In contrast to the blond man’s aggressive provocation, Xie Dingyuan’s expression remained unchanged.
He asked, “What’s the matter?”
The blond man had originally been full of profanities, but facing those cold eyes, he couldn’t even utter a simple “F*k.”
“…Did you make this question?” His momentum weakened by half.
Xie Dingyuan nodded, “Yes, I did.”
“This question is wrong! It’s unsolvable! We demand a replacement question!”
Xie Dingyuan asked, “Is the question itself wrong, or do you think it’s wrong because you can’t solve it?”
The blond man was momentarily stunned, “Is there a difference?”
An unsolvable question is a wrong question, right?
Xie Dingyuan said, “Of course there’s a difference. Before 1830, tomatoes were considered poisonous in Europe. Doctors told people that eating them was life-threatening. But now, tomatoes appear on tables worldwide. So tell me, were tomatoes inherently poisonous, or was it because people didn’t dare to try them and thus believed they were poisonous?”
“That’s… two different things, you can’t equate them!”
Xie Dingyuan continued, “You, or your team, being unable to solve the question doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It means your abilities are limited.”
Having explained enough, he turned to leave.
“Sir, please wait—” Another brown-haired young man stood up, smiling, “Since you’re the question setter, you must know the correct answer, right? Why not solve it on the spot for everyone to see?”
Xie Dingyuan looked at him for two seconds and then asked, “Can you speak for everyone?”
The brown-haired youth immediately raised his voice to the crowd, “Do you all want to see this question setter solve the question on the spot?”
“Yes—” came the unanimous response.
The brown-haired youth raised his eyebrows and looked back.
Xie Dingyuan nodded, “Okay, but if I solve it, you’ll all get zero points for the last question. Choose.”
It was a choice between giving up the question for zero points or continuing to think until the exam ended, with a slim chance of solving it.
The crowd was stunned.
The previously noisy exam hall quieted down.
The brown-haired youth frowned, looking at his watch, “Don’t let him scare you. There’s only ten minutes left until the end of the exam. In such a short time, you can’t complete even a normal question, let alone a wrong one.”
“But if this question setter can’t solve it in front of everyone, it proves the question is faulty. The organizers and setter will be fully responsible! Then we all deserve points!”
It was essentially a gamble—
If Xie Dingyuan solved it, they lost and got zero points; if he couldn’t, they won and got a full score of 100.
“Everyone knows how to choose!” The brown-haired youth concluded.
The crowd followed suit: “I agree!”
“So do I!”
“I fully support it!”
“…”
Even Gao Zhaoming and Huang Hui had to admit that under these circumstances, the brown-haired youth’s choice was the most beneficial for the contestants.
Of course, it carried risks.
Zero points or full points.
But thinking about it, what could be done in ten minutes? It was better to take a gamble for a chance at full points.
The two exchanged a glance. Gao Zhaoming: Should we raise our hands?
Huang Hui instinctively looked at Jiang Fuyue, but she gave no indication or hint.
He gritted his teeth and decided: Raise it!
Fan Ye followed suit.
No one wanted to be left behind.
One after another, all contestants in the hall raised their hands.
Xie Dingyuan watched all this coldly, his eyes indifferent, as if it had nothing to do with him, and whatever choice they made didn’t matter.
He confirmed one last time, “Are you sure? Is there anyone who disagrees and wants to solve it themselves?”
“Sir, stop wasting time. Stalling won’t work.”
“Hurry up, we all want to see how you solve the question!”
“Yeah, let’s see how you solve a wrong question correctly—oh! That must be interesting!”
“Hahaha…”
Amidst the mockery, Xie Dingyuan waited for a full thirty seconds. Seeing no one make a different choice, he stepped forward to the computer, sat down, and placed his hands on the keyboard, ready to start.
Suddenly—
“I disagree.”
In the deathly silence, Jiang Fuyue stood up slowly.
Xie Dingyuan looked at her, then removed his hands from the keyboard and looked at the others, “Anyone else?”
Gasp—
“Oh my God! That girl must be crazy!”
“Is she digging her own grave?”
“How can anyone be so foolish?”
“I bet she never read ‘Game Theory.'”
“Or maybe she thinks this is a movie and she needs to show off to get attention. But such people are usually just clowns.”
“….”
Gao Zhaoming was stunned, Huang Hui was dumbfounded.
But soon, they felt that not standing out wouldn’t be Jiang Fuyue’s style.
However…
Can she really solve this… uh… wrong question?
And with only five minutes left, even the simplest IOI programming problem takes at least ten minutes to complete, right?
