Old Yang's Worry

Hearing Li Dong say he wanted to sign up for the physics competition, Jiang Yang had not yet said anything, but Old Yang on the side spoke up first instead.

He frowned and, putting down the red pen in his hand, said.

"Li Dong, what made you think about getting into the physics competition?"

"Teacher Yang, I..."

Before Li Dong could explain, Old Yang interrupted him.

"I know your momentum is strong right now, but a person's energy is limited."

"You actually have a lot of talent in mathematics; I won't misjudge this point. If you seize this period of time to consolidate the knowledge points of compulsory and elective courses, your score will quickly catch up."

Old Yang paused and said very seriously.

"Your physics is not bad, but wanting to raise your score is much more difficult."

"So let's focus our efforts on mathematics. I'm confident I can make your college entrance examination mathematics score rush to around 140 points!"

Jiang Yang, who was holding a thermos cup and drinking tea nearby, let out a "pfft" and almost spat it out.

He stared blankly at Old Yang, his face full of disbelief.

"140? Old Yang, are you kidding me?"

Although Jiang Yang was not the head teacher of Class 2, Grade 12, and wasn't entirely clear on the specific situation of Li Dong's other subjects, he understood what a score of 140 meant.

At Jiangcheng No. 7 High School, scoring 120 in math counted as a top student.

As for 140? That was considered cutting-edge across the city, if not the entire province.

Did Teacher Yang know what he was saying?

Old Yang ignored Jiang Yang's astonishment, and still earnestly said.

* *

"It's already the third year of high school, and there are less than two hundred days until the college entrance examination, counting it all up."

"Regarding this physics competition, I'll speak the truth: looking for people in our No. 7 High School is just making up the numbers."

"If you go and get distracted by that, it will definitely delay the time you spend studying mathematics. Listen to a teacher's advice and consider it again."

Li Dong looked at the care on Old Yang's face, feeling actually quite moved in his heart.

In this era that valued scores above all else, for a teacher to be so earnest for your future meant they truly took you seriously.

Yet he still shook his head.

Who was standing behind him right now? It was Newton, Joule, Einstein, and this group of people.

If he couldn't handle a physics competition, he wouldn't deserve to be this group owner.

"Teacher Yang, I understand what you mean."

"But I really am relatively interested in physics. Rest assured, I absolutely will not drop mathematics either. Even if I participate in the competition, I can guarantee the progress of my math review."

Old Yang opened his mouth, but seeing that persistence in the teenager's eyes, he ultimately swallowed his words back down.

He graduated from Capital Normal University, which was the country's top normal institution.

Li Dong's expression right now was something he had seen in himself and his classmates.

Persuasion definitely wouldn't stop him, so he would just let him be.

For a teacher to offer appropriate reminders was already fulfilling one's basic duty.

Old Yang sighed, waved his hand, and stopped speaking.

At this moment, Jiang Yang, who had been watching the show the whole time, broke the silence.

He actually couldn't quite figure out Old Yang's thoughts.

However, for him, completing the school's apportioned task for competition sign-ups was the real business.

Yet seeing Old Yang's reluctant appearance, Jiang Yang found it hard to display too much enthusiasm, so he smoothed things over.

"All right, Li Dong. We know your thoughts. Class is about to start; you go back to the classroom first."

"As for the matter of registration, go back and think about it for another two days, and come find me when you've made up your mind."

"Okay, thank you, teacher."

Li Dong nodded, turned around, and left the office.

Emerging from the office, Li Dong walked toward the classroom with his head lowered.

To be honest, Old Yang's concern was something he hadn't expected, but he had to go to the physics competition no matter what. First of all, he didn't know what level his physics currently belonged to.

The core contents in high school physics such as Newton's Laws of Motion, electromagnetic induction, and conservation of mechanical energy were completely thoroughly grasped by him yesterday in just a single day. He even understood the basic framework of particle kinematics, the kinetic theory of gases, and Maxwell's Equations in college general physics well enough.

If he didn't go out and take a look, and kept playing low-end matches at No. 7 High School, he felt it was a waste of time.

Just as he was lost in thought, he suddenly felt the space before his eyes darken, as if someone was blocking his path.

Li Dong subconsciously raised his head.

A delicate, fair little face appeared before his eyes.

It was Mi Xia.

Li Dong was stunned, and subconsciously stepped aside to make room, but Mi Xia also moved aside to follow, blocking right in front of him again.

"?"

This was the free period right before morning self-study, and there were still quite a few people in the hallway.

Seeing this scene, surrounding classmates cast gossipy gazes one after another.

One had to know that Mi Xia was considered in the highest tier of beauty at No. 7 High School. Usually, boys frequently sent her love letters and the like, and he had even heard that punkish outsiders from outside the school had come to the school gates to block her.

Yet she normally didn't pay much attention to people; what kind of situation was this now?

Mi Xia taking the initiative to block a guy? This was big news!

Yet all of this had nothing to do with Li Dong.

Women? They would only affect his speed at solving problems.

Only when a complex integration formula was simplified to zero in his mind—that kind of soul-shivering intracranial climax—was what he pursued now.

Still, since she was a classmate after all, Li Dong politely asked a question.

"Mi Xia? Is there something you need?"

Mi Xia looked at Li Dong and spoke somewhat reluctantly.

"That variant of the math extra-credit problem from Friday evening's self-study... I went home and calculated it for two whole days, trying many methods, but couldn't calculate it out."

She truly refused to accept it.

Over the weekend, she looked up a lot of materials at home, and in the end used the Separation of Parameters Method combined with second derivatives to calculate it by brute force, filling three sheets of draft paper, only to get stuck on the sign judgment in the very last step.

That kind of complex computational volume was fundamentally impossible to finish within exam time.

"What problem are you talking about?" Li Dong was still thinking about how to deal with Old Yang and didn't react for a moment.

Mi Xia felt that Li Dong was putting on airs; she didn't believe Li Dong could forget such a difficult problem.

"It's that problem on the blackboard about finding the maximum value of $a$ for constant validity!"

"Oh..." Li Dong only then came to a sudden realization. "That problem."

"That problem is indeed relatively difficult. For... um, for students at the present stage, it really is relatively difficult."

He almost blurted out the words "ordinary high school students," fortunately braking in time.

Mi Xia felt even more blocked in her heart looking at his "so that's how it is" expression.

What did "students at the present stage" mean? Making it sound like you're no longer a high school student!

"Do you have time to teach me?" Even though Mi Xia felt upset inside, her thirst for knowledge still won the upper hand.

"I want to know how you skipped those two differentiation steps."

Since the person had asked on her own initiative, Li Dong wasn't someone petty.

"All right, we'll talk when there's time." He nodded, considering it agreed.

Getting a reply, Mi Xia didn't pester him further either, nodded, and turned back to the classroom.

Li Dong didn't take this small interlude to heart, walking straight toward his seat.

Yet the others couldn't remain calm.

Especially Jiang Yuzhou, who sat in the second row.

Jiang Yizhou's grades were stably in the top three of the class year-round, and math and physics were even more his strong suits.

He had always held a favorable impression of Mi Xia, and had countless times fantasized about the two of them getting into a tier-one university together, becoming the enviable fairy couple on campus.

Yet right now, Li Dong was actually discussing studying together with Mi Xia in the hallway?

How could this be?

Wasn't it just doing an extra-credit problem? I did it at home too; it's not that difficult. Jiang Yizhou thought unconvinced.

As for the fact that this problem was actually solved by looking up the answer? He simply and selectively forgot this heart-stabbing truth.