I control the AI ​​empire thanks to the geniuses in my group.

Chen Feng remained silent.

What truly silenced Chen Feng was not the skipping steps, but the problem-solving approach itself.

Integral number.

The derivative symbol.

Taylor expansion.

Has he ever seen these things before?

seen.

In his first year of high school, the teacher briefly mentioned the basic concepts of calculus in his elective math class. He had also read some popular science books outside of class and knew that integrals were used to find areas and derivatives were used to find slopes, but that was all.

Should we let him use these tools to solve the problem?

It's like knowing an airplane can fly, but not knowing how to fly it.

Chen Feng's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, such as "This solution is ingenious" or "I've learned something," but in the end he said nothing.

Did you get a perfect score on a test without any competition training?

Li Minghui finally couldn't hold back any longer. He said seriously, "If you haven't studied competitions, where did you get your inequality scaling techniques? The method you used in the third question was clearly the result of systematic training."

"I didn't use scaling for the third question," Su Zhou replied calmly.

Li Minghui was taken aback: "Then what did you use?"

"Derivative".

"..."

Li Minghui shut up.

He suddenly realized a despairing truth.

Screw you, I don't know calculus!

Now it seems like there's no point in refuting it.

Zhang Hengyuan glanced at the group, collected all the test papers and put them into his briefcase, before saying, "Chen Feng, you did well on the first five questions. Your solutions to the second and fourth questions were particularly impressive, showing a solid foundation."

Chen Feng was secretly delighted.

"But your problem is also obvious: your thinking is too ingrained, and your problem-solving path relies too much on formulaic templates. You get stuck when you encounter question types that the templates can't cover. The last question exposed the problem that you are not flexible enough."

That was a blunt remark, but Chen Feng couldn't refute it.

"Su Zhou's situation is exactly the opposite. He has not received systematic competition training, and he may not even know many conventional competition skills, but his underlying logical ability and mathematical intuition are among the strongest I have seen in recent years."

Chen Feng lowered his head, recalling Su Zhou's solution to the sixth question, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

I'm afraid I attended a fake math Olympiad training class.

Chen Feng secretly made up his mind to change training classes!

Next time I see Su Zhou, I must surpass him!

Zhang Hengyuan patted Chen Feng on the shoulder: "Go back and prepare well. Your basic skills are fine. Also, Zhao Zixuan and the other three, the list of those admitted to the training base will be sent to the school next week."

After seeing Chen Feng and the other three off, Zhang Hengyuan asked, "Su Zhou, how did you come up with that construction in the second step of question six? Normally, students who have received systematic training would prioritize induction or proof by contradiction, but you bypassed that."

Su Zhou thought for a moment and answered very frankly: "I just feel that going in those two directions would lead to redundant calculations, so it's better to directly dismantle the structure based on symmetry."

Zhang Hengyuan patted Su Zhou on the shoulder with great satisfaction and said, "It seems I thought so. Your reaction on the spot really surprised me."

At this point, Ma Jianguo chuckled and reminded him, "Teacher Zhang, let's stop discussing now, or it'll be evening."

"It's already noon, and none of us have eaten yet. Today, I'm treating everyone to a meal. Oh, and Su Zhou is coming with us."

Su Zhou was a little surprised, but since there was a free lunch, he might as well join in!

Ten minutes later, at the school gate, a black Passat carrying six people drove straight to a Sichuan restaurant next to the school.

Ma Jianguo personally ordered the dishes, waving his hand to order: chopped chili fish head, stir-fried beef with yellow peppers, farmhouse-style fragrant soup... He flipped through two pages of the menu, wishing he could bring the chef to the table as well.

"Su Zhou, what would you like to eat? Don't be shy."

Su Zhou glanced at the menu and pointed to the last page: "Just make scrambled eggs with tomatoes."

"?"

Ma Jianguo's smile froze for a second.

The principal is treating you to scrambled eggs with tomatoes?

This child is too plain.

Ma Jianguo closed the menu and handed it to the waiter: "Add another order of scrambled eggs with tomatoes, another order of braised pork ribs, and another order of steamed sea bass. Hurry up."

Before the food was even served, Zhang Hengyuan had already started talking non-stop.

"Principal Ma, to be frank, it's a waste for Su Zhou to stay in junior high school."

As soon as he said that, everyone looked at him.

Liu Zhi paused slightly as he held the teacup.

Ma Jianguo asked, "Coach Zhang, what do you mean by that?"

"As you saw in today's test, it was six competition questions, and you got a perfect score."

"The most crucial thing is not the perfect score itself, but his problem-solving approach. He used calculus to solve competition problems, and not just by rote memorization, but by a flexible application after truly understanding the underlying logic. To be honest, this kind of mathematical intuition is not common even in provincial team training."

Zhao Fang nodded in agreement. This editor from the People's Education Press had observed the entire test process today and hadn't said much until now. She finally spoke up: "Coach Zhang is right. Lao Hu and I looked at his answer sheet, and the solution to question six was indeed impressive."

"Although his grasp of calculus is not systematic, his ability to construct problem-solving paths from the essence shows that his mathematical thinking has far exceeded the scope of junior high school or even high school."

Hu Kai added, "Moreover, his mental arithmetic skills are also very solid. He made almost no calculation mistakes throughout the entire paper, which is excellent among competition participants."

Ma Jianguo pondered for a moment, then looked at Su Zhou: "Su Zhou, what do you think?"

Su Zhou was drinking water and almost choked when he heard this.

"Me?" He put down his cup, thought seriously for a moment, "I think junior high was pretty good, less homework, and classes ended early..."

"I'm asking about your thoughts on your studies," Ma Jianguo interrupted him.

"Oh, academics." Su Zhou paused, "That's true, junior high math was a bit..."

"Simple?" Liu Zhi tentatively asked.

Hypnosis.

Liu Zhi: "..."

Well, I guess I've become a hypnotist.

Unfortunately, Liu Zhi couldn't refute anything, because judging from the current situation, Su Zhou was different from ordinary students; he needed a better teacher to teach him.

Thinking about this, Liu Zhi couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

Zhao Fang couldn't help but laugh. She looked at Ma Jianguo and said, "Principal Ma, my suggestion is to let Su Zhou skip a grade. The content of junior high school is limited. With his current ability, skipping to high school is no problem at all. We can even consider letting him skip directly to the second year of high school."

"Isn't this too radical for the second year of high school?" Ma Jianguo frowned.

"The first year of high school is more suitable." Zhang Hengyuan gave his judgment. "He is indeed ahead in mathematics, but I am not clear about his level in other subjects. Jumping directly to the first year of high school, letting him make up for the foundation, and at the same time following the competition training is the safest plan for him at present."

Ma Jianguo fell silent.

To be honest, skipping grades wasn't unprecedented at their school, but at most it was skipping from the third year of junior high to the first year of senior high. He had never encountered a case like Su Zhou, who was about to skip to the first year of senior high right after entering junior high.

If this is reported, the education bureau will definitely have to look into it.

But then again, Su Zhou's performance today speaks for itself.

Su Zhou achieved full marks on all six competition questions, and even Zhang Hengyuan acknowledged his abilities.

Who is Zhang Hengyuan?

As a core member of the provincial Olympiad coaching team, he has coached at least twenty or thirty provincial team athletes. There are probably very few students who would make him say such a thing.

It would be a real waste to let such promising talents go to waste.

Ma Jianguo glanced at Su Zhou, then at Zhang Hengyuan and Zhao Fang, and already had an idea in mind.

"What about other subjects? Chinese, English, Physics, etc..."

"I can learn Chinese and English on my own," Su Zhou said calmly.

Ma Jianguo: "Are you sure?"

"High school Chinese is nothing more than classical Chinese, poetry appreciation, and argumentative writing. Classical Chinese relies on accumulation, while argumentative writing relies on logic. I am good at both of these. As for English, I can communicate freely with foreigners, and I have a basic understanding of the grammar system. I should have no problem handling high school English."

The people at the table all stared at him.

"Able to communicate freely with foreigners?"