Confused Participation

"This application and method...it's too perfect!"

"Every step is clear, and the process is simple. Mr. Liang...are you entirely sure that Xu Mang solved it, all by himself?"

Liang Feng had gathered his other colleagues who also taught Year 3 Mathematics together to discuss Xu Mang's potential. Of course, he needed to surprise them appropriately before doing so, otherwise, it would be a difficult topic to breach.

"Impossible!"

"At first, I had thought that Xu Mang cheated, seeing as his seating was in a perfect position and it was Yang Xiaoman who sat in front of him." Liang Feng explained. "But I have compared both their test papers and found that although the end solutions are both accurate, Xu Mang's method is faster and saves a lot of time as compared to Yang Xiaoman's."

"I've also brought Yang Xiaoman's paper, you can see for yourselves."

Having said that, Liang Feng placed Yang Xiaoman's paper on the desk.

After a while, the entire office was filled with a tense, silent atmosphere, the air felt heavy with pressure and even somewhat depressing.

"Mr. Liang...do you think I should resign?" A female teacher asked, her face holding an anguished expression as she continued, "I'm not even as good as a slacker, my goodness...I feel sorry for myself that has gone through 9 years of mandatory education!"

"..."

"Ms. Guo, enough with the nonsense!" Liang Feng said as he laughed bitterly. "I've gathered you all together not with the intention to hold a pity party but to discuss Xu Mang's capabilities. Do you think...do you think he's a genius?"

"A genius!"

"I am one hundred percent confident that he is a genius!" Right then, a bald teacher with not a single strand of hair on his head stood up, heading toward Liang Feng as he continued, "Even though this question is not the most difficult, Xu Mang was able to ignore the standard textbook answers and give a more simple and direct solution to the question. Who would have this kind of ability?"

The bald teacher's words resonated with all the other teachers who were present when he spoke. They couldn't help but imagine Xu Mang, a salted fish who lived with his head high in the clouds all day, suddenly standing on the stage holding the award of the highest Mathematics scores, Fields Medal. They could practically hear the applause in their minds.

Naturally, that was too far-fetched.

"Cough, cough, don't you feel that this story sounds familiar?" Liang Feng said, "Everyone should have watched that one movie before, right? The movie that was featured in 1997, 'Good Will Hunting'?

Everyone nodded their heads. How could they not have watched such a classic film?

The film told the story of a janitor working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology whose name was Will Hunting. Will had a talent for Mathematics, but he was a rebellious teenager with problems. With the help of Professor Gerald Lambeau, psychologist Sean Maguire and his friend Chuckie, Will finally opened his mind, eliminated the social barriers around him, managing to recover himself, and also find love. 

There was no denying that Xu Mang was similar to Will from 'Good Will Hunting', an extremely talented mathematician. However, he would always hand in a blank paper. Even though they didn't understand why Xu Mang continued to do so, it was obvious to them that Xu Mang had a knot in his heart.

They had to overcome this hurdle to unleash Xu Mang's talents, and only then would the path of mathematics have more glory.

"Mr. Liang, do you think Xu Mang has some sort of mental disorder?" The bald teacher asked. "You can see from his daily routines that he's an unmotivated second-generation who is sufficiently well-off and has no worries at all. I don't think it has anything to do with mental illness, right?"

"That's right!" The female teacher chimed in. "If you were to say anyone else could have the possibility of having a mental disorder, I would absolutely believe it right away...but this is Xu Mang we're talking about. As one of his teachers, you would know better, right?"

No bloody way!

His blood pressure had shot through the roof in his anger.

Liang Feng recalled all the experiences of being insulted and hurt by Xu Mang, and he felt a chill run down his spine. As his colleagues had said, this guy seemed to naturally be resistant to mental disorders.

"Why don't we do this instead, Mr. Liang. We'll bring Xu Mang here and discuss his life objectives and goals in detail. It would be a pity to lose this potential blooming talent!" The bald teacher suggested.

***

Xu Mang arrived at the entrance of the office with a slight feeling of trepidation. This was the nth time he had been called here. Apart from that one time with Mrs. Wang, none of the other visits had been pleasant nor had any good results come from it.

"Mr. Liang? Before we go in, can I ask a question?" Xu Mang said timidly.

Liang Feng paused in his track, turning to look at Xu Mang seriously, and said, "Ask away."

"Do you know what is the furthest distance and longest age in the universe?"

"This…" Liang Feng adjusted his glasses, his face completely serious as he answered, "According to the observation in physical cosmology, the age of the universe is the time that has elapsed since the Big Bang, thus, the current measurement of the age of the universe is around 13.8 billion years."

"And the furthest distance is 37.64 billion light-years according to the principle of light speed and the principle of relativity." 

"No!" Xu Mang shook his head and said quietly, "The furthest distance and longest age in the universe is that a genius stood by your side, and yet, you never realized it."

Liang Feng was once again falling apart internally. This little sh-!

Pushing the door open, Xu Mang saw a gathering of the largest group of maths teachers that he had ever seen.

"You're here. Hurry up and take a seat." The bald teacher said kindly, beckoning for Xu Mang to come over.

Xu Mang knew who the bald teacher was—he was the math teacher for Class 3, 4, and 5. Don't be deceived by his outer appearance, he was actually a devil and very fierce. Especially toward the good-for-nothing students, seeing his face guaranteed you a scolding right up in your face.

However, today he seemed to be different!

Xu Mang made his way to the chair and sat down in confusion. On the desk in front of him was a handwritten piece of paper with some questions. Glancing through, there weren't many, just about five multiple-choice questions, five fill-in-the-blanks, and five subjective questions.

"Let's begin."

"Ah?" Xu Mang was stunned. "B...begin? What?"

"The questions!" The bald teacher urged, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and write!"

Xu Mang looked up at Liang Feng who in turn nodded at him.

Why did Mr. Liang nod his head?

What did he mean by that?

Was he giving him leave to run?

Xu Mang glanced around his surroundings. The office was packed like sardines with the teachers all around him...it was absolutely impossible to escape.

What to do?

In that case, there was no choice but to do this...

Xu Mang glanced at the first question, and without thinking, he chose C. Don't ask so much, if he chose C, then C was the answer.

"!!!"

"!!!"

"!!!"

So fast?

The question seemed simple, but it actually contained a lot of calculations. With just one glance, he already knew the answer?

The math teachers had yet to rein in their surprise, and Xu Mang had already picked the next question's answer—B.

My goodness!

This mental arithmetic ability was also much too exaggerated, right!?

A

D

C

Xu Mang completed the multiple-choice questions within ten seconds, and just as he was about to hand in the paper, Xu Mang noticed that the teachers were all looking...extremely strange, and somewhat mystified.

"Enough!"

The bald teacher said solemnly, "Xu Mang...maybe you have yet to discover your potential, but I can see it. You are actually a genius, a genius who is extremely talented in mathematics!"

"Mr. Liang! This December, isn't there the city-wide Mathematical Olympiad?" The bald teacher continued, "If there are still openings, I would like to officially recommend Xu Mang to participate!"

It seemed as though everyone present agreed with the bald teacher's assessment, and soon, everyone presented a unified front as they jointly submitted the application form to the upper management of the school to allow Xu Mang to participate in the local Mathematical Olympiad.

At this time, Xu Mang's expression was…

Xu Mang: (°ー°〃)

What the heck had just happened?

Why were they so excited?

Did he get all the multiple-choice questions correct?

That was all just blind-guessing!

[New Quest: The Challenge Against Math 1.0]

[Description: On the road to lying down and winning, how can there be no achievements in maths? Please obtain the first place in the city-wide Mathematical Olympiad]

[Rewards: Upgrade Cards*8]