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

"What competition?"

"The Western Mathematics Invitational Tournament will be held from the 15th to the 17th of next month, hosted by Chengdu No. 7 High School." Zhang Hengyuan changed the subject, "There are more participating teams this year than in previous years, including international teams."

Is there a bonus?

Zhang Hengyuan paused.

No, is this how a normal student would react?

"...No bonus."

"However," Zhang Hengyuan quickly added, "the top two in the overall individual score can directly enter the IMO national training team, and there are other rewards as well."

"But you don't need to feel pressured," Zhang Hengyuan seemed to think it was too early to mention the IMO to a first-year high school student, and his tone softened a bit.

"The main reason for sending you this time is to let you experience the atmosphere and pace of a formal math competition in advance, feel the pressure of the competition, do some problems, identify and fill in any gaps in your knowledge, and then we can formally consider aiming for a good ranking next year."

Su Zhou's mind was racing.

It's an experience, but this competition is ultimately about representing the school.

Chongming Middle School is a weak school in competitions. With only a month to prepare, its opponents are traditional powerhouses like No. 7 Middle School and Shude Middle School. If it performs poorly, although the school won't say anything, it will still look bad on its reputation.

More importantly, the preparation for the competition takes a lot of time, which will directly squeeze his progress in advancing neural network tasks and reviewing for the monthly exams.

Su Zhou thought for a moment and said, "Coach, can I go back and think about it?"

Zhang Hengyuan's eyes widened.

"What are you considering? There are only so many spots available for the Western Regional Competition across the entire province. Countless students dream of participating but don't even have the chance. And you're still considering?"

Su Zhou, glared at by him, knew that if she didn't give him face, she would be being disrespectful, so she quickly said, "Okay, then I'll listen to Coach Zhang."

"But Coach, I also want to discuss something with you."

"Go ahead," Zhang Hengyuan said, pleased that Su Zhou had agreed.

"I'd like to continue teaching students from other schools. Could you help me apply for another classroom? It doesn't have to be as big as a multi-purpose hall; a regular empty classroom will do."

He thought for a moment and said, "Okay, but you have to control the frequency, no more than twice a month, so as not to affect your studies."

"Deal," Su Zhou said crisply.

The car drove across the main road and turned into a road that became increasingly narrow.

The buildings on both sides have been transformed from commercial office buildings into old residential buildings built in the 1990s. Most of the exterior wall tiles have fallen off, the air conditioner outdoor units are rusty, and the power lines are like spider webs strung between the buildings.

The road surface was full of potholes, and the car bounced several times.

"That's the neighborhood over there," Su Zhou said.

Zhang Hengyuan slowed down and looked up.

The residential complex lacked proper access control; the entrance and exit consisted of just two rusty iron railings, and the security booth next to it was dark.

The stairwell was pitch black, with only a few windows letting in warm yellow light.

He didn't say anything, but he finally understood why Su Zhou was so obsessed with money.

A child living in such a place can show such talent in mathematics, and has to study hard while earning money through tutoring.

Zhang Hengyuan sighed inwardly.

"Oh, right, there's something else I forgot to tell you." He mentioned it casually as Su Zhou unbuckled his seatbelt, "The school has a reward system for the Western Tournament."

Su Zhou paused as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

"If you win the third prize, you'll receive a reward of eight thousand yuan."

"What are the conditions for winning the third prize?" Su Zhou asked curiously.

"You will receive an award if your final score reaches the specific score set by the organizing committee. You can also receive an award if you excel in a certain aspect."

"In other words, as long as you work hard, your chances of winning are still quite high."

"Okay, I'll participate." Su Zhou became full of fighting spirit.

Seeing that Su Zhou didn't hesitate at all this time, Zhang Hengyuan couldn't help but laugh.

It seems money is still the most effective thing.

Zhang Hengyuan thought for a moment, then handed two books from the car to Su Zhou, telling him to read them when he had free time.

When Su Zhou arrived home, dinner was already laid out.

"Brother, why are you so late today?" Su Xing, with her hair in two little pigtails, sat at the dining table swinging her legs as she waited for him.

"Something came up at school." Su Zhou washed his hands, sat down, and took a bite of rice.

His mother brought out the last dish, smiling, "Xiao Zhou, you still need to take care of yourself and not overwork yourself."

"understood."

Su Zhou didn't explain further and ate in silence.

After finishing his meal, he helped clean up the dishes, then told his family, "I'm going to study," and went into his small room.

Su Zhou sat down, turned on the desk lamp, and first searched on his phone for "the conditions for winning the third prize in the Western Mathematics Invitational Tournament".

A few minutes later, he roughly figured out the situation.

The Western Tournament is divided into team and individual competitions. The scores of the four players selected by each team in the individual competition are directly included in the team's total score, so each player carries a double burden.

The individual competition adopts the standard format of the International Mathematical Olympiad, and is held over two days. Each day, from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM, there are four questions, each worth 15 points, for a total of 120 points over the two days.

After the two-day exam, in addition to the individual total score award, the chief examiner will also assign three award levels.

First prize is awarded to the top few scorers, followed by second prize.

The third prize is awarded based on the upper-middle range, without a fixed cutoff score. After all the papers have been graded, the cutoff scores for each prize are determined based on the overall distribution of scores.

Based on previous years' scores, the score is estimated to be around 65.

That means he needs to answer at least five questions correctly.

The problem is that the difficulty of the Western Conference questions is between that of the high school league and the CMO. The five questions cover four major areas: algebra, geometry, number theory, and combinatorics. It is quite difficult to answer all five questions correctly.

Su Zhou took out the two competition textbooks that Zhang Hengyuan had given him from his schoolbag: "Elementary Number Theory" and "Combinatorial Mathematics".

He turned to the first page and started swiping.

Su Zhou reads very quickly.

It wasn't the kind of fast-paced skimming; rather, I would stop and think about each page, going over the key theorems and derivations in my mind, making sure I truly understood them before turning to the next page.

When he encounters a valuable example, he will re-derive it in his notebook, but using his own method.

An hour later, I turned to Chapter 4 of Elementary Number Theory.

Then he got stuck.

The problem is a comprehensive one about quadratic residues and Legendre notation, involving the distribution of square residues and variations of the Euler criterion.

He pushed for fifteen minutes, trying three different angles of entry, but they were all just a little off.

Su Zhou stared at the densely packed derivation process on the draft paper, his fingertips unconsciously tapping a few times on the table.

Then he picked up his phone and entered group number 42.

Su Zhou's current identity in this group is that of a hidden big shot, as everyone assumes.

Su Zhou cherishes this identity very much.

Therefore, he can't directly ask math questions in the group, otherwise his status as a big shot will be in jeopardy, and he has to maintain it!

He thought for a moment and then started typing.

[A seasoned veteran: I've recently been mentoring a student and encountered an interesting problem, so I'm sharing it with you all.]

A few seconds after the message was sent, someone in the group replied.

[Shannon: Is this student smarter than the previous ones?]

[The Eagle Warrior: Of course.]

Su Zhou answered without changing his expression.

Who would have thought that this student was actually himself?

Leibniz: Oh? This student must be very popular with the bigwigs, right?

[The Eagle Warrior: I guess so.]

Is it wrong for me to like myself?

[Newton: The great man's vision has broadened.]

[Turing: I support this! Education should start with children.]

Su Zhou posted the question about the remaining two questions without changing his expression.

[Eagle Warrior: This student is stuck here. I let him figure it out himself, but I'm also curious how you guys would handle it. Just for fun.]

Newton: Hmm.

About half a minute later.

[Newton: Boss, I won't comment on this problem.]

Leibniz: ? What are you going to say if you don't comment?

[Newton: What I mean is, this problem is a bit off-topic for me. I work in computational theory, and I've forgotten most of the pure mathematics stuff.]

[Newton: If you're so good, why don't you do it yourself?]

Leibniz: I'm actually pretty good.

Leibniz posted a long text, starting from the standard form of the Euler criterion, and made a beautiful transformation using the complete multiplication and quadratic reciprocity of the Legendre notation.

Su Zhou read through it line by line, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

It turns out that the quadratic reciprocity law can be used to bypass the dead end he had tried before, reducing the problem to a small range of modular calculation verification. He was stuck before because he kept calculating by brute force and did not think of using the reciprocity law to solve it from a different angle.

Euler: Brilliant! No wonder Leibniz invented calculus; it wasn't invented in vain.

Newton: I invented calculus.

[Leibniz: We co-invented it, old man, why are you pulling this stunt again?]

[Newton: When was it not you who provoked me first?]

[Turing: Stop arguing, you two, the big boss is watching.]

Su Zhou watched them argue and silently took a screenshot of Leibniz's derivation process and saved it.

[Eagle Warrior: Thanks, I've forwarded it to my students.]

[Leibniz: You're too kind. By the way, what's your student's level? This problem isn't simple; to even think of solving it shows a very solid foundation.]

[Su Zhou: Not bad, I'm improving.]

[Newton: If the big boss says "not bad," then at least he has potential!]

Leibniz: +1

Turing: +1

Su Zhou almost got carried away by such flattery.

However, he quickly came to his senses. What was he thinking, someone who had never even participated in a math competition?

He picked up a pen and began to re-derive the logic from the screenshot.

With the help of the geniuses in the group, he completely figured out the problem that had stumped him in just over ten minutes.

Shannon even taught him to further simplify Leibniz's method by using the quadratic reciprocity law to skip the two intermediate verification steps and directly lock in the final result through a clever parity argument.

Su Zhou wrote the simplified solution in his notebook and turned to the next chapter with satisfaction!