Cen Huai’an turned his head; he was a contestant from Country E.

He nodded in agreement with the contestant’s words and said in English, “My country is beautiful too.”

The contestant from Country E said, “I know. My grandfather told me he had visited Huaguo before.”

The contestant spoke with pride about his grandfather, who was a scientist and had gone to Huaguo for an aid project.

“Unfortunately, the project was never completed.”

Cen Huai’an, having studied history, knew what kind of aid the contestant was referring to and understood why it hadn’t been completed.

He said, “What happened in the past is now history.”

There will always be regrets, but in the face of a nation, these things are bound to happen.

The contestant from Country E leaned on the railing and talked about this year’s IMO exams: “I’ve seen you. You participated in the IMO competition last year and scored full marks.”

Cen Huai’an was not surprised.

The competition had been recorded, and it was normal for other contestants to see it; he nodded.

“You’re amazing, but I’m not bad either! This year, we will be first!”

Cen Huai’an gave him a calm glance, his expression unchanged: “Good luck with that.”

“Don’t you want your country to be first consecutively?”

The contestant from Country E was taken aback by Cen Huai’an’s calmness.

Cen Huai’an turned to walk back and said, “So I’m preparing to go back and solve some problems.”

Cen Huai’an had no intention of giving up first place.

This year, the team leader was still Hang Ling, who wouldn’t allow Huaguo’s contestants to perform worse than before.

This year’s IMO results were even more impressive; all six contestants from Huaguo scored full marks.

On the day of the awards ceremony, the contestant from Country E, not knowing who he had switched places with, ended up sitting next to Cen Huai’an. Hearing the results, he looked at Cen Huai’an and his team in shock: “You guys are incredible!”

Only then did a smile appear in Cen Huai’an’s eyes, and he said without modesty, “Huaguo has always been great.”

After that, he stood up and went on stage with his teammates to receive their award.

As expected, Huaguo took first place in the overall scores for the IMO competition.

On the way back, Tang Song sat with Cen Huai’an, all of them wearing their gold medals. He looked at his gold medal and said, “Huai’an, I’m so happy that I got full marks.”

Tang Song was the slightly weaker one among the six team members.

After confirming that he could participate in the IMO, he feared holding back his teammates.

During the crucial review period, he had devoted most of his energy to studying mathematics.

Cen Huai’an looked at him with respect in his eyes; he admired those who set a goal and steadfastly executed it to finally succeed.

“You deserve it,” he said sincerely.

Tang Song was taken aback for a moment, then a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

“Now that I’ve received your genuine praise, I have no reason to be unconfident.”

At this time in the capital, the college entrance examination was being held, and the process of filling out applications was different from Liangzhou.

However, there were differences in application policies across the country, and Chuxia didn’t find it surprising.

Cen Huai’an only filled out one application: the Semiconductor Major at the Radio Department of Jinghua University.

Chuxia didn’t interfere with his application; she just asked him if he wanted to fill out another safety option since he only filled one.

Years ago, Chuxia was solely focused on attending a Traditional Chinese Medicine University, so she hadn’t filled out many.

However, when it came to Cen Huai’an, she became like any other ordinary parent, worrying about his application.

Cen Huai’an was equally insistent: “If I can’t get into this one, I don’t want to go to any other schools or majors.”

Chuxia no longer persuaded him, patting his shoulder with a smile: “You’re just like me when I was filling out my college entrance applications.”

Cen Zhengnian brought over some washed grapes, peeled one, and fed it to Chuxia: “An’an sometimes really does have your temperament.”

The sweet juice of the grape burst in her mouth, and Chuxia proudly nodded, swallowing the grape’s flesh: “Of course, he’s my son!”

Just like the democratic nature of Cen Huai’an’s home, no one interfered with Zhang Lu’s application either.

However, when she told Cen Huai’an about her application, he was both surprised and unsurprised.

Zhang Lu had applied to the National Defense University, saying with admiration: “In the future, I want to be a soldier, serving the country like my great uncle.”

She even had her eyes set on the branch of the military; she wanted to be an aviator and one day become a female pilot capable of flying fighter jets.

Cen Huai’an had no doubt about her abilities: “You can do it.”

Zhang Lu held her head high, like a proud little leopard: “Definitely! In the future, you will also become an excellent scientist.”

She then looked at Tang Song: “You will also become an excellent scientist.”

Tang Song’s major was Computer Science, and he aspired to research computers and create his own achievements.

The three exchanged smiles, as if they could see themselves realizing their dreams in the future.

---

After Cen Huai’an returned from Country E, he wrote letters to his friends Bangzi, Hu Panden, and Xiaohe while waiting for the admission notification.

This year, Cen Huai’an wasn’t the only one taking the college entrance examination. Bangzi, Maobao, Hu Panden, and Xiaohe were all participating as well.

Hu Panden was slightly older than the others.

He should have gone to university last year, but the universities he applied to in the capital all fell through.

He ended up repeating the year.

In the letter, he told Cen Huai’an: “We agreed that we would go to college together in the same place; I must get into a university in the capital!”

He wasn’t sure how their college entrance exams went this year.

As soon as Cen Huai’an finished his exams, he left for the UK and didn’t have time to ask.

He only received the results from his teacher after returning and estimated his own score.

After estimating his score, Cen Huai’an felt more confident about getting into Jinghua University.

When Zhang Lu learned that Cen Huai’an had returned, she was the first to use her pager to call him and ask if he wanted to come to Great-Grandpa’s house.

Cen Huai’an agreed.

As soon as they met at Grandfather Jiang’s house, Zhang Lu excitedly shared her estimated score with Cen Huai’an.

“With the extra twenty points from the math competition, I’m sure I’ll get into the National Defense University! So I need to celebrate; let’s go hiking!”

There were many mountains around the capital, and climbing some of them with rich natural scenery wouldn’t be hot; instead, they would feel the coolness of the mountains.

Cen Huai’an thought for a moment and was about to agree when he heard Hong Youxuan calling him: “An’an!”

He walked over quickly: “I’m glad I didn’t miss you. There’s a Go competition coming up, and I want to invite you to join me.”

During his third year of high school, Cen Huai’an hadn’t participated in any competitions besides playing Go casually during his free time.

He had been too busy; sometimes, he would only play a couple of games with Hong Youxuan when he came to his grandfather’s house.

“What type of Go competition is it?”

“It’s hosted by a company in the capital and has a good reputation. It’s been a while since we played a match; I want to see you on the field. Oh, and there are prizes too.”

After saying this, Hong Youxuan smiled.

Cen Huai’an asked him about the competition schedule.

It was the registration period, and the official competition would take place in ten days.

“That won’t interfere with hiking; An’an, come hike with us! We can also have a picnic in the mountains. Will Youxuan come too?”

“Sure,” Hong Youxuan agreed with a smile.

Cen Huai’an also agreed to both the hike and the competition.

When Chuxia heard that the kids were going hiking, she became interested.

Zhang Lu found information on several mountains and decided to hike one that hadn’t been developed much but had been privately contracted, where a cluster of summer villas was built at the base and halfway up the mountain.

The mountain wasn’t part of a tourist area, and it wasn’t steep.

The area with the villas didn’t allow visitors to go through, so there weren’t many places to play around, making it less crowded.

This was also because one of Zhang Lu’s friends had a villa there, and with a pass from the villa cluster, they wouldn’t have gone there otherwise.

Chuxia didn’t plan to join the kids on the hike, as she felt uncomfortable being with adults.

She went to discuss with Cen Zhengnian to see if they could go hiking while the two kids were resting.

Cen Zhengnian, who was in his study reading a book, looked up in surprise: “Going hiking?”

Because of her previous health issues, Chuxia rarely did strenuous exercise, and she would tire out easily after walking for a long time; hiking wasn’t something she would typically want to do.

“Yeah, it’s summer now, and it’ll be cooler in the mountains. Plus, it’s been a while since we went out together.”

Cen Zhengnian’s expression softened suddenly as he reached for her hand: “Okay, let me see which mountain is suitable.”

Cen Zhengnian told Chuxia not to worry about the trip, so she didn’t insist further; she just confirmed with him which day they would go out.

Cen Huai’an and Zhang Lu went ahead of Chuxia and Cen Zhengnian. Zhang Lu’s friend borrowed a villa from his father, so the group could play in the mountains for a few days.

The parents of the kids were naturally worried, so Zhang Lu’s friend’s dad called a housekeeper to take care of the kids.

Chuxia gave Cen Huai’an complete freedom but asked him to pay attention to safety, reminding him to bring along protective items against snakes, insects, rodents, and other essentials, as well as various first-aid supplies.

Chuxia and Jiang Zhishu’s company had just launched a cream for treating insect bites, which was effective against many types of insect bites, so she had Cen Huai’an take a lot of it to the mountains.

Chuxia prepared similar things for herself and Cen Zhengnian as well.

They didn’t plan to stay overnight in the mountains and chose a mountain that wasn’t too high. But the mountain was situated in the high-altitude ranges on the outskirts of the capital and had been developed, making it suitable for summer outings.

Cen Zhengnian drove, while Chuxia sat in the passenger seat, watching the green trees quickly recede outside the window, feeling very good.

After driving for over an hour, they finally arrived at their destination. There were other people hiking, but not many.

Unlike later generations, where every scenic area was filled with vendors selling food, it seemed that the low turnout meant there were no vendors here, just local villagers passing by from the bottom of the mountain.

Cen Zhengnian strapped on a backpack, took the water for both of them, locked the car, and walked over to Chuxia, opening the bottle and handing her some water.

“Are we hiking now?”