President Lan clearly realized this point and, fearing he might have misunderstood, specifically asked again, "You mean, during the competition, you will use both hands to operate the abacus?"
Zhaozhao flexed her two chubby little hands. "Yes, is that allowed?"
"..."
President Lan was momentarily speechless.
The other contestants were also somewhat dumbfounded upon hearing this. What kind of opponent were they up against?
Was she really only four years old?
The heartbreaking truth was, she really was only four years old, and that was counting by the traditional East Asian age reckoning.
Snapping out of it, President Lan said excitedly, "Of course it's allowed!"
Taking a deep breath, he emphasized again, "You have five final minutes of preparation time. Once this blackboard in front of you turns around, you can begin answering."
"Remember, you must answer within two seconds of raising your hand, otherwise it will be counted as incorrect! Is that clear to everyone?"
"Clear!"
As his words fell, the five-minute countdown officially began.
The contestants quickly used this time to either flex their wrists or familiarize themselves with the new abacuses.
Zhaozhao also seriously bent her little fingers and did a few stretches.
Suddenly remembering something, she turned her head to look towards the back rows and immediately spotted her mother in the crowd.
She waved her little hand with a smile and then blew several kisses towards Jiang Si.
Only when Jiang Si blew a kiss back did she turn around, satisfied.
Seeing her daughter's antics, Jiang Si couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness.
This habit was exactly like her father's, as if carved from the same mold.
Five minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
The competition officially began!
Not only the contestants in the front rows, but all the parents in the back were now holding their breath in anticipation.
Just as President Lan had said earlier, the questions in the finals were clearly much more difficult than those in the previous two elimination rounds.
The moment the blackboard turned around, everyone felt a row of numbers flash before their eyes.
First question: 25613+18425-9307=?
Just as many parents had barely registered what the question was, a small hand shot high into the air.
Her height, much shorter than the others, her bright red puffy cotton jacket, and the two little buns tied on her head made Zhaozhao stand out strikingly among the more than twenty contestants.
The next moment, Zhaozhao's voice rang out: "The answer is 34731!"
Immediately after, the judge's voice sounded from behind, "Answer correct! Calculation correct!"
It was noticeable that the judge sounded quite excited while saying this.
If he hadn't been standing right behind this child, witnessing with his own eyes how her two little hands nimbly flew up and down the abacus beads,
he wouldn't have believed a child's hand speed could be that fast!
He could barely follow what she was doing before the calculation was finished.
The entire process probably took only about three seconds. (PS: Under normal circumstances, the two-handed bead-moving method can handle 8-10 bead movements per second.)
Zhaozhao taking the lead on the very first question made the parents in the back rows collectively gasp in surprise.
From then on, everyone stopped watching their own children and focused their gaze entirely on Zhaozhao.
Soon, the second question arrived.
612534+284105-156320=?
The question had just been read when Zhaozhao raised her hand again.
"The answer is 740319!"
"Answer correct! Calculation correct!"
Next, the third question, the fourth, the fifth... all the way to the eighth question, without exception, the person raising their hand was Zhaozhao!
And everyone finally understood why she was always so far ahead of the others.
Aside from the speed advantage of the two-handed method, her memory was far superior to anyone else's.
When others were calculating, they had to look up at the numbers again, afraid of moving the wrong bead.
But she was different.
For each question, she only glanced at it once!
Not only were they shocked, even Jiang Si, who lived with her daughter every day, was so astonished her mouth hung open for a long time!
She considered her own memory fairly good, but that was limited to drawing.
Like remembering a person's facial features or characteristics.
But when it came to numbers, she really wasn't sensitive at all.
To tell a funny story, the first time she went to Qiongzhou Island, she looked at the carriage and seat number on her train ticket.
She looked once on the way there, once when checking the ticket, once while finding the carriage, once after sitting down, and when other passengers came to ask, she had to look again!
But Zhaozhao, with so many numbers stacked together, she actually remembered them after just one glance!
And could give the correct answer within seconds!
Goodness, just thinking that this was her own child made Jiang Si's lips curl up uncontrollably.
Amidst these thoughts, the competition had reached the thirteenth question.
There were twenty-five contestants in total who made it to the finals. According to the buzzer-round scoring rules, theoretically, as long as Zhaozhao completed this question, she would be first.
The staff of the Abacus Association clearly knew this too.
Therefore, as soon as the thirteenth question appeared, its difficulty had obviously increased by more than a notch.
816354X5-927400+361820-154200-83675=?
Jiang Si genuinely hadn't finished reading the question this time before people started raising their hands to answer.
Quite a few people buzzed in, four in total including Zhaozhao.
They reported their answers one by one.
First contestant: "The answer is 3278068!"
As soon as the words fell, the second contestant said with a pleased expression, "Wrong, the answer is 3278486!"
The third person immediately followed, "Mine is also 3278486!"
Three people, two different answers, with the latter two being the same.
Clearly, the latter answer was most likely correct.
Just then, President Lan looked at the last person who had raised their hand, Zhaozhao. "Little friend Jiang Jingyan, what is your answer?"
Zhaozhao said, "The answer is 3278315!"
Hearing this, President Lan revealed a satisfied smile. "I think we can announce the competition over here."
So everyone understood, hers was the correct answer.
For a moment, everyone's feelings were complex.
They had expected to lose, but not to lose so completely.
Zhaozhao still seemed a bit unsatisfied. "We're not competing anymore?"
She felt she had just gotten into the groove and hadn't had enough fun yet!
Everyone: "..."
Enough. If this continued, the older brothers and sisters on stage would have nowhere to hide their faces; even they themselves felt like digging a hole to bury themselves.
But it had to be said, they accepted this defeat wholeheartedly.
And so, without waiting for President Lan to speak, they stepped forward one by one to sincerely apologize for their previous words and actions.
Though Zhaozhao was young, her magnanimity was not small in the least.
"It's okay. I had a lot of fun today. Mom says admitting a mistake and correcting it makes you a good child. You can't say things like that anymore in the future, okay?"
Well, for her daughter's sake, Jiang Si could only let it go.
Finally, the match concluded in a friendly atmosphere with both sides shaking hands and making peace.
Of course, Zhaozhao also earned the first medal of her life through her own skill.
It should have been a happy occasion, but on the way back, Zhaozhao's face was full of worry.
"What's wrong? Weren't you just saying how much fun you had?" Just thinking about how she had taken on twenty-four opponents single-handedly on the field today, Jiang Si couldn't help but feel excited.
It was just a pity Huo Tingzhou wasn't there; otherwise, who knows how proud he would have been today.
"I did have fun," Zhaozhao looked up, somewhat troubled, "But there aren't enough medals to go around!"
Jiang Si was taken aback, "Not enough to go around?"
"Mhm!" Zhaozhao counted on her fingers, "One for each of the two great-grandpas, one for great-grandma, and then grandpa, grandma, Grandpa Zhong, Dad, Mom, brother, uncle, aunt..."
The more she counted, the more she seemed to owe, and Zhaozhao's little face fell. "I want to hang a medal around the neck of everyone in the family!"
Jiang Si was both amused and touched. She hugged Zhaozhao and gave her several kisses. "Even if we don't get a medal, you've shared your joy with us. Mom is so proud!"
"Really? You're really proud, Mom?"
"Of course!" Jiang Si's tone was firmer than ever before.
Zhaozhao was instantly cheered up. She blinked and said, "Mom, I want to tell you a little secret."
"Oh? What little secret?"
"Actually, Zhaozhao could have gone even faster today."
Jiang Si: "..."
