Chapter 75: The Results Are Out

Ever since the registration for the Olympic Mathematics Competition began—or rather, ever since Xiaocheng made his post—the event had been beset by skepticism from every direction. Then, on Sunday, Turkey Satellite TV released an explosive report: the competition questions had been leaked!

The report was thorough and well-supported with evidence. Less than an hour after the exam began, Starry Education brazenly posted the test questions and answers on their official website! During the press conference called by the organizing committee—attended by city and provincial education authorities—Shen Jia, a reporter from Turkey Satellite TV, cornered the officials with her questions. When she presented the evidence, the entire room erupted in shock, and the press conference quickly fell into disarray, ending abruptly. To this day, the organizing committee has yet to give the media a proper explanation.

“Who leaked the questions? Find that person and they must be dismissed from public office!” roared Chen Anbang, the vice mayor in charge of culture, education, and health, slamming his fist on the table.

The questions for this competition’s preliminary round had been tightly controlled. While qualified local teachers drew up a pool of possible questions, the final selection and compilation of the test were handled by the international committee’s question-setting board. Strictly speaking, not even the teachers who wrote the question pool knew the final contents. If someone had access to the pool and scored highly, that would be a local issue—but for a complete, flawless copy of the exam to be leaked, the problem could only have originated with the international committee!

Could Starry Education have bribed those foreigners? But they’re not susceptible to our usual tactics! Most infuriating of all, the international committee had sent a letter of inquiry to the domestic organizing committee, demanding an explanation for the uproar over the leak, as if to wash their own hands of the affair.

The domestic organizing committee and the provincial and city education departments both issued statements on their websites, detailing the process for setting the competition questions and insisting that the committee had followed all protocols and could not possibly have leaked the questions in advance. Their statements were earnest and emphatic, but the media remained unconvinced—after all, Starry Education had posted the questions and answers online before the official release. If there was no leak, where did they get the test? Word for word, not a single character different!

The authorities, utterly baffled, seemed to adopt an attitude of, “Believe it or not, we believe it.” Having failed to pry open the lips of officials, the media turned their attention to Starry Education, the source of the publicized questions.

Principal Ding of Starry Education was a seasoned operator. Before the microphones, she boasted at length about Starry’s faculty and facilities, emphasizing especially that, in support of the city hosting the Olympiad, the top scorers in the preliminary round would receive a 100,000 yuan scholarship. But when asked about the source of the test paper posted online, Principal Ding deftly dodged the question:

“Our courses at Starry cover all major subjects for elementary, middle, and high school, with particular strengths in mathematics and English. This international Olympiad selection for the Chinese region proves our prowess—we acquired the test questions ahead of others, provided immediate answers, and demonstrated our unmatched depth in math training.”

The reporters wanted to throttle her—just tell us where you got the test!

“This Olympiad represents the highest level of junior mathematics internationally, and since our city is hosting and the results are linked to high school entrance bonuses, teachers and parents have taken it very seriously, as shown by the number of registrants. Understanding parents’ urgency to see the test, we published the questions and answers on our website as soon as we obtained them—even before the organizing committee did!”

That’s exactly what we’re asking about! The source of the questions! We’re not here for your publicity—this is an investigation into possible bribery and advance access to the test!

“You’re asking about the source of our test questions?” she finally stopped feigning ignorance.

“That’s a commercial secret. No comment.”

Damn it!

Principal Ding gave a mysterious smile. “But I can assure you, our sources are absolutely legitimate and legal, without compromising the fairness of the exam or leaking any questions in advance.”

Such an explanation was tantamount to saying nothing at all. The more evasive she was, the more suspicious it looked. The parents, naturally, were the most outraged by the revelations. Protests formed daily outside the city education bureau, leaving Director Chen Yongxu at his wits’ end. Online, public outrage reached a fever pitch, targeting the education bureau. Someone even compiled a “Ten Sins of the Mathematics Olympiad”—leaking questions, unfairness, and the previously debated entrance exam bonuses—turning Red Star City’s education bureau into the epicenter of controversy.

Incensed parents first protested at the bureau’s gates, then promptly enrolled their children in Starry’s prep courses. On the one hand, they demanded fairness; on the other, they sought to benefit from unfairness. Two utterly contradictory impulses coexisted seamlessly in the same individuals.

…

In recent days, gloom pervaded the city education bureau. Though the media’s scolding didn’t reach every staff member, everyone knew the top brass were in a foul mood. Tension hung in the air; conversations were wordless, exchanged in sidelong glances. No one wanted to say the wrong thing and be made a scapegoat.

The face of Office Director Kang Qing was a reliable barometer—cloudy and dark these days. But today, Mr. Kang was radiant, so much so that he barged into Director Chen’s office without knocking. Chen Yongxu was a bit displeased at the breach of protocol but, seeing Kang’s expression, knew something was up and said nothing.

“Director Chen, the math competition scores are out!”

What was there to be excited about? According to the schedule, they were due today anyway. Chen frowned slightly, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“We have a perfect score!”

A perfect score? This time, Director Chen was visibly moved! Never in the history of the math olympiad had anyone achieved a perfect score. Even though this was only the preliminary round, the difficulty was nearly on par with the finals. Chen Yongxu knew exactly how significant this was.

A historic perfect score—this could shift the entire public narrative! This was the opportunity they needed!

“And furthermore…”

There was more? Another surprise?

“The student who got the perfect score is from a rural county!”

The moment Kang said it, Director Chen understood. Reports had criticized the education bureau for prioritizing scale over quality, turning the math olympiad into a lottery for entrance bonuses, and had highlighted how some under-resourced rural schools sent students to try their luck. Now, a rural student had scored perfectly—a resounding slap in the face for the critics!

“And there’s more, Director Chen!” Kang beamed, producing a newspaper from that day: “Math Olympiad Becomes a Lottery—Student Submits in Fifteen Minutes.” “Have you seen this article?”

Mention of the article made Chen grit his teeth. The unscrupulous media were always nitpicking. Every school had a few mischievous students—so what if someone finished in fifteen minutes? What did that prove? In fact, the city and provincial bureaus had been diligent in organizing this international competition; their only misstep was relaxing the threshold for entrance exam bonuses, which had invited so much criticism.

“The perfect scorer is the very child featured in that article!”