From child prodigy to chief scientist

"You haven't prepared for more than a few days, so it's normal that you didn't answer well. With your abilities, if you had started preparing earlier, getting a spot would have been a piece of cake."

Although Yang Dun had not formally been involved in high school physics competitions before, much of what he learned on his own was related to physics competitions, which is why he was able to pick things up very quickly.

Meanwhile, the teachers of the Yucai Math Competition Team have also begun grading the papers after the selection exam.

There aren't many students participating in the math competition, and they should be able to finish grading the results and finalize the list of participants by tonight.

In the afternoon, they completed all the grading work, and verified and ranked the students.

"He Muzhou answered very well; he got all the questions right. Was this question a bit too easy for him?"

"Wang Xiang shouldn't have gotten this question wrong. How could he make a mistake when simplifying a half-width character using the formula?"

"Lü Zihan performed better than usual, so making the school team shouldn't be a problem."

Just as Qian Feng was grading the test papers, another teacher suddenly said:

"Huh? Who is this Xu Xiao? Is he on our training camp roster?"

Upon hearing this, Qian Feng quickly responded:

"You mean Xu Xiao? He's a kid in the junior class, I think he's only eleven this year. He came for a training camp a few days ago, and hasn't come back since."

Qian Feng still had a deep impression of Xu Xiao, but he didn't have any expectations for Xu Xiao's performance this time.

He felt that Xu Xiao was just participating in the selection competition to get some experience.

However, when another teacher learned that Xu Xiao was only a student in the junior class, her expression changed drastically.

"What...you said he's a student in the junior class, and...only eleven years old?"

"Yes, why? Did he do very well on the test?"

"Teacher Qian, you can see for yourself."

Qian Feng took Xu Xiao's test paper and examined it curiously. His expression also changed drastically.

"This...how is this possible?"

Xu Xiao's test paper was almost entirely filled with checkmarks, making it a very pleasing sight to behold.

Only the last question deducted five points, but the process was clearly correct; it's just that I didn't finish it due to time constraints.

Such a result is considered quite high among all the students participating in the competition, and securing a spot is absolutely no problem.

"Teacher Qian, is this...is this really possible?"

It's hard to believe that an eleven-year-old child could achieve such a score after only participating in one competition training session.

"I didn't expect him to get such a high score, but I've met him and this kid's talent is truly extraordinary."

"Then...Ms. Qian, should we let this child participate in the competition?"

"Of course, the list is determined by the selection exam results, is there any doubt about that?"

Seeing Qian Feng's certainty, the other teacher didn't say anything more.

After the scoring and ranking were completed, the final list of students who qualified to participate in the competition was also released.

Xu Xiao not only made it to the finals, but her grades were also among the top of the finalists.

…………

After dinner, Xu Xiao was about to go back to the classroom to study when he received a notice asking him to attend a meeting in the math competition training room.

Xu Xiao guessed that the results must have come out in the morning, and without thinking too much about it, decided to go and collect the test papers and then leave.

At this time, the math competition training room was already filled with students, many of whom looked nervous and unsure whether they would be able to secure a spot in the competition.

A little while later, Qian Feng also arrived.

"Is everyone here? Let me read out the final roster for this year's math competition team."

The students below immediately quieted down and looked at Qian Feng expectantly.

He Muzhou.

When He Muzhou's name was called first, no one seemed surprised; it was as if our country's diving athletes had won another Olympic gold medal.

He Muzhou himself remained calm, as if nothing had just happened.

The next few names are also students who usually perform well.

At that moment, a somewhat unfamiliar name came out of Qian Feng's mouth.

"Xu Xiao".

Apart from Qian Feng, almost no one else in the classroom had heard of this name, and they began to whisper among themselves.

"Xu Xiao...do we have this student here?"

"I don't know, is it for first-year or second-year high school students?"

"Wait... Could Xu Xiao be that kid?"

"How could that be? That child is so young, he can't possibly be ahead of us in line."

Xu Xiao was also somewhat surprised to hear her name called.

He himself hadn't had much hope, but he never expected to actually qualify for the competition.

It seems that I got most of the questions right, except for the last one which I didn't finish.

After reading the last name, Qian Feng looked up at everyone.

First of all, congratulations to the students who have qualified for the competition.

"You will continue to participate in the training camp and will face even more severe challenges."

"Students who did not make the cut should not be too disappointed. Focusing on the college entrance examination is not necessarily a bad thing."

"High school freshmen who wish to continue participating in the training camp can also come here to prepare for next year's competitions in advance..."

The students in the classroom were a mix of joy and sorrow, especially those who had performed well in training but failed to qualify for the competition; sadness was evident on their faces.

"Teacher Qian, I have a question!"

A boy suddenly stood up, and Qian Feng responded in kind:

"Luo Yushen, just say what you have questions for."

Luo Yushen's performance in training is usually quite good; he's the kind of student who has a chance to get a spot, but it's not entirely guaranteed.

However, Luo Yushen did not perform well in this exam and was not on the list announced by Qian Feng.

"Who exactly is Xu Xiao?"

Luo Yushen was very certain that he remembered every name in the math competition team, but he had never heard of Xu Xiao before.

Yet, this unfamiliar name suddenly appeared on the shortlist.

It's worth noting that Luo Yushen had been preparing for the math competition since junior high school.

But in the end, he didn't even get a spot in the league, which was something he couldn't accept no matter what.

"Xu Xiao, please raise your hand."

Xu Xiao didn't expect things to develop in this way, but she had no choice but to raise her hand.

Everyone looked around in surprise, only to discover that the one who had raised his hand was the child they didn't recognize.