: **Mozi, you use your capital to guard Xiuxiu's technological breakthroughs and my truth‑seeking, shielding us from malice and storms from the real world. Xiuxiu, you use the precision of light you harness to transform theoretical blueprints and capital support into tangible material foundations changing the world. And I, through my quest for truth, try to find the deepest, most universal logical foundation and directional guidance for all our actions.**"
She paused, voice gentler yet containing undeniable strength: "Capital, light, formula. We three—indispensable each. Capital needs light's realization and formula's guidance to transcend emptiness; light needs capital's empowerment and formula's optimization to break limits; formula needs light's verification and capital's support to move from abstract to reality."
In this moment, all hesitation, all tangled delicate feelings, all worries about external pressures seemed reconciled and elevated through this consensus surpassing mundane definitions. They clearly saw each other's irreplaceable place in each other's life maps, and the colossal power they could unleash as a whole—enough to shake existing structures.
Mozi extended a hand, palm up, placing it on the coffee table between them. His gaze swept Yue'er and Xiuxiu, filled with unprecedented firmness and tenderness: "Then—it's settled. Whatever the future holds—mathematics' thorns, technology's cliffs, or capital's abyss—we three, face it together."
Xiuxiu didn't hesitate, placing her slightly calloused engineer's hand firmly over Mozi's broad palm; her eyes blazing, loyal: "Face it together."
Yue'er looked at the two overlapped hands, smiled slightly—a smile of release, belonging, and forward‑moving serenity. She extended her slender, pale hand, accustomed to holding pens and thinking—gently, yet stably—placing it on top.
Three hands, representing three entirely different power sources, now tightly stacked, forming a steady, warm fulcrum.
"Face it together." Yue'er's voice light, yet like an anchoring command, piercing through all uncertainty.
Consensus achieved. They accepted that emotional bond between them—un‑categorizable yet deep as the sea—clarified roles and responsibilities within the grand enterprise blueprint. External storms might grow fiercer, but they knew henceforth they weren't three lonely planets, but a new galaxy with a shared gravitational core. Capital would become a shield‑of‑guard and sword‑of‑expansion; light, a pen carving reality; and formula, stars guiding the way. Their future would inevitably, inseparably intertwine with this world's future. Outside, night remained profound, yet this triangle within the penthouse seemed to light a never‑extinguishing lighthouse—its radiance enough to penetrate any fog and darkness.