Xie Dingyuan: “What is it?”
Zhong Ziang casually tossed an A4 sheet across the table.
The man picked it up and glanced at it. “A report card?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“486 points, ranked 326th in the grade, tied with another student.” Xie Dingyuan nodded. “That’s an improvement from being fifth from the bottom last time.”
A purely objective evaluation.
Zhong Ziang: “?”
“You have doubts?”
“No… but shouldn’t you be feeling deeply gratified and overjoyed at seeing this?”
Xie Dingyuan: “So this is the result you waited all night to show me?”
Zhong Ziang: “…” D*mn, he saw right through me.
“Taken alone, both the score and rank are unimpressive—not worthy of your current intelligence.”
Uh…
“Uncle, is that a compliment or an insult?”
Xie Dingyuan gave him a cool glance. “What do you think?”
Zhong Ziang scratched his nose.
Then, the man changed his tone—
“But progress is a good thing.”
And then… nothing?
Zhong Ziang was dumbfounded.
Xie Dingyuan frowned. “What else were you expecting?”
D*mn it! He’d waited all night, thinking he’d finally get some praise, only to end up with nothing but disappointment.
Zhong Ziang stood up to leave but suddenly paused, as if remembering something, then sat back down.
His expression grew a little more serious.
“Uncle, let me ask you something.”
“Go ahead.” Xie Dingyuan picked up a piece of rib and took a bite.
Zhong Ziang instinctively swallowed. “Which university do you think I can get into?”
The man’s chewing paused. For the first time since entering the house, he properly looked at his nephew. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, someone asked me, and I said I hadn’t thought about it. Then she told me I should start thinking about it now.”
So… now he was thinking about it.
Xie Dingyuan’s gaze sharpened. “Who asked you?”
“Heh heh…” Zhong Ziang chuckled sheepishly. “Jiang Fuyue. Do you think she wants me to apply to the same university as her? You know, so we can be together forever, never apart…”
The man’s face darkened. “You think you have what it takes?”
Zhong Ziang instantly deflated. “…No. With her grades, she’s either studying abroad or going to a top university in the capital. My standards aren’t that high—I just want to be in the same city as her. Long-distance relationships are tough these days, and the breakup rate is sky-high…”
Xie Dingyuan: “…” Shut up.
“Look—if she goes abroad, I’ll follow. We have money, no big deal. If she stays in the capital, that works too—our family’s got a place there, and proximity is key, right? Heh heh…”
Zhong Ziang was already lost in his own future plans, completely oblivious to how his uncle’s expression had turned grim.
Finally, he asked, “Uncle, with my score, what kind of university could I get into in the capital?”
Xie Dingyuan: “…”
That night, Zhong Ziang had trouble sleeping.
“Four hundred-something points is nowhere near enough for a top university. If you even want the bare minimum qualification to have your name mentioned alongside Jiang Fuyue’s, you need at least six hundred.”
“Simply being in the same city as her is setting the bar too low. Universities are ranked, after all. If she gets into B University or Q University while you end up at some third-rate school, does that seem appropriate? Even with money, you’d still feel inferior.”
“Do you know what Ceva’s Theorem, the Poincaré Conjecture, computer clustering, or the latest MapReduce framework are?”
“…An outstanding girl doesn’t necessarily need an equally outstanding partner, but she definitely wouldn’t be interested in someone who has no clue what she’s talking about.”
“…”
His uncle’s words shattered his arrogance and self-delusion into dust.
Zhong Ziang had no choice but to face a brutal truth once again—he was not worthy of Jiang Fuyue!
Lying on his bed, he stared at the cold moonlight streaming in from the window. For the first time, he felt lost about the future.
He had thought he still had plenty of time to figure out his life, but reality proved otherwise—while he was dawdling, others had already raced far ahead.
Late October—Autumn Deepens
The results of the Math Olympiad were out.
Jiang Fuyue achieved a perfect score: 120 points in the first round, 180 points in the additional round, totaling 300 points—the only full-score contestant across all provincial competition zones in the country.
Ranked first in J Province!
Ling Xuan scored 299, just one point shy of the top, placing second in the province.
Tan Jiaxu and Chen Cheng both scored 297, tying for third.
In total, four out of the top five scorers in the province came from No. 1 High School School, including the full-score champion, Jiang Fuyue.
Their performance was nothing short of spectacular, setting a new record in history.
Beyond the highest scorers, the rest of the competitors also did well:
- 270–290 points: 12 students
- 220–270 points: 20 students
Every single student in the Olympiad class passed. Even the lowest scorer—a freshman who had joined just two months ago—managed to score 229 points, an impressive feat given his short exposure to advanced math.
Someone asked him, “Mo Songbai, how are you so good?”
The freshman blushed and replied, “It’s all thanks to Senior Sister Jiang).”
When Mo Songbai first joined the class, he had no foundation in Olympiad math. The test papers looked like an indecipherable foreign language to him, and he even considered quitting, doubting whether he was cut out for this at all.
For days, he struggled in a haze of confusion—until, by chance, he overheard Chen Cheng asking Jiang Fuyue for help on a particularly tricky question.
Coincidentally, he had been stuck on the same problem. He quietly eavesdropped, expecting to be just as lost as before.
But to his shock—he understood everything from beginning to end!
This realization astounded Mo Songbai.
After that, he mustered the courage to ask Jiang Fuyue his own questions. The same concepts that made no sense when Xu Jing explained them became crystal clear when Jiang Fuyue did.
It was as if a hidden switch had been flipped—his mind opened up.
Xu Jing even commented, “This kid has finally awakened!”
However, Jiang Fuyue had limited time in the Olympiad class. She was always busy, finishing her papers quickly before rushing off.
Mo Songbai, being naturally shy, didn’t want to bother her too much. But deep down, he desperately wished he could have her as his personal tutor.
Fortunately, when Xu Jing was occasionally away for meetings, Jiang Fuyue took over the class, answering questions and making precise predictions about test topics.
Mo Songbai nearly wore out the small notebook where he recorded her key concepts and must-know problem types.
And in the end, his efforts paid off.
Jiang Fuyue’s uncanny accuracy in predicting test topics stunned everyone. Anyone who studied her notes couldn’t help but say, “Respect.”
Her study materials became known as the “Sunflower Manual”, a legendary guide akin to a martial arts cheat book.
If you had it, you had a shot at becoming invincible.
Among the most shocked was Xu Jing himself.
Before the test, he had managed to get a copy of Jiang Fuyue’s notes from Zou Hao. At first, he dismissed it—”If the exam were that predictable, wouldn’t the question setters lose face?”
But when he saw the exact questions appear on the test, he seriously began to suspect that Jiang Fuyue was actually the one who wrote the exam herself.
What the h*ll?! This accuracy is insane!
He had heard Meng Zhijian and Yu Wenzhou praise her predictions before, saying she was practically inside the exam setters’ heads.
Now, having witnessed it firsthand, he was completely convinced.
At this point, stealing the test paper wouldn’t even be more effective than her predictions.
Despite his shock, Xu Jing was thrilled.
Sure, the students had benefited from Jiang Fuyue’s insights, but at the end of the day, their scores were earned through their own efforts.
As their coach, he was immensely proud. He spent the next two days walking with a noticeable spring in his step.
His smugness was so obvious that even his colleagues couldn’t help but feel jealous.
And yet, he still added fuel to the fire: “The results… are decent, I suppose. Could’ve been even better.”
Everyone: “…”
With the results finalized, the next phase was awarding the top scorers.
According to the selection process:
- First, second, and third prizes would be awarded based on provincial rankings.
- First-prize papers would be sent to the national committee for re-evaluation, with the final decision made by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST).
- Second and third prizes were decided at the provincial level.
The top first-prize winners in each province would then qualify for the China Mathematical Olympiad (CMO), also known as the National High School Math Winter Camp.
From there, the top 30 competitors, along with the top two from the China Girls’ Math Olympiad and the China Western Math Olympiad, would enter the IMO national training team.
And finally, from this elite group, the final six would be selected to represent China at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).
A rigorous filtering process—where only the absolute best remained.
It was almost certain that Jiang Fuyue, Ling Xuan, Tan Jiaxu, and Chen Cheng had secured provincial first prizes and would be heading to the Winter Camp.
That afternoon, Jiang Fuyue walked out of school with Jiang Han, Ge Meng, and Liu Sisi.
Jiang Han was chatting excitedly: “My dad praised me for improving in this month’s exams, and as a reward, he transferred ten shop properties under my name! It nearly drove that homewrecker at our house crazy—she’s throwing a tantrum at my dad right now, but he doesn’t care at all.”
Ge Meng’s eyes sparkled. “Sister Han, please take me under your wing!”
Jiang Han waved her hand grandly. “No problem~”
Suddenly, she remembered something. “Oh right, Sister Yue, lately there’s been a group of people looking for shop spaces, specifically around Tianxing Plaza. They’re super picky—demanding an open view, spacious interiors, and even insisting on multi-floor units!”
At first, this had nothing to do with Jiang Fuyue.
But then—her gaze sharpened.
“Only Tianxing Plaza?”
