I was a top student in America.

The next morning, Li Ao went to the mathematics office again.

Brown was organizing his lecture notes when he saw Li Ao standing at the door, so he beckoned him to come in.

"Leo, how was the workshop last weekend?" He stuffed the handouts into a folder, leaned back in his chair, and asked, "Were you keeping up?"

"It's alright, it's been a big help."

"I hope it helps you."

Brown nodded, feeling relieved.

When he recommended Li Ao to his old classmate, he was actually a little hesitant.

Whitney Young's competition workshop is full of top students from key high schools in the North District. If Li Ao goes there and embarrasses himself, it will be embarrassing for him.

"Take your time, don't rush. Most of those kids started competing in middle school, so you don't need to compete with them. Just focus on catching up with their pace."

Brown offered a few words of comfort, then asked, "What can I do for you?"

Li Ao then explained his purpose:

"Mr. Brown, it's like this. Mr. Green suggested that I participate in the ICTM, which is the largest high school math competition in the state. It's a team competition, although there are individual prizes, but you have to register under the school's name."

He paused, then added, "I think this is also an opportunity to bring honor to our Wyndham High School."

"Did Green ask you to sign up?" Brown looked at Li Ao with a puzzled expression.

He knew Green's temperament all too well—that guy never cared about the well-being of his students when he lectured, and if he thought you weren't good enough, he wouldn't even bother to give you a second glance.

He actually took the initiative to ask a student who had only attended once to participate in the statewide league.

"Yes, he specifically chased after me before I left to tell me that. He also said that Wyndham might not have registered before, and if I encountered any problems with the process, I could contact him directly."

Brown was even more confused. This level of concern for students was not like Green's style.

He thought for a moment, then picked up the phone from the table:

"I'm not really familiar with this game. Wait a minute, I'll call Green right now."

The call connected quickly, and Green's voice could be faintly heard through the old-fashioned receiver.

Brown first asked about the registration process, responding with "uh-huh" and "uh-huh" sounds.

He suddenly fell silent after listening for less than half a minute.

After a few seconds of pause, Brown turned his head and gave Li Ao a deep look.

Green's voice continued through the receiver.

Brown's expression gradually changed, his eyes filled with disbelief, and he stood frozen in place listening to the rest of what was said.

"...Okay, got it. Thanks, old buddy."

Brown hung up the phone, looked up, and took another look at the student in front of him.

"Green just told me," Brown lowered his voice slightly, "that you handed in your weekend workshop assessment test half an hour early and got a perfect score."

He also said that the recursive sequence problem you solved was even more ingenious than the problem solved by the top students he mentored.

You call this "okay"?

"It's alright, the test was based on what he just talked about." Li Ao was very calm, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.

Brown shook his head helplessly:

"You made me worry for nothing. You talk and act like a thirty or forty-year-old adult, not a high school student!"

Li Ao didn't respond, and could only laugh awkwardly to cover it up.

"Never mind that. I understand the process, but it requires a $75 registration fee. I need to get Mrs. Paterson's signature first."

"Come with me, let's go."

Brown got up and walked down the corridor.

Li Ao quickly followed, and the two walked side by side toward the administration building.

"Registration closes on Friday? It's already Wednesday," Brown said, walking briskly. "Why did you take so long to tell me?"

"Mr. Brown, I only found out last weekend, and you weren't at school the other day."

Brown then realized, "Oh right, sorry, I took Monday and Tuesday off to take my daughter to visit the university. Ugh, I've been so busy these past few days."

"Visiting the university? Is your daughter applying this year?"

"Yes, she's in 12th grade now." Brown sighed. "She wants to study education at UIUC (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), she's wanted to since she was little. But the tuition is just too high..."

He shook his head helplessly.

Even for in-state residents, tuition at UIUC is around $8,000 to $9,000 a year, and with room and board and other expenses, it's at least $20,000 to $30,000.

For an ordinary public high school teacher's family, this is definitely a heavy burden.

"I told her that we should look at other schools, some of which offer scholarships, which would ease the financial burden on the family. But that girl just wouldn't have it."

Li Ao's heart stirred.

In his previous life, when he was doing study abroad consulting, UIUC was a "regular customer" of his because it was very friendly to Chinese students, and he helped many students apply to this school.

Brown's mention immediately reminded him of a tuition policy at UIUC that most people were unaware of.

"Mr. Brown, have you heard of the tuition reduction program at UIUC specifically for the children of in-state public school faculty and staff?"

Brown suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"what?"

"Yes. This program submits applications directly through the IFT (Illinois Federation of Teachers), bypassing the school's regular scholarship process, and the deadline is different from the normal application process."

Brown was stunned for several seconds before turning to stare at Li Ao.

"Really? I've never heard of this before?"

"Because this policy isn't explicitly stated."

Li Ao explained, "You have to go to their official website homepage and specifically search for 'tuition reduction for children of public school teachers' to find it. So most teachers' families don't even know about this."

"How do you, a high school student, know these things?"

"I have a cousin who works as a consultant for studying abroad at Huaxia University. Sometimes I help him out by organizing materials. I learned about these policies from him."

Li Ao fabricated a lie without batting an eye, "He's very capable; he gets dozens of students into UIUC every year. If your daughter runs into any trouble with her application, I can help you contact him and even get you an insider discount."

Brown stared at him for two more seconds, clearly still processing this huge piece of good news, before finally swallowing hard and managing to stammer, "...Okay, I'll look it up online later."

As they spoke, the two had reached the end of the administration building and stopped outside Mrs. Paterson's office.

Brown knocked on the door and peeked out. Mrs. Paterson was wearing reading glasses and engrossed in writing and drawing among piles of documents.

"Mrs. Paterson, I have something urgent to report to you."

Mrs. Paterson didn't even look up, her pen still flying across the paper: "What is it?"

Brown didn't beat around the bush; he went in and explained the whole story clearly in just a few words.

The discussion started with the nature of the ICTM, the largest math competition in the state, and then moved on to the rule that registration must be done in the name of a school. Finally, it pointed to the key point—the $75 registration fee that was due on Friday.

Mrs. Paterson then stopped what she was doing, looked up from above her reading glasses, and asked, "Has Wyndham ever entered this competition before?"

"No," Brown said truthfully.

"Then why did you suddenly decide to report it?"

"It's not that I wanted to sign up, it was Mr. Green, the teacher at the AMC workshop in Linkin Park, who strongly recommended that Li Ao participate."

Mrs. Paterson slowly leaned back in her chair, placed her hands on the table with her fingers interlaced, and waited quietly for what was to come.

"Mrs. Paterson, Green is my old classmate. I know that guy too well. He always looks down on everyone else."

"When I recommended Li Ao to him for the training course, he wouldn't even say a polite word. But today when I called to ask about the registration process, he actually took the initiative to praise Leo's performance at length."

Brown turned to look at Li Ao beside him, his voice brimming with excitement: "He said that Leo took the workshop test for the first time last weekend, and he handed in his paper half an hour early and got a perfect score, even better than the top students in his class from the North District!"

Mrs. Paterson's gaze then shifted from Brown's face to Li Ao.

She remained silent, but slightly raised her eyebrows.

"Even better than the top students at North District High School?"

"Green admitted it himself."

When Mrs. Paterson took off her reading glasses and looked at Li Ao again, her eyes were noticeably different.

The last AMC competition is still fresh in my mind.

In order to approve the budget of 300 yuan for buying books, she specifically gave Li Ao five questions to answer on the spot, and it seems that he only answered three of them.

At that time, her expectation was simply that if this child could get into the top 20% in the AMC national exam, then Wyndham's money would have been well spent.

But now Brown is telling her that even the strict coaches of the top competition class in the North District think this kid is even better than the elite students under their command.

Is the progress that fast?

She silently sized up Li Ao for a few seconds, then opened the drawer and deftly pulled out a blank approval form.

"I've approved the registration fee, 75 yuan, right?"

Mrs. Paterson quickly signed the form, handed it to Brown, and then looked at Li Ao again.

"Leo, you're representing Wyndham in the competition, which brings honor to the school. The school will definitely give you its full support."

She asked seriously, "Do you need any other help? Like money to buy study materials or something?"

Li Ao stood opposite the desk, tilting his head as he thought for a moment.

"Mrs. Paterson, if I place in the top ten statewide in the individual competition, will the school offer a prize?"

……