Lin Zhixia was full of energy and ambition. She held the receiver of the landline phone and said firmly, "Jiang Yubai, I will bring the gold medal back for you to play with."
Jiang Yubai followed her meaning and echoed: "I have indeed never played it, the gold medal of the National Mathematical Olympiad."
"When I come back," Lin Zhixia promised him, "I'll treat you to a meal in the school cafeteria."
Jiang Yubai didn't like the school cafeteria very much. But he didn't want to admit that he was a picky eater. He invited Lin Zhixia instead: "I'll invite you to my house for dinner."
Lin Zhixia suddenly remembered the "Museum Pass" Jiang Yubai gave her. She asked expectantly, "When can I go to your house?"
Jiang Yubai replied: "When you are free."
Lin Zhixia jumped up and said, "Okay, Jiang Yubai, see you next month."
Jiang Yubai responded: "See you next month."
Before Lin Zhixia ended the call, she said, "I'll call you at six o'clock tomorrow night, okay?"
"Okay." Jiang Yubai agreed to her concisely.
The atmosphere at the table was quite quiet. Jiang Yubai put his phone in his pocket and picked up a grilled eel roll with chopsticks. The eel roll contained cucumber, eel, and avocado, surrounded by a circle of seaweed and a layer of white sesame seeds. He thought Lin Zhixia would like this dish. He was already secretly planning for future lunches. He hoped that Lin Zhixia would have a good time at his house.
Uncle suddenly asked him: "Jiang Yubai, did you have a phone call with Lin Zhixia?"
Jiang Yubai admitted: "Yes."
He waited for almost two days before he received a call from Lin Zhixia. He pressed the answer button without hesitation, almost forgetting that his parents and uncle were still by his side. He carefully considered the conversation just now and thought that his words were correct and met his parents' consistent requirements for him.
Mom smiled and said, "You and Lin Zhixia have a very good relationship."
Uncle held up the transparent goblet and said, "Sister-in-law, listen to me. I have met Lin Zhixia. Lin Zhixia's IQ is as high as 174. She is really not an ordinary girl. Our Xiao Jiang is friends with her... just like I am friends with the young masters in the classical music world. We maintain a pure and flawless relationship, a relationship that promotes each other. Xiao Jiang is willing to humbly ask others for advice, which is probably learned from me."
Dad asked back, “Really?”
The uncle put down his glass and changed his words on the spot: "It is more likely that Xiao Jiang realized it himself."
Dad leaned back in his chair and looked at Jiang Yubai quietly. After a while, Dad said softly, "You and Lin Zhixia are good friends. We are happy to see you get along well with your classmates..."
Dad's fingers were around the rim of his glass, and he stopped talking mid-sentence - a rare occurrence. He always taught his son logically and methodically. But tonight, he glanced at his wife.
Jiang Yubai's mother took on this responsibility. Wiping the corner of her mouth with a napkin, she reminded him subtly: "Jiang Yubai, you are eleven years old. In a few months, you will be twelve years old and a little man. If you make friends with a little girl, you must understand that you two are of different genders. You must respect her and find the right boundaries and standards."
Jiang Yubai nodded.
Uncle tapped his glass with his fingertips. “Yes, find the boundaries, Xiao Jiang.”
Jiang Yubai replied readily: "No problem."
"That's good," said Mom, "Mom and Dad both believe in you."
The advice from his parents and uncle has stimulated Jiang Yubai's gender awareness. Although he has been using the "standard of manliness" to demand himself since he was a child, he often ignores the "boundary issues between boys and girls". Fortunately, he and Lin Zhixia have always maintained a deep friendship, respecting and urging each other, and have never offended each other - he has completely forgotten how his self-esteem was destroyed by Lin Zhixia when he was nine years old.
At 8:30 that night, Jiang Yubai fell asleep peacefully.
At the same time, Lin Zhixia turned off the lights and went to bed.
Lin Zhixia hugged the little penguin with her left hand, opened the quilt with her right hand, and lay down on the soft bed. She silently recited Jiang Yubai's words - the universe is black, and she is not afraid of the universe. She believes that her fear comes from the unknown. For example, "dark matter" is an invisible substance in astrophysics theory, which is widely distributed in space. If "dark matter" really exists, Lin Zhixia can still see it clearly, then the universe in her eyes should be another grand and dazzling scene.
Darkness and light are relative concepts. As long as Lin Zhixia has light in her heart, the pitch-dark night will also be bright.
Lin Zhixia no longer flinched or was timid. She lay flat on the bed, exposing her entire face, and slept soundly until the next morning, just like she did at home.
At eight o'clock in the morning, the National Mathematical Olympiad officially began.
The National Mathematical Olympiad has an alias, called the "National Middle School Students' Mathematics Winter Camp."
Lin Zhixia proudly announced to her parents that she was going to participate in the National Mathematical Olympiad. But in front of outsiders, she modestly said that she had signed up for a winter camp.
The questions in the winter camp were very high-level. The first question was an algebra question. Given a non-decreasing positive integer sequence, with m subsequences containing n different positive integers, you were asked to prove the lower bound of the general summation formula of the sequence. Lin Zhixia started to prove another proposition, then narrowed the scope and applied it to the summation formula specified in the question, and quickly solved the problem.
Next, she encountered plane geometry and combinatorial problems.
Lin Zhixia didn't waste even a minute and wrote down her thought process directly on the answer sheet.
The so-called "Mathematical Olympiad" is actually just doing questions in the examination room. The International Mathematical Olympiad is just doing questions with contestants from all over the world. There is no essential difference between the competition and the exam, and Lin Zhixia has no pressure at all.
The math competition was divided into two days, with three questions each day, each worth 21 points. After Lin Zhixia finished the test, the questions on the test paper aroused her thoughts. She sat in the classroom, her mind full of Hua Luogeng's "Theory of Heaped Prime Numbers".
When she walked out of the examination room and met up with the provincial team leader again, the teacher asked her how she did on the exam. She subconsciously blurted out: "Abelian groups and commutative semigroups."
The teacher was stunned.
The other students in the provincial team were also stunned.
Lin Zhixia said quickly: "I did OK in the exam."
Most of the players in the provincial team are boys, and girls only account for a small part. Looking at the entire winter camp, the number of girls is not dominant. In the international Olympic battlefields of previous years, the national teams of various countries are mainly male players. Perhaps because of this reason, Lin Zhixia has attracted much attention in the competition.
Oh, and there was another reason—she was too young.
She expressed her opinion cautiously: "The questions in this test paper are very interesting, especially the combination question, which is cleverly constructed and starts from the principle of drawers. It does not go beyond the syllabus and exercises thinking."
A boy next to her said, "There's nothing to say about that question."
Lin Zhixia looked up at him.
This boy is a senior in the Provincial No. 1 High School Competition Class, his name is Guan Tong.
Senior Guan Tong is 17 years old this year, a senior in high school, and has been recommended for admission. He is considered an excellent student in the high school competition class. His goal is to win the gold medal in the International Mathematical Olympiad, and this year is his last chance to win.
Lin Zhixia believes that there is a generation gap between her and Guan Tong, who often refutes her opinions - no matter what aspect of her opinion she expresses, Guan Tong will immediately come up with a different view.
In comparison, another senior student in the provincial team named Luo Ying had a much better attitude than Guan Tong.
Luo Ying was a senior student in the competition class of the Provincial No. 1 High School. Lin Zhixia had met Luo Ying at the high school club welcome party in 2005. She remembered that Luo Ying was still in the gifted class of the high school department at that time. Later, she transferred to the competition class. It was said that she was extremely hardworking. She got up early in the morning and went to bed at midnight. She worked hard for a whole year and a half before she gained a foothold in the competition class.
Lin Zhixia especially admired such people. She was full of respect for Senior Sister Luo Ying, and often followed behind Luo Ying, happily calling her, "Senior Sister, Senior Sister."
Luo Ying also protects Lin Zhixia.
When Luo Ying heard Guan Tong's words, she immediately retorted: "There's nothing to say about the question? Can you give me a similar question?"
Guan Tong laughed. He wiped his face awkwardly, his eyes fixed on Luo Ying's face. It was the end of January, the weather was freezing cold, and he and Luo Ying stared at each other for ten seconds, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his chest. With sweat eroding his chest, he held his head high and said, "Luo Ying..."
Luo Ying pretended not to hear what he said.
In his senior year, Guan Tong was a celebrity. He was tall and thin, good-looking, and had excellent grades. He was successfully recommended for admission and had one foot in the mathematics department of a top university. His future was so bright!
However, whenever he talked to Luo Ying, she always ignored him.
Luo Ying only said to Lin Zhixia: "Let's go to the fruit shop in front of the hotel to buy some strawberries."
Lin Zhixia's eyes lit up: "Strawberry? Okay, okay!"
Luo Ying murmured to herself: "Girls are much cuter than boys."
Lin Zhixia didn't hear her words clearly. Lin Zhixia asked her: "Senior sister, what were you talking about just now?"
Luo Ying smiled: "I didn't say anything."
Luo Ying reached out a hand to Lin Zhixia, who immediately held her hand. Luo Ying felt like she suddenly had a well-behaved and sensible sister. She was the only child in her family, and her parents only had her as a daughter. And these few days, she suddenly realized that it seemed not bad to have a sister at home. The friendship between sisters is deeper and it is easier to understand each other.
The examination phase of the National Mathematical Olympiad has ended.
All the students in the provincial team relaxed for a while. The hotel where they stayed had its own chess and card room, and the team leader allowed everyone to have some entertainment, such as playing chess and cards in the chess and card room, which was harmless.
Guan Tong once again invited Luo Ying to play a game of chess with him in the chess and card room.
While he was talking to Luo Ying, Lin Zhixia was standing next to them carrying a bag of strawberries.
Lin Zhixia opened a small hole in the plastic bag and took a peek at the strawberries. The strawberries on the market in winter are relatively large, with a moderate hardness and softness, and they look very sweet.
Lin Zhixia bought the whole bag of strawberries. She used her own 500 yuan scholarship. She planned to wash the strawberries and share them with her senior.
At this moment, the senior student suddenly said, "I'm sixteen, and you're seventeen. At this age, what's the point of talking about love? You can't even control the restlessness of puberty. How useless."
Guan Tong stuttered in front of Luo Ying, his face as pale as a persimmon hit by autumn frost.
He was still a man who cared about his reputation. After Luo Ying had said this, he could no longer express his affection for her. His implicit confession had been ruthlessly exposed by Luo Ying, and his fragile boyish heart was like a piece of broken glass, with shards all over the floor.
Guan Tong felt a sore throat and her eyes turned red.
Men don't shed tears easily, but they do when they are sad.
Guan Tong wants to say goodbye to Luo Ying.
In 2006, Taiwanese idol dramas were all the rage in Asia. Guan Tong watched a little bit of them when he had nothing to do. He decided to imitate the scenes in the idol dramas and only called out the last character of "Luo Ying" to make her look more friendly.
Guan Tong raised her arm, wiped her face, and said in a low voice: "Ying..."
Lin Zhixia then said: "嘤嘤嘤."
Guan Tong was startled, and then said: "Ying..."
Lin Zhixia said again: "嘤嘤嘤."
Guan Tong's whole body was stiff, and she stood there.
Lin Zhixia's dubbing made Guan Tong's carefully prepared affectionate calls all turn into "嘤嘤嘤" wails.
His masculinity was gone, all gone.
Lin Zhixia comforted him, "Senior Guan Tong, although you were rejected by Senior Luo Ying, you are still an outstanding player in the provincial team and have the hope of participating in the International Olympic Competition. Don't whine anymore. Everyone will encounter setbacks. We must overcome setbacks and strive to achieve higher goals."
Guan Tong calmed down and said coldly: "Lin Zhixia, your high score in the provincial team's high school league competition is nothing special. The Beijing team and the Shanghai team are the two strongest teams in the country. Your level is not good enough for the Beijing team. You can only go to the second team at best..."
"Really?" Lin Zhixia looked at him, "Do you know me? Sometimes I may not show my level."
Guan Tong hesitated. He knew Lin Zhixia was very good, but he couldn't put her on a pedestal. The strongest players in the world were basically boys, and he had never witnessed a girl winning the International Olympiad Championship. He subconsciously believed that female players were weaker and had greater emotional fluctuations.
Lin Zhixia told him: "I will definitely win a gold medal, I will definitely join the national training team, and in a few years, I will publish a paper."
Guan Tong looked at her and her breath stopped. Her eyes were very firm, without any hesitation or doubt.
Luo Ying gently smoothed things over: "Okay, let's go wash the strawberries."
Lin Zhixia was very interested: "Yeah, wash the strawberries." She circled around Luo Ying and said, "Senior, do you like strawberries?"
Luo Ying said: "I like watermelon."
“By the way, I like watermelon too,” Lin Zhixia replied.
Their voices gradually faded away.
The corridor was empty.
Two days later, the winter camp exam results were released. As Lin Zhixia had announced, she won the gold medal in this competition and had the opportunity to join the national training team and participate in international mathematics competitions.
When the news got back to the Provincial No. 1 Middle School, the whole school was in an uproar.
Local reporters waited at the school gate, looking for an opportunity to interview Lin Zhixia. A newspaper called Morning Daily even drafted a title called "A Smart Girl's Journey to the National Mathematical Olympiad." They were eagerly waiting for Lin Zhixia's response. As long as she accepted the interview, the article would be published immediately.
To everyone's surprise, Lin Zhixia refused all interviews. She said she was not mature enough and had not grown up to the point where she could face the public media alone. The public spotlight would double her pressure.
The principal of the Provincial No. 1 Middle School immediately stepped in and coordinated with all the media, so that the news of Lin Zhixia's winning the award was only spread within the campus.
Jiang Yubai thought that Lin Zhixia's decision was very forward-looking. After all, she was only twelve years old, and too much attention from the outside world might affect her peaceful life. Moreover, she had already won the gold medal in the National Mathematics Competition, so there was basically no problem in getting recommended to university... When Jiang Yubai thought of this, Lin Zhixia said to him, "Look, this is my gold medal."
While they were talking, they were having a class meeting.
Teacher Zhang spent five minutes praising Lin Zhixia. Then, Teacher Zhang talked about "class spirit building". He hoped that all students would set goals, maintain confidence, and keep moving forward.
After Teacher Zhang finished speaking, the applause from Grade 2 (Class 17) lasted for a long time.
Lin Zhixia moved an inch closer to her seat and stuffed the gold medal into Jiang Yubai's hand.
This was the first time that Jiang Yubai personally touched the gold medal of the National Mathematics Competition - in this year's competition, dozens of gold medal winners were born across the country, and Lin Zhixia was one of those few dozen.
Jiang Yubai lowered his head and looked at the gold medal: "Very good." He praised Lin Zhixia: "This is what you deserve."
Lin Zhixia held the gold medal ribbon and wrapped it around her wrist. She held the desk with her right hand and said after a while, "Jiang Yubai, I may be very busy this semester."
Jiang Yubai thought that Lin Zhixia was going to college. He could not face her absence calmly as he had encouraged her to go to high school. He sat silently, his back straight, like a green bamboo standing still.
He heard Lin Zhixia whisper: "In two days, I will join the national training team, and then I will probably participate in the 2007 Romanian Mathematics Masters. At the Romanian Mathematics Masters at the end of February this year, each country can only send 4 players..."
Jiang Yubai picked up his pen and wrote in his notebook: Lin Zhixia>2007 Mathematics Masters Competition.
"What do you mean?" Lin Zhixia asked.
"It means that Lin Zhixia will definitely succeed." Jiang Yubai replied.
Jiang Yubai put on the pen cap and regained his usual composure. He said calmly: "Come on, Lin Zhixia, the international battle has begun, you should..."
"I should charge into battle!" Lin Zhixia announced proudly.
She was radiant and seemed a little different from before. Jiang Yubai could vaguely sense her growth and transformation. He discussed with her: "You don't have time to come to my house this month. Next month..."
Lin Zhixia interrupted him again: "I will definitely come to your house to play with you next month."