I was a top student in America.

Three weeks have passed since Wyndham's first home game.

Li Ao wrote the last period and pushed the manuscript paper under the lamp. He leaned back in his chair, a long-lost sense of accomplishment from his past life as a study abroad consultant welling up inside him.

He took a deep breath, his gaze returned to the paper, and he went through it again from the beginning.

"My father grades papers at the kitchen table, every night, after dinner..."

……

A few minutes later.

After reading the entire personal statement from beginning to end, even though it was handwritten, Li Ao was still amazed by the quality of his first draft.

Adopting the perspective of an admissions officer: The opening "hook" is very well grasped, and the middle section skillfully weaves the ordinary background of "the father is a public school teacher" into a line of educational sentiment passed down through generations, which is far superior to the clichéd family narratives on the streets.

This is only a first draft. After two more rounds of revisions, the final version will be much more substantial.

Looking back on my past life as a study abroad consultant, I remember that once I took on a case, I had to follow the original materials provided by the client to the letter.

No matter how good your writing is, you still have to compromise with the author's limited real-life experience; being able to express eight or nine-tenths of it is already your limit.

Unlike now, he can build the framework himself and choose the materials himself. He hasn't experienced that kind of unrestrained joy in many years.

"This is what I call writing documents."

He swore, which was unusual for him, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up in a smile.

He then carefully put the manuscript paper into the folder, his gaze falling on the old tin box next to the lamp base.

It's time to take a good look at the accounts.

He pulled out the metal box, snapped the lock open, and poured all the cash inside onto the table.

Two weeks ago, Brown submitted his daughter's tuition reduction application for the UIUC education program, following the path provided by Li Ao. The application has already entered the review stage.

According to regulations, as long as a person is admitted to UIUC, they can save more than half of their annual tuition fees.

After this incident, Brown became completely convinced of Li Ao's explanation that "his cousin from China was doing the consulting, and he was only responsible for connecting people and helping out." The night before last, he insisted on handing over two hundred and fifty dollars according to his understanding of the market standard, insisting that one thing at a time.

Then there's the team side.

Besides TySean, Daryl, and Trey, several other teammates have come to me recently to review materials, make plans, write documents, and provide other miscellaneous consultations.

Each order can range from tens to hundreds of dollars, and even if you add them up bit by bit, it can still be a considerable sum of money.

He neatly stacked the money according to its face value, and mentally calculated it once.

Inside the metal box, $1,050 lay neatly arranged.

He knew the winter accounts inside and out.

The monthly rent is 350 yuan, the electricity bill is 50 yuan, Grandma's insulin next month is 86 yuan, plus the heating fee that needs to be paid for the first time in December, all in all, it's around 80 yuan.

Even including all expenses such as food, drink, and sanitation, this money should last for a while.

He put the money back into the tin box, closed the lid, and stuffed it back under the lamp base as before.

This winter, things are looking good.

But before that, one last hurdle awaited him—

The ICTM regional competition is the day after tomorrow.

……

The next day was Friday.

Wyndham High School dismisses early on Fridays, and students leave in small groups, leaving only a few scattered students in the classrooms, making them appear more dilapidated and empty than usual.

The window seat in the back row.

In front of Li Ao lay the ICTM past exam question collection that Green had lent him, and the draft paper beside him was already covered with dense calculation formulas.

"It seems that the increase in 'Intelligence' points has reached its limit by simply timed practice of ICTM difficulty questions."

He put down his pen, his brow furrowing slightly.

In preparation for the competition, he has been frantically practicing problems every day, keeping a tight schedule. However, the "high-intensity calculation in progress" notification that used to pop up frequently on the panel has become less and less frequent.

In the last two days, the numbers have simply stopped growing.

With a slight thought, he summoned the panel to view the specific information.

-

Name: Li Ao

Identity: 11th-grade high school student

Power: 105.2

Agility: 106.1

Stamina: 105.4

Intelligence: 107.3

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

He finished writing ten minutes early on this rather difficult test paper, and when he checked the answers, he found that he got them all right.

For him, barring any unforeseen circumstances, achieving a remarkable result in a competition of this caliber is practically a certainty tomorrow.

That concludes our review of ICTM; lingering any longer would be a waste of time.

To keep raising your intelligence level, you'll have to tackle something even tougher.

For example, higher-level math competitions, or Advanced Placement (AP) calculus.

"Looks like I'll have to get some calculus textbooks. It's a pity Wyndham doesn't offer AP courses. I wonder if I can borrow some from Professor Brown."

Just then, a series of light and heavy footsteps came from the corridor, breaking the silence of the classroom.

Li Ao looked up and saw Mr. Brown and Mrs. Paterson walking into the classroom one after the other.

"Leo, the statewide competition is tomorrow," Mrs. Paterson asked bluntly. "Is there any assistance the school needs?"

Li Ao shook his head and pushed the draft paper aside:

"No, thank you, Mrs. Paterson."

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Go home and get some rest early tonight." Mrs. Paterson smiled. "Do your best on the exam tomorrow. I've already spoken to the school leaders, and there's a reward if you get a good ranking."

"However, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just treat it as doing a practice test."

Mr. Brown, who was standing next to him, added a comment.

"Thank you, Mr. Brown. By the way," Li Ao casually pulled a stack of handwritten manuscript paper from his bag and handed it over, "this is the first draft of the document my cousin sent me last night. I don't have a printer here, so I copied it by hand. Please take it back and take a look, and see if there are any details you need to add."

"Thank you so much, please thank your cousin for me."

Brown carefully tucked the document into his jacket pocket and walked out of the classroom with Mrs. Paterson.

As the footsteps faded into the distance in the corridor, the classroom returned to its empty state.

Li Ao didn't linger. He stuffed his things into his schoolbag, picked it up, and went out the door.

Li Ao didn't linger any longer. He swept the review materials and the stack of draft documents on the table into his schoolbag, slung it over one shoulder, and turned to walk out of the classroom.

Just as I stepped out of the teaching building, I ran into Jamal, who was holding a basketball in his hand.

The little guy came up to us and casually asked:

"Leo, are you going to training later?"

Tomorrow is the statewide math competition, and Li Ao has already asked Coach Durant for leave on Saturday for extra practice.

Logically speaking, even if he skipped the daily training this afternoon, no one would say anything.

But Li Ao nodded readily: "Sure, the competition is tomorrow anyway, and I'm free tonight."

He wasn't being arrogant.

If I keep frantically working on ICTM problems right now, my intelligence points won't change. I might as well go to the court, work up a sweat, and maybe push my other three stats up a bit.

"I'm impressed, I'm truly impressed." Jamal shook his head exaggeratedly. "Brother Leo, your physical abilities are simply monstrous."

Jamal had personally witnessed the intensity of Li Ao's usual training.

If it were him, he wouldn't even be able to lift his arms the next day if he occasionally pushed himself to a higher intensity level, but this guy not only never complains about being tired, but he can also be as fine as ever after each workout.

The key point is that they have to take a math competition tomorrow that's like reading gibberish.

It can only be said that the structure of each person is indeed different.

……

Early the next morning.

Li Ao was woken up on time by his biological clock.

For the first time ever, after getting up and washing up, he didn't go back to grappling with math problems. Instead, he picked up a book on American history borrowed from the library and started reading it with great interest.

He didn't say goodbye to his grandmother until after breakfast at seven in the morning, and then went downstairs to take out the slightly worn bicycle he had borrowed from Jamal.

The straight-line distance from the South Side to the University of Chicago campus in Hyde Park is just over three kilometers.

I can save the 4.5 yuan subway fare by riding my bike there myself.

All the way north.

The cold wind of the winter morning stung my eyes, and the streets were sparsely populated, with most people hunching their shoulders and hurrying along.

As he rode across an intersection, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.

Across the street, a person emerged from an inconspicuous, dilapidated storefront.

The man glanced warily to the left and right, then turned and disappeared into a dark alley.

It's DeMarcus.

……