After April comes May.

It was Lin Yang's birthday, and Xiang Nan gave him a painting he had made as a birthday present.

The painting shows three sheep grazing under the pine trees, which means that the three suns will bring prosperity and the pines and cypresses will always be green.

Lin Yang liked this painting very much and expressed his gratitude to Xiang Nan.

In May, Xiang Nan rejected publishing requests from several publishing houses.

However, as "Ghost Blowing the Lamp" becomes more and more popular, spreads more and more widely, and becomes more and more famous, major publishing houses are becoming more and more interested in it.

Several publishing houses had clearly been rejected, but they still called again and again, which made Xiang Nan feel a little overwhelmed.

In June, the college entrance examination officially begins.

Although Xiang Nan and others are still in the second year of high school, they have already felt the tense atmosphere in the examination room where the battle is raging, the smoke is filled, and the bayonets are red.

Fortunately, Xiang Nan has already been recommended and does not need to take the college entrance examination, so it is others who are worried, not him.

…

On July 5th, Xiang Nan set off for Yanjing. After meeting up with the team, they headed to Cancun, Mexico, to participate in the International Mathematical Olympiad held there.

Before leaving, Director Pan, Chu Guoqiang, He Yufen, Ling Xiangqian and many other people saw him off and encouraged him to get good grades.

Xiang Nan agreed one by one and set off on the road carrying everyone's expectations.

On July 7th, the team arrived in Cancun.

Cancun is the largest tourist city in Mexico. It is surrounded by the sea on three sides and has beautiful scenery. It has one of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world. It receives millions of tourists every year and is quite popular.

It not only has beautiful scenery, but also has a pleasant climate. Even in the sweltering heat of July, its average temperature is only 25 degrees, which is cool and comfortable.

It just rains more. July is the rainy season and it rains almost every day. And when it rains, a rainbow will appear, which is very beautiful. So Cancun, in Mayan language, is exactly the same as "an earthen jar hanging at one end of the rainbow".

】, meaning joy and happiness.

However, Xiang Nan and others were busy with tasks, so they had no time to enjoy the beautiful scenery or enjoy the beach. The hot girl just stayed in the hotel and started preparing for the exam.

The International Mathematical Olympiad will open on July 8th and end on July 19th, making it twelve days. The competition will be held from July 12th to 13th, and the next five days will be for academic forums and tourism.

time.

The results of the competition will be announced on July 18th, the closing ceremony will be held on July 19th, and then everyone can go home.

There are still five days until the exam starts, and everyone is still making the final sprint.

Although Xiang Nan was sure of it, everyone was studying so hard, and he was too embarrassed to go out to play by himself, so he had to stay in the hotel and study with everyone.

…

In the next few days, Xiang Nan and others attended the opening ceremony, listened to some lectures, and watched some programs prepared by the organizer.

To be honest, the customs and customs in Mexico are quite good, especially the Indian-style traditional dance, which has a primitive and rough beauty.

On July 12th, the exam officially begins.

The six people from Xiang Nan were taken to different examination rooms to avoid cheating.

The exam lasts four and a half hours. Each exam consists of three major questions, worth seven points each.

For Xiang Nan, these questions are very simple.

Especially for the third question, he only used two steps to prove that question.

On July 13th, the second exam will continue.

The exam lasted four and a half hours as usual, and there were still three big questions, each worth seven points.

Xiang Nan answered the questions easily, and in less than an hour and a half, he had solved all three big questions.

In order to avoid making mistakes, he checked it over and over again several times.

After finally confirming that everything was correct, he asked the invigilator for a break, and then went to the nearby lounge to eat and drink until the end of the exam.

…

After the exam, the remaining time is spent on lectures and travel.

In order to allow guests from all over the world to appreciate the charm of Cancun, the organizers have also prepared a lot of tourism projects. Such as the Tianjing Mayan Ruins, Xelha Water Park, Cancun Beach, and the Mayan Museum, etc., Xiang Nan is really happy. It opened up a lot of horizons.

He also took the opportunity to buy some Mexican specialty gifts, such as silverware, pottery, blankets, etc., intending to take them back to his parents and friends.

Compared with his ease and ease, the Chinese team leader Xie Bing is a little anxious.

Because the questions in this Mathematical Olympiad exam are much more difficult than before, he is very worried about the Chinese team's failure this time.

…

Time passes day by day.

As I watched, on July 18th, the day when the results were announced, everyone came to the venue and waited for the results on the bulletin board.

Compared to everyone's anxiety, Xiang Nan seemed much more relaxed.

He wore headphones, squinted his eyes, and listened to the song Ling Xiangqian downloaded for him, "The sparrows outside the window are talking too much on the telephone poles..."

At this moment, a sudden exclamation made him open his eyes immediately.

I saw the competition results on the bulletin board.

Among the sixteen top scorers, Xiang Nan's name is clearly on the list.

In addition, the other five Chinese players also all received high scores.

At the same time, the Chinese team continued to win the International Mathematical Olympiad with a total score of 242 points, which was 32 points higher than the second-place American team. It can be said to be the winner!

Seeing this result, Xie Bing breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, Xiang Nan also hugged the team members happily.

By achieving such good results, they have brought glory to the country and their trip to Cancun was not in vain!

…

In the evening, the organizer officially held an awards ceremony to award awards to the winning contestants.

A total of 513 contestants from 90 countries and regions participated in this Mathematical Olympiad competition. According to the proportion of awards, 42 gold medals, 79 silver medals, and 134 bronze medals were awarded.

All six people from Xiang Nan won the gold medal, which is the only one among all the participating countries. It is naturally an honor.

After receiving the medals, trophies and medals, Xiang Nan and others returned to the stage to do their homework and were waiting for the organizer to announce the next session.

At this moment, Mr. Charlie Fordman, the representative of the organizer, announced again, "In this competition, a contestant used a very clever method to solve the third question in just two steps. prove.

His idea of ​​solving the problem amazed all the judges, who rated it as "the most exciting solution in the history of mathematics competitions". Therefore, after discussion, the judges decided to award the only special prize of this competition to him, who is from China. Player Chu!”

Xiang Nan couldn't help but be stunned when he heard what he said.

Unexpectedly, I tried to save trouble and came up with a problem-solving method that would actually win a special award. You know, the International Mathematical Olympiad Special Award is only awarded to those contestants who have unique problem-solving ideas and are more concise than the standard solution.

If it is said that it is extremely difficult to get full marks in the International Olympiad, then it is extremely difficult to win a special award.

Since the International Mathematical Olympiad, only four special awards have been awarded, which shows how rare it is.

There is no shortage of contestants with perfect scores in China. Since the competition in 1985, contestants with perfect scores have ranged from 100 to 50. But this is the first time that a special award has been received.

So when I heard that China's Chu Tiankuo won this award, team leader Xie Bing was almost crazy with joy. This is really the icing on the cake, the finishing touch.
Chapter completed!