The entire hall erupted with thunderous applause.
The female teachers from Asia stamped their feet excitedly, the Russian team members whistled, and even the Asian-American member of the American team couldn't help but clap—only to be glared at fiercely by Jackson, who then turned and walked away.
Song Huai's pupils constricted.
He had seen Rong Yu reading original Russian texts before and knew she was proficient in Russian, but he never imagined she was also fluent in Japanese and French.
Her mathematics and science subjects were outstanding, and her language skills were no less impressive. She truly made him realize once again the gap that could exist between people.
Su Ronghua curled his lip.
Showing off language skills in such a serious competition setting was rather ridiculous.
Sheng Ciyuan asked with a face full of admiration, "Rong Yu, when did you learn so many languages?"
Rong Yu replied, "I've been self-studying for a few years."
In her era, when the country was being invaded by Japan, anyone who paid even a little attention to national affairs would know a few phrases of Japanese.
As for English, she had studied it since childhood. After studying abroad, she dealt with foreigners every day, becoming almost as fluent as in her native tongue.
Back then, the Soviet Union still existed, and many physics books were in Russian. Through self-study, bit by bit, she learned enough Russian to read professional texts without issue.
And French...
She coughed lightly. Actually, she wasn't that proficient.
She remembered, during her years abroad, a Frenchman had pursued her, chattering away in French by her ear every day, which passively taught her some daily expressions. She wasn't fluent.
But it was enough to bluff that American, Jackson.
The group arrived at the Chinese team's experimental station.
The first day was the preliminary round.
Out of forty-six participating countries and regions, only twelve would advance after the preliminaries—the competition format was quite brutal.
The starting bell rang.
The problem was displayed on the large screen: Determine the quantum confinement effect of electrons in a nanomaterial and establish a model of its relationship with material thickness.
Su Ronghua was indeed capable. The moment he saw the problem, he had a plan in mind. He spoke up, "Direct observation is the safest approach. Use an atomic force microscope to scan the sample surface and directly measure the electron cloud distribution."
Rong Yu thought for a few seconds. "Direct observation is too time-consuming. I believe we should first establish a theoretical model and use X-ray diffraction data to deduce electron behavior. This could save at least forty minutes."
As soon as she finished speaking, Su Ronghua's expression changed.
He had participated in countless competitions, nearly a hundred large and small, and had always been the captain. It was always him proposing the experimental framework, and the team members would simply follow.
This was the first time someone had proposed a completely different plan.
He said coldly, "Building a model would also take at least half an hour. If it fails, we'll end up in last place directly."
Rong Yu said calmly, "It won't fail."
Su Ronghua sneered.
The atmosphere within the team immediately grew tense.
Song Huai looked from one to the other and cautiously suggested, "Since the captain and vice-captain have a disagreement, should we put it to a vote?"
Rong Yu nodded. "Then let's vote. Raise your right hand if you agree with Su Ronghua's plan. Raise your left hand if you agree with mine."
Su Ronghua immediately raised his right hand.
Everyone else raised their left hand.
His face turned extremely ugly. Was this intentional exclusion of him, the vice-captain?
"Begin." Rong Yu got into gear, quickly assigning tasks. "Sheng Ciyuan, calibrate the X-ray instrument. Song Huai, prepare the samples. Ding Zhe, record the data and write clear theoretical support."
She looked at Su Ronghua. "You assist in setting up the—"
"I have my own plan." Su Ronghua walked straight to the equipment area, stood in front of an atomic force microscope, and began working on his original proposal.
Rong Yu shrugged, not even frowning. She turned to the remaining five members and explained the key points of model construction in detail. Her voice was steady and clear, allowing others to grasp the essentials instantly.
"Rong Yu," Song Huai glanced at Su Ronghua fiddling with the instrument alone in the corner. "He's talented enough. Having him join would increase our precision... Should I go talk to him?"
"Pay attention to your sample quantity." Rong Yu didn't look up, pushing the computer towards Ding Zhe. "Write the theory first. Come to me with any questions."
A deliberate clattering sound came from Su Ronghua's side.
This task required multiple people to cooperate, but he was alone now, clumsily connecting the complex microscope wiring. Several operational errors caused the instrument to emit sharp alarms. A referee frowned in their direction. Rong Yu immediately raised her hand to signal, "Equipment debugging. Apologies."
She quickly walked over to Su Ronghua, her voice very low. "Either join us now, or fail quietly. Your choice."
"How dare you—"
His words were cut off.
"A third alarm will result in point deduction." Rong Yu glanced at her wristwatch. "You have ten seconds to decide."
Su Ronghua's hand hovered in mid-air, finally slamming down on the table. But after that, he made no more noise.
He didn't believe there was anything wrong with his plan.
He would produce results.
To show everyone that Rong Yu was wrong.
To make everyone realize that Rong Yu was not a qualified captain.
Rong Yu returned to the main experimental area. The team members were nervously awaiting the first batch of data. She checked every step, her fingertip pressing the enter key. A beautiful three-dimensional electron cloud model gradually appeared on the screen.
"Beautiful!" Sheng Ciyuan couldn't help but exclaim. This model could provide more dimensional information than direct observation.
In the corner, Su Ronghua's microscope was finally debugged, but most of the competition time had already passed. He stared at the continuously refined model on Rong Yu's team's computer screen, his expression growing increasingly grim.
"Final phase." Rong Yu clapped her hands. "Prepare for cross-validation."
Her fingers flew across the keyboard. The complex model on the screen gradually converged, finally presenting a set of perfect data curves.
"Model verification complete!"
Song Huai could hardly believe it. The process had been so smooth, smooth to an almost unbelievable degree.
He glanced at Su Ronghua, who was sweating profusely, still observing and recording. By the looks of it, he needed at least another hour, but now, there were only half an hour left on the countdown.
Rong Yu quickly checked all the data, revised the theoretical framework written by Ding Zhe and another member, and after confirming everything was correct, decisively clicked the submit button.
The large screen instantly refreshed—
"Team China: Submission successful. Time: 2 hours, 16 minutes."
The entire venue fell silent for a second, followed by a wave of low exclamations.
"What? How are they so fast?" Jackson from the American team looked up sharply, his face dark as he stared at the screen.
At the judges' table, several referees exchanged looks of surprise. Based on past competitions, an experiment of this difficulty would take at least two and a half hours to complete.
Team China had finished so much earlier.
"This has broken the competition record!" a member of the Russian team exclaimed.
Jackson's face completely darkened. He stood up abruptly, pointing at Rong Yu. "You must have cheated! How is this possible?!"
Rong Yu didn't even glance at him. "You can keep your doubts, but time is running out."
Jackson looked at the large screen. With just over half an hour left, he hurriedly resumed his verification.
Su Ronghua stood in the corner, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.
He had intended to prove his own method was more reliable, but now, before he could even obtain his results, it was all over...
