Nine in the morning, the next day.
Beijing Capital International Airport, Terminal 3.
Sunlight shone through the massive glass curtain wall, casting large, bright geometric patterns on the tiled floor.
The departure lounge was a cacophony of voices.
Professor Wang took everyone’s IDs to the counter to check their luggage and get their boarding passes.
Miao Shian and the other three went to the restroom together.
Chen Zhuo and Lin Yi stood before a long bench.
Chen Zhuo rubbed his neck. He must have slept on it wrong last night, and it had been uncomfortably stiff ever since he woke up.
Chen Zhuo looked around.
He walked over to a vending machine not far away.
He put in a coin and pressed a button.
Two bottles of mineral water clattered into the retrieval slot.
Chen Zhuo bent down, retrieved the water, and walked back to the bench.
Lin Yi was already seated, so Chen Zhuo took the empty spot beside her.
Lin Yi fished a mint out of her pocket and popped it into her mouth.
Chen Zhuo placed the extra bottle of water on the empty seat between them.
He twisted open the cap of the bottle in his hand and took a sip.
The water was cool. He screwed the cap back on and pressed the bottle against his neck, wondering if it would help his stiff neck at all.
"The admissions team from Huake University didn’t leave you out last night, did they?"
Chen Zhuo asked Lin Yi, watching the people coming and going.
Lin Yi looked out the floor-to-ceiling window.
A Boeing airliner with a red tail fin was taxiing on the runway, preparing for takeoff.
The sunlight on the fuselage was a bit glaring.
"Of course not."
Lin Yi leaned back in her chair, her eyes half-closed.
"You didn’t fill out the intent form?"
Chen Zhuo turned his head and glanced at her.
"I didn’t."
Lin Yi shook her head.
"I don’t like it."
Lin Yi waved a dismissive hand at Chen Zhuo.
"I slogged through half a month of a physics training camp, a three-hour experiment in the individual competition, and then yesterday I was stuck in that tin can of a training center for another four hours."
"I was drenched in sweat, and even after washing my hands twice, I can still smell it. I feel like I’ve been pickled in that scent."
She shoved her hands back into her pockets.
Her voice took on a languid tone.
"Chen Zhuo, I’m not like you and Zhou Kai.
You guys are interested in all that equipment, the data, the nuts and bolts. I’m not. I think it’s all just a huge pain."
"When my physics teacher signed me up, he told me it would be super easy—just solving problems, no lab work."
"And what do I get? A ton of lab work."
Lin Yi couldn’t help but vent to Chen Zhuo.
An announcement echoed through the departure lounge, telling passengers to prepare for boarding.
Lin Yi stood up and stretched her arms.
"Anyway, I’m rambling."
"The Junior Class sounds like a total pain, you know? I just want to go home and sleep. How great would that be? Who the hell would want to join the Junior Class and get into that crazy rat race with you guys?"
"The national math finals are on July second."
Chen Zhuo added casually.
"I know, I know."
Lin Yi waved a hand dismissively.
"See? Math is so much better. You don’t have to go to some dusty lab, you don’t have to hold freezing ceramic tiles, and you don’t have to test for environmental interference."
She extended her right hand, making a gesture of holding a pen.
She scribbled twice in the air.
"You get to the exam hall with one pen and a few sheets of scratch paper."
Lin Yi lowered her hand.
"Solve it, turn in your paper, and leave. Can’t solve it? Whatever. It’s clean."
"In a couple of years, I’ll just coast through high school on these competitions, snag a guaranteed admission slot, and then go study pure mathematics."
"No labs, no data errors. I’ll get a teaching position at the university, make a living with a pen and paper. For the next few decades, I’ll just relax, collect my pension, and coast. How perfect is that?"
Professor Wang walked over, holding a stack of boarding passes.
The four who had gone to the restroom were trailing behind him.
"Let’s go. Time for the security check."
Professor Wang handed out the boarding passes.
Lin Yi stood up.
She brushed the wrinkles from her pants.
She looked at Chen Zhuo, her tone still just as languid.
"Changing the world... I’ll leave that to people like you and Zhou Kai."
"I just want to be a normal person with a simple life."
「1:30 PM.」
The flight landed at the airport in the provincial capital of Su Province.
It decelerated, taxied, and finally came to a stop at the jet bridge.
After collecting their checked luggage, the group of seven made their way out through the terminal.
In the southern summer, the air was heavy with moisture.
All sorts of vehicles were parked in the passenger pick-up lane outside.
Taxis were lined up in a long queue, drivers incessantly honking their horns.
Professor Wang came to a stop.
He unzipped the old leather satchel he was carrying and pulled out a transparent plastic bag.
It contained the six students’ IDs.
"Everyone gather ’round. Take your IDs and don’t lose them."
Professor Wang called out names and handed the ID cards to them one by one.
After handing out the last one, the old man zipped up the leather bag again and tucked it under his arm.
He looked at the six students before him, with their backpacks on and suitcases in tow.
"Alright, that officially marks the end of this trip."
Professor Wang’s tone carried the calm authority of an elder; there were no sentimental words.
"Go home and get some proper rest. Don’t fret about the results. The provincial authorities will notify your schools directly when there’s news."
Professor Wang glanced at the crowded arrivals area.
"You’ve all contacted your parents or chaperones, right?"
He pointed to a nearby open space.
"Until you see the person who’s here to pick you up, nobody is to wander off. You’ll wait right here with me. You can go once they’ve found you."
The moment Professor Wang said this, the previously relaxed group suddenly fell quiet.
It was like a signal.
Telling them that their journey had come to an end.
From now on, they would each return to their own separate lives.

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