Jiang Qiaoxi sat in the lecture hall of the winter camp's school, listening to the speech absent-mindedly.
The principal, leaders, and experts took turns to speak on stage for nearly an hour. In the audience sat more than 300 students selected from provinces and cities across the country. Jiang Qiaoxi heard someone in the corridor whispering, "Senior! Senior Jiang Qiaoxi!"
The visitor was the son of the teacher leading the team in this province, whose surname was Qi. He was also Jiang Qiaoxi's junior in the competition class of Experimental High School. This time he came with his father to experience the atmosphere of the winter camp.
He came all the way over and sat down in the seat next to Jiang Qiaoxi. He asked in a low voice: "Senior Jiang, we didn't pick you up yesterday. What time did you come?"
The speech was over. Junior Qi immediately started to applaud. He was young and naturally liked to cheer for the adults.
Then the cultural performance began.
Dance, skits, poetry recitation, and then dance again, round after round of folk dance. Jiang Qiaoxi sat in the audience, watching groups of girls go on stage, their skirts fluttering, their smiles beautiful. Girls are different from boys after all, whether it's their body curves, their smiles, or even the way they look back at him.
Jiang Qiaoxi somehow thought of Lin Yingtao.
When Lin Yingtao was little, she was not tall and had a pair of big cherry-like eyes, which made people always want to pay attention to her eyes and the soft ends of her hair. Whether she was giggling or crying loudly, what impressed Jiang Qiaoxi the most was always Lin Yingtao's carefree expression.
But when they met again, Lin Yingtao had grown up, and her body was like a pistil, growing longer and longer under the care of the petals.
Jiang Qiaoxi was behind her and couldn't help wanting to observe her, her new waistline, the full curve of her shirt, her legs had grown longer, her ankles were slender, and every time she appeared under her skirt, it was impossible to focus on her eyes and expression. This seemed to be a wonderful change that no mathematical model could reproduce.
"Senior Jiang," the junior student pointed secretly at the side, "the pretty sister who is doing the peacock dance is looking at you!"
Jiang Qiaoxi stood up from his seat, looking very confused. After the performance, the math geniuses began to leave the stage one by one. A classmate from the same provincial team called him at the exit: "Jiang Xueshen, let's go eat together after watching the exam room!"
Junior Qi squeezed in and asked, "Senior, are you nervous?"
Jiang Qiaoxi didn't say anything. Instead, the team leader came over and patted his son on the back of his head: "He has an exam tomorrow. Please let him be quiet for a while."
Lin Yingtao went downstairs alone at around 8 o'clock in the evening, wearing her coat. She walked along the street outside the community, under the street lights, and finally stopped in front of a small shop.
Lin Yingtao was waiting there, feeling a little cold, when the cell phone in her pocket vibrated.
New news from Jiang Qiaoxi
[What are you doing?]
For many days, since they started exchanging text messages, it seemed that Jiang Qiaoxi always asked this question every time he sent a message to Lin Yingtao.
Lin Yingtao found it strange. When she was little, she always stuck to Jiang Qiaoxi. Jiang Qiaoxi would just do math problems from morning till night and didn't pay much attention to her.
"The light in my cabin wasn't working, so I came out to buy a light bulb and went back to ask my dad to replace it," she said.
"What does your cabin look like now?" Jiang Qiaoxi asked.
Lin Yingtao thought about it.
"It's a little bigger than before. It has a bed, a desk, bookshelves and a wardrobe. There's also a window."
"It sounds about the same as before," Jiang Qiaoxi said.
Lin Yingtao said, "Do you want to come and play with me?"
Jiang Qiaoxi said, "Can I go?"
Lin Yingtao said: "But it's a bit messy."
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "It's okay, it was chaotic before too."
Lin Yingtao asked, "Was it chaotic before?"
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "I used to sit on the floor, and there were snacks everywhere, as well as your comics and toys."
Uncle Qin limped out of the community. He closed the door early today and came out to open the door after receiving a call from Lin Yingtao. "What are you doing, Yingtao? You are having fun here by yourself." He said.
Lin Yingtao was still smiling. She put her cell phone in her pocket, took out some change, and skipped behind Uncle Qin into the store.
It was Friday evening, the third day after Jiang Qiaoxi left.
Lin Yingtao came home from school and was helping her mother carry dishes out of the kitchen when suddenly the cell phone in her schoolbag rang.
"Yingtao, I'm going to the station now," Jiang Qiaoxi's voice sounded muffled, as if he had just woken up, "Can you pick me up at the station tomorrow morning?"
Lin Yingtao was stunned: "Tomorrow?" Tomorrow is Saturday.
"What time?" she asked.
Jiang Qiaoxi walked into the platform carrying his schoolbag, following the conductor.
It was mid-November, the temperature had dropped sharply, and it was morning again. He stood there for a while, then turned around and looked toward the platform exit.
Lin Yingtao was wearing a red sweater hand-knitted by her mother and a pair of jeans. She was smiling and waving at him in the crowd.
Behind Jiang Qiaoxi, several other students from the provincial team also got off the bus. They saw Jiang Qiaoxi, and followed his gaze to the red dot on the gray platform.
Junior Qi also watched for a while and suddenly asked, "Her nickname... is it Rongrong?"
Jiang Qiaoxi laughed and said loudly: "Cherry!"
Lin Yingtao also asked loudly: "Have you had breakfast?"
There was a soy milk and fried dough sticks shop near the train station. It was crowded and sold meat buns. It smelled delicious from the roadside. Lin Yingtao lingered at the door, and Jiang Qiaoxi pushed the door open and went in. He found a table in the corner and sat down, took off his schoolbag, and put it aside.
Junior Qi also squeezed in. He said excitedly, "Luckily I came with you, otherwise my dad would definitely not let me in."
Lin Yingtao sat down opposite Jiang Qiaoxi. She picked up the menu and ordered her breakfast. She was very curious and wanted to try all kinds of buns. She heard Qi coming over and took the initiative to introduce herself to her: "Hello, Senior Sister Lin. I'm from Class 13 of our Experimental High School Grade 1. You know, I actually have a connection with you."
Lin Yingtao looked up at him.
She had seen this junior student around Jiang Qiaoxi several times before. She only knew that he was a freshman in high school and was very studious. Perhaps it was because of his good personality that Jiang Qiaoxi didn't dislike him.
"My last name is Qi," Junior Qi smiled and looked very much like Xia Yu, "My name is Qi Le!"
Lin Qile was shocked: "Ah??"
Jiang Qiaoxi was sitting opposite them, and when he saw Lin Qile's expression, he suddenly laughed.
Lin Yingtao looked at him. Jiang Qiaoxi seemed to be in a good mood today. He was very relaxed and looked very comfortable.
Before breakfast was served, Qi Le took out the half-finished novel from his bag and continued to flip through it. Lin Yingtao, who was opposite him, propped up her face and asked, "What is this?"
"The Legend of Sun Wukong!" Qi Le raised his head and answered immediately.
Jiang Qiaoxi, who was sitting idly nearby, reached out and took the book from Qi Le. He glanced at the cover and flipped through two pages.
Lin Yingtao told Qi Le: "When you were a kid, your senior loved to watch Journey to the West!"
Qi Le's eyes lit up as he asked, "Senior Lin, did you and Senior Jiang really know each other when you were kids?"
"I've read this book," Jiang Qiaoxi whispered beside him, "I think it was written when I was in junior high school."
"Maybe you have read it. This book is so famous!" Qi Le said as he began to read.
I want this day to no longer cover my eyes,
This land can no longer bury my heart.
I want all living beings to understand my intention.
I want all the Buddhas to disappear into thin air!
When it was time to pay the bill after dinner, Jiang Qiaoxi reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a blue card with a ribbon.
He casually placed the card on the table and lowered his head to continue feeling for his wallet.
Lin Yingtao took the card from the other side and looked at it carefully.
It is a camper certificate for the China Mathematical Olympiad Winter Camp. "Jiang Qiaoxi" is wearing the blue and white Experimental High School uniform. In the photo, he looks directly at the camera. His eyes are cold and expressionless. There is a faint scar on his forehead, in the gap of his hair.
"You have finished the exam this time. Do you want to take it again?" Lin Yingtao looked up and asked.
Qi Le finished the last sip of soy milk and put down the bowl: "Some are used and some are not, but for someone like Senior Jiang, he will definitely be selected for the national training team, and maybe even participate in international competitions!"
"There are also international competitions?" Lin Yingtao said.
Qi Le nodded and gestured with his hand: "Choose six people from the training team and they will become the national team."
Jiang Qiaoxi opened his wallet and paid for breakfast. Qi Le stood up, put on his schoolbag, and told Lin Yingtao: "If you join the training team, you will be directly recommended to Peking University or Tsinghua University. You may not even need to finish your senior year of high school and will directly become a college student."
Lin Yingtao returned the camper card in her hand to Jiang Qiaoxi, and they were going out together.
Jiang Qiaoxi casually broke the camper card into two pieces and threw it into the trash can where the waiter was cleaning up the leftovers on the table.
He walked out. Lin Yingtao stopped where she was, staring at his back, stunned.
There was another new guest coming to sit at their table. Lin Yingtao lowered her head, smoothed the hair that fell by her ears, and said to the waitress, "Auntie... we accidentally dropped a few cards in there, can you help me get them out?"
Jiang Qiaoxi walked out of the breakfast shop. The traffic light on the sidewalk was red, so he stopped at the corner and looked around.
Vehicles from different directions kept speeding past him, leaving only a blurry shadow in front of his eyes. Jiang Qiaoxi couldn't see where the road came from or where it was going, nor did he know which direction he was going.
He looked up and saw a snow-white trail stretching across the sky above his head.
The headquarters community of Power Construction Corporation of China was not peaceful this weekend.
First, after the winter camp, the Chinese Mathematical Society announced the 60-member list of this year's China Mathematical Olympiad National Training Team. Jiang Qiaoxi, a student from Class 18 of the Provincial Experimental High School, was on the list. This also means that Power Construction Corporation of China has finally produced its first student who was directly admitted to Tsinghua University and Peking University.
Then came the quarrel that came from the cadre building No. 23.
Cai Fangyuan was downstairs and was originally going to Yu Qiao's house to eat hot pot. He heard a noise upstairs, which seemed to come from Jiang Qiaoxi's house.
Just then, the neighbor who lived across from the Jiang family came downstairs, and Cai Fangyuan went over to ask, "Auntie, what's wrong?"
The community was full of people from the Electric Power Construction Corporation, and now they all came over. The neighbor was very secretive and looked embarrassed: "I don't know what happened to Manager Jiang's child. Tsinghua called and he refused to go!"
"Why, you're not going to Tsinghua?"
"I don't know what this kid is thinking. He has been studying Mathematical Olympiad since the first grade of primary school. We watched him study every day. He finally got good results, but now he just doesn't want to do it. Hongfei is so angry," said the neighbor. "I am so nervous listening to him from upstairs. I'd better come downstairs."
The author has something to say: Jiang Boy is a genius student who has had his own plans since a long time ago. The future he is looking for will only be better, not worse.
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Notes to this chapter:
＊Xia Yu: A male actor from mainland China, his representative work is "Sunny Days".
＊"The Legend of Sun Wukong": This novel, first published in 2001 by writer Jin Heyu, tells the story of the tragic hero Sun Wukong and his monk Tang Sanzang's struggle against fate.