I was a top student in America.

Lore!

The Wyndham bench erupted in chaos.

Jaylen suddenly sprang up, Jamal clutched his head and spun around in place, and even Daryl, who was usually as quiet as a muted gourd, unusually threw a punch at empty air.

Durant excitedly took two big steps forward, yelled "Beautiful!", and almost stepped onto the court.

In the stands, Principal Smith suddenly stood up, not caring that the hem of his suit jacket was tilted to one side.

"It's in?" He quickly turned to Mrs. Paterson, wanting to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "It really is in?!"

Mrs. Paterson, no longer caring about her manners, stared intently at the scoreboard: "Goal! Penalty."

At the other end of the court, Coach Holland paused for a moment before slowly lowering his hand, which he had raised in mid-air to call a timeout.

He really didn't expect that Li Ao would give up his best shot at the last moment; what surprised him even more was that this slender guard actually withstood the high-intensity confrontation in the paint and maintained his balance.

There was no element of luck in this goal; it was all about skill and calculation.

Even if Li Ao misses, he still gets two free throws, so they win no matter what.

Amidst the clamor of the crowd, Li Ao stepped up to the free-throw line.

Bounce the ball twice, then take a deep breath.

The movements—lifting the ball, pressing the wrist, and flicking the fingers—are clean and crisp.

The basketball arced high and swished through the net.

64:61.

With the last second gone, Lane Polytechnic's hastily launched three-pointer bounced off the rim and the final buzzer sounded, giving Wyndham the victory.

Durant initially wanted to maintain his head coach demeanor, but he couldn't hold back and rushed over to hug Li Ao and ruffle his hair.

"You little rascal..." He chuckled before he could finish his sentence, "You're getting better and better."

Principal Smith and Mrs. Paterson also came down from the stands.

The principal, beaming, stepped forward: "Leo, I just checked with Madam to make sure I wasn't seeing things. I just received the good news of your joining MOSP this morning, and then you pulled off a game-winning shot at noon. Who would believe it?"

At this moment, Coach Holland led the players from Lane Polytechnic over to shake hands and greet them.

As he passed Li Ao, he paused and said, "Well done."

He then turned to Durant and sighed, "Your guards are really something."

Durant grinned from ear to ear, but pretended to be polite: "You guys defended pretty hard too. If Leo hadn't made that incredible shot at the end, I'd probably be cursing in the locker room right now."

During the player handshake session, the point guard from Lane Polytechnic University gave Li Ao a wry smile and bumped fists:

"Damn it, I was focusing all my defensive effort on outside shooting."

"That's what everyone thinks," Li Ao replied casually.

The other person paused for a moment, then shook their head helplessly and chuckled: "Fine, you win today."

Not long after, staff from the tournament organizers came over with a small trophy:

"Most Valuable Player of the Match – Leo Lee!"

Several reporters nearby immediately crowded forward and started snapping photos.

The staff handed the trophy to Li Ao, jokingly saying, "The trophy isn't big, but this honor is well-deserved."

The trophy is indeed small, with the tournament name and date engraved on the base.

But for Wyndham's high school students, who were used to being runners-up, this was incredibly rare.

Jay Chou was the first to chime in: "Leo, you just finished signing autographs this morning, and now you've won MVP! Your schedule is fuller than any celebrity's!"

Jamal also joined in the rambling:

"Leo, give me a hint: are you a mathematician who can play basketball, or a basketball player who can solve problems?"

Tai Shorn, more composed, walked over and bumped shoulders with Li Ao: "That last two plus one, that was really tough."

"Thanks to your life-saving rebound," Li Ao said with a laugh, throwing a punch back.

Mr. Brown, who was not far away, looked at Li Ao in the center of the crowd with mixed feelings.

In all his years of teaching, this was the first time he had ever seen such a freak who could both get into the national math competition summer camp and win the MVP award with a game-winning shot.

If this resume were written verbatim into a university recommendation letter, even Ivy League admissions officers would suspect the material was fabricated.

The audience and staff who hadn't left yet kept glancing over in this direction.

The faint murmurs of parents from the stands drifted over: "Is that the one who went to the math Olympiad summer camp? Was that the one who made the game-winning shot?"

Where did Wyndham find their treasures this year?

Hearing these gossips, Principal Smith straightened his back even more.

In previous years, Wyndham's appearances in the Southern Conference were just for show; they were lucky if they could even force the opposing coach to call a timeout to target them, let alone qualify for the tournament.

But today, not only did they win, they also produced a remarkable figure who excels in both arts and sports, and even the school's name was repeated several times by reporters.

Principal Smith grew increasingly emboldened, and with a wave of his hand, he shouted:

"Guys, well done today! Tonight when we get back to school, I'm treating the whole team to a meal! BBQ and pizza, take your pick!"

The team members immediately burst into howls and screams.

Jay Chou yelled at the top of his lungs, "We have to have barbecue!"

Jamal chimed in, "Kids make choices, we want pizza too!"

Durant jokingly kicked Jaylen, who was closest to him:

"Everyone, get out of here and take a shower! Once you're clean, we can discuss how to bankrupt the principal!"

The crowd burst into laughter and made a noisy commotion as they walked toward the players' tunnel.

At the exit of the stands, Ryan, Sam, and several other contestants were still standing around watching.

The group exchanged bewildered glances as they looked at Li Ao, who was posing for photos offstage.

Sam couldn't help but ask again, "Are you sure he didn't choose the wrong major?"

Jimmy patted her on the shoulder and sighed, "It would have been better to ask this question this morning; it's too late now."

Ryan remained silent.

Matthew stared at the field for a long time before speaking: "He really can't be defined by conventional labels."

He used to think Li Ao was amazing simply because of his strong mathematical thinking; today he realized that the real difference between the two of them was not in mathematics at all.

Inside the venue, staff members invited Li Ao to take a solo photo while he held up the trophy.

He stood at attention obediently, his expression as calm as ever.

As soon as the filming ended, Sam came over and looked him up and down: "Leo, why didn't you react at all? You made it to MOSP, hit the game-winning shot, and got the tournament MVP! Any one of these three things is enough for someone to brag about for a lifetime!"

Li Ao thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "I'm quite happy about it."

Sam was waiting to hear the long acceptance speech, but Li Ao glanced at his watch and said, "But I still have to train as usual tomorrow. I have class on Monday, so I have to go back."

Sam was speechless.

Jimmy, standing next to him, couldn't help but laugh. Ryan patted Sam on the shoulder to comfort him.

"You're not used to it yet? This is his usual practice."

Matthew listened from the side, his feelings growing increasingly complicated.

He suddenly realized that he hadn't been wronged at all when he lost the state competition—this guy even followed a strict schedule when he was "happy," he was practically a robot.

After the crowd dispersed, Wyndham and his group boarded the school bus back to the South Campus.

The noise inside the car was much louder than when we arrived.

Jaylen hugged Li Ao's MVP trophy and stroked it back and forth. Durant couldn't help but shout at him, "Be gentle, don't drop the lacquer."

Jamal was frantically tapping on his phone in the back row, probably bragging to his girlfriend about the crucial rebound he grabbed that day.

Durant, sitting in the front row, was also busy, his phone beeping non-stop—Principal Smith had obviously sent the "double good news" report back to the school.

Amidst the commotion of the passengers, Li Ao leaned against the car window.

He didn't really join in his teammates' jokes, casually stuffing the trophy into his bag, his mind already calculating tomorrow's training plan and Monday's schedule.

……

Monday morning, the entrance to Wyndham High School was much noisier than usual.

Even before class started, a striking red banner with white lettering was already hanging on the exterior wall of the main teaching building, visible from a distance:

[Warmest congratulations to Leo Lee for achieving a perfect score on the USAMO, earning a place in the National Mathematics Summer Camp, and leading his school team to their first victory in the Greater Chicago Championship!]

A large number of students gathered at the school gate to watch.

Some people were taking pictures with their phones, and a few confused lower-year students were asking, "What level of competition is the Greater Chicago Championship?"

"Is the banner talking about Leo, the point guard on the school team?"

"Nonsense, could we possibly find another one like that in the entire school?"

"Did he really win the tournament this weekend? I heard he even got the MVP award?"

"Not only that, does anyone know what USAMO and the math summer camp mean?"

"Who cares? Anyway, this long list looks pretty scary."

Wyndham used to hang banners, but they were mostly for safety month promotions or back-to-school week events.

This is the first time that a student's name has been prominently displayed in the center of the main building like this.

Just as things were getting lively, several boys from the school baseball team walked over from the parking lot carrying bags.

They had just lost a game in the Southern League over the weekend, and they were all dejected.

The tall guy leading the team was still complaining: "That third base call yesterday was so ridiculous, otherwise we could definitely have gone into overtime..."

The person next to him sighed, "Alright, we've already lost. I wonder how the coach will yell at us today."

As they were talking, they looked up and saw the large banner on the main building, and their voices immediately fell silent.

"...What did Leo do?"

"A nationwide math summer camp? And they even won the championship?"

"Is this an award for academic excellence, or a sports report?"

The tall boy stood there, stunned, completely forgetting the speech he had just prepared.

Losing the game over the weekend was already frustrating, but when I got back to school, I found that the basketball team had hung up both their academic and athletic awards on the wall.

In comparison, their complaints about the referee suddenly seem meaningless.

"How did he do that?"

No one responded, because everyone felt that this was really absurd.

Not long after, the yellow school bus stopped at the school gate.

As soon as the car door opened and Li Ao stepped out with his schoolbag on his back, the previously noisy school gate suddenly quieted down for a moment, followed by an even louder buzz of discussion.

"Here it comes!"

"Holy crap, it really is him!"

On the steps, Principal Smith, Mrs. Paterson, and Mr. Brown had been standing and waiting for a while.

The principal was dressed in a formal suit today, beaming from ear to ear; Mrs. Paterson was holding a folder, while Mr. Brown was carrying a stack of freshly printed materials.

Upon seeing Li Ao, Principal Smith immediately waved to him: "Leo! Come here quickly! There are a few things I need to confirm with you!"

The students who were originally looking at the banner all turned their attention to it.

The atmosphere at the school gate suddenly became even more lively.