After taking the advice, I became a top student.

When Chen Mo walked out of the examination room, there were only a few college students wandering around the campus.

There were no scenes of teachers from various schools crowding outside the examination hall. This was not the college entrance examination, and the teachers were not parents. They had already returned to their hotels and were chatting with friends. They would not be waiting outside the examination hall.

Of course, this was also because they were certain that no one would hand in their paper early for such an important exam, so they only needed to arrive about ten minutes before the exam ended.

Chen Mo quickened his pace and hurried towards the hotel.

He was now perfectly clear-headed, and in this state, wasting even a second would be a sin.

Upon entering the hotel, the receptionist looked at the boy in the school uniform with some surprise.

She had certainly heard about the National High School Mathematics Competition, which was so important, since she lived near the university. But she had heard that the exam was supposed to end at 4:30, so why was she back at 3:00?

She came back alone.

It's obvious that they probably submitted a blank paper.

The receptionist shook her head, but thought it was normal, since it was only No. 1 Middle School, not No. 7 Middle School.

I really envy those top students at No. 7 Middle School!

"If I had studied harder back then, I might have gotten into No. 7 Middle School too..."

The young woman started daydreaming.

Chen Mo had already entered the elevator.

Back in his room, Chen Mo sat down at his desk and buried himself in the open book of university physics.

Yesterday, while studying Maxwell's equations, he felt there was a barrier between the differential and integral forms, and the concepts of curl and divergence seemed shrouded in mist.

(Differential form of Maxwell's equations)

But now, when Chen Mo looked at those complex partial differential equations again, he suddenly realized that the fog had dissipated.

"I see."

Chen Mo stared at the four equations in the textbook and suddenly felt that they were as beautiful as a poem.

The divergence of an electric field is equal to the charge density, which means that the electric field begins with and ends with electric charge.

The divergence of the magnetic field is zero, and the magnetic field lines have no beginning and no end; they play by themselves.

The curl of an electric field is equal to the rate of change of magnetic flux, and a changing magnetic field can induce an electric field.

The curl of a magnetic field is equal to the electric current plus the changing electric field; conversely, a changing electric field can also induce a magnetic field.

Four equations completely unify electricity and magnetism.

He picked up his pen and derived the integral form from the differential form on the draft paper, each step as clear as if it were engraved in his mind.

Next, turn to the section on electromagnetic waves.

The Maxwell equations in a vacuum can be transformed into the wave equations through simple transformations.

Chen Mo wrote down almost instinctively:

∇²E =μ_₀ε_₀∂²E/∂t²

"The wave speed is 1/√(μ_₀ε_₀), which is exactly the speed of light."

He paused, then suddenly laughed.

Light is an electromagnetic wave!

This conclusion, which he had memorized countless times in high school physics class, was finally taking root in his mind.

It's not about memorizing, it's about understanding.

Chen Mo continued turning the pages, one after another, each page feeling like a conversation with the textbook author.

When he looked at that magical set of equations again, it was as if he was no longer seeing printed formulas, but a middle-aged man with a beard standing in front of him, holding a stack of draft paper, his eyes so bright that they seemed to contain the entire universe.

"young people,"

The voice, with a Scottish accent, said, "Do you know why I wrote Faraday's lines of force in mathematical terms?"

Chen Mo was stunned.

Maxwell began drawing in the air, oblivious to everything else.

"An electric field can flow like a fluid, while a magnetic field is like a vortex. A changing magnetic field can generate a vortex electric field, and conversely, a changing electric field can also generate a magnetic field. You see, isn't that symmetrical?"

He pointed to the first equation with his finger: "The divergence of the electric field comes from the electric charge, that's what Gauss told me."

Then it points to the second one: "The divergence of the magnetic field is zero because there is no magnetic charge, and the magnetic field lines are always closed."

"The third one, the vortex electric field." He drew a circle in the air with his hand. "Mr. Faraday gave me the inspiration."

"The fourth one..." He paused, a smile playing on his lips, "The one I added, displacement current. Without it, electromagnetic waves wouldn't exist, and neither would light."

Chen Mo's eyes suddenly lit up, as if a bolt of lightning had cleaved through the fog.

"Light is electromagnetic waves!"

Maxwell smiled and nodded, his figure gradually disappearing.

Chen Mo suddenly snapped out of his daze and looked down at the four extremely simple equations in his textbook.

More than a hundred years ago, one person single-handedly unified electricity, magnetism, and light.

And just now, it was as if he had witnessed that process firsthand.

Time passed second by second.

Chen Mo was completely immersed in the world of physics. In the distance, when the bell rang to signal the end of the exam, Chen Mo had already finished reading the electromagnetism section and was now reading the beginning of wave optics.

The exam lasts two and a half hours, but the effect of a clear mind lasts for three hours, and that clarity continues.

……

Outside the examination hall, the teachers had already returned to the old teaching building to wait.

The students also gradually left the examination room.

Soon, Bai Zhi, Zhou Hao, and the others arrived in front of Zhou Zhi and Hu Xin.

Zhou Hao looked rather grim. He had no clue how to solve the third major question and handed in a blank paper.

Bai Zhi also looked dazed, as if she was still thinking about the question she hadn't been able to answer.

If she's like this, the other three aren't much better.

Tan Yuanguo's face was ashen. He had originally planned to give it his all this year and try to win a provincial first prize so that he could still participate in the Strong Foundation Program.

But the difficulty of the second round of testing dragged him into the abyss.

Seeing the expressions on everyone's faces, Zhou Zhi didn't ask any further questions. Clearly, the situation was not optimistic, and he had seen this kind of scene many times before.

I wonder how Chen Mo is doing?

He hadn't held out much hope for Chen Mo, but the events of the past two days had given him a renewed sense of anticipation.

But soon, he frowned and looked towards the examination room. Most of the candidates had already come out, and even the invigilators had come out with sealed exam papers in their folders, but he still couldn't see Chen Mo.

"Where is Chen Mo?"

"Why haven't they come out yet?"

Zhou Zhi looked at Bai Zhi and finally asked the soul-searching question.

Just then, Lin Zhiyuan and Qiu Mingyuan walked over.

"Where is Chen Mo?"

Lin Zhiyuan asked.

"Weren't you in the same exam room as him?"

Bai Zhi snapped out of her thoughts, a hint of worry appearing in her eyes.

"He handed in his paper a long time ago."

Lin Zhiyuan asked in surprise, "He didn't come to see you?"

"Submit the exam early?"

Zhou Zhi's expression suddenly turned serious. Judging from Bai Zhi and the others' performance, today's questions were definitely not easy, and there wasn't even enough time. Why did they hand in their papers early?

"Was today's question difficult?" He looked at Lin Zhiyuan.

"It's difficult."

Lin Zhiyuan nodded in confirmation.

At this moment, Zhou Zhi suddenly panicked.

He knew he had been a bit too eager for quick success these days, and that his expectations had probably put pressure on Chen Mo, causing him to encounter difficulties in the exam. He wondered if Chen Mo might suddenly become depressed.

Zhou Zhi immediately took out his phone and called Chen Mo.

However, no one answered the phone after it was dialed.

After being hit twice in a row, Zhou Zhi's heartbeat slowed down by half a beat.

"Quick, everyone, search everywhere!"

He disregarded everything else and hurriedly spoke to Bai Zhi and the others.

But he looked around blankly, having no idea where to begin his search.

"We'll help look for it too."

Lin Zhiyuan and Qiu Mingyuan seemed to have thought of something as well, and said with serious expressions.

They originally thought Chen Mo had finished and submitted his paper early, but now it seems that the truth is probably not so.