Mathematical Olympiad competitions are very formal examinations. The proctoring teachers are not allowed to stand by a student for an extended period, otherwise, it would appear as if they were enabling cheating.

Wu Youqiang glanced over a couple of times then moved away.

Afterward, he ’passed by’ noticeably more often, certain he hadn’t made a mistake. Indeed, Zhao Yi was drastic in skipping steps while solving problems.

Skipping steps could be understood to some extent but there were aspects which were perplexing.

The last question was challenging. Although Wu Youqiang quickly realized he wouldn’t solve it in a short amount of time, he still recognized the direction of thought that should have been taken.

Breaking the problem down into ten parts, others would solve the problem sequentially from step one to ten.

Zhao Yi was different.

He started by writing down the fifth step, which then turned into the seventh step, then, he suddenly jumped to the second step?

And then, to the fourth step.

Followed by the ninth step.

And so on.

Even when the initial conditions hadn’t been fully established, he directly wrote the final step.

The rough draft contained little information, the steps were scattered haphazardly, devoid of any logic. It seemed like the answers had been deliberately scrambled. However, when copied onto the answer sheet, the steps were clear and the reasoning for each step was well presented, as if writing a standard answer.

"This Zhao Yi is indeed astounding!"

"No wonder he can produce a Rubik’s Cube calculator that leaves so many computer experts in disbelief...

"This is what a genius is like!"

Wu Youqiang could not help but sigh.

He could understand how other geniuses solved problems, but Zhao Yi left him completely clueless, his mind struggling to keep up.

They seemed to be from different worlds.

Zhao Yi did not realize a teacher was paying attention to him. He used his Research Coins and Study Coins. With the Law of Cause and Effect guiding his focus, he completely immersed himself in the examination questions.

Unless there was a loud noise or he intentionally sought to notice, he wouldn’t even register the invigilators passing by.

After he completed the final question and copied his answer to the answer sheet, Zhao Yi carefully reviewed the exam. Using the Causality Law, he rechecked each answer again, only lifting his head when he was fully satisfied with his answers.

There were only five minutes remaining in the exam.

The proctoring teacher reminded, "Beware of the time, five minutes left!"

Zhao Yi checked his name and student number once again for mistakes. He hesitated and waited several minutes before handing in his paper when the examiner came around for collection. Only then did he walk out of the exam hall.

He went with the crowd flow and waited outside for Sun Liang.

When he reached the entrance, two reporters were standing nearby. He initially didn’t pay much attention, assuming that it was normal for reporters to attend the Mathematical Olympiad. However, the reporters waved him down, and one female reporter rushed toward him with a microphone as though worried he would leave immediately.

"Hello?" Zhao Yi asked, slightly puzzled.

While he found it unsurprising that reporters would interview him, the previous period of intense publicity had ended. Although there were still reports about him online, he rarely saw reporters in his daily life.

After all, he wasn’t a celebrity.

Whether it was his Rubik’s Cube calculator or his record-breaking Rubik’s Cube blindfolded solve, the popularity belonged to these feats, not him personally. Once the popularity for these incidents had faded, they would be forgotten.

The female reporter hurried towards him, asked, "You’re Zhao Yi, the creator of the Rubik’s Cube calculator, aren’t you?"

"Am I?"

Zhao Yi’s response encompassed an undertone of uncertainty — if he ran into any trouble, he would simply deny it.

"I heard that you were here in this examination hall, so I’ve been waiting here." The female reporter’s tone was approachable. As she spoke, the cameraman also moved closer, pointing the camera directly at Zhao Yi. "I’m a news reporter from Nanjiang TV Station. Currently, many people at home and abroad are interested in the core algorithm of your Rubik’s Cube calculator. I heard you’re going to publish a related paper, is that correct?"

Zhao Yi nodded in response.

"Have you decided which journal or magazine to publish it in yet?" The female reporter pointed the microphone at Zhao Yi.

Since the interview was happening right outside the exam hall, students who had just come out started gathering around, which made the entrance seemed a bit congested.

Zhao Yi briefly glanced left and right, casually gesturing toward a spot on the side of the path by saying, "Let’s do it here."

"Alright."

The cameraman helped to keep the onlookers at a distance.

The people around started murmuring excitedly, "I know him, that’s Zhao Yi, the creator of the Rubik’s Cube calculator."

"He’s amazing, he even broke the Rubik’s Cube world record. Now everyone calls him ’The Rubik’s Cube Expert’."

"I can’t believe I took the Mathematical Olympiad with him."

"I was the one sitting right next to him! I remember now, during the exam, the teachers were giving him special attention and kept walking past us. It was so annoying."

"..."

Zhao Yi looked a bit helpless as he saw people gathering around. He disliked attracting attention, so he kept his responses short and straight to the point, "I’ve submitted it to the ’Journal of the ACM’, hopefully, it’ll get accepted."

"Also, if this interview is really going to be aired, I’d like to thank Professor Liu Hemin from the Science Academy for his guidance during the process of writing the paper."

"That’s all."

Zhao Yi’s explanation was explicit enough, but he overestimated the common person’s understanding of academia.

The female reporter asked slightly confused, "You mentioned where it was published, could you repeat that please?"

""Journal-of-the-ACM"? Journal, of, the, A-C-M, okay, it’s the journal sponsored by the International Computer Association."

She understood this time.

Obviously, the female reporter was not going to let Zhao Yi off easily. She continued to ask, "You just mentioned giving thanks to Professor Liu Hemin, right? Can you introduce Professor Liu Hemin?"

Zhao Yi nodded, "Professor Liu Hemin is a professor at the Science Academy, his research in the field of artificial neural networks has reached the world’s highest level."

He added straightforwardly, "If you want to know more, you can search for it on the internet..."

The female reporter continued to ask, "Can you talk about the Mathematics Olympiad? How did you do in the exam this morning?"

"It went all right," Zhao Yi said a bit conservatively.

"Can you estimate your score? How much do you think you scored?" the female reporter asked with interest.

Zhao Yi hesitated before answering, "If judged by the answers, I should have a perfect score. If the process also counts, I’m not sure."

"Wow~~"

The surrounding students couldn’t help but gasp.

Even in a single mathematics Olympiad exam, it was rare to find someone who dared to claim that all his results were correct.

Zhao Yi answered a few more questions before spotting Sun Liang in the distance. He promptly made an excuse and left, not wanting to be gawked at by so many people.

The main focus of the female reporter’s interview was actually the academic paper.

Saying ’The whole world cares about Zhao Yi’s paper’ might sound a bit exaggerated, but many people working in computer research are indeed very interested in the core algorithm of the cube solver.

Solving the cube has always been a global issue. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

This problem has perplexed scientists for decades, they have been constantly simplifying the algorithm, but due to the enormous scale of calculation, the chances of solving it seemed very remote.

Since the correctness of the cube solver has been verified, the core algorithm involved must be quite interesting.

Some people have already labeled Zhao Yi as ’the future Turing Award Winner’. Just based on the core algorithm of the cube solver, he could potentially be nominated for the Turing Award.

Of course.

Before the paper’s release and the core algorithm being reviewed by others, all this is just speculation. Everyone is still paying great attention to Zhao Yi’s paper.

Sherry Carmeneni is one of those following the matter close.

As a computer science and biology PhD holder and a professor mainly studying in biology, Carmeneni is more interested in the application of computers in biology. Some computer algorithms indeed open up interesting possibilities when used in biology.

Currently, Carmeneni is the reviewer of Zhao Yi’s paper.

Even without Professor Liu Hemin’s special request, Carmeneni would pay close attention to Zhao Yi’s paper.

The Journal-of-the-ACM accepts many submissions, but most either barely meet the publication standards or are downright impossible to publish due to lack of originality or sheer incoherence.

Zhao Yi is different.

The core algorithm of the cube solver is already in use and has been confirmed to be correct.

This algorithm is highly valued in the field of computer science. Many people in the International Computer Association are paying close attention to the forthcoming paper. Many have even made calls urging Carmeneni to expedite the review process so the paper can be published in the next issue.

Carmeneni was feeling the pressure.

In the review process, Carmeneni was captivated by the content.

Most simplification algorithms utilize mathematical ’group theory’ or other methods to eliminate duplications and simplify data. The ’Carrying-Unrelated Filtering Method’ also exists, but dealing with ’unimaginable computational quantities’ even simple filtering becomes extremely difficult.

The ’Effective and Irrelevant Carry Filtering’ method gave Carmeneni a sense of clearing the mist. Selecting ’harmful’ steps is evidently much easier than selecting ’beneficial’ ones.

Some of the algorithms and theories in the ’filtering method’, and the formulas and theorems used in the proof process are not profound. Most of them are very simple and certain, which makes the conclusion even more certain.

Carmeneni was fascinated.

Understanding the ’effective and irrelevant carry filtering’ method and fully comprehending it are not easy tasks.

Professor Liu, who has been discussing the algorithms with Zhao Yi, decided to visit Zhengyang to have a face-to-face conversation with Zhao Yi.

How the others felt after just reading the paper can be imagined.

Having carefully read through the entire paper in the morning, Carmeneni decided not to continue reviewing and directly passed it.

Reviewing does not require full understanding.

Most academic paper reviews don’t need to fully understand the content. The most important part is to ensure the manuscript meets the criteria for being published in the journal.

After giving the ’review passed’, Carmeneni remembered her responsibilities.

She was a professor at Oxford University!

She immediately called the Oxford Admissions Department, "Do you know the creator of the cube solver? That Chinese high school student, Zhao Yi, I have his paper."

"If you want to miss out on a future Turing Award winner, continue to sit in your office and drink tea!"