The Reincarnated Science Whiz

Chapter 13: First

Prize When Qin Yuanqing arrived at the Fujian Province team’s meeting point, he saw that the other students wore expressionless faces—no joy, no disappointment, and no regret. The vice president cast a slightly inquiring glance at Qin Yuanqing, who gave a slight nod and flashed him an “OK” sign. The vice president immediately caught the hint, and a smile spread across his face. Qin Yuanqing was indeed a student who lived up to expectations—someone who put their minds at ease, gave them confidence, and kept everyone calm. “Tonight, I’ll take you all on a tour of the Mountain City. Have a great time!” the vice president said to everyone. Mountain City is a municipality directly under the central government, a provincial-level administrative region, a national central city, and a megacity—it’s also a major transportation hub, far larger than Fuzhou. Although Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian Province, its status is actually quite awkward; in terms of name recognition, it pales in comparison to Lushi Island. Many people from other provinces assume that Lushi Island is the capital of Fujian Province and are unaware of Fuzhou. In terms of GDP, Fuzhou also pales in comparison to Licheng. Licheng’s chambers of commerce are spread across the country, and merchants from Licheng and Dongou are renowned for their business acumen. In terms of population, Fuzhou is far outnumbered by Mountain City. Moreover, although Mountain City is surrounded by mountains with dramatic elevation changes, it is unquestionably a nationally designated historical and cultural city. With only 500 yuan in his pocket, Qin Yuanqing naturally couldn’t afford to visit any tourist attractions. He and a few friends went for a walk in the surrounding area to try Mountain City’s hot pot, but Qin Yuanqing, who couldn’t handle spicy food, was immediately overwhelmed by the numbing heat. Once they arrived at the hotel, his stomach couldn’t take it anymore, and he found himself crouching over the toilet repeatedly. While candidates like Qin Yuanqing could eat, drink, and have fun, the Math Society couldn’t afford to do the same. They were organizing graders to mark the exams and tally the scores; by nightfall, all exams had to be graded, all scores tallied, and the rankings finalized. The exam results, rankings, and awards would be announced tomorrow morning, and tomorrow afternoon, leaders from the National Mathematical Society and the Ministry of Education would hold an awards ceremony in the grand hall. The list of students qualifying to participate in the CMO would also be announced tomorrow. After all, they’re from provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions across the country, so they can’t stay in this mountain city for very long. There are a total of twenty people grading the exams, and each person needs to grade about a hundred papers. Of course, since many of the questions were left blank, the grading process is much simpler than in high school. As each paper is graded, a young staff member enters the score into the computer system, which automatically generates the total number of participants and the rankings. With the widespread adoption of computers, many tasks have become much more convenient than before, and efficiency has greatly improved. For example, admission tickets, ID cards, and names all appear instantly with a simple scan, and multiple-choice questions are automatically reviewed and scored by computer programs. This is also a defining feature of the nation’s tremendous transformation: with the widespread adoption and application of computers, efficiency across all sectors has improved dramatically, driving the development and reform of Huaxia society as well as the rapid enhancement of national strength. No one could have imagined that in just a few years, Huaxia would undergo such earth-shattering changes—to the point where the Beijing Olympics stunned the entire world, greatly enhancing national cohesion and pride, and allowing people abroad to see a Huaxia different from what was portrayed in propaganda. As one exam paper after another was graded and the scores entered into the computer system, at 2:00 a. m. , when the final paper had been graded and the score imported into the system, Zhang Zhendong, Vice President of the National Mathematical Society, immediately asked with great anticipation, “So, how many students participated this year? How many scored a perfect score? And what’s the situation with the top twenty?” A man in his mid-thirties glanced at the computer and said calmly, “President Zhang, only one student achieved a perfect score on both exams this time—Qin Yuanqing from the Fujian Province team…” Zhang Zhendong couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. There was only one student who scored perfect marks on both papers this year—last year there had been four—and the overall performance among the top twenty had declined. “Old Zhang, the difficulty of this year’s exam questions was increased slightly. Having even one student achieve perfect scores on both papers is already quite impressive—it’s actually exceeded my expectations!” said Ge Jun, the head of this year’s question-setting committee, in a subdued tone. Ge Jun, a native of Nantong in Jiangsu Province, holds a Ph. D. in Education. He is a professor and master’s thesis advisor at Nanjing Normal University, as well as a senior coach for Huaxia Mathematical Olympiad. He participated in setting the math exam questions for Jiangsu Province’s college entrance exams in 2003, 2007, and 2008. As a result, the average math score for Jiangsu candidates was 68 points in 2003, 78 points in 2007, and 83. 5 points in 2008. Countless students were reduced to tears by the exams, which were said to have “wiped out” the 530,000 test-takers in Jiangsu Province, earning him curses and being circled on answer sheets by countless people. This time, Ge Jun was appointed as the head of the math competition question-setting team. The result was a sharp drop in scores, with failing grades everywhere; over 10% of students on the supplementary exam scored below 10 points. “Little Ge, Little Ge!” Zhang Zhendong’s heart was filled with mixed emotions at that moment, wondering why he had asked Ge Jun to participate in setting the exam questions and serve as the team leader in the first place. “Old Zhang, we’ve actually discovered a genius this time—this student named Qin Yuanqing. His high school math knowledge is incredibly solid; even I’m deeply impressed,” Ge Jun said. “All right, everyone has worked hard. Go home and rest—we have important business tomorrow!” Zhang Zhendong said to the group. The next day, at 3:00 p. m. , the group arrived at the Mountain City University Grand Auditorium, dressed in their finest, for the awards ceremony. They had already checked their exam scores at 10:00 a. m. that morning. The results were dismal. With the exception of five students from Fujian Province, the average score was below the passing mark; three students even scored only 8 points on the supplementary exam. Qin Yuanqing, however, wore a look of joy. He hadn’t expected to get all his answers correct—especially the final question on the supplementary exam. Although he had written down the answer, he hadn’t been confident it was right. Moreover, he was the only one in the entire competition to achieve a perfect score. This time, Fujian Province had five students qualify for the CMO—fewer than last year. Yet the vice president showed no sign of discouragement; on the contrary, he was beaming. Qin Yuanqing’s first-place finish and two perfect scores were the biggest selling point—just look at the envious glances from his peers in other provinces. Leaders from the Ministry of Education and the Vice President of the Chinese Mathematical Society delivered speeches one after another, congratulating the organizers on the resounding success of this year’s National High School Mathematics Competition. They expressed their appreciation and best wishes to the participating students, encouraging them to continue working hard in their future studies. Finally, the top twenty first-prize winners were honored with a trophy and a certificate. Qin Yuanqing stood next to the Vice President, holding the glass trophy in his left hand and the certificate in his right, posing for a group photo with everyone. As for the second- and third-place winners, they received only certificates, not trophies. The students who had qualified for the CMO posed for another group photo, followed by a grand celebratory banquet attended by both the contestants and the organizers. Since Qin Yuanqing and the others were still students, they naturally did not drink alcohol but sipped fruit juice instead. At this event, Qin Yuanqing met many math prodigies from other provinces. One of them, named Shen Yi, had a severe imbalance in his academic performance—his scores in Chinese and English barely scraped by the passing mark—yet in this competition, he ranked second only to Qin Yuanqing. During the banquet, Yan Da extended a direct invitation, which Shen Yi accepted. Qin Yuanqing also received many offers from universities, but he politely declined them all, explaining that he intended to devote himself entirely to preparing for the CMO and did not want to consider anything else at the moment. In his heart, however, Qin Yuanqing had other ideas. While gaining direct admission to a top-tier university was certainly appealing, he wanted to pass the college entrance exam on his own merits and gain admission with a high score. The college entrance exam is such a crucial milestone in life, and Qin Yuanqing didn’t want to miss it. Otherwise, when others asked him in the future what score he’d gotten on the exam, what would he say? “Should I say, ‘I didn’t have to take the college entrance exam—I was directly admitted’!? If he clearly had the ability, why should he rely on his looks to get ahead? Everyone looked at Qin Yuanqing with envy, gazing admiringly at his trophy—because his trophy was different from everyone else’s. It had a touch of gold and was engraved with his name. Of course, Qin Yuanqing was also delighted, because his Study Coins had reached 1,700—1,000 of which he’d earned when his scores and ranking were announced. “With this many Study Coins, what should I redeem them for?” When Qin Yuanqing returned to his hotel room, he couldn’t stop thinking about one question: 1,700 Study Coins was a huge fortune—he’d never earned that many before. IQ points!? Qin Yuanqing quickly dismissed the idea. His IQ was already 165—placing him among the absolute geniuses—and that was more than enough for his current stage; anything more would be a waste. Emotional Intelligence? He was just a high school student—what use would such a high EQ be to him? It’s better for students to keep things simple; why overcomplicate things? Physical enhancement? He wasn’t an athlete, and his physical condition was already passable—why would he need to enhance it? That would just be a waste. Intermediate English Proficiency Card? Seeing an Intermediate English Mastery Card in the system store—which cost 1,000 Study Coins—Qin Yuanqing’s eyes lit up. English was his weak spot, seriously holding him back. His listening skills were poor, and his speaking was a disaster; he’d been learning “silent English.” But if he redeemed this Intermediate English Mastery Card, none of that would be a problem. With that thought, Qin Yuanqing made up his mind instantly: he would redeem the Intermediate English Mastery Card. As he spent 1,000 Learning Coins to redeem it and activated the card, Qin Yuanqing suddenly felt as if he had grown up in London—English had become second nature to him. Amazing! Awesome! Qin Yuanqing was utterly amazed. He also discovered that his English skill level in his attributes had already reached Level 10—it was practically cheating. If others found out, they’d probably be so furious they’d spit blood and die, cursing the heavens for their injustice. Qin Yuanqing put on his headphones to listen to *Mars English* and discovered that the gibberish he’d previously struggled to understand had suddenly become crystal clear—he didn’t even have to guess what was being said. Qin Yuanqing was overcome with excitement. This… this was truly mind-blowing. If he redeemed another Intermediate Chinese Proficiency Card, wouldn’t he become invincible? By then, would the top science student in the Fujian Province college entrance exam even be able to escape his grasp? This high-tech “Top Student” system was truly the greatest cheat code of his life. Qin Yuanqing just wanted to shout at it, “Awesome…!”