You Are a Team

In the teaching building, students going upstairs and downstairs became more and more numerous as class time approached.

"Who is this guy, acting so arrogant? Shuimu is fine, but Yanjing? Do you think Shuimu and Yanjing are your family's businesses?"

"Isn't that so-and-so?"

"Who is so-and-so?"

"Shen Qi, the provincial math champion!"

"The guy on the banner in the administrative building?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's him, from Class 2(2) in his second year of high school."

"A top student."

Several girls passing by chattered amongst themselves, looking back at Shen Qi as they walked.

"Hey girls, want to go out?" Shen Qi waved hello to them.

Giggles erupted from the girls as they ran off.

Director Nie chuckled playfully, "Shen Qi, you didn't dare to hit on girls so openly on campus before."

"I used to feel inferior because my grades weren't good," Shen Qi said honestly.

"Even with good grades, you're not allowed to date early," Director Nie's smile vanished, replaced by a stern expression.

"Understood, Director Nie. High school should focus on academics."

"Alright, Shen Qi, class is about to start. Go back to your classroom. Think about the advice I just gave you."

Returning to the classroom for Class 2(2), Shen Qi was met with looks of awe.

"Shen Qi, Mr. Perfect Score."

"Please accept my humble admiration."

"How can I get a perfect score every time?"

"How can I become a math champion?"

His classmates were envious, complimentary, and eager for advice.

"Perfect scores are just a matter of casual effort, it mainly depends on my state," Shen Qi sat down at his desk and took out his books, preparing for class.

"If you weren't showing off, we could still be friends." The classmates, who had been idolizing Shen Qi moments ago, now didn't want to talk to him.

Time flew by, seasons changed.

In the blink of an eye, it was June, the height of summer.

After his Math Level reached Level 4, Shen Qi's understanding of the subject deepened. He had recently been studying publications from the Chinese Mathematical Society, specifically the Journal of Mathematics, and Mathematical Herald published by Yanjing University. These two academic journals were core publications in China, and their style of papers suited Shen Qi's taste.

He was just reading them to broaden his horizons and perspective, and to study the insights of China's mathematical elite.

To understand all the papers in the Journal of Mathematics, one needs a certain mathematical foundation; otherwise, it's like reading a foreign language – you recognize the characters, but you don't understand the meaning.

Shen Qi's extracurricular interactions with Zhang Wanbang continued, but Shen Qi noticed that Zhang Wanbang's response speed was getting slower and slower.

Previously, Zhang Wanbang would write something for Shen Qi every day, but now, he only wrote a little over a hundred characters a week. The last sentence was, "I have nothing left to teach you. Mathematics is primarily learned through self-study."

It made sense. Shen Qi's Math Level was already Level 4, while Zhang Wanbang was defined by the system as a Level 5 reference template. With only one level difference between teacher and student, a master always has a few tricks up his sleeve. It was understandable that Zhang Wanbang said he had nothing more to teach Shen Qi.

"So, one day I will graduate from the newcomer village and embark on a lonely new journey alone. And that day has arrived a few months earlier than I anticipated."

On June 25th, Shen Qi packed his bags and headed alone to a suburban resort 38 kilometers away from his home. He would undergo a week of intensive closed training for the provincial team.

The Nanyue Province Math Competition Team consisted of one leader, one deputy leader, one liaison officer, and six team members.

All six team members had gathered at the suburban resort. The oldest was 18, and the youngest was 16. These six were the best young mathematicians in the province for their age group.

The reason the training camp was set up in the suburbs was its beautiful scenery and quiet environment.

Shen Qi was satisfied with the logistical arrangements; there was food, drinks, and WiFi, and they shared a standard room in pairs.

The closed training wasn't what Shen Qi had imagined, where all the team members would be locked in a small dark room, forced to do problems, problems, and more problems, with no food until they found the correct answers.

In reality, the daily training sessions were only 4 hours long. The rest of the time, the team members were free to play on their phones, play games, read novels, or do whatever they pleased.

The leader was the Vice President of the Provincial Mathematics Society, who was responsible for the daily lectures.

"Who can tell me, what is the essence of a function? Please answer in just one sentence." The Vice President posed the question during the day's lecture.

"Simply put, a function is about studying change and invariance," Shen Qi was the first to speak.

"Oh, is that so? Do any other students have anything to add?" the Vice President asked.

The other team members shook their heads and then nodded, agreeing with Shen Qi's point.

"Shen Qi is correct. Functions are indeed about studying change and invariance. Next, we will move on to permutations and combinations."

For the past three days, the Vice President's lectures had focused only on concepts, not specific problems. He believed that teaching students a way of thinking was more effective than teaching them a hundred problems.

"Alright, that concludes today's professional lecture. Next, I want to talk about something lighter. You've all been learning mathematics since first grade, or even kindergarten. Do you know when mathematics first appeared, and who invented it?" The Vice President was about to delve into the history of mathematics.

Shen Qi was once again the first to speak. "I watched a science and education program on CCTV. Setting aside the bartering methods of primitive humans, true mathematics first appeared around 3000 BCE. It was either invented by the Babylonians or the Egyptians; there's debate in the history of mathematics. In any case, it was either the Babylonians or the Egyptians. To build the Hanging Gardens and the pyramids, they couldn't have done it without mathematical knowledge, true mathematical knowledge, not just simple exchanges like trading one cow for a bag of grain."

"I personally lean towards the Babylonians, although my opinion doesn't count. I'm just discussing and exploring with all of you." The Vice President wrote some strange symbols on the blackboard and asked, "Do you know what I've written?"

The other five teammates looked confused, and Shen Qi was also puzzled. He could only guess, "Cuneiform script?"

"Oh, Shen Qi, you can even understand cuneiform script?"

"I can't understand it. I was just guessing it was ancient Babylonian cuneiform script. Didn't you say earlier that you leaned towards the Babylonians, Teacher Tian?"

"That's right, it is ancient Babylonian cuneiform script." The Vice President's surname was Tian, and Shen Qi and the others called him Teacher Tian.

As he spoke, Teacher Tian became displeased: "You six are a team, a group! Why is it always Shen Qi speaking alone? You guys should also express your opinions and share your thoughts on Babylonian mathematics."

"We... really don't know. We can't just pretend to know," the teammates expressed their helplessness. Dealing with functions was one thing, but what was this about cuneiform script?

"Sigh." Teacher Tian sighed. He had some hope that this team could achieve good results in the national competition, and that hope was only in Shen Qi. Shen Qi's vision, knowledge, and thinking surpassed the other five members, which was very important for mathematics. "Shen Qi, you continue to guess. Does this string of cuneiform script I wrote have any meaning?"

Shen Qi studied it for a long time and said, "I don't know if it has meaning, but I guess it's related to mathematics? From the cuneiform script Teacher Tian drew, there seems to be a certain pattern. The first symbol to the tenth symbol are completely different. But the following symbols have some identical patterns, so Teacher Tian wants to teach us the duodecimal system?"

"You know the duodecimal system?" Teacher Tian was slightly surprised, but then he thought that since Shen Qi was the provincial champion, it wasn't surprising that he knew about the duodecimal system.

Shen Qi nodded: "I know a little. In The Martian, the protagonist was stranded on Mars. When he was about to die, he contacted Earth headquarters using the duodecimal system and eventually escaped back to Earth. It was truly amazing. That book is quite good, with a huge imagination and plausible exaggeration. I've been really into science fiction novels lately, the hard sci-fi kind."

"The duodecimal system was also invented by the Babylonians, so it's not that difficult to understand. Now I want to talk about the sexagesimal system. You can just listen to it as a hobby, to broaden your knowledge. It's okay if you don't understand. I know you are all top students in your respective schools, but top students aren't just about grinding problems. Those who only grind problems are fake top students. True top students must understand two words – perspective." Teacher Tian continued to draw his ancient Babylonian mathematical symbols. His research into ancient mathematics was like Kong Yiji writing the character for star anise, appreciating his own work in solitude, finding no kindred spirits.

And now, Teacher Tian had a little kindred spirit. Shen Qi was listening with great interest as he explained the mathematical dynasties of 5000 years ago