Five slips of paper, numbered one through five, folded up and drawn at random.
That was Yan Xiao's method.
Yan Xiao had prepared the lots.
The slips he folded were all different sizes and shapes.
This nearly triggered Lin Fangxin's compulsive tendencies.
Fighting back her discomfort, Lin Fangxin chose the biggest one.
She opened it and looked.
Number one.
Lin Fangxin held the slip up for Yan Xiao to see. He nodded. "Let's go with that one. There's not much difference."
"Okay. Remember our agreement: I'll do it myself this time. Don't give me any hints."
"Don't worry."
Yan Xiao readily agreed.
Everyone was working on the problems.
This clearly wasn't the place to play games or chat.
Working on problems?
That wasn't a bad way to relax, either.
But five hours?
He wouldn't need that long.
Yan Xiao thought it over and decided he might as well start working on the problems.
Once he finished,
he could go out for a stroll.
And so,
Lin Fangxin worked on the first problem,
while Yan Xiao tackled problems two, three, four, and five.
The minutes and seconds ticked by.
To be honest,
the problems were somewhat difficult.
But only somewhat.
The other groups discussed the problems as they worked.
In Yan Xiao's group,
Yan Xiao and Lin Fangxin worked separately,
while Zhao Zimo slept soundly.
Finally,
when Zhao Zimo woke up for the third time, Lin Fangxin put down her pen.
She turned and found that Yan Xiao had just put down his pen, too.
"I'm done."
"Me too."
"You too?"
"Yes, I did problems two, three, four, and five," Yan Xiao replied.
"That fast?"
"Let's check each other's work." Yan Xiao didn't dwell on the matter and handed his papers to Lin Fangxin.
Lin Fangxin took them.
She read through