I was a top student in America.

Mrs. Paterson was visibly taken aback by Li Ao's words, then burst into laughter.

"Leo, Wyndham has never even registered for this tournament before, so there's really no precedent for the prize money."

She put her reading glasses back on her nose, her playful expression fading.

"However, I can go through the application process. If you can really get into the top ten in the state, I will definitely try to get you a bonus."

Li Ao nodded: "Thank you, Mrs. Paterson."

Just then, the bell rang for the start of class. Without further delay, he said goodbye and turned to leave.

The office fell silent, leaving only Mrs. Paterson and Mr. Brown.

Mrs. Paterson leaned back in her chair with a sigh of relief, then casually took off her reading glasses and tossed them onto a pile of documents.

"Do you think this kid can make the top ten in the state?"

Brown stood there for a moment, pondered, and then shook his head.

"That's unlikely. That's a statewide competition, and he's facing top students from the best high schools in the surrounding affluent school districts. Many of them have been competing since elementary school, and he's only been preparing for a little over a month at most."

He paused, then added regretfully, "What a pity. If Li Ao had started a year or two earlier, given his current rate of progress... it's really hard to say."

Mrs. Paterson waved her hand dismissively:

"Whether or not they win an award is actually not important. It's a good thing that the school can produce such a promising talent."

"Even if it's just considered a public relations event, it's still positive publicity for Wyndham, and it's a good opportunity to break the stereotypes about our South District."

"Mr. Brown, please put in some extra effort to help him behind his back. If he can achieve some results, the school will not forget your contribution."

"I understand, Mrs. Paterson, I will spend more time with him."

Brown nodded in agreement.

……

At 2 a.m. the next day, Li Ao opened his eyes precisely on time.

Although he has only slept for less than four hours since he lay down, thanks to the term "deep sleep," he is now very energetic and not sleepy at all.

Li Ao sat up, pulled over the small table by the bed, and turned on the lamp.

In the warm yellow light, he summoned the translucent light blue panel.

-

Name: Li Ao

Identity: 11th year student at Wyndham High School

Power: 102.1

Agility: 103.0

Stamina: 102.4

Intelligence: 104.7

Keywords: [Applying knowledge to new situations], [Muscle memory], [Explosive power], [Deep sleep]

-

"Let's try doing a set of ICTM past exam questions first, timed." Li Ao picked up the materials Green gave him and found a set of exam papers from the previous two years.

I've been doing a lot of practice problems lately, and I've also gone through the basic knowledge points for competitions. I'll take advantage of this long stretch of time in the early morning to do a full-scale simulation and test my skills.

With a 120-minute countdown set, he took out a pencil and some draft paper and began to work on the problem.

The first few questions went very smoothly. A quick glance at the question stem was enough to make the solution immediately clear: where the breakthrough point was and what the distractors were. I hardly had to think about it.

Compared to the more convoluted questions in the later stages of AMC12, the patterns in ICTM are much more obvious.

[Learn by analogy] When you encounter these kinds of questions with patterns, you'll be in your element. Just follow the logical framework and the breakthrough will naturally come out.

But the further you go, the more obvious the resistance becomes.

The sixth question involved five consecutive algebraic transformations. He got stuck on the third step and had to check it twice before he finally found a hidden calculation error.

The eighth question was even tougher; just gritting my teeth and unfolding a polynomial took almost four minutes.

Even though I've already laid out the solution path in my mind, my pen is still lingering halfway through.

Frustrated, Li Ao crossed out a line of incorrect calculations on the draft paper and started over.

This feeling of being all talk and no action is sometimes more frustrating than simply "not knowing how to do it".

Ultimately, it was the fundamental skills of computation and continuous derivation that held us back.

Unfortunately, his basic intelligence isn't high, and he's only been seriously involved in competitions for a little over a month.

[Learn by analogy] Although it gave him the convenience of analogy and decomposition, he was still far from being able to compete in terms of calculation speed and accuracy.

If it were a quick-thinking competition student, this amount of calculation would be nothing, but for him, there is no shortcut other than massive training and relentless effort.

I tackled the twelfth problem, a number theory problem that involved three layers of calculations.

Li Ao could only push forward step by step, his train of thought almost breaking down in the middle. He only managed to get his logic back on track by checking each line in reverse.

It took me a full ten minutes to figure out the answer to this one question.

Just then, I caught a glimpse of the panel out of the corner of my eye.

[Intense calculations in progress... Intelligence +0.1]

Li Ao was stunned for a moment.

When I was looking at examples to learn the approach, the panel didn't move at all.

Unfortunately, when faced with this kind of laborious, arduous task requiring calculation and brute force, the attribute suddenly changed.

After a brief moment of surprise, he didn't dare stop writing and continued working on his work.

Since the panel gave positive feedback, it means we're on the right track.

The more frustrating and confusing the calculations are, the faster the attributes actually increase.

Two hours later, the alarm clock had barely vibrated when he slammed it shut.

Li Ao let out a long sigh, threw down the pencil, and squeezed his aching knuckles hard.

I barely got started on the last big question on the exam. Although I had a general idea, there wasn't enough time to go through the whole process.

He flipped to the answer sheet and checked each question one by one.

Of the fifteen questions I completed, the fourth question resulted in a complete avalanche of errors because I forgot to write a negative sign during the third algebraic transformation.

The other fourteen questions were all correct.

This result is respectable in the regional competition, but it's still far from enough to break into the top ten in the whole state.

He lowered his head and finished the last major question he hadn't completed.

Just then, the panel flashed again.

[Intense calculations in progress... Intelligence +0.1]

The test paper was skipped twice.

Previously, when I was practicing AMC regular questions, I would finish more than fifty questions in a row before I could stop. It seems that doing a full set of questions at a high intensity with a timer is much more effective than doing questions in a scattered manner.

Li Ao found a notebook and wrote down today's date and estimated score.

Now that we've found the right direction, the next task is clear: practice repeatedly with these high-intensity, high-calculation tests to quickly make up for our weaknesses in hand speed and calculation.

Li Ao closed the notebook and pulled an envelope from the bottom of his desk drawer.

Inside was the cash he had saved up recently. He took it out, shook it out along with the loose change, and counted it.

More than three hundred yuan.

The money he earned from TySean, Daryl, Trey, and the few other players on the team who asked him to look at their materials, plus the basic salary he got from working for Iron Box, it's all here.

The money is more than last month, but the hole to fill is even bigger.

It's already November, and as soon as it gets cold, we have to pay for heating, next month's rent and utilities, and Grandma's insulin—all of these are expenses.

And those sneakers I'm wearing, the soles are almost worn flat, they should be replaced too.

He gathered the money and stuffed it back into the envelope. After thinking for a moment, he took out two twenty-yuan bills and pressed them under the lamp base, keeping them for emergencies.

It was still pitch black outside the window, and the faint hum of a garbage truck reversing could be heard in the distance.

After working on the test for two hours straight, my head feels a bit heavy.

Li Ao turned off the light and lay back on the bed.

He has his first home basketball game of the season this afternoon, so he needs to get plenty of rest.