Chapter 1142: Chapter 576: Fighting Side by Side

"Why didn’t you agree with Yao Hong? The chances of winning the championship are indeed greatest only if you team up with her."

Shen You’an glanced at the young man walking beside her.

The setting sun was blood-red, the young man’s long eyelashes slightly drooped, casting a shadow beneath his eyelids, turning an ink wash landscape painting into a vividly colorful oil painting.

The quietly walking handsome youth, like poetry and painting.

Liu Runxi shook his head, lightly said, "The championship isn’t that important."

If others heard this, they’d be furious.

But coming from Liu Runxi’s mouth, no one questioned its truthfulness.

Shen You’an stared at him, dumbfounded.

Since they met, he’s always been like still water, uncompetitive and ungrasping, low-key and indifferent, not competing for fame and fortune with the world; he appeared peaceful and unruffled, yet the depths of his heart held untold wisdom and potential, like deep water concealing an abyss.

The championship isn’t that important; in other words, if he wants the championship, he can definitely get it.

After tackling so many difficult problems together, she knew his prowess more than anyone.

He’s even been hiding his skills.

Quite terrifying.

"To you, what’s most important then?"

As soon as she asked, Shen You’an regretted it.

Yet strangely, she wanted to hear Liu Runxi’s answer.

After a long silence, the young man’s cool voice, accompanied by the late spring breeze, brushed past her ears.

"The championship is just a benchmark set by others, meaningless in pursuit; for me, seeing those who want to win achieve their desires is more important than anything."

Such a natural tone, as if talking about today’s good weather.

Shen You’an’s heartbeat gently vibrated through her chest, like a stone thrown into the heart of a lake, rippling out delicate waves, softening her gaze for a fleeting moment even she didn’t notice.

"Xixi."

A sedan was parked by the roadside, the back window rolled down, revealing Helian Yu’s forced smile.

Liu Runxi’s eyebrows slightly furrowed, his tone unintentionally cooled by a few degrees as he spoke.

"What are you doing here?"

"I booked an afternoon tea with Mrs. Yao, thinking you’re nearby for the competition, so I came to pick you up."

What a coincidence, she was clearly waiting here deliberately.

Helian Yu’s gaze shifted to Shen You’an beside him, her smile grew a bit warmer.

"Miss Shen, long time no see."

Shen You’an wouldn’t grant her face just because she was Liu Runxi’s mother, so she nodded indifferently, not even bothering with a greeting.

Helian Yu’s smile froze momentarily but was quickly masked.

The driver got out and opened the car door.

Liu Runxi stepped back, "An’an and I still need to discuss tomorrow’s cooperation competition, you can head back first."

His words fell, and he turned and walked away, pulling Shen You’an with him.

Helian Yu watched their retreating figures, her nose wrinkled with anger.

Adjusting her mood, Helian Yu took out her phone and dialed a number.

"Didn’t someone with the surname Zhan want to meet me? Alright, I’ll give him a chance."

Yu Guang, the richest man in Yunzhou, is very ambitious, not content with being just Yunzhou’s richest, seeking to break into the Jingzhou market, has been currying favor all over recently.

Liu Qingfeng’s job appointment papers were about to be issued; the Liu family was no longer what they used to be. Reasonably speaking, someone like Zhan Binwen, such a local tycoon, wasn’t even qualified to step into her Liu family’s door, but at this moment, Helian Yu suddenly changed her mind.

She remembered Zhan Binwen had a daughter, as lovely as a blooming flower.

Shen You’an, let’s see how long you can delight in your moment.

——

The next day, the paired collaboration contest lasted two hours with a total of 150 points.

The twelve finalists could freely form teams, two each, making six teams in total.

The format was open-ended problem-solving, allowing for idea exchange, division of calculation, shared deduction, synchronous operation.

The questions were challenging, involving cross-disciplinary comprehensive answers plus group experiment coordination.

The other ten competitors saw Shen You’an and Liu Runxi team up, showing despair on their faces.

The first and second combined, leaving no room for others.

Yao Hong glared at the two, eyes practically spitting fire, her nails nearly tearing her palm.

"Miss Yao, I’m the highest-ranked among the remaining contestants in terms of points, don’t you want to consider me?"

Xun Jian eagerly marketed himself.

Yao Hong assessed him with a glance, haughtily proclaimed, "If you dare hold me back, let’s see how I’ll deal with you."

Xun Jian grinned sheepishly, "I’ll definitely give it my all."

Points mattered most, the lady’s temper had to be tolerated.

The core question of the collaboration contest was comprehensive analysis of charged particles in composite fields.

Shen You’an and Liu Runxi exchanged a look, no words necessary.

In the ticking sound of the timer, the two sat at opposite corners of the table, yet their peripheral vision collided.

Liu Runxi quickly grabbed a ruler and sketched out the magnetic field model, pressing his finger against the paper to mark the direction of gravity.

At the same time, Shen You’an picked up the calculator, her fingers flying as she reported the Lorentz force value, her voice low but each word clear.

Facing a complex field problem, Shen You’an had already written the split force conditions on a sticky note and pushed it across when the young man’s brows furrowed slightly. He glanced at it and immediately understood, picking up his pen to complete the momentum conservation derivation.

Their pen tips rose and fell on the draft paper, without a single unnecessary word, yet more in tune than any prior agreement.

On the final answer sheet, the two signed their names together.

Shen You’an looked at the names side by side, her brows slightly raised.

She liked this feeling of fighting side by side. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Later, during the judges’ assessment, the pairing of Shen You’an and Liu Runxi was impeccable in terms of thought coherence, reasonable division of labor, and on-site adaptive collaboration.

What surprised the judges even more was that the two innovatively solved the problems, earning the highest scores in six groups and receiving additional reward points from the judges.

The final ranking scores were announced, with Shen You’an and Liu Runxi occupying the top two spots. Their scores were very close, with nearly a seventy-point gap between them and the third place Yao Hong, a gap so vast that even with an extraordinary performance in the final round of the ultimate debate, Yao Hong couldn’t catch up to Shen You’an and Liu Runxi.

It can be said that this time the champions and runners-up are directly locked to Shen You’an and Liu Runxi.

As for who is the champion and who is the runner-up, there is still some suspense at the moment.

——

Helian Yu was the first to learn of the competition results.

"Second place again, he gave up the champion spot for Shen You’an, which is so disappointing to me."

Just as Helian Yu wanted to take a sip of tea, she screamed from the heat, angrily throwing the cup.

The servant trembled: "Sorry Madam, it’s my fault."

Crouching to pick up the broken porcelain pieces on the floor.

"Can’t even have one thing that gives me peace of mind. You, go to the housekeeper to get your wages, I don’t want to see you anymore."

The maid looked aggrieved but dared not utter a single word in defense.

"Don’t take it out on innocent people." Liu Qingfeng strode in, his authoritative gaze sweeping over Helian Yu.

Helian Yu sneered: "Mr. Liu, it’s really hard to see you, promoted now, is the next step to abandon your wife?"

Liu Qingfeng coldly glanced at her: "No one considers you dumb if you don’t speak."

The secretary, having finished a phone call, walked quickly over: "Sir, you have a conference call at six."

Twenty minutes left.

Liu Qingfeng nodded: "Go to the study, help me fetch something."

The secretary glanced at Helian Yu and silently went upstairs.

The housekeeper led the maid away, leaving only the couple in the living room.

Liu Qingfeng sat on the sofa and pointed to the opposite side: "Sit, there’s something I want to talk to you about with the time we have."

Helian Yu adjusted her shawl, "I also have something to say to you."

Liu Qingfeng raised his hand to remove his glasses, rubbing his eyebrows with two fingers: "You go first."

"Your son just took second place in the physics competition," the tone somewhat gritted.

Liu Qingfeng smiled broadly: "Isn’t that great, why are you still unhappy?"

"What’s there to be happy about? The champion is Shen You’an, Xixi gave up the chance to be champion for her, blinded by love, how could such a smart kid be so foolish in action?"

She heard from Yao Hong that Xixi had a chance of winning the championship but declined, all for Shen You’an.

That vixen.

Thinking of her made Helian Yu furious.

Liu Qingfeng put down his half-cleaned glasses and looked at Helian Yu, his deep eyes carrying years of accumulated wisdom and clarity: "When Xixi was five and learning chess, clearly able to win against the little teacher who was much taller than him with a clever move, yet he insisted on letting the opponent have half a piece, do you know why?"

Thinking of this made Helian Yu even angrier.

Other kids took months to learn Go without even getting started; after one month, he could arm-wrestle the teacher, and the Go club was thrilled, thinking they’d found a genius.

But Xixi was uninterested in competitions, or the record of youngest Go champion would have been broken by him.

"He’s wasting his talent." Helian Yu felt exasperated.

"Since childhood, Xixi has been different from other kids, with a clear mind, far wiser than others, never bound by wins, titles, or such things, seeing through everything, not greedy for false glory. This temperament is more precious than winning any number of championships."

"If you don’t want to become distant from your son, you’d better put away your little thoughts, or you’ll regret it."

Liu Qingfeng saw the secretary descending from the second floor and lowered his voice: "Zhan Binwen’s background is complex, you’d better have less contact with him, don’t blame me for not reminding you if something happens."

Helian Yu’s chest was blocked with anger, "Worried I’ll drag you down before settling in? Rest assured, even if I were to die, I would never involve you."

Liu Qingfeng glanced at her and sighed: "One cannot discuss ice with a summer insect."

"One last reminder, An’an is a good girl, the friendship with Xixi over the years hasn’t escaped my notice. If you act foolishly like before and target An’an, don’t blame me for being unkind."

The man’s stern gaze enveloped Helian Yu, the strong oppressive presence of a superior almost suffocated her.

Once the footsteps faded, Helian Yu leaned against the sofa and slowly sat down, raising a hand to gently stroke her chest.

"Well, Liu Qingfeng, showing your authority in front of me, without my help, where would your glory be today."

It must be said, the way the father and son look at her, too similar.

But this father and son duo treated her coldly because they both defended another woman.

Helian Yu’s suppressed blood surged back up.