After taking the advice, I became a top student.

Zi Mo is Chen Mo's online name on Zhihu.

"I saw your question on Zhihu. During the entrance exam, you were among the lowest-ranked students in your grade, and you even failed math. How did you manage to become the top student in the entire province within just two months?"

Liu Xiaochen is certain that the question on Zhihu was raised by Chen Mo.

Chen Mo didn't expect his online name to be discovered so quickly, but he needed exposure and more suggestions from netizens, so he didn't resist.

This could even be an opportunity for him to increase his visibility.

"I have to thank the netizens for their suggestions. Without them, I would probably still be that poor student sitting in the most remote corner of the classroom."

Chen Mo sighed. He never expected that a question he casually asked on Zhihu would become a turning point in his life.

"So you actually followed the suggestions from netizens?"

Liu Xiaochen pressed on, "Did you really copy junior high math ten times?"

"Copied it."

"Did you move your seat to the front row?"

"Um."

"Didn't the teacher make you move back, or scold you?"

"No, after I explained the reason to the teachers, they all let me continue attending classes. I often went to them to ask questions after class, and they would answer them patiently."

On the other side of the conference room, Principal Zhang Hu and Vice Principal Zhao Zhenzhong, who had been overseeing the proceedings, smiled broadly.

"This reporter is excellent; the questions they asked were very insightful!"

Zhao Zhenzhong was beaming with joy. It was easy to foresee how positive the broadcast of this interview would be for their school.

You see, even our No. 1 High School is very tolerant of struggling students and actively guides them, giving them the opportunity to catch up.

As long as Chen Mo is still around, he will be a living billboard for No. 1 Middle School's enrollment!

"The teachers of Class 18 are all dedicated and hardworking teachers, and they all received the highest level of year-end bonus this year."

Zhang Hu also smiled broadly, "And Wang Xiaohua, she's a really good homeroom teacher, a capable leader. The class she taught last year had the best grades. The position of Dean of Students is about to become vacant, so have her submit a competitive application as well."

Zhao Zhenzhong nodded.

But despite his happiness, he couldn't help but feel some unease.

"Old Zhang, I don't know what you're thinking, but is it really okay to let him do this interview like this?"

Zhao Zhenzhong finally couldn't help but say to Zhang Hu, "If 479 realizes what's going on, we won't have much leverage to compete with them."

"If you don't promote your provincial first prize properly, it's even more suspicious."

Zhang Hu shook his head. "As long as the purpose of the Yanbei University professor's visit is not exposed, there shouldn't be a big problem. It's just a provincial first-class university; they don't need to take it seriously."

"Can we hide it?"

Zhao Zhenzhong gave a wry smile.

It was no secret that the professor from Yanbei University was coming. Even if they didn't publicize it, as long as they wanted to, others would know. They would also find out that the president of the Rongcheng Mathematical Society accompanied him. Everyone wasn't stupid, so they could naturally guess why.

"So even if we don't let him do the interview, we can't hide it from him anyway. We might as well take this opportunity to give No. 1 Middle School a good thrashing. As for whether he stays or leaves, there's no point in keeping him around. Let's see what he chooses."

Zhang Hu, on the contrary, was quite frank. He turned to Zhao Zhenzhong and said, "For him, going to 479 might be a good thing. With his talent, he will most likely pursue an academic career in the future. In academia, having a school like 479 as a backer will make his path smoother."

Zhao Zhenzhong understood Zhang Hu's meaning.

Although he wasn't involved in academia, he knew that academia also valued background and seniority.

If Chen Mo went to 479 and later entered the academic circle, he would find that this senior was also his alumnus, and that senior was also his alumnus. This would naturally make him much closer to others, which would be of great benefit to Chen Mo.

But if Chen Mo stays at No. 1 Middle School, the school can't offer him any help.

"Too."

After a long silence, Zhao Zhenzhong sighed softly and said no more.

On the other hand, Chen Mo and Liu Xiaochen were having a pretty good chat.

"I also saw some netizens suggest that you ask the prettiest girl in your class a question every day. Did you do that?"

Chen Mo nodded.

"So, what about the class beauty?"

Liu Xiaochen smiled and looked at Chen Mo.

Chen Mo's expression turned serious. "She is a very good person, and she studies very hard. I hope she can focus on her studies and not be disturbed by the outside world."

Liu Xiaochen's expression hardened, realizing that she had crossed the line. Sure enough, being a reporter for a long time had started to pick up bad habits.

So I quickly ended that topic and moved on to the next question, "I heard you handed in your paper early during the second round of the provincial competition. What were you doing then?"

"I'm going back to my hotel room to study."

"Why didn't you check it a few more times? Aren't you worried that carelessness might cause you to miss out on the provincial first-class award or the CMO position?"

"You either know math or you don't. The reason you're careless is because you don't know it. Even if you check, you won't find the problem. You might as well use that time to study. Once you've learned it, you won't make mistakes."

"Haha, what you said makes some sense."

Liu Xiaochen was taken aback, then smiled and said, "I downloaded your provincial competition paper from the Rongcheng Mathematical Society's official website. I noticed that your solution was different from other students' and the standard answer. I think that's why you won the special award. Could you explain this question to me?"

"no problem."

Chen Mo stood up and walked to the whiteboard in the conference room. "Actually, my approach is not much different from the ordinary proof. The only difference is that I didn't use the inclusion-exclusion principle. Instead, I observed a special number theory structure and used it to simplify a lot of calculations..."

As Chen Mo explained, he wrote and drew on the whiteboard.

Liu Xiaochen listened from the side, looking completely bewildered. He felt embarrassed to say that he had graduated with a science and engineering degree.

"One last question. I noticed that Rongcheng No.1 High School's official Weibo account posted news about a professor from Yanbei University visiting. Is this related to you?"

After Chen Mo finished speaking and returned to his seat, Liu Xiaochen wisely refrained from asking further questions about the problem.

Chen Mo fell silent, hesitating whether or not to answer the question.

Zhang Hu, standing opposite him, nodded. Since they couldn't keep him anyway, they might as well make it public and try to get more benefits for Chen Mo.

"They came to discuss a math problem with me."

Chen Mo answered truthfully.

"So they're not here to sign you?"

"no!"

Chen Mo gave an affirmative answer.

"It's okay, I believe you can do it in the future."

Liu Xiaochen was somewhat disappointed, or rather, felt sorry for Chen Mo. He thought that Chen Mo's talk of discussing mathematical problems was just another way of testing him by the professors at Yanbei University.

Since Chen Mo didn't sign the contract in the end, he must have failed the test, so he gave Chen Mo a word of encouragement.

The interview lasted for half an hour. After the last question was asked, the cameraman turned off the camera, and Liu Xiaochen reached out her hand to Chen Mo again, saying, "Thank you for the interview. I have a feeling we'll meet again!"

"Thanks!"

Chen Mo smiled and extended his hand. He knew what Liu Xiaochen meant by those words; it was a kind of blessing.