The next afternoon, Zhao Yi was interviewed by a journalist from Nanjiang Television in a fourth-floor classroom at his school.

The journalist was Liu Huimin.

The last time Liu Huimin came to interview at the school, she was investigating gossip news arising from suspicions cast by Jia Hongning, a contestant on "Brain Power Burst."

But now, with the Rubik’s cube calculator and the breaking of the Guinness World Record with a blindfolded Rubik’s cube solve, the interview had become much more formal. She had brought along an assistant and a cameraman, and the classroom was set up as if for a real class.

As directed by Wang Chengmin, Li Lisheng chalked two English questions on the blackboard, as if an English lesson had just ended in the classroom.

Once everything was ready, Liu Huimin smiled and asked, "Zhao Yi, can we start?"

"Sure."

Zhao Yi straightened his body and said seriously.

"Just relax."

Liu Huimin reminded him, signaled the cameraman to start filming, and professionally asked, "First, let’s talk about your record. Blindfolded solving of the three-by-three Rubik’s cube, you’ve set a staggering record. Some say it could never be broken again. How did you do it?"

Zhao Yi thought for a moment, then said, "I suppose it’s talent."

"What else?"

"That’s it."

The conversation fell flat.

Liu Huimin paused before hurriedly asking, "What were you thinking at that time? Kovalchik once said in an interview that you planned to break the four-by-four and five-by-five cube records in one go. Why did you give up in the end?"

"I’m not a professional Rubik’s cube player."

Zhao Yi nodded, "Breaking the record has no meaning for me, so I gave up."

"Would you consider trying to break the record in the future?" Liu Huimin pressed on.

Zhao Yi shook his head, "I don’t plan on changing my mind."

Liu Huimin felt some regret, so she turned to the topic of the Rubik’s cube calculator, "Some voices in academia say that the results of your Rubik’s cube calculator may not necessarily be accurate. What do you think about this?"

"I’m very sure that the results are accurate."

"Why is that?"

Zhao Yi shrugged, smiled, and said, "I can’t explain the computer algorithm issues on camera."

Liu Huimin nodded understandingly, "Indeed, many believe you, stating that your Rubik’s cube calculator involves a completely new algorithm. Can you reveal anything about it?"

"Yes, that’s the core algorithm."

Zhao Yi confirmed, speaking seriously, "Computer science is one of the most frequently communicated and open fields in the world. It’s this openness that leads to the rapid development of computer technology. That’s why I plan to publish this core algorithm in the form of a paper."

"When do you plan to publish it?"

Liu Huimin picked up on the vital information.

Zhao Yi took a moment to think and then decided to set a longer timeline, "Probably before the end of the year. I have to attend classes every day, and I can only work on the paper when I have free time."

Liu Huimin nodded understandingly.

The interview concluded.

The school’s teachers helped tidy up. Wang Chengmin stood to one side, his beaming smile beginning to wear thin.

Thirteen High had truly become the talk of the town.

Just yesterday, at a meeting at the education bureau, he had received praises from the leaders. The city’s education bureau was extremely satisfied to have such an outstanding student emerge, as it brought glory to Zhengyang City’s education system.

The essence of the education bureau’s meeting was quality education, saying that high school education should not only focus on scores but also foster students’ abilities in other areas.

Of course.

Everyone knew it was all empty talk.

As long as the college entrance examination system exists, quality education will always be a pipe dream because college admissions are solely based on scores. The most critical metric for outsiders evaluating a school’s teaching capacity is their acceptance rate.

No matter what, Thirteen High still made headlines, appearing on television several times.

Wang Chengmin could see his political achievements beckoning him. His attitude towards Zhao Yi was genuinely paternal. After the interview, he ’escorted’ Zhao Yi back to the classroom, and on the way, he began to inquire about the paper.

"Zhao Yi, maintaining good academic performance is essential, but your paper is also very important. Several ’Double First-Class’ universities, as well as Jiangzhou University and the Capital University of Posts and Telecommunications, have all made commitments that they will immediately sent you an acceptance letter as long as you are willing to attend," he said.

"So, while your studies are important, your paper..."

"I see."

Zhao Yi nodded in frustration, "But I don’t want to attend these universities. My true goal is actually..."

"What is it?"

Not only was Wang Chengmin interested, even Li Lisheng pricked up his ears.

"Never mind!"

Zhao Yi shook his head, "I don’t want to major in anything related to computer science. If my grades improve, I will have more options."

"That’s true!"

"Indeed!"

Both Wang Chengmin and Li Lisheng nodded their heads in agreement.

...

The interview segment was included in the "Nanjiang News" program.

Zhao Yi’s public announcement of his core algorithm paper has attracted much attention from the academic community in the country. A large number of academic journals and periodicals have invited Zhao Yi to publish his paper.

Zhao Yi decided to publish in a top foreign journal.

Professor Liu also suggested that he do so, "The influence of domestic academic journals is limited. Your paper is eagerly anticipated by many and will carry great weight once published. It would be best to publish in an internationally influential academic journal or a professional computer journal."

It’s a bit early to consider where to publish the research.

Professor Liu’s help to Zhao Yi is great. She helped him understand several important steps, but there are still a few steps he can’t figure out. So, she simply purchased a pile of reference books, including "Linear Algebra", "Sequences and Limits", "Ordinary Differential Equations", etc., most of which are books related to university math calculations.

These should be sufficient.

Zhao Yi is very sure about the derivation of ’Effective and Irrelevant Carry Filtering’ without the need to involve higher-level mathematical knowledge.

Now, what’s left are just a few key steps.

Once he understands the mathematical theorems and formulas involved, he should be able to reverse-engineer the process using "Connection Law".

The paper is important, but the studies are also important.

Midterms are coming up.

Midterms are different from the school’s Monthly Test. They are organized by the city’s education bureau, the results will be ranked city-wide, and teachers from other schools will be responsible for supervising. The examination system has become much more formal.

The school takes the exams seriously, naturally, the students also do.

Lin Xiaoqing has been burying herself in her studies. She continually practices math and physics problems hoping to get better results. Her goal is very clear, "Surpass He Ronghua and rank first in the whole school!"

Lin Xiaoqing turned to Zhao Yi and asked, "What about you? Last time you ranked fifth, this time..." She suddenly became cautious as she spoke.

Zhao Yi’s progress was too quick.

It was surprising enough that he was able to make it into Elite Class A at the beginning of senior year. Then, in the Monthly Test, he jumped directly to fifth in the grade.

This time...

He’s not going to contend for the first place, is he?

The look in Lin Xiaoqing’s eyes became extremely competitive.

"Haha!"

Zhao Yi smiled and said, "Don’t worry. When the results are about to come out, I’ll go to Teacher Sun and have a look ahead of time. If my score is higher than yours, I’ll have Teacher Sun help me adjust it to be one point lower than yours."

Zhao Linlin covered her mouth in disbelief.

On the other side, Hu Tianyan couldn’t help but chuckle and gave Zhao Yi a thumbs-up, "You are really awesome!"

"Of course!"

Zhao Yi cocked the corner of his mouth, and raised an eyebrow playfully, "There are awesomer things you don’t know about!"

Hu Tianyan gave him a sideways glance.

[Flirting, target: Hu Tianyan, Study Coin+2.]

What a savvy old driver he is with that quick response!

"Hmph!"

Lin Xiaoqing glared at Zhao Yi, scowling disdainfully, "You? Dreaming of ranking first?"

"What’s wrong with me?" Zhao Yi retorted.

"You..."

Lin Xiaoqing was at a loss for words, frantically responded, "No matter what, you could never score higher than me, let’s make a bet!"

"No bet!"

Zhao Yi suddenly leaned in close and said softly with a grin, "You still owe me a favor from last time, Beautiful Lin, when are you planning to return it?"

Lin Xiaoqing’s face turned red, "That’s your fault, you never told me what you wanted."

"Right."

She quickly shifted the topic, "My mom has been insisting on inviting you to our house."

"Me?"

Zhao Yi was surprised, "Are you joking? We...although you...but isn’t it too quick?"

"What are you thinking about!"

Lin Xiaoqing gave him a glare, pouted her lips, "She’s inviting you and Sun Liang, both of you. My math isn’t good, my mom knows Sun Liang’s math is good and you’re catching up fast, so she wants to ask about your study strategies."

"Can’t you just ask?"

Lin Xiaoqing pouted unhappily, "I tried but couldn’t explain it well to her. Let’s just leave it at that then, wait until after the exams. There’s a holiday right after the exams day after tomorrow."

Zhao Yi hesitated, "But, I don’t want to..."

"No way!"

Lin Xiaoqing was firm, "You must go!"