I Might Have Fallen in Love With My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 104 - 100: Preliminary Round 5

Chapter 104: Chapter 100: Preliminary Round 5

When it came time for the young professor to introduce himself, Li Qingmo could no longer muster a smile.

The man’s voice was deep and warm: "Hello everyone, I am Lin Zhou, Associate Professor of Mathematics and Physics at F University."

Old Wu was the first to exclaim in admiration, "Tsk, tsk, this must be the youngest professor at F University."

Teacher Liu responded in a neutral tone, "I heard he’s the only one in F University’s history to become a professor before the age of 30."

As Lin Zhou had his back to the crowd, from underneath the stage, one could only see his silhouette; nothing more was visible.

Qingran’s fingertips trembled slightly. She withdrew her hand from both Xie Ying’an and Li Qingmo’s grasp, staring at Lin Zhou’s back in a daze.

She had already planned to take advantage of the May Day holiday to visit F University and find Lin Zhou—not for anything specific; she just wanted to see what sort of talent could accept the miserable Li Qingran from the book?

Upon really seeing Lin Zhou, she felt no ripples in her heart. This man was right in front of her, yet it seemed there were thousands of threads between them, like two parallel lines that could intersect but briefly and then forever go their separate ways, never to cross paths again.

At that moment, Qingran suddenly realized that she had indeed cared too much about the plot of the book. Subconsciously, Lin Zhou had become the escape route she had prepared for herself.

The female students from F University were whispering behind her.

"Wow, wow, wow, I rushed over here early in the morning to grab a seat just to catch a glimpse of my beloved Professor Lin. I’ve finally seen him today; I can die without regrets now."

"Zhuzhu, do you have to be so dramatic? It’s not that hard to get into Professor Lin’s classes, you know. It’s just that you’re too lazy to move. I’ve already attended several of Professor Lin’s classes," another girl retorted.

Zhuzhu shot back, "If not to see Professor Lin, then what did you come here for?"

"Hehehe!"

"Of course, we’re here to see if there are any handsome younger male students joining F University in the future. Gotta feast our eyes first."

"I don’t care about you guys. I’m here just for Professor Lin. Look, look, Professor Lin sitting amongst those fat-bellied professors, he’s devastatingly handsome, alright?"

"Oh my God, how can you tell someone is devastatingly handsome just from their back?"

The clock struck nine, marking the official start of the competition.

A big problem appeared on the screen, and they had two minutes to look at it.

Truly, two minutes was a daunting task. Some of the slower students couldn’t make heads or tails of the problem within that time. But as soon as the two minutes were up, the timer for calculating answers started on the screen.

Many students began to write furiously, while a few others were still looking at the problem. The total time allowed for answering was fixed, which meant the longer they took to read, the more disadvantageous it was for them.

The audience, following along, clenched their hearts in suspense. Some students who hadn’t solved the problem were sweating profusely. As Old Wu said, the more nervous they became, the less they could think clearly.

There were ten minutes allotted for answering, and before the time was up, several students had already ceased writing, while those who hadn’t figured out the problems gradually found directions for solutions.

When the ten minutes elapsed, there were still a few students who hadn’t finished their answers, and they started crying on stage.

Their teachers beside them looked embarrassed, but as everyone had the same amount of time, no one would give these few students extra time because any delay today would mean that the following schools would not have enough time.

The answer from student number one appeared on the big screen. The judges meticulously checked his solution, and those professors who found no issues quickly moved on, their actions efficient and unhesitating.

The solution approach from student number three was relatively complex. The professors offered their opinions in turn, and since the answer was correct, they still gave it a pass.

In the end, out of the 32 students from Shida Affiliated High School, 18 passed, allowing the teachers from Shida Affiliated High School to breathe a sigh of relief.

Eighteen advanced, more than half of the students - a decent start.

By the time it was Qingran and the others’ turn, it was already ten o’clock.

Old Wu kept saying not to be nervous, but his tightly clasped hands betrayed more anxiety than any of the students.

More than thirty sequentially received their numbers from the teacher in charge and sat down according to their assigned places.

Qingran lowered her head the whole time after finding her seat, not daring to look up – afraid of seeing Lin Zhou at the judges’ table, which might affect her performance.

Fortune seemed to favor Qingran still; Wen Shiyi was at number 2, while she was number 19, close to number 22, Xie Ying’an.

A question soon appeared on the big screen. Qingran looked up to read the question without any distraction, finding it more difficult than the previous one from Shida Affiliated High School.

The expressions on over thirty students were very tense, and some were shaking so much they could hardly hold their pens.

Qingran quickly entered the zone, blocking out all external sounds, and within 1 minute and 43 seconds, a solution began to form in her mind.

The fat professor sitting next to Lin Zhou turned off his microphone. The chatterbox usually talked a lot, but even at a time like this, he couldn’t help but indulge in his talkative habits and said to Lin Zhou, "Hey, Lin Zhou, take a look – the boy at number 22 and the girl at number 19 are quite impressive. They almost started writing at the same time."

Lin Zhou shifted his gaze from Xie Ying’an to Qingran and paused slightly, feeling inexplicably familiar with the girl.

Lin Zhou quickly discarded the absurd thought from his mind, stating indifferently, "Starting to write first doesn’t mean the answer will be correct. On the contrary, I think if they looked over the question more carefully, their likelihood of getting the right answer would be higher."

The fat professor laughed heartily, concluding, "These two either have great ability or have very strong competitive spirits."

"Mm," Lin Zhou acknowledged, his gentle, scholarly face showing agreement, the marking pen gripped in his hand: "Whether they really have ability or not, we’ll know when we see their answers."

Lin Zhou lowered his head and frowned slightly, wondering why he subconsciously felt that the girl didn’t have the ability to get the question right.

Qingran put down her pen six minutes in, her approach to solving the problem was unconventional and exceptionally succinct.

There were still four minutes left. She took the draft paper aside and recalculated the problem with a more complex method. Just a second before time was up, she got the answer, and sure enough, both answers were identical. Only then did Qingran feel reassured.

When the time-up bell rang, everyone put their response boards on the small screen next to them. When it was their turn, their answers would be automatically projected onto the large screen.

Starting with number one as always, number one Ruoyi got the wrong answer. A mistake in the second step led to everything else being incorrect.

Ruoyi stood there dumbfounded for a while before covering her face, whether she cried or not was unknown.

Number two, Wen Shiyi’s answer was correct.

Watching until it was Qingran’s turn, out of the previous 18, 9 had been eliminated—a pass rate of only half, which was worse than Shida Affiliated High School’s performance.

Old Wu had already taken out his handkerchief from his trouser pocket, wiping the sweat that kept beading on his forehead.

When Qingran’s answer was viewed, several professors were visibly startled and glanced at Lin Zhou.

Lin Zhou saw Qingran’s answer, and a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes; it seemed he hadn’t expected this girl not only to get the answer right but that her approach to the problem could be so incredibly concise.

Qingran slowly exhaled, finally daring to look toward Lin Zhou in the judges’ area.

Coincidentally, Lin Zhou was also examining her, and their gazes met across the empty space.

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