“Jiang Fuyue wants to get all three of her little teammates into the final selection!”
“Wait, what…” He Longchang scratched his face, looking completely out of the loop. “Old Xiang, what the heck are you even talking about?”
But Li Zhao and Yuan Bentao understood perfectly.
With Jiang Fuyue’s individual strength, securing a spot in the final six-member team to compete at the IMO was a done deal—zero suspense, absolutely guaranteed.
Any teacher who had taught her, without exception, would agree.
And her six perfect scores across six tests were the most straightforward proof of that.
So really, she had no need to worry about herself—what concerned her were her three teammates.
How to ensure they also made it into the final team?
Step one: figure out the true strength of the other candidates.
First, she could gauge where Ling Xuan, Chen Cheng, and Tan Jiaxu stood within the team overall.
Second, to guard against dark horses—just like Guo Zidong. Who knows who else might be hiding their true abilities, waiting to rise up at the last second?
But Jiang Fuyue tested the waters, and Guo Zidong cracked—exposing himself immediately.
Li Zhao tried to stay calm, but the shock in his eyes betrayed him.
“This Jiang Fuyue… this Jiang Fuyue…”
He repeated it twice, each time with more weight, his tone even bordering on gritted teeth by the end.
“She’s too bold!”
Yuan Bentao nodded, agreeing. Her boldness was not something ordinary students could compare to.
“She basically did all the analysis and planning that should have been our job as teachers. I’d wager by now, she’s already identified every student in the camp who poses a threat to her three teammates—and she’s keeping a close eye on them.”
Li Zhao: “Guo Zidong is definitely one of them!”
Xiang Pengyi smacked his lips.
“I’ve never seen a student like this before… this is… this is… she’s practically demonic!”
So clever it’s almost demonic—the ancients didn’t lie.
“I heard she also won gold in both the IPhO and IOI?”
“Yep. She even swept all the special awards.”
“Holy cr*p—is she trying to collect all the gold medals and summon the gods of thunder and lightning?”
He Longchang was a few beats slow. When Xiang Pengyi finished explaining all the twists and turns, his jaw dropped wider than anyone else’s.
Eyes round. Mouth slightly agape. And then—
“D*mn! That’s badass!”
Everyone else: “…”
Xiang Pengyi, clearing his throat:
“Does this count as interfering with the selection process?”
Yuan Bentao shook his head:
“She didn’t do anything shady. She just strategically controlled her test submission times. There’s nothing in the training rules that forbids that.”
“Tsk… so are we just going to sit here and watch her help her teammates get into the final six?”
Li Zhao, lips curled in a knowing smile:
“It’s not that easy. Even if she’s figured out everyone else’s abilities, if Chen Cheng and Tan Jiaxu don’t have the skills to stand out, it’s all meaningless.”
“It’s not like she can secretly tutor them behind the scenes.”
Everyone nodded.
“Makes sense.”
After all, math competitions aren’t something you can cram for at the last minute, right?
What kind of international joke would that be?
———
At that very moment, in an empty classroom in the teaching building:
Jiang Fuyue stood in front of the whiteboard, formulas and steps packed densely across the surface.
“…Got it?”
Tan Jiaxu, nodding like crazy:
“Got it!”
Chen Cheng, eyes sparkling:
“Understood!”
Boom. She really was tutoring them!
Jiang Fuyue: “Okay, next question…”
She didn’t stop until the sky began to darken.
“Alright, that’s it for today.”
She tossed down her pen, grabbed her bag, and looked ready to head out immediately.
Tan Jiaxu and Chen Cheng wanted to stay a bit longer to organize their notes, so they remained seated.
“Oh, right.” Jiang Fuyue turned at the door.
“Your pace this time was good. You turned in your papers earlier than before—keep it up.
If you can maintain your current form, you’ll securely beat Wei Kongjue and Wu Pingting.”
Chen Cheng: “What about Shi Ranjan?”
Jiang Fuyue: “She’s no longer in the competition.”
The two instantly lit up.
Tan Jiaxu: “Sister Yue, we’ll work hard!”
Chen Cheng: “Me too! Me too!”
Jiang Fuyue waved without looking back and left coolly.
Tan Jiaxu: “Why is it that I only need to hear Sister Yue explain something once to get it, but when the teachers explain it, it feels like my brain is exploding?”
Chen Cheng thought for a moment and replied seriously:
“Because Sister Yue is just that legendary.”
“And that customized competition list she made for us—she even detailed exactly who we need to surpass in each test and how many minutes earlier we need to submit! How did she even come up with that?!”
Chen Cheng: “I suspect Sister Yue’s brain is a big-data analysis machine. She’s already analyzed everyone in the training camp—including you and me.”
Tan Jiaxu shrank back a little, feeling a chill down his spine.
“You’re scaring me…”
“Stop joking around. Keep writing. Once we’re done, we’ll eat—I’m starving.”
“Right! Gotta grind these problems! Let’s fight our way into the top six! Last night I dreamed I was standing beside Sister Yue at the IMO, fighting side by side—one word: EPIC!”
Chen Cheng, eyes gleaming with longing, made a silent vow—
Tonight, he’d dream of the same thing. Hmph!
By rights, if they placed top five in the Winter Camp, they shouldn’t be so far behind. But before training started, both of them had overestimated themselves.
The very first exam hit them like a truck— The sudden increase in difficulty left them completely unprepared.
Looking back now, the only reason they placed so high in Winter Camp was because Jiang Fuyue had predicted the test content so well, and they were prepared in advance.
That was the real reason for their high scores—not their own strength.
Meanwhile, Wu Pingting and Wei Kongjue had only ranked 10th and 11th in the Winter Camp, yet once the training camp began, they rose dramatically and gave standout performances.
Chen Cheng and Tan Jiaxu quickly realized that last time they just got lucky. But luck wouldn’t carry them forever.
To have a real shot at selection, they had to become stronger.
So, they went to beg Jiang Fuyue for tutoring…
And in just two days, the results were phenomenal—
The two were now hot on the heels of Wu Pingting and Wei Kongjue.
———
On the fourth day of training, Jiang Fuyue noticed several teachers were looking at her oddly.
They looked like they were trying to figure something out.
She walked by without glancing around, but they would even turn their heads to follow her until she disappeared around the corner before they reluctantly looked away.
Jiang Fuyue: “?”
Confused.
She decided not to worry about it. Every day she either did practice problems or held special tutoring sessions for Chen Cheng and Tan Jiaxu.
Sometimes Ling Xuan would sit in as well.
While the teachers were all betting that only Ling Xuan among her three teammates had a real chance to be selected—
And the other two would be ruthlessly eliminated—
Jiang Fuyue was still in that empty classroom, grinding through problems and reviewing strategies with Chen Cheng and Tan Jiaxu, again and again.
Never tiring.
Finally—the seventh day arrived.
The training camp’s final assessment began!
The first six days were all practice.
Only today’s score would determine whether or not they’d be selected for the national team.
Jiang Fuyue and Ling Xuan were in Test Room 1, though seated far apart.
Chen Cheng and Tan Jiaxu were in Test Room 2, seated front and back.
Chen Cheng: “Your dark circles are intense.”
Tan Jiaxu: “You’re not much better.”
They exchanged a knowing look—those dark circles were earned through intense studying.
———
8:00 AM, the test bell rang.
As always, Jiang Fuyue glanced over the entire test paper first to get the lay of the land.
Three major problems.
All quite standard.
Difficulty level not much different from daily practice.
For 90% of the students, it would be relatively easy to ace.
But that also meant— There was no room to build a lead with this test.
Clearly, the afternoon problems would be the real deciders.
So, Jiang Fuyue didn’t plan to waste time on these.
Thirty minutes later, she raised her hand.
“Teacher, I’m ready to submit.”
This morning’s proctor was He Longchang.
From the moment he entered, his gaze had been subtly drifting toward Jiang Fuyue.
He’d expected her to submit early—but this early?!
He glanced at his watch…
Thirty minutes.
Monster!
Faster than any of the twelve tests over the past six days.
He Longchang tried to stay calm, walking over with a stern face.
“Are you sure you want to submit?”
“Yes.”
“Organize your test and scratch paper…”
As he spoke, Jiang Fuyue was already following his instructions, methodically and calmly.
By the time he finished, she was done too.
Then he noticed—those two pieces of scratch paper were cleaner than his own face.
“You didn’t use them?!” he blurted out.
Jiang Fuyue: “I’m not used to using scratch paper.”
“…”
That calm tone. That composed expression.
He Longchang nearly believed it.
“Can I leave now?”
“Huh? Oh—y-yes, you may.”
She left swiftly.
He Longchang stood frozen for a while before slowly walking back to the podium, looking dazed.
She really didn’t use any scratch paper?!
