Chapter 40: It May Be an Illusion

Learning that Xu Youzhen was also a member of the provincial team for the Physics Olympiad, and moreover, the top scorer in the entire province, everyone was incredibly astounded.

At this moment, they finally understood why Xu Youzhen held such an attitude towards the Mathematics Olympiad.

Compared to the Physics Olympiad, the Mathematics Olympiad was really just a secondary focus for Xu Youzhen.

Upon learning of Xu Youzhen's successful entry into the Mathematics Olympiad provincial team,

The "Ningjiang Physics Olympiad Sub-team" chat group immediately exploded.

[Huang Qingzhong: Holy shit, Youzhen took some time off to attend the Mathematics Olympiad selection exam and easily made it into the provincial team. This is absolutely true, a classmate from the Math Olympiad just mentioned it in the group.]

[Wei Lan: It's indeed true, I'm also in the group. It's said he handed in his paper an hour and a half early, I really don't know when Youzhen prepared for the Math Olympiad. I'm really too weak, focusing on only one subject and still can't catch up to Youzhen.]

[Dong Ming: Our 24th High School's journalist... ah, no, student also confirmed this news. Looking at Youzhen's momentum, he's aiming for gold medals in both Physics and Math Olympiads.]

[Qu Tianxu: Be bold, dual national team is Youzhen's limit.]

[Wei Lan: I have a question, if Youzhen gets into both Physics and Math national teams, doesn't that mean one less direct admission spot?]

[Huang Qingzhong: Hmm... that's actually a good question, I wonder if there's been a precedent for this before.]

Hu Shucheng was shocked upon hearing the news of Xu Youzhen joining the Math Olympiad provincial team.

Xu Youzhen was sitting right beside him and hadn't mentioned a word about this.

"Xu Youzhen, you made it into the Math Olympiad provincial team? Why didn't you tell me?"

Xu Youzhen was also startled.

"Is that so? The results came out so quickly?"

Xu Youzhen's expression was very sincere, and Hu Shucheng could tell that Xu Youzhen genuinely didn't know.

After opening WeChat and seeing the message from the Math Olympiad teacher, Xu Youzhen finally learned about his admission to the provincial team.

"Ah, it really came out. I didn't check my phone just now, how did you all know?"

"It was mentioned in the Ningjiang Physics Olympiad Sub-team group chat, didn't you see the group messages?"

"Oh, I've muted that group because it gets 99+ messages in no time."

At some point, the name of the group chat had been changed to "Youzhen's Fan Club."

Hu Shucheng also entered the group, joining in the admiration for Xu Youzhen.

[Hu Shucheng: Can you believe it? Youzhen was the last to know this news. But it's not like Youzhen took the exam without any preparation; he crammed for the Math Olympiad just last night.]

[Huang Qingzhong: Sss~ Youzhen really is terrifying, it's breathtaking. After Youzhen triumphantly returns from the Physics Olympiad, he will conquer the Math Olympiad as well!]

Of course, chatting in the group was just a brief relaxation during their break from classes.

Once the class bell rang, everyone put away their phones and entered a state of study.

...

Thus, the team members spent a fulfilling four weeks together.

On October 20th, two days before the start of the national finals for the Physics Olympiad, the Ningjiang Physics Olympiad provincial team prepared to depart for the competition site.

This year's Physics Olympiad national finals were held at Xingcheng Experimental High School in Xiangnan Province.

After a four-hour flight, the team members arrived at Xingcheng Huanghua International Airport and took a bus to a hotel near Xingcheng No. 1 High School.

To allow the team members to adjust their condition, the team leader specially arranged for everyone to arrive in Xingcheng two days early, giving them ample time to adapt and prepare.

On the 21st, the team members rested and adjusted in the hotel and conducted some light training.

On the 22nd and 23rd, the participants registered and went to the examination venue to familiarize themselves with the environment.

On the 24th, the 38th National High School Physics Olympiad Finals officially began.

All the effort over these days was for this crucial final exam.

The mood of the team members was a mix of excitement and nervousness.

After all, scoring in the top 50 would grant them a direct admission to Jingbei University, avoiding the need for the national college entrance

 examination.

This is virtually the ultimate goal for every Olympiad participant.

Upon entering the examination hall, Xu Youzhen felt remarkably calm.

Thanks to his efforts over these days, Xu Youzhen's level in physics had reached a high of 208 points in the system.

According to the system's introduction, a score of 100 points is equivalent to a perfect score in the college entrance examination.

As for scores higher than that, there was no reference point for comparison yet.

But Xu Youzhen felt that 208 points shouldn't be considered too bad.

In fact, Xu Youzhen felt no pressure about the exam itself.

He simply wanted to enjoy the process of the competition and perform to the best of his ability.

At 9 a.m., the exam officially began.

The theoretical exam lasted from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., a total of three hours.

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

After briefly scanning the paper, Xu Youzhen pretty much knew what to expect.

Although he hadn't looked closely, he believed he had encountered all types of questions before.

With a steady mindset, Xu Youzhen carefully read the first question.

The first question was an optics problem, similar to the types he had practiced before.

Twenty minutes later, Xu Youzhen easily solved the first question.

The second question was about orbital mechanics.

It had seven sub-questions and appeared quite daunting.

However, it essentially tested the Hohmann transfer orbit, and brute-force calculation was sufficient.

Due to the significant amount of calculation, Xu Youzhen spent 25 minutes on this question.

The last three questions covered topics such as collision problem calculations, Boltzmann distribution, and ferromagnetic versus paramagnetic materials, among others.

These topics involved a vast amount of theoretical knowledge and were quite complex.

But for Xu Youzhen, who had thoroughly studied dozens of textbooks and practice problems,

These were relatively standard question types.

Xu Youzhen managed to solve each question within 30 minutes.

After finishing the last question, Xu Youzhen checked the time and realized he had a whole hour left.

At this moment, many other students in the examination hall were struggling.

The difficulty of the questions, unstable mental states, and unfamiliarity with the environment were among the various factors making the exam challenging for them.

Especially for those without a clear approach to each question, despair was setting in.

Xu Youzhen had a faint feeling that he might score full marks in the theory section.

But reason made Xu Youzhen calm down again.

He knew that it might be an illusion.

After all, even in the preliminary and semifinal rounds, Xu Youzhen had not achieved full marks.

This sense of reason led Xu Youzhen to spend the remaining time checking his work and calculations.

At 12 p.m., the theoretical exam officially ended.

After handing in their papers, everyone could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Regardless of their performance, this critical theoretical exam was finally over.

Even though there was still the experimental exam to face, its pressure was significantly less compared to the theoretical exam.

Of course, some students were disheartened by their performance, showing signs of disappointment.

(End of Chapter)