From child prodigy to chief scientist

While Xu Xiao and Yuan Jiyang were chatting, Ma Junfeng and several other members of the Liaoning provincial team were waiting outside the door.

They were definitely worried about letting Xu Xiao go back by himself later, especially after Xu Xiao won the CMO full score championship, he became a national treasure in everyone's eyes.

Seeing that Xu Xiao finally came out, they went back to the hotel room with her.

The day after the closing ceremony, the coaching staff and players of the Liaoning Provincial Math Competition Team boarded a plane back to Shengjing.

They achieved their pre-competition goals very successfully, and even exceeded them in some aspects.

Xu Xiao's perfect score goes without saying, and apart from Xu Xiao, the other members of the team also performed very well, winning more gold and silver medals than in previous years.

Meanwhile, with the official release of the CMO results, some media outlets began reporting the news.

Information dissemination in this era was far less developed than it would be twenty years later, with internet penetration only around 5%. Most people still relied on television or newspapers to obtain the latest news.

Those few netizens mostly obtained information through portal websites, forums, blogs and other platforms, and the speed of information dissemination was far slower than that of later social media platforms.

Nevertheless, people still engaged in heated discussions after seeing information related to CMOs.

"Is it true that an eleven-year-old boy got a perfect score in the CMO exam and was admitted to Tsinghua University without taking the entrance exam?"

"It seems that China is about to produce a mathematical genius who may very well win the Fields Medal in the future."

"Eleven years old and already this good? My son is twelve and can't even do fraction multiplication and division. I'm going to give him a good beating when I get home tonight."

Xu Xiao, who was sitting on the plane at the time, had no idea that she had become the focus of everyone's discussion.

He was still thinking about his choice of university and major.

Xu Xiao prefers to choose the mathematics major at Yenching University.

After all, mathematics is his strongest subject right now, and in terms of mathematics majors, Yenching University is indeed better.

As long as the conditions offered by Peking University are satisfactory enough, the matter can basically be settled.

After a flight of more than three hours, the plane landed smoothly at Shengjing Airport.

Upon exiting the airport, Xu Xiao saw Xu Lang and Yu Guilan waiting outside.

They had already learned of Xu Xiao's return and made a special trip to Shengjing Airport early to welcome their son home.

Upon seeing Xu Xiao, Yu Guilan excitedly gave him a hug, making Xu Xiao a little embarrassed.

In his memory, Yu Guilan had never hugged him like this before, since he could remember.

However, this is quite normal, since that generation tends to be more reserved in expressing their feelings and is not used to doing so.

The fact that Yu Guilan did this today only shows that she was truly overjoyed.

In contrast, Xu Lang was much more restrained. He was too embarrassed to hug Xu Xiao, and only patted Xu Xiao on the shoulder, but his excitement was also evident.

"Teacher Ma, thank you for your meticulous guidance of Xu Xiao, which has enabled him to achieve such excellent results."

"You're too kind. Xu Xiao's achievements are mainly due to his own talent and hard work. I only did what I was supposed to do."

After thanking Ma Junfeng, Xu Lang and Yu Guilan left with Xu Xiao.

Although there are still some things to take care of at Yucai, they are not particularly urgent.

Since Xu Xiao went to Yucai School, he has only been able to go home once every two weeks.

After Xu Xiao participated in the competition, they had even fewer opportunities to meet.

Especially after they went to the provincial team for closed training, they could only contact each other by phone occasionally.

Xu Xiao has now secured admission to Tsinghua University and Peking University through the competition, and can finally go home and rest for a while.

Over the next few days, Xu Xiao thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with her family.

Such days were indeed enjoyable, but after a while, Xu Xiao still felt a sense of emptiness inside.

For Xu Xiao now, not studying is a very uncomfortable thing, as if something is missing in her life.

While receiving a guaranteed admission offer is certainly cause for celebration, it is far from the end of the learning journey.

Coincidentally, Yucai School also contacted Xu Xiao's family to discuss some issues related to university admissions.

Normally, to be eligible for university admission, one needs to complete high school and obtain a high school diploma.

Many of the students who participated in competitions in their first or second year of high school and gained admission through direct admission only chose to enroll in university after completing high school.

Yucai School hopes that Xu Xiao will enroll in university later, since Xu Xiao is indeed too young.

If Xu Xiao goes to university too early, everyone is a little worried that he might not be able to adapt to university life.

Of course, if Xu Xiao wishes to start university life next year, the school will do its best to provide support.

As long as Xu Xiao can pass all the high school academic proficiency tests, Yucai can issue Xu Xiao a high school diploma.

After learning about Yucai's suggestion, Xu Lang and Yu Guilan were also more inclined to let Xu Xiao study for at least another year of high school before going to university.

Even though Xu Xiao had already fully met the requirements for graduating from high school, they still hoped that Xu Xiao could grow up a bit more before going to university.

University is like a miniature society, where many things are completely different from high school, and interpersonal relationships and competition for interests are much more complex.

Xu Xiao himself had no such worries at all. Given his actual mental age, he was perfectly capable of handling these issues with ease.

Now that he has already secured a place in the university through the guaranteed admission program, there is really no need for him to wait another year.

Seeing Xu Xiao's insistence, Xu Lang and Yu Guilan chose to respect Xu Xiao's idea.

So, after resting at home for less than a week, Xu Xiao returned to Yucai with Xu Lang by his side.

Actually, Xu Xiao wasn't too worried about the high school academic proficiency test.

He knew that the exam was actually quite easy, and with a little study, there was virtually no chance of failing.

Even if Xu Xiao studies at home, he can handle it perfectly well.

The learning environment at school is better than at home.

Anyway, the teachers at school won't care about her, so Xu Xiao will be able to manage her time freely.

The academic proficiency test has quite a few subjects. Even science students still need to pass exams in humanities subjects such as politics, history, and geography.

Once Xu Xiao has finished reviewing, she can then study university-level material in advance.

On her way back to Yucai, Xu Xiao heard that familiar voice in her head again.