Humiliating Himself

A physics contest between Li Qiwei and Federico officially began in a classroom at ETH Zurich.

The two of them sat on opposite sides of the classroom, working through the problems on their own. Everyone else watched from the sidelines, speaking carefully for fear of disturbing them.

Grossman asked Einstein in a low voice, "Can your friend Bruce really do this?"

"Even I'm not entirely confident about these problems, especially the last one. No one who hasn't read the paper could possibly know the answer."

Einstein forced back a laugh. He wasn't ready to reveal Li Qiwei's identity yet. "Don't worry. If this were a math contest, I wouldn't dare make any promises."

"But since it's physics, Bruce is sure to win. He's the most brilliant physicist I've ever met."

Grossman was taken aback. "A physicist? Isn't he an undergraduate? How did he suddenly become a physicist? Don't tell me Bruce is already a professor?"

Einstein smiled. "He's not a professor. He's an undergraduate at Cambridge University. As for why I called him a physicist, you'll understand when the contest is over."

Grossman immediately grew curious. He knew his good friend Einstein well enough to realize he must have good reason to be so confident.

That made him even more curious about Li Qiwei. Anyone Einstein thought so highly of couldn't be ordinary.

While the two whispered to each other, worried about Li Qiwei, he sat at the table looking calm and composed as he worked through the problems.

Federico, by contrast, furrowed his brow. He wrote for a while, then stopped; at times, he even clutched his head in both hands, as if caught in a struggle.

He stole a glance at Li Qiwei and saw that he wasn't nervous at all. There was even a smile on his lips.

A bad feeling suddenly crept over him. Could these problems really be easy?

Absolutely impossible. Federico himself was finding them so difficult; no one could breeze through them without effort.

So he stopped watching Li Qiwei and went back to scribbling formulas on his draft paper.

The onlookers had also begun to notice something.

"Hey, look. It seems like that guy from the East is working faster. Good Lord, could he be smarter than Federico?"

"Not necessarily. Maybe he's just bluffing, or using magic. They say those mysterious Easterners all know black magic."

"Ridiculous. I think Federico's finally met his match. Maybe that guy really is a more brilliant genius, and he's here to teach the little tyrant a lesson."

"I know the last problem. I heard it came from a paper published by a genius named Bruce Li. I think he was a student, too."

"Yeah, it's hard to imagine there's a genius like that in the world. If I could meet him, my physics degree would be worth all the agony. This stuff is so damn hard."

"Sunshine and beaches—watching them answer questions has me feeling a little worked up. This is thrilling!" After he said that, everyone moved farther away from him.

By now, an hour and a half had passed. The crowd in the classroom hadn't thinned; more and more students and faculty had been drawn in.

A sheen of sweat had even appeared on Federico's forehead. The three problems were clearly putting him under a lot of pressure.

So far, he had only more or less solved the first problem and partly solved the second. As for the third, though he had read the paper, the mathematical techniques it used were rather complex. He wasn't capable of deriving them on the spot.

Even so, he had answered a small part of the third problem. At least he wouldn't get zero.

There was no time limit for the contest, but if you couldn't solve a problem, you couldn't solve it. More time wouldn't help.

Federico guessed he was probably nearing his limit.

At the same time, he realized that the physics he usually studied had seemed so simple only because the professors had never truly pushed themselves.

For the first time, he even felt afraid. Was he really going to lose?

So he looked over at Li Qiwei again to see how far he had gotten.

The sight nearly scared Federico out of his wits.

Li Qiwei wasn't working on the problems. He was sitting with his eyes closed, resting, while his answer sheets lay neatly arranged on the desk.

What was going on? Had he already solved everything and was just waiting for him?

Federico's rhythm fell apart. His mouth went dry, and his hands even began to tremble.

Even the crowd was stunned by Li Qiwei's behavior.

"Oh, my God, what's that guy from the East doing? Has he already solved every problem?"

"Good heavens, that's so brazen. He finishes early, then goes to sleep while waiting for Federico. He clearly doesn't take him seriously at all."

"Seriously? It hasn't even been two hours. He could answer all three of these incredibly difficult physics problems correctly?"

"Maybe there's a problem he can't solve, so he just gave up. Maybe he thinks Federico can't solve it either?"

"Just wait. Federico should be finishing soon, too. Then we'll know. I can't wait!"

"Sunshine and beaches, I'm almost there." Everyone moved even farther away from him.

Grossman was also stunned by Li Qiwei's actions. "Einstein, is Bruce always so... unconventional?"

He couldn't think of the right word to describe Li Qiwei. He just felt the other man was outrageously cocky.

Einstein smiled. "Maybe that's Eastern etiquette or wisdom. At least Bruce never goes out of his way to insult people, does he?"

"Besides, these three problems really are ridiculously easy for him."

Grossman went completely still. "What? You said they're ridiculously easy? Einstein, just who is your friend?"

Einstein only smiled and said nothing.

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye. Federico finally decided to stop struggling. He was ready to "turn in" his paper.

He refused to believe the other guy had really solved all three problems correctly.

He hadn't necessarily lost.

The two faced off, looking each other in the eye, sparks of fighting spirit flickering between them.

By then, an eager onlooker had already gone to fetch Professor Stern to assess their results.

A little over ten minutes later, Stern walked over with a smile. "As expected, you're both physics geniuses. You finished much faster than I thought you would."

One of the students watching said, "No, Professor Stern. That guy from the East finished half an hour ago. He's been waiting for Federico this whole time."

"Oh?" Stern looked surprised, then turned to Li Qiwei. "I expected at least three hours. I didn't think you'd be this fast."

But he knew Federico better, so he decided to look at his answers first.

After studying them carefully for five minutes, while Federico waited anxiously, Stern gave his verdict. "Federico, you got the first problem completely right, 80% of the second, and 30% of the third."

The crowd was clearly astonished by the results. Federico had solved more than two problems' worth, despite how difficult they were. His skill was terrifying!

Then Stern looked over Li Qiwei's paper and began reading aloud. "This student from the East got the first problem completely right and the second problem completely right. The third problem... Hm? What's this?"

The onlookers were confused. The guy from the East had already gotten two problems right. If he got even 10% of the last one, it would be a tie. Could something have gone wrong?

"Professor Stern, what's going on? What about the last problem?" someone asked.

Stern looked perplexed. He scratched his head, then couldn't help asking, "What does your answer to the third problem mean?"

As he spoke, he showed Li Qiwei's answer to everyone.

Everyone crowded around to look, including Grossman and Einstein—and even Federico. They wanted to figure out what was going on.

At the answer to the third problem, Li Qiwei had written just three Chinese characters: "Li Qiwei."

"What's this? Some kind of drawing? Or a symbol?"

"Could he not solve it and just doodle something?" someone asked skeptically.

Federico even laughed out loud. "You foolish Eastern boy. Is this your trick? I nearly fell for it."

Stern asked again, "What do these three characters mean?"

"My name," Li Qiwei replied evenly.