Chapter 303: Considering Withdrawal? (Part 1)

Li Ping was forced to withdraw.

He could no longer participate in the China University Students’ Computer System Ability Competition after October 1st.

Zhao Qingfeng was startled, “Senior, what’s happening? If it’s because I haven’t been harmonizing with you guys recently, I apologize. But I’ve already discussed this with Teacher Yu, after the holiday, I’ll be busy with my own stuff, and we still have three to four days for practice, which should be enough. It shouldn’t lead to your withdrawal, should it?”

His attitude was sincerely apologetic.

Li Ping took a deep breath and sighed, “It’s not really about you. Your skills are well recognized, at least as good as mine, making it easy for us to harmonize. But now, the problem is that one of our team members has had a family emergency. Zhang Qiang’s father passed away. He just found out and went home about ten minutes ago. I guess he won’t be able to participate in the competition…”

Zhao Qingfeng remembered Zhang Qiang, who had secured the last spot to compete by placing second during the ‘selection’ phase, “Senior, can’t we find a replacement? Finding another person shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

But it was indeed too late.

The list had been submitted and approved by the organizing committee. Tomorrow starts the National Day holiday, and given Ji Province University’s relatively low standing among the many universities nationwide, trying to add someone at the last minute would not only involve a complicated process but would likely require some backdoor efforts as well.

Yet, that wouldn’t work either.

The competitors had been confirmed online, visible to all schools.

If Ji Province University were to change participants last minute, what would other schools say?

If they were to achieve a ranking, it could make matters worse, potentially affecting the fairness of the entire competition. So, the organizing committee would likely consider this and refuse the change.

Zhao Qingfeng inquired why there wasn’t a substitute.

The reason was simple: the organization of the competition wasn’t mature enough to include substitute players yet, though it would in the future.

What made Li Ping feel worse was not just Zhang Qiang’s withdrawal; another competitor, Zhang Ziyu, also withdrew. The two were cousins and both needed to attend the funeral, leaving the original four-person team down to just Li Ping and Zhao Qingfeng.

“So, I have to withdraw. As Teacher Zhou said, even if we’re strong, we can’t beat a four-person team, especially with so many renowned universities competing. Whether it’s Tsinghua or Peking University, even students from slightly lesser-known schools like Nankai would easily outmatch us. So, if we insist on competing, wouldn’t it be like willingly making a fool of ourselves?”

It wasn’t really about being afraid of embarrassment, but more about Teacher Zhou pressuring him, insisting on considering the school’s reputation.

Just as he finished speaking, Teacher Zhou arrived, breathless and sweating, “Little Feng, you’re here. Li Ping told you about Zhang Qiang and Zhang Ziyu taking leave, right? What do you think?”

Li Ping spread his hands, “Teacher Zhou, I was just discussing it with junior Zhao…”

Teacher Zhou nodded and continued to persuade, “Little Feng, it really won’t work with just two people, as many competition tasks require teamwork. Coding, compiling, debugging, etc., each task is assigned to different roles. And this is just the preliminary round; the finals involve more advanced programming contests. So, I’m saying, let’s withdraw.”

After speaking,

both looked expectantly at Zhao Qingfeng, waiting for his agreement.

They assumed he would be nervous, perhaps even frustrated.

But to their surprise, the young junior appeared calm, as if nothing was amiss.

“Little Feng, are you withdrawing?”

“Speak up, junior.”

They persisted in their questioning.

“Not withdrawing.”

Zhao Qingfeng didn’t even have to think about it, even jokingly quoting, “Through a million people I shall go.”

Teacher Zhou’s face turned a shade of urgent green, echoing the principal’s command, “Student Zhao, you must understand, this isn’t just about your personal honor but also about the reputation of our school. What are you thinking, insisting on having this experience at the expense of the school’s interests? Even if you two are top students here, facing teams from Tsinghua, our computer science department started later than theirs, going with just two people will surely result in a crushing defeat. This… isn’t this just making us a laughingstock, potentially mocked by other schools?”

Although Li Ping was reluctant, he continued to try to convince Zhao Qingfeng.

Meanwhile, Teacher Yu, the department head, and the principal also arrived backstage.

The importance of the competition was clear, and the principal and department head were worried Teacher Zhou couldn’t persuade Zhao Qingfeng.

“Little Feng, with your capability, studying for another year would definitely make you even stronger.”

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