Growing up means learning to make choices.

Each different choice may lead to different results.

Jiang Yubai spent several minutes in silence, then his mother asked softly, “Do you want to study economics? Like your father.”

“I do have that inclination,” Jiang Yubai answered cautiously.

His mother sat in front of him for an intimate talk: “You’ll enter high school next year, so you should prepare early. Also, your grandfather and grandmother plan to stay in Beijing for a year. Your father will also frequently travel to Beijing, so you might consider an international high school in Beijing. Take some time to select a school, and once you’ve decided, let us know the result.”

Jiang Yubai casually agreed. He valued his future development greatly and already had a rough early plan.

He once had fantasies about mathematics and physics. However, over the years, he discovered that he wasn’t suited for long-term exploration in basic science fields. The reason he could maintain good grades in Provincial No. 1 High School’s competition class was that he had a dedicated tutoring team. If he had to rely entirely on his abilities, he would find studying very difficult, perhaps studying until the depths of night every day.

Jiang Yubai was determined to choose economics as his major in the future. Following his father’s path and exploring forward was undoubtedly the most secure method.

Early the next morning, before leaving for school, Jiang Yubai told his family: “I’ve determined my university direction.”

His father shook his hand, encouraging him.

His uncle said approvingly: “Little Jiang, you’ve learned to prepare for rainy days.”

Jiang Yubai didn’t elaborate. He hadn’t decided where to attend high school yet.

Most students in Class Three (17) wanted to advance to the high school competition class at Provincial No. 1 High School. But Jiang Yubai’s interest in competitions was declining year by year. He seemed to be standing at a crossroads in his life, with many factors potentially influencing his final decision.

During morning reading class, Jiang Yubai casually revealed: “I’m selecting a school.”

“Selecting a school?” Lin Zhixia unconsciously repeated.

The curtains in the classroom floated slightly, touching Lin Zhixia’s desk. Lin Zhixia sat by the window, turning to gather the curtains, rolling them into a bundle. She guessed: “Jiang Yubai, are you going abroad for high school?”

“No,” Jiang Yubai immediately explained, “Going abroad now would be too early.”

Lin Zhixia smiled and said: “But you went abroad for elementary school when you were six.”

Jiang Yubai unzipped his backpack and took out a Romanian painted egg. He placed the egg on his desk, pushing it to roll in a circle before saying: “I might go to an international high school.”

Lin Zhixia nodded: “I want to go to Peking University.”

They tacitly exchanged their plans for the future, neither interfering with nor influencing each other.

Throughout the classroom, students were reading aloud, but the space where Lin Zhixia and Jiang Yubai sat seemed to suddenly become quiet. Even though they were still deskmates now, they could already imagine their separation on some future day.

“I still have to participate in the informatics competition this semester…” Lin Zhixia lowered her head, “I can’t withdraw midway because I have two teammates. If I withdraw at the last minute, their efforts would be wasted.”

Jiang Yubai sensed her disappointment and quickly encouraged her: “Don’t withdraw. Life is a process of experience; you should bravely move forward.”

Lin Zhixia lay lazily on the desk: “If I move forward, I’ll separate from you. I can’t possibly attend an international high school.”

Jiang Yubai maintained an upright sitting posture: “You should apply directly to the university.”

“I want to go to Peking University,” Lin Zhixia circled back to the initial topic, “That’s Professor Shen Zhaohua’s alma mater. One of Professor Shen’s college classmates stayed to teach at the university, and his research direction is quantum computing, which interests me greatly. Professor Shen has spoken to him, and he’s willing to be my undergraduate advisor.”

Before this, Lin Zhixia had never revealed this news to Jiang Yubai.

Ah, she’s being considerate, Jiang Yubai thought. She knew that Jiang Yubai definitely couldn’t get into university now, so she never mentioned her plans.

Lin Zhixia seemed to have grown quite a bit. When she was nine years old, she would directly say whatever came to mind. But at twelve, she understood how to be mindful of Jiang Yubai’s feelings—though, after countless trials, Jiang Yubai had already come to terms with things. He truly didn’t care how strong Lin Zhixia’s abilities were or how high her test scores were. He calmly said, “You’ve found your research direction; I’m happy for you. Captain Lin Zhixia’s planetary journey now has a fixed route.”

He held the Romanian painted egg like a great prophet: “You’ll have unexpected gains.”

“Mmhmm,” Lin Zhixia nodded vigorously, “You too, Jiang Yubai. One day, you’ll become what you most want to be.”

Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia optimistically envisioned each other’s futures. Jiang Yubai suddenly remembered something else: “You called me last night…”

Lin Zhixia suddenly slapped the desk, the noise attracting the attention of classmates in front of them.

Tang Tingting, sitting in front, asked in confusion: “Class Monitor Lin, what’s wrong?”

“I…” Lin Zhixia said vaguely, “Nothing. Sorry for disturbing you, please continue reciting.”

Tang Tingting nodded slightly, once again immersing herself in the English textbook.

This morning’s first class was English. The English teacher would randomly select two students to recite texts at the podium. Therefore, all the students in Class Three (17), except for Lin Zhixia and Jiang Yubai, were diligently memorizing the English text.

Meanwhile, Lin Zhixia was complaining to Jiang Yubai. Her voice became very soft, quietly telling him: “Many years ago, my grandfather’s family was extremely poor and could only afford to send one child to school. My mother stopped schooling and allowed my uncle to. Then, my uncle got into university, and my mother worked to send him money. After my uncle graduated from university and became a lawyer, he never contacted my parents… My brother had congenital heart disease and needed surgery. When my mother asked my uncle to borrow money, my uncle completely cut ties with our family. Later, when my brother’s surgery was successful and he recovered, my uncle was willing to contact my mother again.”

“Why?” Jiang Yubai questioned.

“Listen to me,” Lin Zhixia narrated in detail, “Last night, my uncle and aunt came to our home. He had seen my brother’s high school entrance exam ranking in the newspaper, as well as my competition gold medal. He wanted to take me to his home to live with his son. During past New Year celebrations in the rural hometown, my uncle had publicly mocked my father, so I never wanted to speak to him again… What kind of person do you think my uncle is?”

“A beast in human clothing,” Jiang Yubai evaluated.

This was the harshest comment Jiang Yubai could voice.

He generally used “psycho” to express dissatisfaction. Lin Zhixia had never heard him call anyone “a beast in human clothing.”

Jiang Yubai earnestly advised Lin Zhixia: “Don’t ever go to your uncle’s house.”

“I absolutely won’t!” Lin Zhixia declared.

Jiang Yubai nodded, analyzing for her: “Your uncle is not a good person. He puts his interests first. My grandfather says, such people don’t care about rules and reputation; when dealing with them, one must be extremely cautious.”

Lin Zhixia spoke seriously: “Yes, your grandfather is right.”

Jiang Yubai continued to condemn: “Your uncle wants you to live at his house, to live with your cousin… They haven’t considered the boundaries between males and females. They are strangers to you.”

“Yes,” Lin Zhixia fell into thought, “I know that the proportion of minors under fourteen who suffer harm is higher than adults over eighteen, and among them, seventy percent are harmed by acquaintances. I don’t believe my uncle would protect my safety.”

“He will only protect himself,” Jiang Yubai asserted.

Afterward, Jiang Yubai couldn’t help but ask: “Does your cousin attend Provincial No. 1 High School?”

“No,” Lin Zhixia said, “My cousin didn’t do well in the elementary to junior high transition exam, so he couldn’t attend Provincial No. 1 High School.”

Jiang Yubai speculated: “Your uncle wants you to be a tutor? An unpaid tutor.”

“Yes!” Lin Zhixia was indignant, “That’s exactly what he meant.”

Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia reached complete agreement.

At this moment, the English teacher happened to enter the classroom.

Jiang Yubai opened his English textbook, pretending to read.

Perhaps Jiang Yubai’s performance was too convincing, as the English teacher’s appreciative gaze fell upon him. The reading sound in the classroom gradually weakened, and the English teacher began to call names: “Jiang Yubai, Lin Zhixia, both of you come to the podium to recite.”

In an instant, the entire class looked at Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia.

Lin Zhixia glanced at the text and calmly walked to the podium. Facing her classmates, she recited with clear pronunciation and fluent speed. The English teacher, very satisfied, said: “When you recite texts, just do it like Lin Zhixia, recite to her level. Words should be properly connected, without stumbling in between. I’ve told you before, right? When speaking English, if you spit out one word at a time, it sounds impolite; that’s an authoritative way of speaking…”

The class was silent, and the English teacher cleared her throat, saying: “Jiang Yubai, it’s your turn, come recite.”

During today’s morning reading class, Jiang Yubai had been chatting with Lin Zhixia the entire time. He hadn’t paid any attention to the textbook. Although Lin Zhixia had just recited the entire text, Jiang Yubai could only remember the first two sentences and the general content of the article.

Jiang Yubai stood in the center of the podium, reciting the text as he remembered it in English. The sentences he spoke were completely different from the textbook. Students whispered to each other, and the English teacher interjected: “This way of reciting is acceptable too. You digest the text thoroughly and then express it in your vocabulary, applying what you’ve learned actively to train your English comprehension and application abilities.”

Jiang Yubai returned to his seat with a close call. Shortly after sitting down, Tang Tingting from the front row turned around and asked: “Jiang Yubai, Lin Zhixia, neither of you memorized the text, right?”

Lin Zhixia admitted quietly: “That’s right.”

Seeing her slightly reddened face, Tang Tingting asked: “What are you embarrassed about?”

“Morning reading class should be for reading,” Lin Zhixia said, “Not for chatting with your deskmate.”

But chatting with her deskmate was truly relaxing.

The reason Lin Zhixia told Jiang Yubai about her uncle was that she wanted to share her secrets with a good friend. Lin Zhixia would only tell her secrets to Jiang Yubai alone, because he was her only best friend.

He would soon enter an international high school.

This was normal; everyone had their plans.

Being deskmates for four years during elementary and junior high school was already something for which Lin Zhixia felt fortunate. And in the next phase, even if she and Jiang Yubai took completely different paths, she would still place him in the position of “most important friend.”

*

In the first semester of ninth grade, while some students in the competition class were still striving for the National Junior High School Mathematics League, Lin Zhixia was preparing for a competition called the “International High School Programming Competition,” commonly abbreviated as IHSPC—this was a grand international event where each country could send many teams, each team consisting of three students.

This year’s competition was held in Moscow, the capital of Russia.

At the end of December, Moscow’s temperature was low, and the sky was foggy. As soon as Lin Zhixia left the airport, she felt a surge of cold air. She dragged her suitcase, running to her team leader’s side. The teacher asked her: “Do you have confidence in winning a gold medal?”

“Yes!” Lin Zhixia answered.

Though she said that…

When she penetrated deep into Russia’s heartland, coming to the Russian competitors’ lair, she felt less certain.

Lin Zhixia knew that on the international stage, countries like Russia, Japan, South Korea, the United States, and China competed fiercely. In recent years, the championship for university programming competitions mostly belonged to Russia.

Lin Zhixia had spent a year learning programming. Her mathematical foundation was very solid, and she could recite “Data Structures” and related algorithms backwards, which helped her successfully stand out in the provincial team.

However, IHSPC not only tested contestants’ mathematical and logical thinking but also required a certain level of programming skills.

Lin Zhixia pinned her hopes on her teammates.

This time, the teammates joining Lin Zhixia in battle were senior students from Provincial No. 1 High School’s 12th grade, who were also outstanding in informatics competitions.

One teammate’s surname was Cai. Despite his young age, he had many white hairs, so everyone called him “Old Cai.”

Another teammate’s surname was Liang. He looked quite young, so everyone called him “Little Liang.”

Before the IHSPC competition began, Old Cai self-deprecatingly said: “The three people in our group have the characters ‘Cai,’ ‘Liang,’ and ‘Xia’ in our names, meaning we’re ‘vegetable,’ ‘cool,’ and ‘blind’—we’re complete!”

Lin Zhixia was shocked by Old Cai’s statement.

What shocked her even more was that they were surrounded by Eastern European contestants.

Near their seats were teams from Russia, Belarus, Estonia, and Latvia. Each student in these teams had a very steady demeanor, reminding Lin Zhixia of Alexandrov from the Romanian Master Competition.

Lin Zhixia sat up straight, bracing herself.

In Lin Zhixia’s team, Little Liang had the highest programming level. Little Liang was responsible for writing the programs. Meanwhile, Lin Zhixia had the strongest mathematical foundation. She was responsible for analyzing the problems.

They smoothly solved the first three problems but encountered an obstacle on the fourth one. This problem set up a nested exponential function with base 2, which had been computed M times to obtain a value N. Given an input X, they needed to find the result of N modulo X.

This problem was designed very cleverly, and Old Cai and Lin Zhixia held opposing views.

Lin Zhixia insisted on using a recursive exponentiation reduction formula until the modulus equaled 1. Old Cai believed that exponentiation reduction wasn’t the key point of this problem. Old Cai had seen a similar problem before, but he suddenly couldn’t remember it. He argued quietly with Lin Zhixia, and Little Liang interjected: “Old Cai, Little Lin, how should we do it? Give me a definite answer quickly.”

Lin Zhixia grabbed the keyboard: “Let’s hurry and do it my way.”

“Wait,” Old Cai stopped her, “If you submit an incorrect code once, our work on the previous problems will be wasted.”

Yes, the IHSPC competition rules were very strict.

Contestants might not necessarily score points for correct answers, but they would lose points for wrong answers.

After Old Cai said this, Lin Zhixia’s movements became sluggish. She reorganized her logic and mentally ran the program again. Old Cai temporarily set aside the fourth problem and began discussing with Little Liang how to solve the fifth problem.

Lin Zhixia lowered her head to scan the fifth problem, recalling the competition teacher’s warning: IHSPC competition problems often set traps for contestants. Many times, you think you’ve solved it, but you haven’t. You think you have the correct answer, but you’ve missed key information. IHSPC always hides certain specific patterns.

If this were an individual competition, Lin Zhixia could answer questions as she pleased. But she was part of a team, so she had to be careful. She asked Old Cai for his opinion on the fourth problem, but Old Cai was typing on the keyboard, writing the answer to the fifth problem.

Lin Zhixia asked him: “Can we use any method other than Fermat’s Little Theorem for the fourth problem?”

Old Cai stared at the screen with focused eyes: “Wait until I finish writing the fifth problem.”

“How do you plan to solve the fifth problem?” Lin Zhixia asked him again.

Old Cai wore gold-rimmed glasses, with a face as round as a silver plate, exuding an air of wealth and prosperity. Old Cai wasn’t like an ordinary science and engineering bookworm; he had quite a bit of spirit—this was Little Liang’s evaluation of Old Cai.

Little Liang and Old Cai had been teammates in informatics competitions for more than two years. Originally, they had another teammate, but that teammate’s programming skills were weak, so the coach temporarily transferred Lin Zhixia into Old Cai’s team, letting Lin Zhixia represent Provincial No. 1 High School in this year’s International High School Programming Competition.

The collaboration between Old Cai and Lin Zhixia was not pleasant.

Lin Zhixia’s constant questioning interrupted Old Cai’s train of thought. Old Cai sighed deeply, while Lin Zhixia continued to observe him: “Your 17th line of code seems to have a typo. The binary string shouldn’t shift two bits to the left here…”

Old Cai said: “I wrote it like that intentionally.”

Little Liang also said: “Little Lin, let Old Cai finish writing.”

Lin Zhixia sensed the atmosphere wasn’t right. She immediately shut up, not daring to make a sound.

This competition was very long, lasting from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. By around 1 p.m., Lin Zhixia was already very sleepy. She forced herself to stay alert, watching her teammates type on the keyboard. The cursor continuously moved on the screen, and she thought silently, C++ is truly a concise and fast language. Although C++’s fixed static structure is its biggest drawback, she still liked C++ because it was a powerful tool for computer low-level architecture.