From child prodigy to chief scientist

Xu Xiaocai is just starting out in competitions, so he won't be thinking about making it to the provincial team right away. His priority is to secure a spot in the competition.

"Teacher, if I only learn this knowledge, is there any hope of passing the school's selection exam?"

"If you can thoroughly understand all of this, joining the school team is a sure thing. Our school selection exam is a bit easier than the league exam; it's basically equivalent to a first-round test."

Based on past experience, only a very small number of students from Yucai Mathematics Competition can achieve high scores in the first round.

Hearing Qian Feng say this, Xu Xiao felt relieved.

At this moment, Qian Feng suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, if you're buying 'Elementary Number Theory,' remember to choose the edition edited by Pan Chengdong and Pan Chengbiao... I can write it down for you."

Qian Feng took the notebook from Xu Xiao and was about to make some annotations when his eyes suddenly widened.

"You...you also know about DFS search procedures and pruning optimization?"

This page of draft paper is exactly the same page that Xu Xiao used to study the chessboard problem.

Because there were still many blank spaces on the page, Xu Xiao started writing down notes as soon as she turned to this page.

Qian Feng was so surprised because this knowledge was not something that schools would teach, and it wasn't even required for math competitions.

Based on his understanding, Qian Feng knew that Xu Xiao's approach was indeed correct and could completely solve several different "chessboard problems".

Qian Feng couldn't understand how this elementary school-aged child could be so proficient in using algorithms.

Xu Xiao also realized that this matter was indeed somewhat unreasonable. After a few seconds of silence, he made up a reason at random.

"I used to watch my dad use the computer to do these things a lot, and I learned a little bit from him."

Xu Lang does have some understanding of programming, but it's far less than what Xu Xiao, who makes a living from it, let alone being able to teach Xu Xiao.

However, Xu Lang was not there at the time, so Qian Feng had no way to verify the information and did not doubt Xu Xiao's statement.

"So that's how it is. You're quite an extraordinary child."

Such abilities can even be used in undergraduate mathematical modeling competitions, although high school math competitions do not yet require the use of computers to solve mathematical problems.

Upon re-examining Xu Xiao, Qian Feng finally understood why this child had come to participate in the math competition training camp.

Qian Feng had never seen such a strong mathematical talent in other children his age before.

Even if Xu Xiao hasn't reached the level to participate in competitions yet, given another two or three years, he has a good chance of winning the national scholarship and even being recommended for admission to Tsinghua and Yenching Universities.

"Then, teacher, I'll head back now."

"Okay, you can come to the training camp anytime after that. You can also come and find me if you have any other questions."

Even though Xu Xiao is not yet a formal member of the Yucai Math Competition Team, Qian Feng has already regarded him as a key candidate for future development.

However, Xu Xiao does not plan to participate in the upcoming training camp.

The intensity of the training camp is only one factor. In addition, the knowledge points that can be covered in the remaining few days of training are also relatively limited.

In contrast, if Xu Xiao studies on her own, she can better control the pace and learn as much as possible about each part of the knowledge.

After lunch, Xu Xiao planned to ask Liao Qiuju for leave to go to a bookstore to buy some study materials for math competitions.

Yucai School usually adopts a fully enclosed management system, and day students can only enter and leave the school gate during school hours.

Upon meeting Liao Qiuju, Xu Xiao made his request.

"Teacher Liao, I'd like to ask for leave..."

Hearing that Xu Xiao wanted to go out to buy competition materials, Liao Qiuju asked with some concern:

"Are you buying so much data at once? Do you have enough money?"

"I still have money in my bank account, it'll definitely be enough."

Before Xu Xiao came to Yucai School, Xu Lang had already set up a bank card for him, and the 10,000 yuan scholarship that Gangdu Primary School gave Xu Xiao was also deposited in this card.

Liao Qiuju also supports Xu Xiao's desire to prepare for the high school math competition.

Even if Xu Xiao's chances of passing the school's selection this time are slim, she still has a great chance next year.

However, after thinking about it, Liao Qiuju still suggested:

"Xu Xiao, some of these materials might be hard to find. If you don't mind, I can contact some students who participated in previous math competitions to see if I can lend you the materials."

Upon hearing Liao Qiuju's suggestion, Xu Xiao immediately agreed.

"Thank you, Teacher Liao. It would be great if we could borrow it."

Saving money is secondary; if it's material that someone else has used, the book will likely have some key points highlighted, making learning more efficient.

Liao Qiuju took Xu Xiao's matter very seriously. She contacted the students for Xu Xiao that same day and said she could send the materials over the next day.

Xu Xiao wasn't worried about missing a day, so she took the opportunity to push forward the system's entry task progress and then refocused her attention on her college entrance exam preparation.

To Xu Xiao's surprise, Liao Qiuju carried a large box into the classroom before the morning self-study session the next day.

"Xu Xiao, all the information you requested is here. Please check if anything is missing."

Even Liao Qiuju, an adult, had some difficulty carrying the box, and Xu Xiao could tell that there was definitely a lot of information inside.

Sure enough, when Xu Xiao looked into the box, he found that there were at least twenty or thirty documents inside.

After checking each of the materials, Xu Xiao discovered that not only were most of the materials recommended by Qian Feng available, but there were also some other materials and exercises.

"Teacher Liao... isn't this a bit too comprehensive?"

"That child was selected for the provincial math competition team before, so she has more materials. You can use these for now, since she doesn't need them anymore. You can return them to her after you get into university."

"Okay, thank you, Teacher Liao."

Xu Xiao was about to carry the box back to her seat when she was somewhat embarrassed to find that she couldn't lift it anymore.

Lu Yihang, on the other hand, was very helpful and took the initiative to help Xu Xiao move the box to her seat.

"There are only a few days left until the selection exam... I don't know how much material I can master before then."

According to Qian Feng, the selection exam was relatively easy; studying a few core textbooks would suffice.

Xu Xiao picked out five books from the box and placed them on the table as her study goals before the selection exam.

The owner of these materials is a girl, and it's clear that the original owner was very well prepared for the competition, having marked many key points on the materials to better help Xu Xiao with her self-study.

However, after studying for a while, Xu Xiao quickly realized that her previous ideas were somewhat too optimistic.