Tan Qi was momentarily stunned, then nodded respectfully: “Yes, boss.”

After speaking, he walked out quickly.

In the evening, Tan Qi delivered a ticket to the office. The seat was good, providing a clear view of the stage while being inconspicuous, allowing one to avoid others’ gazes.

Meanwhile, a meeting was also taking place at the hotel where Seventh Middle School was staying.

The team leader stood, raising his voice in encouragement: “Students, do your best tomorrow! This is a new competition format for you, but it’s also new for the other competing students! So don’t worry! As long as it’s fair and just, you should believe in your abilities!”

The teacher paused, then added: “Everyone, please don’t be nervous!”

Xuejiao glanced at a senior third-year student beside her, and sure enough, he had become even more nervous.

The teacher said a few more words before letting the students return to their rooms to rest.

“Jiaojiao…” Cheng Mingze’s room was next to Xuejiao’s.

“Hm?” Xuejiao looked up.

Cheng Mingze suddenly flashed a smile: “Good luck.”

“Okay!” Xuejiao returned a smile. “Good luck to you too.”

——

March 28th, Mathematics Competition Finals.

Lin Zhihua waited until almost everyone had entered before walking in through a side door, quickly sitting down in a corner with a good view.

Today he wore a long black coat, drawing no attention at all. As long as no one directly saw his handsome face, they wouldn’t notice what kind of person was sitting in that spot.

Xuejiao sat in her position wearing the Seventh Middle School uniform. More than fifty people were seated, eight in a row, seven rows in total.

Her position was the fifth seat in the third row. Xuejiao looked up; in front of the stage sat the invited professors, and behind them were three hundred audience members. Three hundred people don’t sound like many, but looking over, they formed a dense crowd.

Most students without stage experience couldn’t help but become nervous. In their previous experience, exams were taken in relatively quiet, separate classrooms. Being watched by so many people made their hands and feet tremble.

Xuejiao couldn’t help feeling nervous too. After all, in both of her lives, she had never experienced solving problems under the gaze of so many people.

The only one who wasn’t nervous at all was probably Yang Zhan, sitting in the front row.

Like the third-year senior from Seventh Middle School, even before the questions had been presented, he was already drenched in cold sweat.

Xuejiao closed her eyes slightly, and took a deep breath: Xuejiao, don’t be afraid, everyone below is just cabbage!

When she opened her eyes again, her gaze was much clearer and more determined.

The organizing teacher went on stage, standing to the side to announce the competition rules. It was divided into three rounds. The first round was an exam with two questions, ten points each, twenty points in total, with a time limit of forty minutes.

When Xuejiao received the test paper, she felt that it wasn’t much different from a regular exam, just with more people observing.

Two questions: the first was a calculation problem with a large amount of computation, and the second was a geometry problem.

Previously, when Xuejiao and Lin Zhihua had discussed topics, they had talked about similar questions. Although not the same, some problem-solving approaches were similar.

Time was tight. Seeing no issues with the paper, with the clock in the upper right corner of the desk beginning to count down, Xuejiao immediately began calculating furiously.

They didn’t know that while they were “writing rapidly,” the screen behind them began displaying their answering process.

The grid was small, but Lin Zhihua quickly spotted Xuejiao’s paper among the dozens.

He couldn’t see how she was solving the problems or even see the questions, but from her rhythm and expression, Lin Zhihua knew she had these two questions under control.

His lips curled up slightly; Lin Zhihua smiled somewhat proudly.

Xuejiao didn’t feel that any of her steps wasted time, but she only finished writing at the thirty-first minute. Meanwhile, Yang Zhan, that genius, had finished in about twenty minutes. Another first-year genius, Zheng Mingxuan, was just a minute behind Yang Zhan.

After handing her paper to the staff member who came by, Xuejiao let out a gentle sigh.

Indeed, a genius is a genius. What kind of speed and mental processing must one have to complete it so smoothly and quickly?

After the staff left, all students sat quietly on stage, and the entire audience remained silent as well.

Ten minutes later, the staff came back up.

“Students advancing to the next round are—”

Xuejiao’s breath caught, and most people’s hearts were tightly clenched.

Would people be eliminated this quickly?

“Yang Zhan, Zheng Mingxuan, Li Lei… Cheng Mingze… Gu Xuejiao…”

Xuejiao let out a deep breath, stood up, and walked to the side, her lips curling up slightly, relaxing her overly tense face.

At least half the students remained on stage. These questions weren’t difficult; logically, those who had made it this far shouldn’t have had problems. It was probably due to excessive nervousness, either not finishing the questions or their brains not keeping up due to anxiety.

The remaining students bowed and were led down from the side by staff members to sit in the audience.

Thirty-two people remained, returning to their seats.

For the second round, the papers were distributed.

Xuejiao was slightly startled, just scanning once before immediately writing furiously.

Three questions! Thirty points in total.

Still forty minutes! Three questions!

Inevitably, Xuejiao felt momentarily nervous, her fingers trembling slightly.

[Don’t worry about answering questions on-site; it’s testing adaptability and comprehensive qualities, but at its core, it’s still mathematics. They won’t test English in a math competition. As long as you answer what you know, there won’t be any problems at all.]

Lin Zhihua’s words appeared in her head again. Xuejiao took a deep breath and began writing quickly.

Forty minutes passed quickly. Xuejiao only put down her pen as the clock entered the countdown, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

Soon, the staff came up to collect all the papers.

While solving the problems, Xuejiao had been so highly focused that she hadn’t felt much, but after putting down her pen, she realized that not only was her forehead sweating, but her back was also completely drenched.

She wasn’t the only one in this situation. Looking up, she saw many others pulling at the back of their shirts.

Xuejiao’s heartbeat still wouldn’t stabilize. She had been so tense earlier that even now her heart was pounding.

Her gaze couldn’t help but fall on Yang Zhan, who was generally acknowledged as the strongest this time. She saw him also wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

Xuejiao let out a breath, her mood calming considerably.

So even the formidable Yang Zhan could feel the pressure this time. Three difficult questions in forty minutes meant almost no time for revisions, just desperate writing, afraid of not finishing.

The first round had already revealed that achieving full marks was necessary to advance to the next round.

Full marks meant completing everything without errors.

Xuejiao looked back in Cheng Mingze’s direction. He seemed to sense her gaze and looked up.

Their eyes met, and Cheng Mingze gave an encouraging and reassuring smile.

Xuejiao instinctively returned a smile, then looked away, gently closing her eyes to rest her brain for a moment.

Below, Lin Zhihua frowned slightly, glancing at Cheng Mingze.

At this time, while the competing students rested, the professors and audience also took the opportunity to discuss in low voices.

The professors were saying something, nodding and smiling occasionally.

Especially the professor from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, whose face bloomed with smiles. Yang Zhan, the genius who had distinguished himself to the point of being familiar to all major universities, had been admitted to the Chinese Academy of Sciences last year!

So speaking of which, Yang Zhan was already a student of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The audience members weren’t randomly selected; they were all mathematics teachers. Now they could see the questions appearing on the screen behind them.

“This question is quite difficult.”

“When has a competition question not been difficult?”

“Teacher Li, can you solve it?”

That male teacher pushed his glasses and said: “I can, but I wouldn’t finish in forty minutes.”

“These kids nowadays are something.”

“Indeed, I feel this year’s group is particularly strong.”

“This year’s assessment is also special.”

Of course, there were also gossiping, younger teachers—

“The looks in this year’s group are also quite impressive.”

“Haha, that’s true. Yang Zhan and that Cheng Mingze behind him could make a living on their faces alone.”

“Look at that female student in the third row…”

“Yes, yes, I spotted her right away and haven’t taken my eyes off her.”

She wasn’t the only one who hadn’t taken her eyes off someone. There was also a man sitting in the corner behind them, not drawing attention—Lin Zhihua.

His eyes had indeed never left Xuejiao, watching her with a smile.

He had discussed countless problems with her and often received solving processes she had sent over.

But he had never imagined that she could be so beautiful when seriously solving problems, her brows sometimes furrowing slightly, relaxing quickly.

These simple, inconspicuous small expressions were all captured by Lin Zhihua’s eyes.

The grading this time took a bit longer, but soon the organizing teacher came up with a list.

“Students passing the second round are—”

Breaths were held again, everyone staring intently.

“Yang Zhan, Zheng Mingxuan, Bai Jiu, Cheng Mingze, Gu Xuejiao.”

At once, everyone was stunned. Li Lei’s face visibly paled.

This young man, who had prepared for competitions for so many years, turned white with shock. He hadn’t expected to be eliminated.

Not just him; several other students wore the same expression.

Only five people entered the third round, while the remaining twenty-seven were all eliminated!

Some students looked at the organizing teacher, their hands moving slightly, obviously wanting to raise them.

The organizing teacher didn’t wait for them to raise their hands and said: “Students with objections can check their papers afterward. Those with deductions cannot enter the next round. Now I’ll announce the rankings from sixth place onward—”

His gaze turned to those on stage: “Sixth place, Li Lei. Seventh place…”

Li Lei let out a breath, making a gesture of encouragement to Cheng Mingze and Xuejiao as they stood and moved to the side.

He was in sixth place, which meant a first prize in the winter camp. Without surprise, upon returning, there would be prestigious universities willing to admit him.

Being admitted to a top university wouldn’t be a problem at all.

He encouraged Cheng Mingze and Xuejiao because they were wearing the same color uniform after all.

Xuejiao’s gaze also turned slightly toward Cheng Mingze. It was truly a pity that in the original story, Cheng Mingze had been locked up.

Cheng Shuo had been helping Gu Xuejiao solve problems and couldn’t accompany Cheng Mingze, resulting in him being locked up until after the exam.

After that incident, his relationship with Cheng Shuo had many issues.

His biological father, to solve problems for his stepdaughter, wasn’t by his own son’s side when he needed him most.

He had the ability to reach this stage today. Xuejiao felt some regret for the Cheng Mingze in the original story. The original plot might have just been a storyline for the main characters’ relationship, but for a student, what was missed might be an unforgettable experience.

It was out of jealousy that that boy had locked up Cheng Mingze.

Cheng Mingze couldn’t participate in this competition, so the original story had no information about this competition.

Cheng Mingze, who could have achieved brilliance, lost everything due to someone else’s jealousy.

Xuejiao suddenly thought of Cheng Mingjiao. Since the New Year, she hadn’t seen her again.

Xuejiao, no matter what results you achieve today, no matter how many excellent people appear around you in the future, don’t be jealous of others.

You can strive to catch up, but you cannot let jealousy blind your eyes.

After the rankings for those twenty-seven people were read, they bowed to the professors and audience, then walked down to the audience seats.

“That white uniform is from our school’s top student, very impressive. I didn’t expect he wouldn’t even make it to the third round.”

“It’s not that they can’t solve the problems; they might have just made small mistakes and lost points. In today’s competition format, there’s no time for checking!”

“If he didn’t check, others didn’t check either.”

“Exactly, look at those five on stage. These are the most impressive ones, both fast and accurate.”

“Actually, at their level, it’s not just about ability anymore. They all have tremendous ability, plus a bit of luck.”

The more active discussions again started talking about appearances—

“The top five this year are too good-looking!”

“Right? The most attractive ones we saw earlier are all still on stage!”

“Kids these days, how are their parents raising them? Both handsome and smart!”

“Look at that little girl, she’s the only female left up there.”

“I’ve never seen such a beautiful girl!”

…

While there was a bustling discussion below, the staff removed the tables and brought in five tables with projectors, arranged in a row.

They sat in their positions, with names placed in front of their seats. Xuejiao looked down—Seventh Middle School, Gu Xuejiao.

“Seventh Middle School has two participants? Is that the one from C City?”

“Yes, that’s the one. It’s a good school.”

“Many famous high schools in the capital only have one participant, but Seventh Middle School has two. Incredible!”

“This school has good luck this time.”

“I bet their principal is beaming with joy.”

“Haha, I would be too.”

…

Listening to the discussions, the team leader sitting in the audience was smiling like a flower.

Without a doubt, when he returned, the principal would praise him lavishly, and the bonus would probably be substantial!

Smiling, the team leader excitedly rubbed his hands.

——

“The third round will also be forty minutes, thirty minutes for answering, ten minutes for panel questions.”

As the organizing teacher’s words fell, the five people were momentarily stunned.

They had originally thought these professors were just observing like the audience, but they turned out to be the judges for the final round.

How would they evaluate?

How would they ask questions?

All five had confused expressions. Not just Xuejiao, even Yang Zhan and the others looked dumbfounded.

A bell rang once, and below, silence fell. At this time, staff members came up with several test papers.

They were distributed one by one.

As usual, Xuejiao first scanned once before starting to solve.

There was only one question, but it frightened Xuejiao so much that her face paled.

Not only did Xuejiao’s face turn white, but none of the others looked any better. Zheng Mingxuan, the first-year student and youngest of the group, momentarily lost his composure.

It wasn’t just them; even the audience below was stunned.

The question appeared on the screen behind, and involuntarily, the audience let out surprised sounds—

“How is this possible?!”

“This…”

“How can a high school competition test this?!”

“Can these high school students know these things?!”

“Exactly!”

…

The students who had already finished, sitting in the audience, widened their eyes in shock, while some looked completely confused.

Some were even grateful they had already been eliminated, otherwise they would have submitted blank papers.

How could a high school competition test this?!

Even the judges’ panel wasn’t quiet—

“I was shocked when this was mentioned before we entered…”

“Me too, I said at the time that this shouldn’t be tested!”

“I disagreed too! This is just making things difficult for them.”

“Right, how would high school students know this?”

“Didn’t the organizers say they don’t need to fully answer? It’s just a new attempt. Anyway, these five students can be admitted to any university now!”

“They’re all first-prize winners, just with different rankings.”

“That’s true. Any of these five students, in our university’s mathematics department would gladly do! Hahaha!”

“Hey, we would too!”

“Let’s just treat it as a bonus question. Whether they solve it or not doesn’t matter!”

…

“Ding—” A bell rang once, both reminding the audience to be quiet and signaling the start of the exam.

But still, no one put pen to paper. All five, in perfect unison, frowned at their papers.

Xuejiao let out a breath, closed her eyes slightly, then opened them again, finally confirming that what was in front of her was indeed those few words—

Prove Fermat’s Last Theorem.

Yang Zhan was the first to start writing, and the screen immediately displayed his written content.

He first explained what Fermat’s Last Theorem was, then his pen began writing out formula after formula.

Lin Zhihua silently said: Andrew Wiles.

Yang Zhan was using Andrew Wiles’ proof method. He might not remember all the steps clearly, but Lin Zhihua knew he was trying to write about Andrew Wiles’ method of proving Fermat’s Last Theorem.

Lin Zhihua’s brows furrowed slightly. He knew Xuejiao worked hard, but she wasn’t a genius. Even if Xuejiao knew about Fermat’s Last Theorem, she wouldn’t remember as much content as Yang Zhan.

The professor from the Chinese Academy of Sciences smiled with crinkled eyes, and other professors nodded as well, their faces full of expectation.

Five minutes after Yang Zhan started writing, Zheng Mingxuan also began, using the same method.

But from the moment he started writing, Lin Zhihua knew this person’s knowledge of Fermat’s Last Theorem wasn’t as good as Yang Zhan’s.

Following Yang Zhan was Cheng Mingze, who wrote quickly, making even Lin Zhihua nod in approval.

MacLachlan.

Cheng Mingze was using MacLachlan’s method.

Three people were writing furiously, while two still hadn’t put pen to paper.

Bai Jiu hadn’t written anything, his face pale. He knew nothing about this.

Xuejiao hadn’t written either, her eyes closed, tightly gripping her pen, sweat beads rolling down her forehead.

Her eyes were closed; no one knew what she was thinking.

Lin Zhihua watched her with concern, thinking—

You’re not a genius, no need to put yourself through this.

Lin Zhihua’s guess wasn’t wrong. Xuejiao didn’t know how to prove Fermat’s Last Theorem, nor did she know exactly what the known Fermat’s Last Theorem was.

But she vaguely searched for fragments in her previous life’s memories. In her first year of high school, she attended a lecture by a master.

That master had shared many interesting mathematics stories, and it was then that Xuejiao realized that those dry, named theorems in textbooks had such interesting stories behind them, about those lovable mathematicians.

Fermat…

Fermat’s Last Theorem…

Tick tick tick—

Time ticked away, and Xuejiao still hadn’t written anything.

After twenty-five minutes, Bai Jiu had already put down his pen, his face white.

He had given up.

Indeed, there was no reason not to give up. In such a situation, in front of such a crowd, writing nonsense would be worse than writing nothing at all.

There was no shame in it.

At this moment, Xuejiao moved, quickly writing a sentence.

Fermat’s Last Theorem refers to… he didn’t leave his proof method, so I cannot be certain whether Fermat had a clear proof. However, I am confident that in the future, I can prove it using the method of assumption. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough time now to complete it.

Time’s up, pens down.

Lin Zhihua smiled.

Mischievous.

Not only did Lin Zhihua smile, but the judges, after being momentarily stunned, also began to laugh. The professor from Tsinghua University’s mathematics department was the first to laugh out loud, shaking his head, but his gaze at Xuejiao held admiration.

“Now it’s time for the judges’ questions. First, Yang Zhan.”

During Yang Zhan’s questioning time, the first to speak was the professor from the Chinese Academy of Sciences: “You’re very impressive, the best in the competition, able to write out Andrew Wiles’ formulas and proofs in such a short time, and even mentioning how Wiles resolved the gaps. I believe with more time, you would write out the complete proof.”

The professors beside him nodded and asked: “Has your knowledge always been this broad?”

Yang Zhan nodded with a smile and replied: “I believe books are the most wonderful things in this world. Fortunately, my brain is decent, so I remember most of what I’ve read.”

“You’re very strong,” the Peking University professor nodded, giving a thumbs up.

Next was Zheng Mingxuan, who was similar to Yang Zhan but slightly inferior, writing fewer formulas and with some disorder.

But for a high school student, this was already very impressive.

The third was Bai Jiu. No one criticized him; the professors praised him encouragingly.

“Student Bai Jiu, you’re very impressive. It’s the organizers who were unethical!”

With that, the whole venue burst into laughter.

Next, Cheng Mingze.

The professor from Fudan University said nothing, just leading the applause.

Xuejiao looked back at Cheng Mingze’s paper, just wanting to sigh—the male lead is indeed the male lead.

Look at his ability.

He and Yang Zhan had both roughly completed the thought process, though they couldn’t write the specific steps due to lack of time. The two used different methods, and they were indeed the two strongest tonight.

Several professors extended olive branches on the spot, eager to quickly recruit this student.

Finally, it was Xuejiao’s turn.

“Student Gu Xuejiao…” The Tsinghua University professor coughed, couldn’t help it, and laughed again. “You’re very interesting.”

Using Fermat’s style to solve Fermat’s.

Fermat said the margin was too small, so he didn’t write it.

Xuejiao said there wasn’t enough time, so she didn’t prove it.

“I noticed you didn’t write anything for a long time. What made you decide to write this in the end?”

Xuejiao coughed, her melodious voice carrying out—

“I didn’t know how to prove it. Earlier, I was trying to recall memories about Fermat’s Last Theorem in my head, but I only remembered interesting stories, not any content related to the proof. So I originally didn’t plan to write anything.”

“Oh? Then why did you write this sentence in the end?”

Xuejiao smiled, her eyes grateful: “I thought of my mentor, who is also a friend and teacher. He once said that whether you can solve it or not is your ability, but whether you try or not is your attitude. Thanks to his guidance all along, my ability might not be enough, but my attitude is decent. I’m sorry, professor, I don’t know how to do it now, but in the future, I’ll verify my method of assumption, whether it can succeed or not.”

Author’s Note: Lin.”Mentor”.Zhihua: ………………