From child prodigy to chief scientist

Xu Xiao did not answer immediately, her face showing an ambiguous expression.

Yang Dun thought Xu Xiao's grades might not be as good as he'd hoped, so he quickly comforted him:

"It's okay. Second or third place in the province is good too. Even if you don't get a provincial award, it's fine. Just qualifying for the competition is already amazing."

Seeing this, Xu Xiao stopped being coy and truthfully revealed his results.

"Actually, I won the provincial first prize, and not only that, I also made it into the provincial team."

Upon hearing Xu Xiao's words, Yang Dun paused briefly before exclaiming in amazement:

"Wow... you made it to the provincial team! That's amazing!"

As a fellow student competing in competitions, Yang Dun naturally knew just how difficult it was to get into the provincial team.

There are only a dozen or so provincial team spots for each subject in Liaoning Province.

A student's ability to enter the provincial competition team means that his level in that subject has reached the top level in the province.

Although Yang Dun had jokingly made a promise with Xu Xiao that the two of them could be recommended to Tsinghua University or Peking University together.

But even Yang Dun himself wasn't entirely sure if he could actually make it into the provincial physics team.

Lu Yihang and Ding Mosen haven't started learning about high school competitions yet, but they can roughly imagine how difficult it would be to get into the provincial team.

Even if they were given a few more years to prepare, they might not be able to reach that level.

"I'm going to report to the provincial team in a couple of days, and I shouldn't be able to come back until after the national finals are over."

These past few days, Xu Xiao has gotten used to living in dormitory 103, and leaving it now feels a bit strange.

Xu Xiao's three roommates were also very reluctant to see him leave, but when they thought that Xu Xiao would soon represent Liaoning Province in the national finals of the math competition, they were more happy and proud of him.

"Xu Xiao, isn't your training camp at Shengjing University? My dad's name is Yang Wangchen, and he's a professor in the Physics Department at Shengjing University. I'll say hello to him later. If you need anything during your training camp, you can ask him for help."

This was the first time Xu Xiao and the others had heard this information, but considering Yang Dun's extraordinary talent in physics and the fact that he had a physics professor as his father, it seemed quite reasonable.

Unless there's something special, Xu Xiao would never easily trouble others, but having more connections is always a good thing.

"Thank you very much, Yang Dun."

"Hey, why are you being so polite? Actually, I'm quite well-known at Shengjing University. If you need anything, you can try mentioning my name."

This time, Xu Xiao didn't take it seriously. If he really said that to someone at Shengjing University—

"Do you know who I am? My buddy is Yang Dun!"

I'm afraid people will just think I'm crazy.

…………

Over the next two days, Xu Xiao packed her things in advance and prepared to report to the provincial team.

The results of the math competition were released one day later, and the results of the physics competition were also released.

To everyone's amazement, Yang Dun's results also earned him a place on the Liaoning Provincial Team for Physical Education Competition.

Unfortunately, the provincial team's training camp for the physics competition was held at Bincheng University of Technology, so Xu Xiao and Yang Dun couldn't accompany each other during the training.

While Lü Yihang and Ding Mosen were happy for their two roommates, they also felt a little disappointed.

On the one hand, the gap between their roommates has widened further.

On the other hand, for the next month, only the two of them were left in dormitory 103, relying on each other for survival.

On the day they were to report to the provincial team, Qian Feng personally escorted the four Yucai team members to Shengjing University.

Shengjing University and Bincheng University of Technology are the only two 985 universities in the province, and their overall strength is quite impressive.

However, for Xu Xiao now, a school of this level is definitely not his goal.

Even if he took the college entrance exam right now, his score would far exceed the admission score for Shengjing University.

It just so happened that all four of them were assigned to the same temporary dormitory. After settling them in, Qian Feng prepared to leave.

Before leaving, Qian Feng reminded him:

"I'm not worried about the three of you, but Xu Xiao is indeed a bit young. Please take good care of him in his daily life and make sure he's not bullied by the other members of the training team."

"Don't worry, Teacher Qian, with us here, Xu Xiao definitely won't be bullied."

"That's right, if anyone dares to bully Xu Xiao, we will definitely not let them get away with it."

Xu Xiao himself wasn't too worried about these issues. With his coach and teammates around, he was unlikely to be bullied by anyone.

In contrast, what Xu Xiao cares more about is how to continue improving her math skills.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing. Your head coach for this math competition is Ma Junfeng, a math professor at Shengjing University. His coaching style is very strict, so you must take this training camp extra seriously."

The team members didn't pay much attention to Qian Feng's reminder.

"Being strict is normal, isn't it? Can anyone be stricter than you, Mr. Qian?"

"No matter how strict the coach is, we will definitely train hard."

Xu Xiao felt that things were not so simple. A teacher who could make Qian Feng feel strict must be extremely strict.

"Be strict if you want, I'm thick-skinned enough anyway," Xu Xiaoxin said.

Xu Xiao's past life experiences had long since made her accustomed to all kinds of verbal abuse, so compared to that, the teacher's criticism really didn't matter.

After giving them a few more instructions, Qian Feng left the dormitory.

Having just arrived and with no assignments from the team, everyone seemed a bit lost and could only stay in the dormitory to study on their own for the time being.

After a while, a man who looked like a college student walked over.

"You're all members of the provincial math competition team, right? Mr. Ma wants to see you. Let me take you to his office."

The four nodded upon hearing this, and then followed the senior student over.

On the way, one of the team members couldn't help but ask:

"Um...may I ask, is there a training camp scheduled for today?"

"I don't know about those things. I'm only responsible for taking you there. Just listen to Teacher Ma for the specifics."

Hearing him say that, the four of them didn't ask any more questions, but a sense of fear of the unknown rose in their hearts.

When they arrived at Ma Junfeng's office, they found several students already waiting at the door.

The office door was closed at the time, and it was difficult to hear what the people inside were saying.

About two minutes later, the door was pushed open, and a boy wearing glasses walked out.

This boy gave off an unusual vibe; his eyes were cold, and it seemed unlikely that anything could stir his emotions.