had discussed mathematical philosophy. It had been a rather interesting conversation.
Before Arthur Wiles had left, he had invited Aiden to visit the Wiles family. Aiden had not
expected to meet his grandson, Davy, here. Davy sighed bitterly.
My grandfather made me come. Ever since I lost to you last time, he wanted me to do
every competition, no matter how big or small. Aiden couldn't help but feel a little
awkward.
He hadn't meant to cause Davy any harm. The two of them chatted happily, and the
other Otis students were beginning to realize they knew each other. Michael Benz
suddenly walked up to them, frowning.
Aiden, according to the rules, you're not allowed to bring family along. Aiden didn't even
turn his head. He's not my family.
You're not allowed to bring anyone. Please make him leave immediately. Davy turned
around when he heard Benz's words.
Yes, Benz went on seriously. There is no place for you to play. You should go now.
Who is here with you? I'm not here to play. I'm here to compete, said Davy. Seeing the
boy's serious expression, everyone except Aiden was stunned for a moment.
Then they burst into laughter. He's so cute. If you're competing, then I'm qualifying for
USA JMO.
Davy shook his head seriously and said, when I was four, I had a qualifying score for USA
JMO. Now I have a bigger goal. He looked at Aiden at his side, his eyes full of admiration.
He had set a goal for himself to be able to beat Aiden within three years. The more
serious Davy became, the funnier Benz and the others found him in his babyish face. Did
you guys hear what he said just now? He actually said he had a qualifying score for the
US JMO at the age of four.
I'm laughing so hard I'm about to cry. Who taught you to brag like that? Michael Benz
just shook his head. He felt that if this went on, the other schools would laugh at Otis.
So he went aside and called for two security guards to come over. Please get him out
quickly. But when the security guards saw Davy, they were overjoyed.
We finally found you. Listen, son, don't keep running away like that or we'll be fired by
Mr. Wiles. Everyone who was laughing suddenly froze, their smiles fading.
Why did they feel that something was wrong? Listen, son, was he from the education
center? Davy looked awkward. I'm sorry, I just happened to see 80, so I came over to say hi. I'll go back with you now.
Then he said goodbye to Aiden obediently. One of the security guards held his hand as
they left the crowd. Another security guard thanked them.
Thank you for helping us find young Master Wiles. Otherwise, I'm afraid I would have lost
my job. One of the girls patted the security guard's shoulder and asked timidly.
Excuse me, who is the kid? The security guard said in surprise. Aren't you guys here for
the math competition? Haven't you heard of the prodigy David Wiles? The prodigy David
Wiles, they echoed. Suddenly, a boy jumped up and exclaimed.
He's not the six-year-old prodigy who got a record-breaking score in AIME. His face
darkened, and he said uneasily. If it was him, then he really did get a qualifying USA JMO
score when he was five.
When they recalled their scorn of the boy, they flushed crimson. The girls who had tried
to hug him felt their faces burn with embarrassment.
They
were annoyed at the thought that they had missed an opportunity to ask a mathematical
genius anything they wanted before the competition.
Oh, well, I guess the top prize will go to David, sighed one. Just then, she seemed to have
thought of something. She put her head in her hands and said in horror.
Don't you remember him saying? Saying what? The others asked anxiously. The girl
looked at Aiden, standing calmly a little way away, and stammered. David said he lost to
Aiden? Everyone was shocked and looked at Aiden in disbelief.
The famous prodigy had lost to Aiden? But that would mean that Aiden's math was even
better than David's. He can't have done it. If Aiden was that good, we'd have heard of
him a long while ago.
Yeah, you must have heard wrong. Faced with these denials, the girl hesitated. Did I
really hear it wrong? Michael then stepped in firmly.
Aiden just happened to know a genius. It's nothing special. Don't let it bother you.
We need to focus hard to get the award. When the results come out, we can just pretend
we don't know him. All right, they agreed.
A bell rang out urgently from the education center, followed by an announcement on the
loudspeaker. All participants, please enter the venue in an orderly manner. Everyone
started to look serious.
Mr. Harvey came back and led them inside. The education center in Bayside District
usually ran many academic activities, but today almost the entire center was being used for the math competition. Every candidate had to draw a numbered card from a box as
they came through the door.
The card would tell them where they were sitting, in a randomly allocated place, to stop
groups of schoolmates sitting together and cheating. Aiden reached into the box and
took out a card. He looked at the words on it.
Building number seven. Room number seven. Seat number seven.
Seven, seven, seven. Damien, you have chosen a lucky card. Luck, plus one.
Current progress, one out of ten. Current level, beginner. Even the staff member near
the number box was stunned and gave Aiden a big thumbs up.
Aiden smiled and took the card to the right examination room. The examinees were
sitting in long rows, one behind another. Aiden looked around and saw no one he knew
there.
He had just reached seat seven and sat down when the boy behind him, number eight,
tapped him on the shoulder. Bro, did you see that boy, number seventeen? Aiden looked
around and saw a boy wearing glasses sitting at number seventeen. He seemed to be
obsessed with cleanliness and kept wiping the table.
Yeah, I see him. Why? Huh? Don't you know him? The boy behind him said in disbelief.
He's a superstar around here.
Superstar? Aiden was suddenly interested. Tell me about him. You really don't know
Kevin Berkoff? The boy behind him looked as if he was dealing with someone from
another planet.
Before the exam began, he sat next to Aiden and explained. Kevin Berkoff is a math
genius from Radnor High School. He's in grade twelve.
His math results are so good that he's already been offered a place at MIT. It isn't just at
Radnor that he's treated as a model student. Other math teachers in other schools hold
him up as an example to follow.
He wasn't going to do this competition, but for some reason, he changed his mind
yesterday. Mr. Harvey had in fact mentioned Kevin Berkoff a few times in class, but
Aiden did not remember because he was either sleeping or flirting with Viola in math
classes. It was not just the boy at number eight who had recognized him.
Many others had, and their eyes shone with admiration. A place at a top institution like
MIT already. He really could be called a genius, and those competing against him could
not help but be a little nervous Not sure whether he was imagining it, Aiden felt that Kevin kept glancing at him out of
the corner of his eye. Just as he was about to look at him, the bell rang, and the
mathematical competition officially began. Before the boy in the seat behind had moved
back to his seat, he had suddenly looked at Aiden and said, Bro, use your body to block
me later! Aiden was stunned.
The boy couldn't be cheating, could he? The competition was divided into three rounds.
The first round was a moderately difficult function test, lasting half an hour. The
invigilators in room seven were two young women who could not have much experience.
According to the rules, each examinee's test paper was handed to them by an invigilator.
The invigilator distributing the test paper looked shy and was carefully carrying out her
duties. When she handed the test paper to Aiden, he saw a few questions on it, and the
corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
As expected, the questions might seem hard to ordinary students. Ordinary students
might even be dumbfounded by them. But Aiden was not an ordinary person.
He took one look at the exam paper and instantly knew all the answers. The invigilator
was stunned by Aiden's sudden smile. Ding! Automatically triggering proficient level
flirting skill.
She didn't know why, but the curve of Aiden's mouth suddenly seemed very charming,
drawing her in, attracting her attention. Miss, could I have my paper? Called the next
student. The other invigilator saw that she was momentarily dazed and called out
sharply to her.
I'm sorry, she replied, suddenly returning to her senses, her face red. She left Aiden's
side in a panic and continued to give out the test papers. However, she remained a little
absent-minded throughout, and kept replaying the smile on Aiden's face.
Why did he suddenly smile? She was secretly embarrassed and angry. The moment she
left, Aiden had already picked up his pen to answer. Ding! Quickly write.
Writing speed, plus one. Current progress, one out of ten. Current level, beginner.
At Aiden's table, the sound of a pen scratching rapidly on paper could be heard. A few
examinees nearby were distracted by the sound, and their jaws gradually dropped. Is he
already answering the questions? Oh my god, doesn't he need to think? They consoled
themselves with the thought that he might have realized that he didn't understand any
of the questions on the exam paper, so he had given up and started to write blindly on
the answer sheet.
The invigilator had barely finished distributing the exam papers to the entire room, and
was hardly settled back at the podium when she saw Aiden raise his hand in the air.