Lin Zhixia was brimming with energy and ambition. Clutching the landline receiver, she declared resolutely, "Jiang Yubai, I'll bring back the gold medal from this competition for you to play with."
Jiang Yubai humored her, agreeing, "I really haven't played with one before—a gold medal from the National Mathematical Olympiad."
"Wait for me to return," Lin Zhixia made a pact with him, "I'll treat you to a meal at the school cafeteria."
Jiang Yubai wasn't particularly fond of the school cafeteria. But he didn't want to admit to being picky about food. Instead, he invited Lin Zhixia, "I'll treat you to a meal at my house."
Lin Zhixia suddenly remembered the "museum pass" Jiang Yubai had given her. She asked with immense anticipation, "When can I visit your home?"
Jiang Yubai replied, "Whenever you're free."
Lin Zhixia bounced on the spot, "Alright, Jiang Yubai, see you next month."
Jiang Yubai responded, "See you next month."
Before ending the call, Lin Zhixia casually added, "Tomorrow at six in the evening, I'll call you on time, okay?"
"Okay," Jiang Yubai agreed succinctly.
The atmosphere at the dining table was quite subdued. Jiang Yubai tucked his phone into his pocket and picked up a piece of unagi roll with his chopsticks. The roll contained cucumber, eel, and avocado, wrapped in seaweed and sprinkled with white sesame seeds. He thought Lin Zhixia would probably like this dish. He was already secretly planning future lunches. He hoped Lin Zhixia would enjoy herself at his home.
His uncle suddenly asked him, "Jiang Yubai, were you on a call with Lin Zhixia?"
Jiang Yubai admitted, "Yes."
He had waited nearly two days to receive Lin Zhixia's call. He had pressed the answer button without hesitation, almost forgetting that his parents and uncle were still beside him. He carefully weighed their conversation and believed his words hadn't strayed from what his mom and dad usually expected of him.
His mom said with a smile, "You and Lin Zhixia get along very well."
Uncle picked up his transparent wine glass, "Sister-in-law, listen, I've met Lin Zhixia. That child has an IQ of 174—she's no ordinary girl. Our Xiao Jiang being friends with her... it's like me associating with young masters in classical music. We maintain a pure, unblemished relationship that mutually benefits each other. Xiao Jiang's willingness to humbly seek advice from others probably comes from learning it from me."
Dad retorted, "Is that so?"
Uncle set down his glass and immediately corrected himself, "It's more likely something Xiao Jiang realized on his own."
Dad leaned back slightly in his chair, quietly observing Jiang Yubai. After a moment, he said gently, "We're happy to see you getting along well with your classmates since you and Lin Zhixia are good friends..."
Dad's fingers circled the rim of his wine glass as he paused mid-sentence—a relatively rare occurrence. He was always logical and methodical when educating his son. But tonight, he glanced sideways at his wife.
Jiang Yubai's mother took up the responsibility. She dabbed her mouth with a napkin and reminded him tactfully, "Jiang Yubai, you're eleven years old. In a few months, you'll be twelve—a young man. When you're friends with a girl, you must understand that you're of different genders. You need to respect her and maintain proper boundaries and limits."
Jiang Yubai nodded.Uncle lightly tapped his wine glass with his fingertip: "Yes, grasp the boundaries, Xiao Jiang."
Jiang Yubai responded readily: "No problem."
"That's good," Mom said, "Dad and Mom both believe in you."
The guidance from Dad, Mom, and Uncle sparked Jiang Yubai's awareness of gender boundaries. Although he had always held himself to the "standard of a real man" since childhood, he often overlooked the "issue of boundaries between boys and girls." Fortunately, he and Lin Zhixia had maintained a profound friendship, respecting and encouraging each other, never offending one another—he had completely forgotten how his self-esteem had been shattered by Lin Zhixia when he was nine years old.
At 8:30 that night, Jiang Yubai calmly fell asleep.
At the same time, Lin Zhixia turned off the light and got into bed.
Lin Zhixia held Little Penguin with her left hand, lifted the blanket with her right hand, and lay down in the soft bed. She silently repeated Jiang Yubai's words—the Universe is black, but she wasn't afraid of the Universe. She believed her fear stemmed from the unknown. For example, "dark matter" is an invisible substance in astrophysical theory, widely distributed in space. If "dark matter" truly existed and Lin Zhixia could clearly see it, then the Universe in her eyes would be a different, magnificent, and dazzling spectacle.
Darkness and light are relative concepts. As long as Lin Zhixia had light in her heart, even the pitch-black night would be bright.
Lin Zhixia no longer retreated or felt timid. She lay flat on the bed, exposing her entire face, just like sleeping at home, and slept peacefully until the next morning.
At 8:00 a.m., the National Math Olympiad competition officially began.
The National Math Olympiad competition has an alternative name: the "National Middle School Students Mathematics Winter Camp."
Lin Zhixia proudly declared to her parents that she would participate in the National Math Olympiad. In front of others, she modestly said she had signed up for a winter camp.
The winter camp's problems were well-designed. The first question was an algebra problem: given a non-decreasing sequence of positive integers containing n distinct positive integers in a subsequence, it required proving the lower bound of the sequence's general term summation formula. Lin Zhixia began by proving another proposition, then narrowed the scope and applied it to the summation formula specified in the problem, quickly solving it.
Next, she encountered problems in plane geometry and combinatorics.
Lin Zhixia didn't waste a single minute, directly writing her thought process on the answer sheet.
The so-called "Math Olympics competition" essentially involves burying one's head in problem-solving during the exam. And the International Mathematical Olympiad is just solving problems alongside contestants from all over the world. There is no fundamental difference between competitions and exams, so Lin Zhixia felt no pressure.
The math competition spanned two days, with three problems each day, each worth 21 points. After finishing the exam, Lin Zhixia found her thoughts lingering on the problems. Sitting in the classroom, her mind was filled with Hua Luogeng's "Additive Theory of Prime Numbers."
When she left the exam hall and reunited with the provincial team's lead teacher, the teacher asked how she did. Without thinking, she blurted out: "Abelian groups and commutative semigroups."
The teacher was stunned.
The other students in the provincial team were also stunned.
Lin Zhixia quickly added: "I did alright."Most of the participants in the provincial team were boys, with girls making up only a small fraction. Looking across the entire winter camp, the number of girls was not dominant. In the international Olympiad arena over the years, national teams from various countries have been predominantly composed of male contestants. Perhaps for this reason, Lin Zhixia attracted considerable attention in competitions.
Oh, and there was another reason—she was too young.
She cautiously expressed her opinion: "The problems on this exam were brilliant, especially that combinatorics question. It was cleverly constructed, starting from the pigeonhole principle, didn't go beyond the syllabus, yet exercised our thinking."
A boy beside her, however, said: "That problem isn't worth discussing."
Lin Zhixia looked up at him.
This boy was Guan Tong, a senior from the high school competition class of Provincial No. 1 High School.
Senior Guan Tong was seventeen years old, currently in his third year of high school, and had already received a direct admission offer. He was considered a top student in the high school competition class. His goal was to win a gold medal in the International Mathematical Olympiad, and this year was his last chance to achieve it.
Lin Zhixia felt there was a generation gap between her and Guan Tong. He often contradicted her views—no matter what opinion she expressed, Guan Tong would immediately raise a different perspective.
In contrast, another senior in the provincial team named Luo Ying had a much better attitude than Guan Tong.
Luo Ying was a senior from the second-year competition class of Provincial No. 1 High School. During the high school club orientation in 2005, Lin Zhixia had briefly met Luo Ying. She remembered that at the time, Senior Luo Ying was still in the high school's advanced class. Later, the senior transferred to the competition class. It was said that she usually studied extremely hard, waking up early in the morning and going to bed late at night. She had worked diligently for a full year and a half before firmly establishing herself in the competition class.
Lin Zhixia deeply admired such people. She held great respect for Senior Luo Ying and often followed behind her, happily calling out: "Senior, senior!"
Luo Ying also looked out for Lin Zhixia.
Hearing Guan Tong's remark, Luo Ying immediately retorted: "The problem isn't worth discussing? Can you create a similar problem for me?"
Guan Tong laughed "haha." He awkwardly wiped his face, his gaze lingering on Luo Ying's face. In the freezing cold of late January, with the bitter wind howling, he and Luo Ying locked eyes for ten seconds, and a faint sweat broke out on his chest. The dampness seeped into his skin as he straightened his posture and declared: "Luo Ying..."
Luo Ying pretended not to hear him.
In the third year of high school, Guan Tong was somewhat of a prominent figure. He was tall and slender, with decent looks, excellent grades, successful direct admission, and one foot already in the mathematics department of a top university. His future was so smooth and bright!
Yet, whenever he tried to talk to Luo Ying, she always ignored him.
Luo Ying only said to Lin Zhixia: "Let's go buy strawberries at the fruit shop near the hotel entrance."
Lin Zhixia's eyes lit up: "Strawberries? Yes, yes!"
Luo Ying murmured to herself: "Girls are so much more adorable than boys."
Lin Zhixia didn't catch what she said. She asked: "Senior, what did you just say?"
Luo Ying smiled: "I didn't say anything."
Luo Ying reached out a hand to Lin Zhixia, who immediately took it. Luo Ying felt as if she had suddenly gained a well-behaved and understanding younger sister. As an only child at home, her parents had only her as their daughter. These past few days, she suddenly realized that having a sister at home might not be so bad. The bond between sisters could be deeper, making it easier to understand each other.
*The examination phase of the National Mathematical Olympiad competition had concluded.
All students in the provincial team temporarily relaxed. The hotel they were staying in had its own game room, and the team leader allowed everyone to engage in appropriate entertainment—playing chess or cards in the game room was harmless.
Guan Tong once again extended an invitation to Luo Ying. He asked her to come to the game room and play a game of chess with him.
As he spoke to Luo Ying, Lin Zhixia stood nearby, holding a bag of strawberries.
Lin Zhixia pulled open a small corner of the plastic bag and secretly peeked at the strawberries. The winter strawberries were quite large, neither too soft nor too firm, and they looked very sweet.
She had bought this entire bag of strawberries using her privately saved 500-yuan scholarship. She planned to wash them and share them with her senior.
At that moment, her senior suddenly spoke: "I'm sixteen, and you're seventeen. At this age, what's the point of talking about feelings? If you can't even control the restlessness of adolescence, how pathetic."
Guan Tong stammered in front of Luo Ying, his face as pale as a persimmon struck by autumn frost.
After all, he still had some pride. With Luo Ying speaking so bluntly, there was no way he could continue expressing his affection for her. His subtle confession had been mercilessly exposed by Luo Ying, and his fragile teenage heart shattered like broken glass, leaving shards scattered everywhere.
Guan Tong's throat tightened, and his eyes reddened.
A man does not easily shed tears, except when his heart is truly broken.
Guan Tong decided to bid farewell to Luo Ying.
In 2006, Taiwanese idol dramas swept across Asia. Guan Tong had watched a few episodes in his spare time. He decided to imitate a scene from one of those dramas, calling only the last character of "Luo Ying's" name to sound more intimate.
Raising his arm to wipe his face, Guan Tong called out in a low voice: "Ying..."
Lin Zhixia chimed in: "Wah wah wah."
Guan Tong froze for a moment, then called again: "Ying..."
Lin Zhixia added: "Wah wah wah."
Guan Tong stood rigidly in place, completely stiff.
Lin Zhixia's voiceover had turned Guan Tong's carefully prepared affectionate call into what sounded like pathetic wailing.
His masculinity was gone, completely gone.
Lin Zhixia tried to comfort him: "Senior Guan Tong, even though Senior Luo Ying rejected you, you're still an outstanding member of the provincial team with hopes of competing in the International Olympiad. You should stop crying now. Everyone faces setbacks. We need to overcome them and strive for higher goals."
Guan Tong composed himself and said coldly: "Lin Zhixia, your high scores in the provincial team's competition aren't that impressive. The Beijing and Shanghai teams are the two strongest nationwide. Your level isn't enough for Beijing's first team—at most, you could make the second team..."
"Really?" Lin Zhixia looked at him. "Do you know me? Sometimes, I don't necessarily show my full ability."
Guan Tong hesitated. He knew Lin Zhixia was very capable, but he couldn't place her on a pedestal. The world's top competitors were mostly male, and he had never witnessed a female student winning consecutive International Olympiad championships. Deep down, he held the ingrained belief that female competitors were weaker and more emotionally volatile.
Lin Zhixia told him: "I will definitely win a gold medal. I will definitely make it to the national training team. In a few years, I'll even publish academic papers."Guan Tong met her gaze and felt her breath catch. Her eyes were resolute, without a trace of hesitation or doubt.
Luo Ying gently smoothed things over: "Alright, let's go wash the strawberries."
Lin Zhixia responded enthusiastically: "Yeah, let's wash the strawberries." She circled around Luo Ying: "Senior, do you like strawberries?"
Luo Ying said: "I prefer watermelons."
"Oh, I like watermelons too," Lin Zhixia replied.
Their voices gradually faded into the distance.
The corridor stood empty.
Two days later, the winter camp's exam results were announced. Just as Lin Zhixia had declared, she won the gold medal in this competition and earned the opportunity to join the national training team to participate in international mathematics competitions.
When the news reached Provincial First High School, the entire campus erupted in excitement.
Local reporters gathered at the school gate, seeking to interview Lin Zhixia. One newspaper called "Morning Daily" even drafted a headline titled "The National Math Olympics Journey of a Clever Girl." They eagerly awaited Lin Zhixia's response - as soon as she agreed to the interview, the article could be published immediately.
Contrary to everyone's expectations, Lin Zhixia declined all interview requests. She said she wasn't mature enough yet to face public media alone, and that the spotlight would put too much pressure on her.
The principal of Provincial First High School immediately stepped in to coordinate with all media outlets, ensuring that news of Lin Zhixia's achievement only circulated within the school campus.
Jiang Yubai thought Lin Zhixia's decision showed foresight. After all, she was only twelve years old - too much external attention might disrupt her peaceful life. Moreover, having already won the national mathematics competition gold medal, her university admission was practically guaranteed... Just as Jiang Yubai was thinking this, Lin Zhixia said to him: "Look, this is my gold medal."
They were in a class meeting at the time.
Teacher Zhang had spent five minutes specifically praising Lin Zhixia. Afterwards, Teacher Zhang discussed "class atmosphere building," hoping all students would set goals, maintain confidence, and keep moving forward.
After Teacher Zhang finished speaking, Class 17 of Grade 8 broke into prolonged applause.
Lin Zhixia shifted an inch closer and slipped the gold medal into Jiang Yubai's hand.
This was Jiang Yubai's first time holding a national mathematics competition gold medal - among the dozens of gold medal winners nationwide in this year's competition, Lin Zhixia was one of them.
Jiang Yubai looked down at the gold medal: "Very impressive." He praised Lin Zhixia: "You deserve this."
Lin Zhixia wrapped the medal's ribbon around her wrist once. Leaning on the desk with her right hand, she said after a moment: "Jiang Yubai, this semester... I might be very busy."
Jiang Yubai thought Lin Zhixia was about to enter university. Unlike when he had encouraged her to attend high school, he couldn't calmly face her permanent departure this time. He sat silently, his back straight as an unwavering green bamboo.
He heard Lin Zhixia whisper: "In two days, I'll join the national training team, and then I'll probably participate in the 2007 Romania Masters in Mathematics. In this year's Romania Masters at the end of February, each country can only send four contestants..."
Jiang Yubai picked up his pen and wrote in his notebook: Lin Zhixia > 2007 Masters in Mathematics."What do you mean?" Lin Zhixia inquired.
"It means Lin Zhixia is certain to succeed," Jiang Yubai replied.
Jiang Yubai capped his pen, regaining his usual composure. He said calmly, "Go for it, Lin Zhixia. The international battle has begun, you should..."
"I should charge forward and take the battlefield!" Lin Zhixia declared proudly.
She radiated brilliance, appearing somewhat different from how she had been recently. Jiang Yubai could vaguely perceive her growth and transformation. He discussed with her, "You don't have time to visit my place this month. Next month..."
Lin Zhixia interrupted him again, "Next month I'll definitely come to your house to play."
OpenNovel