Lin Zhixia’s declaration to catch the thief and uphold justice for Duan Qiyan suddenly gave him a sense of security that filled his heart and mind.

Although Lin Zhixia was the youngest student in Class 17 of the first year, her intelligence exceeded the average level of her peers. She was like an immovable mountain, towering and lofty, dependable and reliable.

Lin Zhixia examined the padlock on the drawer and asked aloud, “Duan Qiyan, was the lock intact when you came to copy the files?”

“Yes!” Duan Qiyan said firmly. “At 12:37 noon, I was crouching in front of this computer tower looking for the USB port. It took me two minutes to find that USB port.”

Jin Baihui interjected, “You remember the time so precisely?”

Jin Baihui made no effort to hide her mockery. Several students from other schools were pointing and commenting on Duan Qiyan. He got heated and almost ran out of the classroom again, but fortunately, Shen Fuxuan held his shoulder.

Duan Qiyan overcame that impulse and quickly defended himself, “I’m wearing a digital watch! I thought I could find the USB port in two seconds, but I never expected it would take me two minutes…”

Lin Zhixia turned around, facing Jin Baihui: “When did you discover this lock was broken, and who found it?”

“Me!” said the monitor of Class 18. “I went to the bathroom and when I came back, I saw the drawer was open.”

Duan Qiyan reiterated, “It wasn’t me. At 1:10 pm, I went to the cafeteria to buy a chicken burger and brought it back to eat in the classroom. I couldn’t be eating a burger and picking a lock at the same time, could I?”

A boy from another school said suspiciously, “We were all sleeping at the back of the classroom. Who knows if Duan Qiyan is lying?”

Lin Zhixia looked at that boy and asked him, “Were you sleeping at the back of the classroom the whole time?”

The boy said, “Yes.”

Lin Zhixia raised her head, staring at him intently, and deduced, “Assuming Duan Qiyan isn’t lying, then before 1:10 pm today, the iron lock was still intact. Since Duan Qiyan’s seat is in the group near the wall, the most convenient path for him to leave the room would be to pass by the lectern. I suspect someone acted after he left.”

After hearing Lin Zhixia’s words, the monitor of Class 18 suddenly froze and shouted, “Hello, Teacher Wang!”

Everyone turned to look at the door, where the homeroom teacher of Class 18, Teacher Wang, had already walked over.

Teacher Wang had his hands behind his back and looked extremely serious. His eyebrows sank, and he spoke in a lowered voice, “Are you students rebelling? Who opened the drawer?”

Jiang Yubai responded, “We don’t know yet.”

Teacher Wang stepped onto the podium.

Jin Baihui reported to him, “Teacher Wang, at noon I saw Duan Qiyan crouching around the lectern for several minutes.”

Teacher Wang’s gaze swept over Duan Qiyan, who sensed that Teacher Wang considered him a suspect. He couldn’t defend himself; his mind went blank, his gaze becoming dull and fearful, making him look even more like a student who had done something wrong.

Teacher Wang asked him, “Was it you, Duan Qiyan?”

Duan Qiyan’s lips trembled, letting out an “Ah.”

Teacher Wang simply said directly, “Duan Qiyan, when Teacher Zhang comes, go and admit your mistake to him. Acknowledging your error means you’re still a good student of Class 17.”

Teacher Wang was a kind teacher with a gentle temperament. If it had been another hot-tempered teacher who saw Duan Qiyan looking so guilty, they might have roared at him on the spot.

A senior from the second year said on the side, “Stealing test papers is such a serious offense, yet Teacher Wang isn’t getting angry. I want to transfer to Teacher Wang’s class.”

Another senior said, “How could a boy from Class 17 of the first year pick a lock? Isn’t that asking for trouble?”

Many students from Class 17 felt humiliated.

Jiang Yubai pushed Duan Qiyan aside and stepped forward, “Teacher Wang, Duan Qiyan brought a USB drive. He was using the USB port to copy files; he didn’t pick the lock.”

Teacher Wang glanced at him, “Alright, return to your seats now, class is about to start. This isn’t a small matter. We’ll discuss it when Teacher Zhai and Teacher Zhang arrive.”

Each of Teacher Wang’s sentences was like a knife, stabbing straight into Duan Qiyan’s heart. For the first time in his life, Duan Qiyan was suspected by a teacher. Many students around were also discussing him, saying he went crazy in the morning, picked a lock at noon, and was truly a shameless boy.

Duan Qiyan’s eyes reddened, with faint bloodshot lines appearing on his eyeballs.

Jin Baihui said a few more words to Teacher Wang.

Duan Qiyan was full of anger with nowhere to vent. He couldn’t help but curse, “Jin Baihui, you’re an idiot. You could do a hundred problems and still not score better than Lin Zhixia. What right do you have to tell such obvious lies? If I had picked the lock, I would have smashed the test papers on your head, so that you might finally get first place in the grade!”

Duan Qiyan was also a clever child. He had accurately hit Jin Baihui’s sore spot. Without another word, Jin Baihui rolled up her sleeves and charged at him.

Jin Baihui didn’t care at all that she was a girl and Duan Qiyan was a boy. She was resolute and decisive—if she wanted to fight, she would fight! She swung a punch at Duan Qiyan’s lower back. Duan Qiyan dodged sideways and shouted, “Class 18 has just one crazy woman, one rat dropping that spoils the whole pot of porridge!”

Chaos erupted on the podium.

Teacher Wang became angry too. He slapped the lectern and sternly questioned, “Duan Qiyan, how can you insult people? You are a student of the competition class at Provincial No. 1 High School! Aren’t you embarrassed enough?”

“Teacher Wang, I’ve found the real thief,” Lin Zhixia’s voice suddenly rang out.

Almost all the students in the tiered classroom had arrived, and Teacher Zhai and Teacher Zhang were also standing at the classroom door.

Lin Zhixia pointed to a boy from another school and analyzed, “There are twenty columns of seats in the tiered classroom. This morning, this classmate sat in the third row of the first column. By the afternoon, he had changed seats to the second row of the seventeenth column. Why? Because the left side of the podium is close to the classroom door, and the first column of seats is at the leftmost side of the classroom. When the thief was picking the lock, he also had to watch if there was anyone outside the classroom door. Once someone appeared, he would instinctively hide and escape to the right, which is the territory of our Class 17 and Class 18 of the first year. At noon today, most students from the first year had gone home for lunch, so the right side was much safer than the left. Therefore, he simply moved his seat to the seventeenth column… His classmates weren’t nearby. Such unusual behavior must indicate something suspicious.”

The boy from the other school suddenly stood up, his face ashen, his eyes fierce: “You’re talking nonsense!”

His expression was frightening, as if he wanted to devour Lin Zhixia.

Jiang Yubai immediately walked in front of Lin Zhixia and stood motionless. Lin Zhixia hid behind Jiang Yubai’s back and calmly stated, “I have several more arguments.”

The boy’s left hand brushed past his pants pocket, and his classmate called out to him, “Kuang Geng!”

Lin Zhixia immediately responded, “Your name is Kuang Geng? Well, Kuang Geng, you just told me that you were sleeping at the back of the classroom at noon. All the classmates on the podium heard it, and they can all testify for me!”

Shen Fuxuan took the lead in responding, “I heard it! I can testify!”

Lin Zhixia continued, “Kuang Geng claimed that he slept the entire noon at the back of the classroom, but his seat is in the front row, and his desk is filled with reference books and notebooks. Even the cap of his fountain pen wasn’t closed. This way, the pen nib would easily dry up…”

Kuang Geng raised his thigh and bumped it against the edge of the desk, “I forgot to cap my pen? Is that not allowed? Is it against the law? You accuse Jin Baihui of wronging Duan Qiyan, yet you have the nerve to wrong me?”

A student from Class 18 commented, “Lin Zhixia is… using the strategy of ‘besieging Wei to rescue Zhao’!”

No matter how others evaluated her, Lin Zhixia remained undisturbed. She calmly said, “Most importantly, the iron lock was picked with a paper clip, and you, Kuang Geng, brought a box of paper clips. I remember clearly that this morning, you placed a box of paper clips on your desk. My memory cannot be wrong. You’re the only one in the class who brought paper clips.”

At this point, Lin Zhixia exchanged a glance with Jiang Yubai.

Jiang Yubai tugged at the sleeves of Shen Fuxuan and Duan Qiyan, and the three of them rushed toward Kuang Geng.

Kuang Geng tried to escape but was too late. Jiang Yubai and Duan Qiyan firmly gripped Kuang Geng’s wrists from the left and right, while Shen Fuxuan reached into Kuang Geng’s left pants pocket and indeed pulled out two straightened paper clips.

Only then did one of Kuang Geng’s classmates speak up, “Teacher Wang, at noon today… Kuang Geng didn’t take a nap. He kept standing up, walking outside for a round, and then coming back to the classroom.”

With both testimony and physical evidence present, Kuang Geng was momentarily speechless. He cracked his knuckles, making a “crunch” sound that silenced the discussions around him—all nearby students felt the terrifying low pressure emanating from Kuang Geng.

The homeroom teacher of Class 17, Teacher Zhang, was about to speak in anger, but the head coach, Teacher Zhai, raised a hand and forcefully stopped him.

Teacher Zhai spoke calmly, “Students, please return to your seats first.”

All students gradually returned to their places. Teacher Zhai walked up to Kuang Geng and told him, “Kuang Geng, look up. Do you see the black circle on the ceiling? That’s the surveillance camera newly installed in our school this year. Well, teachers have known what happened in the classroom all along…”

A few meters away, Lin Zhixia raised her head, looked at the ceiling, and stared at the black circle. In a very soft voice, she secretly asked, “Is that a surveillance camera?”

Shen Fuxuan sat on her right, and Jiang Yubai sat on her left. After Lin Zhixia spoke, both Jiang Yubai and Shen Fuxuan also looked up to observe for a moment.

Shen Fuxuan firmly said, “My mother told me that surveillance cameras would only be installed in the tiered classrooms of the junior high section during this year’s summer vacation.”

Shen Fuxuan thought to himself: Why is Teacher Zhai lying?

As a student not from Provincial No. 1 High School, Kuang Geng didn’t understand the equipment status of the tiered classroom. He foolishly believed Teacher Zhai’s words and could only seek leniency through confession: “I… didn’t want to take the test. I only picked the lock once, and it opened immediately.”

Teacher Zhai asked him to sit down and said kindly, “That’s normal. You didn’t want to take the test, that’s very normal! You might think I’m old and out of touch with your generation, but when I was a student, I didn’t want to take tests either. Who likes tests? Is there anyone in our class who likes tests?”

Lin Zhixia didn’t dare make a sound.

Teacher Zhai walked back to the podium and calmly took charge: “I understand everyone’s feelings, truly understand. I’m a teacher, but I was once a student too. I want to tell you, a test is just a small challenge in life. It helps you assess your academic level and also lets teachers evaluate their teaching quality. One test can bring a win-win result.”

The tiered classroom fell silent. Teacher Zhai coughed once and continued, “Today’s test is canceled, but don’t let this happen again. Don’t relax, everyone. The tasks of the training camp must be completed, otherwise, it’s a waste of everyone’s time. Understand?”

A chorus of voices responded loudly, “Understood!”

Teacher Zhai handed the podium over to Teacher Zhang. Teacher Zhang picked up his teaching materials, his expression unchanged, and continued to explain the knowledge points for the junior high competition.

The afternoon passed quickly, and soon it was five in the evening. Winter days are particularly short; by this time, dusk had set in, the sunset had completely faded, and all students picked up their backpacks and left the classroom.

Teacher Zhai stood at the door, calling Lin Zhixia, Jiang Yubai, Shen Fuxuan, Duan Qiyan, and Jin Baihui, asking them all to go to the office.

Lin Zhixia asked in surprise, “Teacher Zhai, do I need to go to the office too?”

“Yes, all of you need to go,” Teacher Zhai answered.

Lin Zhixia grabbed the strap of Jiang Yubai’s backpack. Jiang Yubai whispered to her, “It’s okay, don’t be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid at all,” Lin Zhixia said to herself. “I just can’t figure out why we’re being called to the office, while Kuang Geng gets to go home directly.”

Teacher Zhai opened the office door and invited the five students to sit down. His office was kept very neat, with half-warm tea in an enamel cup on the desk.

Teacher Zhai picked up the cup and sighed, “I didn’t punish that Kuang Geng for two reasons. First, he’s not a student of our school, so I have no authority over him. Second, when I discovered he picked the lock, I gave up on him. I have no expectations for him. Do you understand? Starting next week, we’ll have small classes, divided into fast and slow tracks. Kuang Geng will be assigned to the most basic slow track, taught by newly graduated teachers. It doesn’t even matter if he doesn’t come to class.”

Jin Baihui spoke impassively, “That’s fine. He doesn’t want to take tests, so he doesn’t deserve to be in the fast track.”

Teacher Zhai waved a hand at her, “Jin Baihui, I heard from Teacher Wang that you wrongly accused Duan Qiyan. That’s not good, really not good. You’re one of our most closely monitored students, you understand? Jin Baihui, you need to keep your attitude level and stable…”

Jin Baihui tilted her head and glanced at Lin Zhixia, “Lin Zhixia didn’t keep her attitude level either. She led a group of people and accused Kuang Geng.”

“Yes,” Teacher Zhai’s fingertips tapped the desk, “This is a point I want to emphasize. Lin Zhixia, listen to what I have to say…”

Teacher Zhai’s tone became incredibly gentle and kind, “Lin Zhixia, learning and competition are your main tasks. Don’t focus on others. If you encounter any problems at school, come directly to me or your homeroom teacher, Teacher Zhang. You are all too young. Today, that Kuang Geng, how bold he was! Daring to pick a lock openly at school. With so many students coming and going in the classroom, he could have been discovered at any moment, yet he still dared to pick the lock. What kind of psychological quality is that?”

Lin Zhixia listened in confusion, “So?”

Teacher Zhai held his teacup with both hands and patiently explained, “Lin Zhixia, your logical thinking is meticulous, and you were able to identify him. The teacher is very pleased. But this kind of troublesome matter, if we can avoid it, we should avoid it. Competition is your main task.”

Lin Zhixia thought for a moment and replied, “I understand. Teacher, you’re worried he’ll hold a grudge against me and cause me trouble. His psychology is not very healthy; I saw that too. He cracked his knuckles, making them crunch for a long time. Doesn’t that hurt a bit? But he couldn’t feel that pain.”

Teacher Zhai sighed, “Yes, just as Teacher Zhang and others said, Lin Zhixia is truly clever. But don’t worry, I’ve pacified him, and soon you’ll be split into different classes. You won’t see each other.”

Duan Qiyan’s eyebrows suddenly tensed, and he said, “I’ll protect Lin Zhixia.”

Jiang Yubai was stunned.

Teacher Zhai was also a bit taken aback, “Huh?”

Jiang Yubai stepped forward half a step. He turned sideways, his gaze reaching Duan Qiyan. He understood that Lin Zhixia had upheld justice for Duan Qiyan, clearing his wrongful accusation, and Duan Qiyan’s attitude toward Lin Zhixia might take a 180-degree turn.

Jiang Yubai’s thinking was very correct. Duan Qiyan, in front of Teacher Zhai, said without reservation, “Teacher Zhai, I am a student of Class 17. I was falsely accused, and that’s why Lin Zhixia helped me. She is the monitor of Class 17. Teacher Zhai, don’t scold her; she was just fulfilling her responsibility as a monitor. If you want to scold someone, scold me.”

Teacher Zhai questioned, “Did I criticize her? I’m just stating facts and reasoning with you all, aren’t I?”

Lin Zhixia understood Teacher Zhai’s good intentions. To be frank, the attitudes of the competition class teachers toward Lin Zhixia were as warm as spring. She received special care at school; teachers treated her as a rising star, hoping she could bring glory to the junior high section of Provincial No. 1 High School.

Lin Zhixia smoothed things over, “Thank you, Teacher Zhai. I’ll be careful in the future.”

Seeing how intelligent and sensible she was, Teacher Zhai nodded, “Good. The teacher wants to tell you, all five of you are promising seedlings in our competition class. If you have any issues, come to the teachers. You don’t need to solve them yourselves. Teachers are your strong support. Alright, go home now, and be careful on your way.”

All five students responded in unison.

The sky had darkened, and the moonlight was faint. Lin Zhixia and her classmates left the campus together and parted ways at the school gate.

Jin Baihui only said “goodbye” to Lin Zhixia. She walked toward the bus stop without looking back, needing neither friends nor company. It seemed that speaking an extra word with others would waste her precious time.

Shen Fuxuan watched Jin Baihui’s receding figure and shrugged. He stood by the roadside, opened the door of an S-class Mercedes sedan, sat in the passenger seat, and called out, “Lin Zhixia! My dad came to pick me up by car. Why don’t we give you a ride home?”

Lin Zhixia quickly said, “No need, I’ll go home by myself. See you tomorrow!”

Shen Fuxuan waved, and the Mercedes sedan started its engine, gradually driving into the dim night.

A light snow fell from the sky, the snowflakes flying like cotton floss, yet barely visible when landing.

The roads were slippery with snow. Duan Qiyan pushed a bicycle, slowly passing in front of Lin Zhixia. He seemed to want to say something to Lin Zhixia, but Jiang Yubai kept staring at him. Jiang Yubai’s gaze was like thousands of bright lamps, illuminating him so that he had nowhere to hide and no way to express his inner gratitude. Even with his thick skin, he couldn’t say in front of Jiang Yubai: Lin Zhixia, thank you, you’re a great person.

If Duan Qiyan spoke his mind, Jiang Yubai would sneer and mock him. Duan Qiyan could only abandon his original plan and vaguely say, “Lin Zhixia, you’re a good monitor.”

Lin Zhixia nodded, “Please call me Monitor Lin.”

Duan Qiyan strode forward and mounted his bicycle seat, “Okay, Monitor Lin!” After saying this, he pushed hard with his foot, pedaling wildly, like an arrow leaving the bowstring, speeding toward the non-motorized lane, not at all afraid of falling on the road.

These classmates all left one after another. Jiang Yubai also walked toward his family’s car. After careful consideration, he finally said, “Lin Zhixia, I’ll take you home. It’s dark, and we can discuss geometric algebraic problems in the car.”

The street lamps shed a warm orange glow, the snowy scenery in the night slightly gleaming. Around Jiang Yubai, there was only his own shadow. He turned around and discovered that Lin Zhixia had already crossed the road by herself. She stood at the bus stop on the opposite side, waving to Jiang Yubai.

“See you tomorrow!” she happily said.

Her smile was very sweet. When she had just said goodbye to the other three classmates, she hadn’t shown such a radiant smile. Compared to Duan Qiyan, Jin Baihui, and Shen Fuxuan, she was looking forward to seeing Jiang Yubai tomorrow.

Jiang Yubai also returned a smile, “See you tomorrow.”

*

For Lin Zhixia, the winter training camp was a very happy time. From Monday to Friday, she could see her classmates, and on Saturday and Sunday, she could still go to the university library to enrich herself. Sister Zhu Chan was especially good to her, or more precisely, all the doctoral sisters she knew were especially good to her, although that kind of “good” was more like treating her as a young child rather than the completely equal exchange of information she most desired.

As long as Lin Zhixia was present, adults would mind their words, and the office atmosphere would become solemn and quiet. Some doctoral students from various departments mistakenly thought Lin Zhixia was Professor Shen’s granddaughter, making everyone interact even more politely. Lin Zhixia understood that this was mainly because she was too young.

She confided to Jiang Yubai, “The world is complex and ever-changing. Do adults use a fixed set of standards to evaluate others? Jiang Yubai, have you ever thought about this question?”

She secretly asked Jiang Yubai during the small class teaching session.

Jiang Yubai looked at the blackboard and replied softly, “We’ll talk after class.”

Lin Zhixia nodded repeatedly and obediently fell silent.

After the first week of testing in the winter training camp, Teacher Zhai divided the fast and slow tracks based on test scores. Lin Zhixia still maintained her first-place standard; her total score even surpassed the senior sisters and brothers from the second year. She, along with Jiang Yubai, Shen Fuxuan, Jin Baihui, and Duan Qiyan, was a key protected object of the first-year competition class. Teacher Zhai personally opened a class, serving as their head coach.

Teacher Zhai had very rich teaching experience. He was not only good at teaching according to students’ aptitudes but also at adjusting students’ psychological states. He would chat casually with Jin Baihui after class, making her no longer solve problems with a bitter and vengeful expression. Jin Baihui’s expression when solving problems each day became somewhat more relaxed.

Teacher Zhai’s course content was refined, high-quality, and well-organized. Jiang Yubai never let his mind wander in his class and didn’t even chat with Lin Zhixia. Only when the bell rang for the end of class would Jiang Yubai leave the world of mathematics and discuss topics of interest with Lin Zhixia.

Lin Zhixia cupped her face with both hands and happily said, “Jiang Yubai, you pay such close attention in class. Perhaps we can skip another grade soon!”

Jiang Yubai had no plans to skip grades for the time being. His daily schedule was already very full. Every night at 8:30, he lay in bed and fell asleep in less than a minute. If he skipped another grade, he might have to go to bed after 8:30. Lacking sleep during the growth period might mean he wouldn’t reach a height of 1.88 meters as an adult.

That was unacceptable.

Jiang Yubai attached great importance to his height.

So he said, “Because I… don’t understand, so I pay close attention in class.”

Admitting that he didn’t understand was already a great challenge for Jiang Yubai.

Lin Zhixia patiently comforted him, “It’s okay. Everyone has knowledge they don’t understand. We exist in this world originally to acquire information. Your eyes, nose, ears, and all tactile senses are your sources of information input.”

Jiang Yubai asked her, “Can you still input information in class?”

“Yes,” Lin Zhixia answered. “By the standards of junior high mathematics competitions, Teacher Zhai’s problems are relatively difficult. I can make those problems continue to transform, like a circle, I would think of a ring, and then of Riemann space.”

The four words “Riemann space” sounded very much like higher mathematics. Jiang Yubai had not the slightest understanding of this field; in his notebook, there were only junior high competition geometry problems. He silently closed his notebook. After a moment, he asked, “What do the doctoral students you know do every day?”

“They all have their thoughts,” Lin Zhixia described. “They need to read papers, conduct experiments, find innovative points… Since the doctoral students I know are all from basic mathematics, physics, and computer science departments, I feel their daily work is relatively solitary, perhaps not as lively as you imagine.”

Jiang Yubai’s fingertips paused, and he turned his pen. Indeed, in his imagination, doctoral students at school would have meetings every day to discuss academic issues, living very bustling lives, like a hundred Lin Zhixias gathered together from morning till night.

But Lin Zhixia told Jiang Yubai, “Scholars who choose a certain direction always need to have their thoughts. And thinking itself mostly means quietness and solitude. Only when you have the results of your thinking can you communicate with others.”

Jiang Yubai turned his head to look at her, “Is that the path you want to take?”

“Yes,” Lin Zhixia answered. “I’ve made a pinky promise with Professor Shen.”

On the day Lin Zhixia made a pinky promise with Professor Shen, Jiang Yubai was also present. He had a deep impression of Professor Shen and also a slight yearning for scientific research.

Lin Zhixia seemed to guess his thoughts and asked him, “Jiang Yubai, do you also want to do scientific research?”

“Doing scientific research” might require Lin Zhixia’s innate conditions—thinking of this, Jiang Yubai decided to give up early. He didn’t develop any fear of difficulty; he just understood the principle of “gain and loss.” His father said that even a mature man cannot attend to everything.

After careful consideration, Jiang Yubai briefly told Lin Zhixia, “Not really.”

He thought Lin Zhixia would urge him to reconsider, to love science and devote himself to research. However, Lin Zhixia’s reaction was beyond his expectations. Lin Zhixia said softly, “Everyone has their own choices and directions, which is the wonderful thing about the world…”

Jiang Yubai interrupted, “I won’t be able to research science with you in the future…”

“You are different from me, so you are Jiang Yubai, and I am Lin Zhixia.” Lin Zhixia looked into his eyes and said more seriously, “You are the one and only Jiang Yubai.”

That’s right.

He was the one and only Jiang Yubai.

Lin Zhixia was just stating a fact.

The tips of Jiang Yubai’s ears felt warm, possibly slightly reddened. He didn’t want his classmates to notice.

Fortunately, Jiang Yubai’s winter jackets all had hoods. He decisively grabbed the hood with one hand and covered his head. He sat in a position near the wall, his back straight and proper, his handwriting neat and full of vigor. Teacher Zhai passed by him and asked, “Jiang Yubai, why are you wearing a hood in the classroom? Are you cold? Should I turn up the air conditioning a bit more?”

“No need, thank you,” Jiang Yubai replied. “I’m focusing on taking notes.”

The winter holiday lasted for a month. Except for the three-day Spring Festival holiday and weekends, the majority of competition class students participated in training during other times. Jiang Yubai set even higher standards and stricter requirements for himself. After a winter of intensive training, he successfully stood out in the small class teaching competition, and Teacher Zhai evaluated Jiang Yubai very highly.

After the training camp ended, Teacher Zhai wrote a comment for each student in the class. The comment he left for Jiang Yubai was: Jiang Yubai is diligent, progressive, quick to learn, and eager for knowledge. The teacher believes you will achieve good rankings in competitions. There’s just one issue: you often wear a hood after class. If you catch a cold, please report it promptly. Learning is not the priority; health is the priority.

Jiang Yubai could feel the teacher’s care and concern. With embarrassment in his heart but calmness on his face, he put away the comment and report card.

That evening, Jiang Yubai returned home as usual. While he was organizing his schoolbag in his bedroom, his uncle suddenly burst into his room and asked, “Little Jiang, during these two months your uncle has been performing in the Southern Hemisphere, did you miss your uncle very much?”

Jiang Yubai looked at him silently but said, “No.”

His uncle made a dramatic gesture of clutching his heart, “Really? Uncle doesn’t believe it.”

Jiang Yubai explained, “I had supplementary classes for a month, and I was very busy.”

Last December, his uncle had gone to Australia and New Zealand with the orchestra.

In the Southern Hemisphere, it was a bright and sunny summer. His uncle’s complexion seemed to have darkened a bit, but he didn’t mind. He even took off his gloves, revealing a pair of perfect, flawless hands, from bones to tendons, displaying male strength. He claimed, “The performances in Australia exhausted me. Playing the piano is better; you don’t have to carry your instrument… Little Jiang, I heard from your father that you didn’t go anywhere during the winter vacation and took intensive classes like crazy. Is that right? Your diligence is so much like mine. When I was ten years old, I practiced the piano crazily every day. Your father was shocked by my diligence…”

Before his uncle could finish, Jiang Yubai’s father arrived.

Jiang Yubai called out, “Dad.”

His uncle immediately turned his head and called out, “Big brother.”

His father walked in front of Jiang Yubai and sat on a soft chair. He noticed the report card Jiang Yubai had placed on the table. But he never reached out to take Jiang Yubai’s things; he just glanced at it, and Jiang Yubai put the report card into his schoolbag.

His father smiled and asked softly, “Didn’t do well?”

Jiang Yubai hesitated for a moment, then handed the report card to his uncle. His uncle opened the report card and, like a loudspeaker, announced on the spot, “Jiang Yubai, Class 17 of the first year, winter training mathematics total score, A+, overall ranking, top five percent of the grade.”

“Very good,” his father said. “You performed at your level.”

His uncle added, “Yes, this is our family’s level.”

His father rested his left hand on the armrest of the soft chair. There was a mechanical watch with a blue sapphire face on his wrist, showing the current time as seven-thirty in the evening. His father reminded him, “In another hour, you need to go to bed.”

Jiang Yubai nodded, “Mm.”

His father leaned forward slightly and asked gently, “Do you have anything else you want to tell me?”

His uncle sat cross-legged on the floor. The floor was covered with a soft, clean carpet. His uncle straightened his back and also suggested, “Little Jiang, if you have something to say, just say it.”

Jiang Yubai candidly said, “I want to participate in the provincial competition, the national league match, and the International Olympic Competition.”

His father nodded once, “Very good, ambitious.”

Jiang Yubai stood up from his seat. He let go of his schoolbag and declared, “When I participate in competitions, it’s not just to secure a spot; it’s for first place. In team competitions, my teammates are very strong. In individual competitions, I can’t drag them down.”

His father looked him in the eyes, “You’ve been studying all winter vacation, hardly relaxing at all. Your mother and I were a bit worried, but it’s fine. You have a firm goal, and I’m happy to see your progress.”

His father extended his hand to Jiang Yubai, and Jiang Yubai shook it—this was a way his father encouraged him. Throughout his life, whenever he faced difficulties and revealed a hint to his father, his father would shake his hand and bless him as he did now: “Keep going, son.”

His uncle also reached out his hand. But his father said, “Your hands are insured for tens of millions of dollars. Better not. Don’t shake hands with Jiang Yubai.”

His uncle was very shocked, “What are tens of millions of dollars to you? Just a small number.”

His father said slowly, “This is not a small number; it’s a large number. In front of children, adults should treat money as money. When Jiang Yubai enters the investment field in the future, he should pay more attention to risk management.”

Jiang Yubai replied, “Yes, I agree with Dad’s words.”

His uncle had never argued with his father. He quickly compromised, “Indeed, you’re right. This is our family’s way of thinking; I agree too.” Then he asked, “Jiang Yubai, when do your competitions… begin?”

Jiang Yubai honestly said, “The league match starts in April. There are two other competitions, preliminaries in March, finals in April. The team competition is an international competition. If I do well in these tests, I’ll team up with classmates to participate in the international competition.”

“Which classmate?” his uncle keenly detected. “Is it Lin Zhixia?”

His father immediately caught the key point, “Lin Zhixia?”

Before Jiang Yubai could answer, his uncle spoke without reservation, “Big brother, let me tell you, there’s a classmate in Jiang Yubai’s class named Lin Zhixia. Lin Zhixia was originally in fourth grade at Experimental Primary School with Jiang Yubai. Later, they both went to Professor Shen Zhaohua’s laboratory and decided to skip grades, jumping to the junior high competition class at Provincial No. 1 High School. Big brother, you might wonder, Lin Zhixia is just a ten-year-old girl, how could she skip grades with our Little Jiang? Could it be that her family also has a group of mathematics and English tutors?”

Jiang Yubai interrupted, “There’s nothing worth talking about here.”

His father, however, said, “I don’t often have the chance to learn about your classmates. It’s good to hear your uncle talk about it.”

His uncle continued smoothly, “Lin Zhixia doesn’t have tutors. Her skills are all natural. In the physics department’s experimental building, she awed a group of doctoral students working with Shen Zhaohua, and I was also awed. It was the first time I’d seen such a young girl who loved physics and mathematics so much and could understand those complex concepts. Her foreign language level is also quite good; she can speak at least German and English. Big brother, you know that my German is quite good. I checked Lin Zhixia’s German; she should have no problem conversing daily with Germans. Jiang Yubai told me that Lin Zhixia’s IQ is about 174… 174, big brother, think carefully. Although our Little Jiang is smart, he can’t compare to a girl with an IQ of 174. By being friends with a classmate with an IQ of 174, Little Jiang can learn a lot.”

His uncle’s words had a very strong orientation, but his father wasn’t influenced by him. After listening, he immediately looked at his son, “Jiang Yubai, did you want to skip grades because you wanted to follow this classmate’s footsteps?”

Jiang Yubai denied, “No.”

His father didn’t argue. He just looked at him, waiting for him to explain his reasons.

After careful consideration, Jiang Yubai answered, “Skipping grades was my decision first. Lin Zhixia followed me in skipping grades. I get along quite well with her. We’re friends. We often discuss mathematical problems.”

The word “discuss” wasn’t quite accurate.

Most of the time, it was Lin Zhixia one-sidedly tutoring Jiang Yubai. And Jiang Yubai had gradually gotten used to Lin Zhixia’s tutoring.

Jiang Yubai received guidance from Lin Zhixia at school and teachings from tutors at home. Therefore, his progress in mathematics competitions could be described as remarkably fast.

“Anyway,” his father concluded, “from your tone, you intend to go all the way with competitions. If you encounter setbacks along the way, you can always give up. You don’t need to compare yourself with a classmate who has an IQ of 174.”

Jiang Yubai nodded in agreement.

He suddenly began to look forward to the preliminaries in March.

His father wanted to teach him how to give up, but he would use competition results to prove himself.