Oh Yeah, Mine Is Mine

Intern Xiao Wen hurriedly took out the quick-acting heart-saving pills and poured a few into Cadre Liu's mouth.

Cadre Liu clutched his chest and chewed the pills, holding them under his tongue.

There were over a dozen judges and staff in the grading room. Cadre Liu's sudden heart attack had drawn everyone's attention.

"Old Liu, what's wrong? You seemed fine, why did you suddenly fall ill?"

"I told you long ago, Old Liu, you should get a heart bypass. Medication won't cure the root cause. You shouldn't have given up treatment." His colleagues gathered around Cadre Liu, asking with great concern.

"Gurgle... mushroom..." Cadre Liu's tongue seemed to have tied itself in knots. He couldn't speak clearly. This was how he was right after falling ill; he needed time to recover.

"Enough of that, Old Liu, don't talk for now. Xiao Wen, help Cadre Liu to the lounge to lie down." Another cadre from the Chinese Mathematical Society, surnamed Yuan, said.

"Okay." Xiao Wen helped Cadre Liu, preparing to leave the grading room.

"Devil... mushroom..." Before leaving, Cadre Liu pointed at Shen Qi's National Final exam paper and mumbled incoherently.

Cadre Yuan took over the grading room. He sat down in Cadre Liu's original seat and saw an exam paper spread out on the desk, not yet graded.

With just a glance at the paper, Cadre Yuan was utterly shocked: "Xiao Xu, quick... quick..."

Everyone in the grading room tensed up: "Damn it, has he been possessed? Have they ruined another expert?"

Intern Xiao Xu rushed over with quick-acting heart-saving pills and poured a handful into his palm: "Cadre Yuan, take your medicine quickly!"

"No, I'm not ill." Cadre Yuan's complexion was fine. "I wanted to say, bring me my reading glasses. They're on my desk. This exam paper is truly interesting. The Math League has been running for over twenty years, and this is the first time I've seen a student answer questions like this."

"Old Yuan, can you finish your sentence in one go? You scared us to death!" Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, simultaneously filled with curiosity.

All the judges gathered in a semicircle around Cadre Yuan, eager to see what kind of exam paper could be so bizarre that it gave Cadre Liu a heart attack.

"This... this is..."

"What the hell is this?"

"Devil! Devil's symbols!"

Xiao Xu and the other interns who were helping out stared blankly at Shen Qi's exam paper.

"Xiao Xu, although you are math majors, you haven't finished your undergraduate studies yet, so your knowledge is limited." Cadre Yuan put on his reading glasses and carefully reviewed Shen Qi's paper. "This student, Shen Qi, is not using devil symbols, but cuneiform mathematical symbols from the Ancient Babylonian numeral system. He used sexagesimal cuneiform symbols for the entire problem to prove that the square root of 2 in the last question is an irrational number."

"Holy crap, a high school student knows the Ancient Babylonian sexagesimal system and can skillfully use cuneiform symbols to explain the proof process. Shen Qi, he must be a fake high school student, right?" Xiao Xu covered his face, feeling utterly dejected. He felt like he had been hit with a ten-thousand-volt shock.

Another intern, Xiao Ou, pulled up Shen Qi's registration information: "Shen Qi, 17 years old, a second-year student at Nangang Second High School in Nanyue Province. He will be entering his third year after this summer break. He's definitely a high school student. This kid is a bit of a troublemaker, scaring one contestant and making one judge ill."

Xiao Xu's mind was shattered: "I probably attended a fake university, and I'm not even as good as a second-year high school student..."

Cadre Yuan said, "Don't underestimate high school students. The mathematics world has never lacked young geniuses who push it forward. The final question of the National Final was set by me. This question was indeed a bit tricky. I added many stringent conditions. The final question of the National Final must have its own style; otherwise, how can it be considered the final question?"

"Teacher Yuan, just tell me, did Shen Qi get the last question right?" Xiao Xu asked.

"The grading progress for the National Final is nearly 95% complete. There are still a few papers left to grade. I checked, and Shen Qi got the first five questions of the National Final correct. With five times seven equals thirty-five, his thirty-five points from the first five questions are enough to win a gold medal." Cadre Yuan admired Shen Qi's exam paper as if it were a work of art.

"So Shen Qi got the last question wrong, huh." Xiao Xu regained a sliver of his dignity as a university student. He knew the standard answer to the last question: the obscure Pythagorean reductio ad absurdum method of irreducible convergence, also known as indirect proof. He couldn't prove it was true, but he could prove it was false.

"No, it's impossible to determine yet whether Shen Qi's direct proof using the sexagesimal system is correct or not. However, I must commend his bold innovation and courageous attempt. This is the final question of the National Final; who would dare to play like this? Yet Shen Qi did it. At least his courage is commendable. His ingenious attempt is something even I hadn't thought of." Cadre Yuan had never met Shen Qi in person, but through his mathematical language, he had glimpsed some of Shen Qi's personality. Cadre Yuan added, "Xiao Xu, go to the archives and get the Babylonian reciprocal table. I can't remember it all; I'm getting old, after all. I need to cross-reference it to know if Shen Qi's proof is correct."

Huh?

Xiao Xu almost fell over. After all that talk, Teacher Yuan, you don't fully understand these strange symbols either?

The next morning, Shen Qi and his entire team, along with their leader, gathered in the dormitory, browsing their phones.

At precisely nine o'clock this morning, the Chinese Mathematical Society would announce the final rankings and awards for the National Final on its official website.

Shen Qi said gratefully to Teacher Tian, "Teacher Tian, the Pythagorean reductio ad absurdum method of irreducible convergence is indeed too obscure. I had never seen such a peculiar proof method before. Only yesterday, when I saw the standard answer, did I realize there was such a trick? Fortunately, you taught me the Babylonian sexagesimal approximation method, and I adapted it slightly to directly complete the proof."

Teacher Tian felt both gratified and smug. "Your innovative sexagesimal proof method is more ingenious than any Pythagorean reductio ad absurdum. Shen Qi, only you have the patience to listen to me talk about ancient mathematics history. I'm not bragging, but not many people, even at the Capital headquarters of the Mathematical Society, know more about ancient mathematics than I do."

"Teacher Tian, you're practically at the president level. A branch president is also a president. How can those cadres compare to you?"

"No, I am the Vice President. The president of our Nanyue Province Mathematical Branch is a true mathematical master, but he is completely absorbed in his academic work and doesn't know how to navigate interpersonal relationships. Otherwise, he would have become the president of the headquarters long ago."

As the teacher and student chatted, nine o'clock arrived unnoticed.

The official website of the Chinese Mathematical Society refreshed the National Final information precisely on time.

Shen Qi's hand, holding his phone, trembled slightly. He was actually a little nervous.

No matter how confident he was before, at the moment of seeing his name on the honor roll, anyone would be nervous.

"Whatever happens, happens. Open!" Shen Qi tapped his phone screen, revealing the electronic honor roll.

The official website of the Chinese Mathematical Society displayed:

National Final Team Champion, Ebei Province Math Olympiad team, 185 points

National Final Team Runner-up, Liaodong Province Math Olympiad team, 166 points

National Final Team Third Place, Capital Math Olympiad team, 165 points

National Final Team Sixth Place, Nanyue Province Math Olympiad team, 157 points

The Ebei Province Math Olympiad team's overall strength was formidable. They led the runner-up by nearly 20 points, securing the team championship with a significant advantage. The National Final had six problems worth a total of 42 points. On such a difficult National Final exam paper, the Ebei Province Math Olympiad team's average individual score was over 30 points, making their overall strength unrivaled.

Surprisingly, two of the traditional powerhouses, Xiangnan Province and Zhedong Province, both failed to make the top three in the team rankings this time. The darkest dark horse was the Liaodong Province Math Olympiad team. They leaped from the second group into the first, bravely seizing the team runner-up position.

The dark horse was the Nanyue Province Math Olympiad team. They had narrowly qualified for the National Final as the tenth-ranked team in the National Preliminary. In the National Final, they surprisingly avoided finishing last in the team standings, even outperforming four other teams to rank sixth.

"Sixth in the team standings, a pleasant surprise." Shen Qi looked at the team rankings first. As long as they didn't finish last, he could accept any other outcome.

The exciting moment was about to arrive. Shen Qi clicked to enter the National Final individual rankings. The official website displayed:

National Final Gold Medals (Six):

Shen Qi 42 points, Song Yang 35 points, Yu Zhengtian 35 points, Zhou Xiaoyue 34 points, He Yan 33 points, Wei Xu 32 points;

"YEAH!" Shen Qi, who had suppressed his emotions for a long time, suddenly erupted. He let out a roar, feeling utterly relieved!

Author's Notes: Quick... quickly throw your recommendation votes at me