Chapter 10: The Invitation from the Olympiad Teacher

Translation made via GPT-4 chat

"Did Teacher Zhao really teach them all?"

With a skeptical attitude, Gao Shang looked at the physics grades of Class 6.

He immediately denied the possibility.

Apart from these two students, none passed.

Of course, for a regular class, this was quite normal.

After all, passing physics is not easy.

Especially right at the start of the revision cycle, and on such a difficult test.

At this time, Gao Shang became interested in these two students.

He thought, if possible, he must coax... ah no, persuade them to participate in competitions.

Even if unsuccessful, getting to know them was worthwhile.

Thinking this, Gao Shang said:

"Xu You, Lu Zhiyao, you both are in our class, right?"

"Yes, teacher."

Hearing Gao Shang's words, the students answered one after another.

They all looked up at Gao Shang, curious why he suddenly asked this question.

Only two students did not look up.

One was Lu Zhiyao, who was deeply engrossed in her problems, as if she hadn't heard Gao Shang's words.

The other was Xu You, lost in the sea of English vocabulary, truly not hearing Gao Shang's words.

"Alright, the two students, please come here, I have something to say to you."

After Gao Shang finished speaking.

No student came forward.

Gao Shang: "..."

For a moment, Gao Shang did not understand why such an awkward situation had arisen.

After all, he was the physics teacher for three top classes and the head of the physics teaching department.

Didn't he have even this little influence?

Thinking it over, Gao Shang figured, maybe these two kids were not in the classroom at the moment.

Yes, that must be it.

Thinking this, Gao Shang continued: "Xu You, Lu Zhiyao, are you both in the classroom?"

Then, Dong Chao quickly nudged Xu You's arm.

Xu You then snapped out of his deep learning state.

"Xu You, Teacher Gao is calling you."

"Oh, I'll go right over."

Hearing he was being called by Gao Shang, Xu You was unsure what it was about.

Lu Zhiyao, reminded by a classmate, also walked up to the podium.

The other students were secretly paying attention to the situation on the podium, curious about what Gao Shang wanted with them.

"Why did it take several calls for you to come up, can't you hear me?" Gao Shang joked half-seriously.

To appear approachable, Gao Shang tried to smile.

But to others, such an expression didn't seem friendly, and even a bit fierce.

"Sorry, teacher, I was too focused on studying just now and didn't hear you speak."

Xu You quickly apologized to Gao Shang.

Hearing this explanation, Gao Shang felt much better.

No wonder Xu You scored so high; he truly was a diligent student.

"First of all, congratulations to both of you. You both scored over 90 in this physics test, one 93 and the other 96. Given the difficulty of the test, this is an outstanding achievement."

Pausing, Gao Shang continued:

"Xu You 96, Lu Zhiyao 93. But it doesn't matter, as long as you score over 90, a few points difference is insignificant. You two are really impressive, especially since your class just started the first round of review. How did you study?"

Even as the Olympiad class physics teacher, having seen many high scores, Gao Shang was still curious about their scores.

Hearing he scored 96, Xu You felt a strong sense of achievement.

His efforts over these days had not been in vain!

Lu Zhiyao, however, was visibly disappointed.

She had not outperformed Xu You in the last physics quiz, and now, not in the final exam either!

This was the first time Lu Zhiyao faced real competition in the class.

"These nights, I reviewed the high school physics material on my own," Xu You thoughtfully answered.

"Not bad, strong self-learning ability," Gao Shang acknowledged.

Such students have great potential for competitions.

"Teacher, we've already learned this before."

Lu Zhiyao gave a completely different answer to Gao Shang's question.

"Hmm... that's also correct."

Indeed, this knowledge had been covered in the first and second years of high school.

But to score so high without review indicated a deep impression of the learned material.

Such students are also very suitable for competitions.

With this groundwork laid, Gao Shang felt it was time to discuss the main issue.

"Xu You, Lu Zhiyao. You should know, with your scores, you are

 qualified to represent our school in the national high school physics competition."

Facing the concept of competition, Xu You and Lu Zhiyao showed different attitudes.

Xu You had hardly thought about competitions before. But now, with this seemingly unreachable opportunity before him, he wanted to seize it.

Lu Zhiyao seemed somewhat resistant, apparently uninterested in participating.

"You might also understand some of this, but nowadays, competitions don't easily offer direct admissions or score reductions as before. Of course, our aim isn't solely direct admissions or score reductions; having such an experience will definitely be beneficial for your future."

Then, Gao Shang outlined some benefits of the competition.

Firstly, the best outcome is to enter the national training team and earn a spot at a university.

Of course, joining the national training team is extremely difficult.

Each year, only 260 students have this opportunity.

60 in mathematics, and 50 each in physics, chemistry, biology, and informatics.

Secondly, achieving a national or silver level can qualify for strong base programs at various universities.

The strong base program, a pilot reform in basic discipline admissions, has been implemented since 2020.

Listening to Gao Shang, Xu You understood it as another way to enter universities aside from the national college entrance examination.

It sounded similar to the previous independent admissions.

Of course, even if not achieving national silver or higher, it's not meaningless.

If the college entrance examination scores are high enough, one can still qualify for the strong base program.

At that time, competition scores can be an additional factor.

The prerequisite is to meet the requirements of the corresponding university, preferably at least provincial level one.

Some less competitive universities may even accept provincial level three for additional points in the strong base program.

Besides advantages for university admissions.

Winning a competition can also enrich one's resume, serving as a bonus when job hunting.

Even if no awards are won, the preparation process itself is highly educational.

Listening to Gao Shang, Xu You became increasingly interested in signing up for the competition.

But Lu Zhiyao seemed less interested, just wanting to go back to her studies as soon as Gao Shang finished speaking.

"Of course, whether you sign up or not, you should go home and discuss it with your parents. Talk it over with them in the next few days, and I'll confirm with you later."

Finally released by Gao Shang, Lu Zhiyao breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed she was not interested in signing up for the competition.

Xu You, however, was nearly certain of his decision.

"I must sign up!"

With Xu You's current level in physics, high school physics was not much of a problem.

With nearly a year until the college entrance examination, using it solely for exam preparation would be somewhat wasteful.

Through days of study, Xu You increasingly appreciated the beauty of physics.

Despite scoring 96, Xu You was not complacent.

He knew his current understanding of physics was superficial at best.

To truly achieve a certain level, there was still much for Xu You to learn.

"Xu You, what did Teacher Gao tell you guys just now?"

(End of Chapter)