The 80 minute long first part of the competition went by quickly.
After a 20 minute break, they would proceed with the second half of the competition.
Huo Yao bumped into Meng Ying when she went to the bathroom.
The other students looked dejected, but Meng Ying looked relaxed in comparison. The moment she saw Huo Yao, she became excited. “You are incredible. You managed to spot half the questions in section A.”
Huo Yao raised her brow and glanced at her before she turned on the tap unhurriedly and washed her hands. After washing her hands, she saw Meng Ying still standing there. “Are you going to the toilet?”
Meng Ying thought that she did well in the first part of the contest. She snapped out of her daze and entered the toilet. Two steps later, she stopped and turned to look at Huo Yao and said, “I’ll be done right away. Give me a minute and we can go out together.”
Huo Yao went out into the corridor. She could vaguely hear students talking about how hard the questions were as they walked past her.
Since the Math League was a competition, it was far tougher than an average Math test. Also, some of the questions were not within the scope of middle school and university-level Math.
Meng Ying came out quickly and said, “Let’s go.”
Huo Yao glanced at her. “I hope that you will still be in a good mood after you finish the second part of the competition.”
Meng Ying raised her head to look calmly outside at the track. “What do I have to fear after all the help you gave me?”
If Huo Yao was able to spot so many questions in part A, she could probably do the same in part B. Meng Ying felt as though she was possessed by a straight-A student and was absolutely confident.
Huo Yao shook her head in silence.
The two of them walked side by side without turning back, so they failed to see Lu Xia as she came out from the bathroom behind them.
In reality, she was already there before Huo Yao entered the toilet, so she automatically closed the door without coming out when she realized Huo Yao’s presence
Lu Xia did not want to see Huo Yao. She was afraid that the sight of Huo Yao would trigger her bitterness after all the time she spent suppressing it.
After Meng Ying came in, she overheard what she said about Huo Yao being spot on for half the questions in part A and was stunned.
All this time, she felt suspicious about Huo Yao after she came back from the countryside. However, every time she tested Huo Yao, she felt confused.
The moment she heard their conversation, suspicions rose in her heart once more.
Lu Xia watched with a worried look in her eyes from behind as Huo Yao left.
Before long, the second part of the competition started.
The second half of the test was set at the same level as international Math competitions, so its scope was even wider and out-of-scope questions were included. It consisted of 180 marks and the exam duration was 150 minutes.
Huo Yao picked up the test paper and went through it before a rare look of seriousness appeared on her face. Sure enough, Math League was the most challenging competition amongst all subjects.
Judging from the four open-ended questions, it was clearly harder than even the International Quiz Contest.
Even though it was just the Math League, the test paper’s difficulty was set at the international level. Was the organizer not making it too obvious?
Huo Yao recalled what the Principal said about the importance of the competition as she did the test paper.
The Math League was not solely a competition. It was a matter of glory now.
One and a half hours later, Huo Yao finished the last question in the paper.
