Chinese Mathematical Olympiad National Team Training Camp

Shen Qi retrieved the quick-acting heart-saving pills and gave them to Cadre Liu.

The commotion was too loud, and Xiao Wen, an assistant from the office next door, rushed over.

Upon seeing the situation, Xiao Wen looked speechless and asked the heavens, "Cadre Liu, you... Shen Qi, it's you again!"

Shen Qi looked bewildered. "Why 'again'? I just reported for duty. It's only been an hour."

Cadre Liu struggled to wave his hand and stammered, "Don't... don't talk about it..."

Xiao Wen helped Cadre Liu calm his breathing and said with great concern, "Cadre Liu, you took the medicine, right? I'll drive you home in your car."

"No... no need..." Cadre Liu shook his head and said, "Xiao Wen... you take him... to get accommodation... I want... to be alone..."

"Alright, Cadre Liu, since you just had an episode, resting in the office is fine. If you need anything, just say the word, and I'll be here." Xiao Wen took Shen Qi's suitcase and led Shen Qi out of the office, heading towards the training team dormitory.

"Cadre Liu has a bad heart and can't be stimulated," Xiao Wen told Shen Qi.

"I understand. I'll be careful from now on. You really scared me just now," Shen Qi said, still shaken.

Xiao Wen asked, "By the way, what did you do to stimulate Cadre Liu?"

"As soon as he saw me, he made me do problems. He said I couldn't eat if I couldn't solve them, and then I..." Shen Qi explained the general situation.

"Sigh, Shen Qi, I don't even know how to describe you. Never mind, let's not talk about it. I'll take you to the dormitory to drop off your luggage, and then we'll go to the cafeteria for dinner." Xiao Wen was not old, not tall, and unremarkable in appearance, with a rather easygoing personality.

"Brother Wen, are you a university student?" Shen Qi, a 1.75-meter tall high school student, was slightly taller than the 1.70-meter Xiao Wen.

"I'm at Beijing Institute of Technology, a junior. I'll be starting my senior year in September. I'm currently interning at the Chinese Mathematical Society to gain some social experience."

"Oh, Brother Wen, are you in the math department?"

"No, I'm studying Information Engineering. BIT's math program isn't very strong."

"Information Engineering still requires calculus, linear algebra, and things like that, right?"

"Of course, calculus and linear algebra are required courses. But I'm ashamed to say, my math level might not even be as good as yours, Shen Qi. I don't understand the boundary conditions for Lagrange's indefinite integral's maxima and minima, but you do. Heroes always emerge from the youth. We university students can't afford to be complacent."

"Brother Wen, you're too modest. I'm only good at math; other subjects are very average."

The two walked and chatted, and soon arrived at the dormitory building.

There was a small cafeteria on the first floor, and dormitories on the second floor and above.

The rooms were for two people, with a bunk bed, a private bathroom, a balcony, a water heater, air conditioning, a wardrobe, and a computer desk. The entire building had WiFi coverage. Most of the necessary facilities were available, making it quite comfortable to live in.

After entering room 307, Shen Qi found it clean and tidy, with no one else there.

"Where's my roommate?" Shen Qi asked.

"You don't have a roommate; you'll be living alone. There are twenty-one people in this training team. You're the last one to report, so you don't have a roommate for now." Xiao Wen put Shen Qi's suitcase down.

"That's good, it's quiet living alone." Shen Qi placed his backpack on the bed, took the dormitory key from Xiao Wen, and received a meal card before heading downstairs to the cafeteria.

That evening, Shen Qi was alone in his room, reading.

"My Math Level is 5. According to the system's settings, level 5 is professional level. I'll try a professional-level problem to test the waters."

Shen Qi found a problem that he wouldn't have dared to touch before, but tonight, he decided to try.

"Some numbers have special properties; they cannot be expressed as the product of two smaller numbers, such as 2, 3, 5, 7, and so on. Such numbers are called prime numbers.

In pure and applied mathematics, prime numbers play an important role. The distribution of all prime numbers does not follow any pattern.

150 years ago, the German mathematician Riemann proposed a hypothesis. He said that the frequency of prime numbers is closely related to a complex function called the zeta function. Riemann believed that all prime numbers could be expressed according to a certain pattern by the zeta function. To this day, the Riemann Hypothesis has not been fully proven."

Shen Qi attempted to crack the Riemann Hypothesis, one of the seven great unsolved mathematical problems in the world. Of course, it would be more accurate to call it "six great" now, as the Poincare Conjecture was solved in 2006 by the Russian mathematician Perelman.

Facing the Riemann Hypothesis, Shen Qi stared blankly for three full hours, then took a shower and went to bed. He felt like an idiot.

"I'm getting ahead of myself, a bit too much," Shen Qi thought, lying on the lower bunk and staring at the wooden board of the upper bunk.

It was true that he had been smooth sailing recently, winning every battle and overcoming every obstacle. However, in the face of true mathematical challenges, Shen Qi felt utterly helpless, unable to even touch the threshold.

A Math Level of 5 trying to solve a millennium-old problem like the Riemann Hypothesis was akin to a toddler who had just learned to walk racing against Bolt and beating him. It was impossible.

"I wonder what it's like to reach level 15. Perhaps only a Math Level of 15 can solve millennium-old problems..." Shen Qi fell asleep.

The next day, all 21 members of the 20XX Olympic Math National Training Team completed their initial assembly.

Their young faces still held a touch of immaturity, yet they appeared more mature than most middle school students. All twenty-one members were male, not a single girl among them. This was a monk team.

"Attention, team members, in fifteen days, we will depart for the United Kingdom to represent the Chinese Olympic Math team in this year's IMO," the deputy team leader announced loudly.

"You should all know the significance and weight of the IMO. Yes, the International Mathematical Olympiad, it is the Olympics of the mathematics world."

"However, not everyone will go to the UK. The six strongest among you will bear the mission of bringing glory to the country and enjoy unparalleled honor."

"Opportunities are not given freely to anyone. Dreams need to be fought for by yourselves. For the next 15 days, there will be a test scheduled daily within the team, and scores will be recorded. The top six individuals with the highest total scores will become official members of this year's Olympic Math National Team."

"Alright, I've said all that needs to be said. Now, Teacher Su, our Geometry coach, will begin the lecture."

The deputy team leader handed over the floor to Teacher Su, who was specifically responsible for intensive training in the field of Geometry.

The scope of the IMO competition generally includes Algebra, Geometry, Number Theory, Combinatorics, and Probability Theory. For each competitive branch, the Chinese Olympic Math National Team has arranged specialized coaches.

Teacher Su, who taught Geometry, lectured for the entire morning. At noon, the team members had one hour for lunch and a break. In the afternoon, another coach lectured on Number Theory.

The training intensity was extremely high. The coaches did not care whether the team members could understand or digest the material; they simply lectured, and it was up to the students to understand it or not.

Shen Qi didn't particularly like the national team's forced, indoctrination-style teaching atmosphere; he preferred the style of their provincial team.

After that day's intensive training, it was already 6:30 PM. What followed was that day's test.

The test lasted for two hours. At 8:30 PM, the exhausted young men could finally have dinner.

In the early morning hours, one team member developed a fever of 39.7 degrees Celsius, foamed at the mouth, and lost consciousness. He was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

The next day, another team member couldn't withstand the hellish training and fainted from dizziness. He was subsequently rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Witnessing two teammates leave one after another, Shen Qi uncovered a conspiracy: "I get it now. The reason for the 15 days of hellish training is that there are 21 members in this national training team. One drops out each day, and the final six survivors will represent China at the IMO international competition..."