From child prodigy to chief scientist

Chapter 116 This time I must stand up

After saying this, the team members couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Because they spoke very quickly and used some local slang, most of the Chinese team members couldn't fully understand what they were saying.

However, just by looking at their tone and expression, it was enough to feel the malice they were expressing.

Ge Xijie, who was relatively good at English, basically understood what they were saying and knew that they were mocking Xu Xiao and their team.

Just as Ge Xijie was about to retaliate, Xu Xiao spoke up:

"I think mathemati cal ability should be proven by solving problems, not

I think mathematical ability should be proven by solving problems, not by guessing based on height or age.

Upon hearing Xu Xiao's words, the American team members froze on the spot, so embarrassed they wanted to disappear into the ground.

To be honest, they didn't really want to provoke anyone; they just thought the Chinese team members probably couldn't understand what they were saying, which is why they openly started talking about these things.

But in fact, Xu Xiao's response clearly showed that he understood what they were saying.

Xu Xiao's spoken English is not very standard. He had been learning more of the "mute English" method recently, and his English still has a bit of a Chinese accent.

Even so, his grammar was flawless, and he spoke with an imposing manner that was completely at odds with his youthful appearance.

Before the American team members could react, Xu Xiao continued, "I remember last year, your team's average score on the fifth question was less than 2 points, right?"

"That problem about the distribution of primitive roots modulo p can actually be solved using very elementary methods such as Lucas's theorem and simple counting principles."

"I hope that if you encounter similar questions again this year, you can get even more points —"

After saying these words, Xu Xiao's eyes remained fixed on the American team members, displaying an overwhelming aura.

Xu Xiao originally didn't want to argue with these kids. If it were just an ordinary individual competition, he probably wouldn't have paid any attention to them at all.

But the IMO has a completely different meaning; it is not only a competition between individuals, but also a competition between nations.

Xu Xiao absolutely could not tolerate anyone mocking his team like that, so he had to stand up and fight back.

Of course, Xu Xiao wouldn't resort to such vulgar insults; instead, she would strike at their sore spots with facts.

During the national team training camp, Fei Ran had compiled statistics on the scores of each team in previous years.

Although Fei Ran only briefly mentioned this information, Xu Xiao was still able to remember it very clearly thanks to his powerful memory.

This problem, which the US team scored less than 30% of last year, was as simple as an elementary school problem in Xu Xiao's eyes.

Hearing Xu Xiao recount these events, the American team members felt ashamed once again.

They knew that what Xu Xiao said was indeed true, and they couldn't find any reason to refute it.

At this moment, they deeply regretted their actions. Why had they provoked such a terrifying person? This child was far from being as easy to bully as he seemed.

At this moment, a boy with a somewhat handsome face, speaking with a distinct German accent, said: "You guys' ideas are indeed a bit ridiculous. Isn't it a good thing that he can participate in the IMO at such a young age?"

When he was his age, you were still learning quadratic equations, right?

"When Galois was your age, he had already proven that quintic equations had no roots by devising group theory, but you guys these days can only solve some competition problems, right?"

The boy's words left the American team members completely speechless.

"We're sorry, we really shouldn't have said those things, we apologize."

After saying this, the American team members quickly left, looking rather annoyed.

Looking at the handsome young man in front of her, Xu Xiao quickly expressed her gratitude.

"Friend, thank you for speaking up for me."

Xu Xiao was very grateful that a complete stranger stood up for her.

"You're welcome. I was just upholding justice. I'm Peter Schulz from the German national team. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Upon hearing the name "Peter Schultz," Xu Xiao was somewhat surprised and stood frozen in place.

If he remembered correctly, a famous German mathematician in his previous life seemed to have this name.

While there is indeed a possibility of duplicate names, if all the information matches up, then it's pretty much a done deal.

Schultz in his previous life was considered one of the most influential mathematicians of the 21st century.

If Pan Hong is a Fields Medal nominee, then Schultz is a true Fields Medal winner.

Xu Xiao never expected that she would meet Schultz here, or even that Schultz would take the initiative to get to know her.

"I am Xu Xiao from the Chinese national team, and I am also very happy to meet you."

"Then I won't bother you any longer. We can have a proper chat another time."

To be honest, the reason Schultz stood up just now was not only because he wanted to uphold justice, but also because he was indeed somewhat interested in Xu Xiao.

Being able to represent China at such a young age in the IMO is enough to demonstrate just how high this child's mathematical talent is.

As a mathematical genius, Schultz naturally admired other mathematical geniuses.

On the other side, after talking with the staff, Fei Ran walked over to the team members.

Fei Ran had just seen his teammates talking to the American team members, but because they were far away, he couldn't hear clearly.

After being told the story by the other team members, Fei Ran finally understood what had happened.

When traveling, Fei Ran naturally didn't want his teammates to get into any conflicts with other teams.

However, they naturally couldn't remain indifferent to the verbal abuse from other teams.

Fei Ran felt relieved that Xu Xiao was able to retaliate in time.

"In the end, the results of this IMO will speak for themselves. Let's go register over there first, and then we shouldn't linger outside."

After helping everyone complete the registration process, Fei Ran led the team members back to their hotel rooms.

Out of concern for local security, Fei Ran required the team members to stay in their rooms as much as possible and not to go anywhere other than the competition venue.

Everyone was quite obedient in this regard, after all, they were unfamiliar with the place and didn't speak the language, and if they went out, they might not be able to find their way back.

After lunch, Xu Xiao offered to give his teammates extra lessons, providing individual support to each player.

This time, Xu Xiao wasn't trying to farm any more inspiration fragments; he was genuinely focused on improving their team's performance in the competition.