My IQ has been increasing year by year.

The last day of training camp.

A faint smell of chalk dust lingered in the seminar room.

The blackboard wasn't completely wiped clean.

In the upper right corner, there's still half a tree diagram and a few lines of chalk writing that Coach Xu drew yesterday afternoon when he was explaining combinatorics. The long, rectangular mahogany conference table is no longer the rigidly divided group it was on the first day.

Zhang Bai's notebook cover was badly curled as he flipped through a copy of the lecture notes that had been handed out yesterday.

The top was covered with dense red and blue annotations and arrows.

These were the traces of how he had gradually disassembled, reduced the dimensions of those high-dimensional solutions, and then reassembled them using logic he could understand over the past few days. Li Nanbai leaned back in his chair, holding an empty mineral water bottle in his hand, his thumb unconsciously pressing the bottle, making a slight plastic thud. Lin Yi simply unfolded a thick exercise book, covering his face like a small tent, and leaned back in his chair to catch up on sleep.

Zhou Kai was looking down and organizing the materials he had accumulated over the past few days.

I folded several scattered sheets of draft paper, filled with matrices and equations, and carefully tucked them into the inner pages of a textbook. Then I put all my stationery into a transparent pencil case and zipped it up.

Chen Zhuo sat in his seat.

The desktop is empty.

He didn't look through the lecture notes or pack his bag.

He simply leaned back in his chair, his gaze passing over the desk to the half-erased tree diagram in the corner of the blackboard.

Listening to the occasional clattering of plastic bottles beside him, he sat quietly, shifting his position and rubbing his slightly sore neck. Footsteps echoed in the corridor.

The door to the seminar room was pushed open.

Coach Xu walked in. He wasn't carrying his huge thermos today, nor was he holding any test papers under his arm.

The people in the room instinctively sat up straight.

Lin Yi took the exercise book off his face, rubbed his eyes, and Zhang Bai picked up his pen, ready to listen to the coach's instructions for the day. Coach Xu walked to the window.

He reached out and pressed the power button on the floor-standing air conditioner unit.

A beep.

The low, buzzing sound that had been filling the room stopped.

The fan blades at the air outlet slowly closed.

Then, Coach Xu grabbed the window handle and pushed it hard.

Both glass windows were fully opened.

The heatwave from the sycamore trees outside, accompanied by the incessant chirping of cicadas, instantly rushed into the perpetually cold seminar room.

Coach Xu turned around and looked at the six people next to the table.

No questions today.

Coach Xu dusted off his hands, speaking casually.

"There's no need to look at what's on the blackboard anymore. The things that should be stored in your brain have already been filled up in the past few days. If you try to cram any more in, it will just be a mess in the exam room."

He waved his hand, as if shooing people away.

"Everyone, get out and get some fresh air. You can go back to the guesthouse to sleep or take a stroll on the playground, but nobody is allowed to stay inside."

The room was silent for two seconds.

Zhang Bai loosened his grip on the pen, let out a long breath, and his shoulders slumped.

Mo Xiaoyu stared blankly at the wrong answer sheet in front of her for a moment, then stuffed it haphazardly into her schoolbag.

The tension that had been building up in my mind was snapped by Coach Xu's words.

Everyone began to quietly pack their schoolbags.

Chen Zhuo picked up the backpack at his feet and slung it over his shoulder.

Six people, carrying bags, walked out of the administration building.

The sun is very strong outside.

The asphalt road surface was scorching hot from the sun, and felt somewhat soft and spongy underfoot.

Stepping out of the air-conditioned room, a wave of heat hit my face, and even breathing felt like the air was thick and sticky.

They walked along the tree-lined path.

I wandered aimlessly, without any destination in mind.

"Is that all?"

Li Nanbai walked behind, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and asked a question that sounded somewhat unreal.

"Flying to Shanghai tomorrow, exam the day after," Zhou Kai added. "The real battle is yet to come."

Mo Xiaoyu sighed.

"I get a headache just hearing the words 'geometry' and 'algebra' now."

Chen Zhuo walked at the very front.

He looked at the small shop next to the playground.

"Wait here for a moment."

Chen Zhuo stopped, said something to the person behind him, and then turned and walked into the convenience store.

Not long after, he pushed open the glass door of the convenience store and came out.

He was holding a plastic bag.

He walked to the shade of a tree and opened the plastic bag.

Inside were a few chilly popsicles and mung bean paste.

Chen Zhuo casually took out a mung bean soup stick and tossed it to Zhou Kai, then took out an old-fashioned popsicle and handed it to Mo Xiaoyu.

"Choose one, these are the only two types left in the freezer."

He opened the plastic bag and handed it to Zhang Bai and Li Nanbai.

Zhang Bai took a mung bean soup stick, and Li Nanbai took an old-fashioned popsicle.

Lin Yi came over, grabbed a mung bean paste stick, tore open the wrapper, and took a big bite.

Chen Zhuo took the last popsicle, crumpled the plastic bag into a ball, and accurately threw it into the trash can two meters away.

Several people walked to the steps of the stands at the edge of the playground.

I found a shady spot under a big tree, casually placed a piece of scrap paper on it, and sat down.

The red synthetic track in the distance gleamed in the sunlight.

Chen Zhuo took a bite of the popsicle in his hand.

It was very hard, with a familiar sweet taste, and cool all the way from the mouth to the stomach.

"Isn't Shanghai hotter than here?"

Mo Xiaoyu ate her popsicle in small bites, looked at the track ahead, and casually asked a question.

"It's not this kind of heat."

Zhang Bai pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"I checked the weather forecast. It's the plum rain season there now, it rains every day, and the air humidity is very high, it feels like being in a steamer." "Who cares what kind of weather it is, as long as I can go to the Bund after the exams, that's fine."

Li Nanbai chewed on the ice cubes with a smacking sound.

"I heard that the questions for this year's Olympiad were set by the coaching staff of the national high school Olympiad team."

Zhou Kai looked at the ants on the ground.

"The difficulty level is estimated to be one level higher than last year."

Chen Zhuo turned his head, glanced at Zhou Kai, and then stretched out his foot to lightly kick Zhou Kai's shoe.

Chen Zhuo chewed on his popsicle, his tone languid.

"Don't use up your brain prematurely. Who cares who set the questions? Just write the answers as instructed when the test is handed out."

He looked at the leaves rustling in the wind in the distance.

"If you really can't write anything, just flip the paper over, draw a turtle on the back, and hand it in."

Lin Yi chuckled beside him.

Zhang Bai smiled too, his nerves, which had been tense up because of the coaching staff being mentioned, relaxed again.

They sat on the steps, watching the popsicles melt away little by little.

Listen to the rustling of the wind through the leaves.

No one mentions mathematics anymore, and no one thinks about those complicated formulas anymore.

I was just sitting there, eating popsicles, savoring the last bit of free time before the exam.

In the afternoon, at the guesthouse of the Provincial Experimental High School.

Chen Zhuo was packing his things in the room.

He didn't bring much luggage; besides a few changes of clothes, there was only that black backpack.

He folded the clothes and put them in his suitcase.

On the table was the thick book "Abstract Algebra".

Chen Zhuo walked over and picked up the book.

He had wiped the dust off the book cover very clean, and there were slight creases on the edges from flipping through it.

I'm going to the library.

Chen Zhuo spoke to Zhou Kai, who was organizing his error notebook.

Zhou Kai responded without even looking up.

Chen Zhuo pushed open the door and went out.

The campus was quiet in the afternoon.

The sunlight slanted down, casting long shadows.

Chen Zhuo walked into the library.

There were a few people reading newspapers in the reading room on the first floor. He went up the stairs to the third floor.

The third floor remained empty, with the tall metal bookshelves standing silently in the shadows.

Chen Zhuo walked to the corner where he read every day.

Finding its original spot, he pushed the heavy book he was holding through the gap.

The paper rubbed against the metal bookshelf, making a very faint rustling sound.

The spine of the book should be aligned with the book next to it.

Chen Zhuo released his grip, looking at the row of bookshelves without pausing or making any unnecessary movements.

He turned around and walked down the stairs.

Sunlight streamed in through the stairwell window and fell on his shoulders.

The learning process over the past few days is over, and he has already absorbed what he needed to know.

June 30th.

Six o'clock in the afternoon.

Provincial capital international airport.

The waiting hall was bustling with people, and various flight information and boarding instructions were being broadcast on a loop.

Coach Xu stood beside the departure island, holding a thick, transparent document bag containing boarding passes and identification documents for seven people. He was checking the flight number and gate with Zhou Kai.

Zhou Kai looked very carefully, pointed to a string of numbers on the boarding pass, and nodded.

Lin Yi sat on the row of chairs next to her, with a pair of white earphones in her ears and a CD player in her pocket.

She closed her eyes and nodded her head down little by little, looking like she hadn't slept well again last night.

Zhang Bai and Li Nanbai stood together.

They were holding a newspaper that they had picked up for free at the airport entrance, and they were flipping through the sports section.

The two occasionally exchanged a few words in hushed tones, but their voices were quickly drowned out by the surrounding noise.

Mo Xiaoyu, carrying a pink backpack, stood next to Lin Yi, staring blankly at the security checkpoint in the distance.

Chen Zhuo stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, holding a bottle of mineral water in his hand.

Outside the window was a wide tarmac, with several white passenger planes parked by the jet bridge, and ground crew driving baggage carts around beneath them. In the distance, on the runway, a plane was accelerating, its nose lifting up as it roared towards the clouds.

"Chen Zhuo, let's go, we're going through security."

Coach Xu put the file bag away and called out in this direction.

Chen Zhuo turned around and caught up with the group.

Everything is going smooth.

The air conditioning in the cabin was on high, and it felt a bit cool on my skin.

They found seats and sat down. Chen Zhuo's seat was by the window, and Zhou Kai sat next to him.

Flight attendants walked back and forth in the aisle, reminding passengers to fasten their seat belts and stow their tray tables.

The plane began to slowly reverse and taxi towards the runway.

The engine sound gradually increased, turning into a deep vibration.

A strong sense of being pushed back came over me, and the scenery outside the window began to rush past.

Chen Zhuo leaned back in his seat, looking out the window.

The buildings and roads of the provincial capital gradually shrank in view, turning once again into gray squares and thin lines.

The plane pierced through the clouds, and the surroundings turned into a vast expanse of white fog.

After piercing through the clouds, the dazzling sunlight shone into the cabin, below which lay a thick sea of ​​clouds.

Zhou Kai took out a thin booklet from his bag, which contained a summary of mathematical formulas.

He turned to the first page, ready to read it again.

Chen Zhuo reached out and closed the booklet.

"Stop looking." Chen Zhuo said to Zhou Kai casually.

Zhou Kai paused for a moment, looked at Chen Zhuo, and then at the booklet in his hand.

In the end, he put the booklet back into his bag.

Chen Zhuo turned his head and continued to look at the clouds outside the window, the engine noise in the cabin turning into a monotonous white noise.

Shortly after, the plane landed.

Shanghai Hongqiao Airport.

Step out of the cabin and walk along the jet bridge.

Even through the glass inside the airport, you could sense that the sky outside was somewhat gloomy.

After collecting their checked luggage, the group walked out of the arrival hall.

The glass sensor door slides open to both sides.

A very strong, moisture-laden wind rushed towards me.

This is completely different from the dry, sweltering heat of the provincial capital.

The air felt heavy, as if it were soaked with water, clinging to the skin and making it hard to breathe. The clothes on my body started to feel sticky in less than two minutes.

This is what Zhang Bai referred to as the plum rain season.

The sky was overcast and there was no rain, but the air was so humid it felt like you could wring water out of it.

Rows of taxis and shuttle buses were parked along the roadside, and the sound of vehicles passing by sounded somewhat muffled in the humid air.

Coach Xu led them to the airport shuttle bus arranged by the organizing committee and put their luggage into the luggage compartment at the bottom of the bus.

boarding.

The bus started, left the airport, and entered the city's overpass.

Shanghai in 02.

The high-rise buildings on both sides of the road are much denser than those in the provincial capital, and many buildings have huge "GG" signs hanging on their exterior walls.

A light drizzle began to fall outside the car window.

Raindrops hit the glass, quickly forming a water stain, and the bus's windshield wipers scraped against the windshield.

The sky gradually darkened.

The streetlights and neon lights on the buildings lit up.

Red, blue, and yellow halos diffused in the damp air, reflecting off the puddle-covered asphalt road and creating streaks of color. The traffic lights flashed, and the flow of traffic moved slowly forward, with the occasional car horn piercing through the rain and into the passenger compartment.

This is a city that is growing at an alarming rate.

With its own unique hustle and bustle and dampness.

The bus turned at an intersection and stopped in front of a hotel.

Take your luggage and get off the bus.

The lobby was brightly lit, and the marble floor was spotless.

Coach Xu went to the front desk to check in.

He came over with a stack of room keys.

"Each person has a room. We'll meet at the restaurant on the first floor at 7 a.m. tomorrow for breakfast."

Swipe the card and push open the door.

The room was not very large.

A large bed, a desk by the window, and a television set mounted on the wall.

Chen Zhuo threw his backpack on the bed and grabbed a clean towel.

Chen Zhuo went into the bathroom, closed the door, and heard the sound of running water coming from inside.

The sound of water stopped after about ten minutes.

Chen Zhuo was wearing a clean, oversized T-shirt and athletic shorts, holding a towel and drying his still-dripping hair. He walked to the window.

The room is on a high floor, and the window is slightly ajar.

The rain outside stopped, and a cool breeze carrying the scent of Shanghai blew in through the cracks.

Chen Zhuo stood by the window, looking at the night view outside.

In the distance, the lights on both banks of the Huangpu River are dazzling, and the Oriental Pearl Tower shines red in the night. Occasionally, a ship with its lights on glides slowly across the river.

The traffic on the overpass resembled a flowing ribbon of light, meandering into the depths of the city.

Chen Zhuo leaned against the window frame, yawned, and reached out to close the window a crack.