My Life, My Ideas

The Provincial Mathematics Society auditorium was decorated with lanterns and streamers, exuding a solemn and festive atmosphere.

Relevant leaders and experts from the Provincial Department of Education and the Provincial Mathematics Society were present to award prizes to the champions, runners-up, and third-place winners of this year's Provincial High School Mathematics League.

The award ceremony officially began around 3 PM.

First, the Vice Director of the Provincial Department of Education, in charge of primary and secondary education, gave a speech. Afterward, the six champions, runners-up, and third-place winners, wearing their respective school uniforms, took to the stage to receive their awards and take photos.

Shen Qi stood on the stage, a glass trophy in his left hand and a certificate in his right. As the representative of the contestants and the champion, he gave a short speech: "My teammates and I are all people who love mathematics. Our goal is to represent Nanyue Province in the national finals, and even go further. We will definitely work hard for..." He originally wanted to say "we will definitely reign supreme," but thought better of it and changed it to "we will definitely work hard."

Warm applause erupted throughout the venue.

Shen Qi's parents felt immensely proud, and Shen Qi's teacher was particularly gratified.

After the award ceremony, the Provincial Mathematics Society extended a formal invitation to the six winners and, after consulting with their parents and teachers, invited them to join this year's provincial team.

Naturally, the parents, teachers, and students themselves had no objections. The opportunity to represent the provincial team in the national competition was something they couldn't ask for more.

As a matter of course, Shen Qi and the other five students joined this year's provincial team.

These six students came from different cities in the province. It was currently May, so they had to return to school for classes. The provincial team's intensive training would begin at the end of June, and the national competition would take place during the summer holiday in July.

Upon returning from the Provincial Mathematics Society building, Shen Qi, who had just returned victorious, received a system notification: "New Achievement: Provincial Mathematics Champion! Reward: 3000 scholar points. Please check, host."

"3000 points, that's awesome!" Shen Qi had been getting very few scholar points for achievements made within the school based on his mathematical prowess. However, causing a stir outside of school brought in quite a substantial amount of scholar points.

Including the newly acquired 3000 scholar points, Shen Qi now had 7801 points. He used 5000 scholar points to upgrade his Mathematics to Level 4.

Host: Shen Qi
Age: 17
Mathematics: Level 4 (0/10000)
Chinese: Level 1 (0/1000)
English: Level 1 (0/1000)
Physics: Level 1 (0/1000)
Chemistry: Level 1 (0/1000)
Biology: Level 1 (0/1000)
Sports: Level 1 (0/1000)
History: Level 1 (0/1000)
Geography: Level 1 (0/1000)
Politics: Level 1 (0/1000)
Remaining Scholar Points: 2801

Among the system's ten major subject indicators, Shen Qi's Mathematics was far ahead at Level 4. Upgrading from Level 4 to Level 5 required 10,000 scholar points.

10,000 points was not a small amount.

The total points required to go from Level 0 to Level 4 was less than 10,000 scholar points.

Level 5 was the professional level, a watershed. It was a task assigned by the system that Shen Qi had to complete before graduating from high school.

There was still time, and Shen Qi had a clear goal: to advance to the national finals of this year's Mathematics League and strive to win a national gold medal.

Winning the provincial championship had already rewarded him with 3000 scholar points. The reward for a national gold medal should at least be double that.

Therefore, with the natural accumulation of over a thousand more scholar points in his daily life, combined with the achievement reward for the national gold medal, he might be able to upgrade to Mathematics Level 5 this summer.

That night, Shen Qi had a dream, a beautiful dream.

The dream began with him standing on the podium as the provincial mathematics champion, holding a glass trophy. This trophy, not very expensive, held immense significance for Shen Qi. It was the first trophy of his life, a provincial championship level one.

Suddenly, the scene shifted. The stage grew larger and ascended to a national level. The trophy in his hand changed in appearance and material; it was a golden abacus, its cost and prestige further elevated.

The scene shifted again. Surrounded by foreign faces, he found himself on the international stage. A foreign girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, a large chest, and long legs presented him with flowers and gave him a kiss, mouth-to-mouth.

Waking up, Shen Qi changed into a fresh pair of underwear. It was already early morning, Monday, and time for school.

He rode his bike to school, a ten-minute journey. As soon as he reached the school gate, Shen Qi noticed something different from the usual.

A red banner was hung high on the outer wall of the school's administrative building: "Good News: Hearty congratulations to our High School Department student Shen Qi for winning the Provincial Mathematics Championship!"

The administrative building faced the road, and passersby outside the school could all see this piece of good news.

"Wow, amazing, the provincial mathematics champion."

"This student must be eligible for direct admission to a prestigious university, right?"

"Absolutely!"

"Nangang Second High School is pretty good, a strong school in mathematics."

"I'll tell my son to have my grandson apply to Second High School when he takes the high school entrance exam."

"Auntie, what grade is your grandson in? Which middle school is he attending?"

"Third grade elementary school, he goes to school on the street right across the way."

"..."

Wow, the school's advertisement is really something. They put up a banner right on the street, and even the aunties buying groceries are talking about me. The school's reach for new students now extends all the way to elementary schools. Shen Qi pushed his cart through the school gate, parked it, and headed to the teaching building.

The second year of high school has a total of 11 classes, spread across the third and fourth floors. Shen Qi's class is on the third floor.

As soon as Shen Qi reached the third floor, he saw someone. She was coming down the stairs from the fourth floor.

This woman was wearing black trousers and a white shirt, with a light green silk scarf around her neck. Her attire was professional. Her age was hard to tell, but students knew she had been at the school for over a decade, rising from a substitute teacher to the dean of students. She must be getting on in years, belonging to the category of middle-aged professional women.

"Shen Qi."

"Director Nie."

Shen Qi met the middle-aged woman. She was the dean of students, Nie Huiying. Female deans of students were not very common.

"Shen Qi, you truly surprise me. This time last year, you and Xu Rui were causing trouble off-campus, and I had to step in to mediate and quell the situation. Now, at this same time this year, you've turned over a new leaf and soared to success, becoming the provincial math champion, the third provincial champion in our school's history. Congratulations." Nie Huiying recalled the past and looked at the present. Youth has no limits; miracles are created by young people.

"Thank you for your affirmation, Director Nie. I'll head to the classroom now." Shen Qi tried to slip away. He was quite afraid of this female dean of students. Director Nie had an excellent memory; out of over a thousand students in the High School Department, she could recall the names of more than 80% of them. Shen Qi had quite a few past indiscretions that Director Nie knew about.

"Wait a moment." Director Nie called Shen Qi back and said, "You are now the provincial champion, a role model for the entire school, and no longer a troublemaker. Why are you running when you see me? Am I that scary?"

"No, no, no, Director Nie, you have kind eyes and a beautiful, dignified demeanor. You're the goddess in the hearts of all the male students in our school." Shen Qi stopped. He thought about it, I'm the provincial math champion now, I don't need to be afraid of the dean of students.

"I'm too old to be called a goddess," Director Nie chuckled. Women of any age wouldn't refuse a compliment, even if it came from a boy on the verge of adulthood.

"Shen Qi, do you know what subject I taught before I became dean of students?" Director Nie asked.

"I've heard. You used to be a math teacher at our school, and you were classmates with our homeroom teacher, Zhang Wanbang, Teacher Zhang." Shen Qi knew quite a bit. It was rumored that his mentor, Zhang Wanbang, had pursued Director Nie when they were younger, but it didn't work out in the end. Director Nie was now the dean of students, a middle management position at the school, while Zhang Wanbang was still a frontline teacher. So, this woman was not simple.

"Teacher Zhang is a good teacher with very high teaching standards," Director Nie said very officially.

You two used to be a thing, you're Teacher Zhang's ex, and now you're being so official and unemotional. Love, what is love? Shen Qi's gossipy heart burned as he thought about his homeroom teacher and the dean of students.

"Shen Qi, I also studied math. I know it's difficult for the Nanyue provincial team as a whole to advance to the national finals. Since I ran into you today, I'll give you some advice." Director Nie got to the point.

Shen Qi: "Director Nie, please enlighten me."

"Shen Qi, you need to be mentally prepared. Even if you go to the capital in July for the national competition, you might only be able to compete in the preliminary rounds. After all, our province isn't a strong contender in math, and the national competition relies on overall strength. The total scores of the six contestants determine the qualification spots for the national finals. However, speaking of which, it's not impossible to get a spot in the Golden Autumn Camp at Tsinghua-Peking based on your individual performance in the preliminaries. In conclusion, for the next month or so, I suggest that Shen Qi you focus all your energy on preparing for the Math League national competition, prioritizing math. You can put other subjects aside for now."

"Shen Qi, you're already in the second half of your second year, about to enter your third year. This might be your only chance at the national competition. I sincerely hope you can become a dark horse in the national competition, so you should play to your strengths, avoid your weaknesses, and concentrate your firepower. Focus on math in the near future, and strive for admission spots to Shuimu University and Yanjing University's Golden Autumn Camp. Miracles always happen; they depend on your belief and determination," Director Nie said encouragingly.

"Who says I want to go to Shuimu or Yanda's Golden Autumn Camp?" Shen Qi looked bewildered. Why do you deans of students always try to plan other people's lives?

Director Nie was surprised: "Don't you want to be recommended to Shuimu or Yanda? Are you studying TOEFL and IELTS to go abroad?"

Shen Qi replied: "Shuimu is okay; the name sounds nice. Yanda, forget it, I haven't really considered it."