My IQ has been increasing year by year.

In the north, the heat of the day still lingers at five o'clock in the evening.

There was no wind, and the heat was trapped in the ventilation openings of the corridor.

Students emerging from their respective exam rooms gathered in the stairwell.

No one was running.

Most people walk very slowly.

Chen Zhuo didn't linger. He followed the flow of people to the lobby on the first floor and pushed open the glass door.

The sunlight outside slanted down onto the steps.

He walked to a shady spot under the trees in front of the second canteen.

This is the meeting point we agreed upon for lunch.

Zhou Kai is already here.

He didn't stand, but squatted on the curb, his hands casually resting on his knees, looking down at the ground.

After a while, He Gui came from the other end of the main road.

His steps were somewhat unsteady. He walked to the shade of a tree and sat down directly on a landscape stone next to Zhou Kai, letting out a long sigh. Miao Shi'an pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and, as he walked over, instinctively tried to force a smile, but his lips only twitched slightly before he gave up.

Wang Huashao held a piece of scrap paper that he had torn off from somewhere, folded it into a square, and unconsciously squeezed it in his hand.

He walked into the crowd, opened his mouth as if to say something, but after glancing at the state of the people around him, he closed his mouth again, only scratching his hair in frustration.

Lin Yi was the last to arrive.

She walked to the tree, stood next to He Gui, took a mint from her pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out slightly. The six of them were now together.

Teams from other provinces kept passing by, some arguing fiercely about the parameters of the final big question, others complaining about the excessive tolerances in assembling the disassembled parts.

The six members of the Jiangsu provincial team stood together, and not one of them mentioned the exam they had just taken.

There was no discussion of the answers, nor any complaint about the questions.

A white bus turned from the intersection ahead and stopped on the side of the road.

The car door opened outwards.

Chen Zhuo walked at the front and stepped up the stairs.

The six people each found an empty seat and sat down.

The doors closed, the engine restarted, and the bus smoothly merged into the evening rush hour traffic.

The car didn't go directly back to the hotel.

After driving for about half an hour, we stopped on an old street lined with locust trees.

Professor Wang was waiting for them here in advance.

The old man stood in front of a somewhat dilapidated restaurant, watched the bus come to a stop, and waved to them.

This is a local hot pot restaurant.

Pushing open the heavy glass door, the room was filled with the strong aroma of mutton fat and boiling steam.

The lobby on the first floor was full of people and noisy.

Professor Wang led them directly to a private room on the second floor.

In the middle of the private room was a large round table, with a copper charcoal hot pot already set up in the center.

The charcoal underneath was burning red-hot, and the clear broth in the pot was bubbling, with a few pieces of scallion and ginger slices floating on the surface.

On the cart next to them were more than a dozen plates of thinly sliced ​​mutton, as well as several plates of frozen tofu, cabbage, and vermicelli.

Each person has a bowl of prepared sesame sauce in front of them, sprinkled with chopped green onions and cilantro.

"Sit down and eat."

Professor Wang pulled out a chair and sat down, without asking any questions about the exam.

The six people took their seats in turn.

Professor Wang picked up the two plates of mutton from the cart and used his chopsticks to scoop all the meat into the boiling pot.

The red and white slices of meat quickly changed color and curled up in the boiling water.

No greeting is needed.

Zhou Kai picked up a slotted spoon, scooped up a spoonful of freshly cooked mutton, poured it into his bowl, dipped it in sesame sauce, and popped it directly into his mouth. The scalding heat and the savory flavor of the mutton and dipping sauce spread throughout his mouth.

He chewed deeply, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, before swallowing it whole.

Then he went to scoop out a second spoonful.

No one spoke in the private room.

The only sounds were the gurgling of the water boiling in the copper pot, the crisp sound of chopsticks hitting the porcelain bowl, and the sound of swallowing.

Food accumulates in the stomach, bringing a satisfying feeling of fullness.

It took more than an hour to eat.

The empty plates on the table were stacked high.

The broth in the pot gradually evaporated, and the charcoal fire went out.

After paying the bill, we left the restaurant.

It was completely dark when the streetlights came on, casting a dim, yellowish light on the asphalt road.

The evening breeze dispelled the daytime heat and brought a touch of coolness.

The bus took them back to the hotel.

The carpet in the hallway was thick, and it made no sound when you stepped on it.

We arrived at the room door.

They each had their own room, and the six rooms were next to each other.

Chen Zhuo stopped and looked at the others.

"Everyone go back, take a shower, get some sleep, and rest. We'll meet again at the restaurant on the first floor at 7:30 tomorrow morning."

The group nodded and each took out their room key.

The electronic beeping sounded repeatedly.

He pushed the door open, went inside, and closed the door behind him.

The corridor returned to silence.

Chen Zhuo walked into his room.

Insert the room card, and the light in the entryway turns on.

I took a change of clothes from the closet and went into the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, Chen Zhuo came out of the bathroom and dried his hair with a towel.

He walked to the bedside, lifted the covers, and lay down.

Turn off the bedside lamp.

The room was plunged into darkness, with only a sliver of streetlight shining through the gap in the curtains.

the next day.

It's 6:30 in the morning.

Chen Zhuo opened his eyes right on time.

Get up and take a shower.

7:30.

The self-service restaurant on the first floor.

The other five people arrived one after another.

Zhou Kai's walking pace returned to its usual rhythm.

Wang Huashao was picking up steamed buns at the counter, with half a fried dough stick in his mouth, while He Gui took a cup of soy milk and two boiled eggs.

No one mentioned yesterday.

Quickly finish breakfast and put down your utensils.

It's exactly eight o'clock.

The bus was parked in front of the hotel.

The team assembled and boarded the bus.

Today's driving route is different from yesterday's.

After the bus entered the university campus, it did not stop at the teaching area in front.

Instead, we drove along a wide asphalt road.

The trees along the road gradually thinned out, and the old red-brick buildings were left behind.

An area filled with an industrial atmosphere came into view.

The factory building is a large area of ​​gray steel structure, with thick ventilation ducts installed on the exterior of the building.

There was a smell in the air that was a mixture of engine oil and metal rust-proofing paint.

The bus stopped in front of a large venue.

Above the main entrance, there is a row of large, iron-gray metal characters, unpainted, retaining the original color of the metal.

National-level comprehensive engineering training center.

Teams from all provinces disembarked here.

Today, there's no need to go to individual exam venues; all teams are gathered in this large venue.

Each team consists of six people standing together.

The person in front pushed open two heavy red iron doors.

The interior space is very spacious.

Rows of large lights hung above, illuminating the entire venue.

The ground was clean and flat, with yellow paint marking the boundaries between different areas.

There are no single desks and plastic chairs like those used in regular exams here.

In the very center of the venue, dozens of worktables were neatly arranged.

Dozens of teams, following the directions on the signs, headed to their respective workstations labeled with the name of their province.

The Jiangsu team is positioned at the front right of the stadium.

Chen Zhuo walked ahead, leading the other five people to the worktable.

Six people stood around the rectangular table.

In the very center of the workbench was a black metal box.

It is about one meter long, half a meter wide, and about forty centimeters high.

There are two thick clasps on the front, fastened tightly.

There are no signs or writings.

It wasn't just their table.

A glance around revealed that in the very center of every worktable was an identical black metal box.

Nine o'clock.

At the very front of the training center, the electronic screen that occupied half of the wall lit up.

After a brief black screen, white text on a black background appeared directly on the screen.

National Junior High School Physics Competition Finals - Team Comprehensive Challenge.

Then, the main text below is displayed line by line.

The font is large enough to be clearly seen even from the last row.

Project: Demonstration of the collection and transformation of weak environmental energy.

Task: Design and build an energy harvesting system using the standard component library on the workbench.

Objective: To light up a 2.5V red high-brightness LED provided by the organizing committee in a sealed bag without using any chemical batteries and with mains power connected, and to maintain stable illumination for no less than 10 seconds.

Time limit: 4 hours.

Rules: Borrowing components from other teams is prohibited, as is the destructive disassembly of fixed facilities within the training center.

After the text is fully displayed.

At the bottom of the screen, a red digital clock appeared.

04:00:00.

A short electronic whistle sounded over the loudspeaker in the stadium.

The countdown has started.

03:59:59.