My IQ has been increasing year by year.

In August, even the wind in Huizhou seems to have retreated to take a nap after being scorched by the heat.

The leaves remained motionless, and the bright sunlight dappled the asphalt road, creating a slightly distorted wave of heat in the air.

The cafeteria door was wide open, and Chen Zhuo pushed it open and went inside.

The cafeteria, now on summer vacation, felt strangely empty.

The food service windows, which are usually so crowded you can barely move, are now only open for two.

Only a few students who hadn't gone home to prepare for the postgraduate entrance exam or stayed on campus to do experiments sat scattered in the corner.

Above, several rows of large ceiling fans whirred slowly, the sound of their blades cutting through the air echoing in the spacious hall. Chen Zhuo walked to the window, got a plate of cabbage and tofu, and asked for a spoonful of braised pork broth to pour over his rice. He then found a seat by the window and sat down. Above him in the corner, a Changhong color TV, welded to the wall with an iron frame, was on.

When there are many people around, the sound from the TV is completely drowned out by the noise of people banging lunchboxes and talking.

But today, the cafeteria was so quiet you could hear a chopstick fall, and the clear, articulate voice of the midday news anchor on TV carried clearly throughout the hall. Chen Zhu stirred the rice soaked in meat broth with a spoon, and just as he put a bite in his mouth, his hand holding the spoon stopped.

"In the recently concluded 34th International Physics Olympiad, our national team, undeterred by strong opponents, won three gold and two silver medals, taking first place in the overall team score..." The television screen then switched to another segment.

The original news studio was switched to the venue of an awards ceremony held in Spain.

(Patch note: Our country didn't participate this year. The original location was in the north, but I changed it to Spain because it was too much trouble.) The picture was a bit grainy, with the slight flickering characteristic of broadcasts at the time, but Chen Zhuo still recognized the group of teenagers in red national team uniforms standing in the center of the screen at a glance. The scene was filled with flowers, applause, and flashing camera lights.

Chen Zhu swallowed the food in his mouth, his gaze fixed on the screen.

The camera pans across the screen.

Wang, who talks little, stood at the very edge, a gleaming gold medal hanging around his neck. His face was flushed with excitement, and he grinned foolishly at the camera, clutching a bouquet of flowers tightly in his hand. The camera pans.

Zhou Kai stood slightly towards the center, his posture upright, a gold medal pinned to his chest, and a gold-embossed certificate held in his right hand. At that moment, the caption below the news article displayed a line of small print:

Zhou Kai, a Chinese contestant, won the Best Experiment Award in this competition.

His expression was much more composed than Wang's, and without Chen Zhuo and Lin Yi present, the sharp arrogance in his eyes seemed palpable even through the screen. Finally, the camera focused on a close-up of the person standing in the very center of the group.

Harmony and return.

With a slightly shy smile, the red team uniform looked a little too big on him.

But at this moment, no one can ignore this boy if they are looking at the screen.

He wore a gold medal around his neck and held a heavy trophy in each hand.

The announcer's voice echoed in the empty cafeteria, carrying an irrepressible sense of pride.

"Our contestant He Gui, with an indisputable advantage, won both the Best Theoretical Score Award and the First Place in the Overall Score of this Olympiad..." In the cafeteria, two college students sitting not far apart looked up at the TV.

"Sing! These middle school students are really awesome."

One of them pushed up his glasses and sighed casually.

"Indeed, the top students these days are too amazing. We're eating, and this afternoon we still have to go to the lab to work on test tubes."

Another person chimed in, then lowered their head and continued working on the shredded potatoes on their plate.

Chen Zhuo sat in a slightly dimly lit corner, leaning back in his chair, watching the group photo frozen on the television screen.

He simply stared at the screen, a slight smile playing on his lips, then lowered his head and shoved the last mouthful of rice, still damp with broth, into his mouth. "Well done."

He whispered something in a voice only he could hear.

After finishing his meal, Chen Zhuo carried the empty lunchbox to the recycling area, threw it into the large plastic bin with a crisp clanging sound.

Stepping out of the cafeteria, the sweltering heat outside was overwhelming.

Following his unwavering habit, after lunch he should have gone directly to the reading room on the third floor of the old library through the grove to get the books he wanted to read that afternoon from Su Wei. But today he didn't go to the library.

He turned a corner, stepping on the dappled shadows falling from the trees, and slowly walked towards the boys' dormitory building.

He knows those guys too well.

After the adrenaline rush at the awards ceremony, in this ecstatic moment of winning first place, these teenagers definitely couldn't hold back their elation and wanted to confide in someone. Their parents? Their parents wouldn't understand what electromagnetic field fluid boundaries were.

Looking for a coach? We don't have anything in common.

In the end, it's estimated that they'll probably still attack us.

Chen Zhuo walked into the dormitory building.

The building manager was lying on a bamboo recliner, snoring softly, while a radio next to him played Peking Opera.

Chen Zhuo tiptoed up the stairs to the second floor.

The corridor was dimly lit, and the dormitory doors on both sides were tightly locked. He walked to dormitory 215, took out his key, and opened the door.

It's been stuffy and hot inside all morning.

Chen Zhuo didn't turn on the fan, but only opened the window a crack. He didn't touch the professional books on spectral theory on the table, nor did he turn on the computer. He picked up the kettle, poured himself a glass of warm water, and then sat down in the chair.

I casually picked up a martial arts novel left by Wang Dayong from the bookshelf and spread it out on my lap.

He is waiting.

Time passed second by second, and the clock on the wall ticked away.

About twenty minutes later.

"Ring ring ring ring ring one"

At the end of the corridor, the IC card public phone hanging on the whitewashed wall rang, its loud ring echoing through the empty hallway. Chen Zhuo closed his martial arts novel and placed it on the table.

He stood up, walked slowly out of the dormitory, and went to the telephone.

Reach out, pick up the receiver, and hold it to your ear.

"Feed?"

Chen Zhuo's voice was steady and gentle.

"Brother Zhuo!!!"

A near-distorted roar suddenly erupted from the receiver.

Even though Chen Zhuo had already moved the receiver half an inch away, his ears still buzzed from the vibration.

"I can hear you, thank goodness you didn't make me deaf."

Chen Zhuo switched the receiver to his other hand and leaned against the wall with a smile.

The background noise on the other end of the phone was incredibly loud.

There were various incomprehensible dialects broadcasting, the clinking of glasses and plates, and a cacophony of laughter and cheers from a large group. "Brother Zhuo! We're in Spain! The awards ceremony just ended, and we're at the celebration banquet hosted by the organizing committee!"

Wang's voice, usually so taciturn, trembled with excitement, the words flying out like machine gun fire.

"Three gold and two silver medals! First place in the overall team score! Brother Zhuo, you have no idea how damn heavy this gold medal is! It's making my neck ache from all the weight hanging around my neck! When the national flag was being raised just now, tears were welling up in my eyes, and I didn't dare to blink, afraid they would fall and embarrass me!"

"Good."

Chen Zhuo continued, his tone filled with genuine joy.

"You didn't embarrass our province. Your bonus when you come back is enough to buy you a top-of-the-line computer."

"Buy a computer?! I'd rather keep this gold medal in my family's ancestral hall!"

Wang, who rarely speaks, was both crying and laughing on the other end of the line.

"Brother Zhuo, it's so hot here! It's even more humid than Nanjing! And the food isn't to my liking at all. I'm about to throw up. When we get back, I'm definitely going to have a proper meal, the kind with tons of chili peppers!" "Okay, okay."

Chen Zhuo listened to his incoherent ramblings without interrupting, letting Wang Shuoshao vent his frustrations.

A sound of someone grabbing for the receiver came from the other end of the phone.

"Don't hog me, let me say a few words."

A familiar voice rang out, followed by a reduction in the static in the receiver, as if they had moved to a slightly quieter corner. "Chen Zhuo."

It's Zhou Kai.

His voice wasn't as hysterical as Wang's; it sounded like he had calmed down.

Congratulations on winning the Best Experiment Award.

Chen Zhuo spoke first.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a low, somewhat relieved laugh from Zhou Kai.

"You saw the news?" Zhou Kai asked.

"I just saw him on the TV in the cafeteria. He looked pretty cool holding the certificate. He looked much more energetic than when Professor Wang scolded us in the lab and we were all covered in dust," Chen Zhuo joked.

Zhou Kai let out a long breath on the other end of the phone.

"Chen Zhuo".

Zhou Kai paused for a moment, his tone becoming very serious, even tinged with a hint of lingering fear and relief.

"The final theoretical question this time was about the non-ideal fluid boundary in an electromagnetic field. The initial conditions given by the organizing committee were extremely difficult, and the whole model was a tangled mess of continuous kinks." He recalled the scene in the examination room, his speech unconsciously slowing down.

"The Russian genius who was always considered a promising talent, along with two top students from the United States, were all struggling with the analytical solution of calculus on that problem. My palms were sweating profusely at the time because if we followed the traditional approach, we simply couldn't finish the calculation, and there wasn't enough time."

Chen Zhuo listened quietly without interrupting.

"But I didn't follow that path."

Zhou Kai's voice revealed a crisp and ruthless edge.

"I remembered what you said to me on the phone last time. I gave up on pursuing the perfect function solution. I directly cut the fluid model into a discrete grid, used difference equations and matrix dimensionality reduction, and forcibly split it apart. How was the scoring result?" Chen Zhuo asked.

"There was controversy. I heard that when grading the papers, two old-school judges felt that my approach was too barbaric and did not show the beauty of the continuous flow of physics. But in the end, the chief judge made the final decision because my approximate solution was the most accurate within the allowable error range and the logical loop was perfect."

Zhou Kai chuckled, his laughter filled with undisguised pride.

"Your method is really useful, because it saved me almost half an hour of time on this question. I spent all of that half hour on the experimental part later. I owe half of my best experiment award to you." "Don't flatter me."

Chen Zhuo leaned against the wall, looking at the somewhat dazzling sunlight outside the corridor.

"If you have a solution, it's your own idea. You were able to figure it out and solve it because you have a solid foundation. If it were Wang, who doesn't talk much, even if you gave him a solution, he'd probably still be completely confused." "Anyway, thanks. I'll treat you to a big meal when we get back to China."

Zhou Kai stopped being pretentious; their relationship didn't require him to repeatedly express his gratitude.

At that moment, the team leader's voice came through the background noise of the phone.

"Where's He Gui? Where did He Gui go? Come over and take a picture with the chairman of the organizing committee! Where did he, the overall number one, go to find some peace and quiet?" "Coming right now."

A deep response came from the other end of the phone.

Immediately afterwards, a sound of fabric rubbing came from the receiver; the phone had been switched with someone else.

"team leader."

He Gui's voice came over.

It's a dull tone, without much emotional fluctuation, lacking both ecstasy and the sharpness of Zhou Kai.

"First place overall plus the best theoretical score."

Chen Zhuo spoke in a gentle tone, with a hint of familiarity between friends.

"Captain He, you've really made a big fuss this time. I reckon from now on, physics teachers in all the major middle schools in the country will have to treat you like a god." He Gui was silent for two seconds on the other end of the phone.

Chen Zhuo could clearly hear his somewhat heavy breathing, with a slightly restrained nasal tone.

"team leader."

He Gui called his name again, emphasizing each syllable.

"We won the gold medal."

There is only this one sentence.

There was no unnecessary embellishment, no exaggerated description; he simply fulfilled the unremarkable promise he had made to Chen Zhuo in the empty corridor last time. Chen Zhuo's hand gripping the receiver tightened slightly.

The image of He Gui standing on the highest award platform with a slightly shy smile flashed through his mind on the television screen.

That boy who once quietly recorded data in the provincial team's laboratory, never vying for anything, now stands at the pinnacle of his peers worldwide. "I know."

Chen Zhuo's voice was clear and sharp.

"Well done, truly the world's number one, without a doubt."

"What are your plans for the future?"

Chen Zhuo asked a question.

"With this plaque, you should be able to choose any of the top universities in the country, right?"

"Um."

There was no boasting in He Gui's voice, only a calm statement of facts.

"The team leader said that admissions officers from Tsinghua University and Peking University have already called his room long distance. Once we land back in China, we can probably sign the guaranteed admission agreement right at the airport," Chen Zhuo said with a smile.

"Great, Zhou Kai doesn't have to worry about his independent admissions anymore. I bet Wang Huashao is already strutting around like crazy right now, isn't he?" "Huashao was just flipping a coin in the next room, deciding whether to go to Tsinghua University or Peking University."

He paused for a moment.

"Zhou Kai has already made his decision and signed with the School of Physics at Peking University."

"And what about you, and the captain?"

Chen Zhuo's tone was slightly teasing.

Where are you planning to go?

He Gui was silent for two seconds on the other end of the phone.

"It's not decided yet."

His voice was very steady.

"However, the admissions officers at Tsinghua University have spoken to the team leader. They said that if I go to Tsinghua, the key laboratories of the School of Physics will be open to me all day long." Chen Zhuo leaned against the wall.

"Okay, choose carefully."

"You've been under too much pressure these past few months, go back and get some rest."

"it is good."

"Return! Hurry! The Chairman is coming!"

In the background noise, Wang Huashao was shouting at the top of his lungs.

"I have to hang up."

He Gui said.

"Go ahead, I'll treat you to spicy chicken when you get back to China."

"Um."

With a click, the call ended.

A long busy tone came from the receiver.

Chen Zhuo put the receiver back on the base.

The corridor returned to silence, and the hot summer breeze blew in through the window, ruffling Chen Zhuo's clothes.

He stood there, feeling the scorching heat emanating from that phone call—a heat that could ignite the entire summer.

Chen Zhuo was happy for them.

His friends are really, really hardworking and truly remarkable.

Chen Zhuo turned around, preparing to go back to his dormitory to get his water bottle for the library.

The moment his hand touched the doorknob of dormitory 215.

"Ring ring ring ring ring one"

The public phone behind us rang again, oblivious to our surroundings.

Chen Zhuo stopped in his tracks.

He glanced back at the phone, somewhat puzzled.

Could it be that Wang, who is not talkative, still has some nonsense he hasn't finished saying, and is shamelessly calling again?

He walked back to the telephone and picked up the receiver.

"Hey, what's up now?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line.

Immediately following was not Wang's taciturn voice, but an extremely loud, crisp crackling sound.

It looked like someone was chewing something vigorously.

Along with that, the theme song of "My Fair Princess" was playing on a television set.

"Hey? Is that you, Brother Zhuo? It's me!"

A loud, slightly hoarse, and rough voice came from the other end of the phone. The voice was loud and had a childlike quality to it. Chen Zhuo was taken aback.

He leaned against the white wall of the corridor, listening to the voice. His nerves, which had been immersed in the atmosphere of a world gold medal, were instantly jolted back to reality. Zhang Qiang.

"Brother Zhuo, how are things over there? Have you eaten? Are you hot? Summer vacation is almost over. How can you stand being at school all this time?" Zhang Qiang swallowed what was in his mouth on the other end of the phone and let out an extremely loud burp.

"I just finished eating half a chilled watermelon, it felt so good!"

A minute ago, this phone line was connected to a luxurious banquet hall in Spain, connecting three unparalleled geniuses representing China at the pinnacle of the world, competing in a battle of wits, for the honor of their nation. A minute later, the line was connected to a landline in an apartment building in Zeyang City, connecting to a childhood friend dressed in baggy pants, his mouth full of watermelon juice, discussing how comforting it was to eat chilled watermelon. This extreme shift in tone made Chen Zhuo burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at? I'm serious!"

Zhang Qiang clearly didn't understand the meaning behind Chen Zhuo's smile and started complaining loudly on the other end of the phone.

"I wasn't laughing at anything."

Chen Zhuo shifted into a more comfortable position, his tone naturally returning to that of a street urchin.

"The school provides meals. I just finished eating, so I'm not hungry. It's not too hot though. Have you finished your summer homework? Give me a call when you have time." The moment summer homework was mentioned, the air on the other end of the phone seemed to freeze for a moment, followed by a pig-like scream.

"Don't mention it, Zhuo-ge! If you don't bring up homework, we're still best buddies!"

Zhang Qiang's voice trembled with grievance.

"The math test this summer was insane! My dad chased me around the house three times with a broom yesterday, insisting that my brain was full of mush. Brother Zhuo, if you were here, you could just write down a couple of steps for me so I could hand it in."

"I think your dad hasn't hit you enough."

Chen Zhuo didn't give Zhang Qiang any face at all, and said with a smile.

"Brother Zhuo, how could you do this!"

Zhang Qiang muttered something, but being the carefree person he was, one second he was worrying about his homework, and the next his tone instantly became excited. "Hey, Brother Zhuo! I have something big to tell you!"

Zhang Qiang slapped his thigh on the other end of the phone, his voice trembling with excitement.

"Before you left last time, you taught me that 4-frame-rate strategy in 'The King of Fighters '97,' it was amazing!" He described it excitedly over the phone.

"Yesterday afternoon at that shady internet cafe behind the Second Primary School, some chubby junior high student kept trying to take my computer. I chose Iori Yagami and used the move you taught me, timing his jump and landing perfectly. Holy crap, I cornered him at the edge of the screen and beat him so badly he couldn't even unleash a single attack. I took him down at full health!"

In Zhang Qiang's current world, defeating that chubby eighth-grade boy in the arcade with full health using Iori Yagami was definitely the thing he was most proud of to Chen Zhuo. "You didn't even see that chubby boy's face, turning pale and then red, he almost crushed the joystick! In the end, he threw down two tokens and slunk away. Brother Zhuo, what's wrong with your brain? You can even see some kind of pattern in playing a game?"

As Chen Zhuo listened to his childhood friend's boasting, the smile on his lips deepened.

After all, he had listened to plenty of boasting from the big shots on those forums in his past life. Although his own skills weren't that great, these patterns were things those forum big shots had personally tested and proven. "When that fat guy jumps, his opening is already big. Don't just focus on defense. Next time he lands, push the joystick forward and follow up with Eight Maidens. The damage will be much higher, and he won't be able to defend against it," Chen Zhu commented seriously.

"I've got it! Next time I'll make sure he can't even find his way north!"

Zhang Qiang happily agreed.

Immediately afterwards, a sound of rummaging through something came from the other end of the phone, like someone reaching into their pocket.

"Brother Zhuo, I have something to tell you that will infuriate you."

Zhang Qiang lowered his voice, his tone filled with extreme grief and indignation as he made his accusation.

"Old Li's convenience store at the alley entrance is a rip-off! I went to buy ice cream today, and the Little Pudding ice cream has gone up in price! It used to be 50 cents a piece, now they dare to sell it for 60 cents! The Green Tongue ice cream is even a dollar now! A dime, my brother! It's simply outrageous!"

Chen Zhuo found the witty and relatable complaints quite amusing.

Over the past month, his mind has been filled with cutting-edge international physics concepts such as singularities, lower bounds on connectivity, and spectral theory.

He had almost forgotten that summers at his age were supposed to consist of puddings that cost a dime more, arcade games he couldn't beat, and endless summer homework. These two phone calls, less than five minutes apart, were like two ends of a scale.

One end weighs heavily on the world gold medal and the pinnacle of geniuses of the same age group.

At the other end, a little pudding, a big watermelon, and a carefree childhood hang lightly.

And Chen Zhuo stands at the very center of this balance.

"You can't afford it anymore just because the price has gone up by a penny? How pathetic."

Chen Zhuo laughed and cursed.

"Even a penny counts! The money I made from those two little puddings is enough to buy me another game token!"

Zhang Qiang retorted confidently.

Before Chen Zhuo could make another joke, a powerful soprano voice suddenly came from the other end of the phone:

"Zhang Qiang! Who are you talking to on the phone again! How many words of your summer homework have you written? And you even dared to steal my newly bought watermelon!"

"Holy crap! My mom left work early! Bro, I'm not talking to you anymore, help!"

With a flurry of clattering sounds, the phone was abruptly hung up, leaving only a busy tone on the receiver.

Chen Zhuo smiled and shook his head, then put the receiver back on the hang-up phone.

He stood in the corridor, feeling the warm breeze blowing in from the window, and touched his shorts pocket, where he still had a few coins left over from buying breakfast that morning. It was still early; he'd go buy a bottle of Beibingyang soda.

Chen Zhuo slowly turned around and walked downstairs, stepping on the dappled light and shadows in the stairwell.

In this long and sweltering summer.

Across the ocean in New Jersey, a five-page airmail letter lies quietly on the desk of a reviewer at a top journal, awaiting publication in the latest fall issue. In a Spanish banquet hall, several young men adorned with gold medals are raising a toast to their country's honor.

At the entrance of the cafeteria at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, an eleven-year-old boy wearing a short-sleeved shirt was buying a bottle of chilled orange soda from the shopkeeper with a one-yuan coin. He used a screwdriver attached to a wire to pry open the bottle cap.

With a hiss, a cool white mist emerged.

Chen Zhuo tilted his head back and took a big gulp. The icy liquid slid down his throat into his stomach, dispelling all the summer heat.

He burped, picked up his water bottle, and strolled leisurely toward the old library.