From child prodigy to chief scientist

Xu Lang escorted Xu Xiao to Tsinghua University. Yu Guilan was originally going to come along too, but her class was too crowded, so Xu Lang had to take Xu Xiao there by himself.

Upon arriving at Tsinghua University, they followed the directions of the campus staff to the registration area near the West Gate.

A banner reading "2005 China National Mathematical Olympiad Training Team" was hanging there, and some students were already lining up to register.

Although Xu Xiao had never spoken to most of them, he was able to recognize the students' identities thanks to his powerful memory.

After verifying Xu Xiao's identity and CMO award certificate, Xu Xiao received a supplies package and a temporary dormitory key.

The supplies package includes the training manual, handouts, and practice questions for this training camp, as well as a meal card with pre-paid meal fees and an IC phone card.

In this era, many students do not have mobile phones and can only make calls by using public phone booths.

With these items in hand, the two arrived at Xu Xiao's temporary dormitory.

Like Yucai, this is a four-person dormitory, but it has a bunk bed with a desk underneath, so the accommodation is noticeably better.

Two students had already arrived. Upon seeing this, Xu Lang took out the local specialties he had prepared and distributed them to the other students with a smile.

Since his son was much younger than the other students, Xu Lang hoped that everyone could take care of Xu Xiao a little, and at least not bully him.

"Thank you, Uncle. Xu Xiao is a celebrity among our math competition students. We all want to learn from him."

"Yes, to get a perfect score on the CMO exam at the age of 11, we've never seen such an amazing student before."

Seeing that everyone had a good impression of Xu Xiao, Xu Lang felt much more at ease.

Just then, another student arrived at the dormitory.

Upon seeing his face, Xu Xiao's gaze paused slightly.

Because he not only had an impression of this person, but the impression was very deep.

It was Ge Xijie from Shanghai.

He was once considered the student with the best chance of winning first place in the CMO competition, but in the end he lost to Xu Xiao and Pan Hong.

During the award ceremony, Xu Xiao could clearly sense that Ge Xijie looked very dejected, probably because he was very dissatisfied with his performance.

Upon seeing Xu Xiao in the dormitory, Ge Xijie appeared even more surprised. He hesitated whether to greet Xu Xiao, but ultimately avoided looking at her.

Actually, he didn't dislike Xu Xiao; in fact, he admired Xu Xiao quite a bit.

Upon seeing Xu Xiao, Ge Xijie was immediately reminded of his previous competition results, which gave him the feeling that old wounds had been reopened.

Xu Xiao keenly noticed Ge Xijie's reaction, but didn't pay much attention to it.

Since everyone is only living together temporarily, he just needs to do his own thing.

After settling Xu Xiao in, Xu Lang left.

After dinner, the team members arrived at the training location as required by the team to prepare for the training mobilization meeting.

The head coach of this year's national math competition team is Fei Ran, a man around 40 years old, from Tsinghua University.

Although Fei Ran is only an associate professor, he is very good at coaching math competitions and has led teams to win the IMO championship more than once.

At the meeting, Fei Ran mainly talked about the upcoming training schedule and the discipline during the training period.

The entire training schedule was quite intense, as the first round of selections had to be conducted within ten days, making each day of training crucial.

Xu Xiao didn't feel any pressure about this, as he had already adapted to this intensity when he participated in the provincial team training camp before.

"Okay, if there's nothing else, everyone should go back and rest early. We'll start training at 8 a.m. sharp tomorrow morning, so don't be late."

Just as the team members were walking out, Fei Ran added another sentence.

"Xu Xiao, Pan Hong, please wait a moment."

Upon hearing this, both of them stopped and turned to look at Fei Ran with some confusion.

After all the other students had left, Fei Ran whispered:

"I didn't need to talk to you two about anything else, I just wanted to ask if you've decided on your college application choices yet?"

During this period, some of the students who were admitted to the National Academy through the guaranteed admission program have already signed admission agreements with Tsinghua University or Yenching University, while others have not yet signed agreements.

Previously, the admissions officer from Tsinghua University had specifically mentioned this matter to Fei Ran, hoping to leverage Fei Ran's position as the head coach of the national math competition team to attract as many students as possible, especially those who ranked highly.

Therefore, Fei Ran specifically sought out Xu Xiao and Pan Hong, both of whom achieved perfect scores in the CMO category.

Upon hearing Fei Ran's question, Xu Xiao immediately understood what Fei Ran meant.

Since she had already decided to go to Peking University, Xu Xiao certainly couldn't say that she wanted to go to Tsinghua University instead of saying so.

But wouldn't it be a bit inappropriate to tell a professor from Tsinghua University that I want to go to Yenching University?

While Xu Xiao was hesitating, Pan Hong answered first:

"Teacher, Tsinghua University is indeed very good, but I might still prefer to go to Yenching University."

Seeing Pan Hong's answer, Fei Ran also seemed somewhat helpless and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Xu Xiao wasn't as honest as Pan Hong; after thinking it over, she resorted to delaying tactics.

"Teacher, I'd like to decide on this after the training camp."

After listening to their answers, Fei Ran nodded and said:

"It's alright, I'm extending this sincere invitation to you on behalf of Tsinghua University."

"Our Tsinghua University can provide you with the best possible conditions. Anyway, you haven't signed the final agreement yet. If you have any ideas, you can communicate with me at any time."

"Of course, you don't need to feel any pressure. Whether you choose Tsinghua University or Peking University, it won't affect the upcoming training camp and selection. You can rest assured about that."

After saying all this, Fei Ran let the two of them leave.

Watching them leave, Fei Ran still felt a little regretful.

"Sigh... I'm afraid the two most outstanding math students in this year's class will both go to Yenching University."

Pan Hong's very direct answer goes without saying, and although Xu Xiao did not give a clear answer, Fei Ran had already heard that Xu Xiao had been getting very close to Yuan Jiyang before.

Barring any major unforeseen circumstances, neither of them will likely choose Tsinghua University.

Fortunately, Ge Xijie has already signed an agreement with Tsinghua University. Although his mathematical talent is not as exaggerated as Xu Xiao's and Pan Hong's, he is at least a very promising talent.

Xu Xiao and Pan Hong walked out side by side, but neither of them spoke to each other.