Chapter 27
Phoebe comforted him. “Dad, don’t be angry, Claire’s personality is a bit… strange, but we can’t blame her for that. It may be related to her childhood education. After all, she grew up in the countryside, where many people are illiterate…”
She seemed to be defending Claire, but every word of hers was demeaning her.
Back to the bedroom.
Phoebe sat at the desk, and picked up the phone. She opened the photo in the album, her heart beating fiercely.
The Mathematical Olympiad was difficult indeed. Even if it was just the preliminary round, the problem was very difficult.
She took out paper and pen and carefully studied the answer to the problem.
2
Under the light, her eyes suddenly widened and were gradually filled with shock.
Wow!
The problem-solving method in this photo was perfect!
So perfect that she even shuddered.
What kind of genius could come up with such an ingenious way?
The twists and turns of the method to solve the Mathematical Olympiad problem were even more exciting than a movie, and she couldn’t help admiring it.
If she could take this as her own…
Phoebe clutched the phone abruptly, her palms wet and her eyes glowing.
——
Early in the morning, Ada was carrying a suitcase, full of worries for her beloved daughter. “There are snacks in it. If you are hungry, you can eat some. I heard that it’s hot during the day and cold at night in Los Angeles. So I put a coat in the suitcase. Wear more at night.”
Phoebe pulled the car door open and urged her. “Mom, I won’t be able to catch the flight if I don’t leave now.”
Claire walked out the door slowly. For the first time, she was wearing a long dress today, and her long seaweed-like hair was not tied up but scattered on her snow-white shoulders, setting off her long graceful neck.
She was bewitchingly beautiful.
The breeze blew up her dress, revealing her legs, slender and straight.
Ada was a little surprised.
Claire always dressed casually, and she had never discovered before that this girl’s appearance was so superior.
If she stood with Phoebe, she would look more like the daughter of the Smiths than Phoebe.
“Claire, are you going to take a plane? I’ll take you to the airport.” Ada said.
“No need.”
Claire refused flatly and got into a rental car.
Center Building.
Claire took the elevator to the top roof on the fiftieth floor.
Along with the loud buzz, the propeller shattered the clouds on the horizon, and a helicopter landed slowly.
In the gusty wind, her hair dancing wildly and her dress fluttering, she, like a blooming rose, was noble and glamorous.
A man in a black trench coat walked up to Claire and said respectfully, “Miss Mansi, please get on the plane.”
Los Angeles.
Upon arriving at the hotel, Claire put down her luggage. She took out the Doraemon doll and amulet from it, and placed them beside the bed.
The next day, she went to the competition venue.
Adam arrived at the same time.
The two walked into the venue and pushed open the door of the reception room. Inside were a man and a woman, Garrett Wilson and Natalia Davis, who were also the examiners this time.
Seeing Claire and Adam, they got up to greet them.
They were all old friends, so they just briefly exchanged some pleasantries.
Garrett smiled at Claire and jested. “Mansi, why do you wear a mask and sunglasses every time I see you? Until now, I don’t know what you look like. Are you too beautiful or too ugly?”
Adam put his arm around Claire’s shoulders. “She’s stunningly beautiful.”
Garrett spread his hands, not convinced. “Even Old Adam knows what you look like, but I haven’t seen you yet.”
Claire didn’t say anything.
She had always been taciturn.
Others were long used to it.
At ten o’clock in the morning, the preliminary round began.
Participating students were arranged in the same classroom with only one test question, which shall be completed within a limited time.
Instead of invigilating the exam, Claire and the others sat in the meeting room next door, waiting to mark the test papers.
In the classroom.
When Phoebe got the test paper, she looked at the familiar question on the paper, and her eyebrows twitched.
Sure enough, it was that math problem.
She picked up the pen and wrote the answer already printed in her mind without hesitation.