Study Monster Cultivation System
Chapter 253 - 252, didn’t you say you could go half an hour without taking a breath?

The pre-examination dinner was lonelier than expected.

In the buffet restaurant, most of the customers were businesspeople on trips or attending meetings, with hardly a few familiar faces from the competitions.

It wasn’t until two students from Second Middle School came over with their plates to join him that Li Zheng learned about Huang Lingqi’s invitation to have fish.

It seemed that Huang Lingqi had booked several tables in the restaurant upstairs, exclusively inviting the finalists to dine together, featuring everyone’s favorite West Lake vinegar fish in the menu.

"He said it’s to let everyone prepare well for the exam, replenish our nutrition, and get good results and whatnot," lamented one of the boys from Second Middle as he ate his simple meal.

"It’s so disgusting, who does he think he’s looking down on," the girl said with disdain.

"Hey, if he’s happy throwing his money around, let him be," Li Zheng was indifferent and, while chewing on stir-fried noodles, asked, "Are you guys coming for a run later? It’ll help us sleep better at night."

"Sure," nodded the boy repeatedly, "I’m just afraid of not being able to sleep later."

The girl said, somewhat embarrassed, "I’m really bad at it; I can only run 800 meters."

"No worries, I’ll lead you," chuckled Li Zheng, "Forget about the others, we’ll go at our own pace. As long as we perform as well as we deserve, that’s enough."

"Yeah!" The girl hurried to gobble up her food, anxious not to be left behind.

Lin Yujing, sitting beside, said not a word, only chanting "loser" a hundred times in her heart.

...

In the hotel’s top floor suite, after the two Russian teachers had left, the female assistant approached Huang Lingqi by the window, looking out into the distance.

"Kevin, quite a few people went to the Chinese restaurant. Do you want to make an appearance?"

"Did Li Zheng and his group go?"

"No, they’re at the buffet."

"Then let it be, let those people enjoy their meal," Huang Lingqi waved his hand dismissively, returning to his desk and glancing at the pages filled with English, "Just throwing a casual treat so they’ll speak well of me, that’s enough as long as they don’t bad-mouth me."

"Um... Also, we’ve learned something," whispered the assistant, leaning closer, "During the preliminaries, it seemed that Huihu Middle School’s teachers could access the questions; should we try reaching out to someone from Huihu Middle School to probe a little?"

"Don’t!" Huang Lingqi said without looking up, "Most of them probably think my preliminary results are fake. If we bring this up now, wouldn’t that just give them something to talk about?"

"But still, they are the host school after all. If they have some control over the direction of the final questions... even a slight understanding might be a huge help, right?"

"Not necessary," Huang Lingqi said as he tapped away at the calculator, "The finals are much more strict and serious. I don’t believe anyone would dare to play tricks under such circumstances."

"Alright then... What do you want to eat tonight? I’ll get it ready."

"Just some simple porridge or noodles will do."

"OK."

...

After resting for a while following the meal, they began their night run. Li Zheng swore he would lead the group, but in reality, after five minutes, only Lin Yujing could keep up with him.

Even in the dim light, Li Zheng could clearly see Lin Yujing’s labored pursuit and hear her slightly ragged breathing.

This scene was quite rare.

To take pleasure in her expression, Li Zheng gradually slowed down, carefully maintaining a speed that Lin Yujing could barely keep up with, though with great effort.

Then every now and then he would glance back with a mischievous smile and continue running.

After running about 1000 meters like this, Lin Yujing finally caught on.

"Loser... loser... you... you did it on purpose..."

"Me, considerate, and you still blame me," Li Zheng ran on nonchalantly, looking back, "by the way, the way you run..."

"Don’t look!"

"Not looking, not looking..."

Another four or five hundred meters on, Li Zheng felt that Lin Yujing was almost done for. While he enjoyed seeing her exhausted, the finals were too close to risk anything unnecessary.

So he slowed down, feigning a cramp in his side, "Can’t do it, can’t do it, got a stitch, let’s rest a bit."

Lin Yujing was relieved and slowed down with him, gradually transitioning to a walking pace.

As they continued to walk, the path grew darker and the people sparser.

The atmosphere turned increasingly eerie, and they both fell silent.

It wasn’t until they stopped in front of a dead-end gate that they finally halted their steps.

"Let’s head back," said Li Zheng.

"Okay," replied Lin Yujing.

Even as they turned back, they saw no one else.

After walking for two or three minutes, they finally saw the figure of a boy steadily running towards them.

"Finally caught up," Lin Yujing sighed with relief.

"No, wait..." But Li Zheng’s brows furrowed, "That posture, that stride, this is a pro."

As he got closer, Li Zheng finally saw that the person was Huang Lingqi.

Huang Lingqi also recognized Li Zheng and Lin Yujing.

"Sorry…" Huang Lingqi quickly covered his face, snickered, and ran past them, "didn’t mean to disturb you…"

Lin Yujing’s face turned red, and she quickened her pace, wanting to put some distance between them.

Li Zheng had no choice but to follow: "This guy is so annoying, he’s everywhere."

"Enough… don’t mind him," Lin Yujing said, noticing the light ahead getting brighter and the path busier. She turned into a side path, "Let’s go this way."

Li Zheng frowned slightly at the thick bushes ahead: "Aren’t there a lot of mosquitoes this way…"

In a flash, Lin Yujing shook her head and shot him a murderous look.

"… plenty of mosquitoes is good, very good," Li Zheng gulped and quickly stepped onto the path, "I’ll go first, let them bite me…"

Lin Yujing finally relaxed, caught up, and said nonchalantly with hands behind her back, "Last night, a recruiter from Ji University came to see me."

"Hey, it was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Didn’t they look for you?"

"Nope."

"..."

Lin Yujing held back for a while before saying, "What if they did look for you?"

"What for?"

"Um…" Lin Yujing scratched her head in frustration, "trash…"

"Hahaha," Li Zheng laughed, "Got it, got it, I won’t tease you anymore. You signed up, I’ll also go. Let’s go together."

"Tsk…" Lin Yujing flipped her hair playfully and laughed contentedly, "Like I need you to tell me?~~"

Li Zheng also laughed: "Ji University hasn’t approached me about signing yet, I’m actually freaking out."

"After all, you’re the trash that only scored 327 in the second round."

"That’s true, I scored too low," Li Zheng said, flexing his fingers, "If there’s a school with a bigger upset than Lake Ying this time, I won’t go easy on you."

"???"

"Alright, I still need to run another 3000 meters before I can get a good night’s sleep," Li Zheng took a deep breath, "You go back and rest first."

"Um…" Lin Yujing pondered for a moment, displeased, then her eyes lit up, "You could do stationary frog jumps, I’ll count for you."

"…isn’t that a bit weird?"

"There’s no one else here."

"Then I’ll give it a try…"

This time, it was Lin Yujing’s turn to enjoy the sight of Li Zheng’s distressed expression.

"20."

"21."

"Too slow, trash."

"Is that all you got? Trash."

"Aw, you look like you’re about to cry, trash."

...

"78…"

"Can’t keep up anymore, trash?"

"Weren’t you acting so tough just now? Didn’t you say you could go half an hour without breaking a sweat? It’s only been a few minutes?"

Li Zheng cursed in anger, "You’re not even moving! You try it!"

"You’re the one who wanted to come here, why should I move, trash!"

They were unaware that someone passing by their running path stood at the entrance of the small woods, completely stunned.

"Wow," Huang Lingqi marveled from afar at the blurry, shaking figure and the sound of their banter, "what an interesting method! The mainland’s top students have such flair…"

Suddenly, Li Zheng shouted, "There seems to be someone peeking over there!"

Huang Lingqi fled in panic: "Sorry… didn’t mean to disturb you…"

...

That night, everyone slept very well.

It’s just that some ate too much pickled fish and had to visit the restroom a couple of times.

When Li Zheng woke up in the morning, he felt great.

Last night’s exercise was indeed effective.

After breakfast and on the way there, Yang Changle went over some formulas with everyone again and repeated a few exam tips.

At 8:50 AM, Li Zheng and Lin Yujing each entered their respective exam rooms.

It was the final 10 minutes before the National High School Physics Competition finals theory exam started.

What was really annoying was that Li Zheng and Huang Lingqi were arranged to sit together, right in front and behind each other.

Only this time, Huang Lingqi’s attitude had changed.

It became extremely reverent.

"Um... this..." Huang Lingqi turned back, stammering as he asked, "I’m just curious, no other meaning... It’s just... during the act... the constant demanding of insulting language... Is that kind of play really enjoyable?"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"It’s like... maybe you’re the type who needs some stimulation to react..." Huang Lingqi cautiously described, "Like before with us, you also needed some kind of stimulus to respond to me... Does this relate to the kind of play you enjoy?"

"What are you trying to say exactly?"

"Forget it... I better stick to the practical approach..." Huang Lingqi raised an eyebrow and said, "The exam is about to start. To get into my circle of friends, give it your all."

"You’re overthinking it; I’ve already chosen my ride."

"Right, that’s the feeling." Huang Lingqi nodded excitedly, "I have to speak like this for you to pay me any attention."

"Crazy."

"Wait, let me try again..." Huang Lingqi blurted out without thinking, "Lin Yujing is an ugly freak."

"You dare say that again!"

"Hahaha." Huang Lingqi laughed loudly and patted Li Zheng on the shoulder, "Just kidding. Good luck on your exam. If you actually score higher than me, I’ll cover your driver’s license fee too."

"I don’t get it; do you really enjoy throwing money around that much?"

"That’s called investment."

Before long, the three proctors entered the room, and everyone naturally fell silent.

At 9 AM sharp, the test papers were distributed, and the exam began.

Li Zheng took the paper, took a deep breath, and then fully exhaled, clearing his mind of all extraneous thoughts.

In physics competitions, there are many strong competitors; two are already known to have higher scores than Lin Yujing.

One must not underestimate the opponents just because they have dominated the Jijing competition area.

Even Huang Lingqi, who seemed unreliable at the front desk, must not be underestimated for his appearance of being poor at studying.

Now, at the foot of this physics altar,

Even if one is certain it’s only 1% difficult,

One must still treat it with 100% seriousness,

Just like during the first Chem Competitions.

Time to review the problems!

Tao Feifei had emphasized many times before that the difficulty of the physics competition increases steeply from the preliminary to the semifinals and the finals.

Upon first review, as expected.

There are 6 major questions for a total of 280 points, taking up a full 11 pages.

Just in terms of the length of the questions alone, it had already surpassed the semifinals.

More importantly, there were only 3 hours for the exam.

For certain novelists, even if given three hours to make up stories, they might not be able to fill these 11 pages.

The most exaggerated was question 6, which had the problem statement itself filling up a full three A4 papers!

The value of this single question reached an astonishing 80 points.

It was like combining two major questions from previous years’ finals.

In essence, it was a super-extended and more difficult version of the "reading question" from the semifinals.

This question instantly piqued Li Zheng’s interest.

On just one look, he couldn’t help but smile wryly,

Like the super difficult question in the semifinals, this question also resembled a research paper, covering last year’s Nobel Prize in Physics on "optical tweezers."

Contestants had to understand the concept in a very short time and, based on the problem requirements, perform a large number of calculations to solve the problem.

One could even say that for many competitors, even in three hours, they might not be able to complete just this one question.

But Li Zheng couldn’t help but laugh, rather unkindly.

During their final sprint phase, he and Lin Yujing had been diligently devouring research papers from start to finish.

Last year’s Nobel Prize papers in physics... How could they possibly not touch on that?

Of course, this big shot didn’t just win the award for a single paper, but rather was recognized for his pioneering contributions to the field of laser manipulation of particles over several decades, with related papers numbering at least ten.

Some of them are very profound and involve high-precision experiments, which neither Li Zheng nor Lin Yujing can comprehend at the moment.

However, this exam only covers the most fundamental principles, which were experimentally confirmed by this great scientist a decade ago.

So, for Li Zheng, this was not by any means a question of on-the-spot learning, but merely a standard application question, with all the formulas laid out in front of him and the calculations quite manageable.

It was even simpler than the other five questions.

Since he had reached this point, Li Zheng had no choice but to start with the "hardest" last question.

He didn’t want it this way...

There was no helping it; he had simply learned too much.

In the adjacent examination room, Lin Yujing also revealed a similar, mischievous smile.

You can’t blame me for this.

In both examination rooms, the invigilating teachers were seeing the real questions for the first time too. After a quick scan, their gaze settled on the last question, quite amazed.

"Isn’t this too difficult…"

"They’re really making high school students solve problems of Nobel Prize level."

"Let it be, after all, it’s about selecting top-notch physics talent. Although this question is way beyond the syllabus, everything needed is still listed, and with careful study, it can be worked out."

"True, but there are only 3 hours for the exam. With the amount of calculation in the first five questions, those 3 hours are basically not enough to even reach the sixth question."

"Normal, for a test worth 280 points, there are also not many scoring over 200 every year, right?"

"Alright, let’s make a round first; there are a few who are not behaving."

"Let’s go, let’s go."

And so, teachers from both sides began to stroll around.

When talking about the overall capabilities of the contestants, the truth is, one generation is always stronger than the previous one.

The reason behind this is the increased intensity of both in-school and extra-school training. Although competition question types have many routines, they can’t withstand so many teachers and students investing energy year after year.

It could be said that the question setters were always engaged in a battle of wits with the competition training teachers.

Now, it has already become very difficult to innovate in question types, and the main directions for increasing the difficulty are two-fold.

One is the simple and brutal method, universally despised, of "increasing the amount of calculation."

Its effects are immediate, but its drawbacks are also very clear—it’s "very un-physicist-like."

That’s why Mechanics Competitions have acquired the nickname of national calculus competitions for middle school students.

The other direction is "reading comprehension."

Sourcing some interesting papers, altering them for explanation, and assessing the students’ comprehensive understanding and even research ability on the spot—after all, with such a vast number of papers and massive levels of difficulty, it’s impossible for test preparation agencies to organize this kind of extensive training.

And so, for precisely this reason, this tactic has been repeatedly successful, and the questions have grown ever more challenging.

As teachers in both examination rooms made their rounds, most students were still grappling with the calculations in the first question, but differences in problem-solving speed could already be observed.

Unlike in college entrance exams, in this kind of competition, solving speed is crucial.

It could be said that one must complete the first five questions in just over two hours in order to have a chance at tackling the sixth question and aiming for the theoretical 200 points.

In one examination room, the number of people reaching this speed was merely a few.

For the invigilating teachers, finding these students was also one of the rare joys of the invigilation process.

Matching up in pairs, bumping into each other, seeing who had the accurate eye to pick out the top contenders—it was quite entertaining.

Teachers in both examination rooms briefly paused beside Huang Lingqi, Qi Yingnan, and others.

Not bad, the first question was nearly solved in just over ten minutes.

But when they reached Li Zheng and Lin Yujing, they frowned slightly.

Why are they only starting on the first question?

This Mechanics question didn’t pose any difficulty conceptually; it was all about competing with calculus prowess.

Wasn’t this Li Zheng (Lin Yujing) supposed to be strong?

Is this it?

Over ten minutes, and just this??

But just as they were about to walk away, their bodies suddenly stiffened.

Wait a minute, what’s that?!?!

The sixth question... solved???!

Go to hell!!