From child prodigy to chief scientist

Hearing Xu Xiao say this, Ma Junfeng felt like he had punched cotton, causing no harm at all.

You were already in the provincial math competition team when you were eleven, yet you still say you don't have any talent?

So what exactly constitutes talent?

Does one have to start learning calculus at age 7 to qualify?

"So you have no talent at all. I have nothing more to say to you. Let's go."

Left with no other choice, Ma Junfeng simply gave up on teaching Xu Xiao about setbacks, and for once, he suffered a setback in front of his student.

"Teacher Ma... doesn't seem that strict."

As Xu Xiao left the office, she still didn't quite understand why Ma Junfeng had made He Muzhou cry.

Perhaps it was his experience of living two lives that gave him a psychological resilience far exceeding that of a high school student.

After talking with a dozen or so students, Ma Junfeng came out of the office.

"We will have a diagnostic test tomorrow morning. The difficulty level of the questions is basically the same as the first three questions in the national finals."

"The diagnostic test is only to understand your current level so that we can develop a targeted training plan."

"Even if you can't solve a single problem, I won't criticize you for it, you can rest assured about that."

This time, Ma Junfeng was much gentler. After saying all that, he told everyone to go back and rest.

On the way back, everyone was unusually silent, as if they had not yet emerged from the shadow of being criticized by Ma Junfeng.

Du Yuan, on the other hand, was not greatly affected and seemed to be unaffected.

"I'm telling you, you really don't need to care so much about what Teacher Ma says. He definitely criticized everyone, but I think he just wants us not to be arrogant. We don't need to take what he said to heart."

Du Yuan is one of the four students from Yucai School who made it into the provincial team for math competitions. His league score was 214 points, which was considered a close call for him to enter the provincial team.

But precisely because of this, Du Yuan is more relaxed about the results of the national finals, unlike He Muzhou who feels so much pressure.

Seeing this, Xu Xiao echoed:

"I think so too. Anyway, no matter what, we should just do our best and not overthink it."

He Muzhou naturally understood this principle, but the knot in his heart had not yet been untied, and he was still in a state of low spirits.

"By the way, I chatted with some friends from Bincheng No. 24 Middle School today and learned some information," Du Yuan said.

"What information? Tell me quickly."

"The top scorer in the entire province in this math competition is Tao Kewei, from Bincheng No. 24 Middle School. His score in the competition is 268 points. What's even more amazing is that he's only a freshman in high school this year and this is his first time participating in a math competition."

Everyone looked surprised upon hearing the news.

After all, even He Muzhou, who ranked second in the province, only scored 248 points.

Such a score is among the best in the entire province.

Moreover, this was achieved while a first-year high school student. It's important to know that first-year high school students have a very difficult time competing with second-year high school students in competitions, and only a very small number can make it into the provincial team.

"Tao Kewei...it seems he's the guy who entered the office before He Muzhou."

That boy left a deep impression on Xu Xiao at the time. Sure enough, the more outstanding the students are, the more extraordinary their temperament is.

"Actually, compared to Xu Xiao, Tao Kewei's grades aren't anything special. If you let Tao Kewei participate in the league when he was eleven, he probably wouldn't be able to answer a single question correctly."

"You can't compare us like that. I just started learning about these things earlier, so I still have a lot to learn from you all," Xu Xiao said modestly.

He Muzhou wasn't in the mood to joke with them, especially after learning about Tao Kewei's league performance, which further fueled his fighting spirit.

"The placement test... Ma Junfeng, I'll definitely prove to you that I'm not like what you say at all!"

He Muzhou silently set a goal in his heart, and even if the preliminary test would not determine anything, he would treat it as a real national final.

Back in his dorm, He Muzhou immediately took out the national finals materials and practice books and entered battle mode.

Even if he only has one night left to review, he will cherish every opportunity to improve himself.

The other three in the dormitory, although not as resolute as He Muzhou, also got into study mode and did not really intend to take the placement test without any preparation.

If possible, they would all hope to get higher scores on their diagnostic tests, or at least not be unable to answer a single question, otherwise it would be too embarrassing.

After glancing at the past national finals questions, Xu Xiao quickly realized his shortcomings.

"No... with my current math skills, it's still too much of a stretch to tackle the national finals questions."

Compared to the National Math Competition League, the difficulty of the questions in the National Finals has been increased in every aspect.

Although the league's questions far exceed those of normal high school math, they are ultimately based on an extension of high school knowledge.

Even if it involves some university-level knowledge, it is basically limited to basic first-year courses such as mathematical analysis and higher algebra.

The scope of the national finals exam is very detailed, with each category broken down into multiple smaller modules and examined in great depth.

To truly master the questions in the national finals, students need to be able to master the core courses of mathematics majors in their second and third years.

This is naturally a difficult task for a high school student.

It's fair to say that the most difficult challenges in the league wouldn't even be enough to warm up for the national finals.

Although Yucai had previously organized courses for the national finals, due to time constraints, only a small portion of the knowledge could be explained briefly.

After reviewing for a while, Xu Xiao realized that such cramming before the exam would basically not be very effective.

Xu Xiao could only barely understand a few of these questions by looking at the answers; for many questions, he couldn't even understand the answers, let alone solve them on his own.

The dormitory lights automatically turn off at 11 p.m.

Xu Xiao and the other two went to bed, but He Muzhou remained unmoved, taking out a lamp and continuing his battle.

The next morning, everyone got up at 6:30 sharp.

Because he stayed up too late last night, He Muzhou already had dark circles under his eyes.

If He Muzhou hadn't been worried about not having enough energy for today's exam, he almost would have stayed up all night.

After washing up and having breakfast, everyone arrived at the training location.

After a while, Ma Junfeng came in with a stack of test papers.

"The exam starts at 8:00 AM and lasts for four and a half hours. Papers will be collected at 12:30 PM. Those who finish can hand in their papers early."

Ma Junfeng timed it very precisely, and didn't give anyone a chance to see the questions in advance. He didn't hand out the test papers until 7:59.