What's wrong with me, a school principal, listening to students' suggestions?

"250 points?"

"Strictly speaking, it's between 191 and 193."

Zhao Qiming rummaged through the draft paper, going over the first and second trials from beginning to end twice.

"I'm 186cm tall, so there might be some step points that haven't been included in the calculation."

Fang Zhuo covered his face beside him, his voice trembling slightly.

The students across from each other exchanged glances. One of them whispered 168, while another said 171.

After calculating for a long time, someone stammered out, "It should be, around 175?"

The smallest person standing around the large round table is at least 155cm tall.

Lin Yucai stood to the side, holding a thermos, listening attentively to the scores being announced, his expression growing increasingly profound.

"Wait a minute," he began, his voice tinged with confusion, "At No. 1 High School, the maximum is 150, right?"

Su Qingyan nodded.

"So, should we just randomly report one that surpasses him?"

"almost."

Lin Yucai twisted the lid of the thermos and thought for a while, looking puzzled.

"Qian Wenhua used 150 to brag on the phone; that's less than the lowest price we get here?"

No one responded.

"I did the math," Lin Yucai said, putting his thermos on the table, "If we dare to throw a celebration party for 150 points, then for 190 points, wouldn't we need to hire a lion dance? And for 250 points, wouldn't we need to apply for intangible mathematical heritage status?"

"Is this math competition similar to a physical fitness test, with a maximum score of 300 and a score over 180 considered good?"

Li Hai, standing beside him, nodded vigorously, his expression showing strong agreement.

Ai Shuang turned her head and stared at him for a full three seconds without saying a word.

Li Hai understood the meaning in her eyes: Explaining to you would be a waste of my life.

Li Hai chuckled awkwardly, leaned back in his chair, and fell silent.

However, when he glanced at the head of the table, he saw Lin Yucai and Su Qingyan discussing something in hushed tones.

Su Qingyan's expression didn't seem unusual, and the two of them didn't appear to be very knowledgeable about such matters...

"You guys really don't know what 250 points means in the National High School Mathematics League?"

Ai Shuang noticed it too, and he suddenly stood up, the chair leg clattering on the floor.

Lin Yucai blinked: "Is it very impressive?"

"Impressive?" Ai Shuang took a deep breath, trying to calm her speech. "Do you know how many people in Tomato Province have ever scored over 200 points?"

"Very few! Those scoring above 250 points nationwide can be counted on one hand!"

"This isn't just a good performance; this is a shot at securing a national seed!"

The buzzing in the restaurant suddenly subsided.

Apart from Bi Shangao's faint smile, everyone else had an expression of sudden realization.

Zhao Qiming's pen stopped in mid-air. Fang Zhuo snapped out of his daze and turned sharply to look at the person in the corner who was leaning against the windowsill with an ever-calm expression.

Lu Chen didn't react much and continued eating the food in his hand.

National champion seed.

This title, once bestowed upon us, is more real than any description.

Lin Yucai's hand, holding the thermos, froze in mid-air.

The expression went from "Oh," to "Oh?", and finally settled into "Holy crap?"

"Then Qian Wenhua brought 150 points to pretend..."

Lin Yucai slowed down his speech, as if he were chewing each word clearly.

For a moment, he didn't know whether to say that the system's halo was too strong, or that these students were really geniuses.

"So, in other words, No. 1 Middle School is running on the ground, Lu Chen is flying in the sky, and then that Qian Wenhua is still foolishly calling us to show off?"

Li Hai slapped his thigh, stood up, his face flushed.

"That's a pretty accurate summary, but keep your voice down."

Su Qingyan stuffed a piece of sweet and sour pork into her mouth and gestured for him to sit back down.

Zhao Qiming straightened his back.

In just one month, he went from a student who had never even registered for a competition to achieving a score of 190+...

As Ai Shuang just mentioned, this number is also quite remarkable in Tomato Province.

The other first-year high school students next to Fang Zhuo also realized what was going on, and their anxiety dissipated.

The No. 1 Middle School students trained for three years, while they trained for only one month.

When the scores came out, it wasn't a close call, it was a complete rout.

Awesome, so awesome!

"Stay calm until the results are out."

"The marking criteria used by the examiners may not be entirely consistent with your own estimation, and the way points are deducted for each step may vary from year to year."

Bi Shangao sat by the window, put down his thermos, and smiled in Lu Chen's direction.

Lu Chen nodded and continued eating his food.

Bi Shangao shook his head and said nothing more.

Lin Yucai turned around, took out his phone, scrolled through his contacts, and found Qian Wenhua's name.

I couldn't get through, so I scrolled down the notes section and changed it to three words: "Waiting for the lottery draw."

Su Qingyan was sitting next to her, and when she caught a glimpse of that note out of the corner of her eye, the corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily.

This man is growing, but the rate of that growth is quite limited.

The celebratory banquet was a time of pure joy and celebration.

What was originally planned as a simple meal was turned into something else entirely by the chatter of fourteen students and four teachers...

Around the large round table, some people were counting on their fingers to recall the solution, while others were studying how the hotel's kitchen was inferior to Zhou Dahai's.

The waiter who was serving the food was quite young and had a polite smile on his face.

But after running in and out twice, and hearing "a nationally seeded player" and "one of the best in Tomato Province," his smile gradually changed, and the way he looked at Lin Yucai also changed...

It's no longer aimed at ordinary individual travelers, but rather at a group of low-key, high-achieving competitors.

Lin Yucai, holding his thermos, noticed the waiter glancing at him a couple of times, and nodded to him nonchalantly.

The waiter immediately blushed, bowed slightly, and quickly retreated.

On the other end, Han Shuang didn't drink much.

But she wasn't a big drinker to begin with, and now her face was flushed, and she was leaning slightly to one side as she walked.

Ai Shuang stayed by her side the whole time, not saying much, but very helpful.

He offered her warm water, helped her fend off toasts, and followed discreetly half a step behind when there were many people moving around in the restaurant.

The spirited young man's temperament was transformed into something else entirely that night.

After the celebration banquet ended, everyone headed to their guest rooms. The night breeze from the ventilation vents in the corridor brought in a cool breeze.

Han Shuang stood at the exit for a while, then looked up, closed her eyes, and let the wind dissipate the heat from her face.

Ai Shuang stood next to her, looking towards the end of the corridor, without saying a word.

After a brief silence, Han Shuang shifted and rested her head on his shoulder.

Ai Shuang froze on the spot.

Her breath hitched, a red mark appeared on the tip of her ear, and she didn't know where to put her hands.

In the end, it didn't move, remaining frozen in place, more stable than a fire hydrant hanging on the wall.

The corridor lights cast long shadows of the two people, and the night wind was still blowing.

……

Most of the people at the restaurant had left.

Only Zhao Qiming, Fang Zhuo, and a few others remained huddled around the corner of the round table, with a pile of draft paper spread out, whispering amongst themselves.

Lin Yucai, holding his thermos, took one last look at the large, now completely messy, round table.

"Once the results come out, we'll have a few more names to add to the wall of honor."

Zhao Qiming looked up, still holding the pen in his hand, and his eyes lit up.

"I need to think of some pretentious lines, no, I mean, a motto!"