Lin Zhixia and Jiang Yubai had agreed that she would visit Jiang Yubai’s home on the first Saturday of March. She planned to win the championship at the 2007 Romanian Mathematics Master Tournament and bring back the gold medal for Jiang Yubai to play with.

“I’ll be waiting for you,” Jiang Yubai replied.

Lin Zhixia suddenly had an idea: “Jiang Yubai, during the time we’re apart, I’ll record my daily experiences in a notebook, and when I come back…”

Before Lin Zhixia could finish, Jiang Yubai had already guessed her intention: “We’ll each record our experiences. When you return, we’ll exchange notebooks.”

“Exactly!” Lin Zhixia said excitedly. “We’ll exchange notebooks, which is equivalent to exchanging our memories, as if we were never apart.”

Jiang Yubai was convinced by Lin Zhixia’s tight logic.

To express his support and affirmation, he took out two notebooks from his backpack. Lin Zhixia took one of the notebooks and wrote on the title page: Captain Lin Zhixia’s Interstellar Treasure Hunt Journey.

Jiang Yubai wrote in the other notebook: Leader Jiang Yubai’s History of Long Waiting.

The five words “History of Long Waiting” subtly revealed “Leader Jiang Yubai’s” melancholy and loneliness. But “Leader Jiang Yubai” was a heroic character who stood tall. He shouldn’t feel any hint of loss or dejection.

Just as Jiang Yubai was about to cross out this line, Lin Zhixia added a sentence next to his writing: The Experience of Guarding the Spaceship.

Lin Zhixia said, enunciating each word: “Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia will always be good friends.”

Jiang Yubai put away the notebook. He was originally not accustomed to recording his daily life, but he decided to make a temporary change—he decided to briefly summarize the trivial matters that occurred from eight in the morning to eight at night in chronological order.

During Lin Zhixia’s training with the national team, Jiang Yubai became the acting class monitor of Class 2(17). He maintained class order in an orderly manner and summarized in his diary: “Lin Zhixia, there are mainly three things today that you should know. First, Class 2(17) once again won the Hygiene Red Flag. Second, Teacher Zhang is getting married next week. He distributed wedding candy to the whole class. You weren’t at school, so you didn’t get any candy. When you return to school, I’ll give you some. Third…”

Jiang Yubai was about to tell Lin Zhixia that in the February monthly exam, he had scored full marks in both mathematics and English, ranking first in the grade. But then he thought, does Lin Zhixia care about grades? In her eyes, all the students in the second grade should be more or less the same.

Jiang Yubai put down his pen, and Duan Qiyan called out noisily: “Jiang Yubai, what are you busy with?”

Duan Qiyan saw the three characters “Lin Zhixia” on the notebook. He quickly came up to Jiang Yubai and interrogated: “Jiang Yubai, what are you writing to Lin Zhixia?”

Jiang Yubai covered up: “Work report.”

“Work report?” Duan Qiyan was half skeptical.

“Yes,” Jiang Yubai said with a straight face, “as the acting class monitor, I’m reporting daily work.”

After Jiang Yubai finished speaking, nearby classmates heard him. Everyone rushed over, enthusiastically asking: “Is Lin Zhixia in the national training team still thinking about our classmates?”

Tang Tingting, the arts committee member, responded: “Of course! Lin Zhixia is our class monitor after all.”

Tang Tingting pulled Duan Qiyan aside and sat down next to Jiang Yubai—that seat should belong to Lin Zhixia. Jiang Yubai’s territorial awareness instantly awakened. He pretended to casually remind Tang Tingting: “Your seat is in the front row.”

“I know,” Tang Tingting raised her voice, “Jiang Yubai, don’t just focus on writing official business. Official business is so boring. You should write a bit about the personal affairs of the classmates. Lin Zhixia would like to read that.”

“No,” Jiang Yubai firmly refused, “she won’t like it.”

Tang Tingting still insisted: “She will like it.”

Jiang Yubai said: “You don’t understand her.”

Tang Tingting retorted: “I’m a girl, Lin Zhixia is a girl, I understand her better than you.”

Then, Tang Tingting instructed in detail: “Write that Tang Tingting’s essay won an award in the city this month.”

The onlooking classmates burst into laughter. Duan Qiyan directly mocked: “Tang Tingting, don’t you just want others to know that your essay won an award in the city? Lin Zhixia has won national awards, would she care about your city-level essay award?”

Last September, Duan Qiyan and Tang Tingting had played a married couple in the play “Transformation.” Several busybodies in the class always paired Duan Qiyan and Tang Tingting together. They jokingly called Duan Qiyan “a man with a family” and often led the teasing in the class.

Duan Qiyan was very indignant. The bad relationship between him and Tang Tingting was witnessed by the whole class.

Duan Qiyan thought to himself: Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia are truly inseparable. Why doesn’t anyone gossip about the two of them?

Soon, Duan Qiyan forcibly fabricated a reason, just based on Lin Zhixia’s unattainable competition results; everyone didn’t treat Lin Zhixia as a normal person. Lin Zhixia was like a deity who didn’t partake in worldly matters in Class 2(17). Everyone could barely keep up with worshiping her; how could they dare to mock her?

Duan Qiyan firmly believed that the reason he was linked with Tang Tingting was that he wasn’t strong enough. If he were strong enough, exceeding Lin Zhixia, then in Class 2(17), he could do as he pleased, and no one would dare to provoke him.

Duan Qiyan supported one hand on the desk, getting a bit closer to Tang Tingting. Several classmates around quietly laughed again as the subtle feelings of adolescence were budding around him, and he fiercely said: “Jiang Yubai, quickly tell Lin Zhixia that when she comes back, she must rectify the class style and eliminate the improper atmosphere!”

Jiang Yubai closed his notebook: “What’s wrong with the class atmosphere? Just say it directly. I’m the acting class monitor.”

Jiang Yubai had such an authoritative presence.

Duan Qiyan unconsciously submitted.

Like pleading before an official, Duan Qiyan lowered his eyes, hesitant to speak, and narrated: “It’s that, that ‘Transformation’ crew…” He stopped halfway, and his gaze met with Tang Tingting’s.

Tang Tingting raised her eyebrows in displeasure, and Duan Qiyan’s expression immediately changed, turning red, like the brilliant sunset glow of an autumn evening.

In the play “Transformation,” Tang Tingting had a line where she addressed Duan Qiyan as “husband.” In September last year, Duan Qiyan felt it was nothing. In February this year, when he recalled that scene, he felt quite uncomfortable.

Perhaps it was because he had turned fourteen and had begun to care about his reputation.

After an internal struggle, Duan Qiyan said: “There’s always a group of troublemakers in the class making a fuss. Can you manage them?”

Jiang Yubai nodded slightly and responded: “If anyone makes a fuss again, just tell me. Lin Zhixia has gone to the national team training, and I will help her maintain the class atmosphere.”

Jiang Yubai stood up from his seat and clarified his viewpoint. He hoped everyone would be mindful of the boundaries when joking. He said that respect is mutual, and the class belongs to everyone. Everyone nodded in agreement, strongly approving of Jiang Yubai’s words.

Jiang Yubai was naturally good at public speaking. He was organized, clear in his points, and spoke in a steady and powerful tone that made people want to heed his advice. He was like Judge Bao, speaking of reason and fairness. He quelled the rumors in the class and cleared Duan Qiyan’s name.

Duan Qiyan even felt that Lin Zhixia’s handling might not necessarily be better than Jiang Yubai’s.

However, Duan Qiyan still hoped that Lin Zhixia would return soon. Although Jiang Yubai was skilled in managing the class, he was not Lin Zhixia after all. He couldn’t hold the first position in the grade and occasionally lost to Jin Baihui from Class 18.

Jin Baihui from Class 18 was truly a thorn in Duan Qiyan’s heart.

He sincerely hoped that Lin Zhixia’s exam results would always be stronger than Jin Baihui’s.

*

At this moment, Lin Zhixia was participating in the national team’s training.

The training lasted for two weeks, with four exams during that period. Lin Zhixia was determined to participate in international competitions. She took each exam seriously, not daring to make mistakes.

The management of the mathematics training team was relatively relaxed, not strict. In class, the attendance rate of auditing students was extremely high, and there were some training team members who often skipped classes—they could be described as “elusive dragons,” only appearing during evaluations.

Indeed, true masters all had their style.

With mathematics competition experts from all over the country gathered together, Lin Zhixia’s biggest feeling was that top students generally had their plans, were busy with their affairs, and had no time to pay too much attention to others. Especially those students preparing to study abroad, who also had to focus on foreign universities, prepare application materials, and review for TOEFL and SAT.

Some students in the training team had already received admission letters from Cornell, Stanford, and Princeton Universities.

Lin Zhixia admired them. But she never took the initiative to chat with others. She always followed Luo Ying.

Lin Zhixia and Luo Ying lived in the same dormitory. Luo Ying was the last member in the training team, so she was particularly diligent. Every night, Luo Ying would study in the study room until eleven o’clock, then quietly enter the dormitory, while Lin Zhixia had already fallen asleep.

Lin Zhixia liked to sleep on her side, tightly hugging a little penguin. Whenever Luo Ying saw this, she would remember that Lin Zhixia was only eleven and a half years old, still a little girl who hadn’t grown up. She charged ahead in mathematics competitions but remained cautious in her daily life.

The learning tasks during the training period were heavy, and Luo Ying found it quite challenging. Lin Zhixia wasn’t in great shape either—since her birth, she had never been away from her parents for so long. A week into the training, Lin Zhixia was very homesick, a bit dazed day and night, dreaming of her father, mother, and brother.

Despite this, she still persevered and ranked at the top in all four exams.

The students with the most outstanding exam performance would have the opportunity to participate in the second round of training in March and represent the country in the 2007 International Mathematical Olympiad during the summer vacation this year.

And the 2007 Romanian Mathematics Master Tournament would be held at the end of February this year.

The Romanian Mathematics Master Tournament included team awards and individual awards. Each country could send four official team members and two reserve team members. When calculating the final score for the team, the contestant with the lowest score would be eliminated, and the team’s total score would equal the sum of the scores of the other three contestants[1]. This cruel competition system tested the contestants’ psychological quality and the team’s cohesion.

Originally, according to the teachers’ intention, they planned to send a provincial team to compete. But considering that this year’s Romanian Mathematics Master Tournament was exceptionally competitive, the teachers organized a voluntary selection competition. Lin Zhixia was unsurprisingly selected as an official team member.

Official team member!

Lin Zhixia was going abroad for a competition!

After returning to the provincial capital, Lin Zhixia had a week to prepare. She quickly processed her documents with the company of her parents and teachers. This was her first time going abroad in her life, and her mother seemed very worried about her. For two consecutive nights, her mother didn’t sleep well, and dark circles appeared under her eyes.

Lin Zhixia noticed her mother’s dark circles. She clutched her mother’s clothing and promised: “Mom, Mom, I’ll stay in Romania for a week and then come home immediately.”

Her mother hugged her and said: “Xiaxia is only eleven years old.”

“This September, Xiaxia will be twelve years old,” Lin Zhixia added. She raised her head and looked at her brother.

Her brother’s expression was even worse. He grabbed an apple, took a few bites, and then asked: “Where is Romania?”

“Southern Europe,” Lin Zhixia answered.

“Is it safe?” Her brother frowned tightly.

Lin Zhixia nodded: “The lead teacher will be with us, so it should be quite safe. My senior schoolmate Luo Ying will go with me; she’s a reserve member in our team.”

“Is Luo Ying a good student?” her brother asked again.

Lin Zhixia described diplomatically: “Brother, our team is not the strongest in the training camp. The strongest and most experienced batch of contestants is mainly focusing on the International Mathematical Olympiad in July.”

Her brother took a deep breath, unable to continue eating the apple.

He paced back and forth in the narrow living room like a worried senior official. He said: “Lin Zhixia, since your team has reserves, why don’t you just give up the competition?”

Lin Zhixia was stunned: “Why should I give up?”

“You’re too young,” her brother reasoned, “I’m not comfortable with you going abroad alone. Which child goes abroad at the age of eleven?”

Lin Zhixia said seriously, “This is not my problem; it’s your problem. Brother, you must overcome your inner fear.”

She even called out her brother’s full name: “Lin Zeqiu, I’ve already registered for the competition and absolutely cannot retreat on the eve of battle. This isn’t a chess competition at the entrance of the community where you can run away whenever you want. This is the 2007 Romanian Mathematics Master Tournament. I’m determined to win a gold medal; I want to win an individual gold medal and a team gold medal.”

Lin Zeqiu was intimidated by her demeanor, overlooking the fact that her left hand was holding strawberry yogurt and her right arm was hugging a stuffed penguin.

After delivering her bold statement, Lin Zhixia turned around and went to her bedroom to pack.

Every winter vacation, Lin Zhixia would stay at her grandparents’ home for a week, and her parents had already bought her a suitcase. She threw her clothes into the suitcase, and suddenly her brother stood beside her: “You don’t know how to fold clothes at all.”

Her brother was already fifteen years old. Although Lin Zhixia was also trying to grow taller, her brother was still much taller than her. She could only raise her head, staring at his eyes, which were filled with complex emotions, so serious that it made one nervous.

He rambled on like Xianglin’s wife: “Romania, in Southern Europe, is a small country. Is it safe?”

“It’s safe,” Lin Zhixia gave an affirmative answer once again.

Lin Zeqiu sat on the floor, taking the initiative to help her pack. He was good at organizing clothes, folding them meticulously. His fingers were long, pressing firmly on the edges of the suitcase while he muttered to himself: “If you encounter an emergency abroad, remember to run towards crowded places, don’t let bad people catch you. A few days ago, I read a story in a magazine.”

Lin Zhixia squatted down next to her brother and asked curiously: “What story?”

“A horror story,” Lin Zeqiu’s voice grew deeper.

He narrated in detail: “There was a man who had just married his wife, and they went to Thailand for their honeymoon. His wife was changing in a fitting room, and the husband waited outside for her. He waited for a long time, but his wife didn’t come out…”

“Then what?” Lin Zhixia grew more curious.

Lin Zeqiu stared at her intently: “There was no one in the fitting room; the woman had disappeared. The man searched everywhere but couldn’t find his wife. After several years, the man went to Thailand again and happened to encounter a circus performance. There was a disabled woman in the circus whose hands and feet had been cut off, without a tongue or ears, kept in a cage like a piece of meat. When the disabled woman saw this man, she cried hysterically. The man suddenly noticed that the birthmark on this woman was identical to his missing wife’s.”

Lin Zhixia’s breath froze.

Fearing she hadn’t understood, Lin Zeqiu patiently explained again: “The man took his wife to Thailand, his wife was captured in the fitting room, sold to Thailand’s black market, then had her hands and feet cut off, her tongue and ears dug out, made into a human pig… Do you understand what a human pig is? You’ve certainly read ‘Records of the Grand Historian,’ right? In the Han Dynasty, Empress Lü turned Consort Qi into a human pig.”

Lin Zhixia remained calm for less than a second before running out of the bedroom. She pounced on her mother like a kitten returning to its nest: “Mom, Mom, hug me please.”

Her mother asked: “What’s wrong with Xiaxia?”

Lin Zhixia complained: “My brother just told me a horror story.”

Lin Zeqiu observed this scene and thought to himself: She’s a mama’s girl.

Lin Zeqiu knew that Lin Zhixia was timid. During her competition in Romania, it would be best if she stayed in the hotel obediently, not going anywhere. As long as she could understand Lin Zeqiu’s deeper meaning, he was willing to tell her a thrilling travel story every day.

*

The night before Lin Zhixia’s departure, her father, mother, and brother all suffered from insomnia.

Early the next morning, her brother, with dark circles under his eyes, went to wake up Lin Zhixia. It was just past five in the morning. Lin Zhixia woke up and cheerfully said: “Brother, I’ll bring you back a souvenir!”

Her brother was startled: “No, don’t buy souvenirs.”

Lin Zhixia tilted her head: “Why not?”

Her brother analyzed: “If you want to buy souvenirs, you’ll have to go out. You might go out alone, get lost in an unfamiliar Romania, and bad people might throw a sack over you and toss you into a van.”

“Really?” Lin Zhixia expressed doubt.

Last night, Lin Zeqiu had thought about this issue for the entire night. He had never been abroad, not even out of the province. His imagined unknown country was extremely brutal and terrifying. And his young, weak, childish, and self-important sister would suffer in a foreign land, crying for help with no one answering, calling out with no response. Just thinking about the grievances Lin Zhixia might face, his throat and chest would involuntarily ache, a torment difficult to describe in words.

He had done so many household chores to raise Lin Zhixia.

He couldn’t convey his emotional journey. He only said: “Souvenirs aren’t important; just bring yourself back.”

“I’ll come back,” Lin Zhixia said matter-of-factly. She had slept well last night and even had a beautiful dream where she grew up to be twenty years old, and life had become even better.

That morning around seven o’clock, Lin Zhixia, with an expectant heart, met her comrades at the airport.

She spotted Luo Ying at first glance. She ran towards Luo Ying with her suitcase, calling out as she ran: “Senior, Senior!”

The senior reached out her hand: “Come, let’s check in our luggage together.”

Lin Zhixia held her hand: “I’ve never taken an international flight before. Have you, Senior?”

“I’ve taken quite a few,” Luo Ying answered.

Luo Ying’s passport was stamped with many stamps. It turned out she had traveled around Europe with her parents before. She calmly passed through customs and security checks, familiar with all the procedures. Lin Zhixia took her as a role model, choosing a seat right next to her on the plane.

Perhaps because it was Lin Zhixia’s first long-distance flight, she was too excited. After nightfall, she was very tired but couldn’t fall asleep. She reclined, lay on her side, and curled up with her legs on the seat, but it still didn’t help. Luo Ying simply pushed the armrest up and said softly: “You can rest your head on my lap.”

“No! Absolutely not!” Lin Zhixia shook her head frantically.

Luo Ying sighed. There was a “ying” character from “cherry blossom” in her name, and she carried a faint rose fragrance. That fragrance made Lin Zhixia lower her guard. Luo Ying reached out again and patted Lin Zhixia’s head—Lin Zhixia immediately thought of her brother. What to do? She had only been away from home for a day and was already missing her family.

Luo Ying spoke gently: “You’re so young. Not sleeping for a whole night will make you feel terrible tomorrow.”

Lin Zhixia rubbed her eyes: “It’s okay.”

Luo Ying revealed: “I promised Teacher Zhang and Teacher Sun that I would take good care of you.”

“Did my homeroom teacher, Teacher Zhang, find you?” Lin Zhixia asked in surprise.

“Yes,” Luo Ying told her, “Teacher Zhang said that you skipped grades, you’re younger than the ordinary students, and he asked me to take care of you.”

Lin Zhixia hadn’t expected so many people to quietly care about her. She leaned sideways, resting on her senior’s lap. About two seconds later, Lin Zhixia sat up straight and firmly said: “Thank you, Senior. I’ve already felt your goodwill. If I rest my head on your lap, you’ll also be uncomfortable on the plane.”

Lin Zhixia turned to face Luo Ying: “Teacher Zhang asked you to take care of me. I think care should be mutual.”

Luo Ying raised her finger and wiped her chin: “Alright, when we get to the hotel, we can have a good sleep.”

“Mm-hmm,” Lin Zhixia agreed. She endured on the plane for more than ten hours, finally waiting for the plane to land.

The organizers of the Romanian Master Tournament sent a reception team. On the way to the hotel, Lin Zhixia fell asleep in the car. Her teammates were all admiring Romania’s street views, the roads and buildings full of classical European style, the churches located on the streets displaying characteristics of Eastern Orthodoxy. Luo Ying couldn’t help but take a few photos.

The hotel they stayed at was called “XA Hostel.”

The breakfast buffet provided by XA Hostel greatly invigorated Lin Zhixia. Various sliced hams and breads were arranged in a row, and glass bowls contained delicate, small cream cakes—each cake was topped with a strawberry. Lin Zhixia had to compliment the chef; strawberries and cream were a perfect combination.

Lin Zhixia ate two cakes and felt completely revived. Strawberries were her lifelong love and life-extending medicine. She might have been a strawberry spirit in her previous life, and in this life, she needed to supplement with more of the source of life.

After breakfast, Lin Zhixia returned to her room and took another nap. When she woke up, it was already one-thirty in the afternoon, and Luo Ying called her to have lunch. In the restaurant, they met many contestants from other countries.

Lin Zhixia moved among teams from different countries, various languages floating past her ears, stimulating her brain. She heard German, French, English, and Russian. Meanwhile, her teammates sat around a table, waving to her from a distance.

She ran to her teammates’ side and asked: “How did you all rest?”

One of her teammates was from a neighboring province’s experimental middle school, named Du Cunkang. Du Cunkang had studied Olympic mathematics since elementary school and had received very professional training. He was seventeen years old this year and had won gold and silver medals in the National Mathematics Olympiad. He was most proficient in solving geometry problems and was one of the hot favorites to win the championship this year.

While eating, Du Cunkang answered Lin Zhixia’s question: “I can go without sleep for two consecutive days without affecting my exams.”

“Two consecutive days without sleep?” Lin Zhixia marveled. “Don’t you feel dizzy?”

Du Cunkang had a square face and wore black-framed glasses. His way of adjusting his glasses was special. He spread his fingers, pinched the sides of the frame, gently pushed upward, and then said: “No matter how tired, sleepy, or dizzy I am, once I enter the examination room, I’m wide awake.”

Du Cunkang was telling the truth. Luo Ying echoed: “Me too.”

The other two official members and one reserve member of the team also said: “We’re all like that.”

But Lin Zhixia found it incredible—her situation was completely different from everyone else’s. If she didn’t sleep well, her calculation ability would deteriorate, and her mind wouldn’t be as sharp.

Indeed, IQ was not the only standard for evaluating ability!

Ordinary people also had many strengths!

Lin Zhixia absolutely could not underestimate her opponents.

She silently resolved to eat a bit faster than usual. Although she was curious to chat with contestants from other countries, she didn’t know what to talk about with them—if she discussed mathematical theories, it might bring invisible competitive pressure, which would not align with what Duan Qiyan called “competition etiquette.” If she engaged in philosophical speculation, perhaps no one would pay attention. If she asked about local customs and conditions of various countries, that would be her making small talk.

After a mental struggle, Lin Zhixia decided to remain silent.

Silence was the safest route. Silence was the safest harbor.

She ate a couple of bites with her head down, and suddenly Du Cunkang called out to her: “That person is here. That person, let me point him out to you…”

Lin Zhixia looked up in confusion: “Which person?”

Du Cunkang pointed forward: “The Russian contestant, his name is a long string, we simply call him Alexandrov.”

Lin Zhixia repeated: “Alexandrov?”

Du Cunkang’s gaze never left the distance. He said: “Alexandrov is a Russian mathematical genius, featured in newspapers. Don’t you know, Lin Zhixia?”

In the past half-year, Lin Zhixia had rarely read newspapers and magazines. The team leader also hadn’t told them how strong the Russian contestants were, so Lin Zhixia had no knowledge of Alexandrov.

She stood up from her seat and gazed forward without hesitation. She saw a tall Russian youth—he had blond hair and blue eyes, his hair slightly long, covering his forehead and ears, quite noticeable among the Russian team.

“How strong is he?” Lin Zhixia questioned.

Du Cunkang was, after all, a top student. He praised the excellent contestant from the enemy camp in a calm tone: “Alexandrov published a mathematics book during middle school.”

Lin Zhixia was not intimidated at all: “I’ve also summarized competition methods for my deskmate, a thick book with all types of problems, and some problems I created myself.”

The team members at the table were somewhat stunned. Everyone had done summary compilations of problem types. In the national training camp, numerous experts took turns teaching, helping everyone accurately grasp the trends of the competition. The experiences Lin Zhixia described were not sufficient to overshadow Alexandrov’s brilliant achievements.

Du Cunkang smoothed things over: “In a team competition, we fight as a team. Three cobblers with their wits combined equal Zhuge Liang. As long as we ensure we solve six out of the seven problems, we can win the team competition’s first place.”

The Romanian Mathematics Master Tournament was also divided into two days, with a total of six test questions, each with a maximum score of seven points. The contestants’ paper scores would be their final individual scores.

Du Cunkang’s admiration for Alexandrov made Lin Zhixia even more eager for tomorrow’s competition.

*

The next morning, the organizers sent cars to transport all contestants from the hotel to the competition venue.

At nine in the morning, the Romanian Mathematics Master Tournament officially began.

The first two questions of this competition weren’t too difficult. The third question was the watershed that separated the skill levels. Even Lin Zhixia needed some time to think, avoiding possible cognitive pitfalls, which gave her an ominous premonition.

After the exam, the other three people in the team seemed normal, especially Du Cunkang’s state was good. He was still laughing and talking with everyone at the dinner table, even deliberately striking up conversations with the Korean and Japanese teams. The Korean and Japanese teams politely responded to Du Cunkang, and Du Cunkang discovered that Koreans spoke Japanese quite well.

After some inquiry, Du Cunkang learned that Korean students, besides the mandatory English course, had to choose either Chinese or Japanese as their second foreign language. Du Cunkang immediately proposed that he could teach the Korean friends Chinese.

A certain Korean friend had the surname Kim, and Du Cunkang dipped his fork in water and wrote the character “金” (Jin/Kim) on the table. He had a delightful exchange with that Korean student. When they talked about the girl idol group “Wirls” that debuted in Korea at the beginning of February this year, Du Cunkang was even more enthusiastic. He revealed with a touch of shyness that he liked the Korean movie star Jun Ji-hyun, and he hoped to find a wife of this type in the future.

However, the more lively and outgoing Du Cunkang appeared, the deeper Lin Zhixia’s suspicions grew. On their first day at the hotel, Du Cunkang had rejected all diplomatic activities. His sudden change in temperament today likely had only one explanation—to avoid worrying his teammates, he was putting on a show of being relaxed and happy.

Finally, under Lin Zhixia’s intense gaze, Du Cunkang privately confessed to her alone: “I couldn’t solve the third problem. I messed up.”

This was truly terrible news.

Du Cunkang’s failure meant their team had lost a powerful warrior.

Before departing, Du Cunkang had ranked third in their team.

The most difficult questions of the Romanian Master Tournament will usually appear tomorrow. If Du Cunkang couldn’t make a comeback, then their team’s gold medal might not be secured.

In the warm hotel light, Du Cunkang’s face turned yellow: “I’ve done psychological tests, my mentality…”

“Your mentality is very good,” Lin Zhixia lowered her head and whispered to him, “The other two people in our team solved the third problem. Currently, we don’t have a risk of losing the gold medal. Tomorrow, you should trust me. Tomorrow I will complete all the problems, and even if Alexandrov is as smart as me, or smarter than me, I can still fight him to a draw. Don’t feel pressured. We are a team; we move forward together.”

Lin Zhixia was a full six years younger than Du Cunkang.

Du Cunkang truly hadn’t expected that Lin Zhixia could give him the kind of encouragement one would expect from an elder. He tightly gripped his knife and fork, cutting a thin pizza. The knife tip made a crisp sound on the porcelain plate as he promised: “Alright, I don’t feel pressured.”

“Mm!” Lin Zhixia nodded.

That night, Lin Zhixia went to bed early. She fell asleep quickly with a clear mind. The next day, when she woke up, she was in the best state and fully engaged in the day’s examination. Just as she had anticipated last night, the final question of this examination was the most challenging climax question of this year’s Romanian Master Tournament.

The original form of the problem came from a graph theory problem: given a simple graph G containing V vertices, assuming that after adding N edges, graph G can have two cycles of the same length, what is the lower bound of N?

Lin Zhixia remembered that a 1998 mathematics paper had discussed this problem in detail. Inspired by that paper, she wrote down her solution approach and further narrowed the range of the lower bound. While writing, she secretly wondered if Du Cunkang could think of a better solution; she hoped they could win the team gold medal through their joint efforts.

She even secretly glanced at Alexandrov from the Russian team.

Just as Du Cunkang had said, the Russian Alexandrov was extremely strong. His thinking was smooth, without a trace of anxiety or hesitation on his face. The entire Russian team had a sense of assured victory, which made Lin Zhixia feel nervous watching them.

Why! Why was the Russian team so confident?

Could it be that each of them could score full marks?

Lin Zhixia made up her mind that after returning home this time, she would seriously study Russian. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles.