From child prodigy to chief scientist

"Hmm...this looks kind of familiar?"

Xu Xiao wasn't quite sure why she had this feeling.

After thinking about it for a while, he still felt that it was unlikely that he really knew the other person.

"It must be my imagination, or maybe she looks a bit like someone I know."

After all, the other party was from another provincial team, and there was really no way they had any interaction before.

The girl's gaze lingered on Xu Xiao's face for a while longer, most likely drawn to Xu Xiao's overly youthful appearance and short stature.

However, she quickly withdrew her gaze and did not show much interest in Xu Xiao.

While waiting for the opening ceremony to begin, the team members chatted about the various provincial teams.

"The Jiangsu and Zhejiang provincial teams are indeed strong. Last time, a total of 12 people entered the national team. This time, I estimate that there will be no less than 10."

"The Shanghai team is not bad either, especially Ge Xijie. He won the national gold medal in his first competition last year. He scored 298 points in this league and has a good chance of winning the national finals."

"You all know Pan Hong from Doucheng Middle School, right? She's a first-year high school girl, only 15 years old this year, and she actually scored 300 points in the league. It seems she's the only one to get a perfect score in this year's league."

"That's really impressive, but the difficulty level is completely different in the national finals. For girls, let alone getting first place, it's basically impossible for them to even make it into the national team."

At this moment, the number of girls in the entire lecture hall was less than one-tenth; the hall was almost entirely filled with boys.

According to the previous national team list, out of a total of sixty spots for guaranteed admission, there was only one girl among them.

Just then, Xu Xiao suddenly remembered something.

"Pan Hong... Could it really be that mathematician Pan Hong?"

After some recollection, Xu Xiao finally understood why she had felt that sense of familiarity.

In his previous life, Xu Xiao had seen a news report about a mathematician named Pan Hong who had successfully solved the Kakeya conjecture, a problem that had puzzled the mathematics community for many years, and was considered the most promising Chinese mathematician to be the first to win the Fields Medal.

Of course, people of Chinese descent who are not citizens of this country, such as Shing-Tung Yau and Terence Tao, are not included in this discussion.

Xu Xiao had seen Pan Hong's photos before, and she did indeed bear some resemblance to the girl he had just met.

Given that they share the same name, look similar, and have exceptional mathematical talent, Xu Xiao believes the possibility of mistaken identity is extremely low.

To further confirm her guess, Xu Xiao asked Du Yuan, who was sitting next to her.

"Is the Pan Hong you're talking about the short-haired girl sitting over there?"

"Yes, it's her. What, you know her too?"

"Oh, no, I'm just a little curious."

"Haha, she is indeed terrifying, but when she was eleven years old, she certainly wasn't as powerful as you are now."

Once she was certain she hadn't mistaken someone for someone else, Xu Xiao felt inexplicably excited.

It wasn't that he had any strange thoughts about Pan Hong, but rather that he really wanted to solve the Kakeya Conjecture before Pan Hong in this lifetime.

In that case, I would have a very good chance of becoming a Fields Medal candidate.

"It's a pity I didn't memorize the proof process of my conjecture in my past life... Sigh, I won't think about that anymore."

Xu Xiao, at this point, has no idea what the Kakeya conjecture is, let alone how to solve it.

Instead of thinking about such unrealistic things, we should be more down-to-earth and try our best to achieve good results in the national finals.

After all the students had registered, the opening ceremony began quickly.

The opening program featured a wonderful performance by the Xingcheng No.1 Middle School Symphony Orchestra.

At this moment, most of the team members were not in the mood to appreciate the performance. They simply clapped politely, and some students even used the time to read books.

After the warm-up performance, the host went on stage and introduced the leaders and guests present.

However, during the national anthem segment, the team members were very enthusiastic, standing up and singing the national anthem with solemn expressions.

At this moment, Xu Xiao's heart was filled with extraordinary emotions. In his previous life, he had lived a mediocre life, leaving behind too many regrets.

But in this life, he is completely different, and he should have the opportunity to make some small contributions to this country with his own abilities.

After speeches from all parties, the opening announcement, and a group photo, the opening ceremony finally came to an end.

"We'll have one last training session this afternoon, and everyone should get a good rest tonight to prepare for tomorrow's exam."

As the national finals approached, Ma Junfeng became more relaxed in his demands on his team members.

At this point, there's no point in continuing with the same high-intensity training as usual; getting into the right mindset is more important.

After the opening ceremony, the team members went to the canteen in groups for lunch.

Meanwhile, on the Shanghai delegation's side, several students were chatting about something.

"Did you see that? The Liaoning provincial team actually has a kid participating this year. He looks about the same age as my younger brother who's in elementary school."

"I saw it too. I heard that he was the third place in Liaoning Province in the league, and he scored 246 points in the league."

"This kid is really prodigious, but unfortunately his score is still too low. He'll probably only get a bronze medal at best in the national finals."

"Yeah, he's still way behind our Jay Chou. He's barely made it into the provincial team."

Ge Xijie, known as "God Jie," listened to the others' discussions and smiled slightly.

When Ge Xijie saw Xu Xiao just now, he was indeed a little surprised. He didn't expect that such a young child could enter the national finals.

He simply didn't think that Xu Xiao posed any threat to him in the present day; he merely regarded it as an amusing incident.

"That Pan Hong from Jiangsu and Zhejiang is quite something. He didn't lose a single point during the league, and he even scored two points more than Brother Jie."

"Don't worry, league points aren't very useful. I admit Pan Hong is really good, but her potential definitely can't compare to Brother Jie's."

"You can't say that. The exam hasn't even started yet, so anything can happen."

Despite saying that, Ge Xijie still felt that Pan Hong was inferior to him.

During the league season, Ge Xijie didn't take it too seriously. He didn't check his answers after finishing the questions and handed in his paper early.

With his abilities, even if he answers one less question, he's guaranteed to make the provincial team.

The two points he lost in the league were most likely due to a skipped step in some part of the game; it was the kind of situation where he would never have lost points if he had been a little more focused.

For Ge Xijie, the goal of this national finals is not just to enter the national team and get a guaranteed admission, but to win first place and prove that he is the most outstanding student in this year's math competition.