Chapter 48: More Interesting Than Competitions

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Wang Xianghong distributed the photocopies of the answer sheets to all the students.

"This is the preliminary result. If you think there are points you can dispute, we'll collectively apply for a review with the competition organizers."

"Xu You, 108 points, which is quite impressive. Not only are you first in Ningjiang Province, but you're also ranked eighth nationally. Congratulations, Xu You, you've made it into the national math team."

Wang Xianghong read Xu You's name first.

Hearing this news, the members of the Ningjiang Province math competition team couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

"Wow, 108! That's a double national team, isn't it? Have there been others who made it into both the physics and math national teams before?"

"Xu God is awesome! Making it into the national team even in his secondary subject. What does that make us, who primarily focus on math competitions?"

"Some people even get recommended for admission twice... Can I have one of those spots? Never mind, I don't deserve it."

Hearing his score and ranking, Xu You didn't show much emotion.

Such a score was within his expectations.

However, he hadn't anticipated such a high ranking.

108 points meant he had lost 18 points.

Being able to rank eighth even with that score meant that the others didn't score as high as Xu You had expected.

After receiving his paper, the first thing Xu You focused on was where he had lost points.

The chances of regaining those points were slim.

He decided to pay close attention during the upcoming scoring lecture.

Unlike the standard college entrance examination, specific scoring standards are explained to all contestants through question analysis and scoring lectures.

Many students, disheartened by their scores, lose interest in these explanations.

Besides Xu You, no other contestants from Ningjiang Province made it to the national team.

When the results were announced,

One of the contestants looked at the final leaderboard and suddenly shouted,

"Holy moly... 126 points! Perfect score!"

"Who got a perfect score?"

"Lou Song, that kid from Ren University's affiliated school!"

"He's not human, must have cheated!"

Hearing that Lou Song had achieved a perfect score, Xu You was also surprised.

A perfect score doesn't necessarily mean one only has the capability for a perfect score.

Perhaps it's because the maximum score for this paper was only 126 points.

"Fifteen years old... a perfect score in the national math finals... sigh!"

Xu You had to admit, he was far behind Lou Song.

The gap wasn't just the apparent 18 points.

It was more like a vast chasm.

At that moment, Xu You remembered what Lou Song had said to him a few days earlier—

"We might see each other quite often in the future."

Xu You finally understood the implication of Lou Song's words.

At the award ceremony, Xu You saw Lou Song again.

Because their rankings were close, they were positioned near each other for the group photo.

After the photo, Lou Song approached Xu You.

"Impressive, making it into the national math team. Unlike me, barely managing a gold in physics."

"Out of curiosity, you didn't just wing the physics competition, did you?" Xu You asked.

"I wouldn't say I winged it, I did wear clothes to it."

Xu You was taken aback.

Was that supposed to be a joke?

Why did it feel a bit cold?

"Hehe, just killing time, I practiced with physics competitions, after all, another gold medal would enrich my resume. You participated in the math competition for the same reason, right?"

Although Xu You didn't dedicate much effort to math competitions,

He had indeed studied day and night.

If he had been as casual as Lou Song...

He might not even have made it to the national finals.

"Have you decided where to apply for direct admission? If I'm not mistaken, it should be the Physics Department at Ji University, right?"

Most top physics competition participants choose Ji University's Physics Department.

"I haven't signed the agreement yet, but I'm now leaning towards Ji University's Science Experimental Class."

Lou Song was surprised.

"The Science Experimental Class? That's He Qing College, right? That's pretty free. Indeed suitable for someone like you, who's made it into both the physics and math national teams. Not many like you come along. It's good, we might have the chance to attend math classes together."

He Qing College, named after Ji University's former president, He Qing, was established as an experimental talent cultivation program.

The advantage is its freedom; students can choose any subject they wish to learn, enriching their foundational knowledge.

However, it also has a clear downside.

Initially, there's no definite direction.

It might cause students to lose themselves.

For Xu You, this high degree of freedom was very suitable, allowing

 him to make the most of the university's resources.

When Lou Song mentioned attending math classes together,

Xu You suddenly remembered something.

"Right, could I attend Professor Wei's classes then?"

This was one of the reasons Xu You was inclined to choose Ji University.

He was eager to learn from a distinguished scholar like Professor Wei.

"Of course, but Professor Wei's classes are very popular now, you have to get there early to secure a good seat."

"Yeah, Professor Wei is..."

Suddenly, Xu You realized something from Lou Song's words.

"You... you've already attended Professor Wei's classes?"

"Yeah, I got direct admission to Ji University last year, so I started auditing classes there. Since I was already admitted, I had nothing else to do, so I thought it'd be interesting to start university classes early."

Due to policy, even though competition participants are recommended for direct admission, they must wait until graduation from high school to complete university enrollment procedures.

Lou Song, having made it into the national math team in his second year of high school, had to wait another year to become an official student at Ji University.

Knowing Lou Song had already enjoyed a year of university life at Ji University,

Xu You felt a bit envious.

Even compared to university studies,

Xu You felt that high school competitions were less interesting.

Even facing the hardest competition problems, at their core, they were just about solving carefully designed questions by teachers.

It wasn't as interesting as studying and conducting research in university.

With this thought, Xu You decided.

Once he returned, he would prepare to audit university classes.

After all, the national team training wouldn't take up much of his time.

It might be better to spend the majority of his time in university, where he might even get involved in research earlier.

As for returning to high school to aim for the top spot in the national college entrance examination,

Xu You felt it was not only meaningless but also uninteresting.

After all, the college entrance examination was just another standardized test.

The ultimate goal was to get into a good university.

Since he was already recommended for direct admission, why bother with the college entrance exam?

Xu You didn't see the experience as essential.

And as for the honor of being the top scorer in the college entrance exam, Xu You didn't care at all.

Even being the first in the CPhO didn't bring him much joy.

Let alone the less prestigious title of top scorer in the college entrance exam.

After the award ceremony,

The students who made it into the national team were once again surrounded by recruiters from elite schools and Ji University.

Despite only being eighth, Xu You was the first to catch the recruiters' attention.

Xu You realized the situation was not good, but it was too late to escape.

These recruiters, whom Xu You had imagined would be somewhat aloof,

Were excessively enthusiastic when facing him.

Xu You couldn't help but sigh.

Sometimes, having outstanding results can be a hassle.

(End of Chapter)