「July 5th.」
「8:00 AM.」
The sound of luggage being packed echoed from the hotel hallway.
This morning, they were scheduled to fly back to the Provincial City, and then...
...everyone would go their separate ways.
Chen Zhuo was in his room, packing his backpack.
He folded his clothes, placed his toiletries in a plastic bag, and tucked his pencil case to one side.
He stepped out.
Zhang Bai and Li Nanbai happened to be coming out of the room next door.
The group walked to the elevators together and pressed the call button.
The first-floor lobby.
The elevator doors opened.
Coach Xu was already at the front desk, checking out.
Holding a stack of key cards, he was confirming the bill with the receptionist and asking for an invoice.
Chen Zhuo stepped out of the elevator.
His gaze swept casually across the lobby’s seating area.
On a set of brown leather sofas by the floor-to-ceiling windows...
...sat a man.
He wore a neatly pressed white short-sleeved shirt, dark dress pants, and a pair of polished black leather shoes.
On the sofa cushion beside him rested an old-fashioned black leather briefcase that had seen some years.
The elderly man had salt-and-pepper hair and wore a pair of half-rimmed glasses.
He was holding a disposable paper cup provided by the hotel, sipping water.
Chen Zhuo’s steps faltered for a moment.
The elderly man seemed to sense something.
He set down his paper cup and looked up.
His gaze cut through the large potted plants and the flow of people in the lobby, landing precisely on Chen Zhuo.
A gentle smile appeared on the elderly man’s face.
He picked up his black briefcase and rose from the leather sofa.
He walked toward Chen Zhuo at a calm, unhurried pace.
Watching the man approach, Chen Zhuo didn’t feel particularly surprised.
He had seen this man before, in the restroom of the physics training center for the national finals in the Capital City.
The head of admissions for Huake University’s Special Class for the Gifted Young.
The elderly man stopped in front of Chen Zhuo.
He maintained a perfect distance—not so far as to seem distant, yet not so close as to feel imposing.
"We meet again."
The man’s voice was steady, his tone imbued with the calm composure of an old-school intellectual.
"Hello, sir."
Chen Zhuo nodded in greeting.
Beside him, Zhou Kai, Zhang Bai, and the others stopped walking.
They looked quizzically at the elderly man who had suddenly appeared.
Having settled the bill, Coach Xu put the invoice in his pocket.
He turned around and noticed someone new had joined them.
He walked over, carrying a few documents.
"And you are...?"
Coach Xu looked at the man, hesitant.
The man turned to face Coach Xu.
He took a business card from his shirt pocket and handed it over.
"I’m Fang Yuanming, an admissions officer for the School of the Gifted Young at Hua Country Science and Technology University."
He didn’t list his long string of titles, opting instead for the simplest description of his role.
Coach Xu froze.
He glanced down at the business card in his hand.
A red university crest was printed on the white card.
Coach Xu’s mind went blank for a few seconds.
In all his years of leading teams, he had never encountered a university admissions officer cornering a student in a hotel lobby on their way home.
Fang Yuanming turned his attention back to Chen Zhuo.
He dispensed with the small talk and pleasantries.
He unzipped his black briefcase and pulled out a folded A4 sheet of paper.
He handed it to Chen Zhuo.
"The internal results for the national math finals were released late last night. It’ll take a few more days for the official notice to go through the proper channels and reach the province."
Fang Yuanming’s tone was perfectly natural.
"Mathematics, a perfect score. That’s on top of your previous physics results."
Fang Yuanming looked at Chen Zhuo.
His eyes held a certainty born from having seen many geniuses, yet he still showed genuine appreciation.
"You solved the problems set by this year’s committee of old professors quite beautifully."
Hearing this, Zhang Bai and Li Nanbai, who were standing nearby, went wide-eyed.
Li Nanbai’s mouth fell open. He glanced at Fang Yuanming, then turned to stare at Chen Zhuo.
’A perfect score!? In the national finals that had tortured them to the brink, where they couldn’t even figure out the auxiliary lines and could barely walk straight after the exam... Chen Zhuo got a perfect score?!’
Chen Zhuo didn’t look at his teammates’ reactions.
He took the A4 paper.
It was a photocopy, showing a table with names and scores.
His name was in the first row.
He merely glanced at it before folding the paper and handing it back to Fang Yuanming.
"We spoke in the Capital City."
Fang Yuanming’s gaze met Chen Zhuo’s through his glasses. He lowered his voice, getting straight to the point.
"You stated your conditions then and didn’t sign."
Chen Zhuo looked at him and nodded.
"I relayed your exact words back to the university."
Fang Yuanming smiled, a forthright smile that showed his appreciation for talent.
"The university held a meeting to discuss it, and the leadership gave direct approval."
Fang Yuanming held up three fingers.
"First, you will be exempt from the semi-militarized management, mandatory morning exercises, and the standardized daily schedule."
"Second, you will be granted the highest level of library borrowing privileges, allowing you to check out any foreign-language periodicals and core academic literature."
"Third, you’ll have the freedom to choose your own courses. As long as you don’t fail, you can audit or take for credit any class the university offers—be it in liberal arts, sciences, engineering, or philosophy."
Fang Yuanming lowered his hand.
"The university has given you the greatest possible degree of freedom."
Standing to the side, Coach Xu clutched the business card tightly, his palm growing sweaty.
Listening to the conditions Fang Yuanming listed, he felt like he was hearing something out of a fantasy tale.
After listening, a faint smile touched the corners of Chen Zhuo’s mouth.
"Alright."
Crisp and decisive.
Fang Yuanming took another document from his briefcase.
It was several pages thick.
He handed it over. Printed at the top were the words: *Hua Country Science and Technology University School of the Gifted Young - Preliminary Letter of Intent for Admission*.

Comments

Loading...