At 5:30 in the evening, Sheng Hua video-called Fu Zhi through WeChat.
He seemed to be in a spacious room when his weather-worn face appeared in the video. He seemed rather distraught as he said, "Do you still remember the direct participation right that the Education Bureau wanted to give you? Well, since you rejected it, we gave it to a small member of the association and we're considering making her the team leader. By the way, will you stay in the competition after you've gotten the 500,000 yuan?"
Fu Zhi reckoned that he was in the Physics association office, as there were desks and chairs around him. He got to his feet and stood by the window sill, wondering whether or not he should jump down and end his life.
Fu Zhi drank from her bottle. School had just ended, so her surroundings were noisy.
Then, she lay on her table and replied flatly, "Yeah, I will be participating."