Nineteen students managed to memorize 90 seemingly random numbers in one minute, but their accuracy varied; some got them all right, while others got more than ten wrong.
Shen Qi, Zhou Yu'an, and Ou Ye, three students from the Math Camp, stood out in this segment. All three completed their shorthand in under a minute with 100% accuracy.
Yang Bo student in the biochemistry camp, felt that this intelligence test was very unfair; he was the national chemistry competition champion.
"Then tell me, Yang Bo, which intelligence test is fair and reasonable? Or what is your area of expertise?" Instructor Xu asked sternly.
Yang Bo immediately became animated when talking about his area of expertise.
"Yang Bo, do you want to be taken away by the National Security Bureau?" Instructor Xu reprimanded sternly, then added, "So what if you can make bombs? Give me a big ghost, a little ghost, and four 2s, and I can make two of the most powerful bombs that even the CIA won't be able to detect."
Yang Bo: "..."
Everyone: "Haha."
Instructor Xu: "Alright, stop fooling around. Next, all students, please come up on stage so we can sing 'Unity is Strength' together. This will be our group's performance at the Golden Autumn Camp graduation banquet."
"No way?"
"Unity is Strength?"
"This song isn't suitable for young people like us to sing."
"It feels so vintage, sob sob."
"One punch kills a whiny monster... oh no, wrong one, Lulu!" Zhou Yu'an quickly apologized, "Lulu, I also think this song has a very retro feel to it, great minds think alike."
"What's all the noise about? If we're not singing 'Unity is Strength,' what are we singing? Does everyone know 'Bohemian Rhapsody'?" Instructor Xu directed the 19 group members to go on stage and line up.
"Come on, Tan Lulu sings the best, you stand in the middle. Come on, all the girls stand in the first row, Ou Ye, you stand next to Tan Lulu. Boys stand in the back, those with good looks stand in the middle, come on, Shen Qi, you stand in the middle, Zhou Yu'an and Yang Bo move to the side." Instructor Xu was busy adjusting the formation.
"That's fine, Teacher Wei." Instructor Xu nodded to the music teacher in front of the piano, and then the accompaniment music began, the piece being: "Unity is Strength".
"One Two Three, three, Unity is Strength, Unity is Strength!" Instructor Xu started.
"This power is iron, this power is steel."
Harder than iron, stronger than steel.
The chorus of nineteen students began, their voices ringing out loud and clear.
"Fire at the *** Emperor."
"Let all undemocratic systems die."
Being young is great! You have so much energy, and your Unity is Strength is full of vigor and momentum.
Just then, Instructor Xu suddenly showed all the trainees a piece of white paper. The paper still had a set of irregular numbers printed on it, a total of 70, which was 20 fewer than before.
"Towards the sun."
"Towards freedom."
"Towards the New China."
"Shooting down ten thousand feet..."
The trainees got confused as they sang, their volume kept decreasing, and some even stopped singing altogether.
"Don't stop! Sing loudly, sing it out loud! Keep track of the numbers while you sing!" Instructor Xu shouted. "I'll deduct points from anyone who doesn't sing!"
"This power is iron, this power is steel!"
Harder than iron, stronger than steel!
Holy crap, life is full of traps. Even singing "Unity is Strength" requires me to keep track of numbers. Under Instructor Xu's supervision, the trainees raised their voices again.
There are 20 fewer numbers in 70 than in 90, but the abilities tested are different. This is not a simple test of number memory; it requires the left and right hemispheres to work together. The left hemisphere controls rationality, while the right hemisphere controls emotion. Doing two things at once and using them effectively is not an easy task.
"Towards the sun."
"Towards freedom."
"Towards the New China..." Shen Qi sang while quickly memorizing a set of 70 numbers that Instructor Xu had shown him. This game was quite interesting; he hadn't practiced it before, so he was just improvising.
"Emitting boundless light! Ang ang ang!"
"Stop!"
Instructor Xu made a gesture to conclude the exercise, marking the end of the first choral practice of "Unity is Strength".
"Unity is Strength, youth is our asset. You all sang with great energy, I give you a thumbs up!" Instructor Xu praised, then turned over the sheet of paper with numbers in his hand and asked, "Did you memorize the numbers?"
Yang Bo shook his head. "This... Teacher Xu's attack was so sudden that I was completely unprepared and didn't remember it."
"And you, Tan Lulu? You only got one number wrong in the shorthand of the set of 90 numbers just now," Instructor Xu asked again.
"I can remember when I'm focused, but I can't memorize numbers while singing," Tan Lulu said with a helpless smile.
"Zhou Yu'an, are you sure you can do it?" Instructor Xu glanced at Zhou Yu'an, who was standing on the side of the line.
"A man must be able to do it, and I am!" Zhou Yu'an said passionately. Being assigned to stand on the side of the line made him very unhappy, as he felt like a background figure.
Those with good looks should stand in the middle. Why should I, with such a good look, be placed in a corner? Hmph, I, Zhou Yu'an, am not to be trifled with. Let me show you my true strength.
"Alright, Zhou Yu'an, please count off." Instructor Xu said encouragingly.
Zhou Yu'an glanced at Tan Lulu, who was sitting in the middle of the front row. His chance to shine had arrived. He began counting. "3, 1, 5, 0, 3... 1, 9, 7. Counting complete."
"Hey, you've got some skills after all?" Yang Bo said from the side.
"I could easily make a living off my looks, but I choose to rely on my abilities. There's no other way," Zhou Yu'a Yangyang.
After checking the numbers, Instructor Xu said, "Zhou Yu'an, you got the 61st number wrong. Getting only one number wrong is pretty good. Your left and right brain coordination and quick reaction ability are both excellent."
"Hehehe." Zhou Yu'an laughed.
Tan Lulu turned her head and glanced at Zhou Yu'an with an appreciative look on her face.
"Hehehehe." Zhou Yu'an was greatly encouraged. He won Lulu's goddess's glance with his strength.
"This is fucking unfair," Yang Bo muttered under his breath. The numbers were all just numbers on paper; Instructor Xu, could you at least give me some chemical raw materials?
Instructor Xu addressed all the trainees, asking, "A follow-up question: Does anyone remember what the 61st number is?"
"Swish! "Shen Qi raised his hand.
Swish! Ou Ye raised her hand.
Only the two of them raised their hands.
"I've finished showing off, now it's their turn to show off." Zhou Yu'an entered spectator mode.
"Please, everyone in the Math Camp, stop showing off, okay?" Yang Bo was extremely annoyed.
"Shen Qi, Ou Ye, you two remembered it, right?" Instructor Xu asked.
"Wait a moment, Instructor Xu," Shen Qi replied, then said to Ou Ye, who was to his left, "Ou Ye, who's going to go next?"
Ou Ye: "Either is fine."
Shen Qi thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll say the 61st number first, and you can start from the last number and say them backwards?"
Ou Ye: "Either is fine."
Shen Qi: "Okay, let's do it this way. This part is quite fun."
Tan Lulu, standing next to Ou Ye, was stunned. "Are you two monsters?"
Instructor Xu was also surprised. "Huh? Ou Ye, what did you say? Please speak louder."
"No, I didn't say anything." Ou Ye lowered her head awkwardly.
"No, you must have said something just now," Instructor Xu pressed.
Ou Ye dared not meet Instructor Xu's sharp gaze. She turned and looked helplessly at Shen Qi: "You said it."
Analyzing Ou Ye's personality and behavior, Shen Qi guessed that she might have some social anxiety. She didn't dare to look people in the eye when talking to them, and she could only be somewhat natural when communicating with a few close friends.
Shen Qi looked directly into Instructor Xu's eyes and said loudly, "Instructor Xu, I just discussed it with Ou Ye. I'll say the 61st number first, and then Ou Ye will say the 70th number in reverse order. Instructor Xu, do you think this is allowed?"
"Damn it?"
"Pretending again?"
"Shen Qi, please sit down!"
"Ou Ye, please keep a low profile!"
The other trainees were bewildered.
"Please, everyone in the Math Camp, stop showing off!" Yang Bo wanted to storm off in anger.
"We were forced into this situation. We didn't even come up with the question, so what could we do?" Zhou Yu'an said helplessly.
Yang Bo wanted to punch someone. "Damn it, the Math Camp's three pretentious guys, their forced pretentiousness is the most shameful!"
"Quiet, quiet!" Instructor Xu maintained order and said, "Shen Qi, Ou Ye, your actions are permitted. Please begin your performance!"
"The 61st number is 2," Shen Qi immediately announced.
"Correct." Instructor Xu nodded, then stared at Ou Ye and said, "Ou Ye, you can proceed with your operation."
Ou Ye bowed his head and counted. "7, 9, 1, 2... 5, 1, 3."
"..."
"..."
There was a moment of silence.
Ou Ye actually recited all 70 numbers backwards.
Of course, no one could confirm whether she recited it correctly, except for Instructor Xu, who had the answers.
Instructor Xu composed himself and gave the final conclusion. "Ou Ye recited it perfectly backwards, bonus points. Shen Qi and Zhou Yu'an will also receive bonus points. The test is over. Now everyone continue practicing the chorus of 'Unity is Strength'."
"If you sing well, you can also get extra points in my comprehensive evaluation report of the Golden Autumn Camp participants' emotional and intellectual intelligence. Let me start: Unity is Strength, Unity is Strength..."