I was a top student in America.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

In early July, the math competition summer camp finally came to a close.

Ethan and Taylor didn't rush to the airport. Clutching their newly awarded medals from the National Mathematics Competition, they stood downstairs in the math building, dragging their suitcases, waiting for Li Ao and Kevin.

As soon as he spotted the two figures, he pulled his suitcase and went to greet them.

"I heard from Coach David that you two both made it to the US national team, is that true?"

Taylor spoke first, her envy impossible to hide.

Ethan chimed in, "Hey, if you win an international gold medal, are there any extra rewards?"

Clearly, the two of them had been discussing this matter quite a bit downstairs.

We lived under the same roof for a whole month, and went through round after round of exams and group presentations together. If we didn't say goodbye in person before parting ways, it would feel like something was missing.

Kevin didn't mince words; after hearing Ethan's question, he nodded frankly.

"I heard there's a reward, but we don't know the exact amount yet."

Kevin was already very satisfied with making the U.S. national team.

Since the first phase of testing, his ranking has hovered around seventh or eighth place.

He was able to make it into the national team's six-man roster this time largely thanks to the special help Li Ao gave him later.

Ethan and Taylor shared the same sentiment, and with Li Ao's guidance, their grades steadily improved.

Although he didn't make it into the national team, he at least won the gold medal he had been longing for, which is a significant achievement on his resume.

Living in dormitory 314, your study efficiency is bound to be low, because there's no chance to even slack off.

With someone like Li Ao, who studies for seventeen or eighteen hours a day, sitting next to him, no one dared to go off and play first.

The group chatted for a while by the roadside and agreed to keep in touch via Facebook and MSN.

Seeing that it was almost time, Taylor and Ethan didn't linger any longer and dragged their suitcases to catch the bus to the airport.

……

The next morning.

Carrying his ordinary differential equations textbook, draft paper, and pen, along with a huge water bottle, Li Ao arrived at the UIUC science and engineering complex with practiced ease.

According to his original plan, he would spend the few days after the summer camp ended in the library studying ordinary differential equations.

For him, self-discipline is never about gritting his teeth and forcing himself to persevere.

He genuinely found these numbers and logic interesting, and once he started, he wouldn't stop writing until he thoroughly understood all the theorems.

But plans don't always go as expected; last night he received an email from Professor Miller.

The notification said that the United States national team was officially assembling today, and he was to go directly to the first team meeting in the morning to get acquainted with the coaching staff and other players, and to hear about the upcoming training arrangements.

The email was short, containing only the room number and meeting time, with no mention of the coach.

This swift and efficient work style is indeed characteristic of Mr. Miller.

The corridors of the science and engineering complex are mostly lined with small offices and discussion rooms.

It was still early, and the whole floor was empty and quiet, with the occasional tapping sound of chalk hitting a blackboard coming from one of the rooms.

Li Ao went up the stairs to the third floor, his gaze swept over the room numbers, and finally stopped in front of a conference room.

"This should be the one." He raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Please come in," a male voice came from inside.

Li Ao pushed open the door and entered, only to find several people already sitting inside.

Besides familiar faces Benjamin and Natalia, and Kevin sitting next to the whiteboard, there were two other boys leaning against the long table, each with a thick stack of documents spread out in front of them.

Li Ao recognized these two people; they were both returning students who had participated in the summer camp twice.

The tall, thin one is Michael Hall, from California, with messy hair and glasses;

The shorter one is named Daniel King, from New York, and he's wearing a gray sweatshirt.

These two were usually quiet and didn't stand out much at the summer camp, but unexpectedly, they both made it into the national team.

"Good morning, everyone." Li Ao pulled out a chair and greeted everyone casually.

As soon as he finished speaking, Michael straightened up and chimed in:

Good morning, congratulations. You're the only one who made it into the national team as a new recruit this year.

Daniel, who was sitting next to him, looked up from his documents and picked up the conversation:

"David told me you came in first place overall and even broke the record. It's really impressive for a rookie to get such a score. However... national team training and summer camp are completely different things."

He paused, his tone becoming serious: "The training intensity coming up will be extremely high. You'd better be mentally prepared and adjust your schedule as soon as possible. Last year, there was a guy on the national team who couldn't handle the pressure and quit halfway through training; he deserted."

"That's true," Michael chuckled dryly beside him, which was considered an agreement.

After hearing the two men's "baptism of fire," Li Ao not only didn't feel nervous, but actually became quite interested.

He placed his backpack on the table and replied calmly, "I think I should be able to adapt."

Before Mr. Miller arrived, Daniel gave him a heads-up: "The first phase is basically all topic-based problem-solving sessions. The rules are very simple—"

He looked at Li Ao and held up three fingers: "Every time the practice materials are handed out, whoever finishes last has to run three laps around the central lawn outside."

Michael added quietly from the side, "You might not know if you haven't been here before, but the central lawn is over a kilometer long. Believe me, nobody wants to run those three or four kilometers in one go."

Li Ao scanned the people in the room.

Apart from the newcomer Kevin, the rest are all seasoned veterans, most of whom won gold medals last year.

This year's United States national team has a truly solid foundation.

However, it's too early to conclude who couldn't withstand such pressure.

Li Ao nodded calmly:

"Alright, let's do it the way we do it." Then, he changed the subject, "However, I've already finished the exercise materials that were sent out this morning."

"Wait a minute," Michael exclaimed, his face full of astonishment, "that document was only sent to my email at midnight last night, and you're already finished?"

Daniel pulled a stack of papers from the file box next to him, handed it to Li Ao, and explained with a smile:

"Are you confused? I'm not talking about the old questions from summer camp, I'm talking about the worksheets we just received this morning. I just printed them out this morning, one for each person. There are more than ten questions, enough to keep you busy all day."

Li Ao glanced at it, but didn't reach out to take it; he simply shook his head.

"Are there any other practice materials? I got up early today and have already finished this one."

As he spoke, he reached into his bag and pulled out a stack of bound printed papers, placing them on the table.

The paper was covered with densely written derivations of formulas and solutions.

……