Fu Zhi went into the study next door after she came out of the office.
Since she’d had her phone on silent mode the whole time, she only realized that there was a dozen missed video calls when she pulled her phone out.
She dialed back and, very soon, a hoary male voice answered the call. It said, “Zhizhi, there are two more weeks left until the Physics competition. I wonder if you’re free to set up the questions?”
The man was Sheng Hua. He was the president of the Chinese Association of Science and Technology. He had turned 58 years old this year and he had a rather erratic temperament.
He and his team had been tasked to set up the questions for this competition as well as to pick the candidates that would take part in the international Physics competition.
Fu Zhi had taught him before, but it had been just business. Sheng Hua had given her money and she had helped him solve a problem. They did not have a close relationship, but Sheng Hua admired Fu Zhi from the bottom of his heart.
After a short while of contemplation, Fu Zhi adjusted her posture and replied, “No. I’m not free.”
Sheng Hua was stunned for a moment. Then, he asked tentatively, “Are you working on a new project right now?”
“Nope,” Fu Zhi replied. “I’ve had a lot of homework recently, and my mom wants me to finish it all.”
Sheng Hua was stumped.
Huh?
What had she just said?!
Fu Zhi glanced outside. She rose to her feet and walked over to the window. When she opened the window, she rested her arm on the windowsill. Then, she said simply, “If you don’t have anything else to ask, then let’s end the call. I have to go finish my homework.”
Sheng Hua did not know what to say.
*
There was a lot of noise outside.
Three minutes later, Director Li entered the study, followed by a few teachers and students.
He shot Fu Zhi a glance.
Even though Fu Zhi had answered two of Han Wei’s mathematics questions correctly, Physics was different from mathematics.
They already had Gu Yan, so he was not placing much hope on Fu Zhi. The reason he had asked her to join the competition was just to shut the netizens’ mouths.
After giving them a few reminders, he then left the students to their respective class teachers.
“You can share your opinion on what you think the questions they will set up this time will be.”
Ma Mingquan waved at Fu Zhi. From the moment he had come in, she had seen Zhou Tingting follow him and stand behind him.
Fu Zhi’s intuition was spot-on.
Zhou Tingting pressed her lips firmly. She had already paid off her debt to the Lu Family last month. What’s more, she had even returned everything that Lu Yumo had bought for her to the Lu Family by saying that she did not need it anymore. Right now, she was a member of her team. She rolled her eyes at Fu Zhi when she noticed that she was looking at her.
The atmosphere in the study was awkward.
Fu Zhi put her phone away and took two steps forward. Even though she was not going to set up the questions this time, she was familiar with Sheng Hua’s style. Therefore, she said, “I think we should take a look at the past years’ questions in the question bank. Maybe we will be able to get some inspiration from there.”
“It has been four years since the association last reused any past questions, yet you want us to look through the question bank? Are you kidding? Do you want us to lose?” Zhou Tingting said. “Don’t act all high and mighty in front of us just because you answered two questions correctly. All of us here are more experienced than you, so just keep quiet and stay out of it if you don’t know anything!”
As she was talking, she stole a glance at Zhou Zihuai, who was standing beside Fu Zhi.
Zhou Zihuai had originally been a student in Class 1. Even though he had dropped to Class 21, he was naturally gifted in Physics and mathematics. Besides, the top 30 teams would have a chance of getting an offer from Tsinghua University.
Zhou Zihuai cherished this opportunity very much.