I was a top student in America.

Green looked at Li Ao and frowned.

This kid does have some talent, but handing in his paper half an hour early on his first workshop shows a very impatient attitude.

"What, you think the test is too easy?" Green leaned against the lectern and tapped it half-jokingly.

"It's alright."

Li Ao answered honestly, "The core ideas for the last few big questions are pretty much the same as what you talked about this morning, just different names for the same thing."

The classroom was already quiet, but as soon as he said that, all the students around him heard it.

"You're kidding, calling this paper 'okay'?"

"It's pretty much the same as what we discussed this morning? Questions 8 and 10 are clearly from two different directions."

"I guess he got stuck on the last few big questions and is just trying to save face."

Li Ao naturally heard these comments, but he didn't turn his head and ignored them completely.

Seeing that Mr. Green didn't say anything more, he put the test paper on the teacher's desk, turned around and went back to his seat to pack his schoolbag, zipped it up, and slung it over his shoulder.

"See you next week, Professor Green."

After saying that, he pushed open the back door of the classroom and walked out.

Green shook his head as he watched Li Ao's retreating figure, then casually picked up his test paper.

I don't know how much the child wrote. He flipped to the front and first scanned the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions.

They were all correct.

Green paused for a moment, then quickly pulled out a chair and sat down, flipping the test paper to the back, where the questions were the most challenging.

The steps in the solution section are clean and concise, and the derivation process is clearly structured.

Based on his many years of teaching experience, he didn't even need to look closely; a quick glance was enough to tell him that the paper wouldn't lose many points.

So this kid wasn't just being impetuous, he actually finished it?

He's a real talent!

Coming from that godforsaken place in the South District, working and studying at the same time, and managing to achieve this level of education... he's definitely a promising talent!

Green suddenly remembered something.

He threw down the test paper, shoved aside the chair, and chased after the girl outside the door.

After Green left, the atmosphere in the classroom suddenly became a little strange.

The remaining dozen or so students looked at each other in bewilderment.

The coach looked at the test paper for a while and then ran out to chase after the person. How well did Li Ao answer that test paper? Need I say more?

Ryan stared at the still-shaking door, then glanced down at the last two blank questions on his test paper. His hand, holding the pen, hovered above the paper, as if his soul had been ripped away.

If Green reacts like this after handing in his paper half an hour early, he probably really finished the paper, and did quite well at that.

He remembered the sequence problem from that morning.

I spent ages writing out the characteristic equations and deriving them, but the other person solved it in just three lines. This was definitely not a fluke.

This level of skill... Matthew has finally met his match this time.

But all that was secondary. What really bothered Ruian was Li Ao's parting words: "It's the same old story, just a different name."

Are these major questions really similar to what we discussed this morning?

What is the core idea?

How did he notice it so quickly? How come I didn't?

Ryan glanced down at the blank space on his test paper, gritted his teeth, and continued writing in silence.

……

Li Ao pushed open the door of the teaching building, and the cool autumn air rushed towards him, clearing his head, which had been warmed up in the heated room all morning.

He shook his slightly sore wrists, mentally calculating his gains for the day.

This trip to the North District was definitely worthwhile.

Besides learning a lot of real knowledge, my intelligence attribute on the panel jumped twice in a row.

This kind of growth rate hasn't been seen for a long time.

It seems that intensive workshops are indeed much more efficient than someone burying themselves in coding problems at home.

"Leo! Wait a minute!"

Hearing the shout behind him, Li Ao stopped and turned around. He saw Teacher Green hurrying out of the hall, clutching a stack of bound documents tightly in his hand.

Green ran up to him, and before he could even catch his breath, he spoke:

"There's something I forgot to mention. Do you know ICTM?"

Li Ao was taken aback. "The Illinois Mathematics Teachers' Committee?"

"Yes, the math league they organize is the largest in our state, and it's also a practice competition for AMC12."

Green spoke quickly, "The regional competition is next month. Usually, schools form teams to participate, but individual scores also count. You can have Brown register you under the Wyndham High School name, so you can go alone."

"Your Wyndham High School probably hasn't done this before, and Brown might not even know the process. Tell him to call me if he has any questions."

"Where is the exam held? How does the difficulty level compare to the AMC?" Li Ao pressed.

"It's at the University of Chicago. The difficulty is slightly lower than AMC12 in the regional competition, but the focus is different, and the calculations are more demanding. Registration closes next Friday, so don't miss it."

Green shoved the stack of documents in his hand over.

Li Ao looked down and saw that the cover read "ICTM 2000-2005 Regional and State Competition Past Exam Questions".

"These are past exam papers. You can't buy them at bookstores, so I got them sorted out through connections. You can use them for now, but don't scribble on them. Return them to me when you're done."

Li Ao took the documents; the papers were heavy, and there were still fingerprints left by Green's grip on them.

After explaining all this, Green patted him on the shoulder, turned around, and hurriedly returned to the teaching building.

Li Ao stuffed the documents into his backpack.

ICTM Individual Category... If you can win a state-ranked individual award and include it in your application materials, it will likely carry significant weight.

He secretly planned to talk to Brown next week.

He started walking towards the subway station, as he had to rush back to the "Iron Box" gym to work soon, or he would lose pay.

……

On Monday after school, the Wyndham Arena was filled with the sounds of basketballs hitting the floor and the screeching of rubber shoe soles rubbing against the floor during practice.

The heating in the arena was on and off. Coach Durant was wearing a thick down jacket, but the players were all shirtless, with sweat dripping down their faces.

"Switch! Switch! Don't stare at the ball, stare at your man!"

Tayshaun stood at the top of the arc, clapping his hands to direct the offense and defense.

In the past, during these basic tactical drills, there were always a few people lounging around with their hands on their hips, but today, everyone is practicing like crazy.

Although they lost their first game of the season to Simon Vocational College, the comeback in the final quarter that almost erased the 20-point deficit made the players realize for the first time that they could actually compete with strong teams.

Coach Durant stood on the sidelines with his tactical board, watching the players running all over the court, and surprisingly, he didn't yell at anyone.

"Looks like this loss wasn't a complete loss; these kids have finally regained some of their spirit."

After training ended, Tai Shorn walked off the field and casually tossed a towel to Li Ao.

Li Ao took it, walked to the sidelines, took out a document from his bag, and handed it over:

"This is the personal statement I promised you. Check it yourself, and pay only if you're satisfied. There's no rush."

TySean nodded:

"Thanks, brother."

Li Ao wiped his sweat with a towel, picked up his backpack, and turned to leave.

"Leo".

Jaylen Washington suddenly called out to him from behind.

Since being substituted after a poor performance in the second half of the first game, Jaylen has not spoken to Li Ao.

He walked up to Li Ao, slammed the ball heavily onto the floor, caught it again, raised his head, and, his face flushed, managed to utter:

"I want to challenge you to a three-point shooting contest. I'll bet you ten dollars. Are you in?"

Jamal happened to be passing by with his bag and burst out laughing when he heard this.

"Jaylen, are you serious?"

He blinked. "Leo hit four three-pointers in three minutes last game. Are you sure you want to bet your entire allowance this month?"

Jaylen was a little embarrassed. He ignored Jamal and just stood there with his neck stiff, waiting for Li Ao to make a statement.

Upon hearing that the bet was 10 yuan, Li Ao put his backpack on the ground and casually replied:

"Sure, I'll treat you since you're so eager to do so."