Chapter 34: You Finally Seem Human This Time

"Alright, there's an exam tomorrow, so everyone can go home early today to rest."

With the last class ended, Hu Zheng also canceled today's evening self-study session.

Even students who wanted to ask Hu Zheng questions were turned away.

After all, the primary purpose of this ten-day training camp was selection.

It aimed to assess students' ability to absorb new knowledge under high pressure.

Only in the subsequent provincial team training would Hu Zheng do his utmost to help the team members improve.

The next morning, the students arrived at Physics Building 301, ready to start the selection exam.

This exam only covered the theoretical part, with a difficulty level exactly the same as the latest national finals.

There were 5 major questions, each worth 64 points, for a total of 320 points.

The exam lasted from 9 a.m. to noon, a total of 3 hours.

The difficulty of the selection exam was a step up from the rematch.

Even those who scored high in the rematch might not perform as well in this selection exam.

Due to the importance of this exam,

All electronic devices, including students' mobile phones, were collected.

Four teachers were arranged to proctor the exam, and four surveillance cameras recorded the entire process.

A jammer was also installed in the exam room to block all electronic signals.

The level of strictness was on par with, if not greater than, that of the rematch exam.

Once the exam papers were distributed, everyone started to work on the questions seriously.

Hu Zheng personally proctored the exam, observing the students' answering states.

As the head coach of the Ningjiang Province Physics Olympiad team, Hu Zheng knew that it was impossible to cover much content in just ten days.

If these kids could successfully solve one major question, they were considered quite impressive.

Even failing to solve any questions was perfectly normal.

Among these kids, Xu You and Hu Shucheng left the deepest impression on Hu Zheng.

Compared to Xu You, who was first in the rematch, Hu Zheng had higher hopes for Hu Shucheng.

Hu Shucheng had made it into the provincial team in the last Physics Olympiad and won a national silver medal.

This year, Hu Shucheng had matured even more and had a strong chance of aiming for a national gold or even the national team.

As for Xu You, Hu Zheng felt that this kid wasn't the type with exceptionally outstanding talent.

But Xu You was extremely diligent and always seemed to have limitless energy.

As for who would go further, Hu Zheng couldn't say for sure.

"It seems that our school has found two gems this time."

Facing these five questions of national finals difficulty,

Many students didn't have the slightest idea how to approach them.

It was like students who scored full marks in middle school physics trying to tackle high school problems.

It seemed only a step away but was actually insurmountable.

Even after dedicating over 100 hours to studying physics Olympiad content during these ten days,

For the national finals, that time was still a bit too short.

Even Xu You felt the difficulty of the questions.

Two hours in, Xu You had only managed to complete three major questions.

"I can't... I have no idea how to approach these last two major questions."

Xu You was certain that Hu Zheng had not covered these types of questions in the past ten days.

But that wasn't an excuse for not being able to solve them.

Not all questions had to be taught by a teacher before one could tackle them.

In a moment of anxiety, Xu You hesitated whether to enter a deep learning state to tackle the remaining questions.

After a brief hesitation, Xu You decided against it.

Worried about being recorded in an abnormal state by the proctors and cameras was secondary.

More importantly, Xu You didn't want to resort to such "cheating" tactics in a major exam.

Deep learning state should be reserved for studying.

If he truly couldn't outperform others, then Xu You would have to accept being outmatched.

Three hours later, the selection exam ended.

Handing in his paper, Xu You looked somewhat dejected.

He had no clear solutions for the last two major questions.

He could only write down some formulas to avoid leaving the paper blank.

This was the first time Xu You had felt such frustration in an exam.

But in reality, Xu You's performance was already very good.

More than half of the students couldn't ensure they solved even one major question correctly.

"Feels like I've learned nothing in these ten days, still can't solve the problems."

"This is so despairing, now I understand how those who score single digits in physics feel."

"Time to pack up and head home."

Hu Shucheng also wasn't too pleased with his performance on the exam.

"Time was too tight, I hardly looked at the last major question, and only wrote half of the second to last one. How about you, Xu You?"

"I probably

 won't score much on the last two questions."

Hearing that Xu You also struggled, Hu Shucheng felt slightly better.

"Xu You, you finally seem human this time. I thought you could almost score full marks on this, then you'd really represent China in the IPhO."

Hearing Hu Shucheng's words, Xu You smiled.

"What do you mean 'seem human'? I am human, you're the one who seems like a person."

"You don't know? Everyone in our school who participates in the physics Olympiad sees you as a godly figure. Starting physics Olympiad in sophomore year and scoring first in the province in junior year. Those who started in junior high are going to be so frustrated by you."

After chatting with Hu Shucheng, Xu You's mood improved somewhat.

Indeed, Xu You's achievements were enough to make most people envious.

Even if the sense of failure from being unable to solve problems made Xu You somewhat disheartened,

That was one of the joys of learning.

If the journey had been smooth sailing all along,

It would indeed become tedious.

With only about forty participants in the selection exam,

The teachers were able to grade the papers quickly.

In the afternoon, the results were announced.

Hu Zheng didn't reveal the exact scores but directly announced the names of those who made it into the provincial team.

"The following students, whose names I will call out, will become official members of the provincial team—"

At this moment, everyone held their breath, anxiously watching Hu Zheng.

"Xu You, Hu Shucheng, Huang Qingzhong, Dong Ming, Qu Tianxu, Wei Lan..."

Hearing his name, Xu You finally felt a weight lift off his shoulders.

Indeed, if Xu You found the questions difficult, others likely struggled even more.

Everyone knew that the order in which Hu Zheng read the names was the ranking.

Even with two major questions left unanswered, Xu You still ranked first.

However, Xu You felt that his score in the selection exam might not be the highest.

Xu You silently resolved to work even harder in the remaining time.

"Besides the fifteen students whose names were read, the rest can go back to your rooms to pack up. Don't be discouraged; this is not a failure, nor does it mark the end of your learning journey. You are all excellent kids, and I hope you continue to love physics as you do now. Your future holds limitless possibilities."

(End of Chapter)