Everyone Was Happy

"On Shen Qi's second-round exam paper, my review conclusion is 60 points."

"60, full marks. No question."

"I agree that Shen Qi should receive full marks."

After all 11 judges had reviewed Shen Qi's exam paper, they reached a near-unanimous decision to give him full marks.

"So the result is clear. Shen Qi got full marks on the First Test and full marks in the second round. There's no doubt about it: Shen Qi from Nangang Second High School will win this year's Provincial High School Mathematics League. Our society will invite him to join the provincial team." The Vice President summed up.

"No objections."

"Fair and reasonable."

The meeting approved the Vice President's proposal.

"Next, I ask the judges to continue reviewing the second-round exam papers of the remaining 11 contestants. We'll announce the final results shortly," the Vice President instructed.

Meanwhile, the lounge downstairs was filled with tempting aromas: baked chicken wings, braised beef brisket, saury, prawns, white rice, pasta, pizza, and all kinds of fruit... Eat as much as you like, it's free, and there's plenty to go around.

"Delicious, delicious. This is amazing." Shen Qi tucked in with gusto. He was hungry.

He was the only one enjoying his food. The other 11 contestants each had their own worries, and most of them were too glum to have an appetite.

"Boohoo..." One fair-skinned boy even shed tears of sorrow and regret.

Shen Qi watched him and felt sorry for him, so he picked up a chicken wing and put it on the boy's plate. "You came from out of town for the competition, right? Don't cry. Men don't shed tears lightly. Here, have a chicken wing."

"I don't want it. How can I eat at a time like this?" The fair-skinned boy was devastated, and he lost control of himself. "I'm the best at math at my school. I came to the provincial capital for the exam, and in three whole hours, I could only solve one problem. This is insane. You city people sure know how to make things difficult."

"Hey, don't take it out on me. I'm a contestant too. I didn't write the exam." Shen Qi found these math whizzes especially hard to get along with. He'd been trying to make friends, so why were they all so difficult to approach? Was it his fault again? Because he finished the whole exam, did that mean he deserved to be punished by fate and left without any friends?

"Second High, eat your food and quit yapping." The contestant from Nangang Foreign Language School shot Shen Qi an annoyed look.

Shen Qi didn't like him either. "When Second High was founded, your school's land was still in the suburbs. The old folks say it used to be a pig farm."

"Fuck you," the Foreign Language School contestant spat out in English, grinding his teeth. His school really had been built on the site of a pig farm.

"Fuck you too." Shen Qi traded English insults with him. He felt lonely too. The out-of-towners were hostile toward him, and the locals shut him out. Damn it, he really had no friends.

The group lunch was far from pleasant. Each contestant came from a different school, and none of them opened up to one another. They were rivals.

Fifteen minutes later, lunch was over. A judge brought 12 second-round exam papers to the lounge and handed them out according to the contestants' names.

Shen Qi looked at his paper and grinned. Sixty points—full marks!

"Holy shit, five points."

"I'm done for. Ten points."

"I did a little better. Fifteen points."

"I feel like punching someone. Twenty points."

"I want to kill myself. Twenty-five points."

The contestants who had scored below 30 howled in despair. They hadn't even earned half of the points available on the exam. It was humiliating.

The judge announced, "After a fair and impartial review, I'm here on behalf of the judges to announce the final results. Shen Qi from Nangang Second High School scored full marks in the second round and has won this year's Provincial High School Mathematics League. Congratulations, Shen Qi."

"Luo Ming, Shu Minbo, and Yang Huan tied for second place with 35 points. Cheng Le and Qi Jianhong tied for third with 30 points."

"Our Provincial Mathematics Society will cordially invite these six students to join this year's provincial team and prepare for the upcoming national competition. The award ceremony will be held in the auditorium next door in an hour. If any of you have questions about your score, please raise them within the next hour, and the judges will check your paper again."

"If you have no questions, please make your way to the auditorium in an hour. In addition to the awards for first, second, and third place, we'll also present special awards to the students who placed seventh through twelfth. In short, you're all winners, and you're the hope for the continued growth of mathematics in our province. Congratulations!"

The judge left after announcing the results, leaving the students to react with a mix of joy and dismay.

"F-full marks?"

"Shen Qi from Nangang Second High?"

Everyone's eyes turned toward Shen Qi.

"You... you..." Luo Ming from Nangang Foreign Language School stared at Shen Qi, unable to find the words.

"I'm going out for some air, teammate Luo Ming," Shen Qi said, putting away his exam paper. Luo Ming had placed second with 35 points. He'd be joining the provincial team and becoming Shen Qi's teammate. They'd be teammates soon, so it was best not to let things get too tense between them.

After Shen Qi left, Luo Ming muttered dazedly, "It's not fair. It's not fair..."

Shen Qi jogged cheerfully to the reception area in the lobby of the Provincial Mathematics Society building. His parents had been waiting there for a while, along with Cao Xin'an and Zhang Wanbang, two of his teachers.

"Dad, Mom, Teacher Cao, Teacher Zhang, the results are out." Shen Qi's face showed that he'd accomplished his goal.

"So, did it go well?" Seeing how cheerful Shen Qi was, Shen Zhishan figured the result must be good.

"What place did you get, Shen Qi?" Fan Yunxia asked eagerly.

"I just want to know if you made the provincial team," Zhang Wanbang said. He had confidence in Shen Qi and thought that placing would be easy for him. Not making the provincial team would count as a failure.

Only Cao Xin'an remained silent. He was the leader of the Math Olympiad team from Nangang Second High School, and he'd brought Shen Qi—the team's only member—to the second-round competition.

Shen Qi took his exam paper out of his schoolbag and handed it to Cao Xin'an first. "Teacher Cao, I got 60 points in the second round—full marks. I was the only one to get full marks, and I came in first."

"First place? That's wonderful news!" Shen Zhishan beamed, as if he himself had won the championship.

"My son is amazing!" Fan Yunxia was overwhelmed with excitement. Shen Qi kept bringing her one surprise after another, and she was so proud of him.

"Not bad, Shen Qi. You're our school's second provincial champion in eight years, and the third provincial math champion in its history." Zhang Wanbang smiled. Nothing made a teacher happier than seeing his student win a championship.

"Quite impressive indeed." Cao Xin'an looked over Shen Qi's second-round exam paper, and his deeply wrinkled face gradually relaxed into a smile. "But don't get too proud, Shen Qi. You still have the national competition ahead of you."

"Okay!" Shen Qi nodded. He was overjoyed too, because his parents and teachers were happy.

"Xiao Zhang, have a look at this paper. It's pretty difficult." Cao Xin'an handed the exam paper to Zhang Wanbang.

Zhang Wanbang took it and quickly scanned the three problems. "These questions are really tricky. Forget high school students—even among engineering students who aren't in the Mathematics Department, hardly anyone could get full marks."

Shen Zhishan respectfully offered cigarettes to Cao Xin'an and Zhang Wanbang. "Teacher Cao, Teacher Zhang, Shen Qi's results are mainly thanks to your teaching. Let me treat you both to dinner tonight to thank you for everything you've done for him."

Everyone was in high spirits, and all was well.

An hour later, the award ceremony was held in the auditorium.

As parents and teachers, Shen Zhishan, Fan Yunxia, Cao Xin'an, and Zhang Wanbang all took their seats in the auditorium. They were about to witness the glorious moment of their son and student.