The Reincarnated Science Whiz

Chapter 10: The First Honor

Late at night, the headquarters building of the Provincial Mathematical Society was brightly lit. More than 1,200 exam papers from the Fujian Province League had all been graded. “How are the statistics coming along?” asked the vice president of the Provincial Mathematical Society, who was primarily in charge of operations for the National High School Mathematics League. “President Qi, this year’s problems were slightly more difficult than last year’s. Only one exam achieved a perfect score, whereas last year there were eight,” said a middle-aged man wearing glasses in a solemn tone. He was one of the test writers for this year’s provincial math competition and also one of the graders. “The National High School Mathematics League begins in the middle of next month—time is running short!” President Qi said with a slight frown. The National High School Mathematics Joint Competition has been held since 1981 and has a history of more than twenty years. It is a regular initiative of the Huaxia Mathematical Society and the mathematical societies of various provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, aimed at fostering the rapid development of top talent,select a group of students from the provincial competitions to participate in the National High School Mathematics Joint Competition, and from among the top 400 students with outstanding scores in that competition, select participants for the “Huaxia Mathematics Olympiad (CMO) and National High School Mathematics Winter Camp,” hosted by the Huaxia Mathematical Society’s Olympic Committee. The number of perfect-score papers produced in the province serves as a measure of the previous year’s achievements. Yet this year, the provincial competition yielded only one perfect-score paper—a result that left President Qi utterly speechless. Is this really how the work is supposed to be done? But there was nothing he could do about it. While he had influence, it was difficult to sway these eccentric and reclusive individuals. It was just like that elderly gentleman who served as the head of the college entrance exam math question-setting committee—whenever he appeared, math scores would plummet, and cries of despair would fill the air. Qin Yuanqing and his friends were unaware of what had happened at the Provincial Mathematical Society. After a brief stroll through the “Three Lanes and Seven Alleys” in Fuzhou, they boarded a bus back to Jinpu No. 1 High School. They were a well-organized and disciplined group; they weren’t allowed to act on a whim. It was still Saturday when they returned, and the next day was Sunday, so they didn’t have to go to school. Senior year isn’t like freshman or sophomore year—in those grades, students have two days off per week and don’t have classes on weekends. But in senior year, they only have Sunday off, and they don’t have evening study sessions on Saturday nights. After making the round trip, Qin Yuanqing felt a bit tired, so he spent the entire Sunday lying in bed resting and listening to music—it had been a long time since he’d felt so relaxed. Monday, a senior class at Jinpu No. 1 High School. Early in the morning, as soon as Qin Yuanqing walked into the classroom, he sensed a peculiar atmosphere. All the students’ eyes were fixed on Qin Yuanqing as they watched him walk from the back door to his seat. Qin Yuanqing sat down and rubbed his chin: “That’s strange. What’s going on today? Everyone’s staring at me. Could it be that I didn’t wash my face properly this morning?” Qin Yuanqing rubbed his eyes, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He picked up the mirror from “Skinny Monkey’s” desk and took a look—there wasn’t any dirt on his face. “Why are you all staring at me? It’s making me so shy!” Qin Yuanqing waved at everyone. “I’m shy—this makes me feel embarrassed!” “Pfft, you’re shy? Your skin is thicker than a city wall.” Skinny Monkey was the least likely to give Qin Yuanqing any leeway: “Qin Yuanqing, did you know you totally aced the midterms this time? Do you know what score you got or what rank you placed in?” Only then did Qin Yuanqing remember that, as usual, the academic affairs office would post the midterm exam results on the bulletin board in the morning. He’d completely forgotten to go check them out. “I thought I did pretty well. I shouldn’t have slipped that much, right? Did I really drop that far this time?” Qin Yuanqing said, feeling a little uneasy—otherwise, why would everyone be staring at him first thing in the morning? “Qin Yuanqing, you scored 695 on this midterm exam—you’re number one in the school and your grade!” Lin Yuling covered her face with both hands, her eyes sparkling. If Qin Yuanqing had scored 697 on the last monthly exam, people might have called it luck. But scoring 695 again this time—and coming in first place—was no longer a matter of luck. Once is luck; twice is true ability. This meant that from now on, Qin Yuanqing was firmly established as a top student at Jinpu No. 1 High School! This midterm exam, however, was quite different from the previous monthly exam—the difficulty level had increased significantly. “Zhao Teng, who came in second, scored 680 this time—you beat him by 15 points!” Shouhou said excitedly. The fact that the top student in the school wasn’t from the experimental class was incredibly satisfying just to think about. Qin Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness—he’d thought everyone was watching him because his grades had plummeted, but it turned out he’d actually taken first place in the school and his grade. Then he noticed that in the System Space, under the Task Bar, Tasks 1 and 2 had been completed. A thought struck Qin Yuanqing, and he claimed the 120 Study Coins, bringing his total to 400. Gritting his teeth, Qin Yuanqing exchanged 200 Study Coins for IQ, raising his IQ to 165. This way, when he took IQ tests in the future, he would be classified as part of the high-IQ group. Suddenly, his classmates broke into a unified round of applause. The enthusiastic applause actually made Qin Yuanqing feel a little embarrassed. A crucial factor in his current success was the system’s assistance—something others didn’t have. For them, IQ was innate, with a fixed upper limit; no matter how hard they tried, they would inevitably hit a clear ceiling. “Qin Yuanqing, how many points did you score on that math competition, and what place did you take?” a classmate called out. They all knew that after this midterm exam, Qin Yuanqing would be heading off to compete in the provincial round of the High School Math League. On this midterm exam, Qin Yuanqing had scored a perfect 150 on the math test—he was the only student in the entire grade to achieve a perfect score in math. “Yeah, Qin Yuanqing, we’re all really curious!” The others nodded in unison, their faces full of anticipation. That’s just how it is sometimes: when someone has a slight lead, people tend to feel envy and jealousy, but when the lead is substantial, everyone simply offers their congratulations. Take this midterm exam, for example: Qin Yuanqing scored 100 points more than the runner-up, Lin Yuling—a massive gap. “The exam just ended Saturday morning. The papers might not even be graded yet—how would I know my score or my rank?” Qin Yuanqing said, exasperated. He wasn’t the one grading the exams, after all; how could he possibly know? “Was the Math Competition hard?” Lin Yuling asked. “It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be!” Qin Yuanqing said after a moment’s thought. Just then, the school intercom came on: “We now bring you some exciting news: Qin Yuanqing, a senior at our school, achieved a perfect score in the provincial round of the National High School Math Competition that just concluded on Saturday, ranking first among all contestants!” “This is the first time Jinpu No. 1 High School has taken first place in the provincial competition since its founding. Congratulations to Qin Yuanqing!” “Holy crap!” “That’s awesome!” “Another perfect score!” “Wasn’t it as hard as I thought?” “That’s absolutely mind-blowing!” Hearing the good news announced over the school intercom, the entire class burst into exclamations of amazement. He had just taken first place on the midterm exam with a perfect score in math, and now he’d gone on to win first place in the provincial competition—also with a perfect score. It was nothing short of a miracle. They couldn’t understand how Qin Yuanqing had suddenly transformed into a TV drama hero who’d unlocked the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, making such a dramatic leap forward overnight. Qin Yuanqing’s grades had always been decent—it was normal for him to rank in the top 100—but everyone could accept that, since the gap wasn’t that unbridgeable. Yet now, in such a short time, Qin Yuanqing had risen to such heights that he was looking down on everyone else. He was simply out of reach! Moreover, they remembered that first-prize winners in the provincial competition were eligible for direct admission to key universities; even without direct admission, they could receive bonus points on the college entrance exam. According to Fujian Province’s policy, this achievement was worth a 5-point bonus. “Dude, you’re absolutely amazing!” Skinny Monkey excitedly hugged Qin Yuanqing, being the first to offer his congratulations. At that moment, Skinny Monkey felt incredibly honored and thrilled—someone this amazing was actually his deskmate, and had been for three whole years! Qin Yuanqing’s face was beaming with a smile. He never imagined he’d score a perfect score in the provincial competition—let alone take first place. But this achievement was well worth the nearly month he’d spent working tirelessly, sacrificing sleep and meals to study and analyze the competition problems. The joy of this bountiful harvest was an overwhelming sense of accomplishment—something ordinary people could hardly comprehend. “Congratulations, Host. You’ve earned your first honor—first place in the provincial competition. You’ve been awarded 200 Study Coins. We wish you continued success as you strive to reach new heights.” Just then, the System’s voice rang out. At the same time, his Study Coins balance was restored to 400. Qin Yuanqing couldn’t help but smile—he’d stumbled upon a windfall by sheer coincidence. These Study Coins were a real treasure—something money simply couldn’t buy. Sure enough, when math teacher Wu Qishan walked into the classroom with a beaming smile and announced Qin Yuanqing’s results and ranking in the provincial competition—as well as the fact that he had become the first student in Jinpu No. 1 High School’s history to join the provincial team and compete in the national competition—the entire classroom erupted in thunderous applause, with students clapping wildly. It’s important to note that only about 2,000 students qualify to participate in the National High School Mathematics Joint Competition each year, which averages out to about 40 students per provincial team. This is truly one in ten thousand—every student who makes it onto the provincial team is a math prodigy, consistently scoring perfect marks on regular exams. As soon as class ended, Qin Yuanqing was escorted by Wu Qishan to the principal’s office, where he was joined by his homeroom teacher, the senior year coordinator, and the head of the school’s math department. It was then that Qin Yuanqing learned the school planned to take a group photo and shoot a promotional video to give the event proper publicity.