Shen Qi shook hands with the Russian competitor, Peter. The blond heartthrob was seriously impressive—he'd scored a perfect mark for three consecutive years, tying the International Mathematical Olympiad record.
Neither of them could speak a language they both knew well. They exchanged a few gestures, hugged, and went their separate ways.
At last, Wiles, the head of the judging panel, gave a brief closing speech, and this year's International Mathematical Olympiad came to a successful close.
"Hello, Shen Qi. I'm a reporter for QQ News based in the UK. Could I ask you a few questions?" A Chinese reporter approached Shen Qi for a short interview.
"There's no livestream?" Shen Qi noticed that the young woman was alone and there was no camera operator.
"We don't usually livestream the IMO. We mostly publish articles with photos and text," the reporter explained. She switched on her recorder and asked, "First of all, congratulations, Shen Qi. You won three awards at this IMO, setting a new record for Chinese competitors. What's the story behind your total score of 42+1?"
"Let me explain," Shen Qi said. "There were actually four first-place gold medalists, including me. We all scored a perfect 42. Professor Wiles, the head of the judging panel, gave me 42+1 instead of 43 because the extra point doesn't count toward my official individual score. The innovation award I received on top of that was an unexpected bonus."
Shen Qi showed her his extra prizes: a certificate and a book.
The certificate was for the innovation award. What was strange was the book. Its cover had no author's name or publisher information, only the title, Beautiful-Language.
Turning to the title page, Shen Qi pointed to a signature—"Andrew-Wiles"—and said, "The title should be translated into Chinese as Beautiful Language. You can't buy it in stores because it was never published. Professor Wiles printed it at his own expense and gave it to me as the innovation award. I like this gift. I'll study it carefully when I get home."
The reporter had a camera hanging around her neck. She took a photo of Shen Qi, then asked, "One last question: do you have a university in mind?"
"Take a guess."
"Huh?"
"Actually, I've been thinking about it for a long time. Now I finally have a general idea. I've decided to do my undergraduate studies in China. If I get the chance, I can pursue further studies at a university overseas later."
"Then I hope everything works out for you."
After the interview, Shen Qi returned to the hotel with the team to pack his bags and get ready to go home.
System notification: "Congratulations, host! You have earned a new achievement: first place in the International Mathematical Olympiad individual rankings! Reward: 15,000 Academic Prodigy Points, multiplied by your primary Math talent coefficient of 2, for an actual reward of 30,000 Academic Prodigy Points. Your remaining balance is 89,873 Academic Prodigy Points. Please confirm."
Whether in real life or in the system, Shen Qi had gained a lot from this IMO: a gold medal, honors, and Academic Prodigy Points.
He'd met some remarkable people and broadened his horizons. All in all, the trip had been worthwhile.
On the last day of July, the Chinese math team flew out of London and headed home.
On the plane, Shen Qi spent 50,000 Academic Prodigy Points to upgrade his math.
System: "Congratulations, host! Your Math has reached Level 6. Your observation, memory, imagination, judgment, and deduction skills in mathematics have improved significantly compared to the previous level."
Host: Shen Qi
Age: 17
Math Level 6 (0/150,000)
Physics Level 1 (0/1,000)
Chemistry Level 1 (0/1,000)
Biology Level 1 (0/1,000)
Chinese Level 1 (0/1,000)
English Level 1 (0/1,000)
History Level 1 (0/1,000)
Politics Level 1 (0/1,000)
Geography Level 1 (0/1,000)
Sports Level 1 (0/1,000)
Remaining Academic Prodigy Points: 39,873
Upgrading from Level 6 to Level 7 required 150,000 Academic Prodigy Points. The higher the level, the more points an upgrade cost, with the increase following a nonlinear trend.
Shen Qi's Level 6 math ability was more than enough for high school mathematics. Only the top university students might be able to beat him.
Actually, Shen Qi had been thinking about a problem throughout his time in the UK: language.
It was only when you went abroad that you realized how important it was to know a foreign language.
If all you could say was "hello, how are you, thanks, bro," you'd sound like an idiot.
And if you happened to meet a pretty foreign girl, you wouldn't be able to have a meaningful conversation with her.
Besides, Professor Wiles's book was written entirely in English. Shen Qi couldn't even read it.
As a small investment, Shen Qi spent 1,000 Academic Prodigy Points on English, raising it to Level 2.
System: "Congratulations, host! Your English has reached Level 2. Your sensitivity to English has improved significantly compared to the previous level."
Shen Qi: "You boosted so many ability stats for math. For English, you only boosted my sensitivity?"
System: "Yes."
Shen Qi: "Seriously?"
System: "The sciences and linguistics are different fields. Please don't confuse them. I told you this when your English went from Level 0 to Level 1."
It seemed the system had told him that at the time, but Shen Qi hadn't paid attention. A few months earlier, he'd been focused entirely on math.
Now that the IMO was over, Shen Qi could spare some attention for his other subjects.
The plane flew east, eventually arriving at the Chinese Capital airport.
Without leaving the airport, he transferred to a domestic flight. Shen Qi arrived in Nangang City on the morning of August 1.
Shen Zhishan and his wife, Fan Yunxia, drove to the airport to pick up their son.
Shen Qi had gone to the provincial team's training camp at the end of June, then traveled to the capital for the national competition, made the National Training Team, and gone to the UK for the international contest. During that time, father and son had met once in the capital, but it had been over a month since Shen Qi had seen his mom.
"Mom, I've missed you so much!"
"I've missed you too, son!"
Mother and son hugged while Shen Zhishan carried Shen Qi's luggage to the parking lot.
Before long, the three of them were on their way home.
"Shen Qi, you're famous now—the international math champion! You know, my phone's been ringing off the hook these past few days. I had to put 1,000 yuan on it," Shen Zhishan complained about the phone bill, though pride shone on his face.
"It's true. Shen Qi, you're in the news. QQ News has an interview with you, and all the top ten universities in China have contacted your dad," Fan Yunxia said, equally proud.
"Shen Qi, which university do you want to go to?" Shen Zhishan and Fan Yunxia asked at the same time.
"Give me a month. I'll tell you my answer then." Shen Qi didn't give them an immediate answer, but his tone was firm.
"Oh? What are you planning to do for the next month?" Fan Yunxia asked.
"Train?"
"Train in what?"
"Some kind of divine skill."
"Don't do anything reckless, Shen Qi. You finally achieved something. Can you please behave yourself?"
After they got home, Shen Zhishan realized his worries were unnecessary.
The so-called divine skill Shen Qi was training in was English.
He never put down his English dictionary. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" played in his headphones. He'd stopped listening to songs by Pu Shu and Xu Wei and switched to Maroon 5 and Norah Jones. He watched Game of Thrones again, this time without Chinese subtitles, only English ones... With his Level 2 English sensitivity to support him, Shen Qi's practical English skills improved by leaps and bounds, and he began reading Wiles's book, Beautiful Language.
To be honest, Wiles wasn't much of a writer. His prose was just clear enough to get his meaning across.
But the book was packed with substance, combining Wiles's autobiography with a work of mathematical research.
Wiles said he'd been born into an academic family and that his father was a university professor.
He'd started studying Fermat's Last Theorem when he was ten and had finally completed the proof thirty years later.
He said mathematics depended on genius, but every genius needed good teachers and friends by his side. The collision of ideas produced great achievements.
The person he was most grateful to in his academic career was his mentor, Coates. This erudite mentor had guided him in proving a result about elliptic curves with complex multiplication, giving him the courage to launch an all-out attack on Fermat's Last Theorem. In the end, he won the Fields Medal... That was why mathematics was the most beautiful language. (End of book)
After reading about Wiles's journey and his profound insights into mathematics, Shen Qi made his decision on the day before school started, September 1.
He would go to Yanda for his undergraduate studies and decide about graduate school later.
Yanda didn't have as nice a name as Shuimu, but its math program ranked first in China. The collision of ideas produced great achievements.
"Yanda's pretty good. That's not just a joke; it's true. Don't laugh, Dad. Could you be serious for a moment? I've decided. I'm signing with Yanda."
I recommend a book, Basketball's Godfather. It's a sports novel and worth reading. I used to write sports novels myself, so trust my professional judgment.
Before you continue