sinovels Chapter 141 The Finals Begin
Chapter 141 The Finals Begin
Chapter 141 The Finals Begin
January 10th, 8:30 AM.
When Lin Dong pushed open the dormitory door, there were already people running in the corridor, their slippers slapping the ground, shouting, "Hurry up, hurry up, it's about to start!"
He glanced back at the dormitory.
Chen Long was already dressed and stood in front of the mirror, adjusting his glasses. Xu Zang leaned against the headboard, unusually free of a book today. Li Hu sat up in bed and began to dress, his movements slower than usual.
"Get up," Lin Dong said.
Li Hu didn't answer for a while before speaking, "Fourth brother, do you think we can win today?"
"able."
"You're that confident?"
Lin Dong didn't answer, but picked up the campus card from the table and put it in his pocket.
Li Hu stopped asking questions and rolled off the bed.
When the four of them went downstairs, the campus was already bustling with activity.
The walk from the dormitory to the gymnasium usually takes ten minutes, but today it will probably take twice as long.
People were everywhere—some in hospital uniforms, some in casual clothes, and some carrying cameras. Some were on the phone, and others were shouting, "Hurry up, hurry up, it's about to start!"
The banners along the roadside were put up yesterday, and a few more have appeared today.
The red background with white lettering reads "Innovation Cup Programming Contest - Finals" and "Peak Showdown, Who Will Prevail?"
The wind blew by, and the banner fluttered loudly.
As Li Hu walked, he looked around and wondered, "So many people?"
"The whole hospital is here, right?" Chen Long said.
"Not just that." Lin Dong glanced at the crowd on the roadside, "People from other hospitals have come too."
He saw several students wearing teacher's college uniforms taking pictures of the banner at the entrance of the gymnasium with their mobile phones.
There were also a few students from the School of Economics nearby, discussing today's competition.
"I heard that people from the Education Bureau came today," Li Hu said.
"And ZTE too," Chen Long said.
"And Tencent's too," Lin Dong said.
Li Hu paused for a moment: "Tencent?"
"Um.
""
Li Hu paused for a moment, then scratched his head. "Tencent's here too?" His tone wasn't excited, just a little surprised. He continued walking forward, then turned back after a couple of steps. "Then I'd better do my best today, I can't embarrass myself."
Xu Zang walked at the very back without saying a word, but his pace was a little faster than usual.
A long queue had already formed at the entrance of the stadium.
Volunteers were maintaining order, some people were scanning QR codes to enter, and others were looking for seats.
A large sign stood at the entrance, listing the eight teams that had advanced to the finals.
The Four Heavenly Kings Team and the Zhang Yang Team are tied for first place.
Li Hu stood in front of the sign for two seconds, then chuckled, "It looks so cool."
Chen Long gave him a push: "Let's go."
The four people entered through the contestant entrance and went directly to the waiting area.
The waiting area is on the side of the stadium, separated from the stands by a wall.
You can't see the hustle and bustle outside from here, but you can hear sounds, buzzing like a swarm of bees, coming from the other side of the wall.
Li Hu leaned against the wall and listened for two seconds: "How many people would that be?"
"A little over a thousand," Chen Long said.
"More than a thousand?" Li Hu's voice was a little tense.
Chen Long didn't speak. Xu Zang leaned against the wall with his eyes closed. Lin Dong stood at the very edge, his hands in his pockets.
On the podium, Principal Wang, Professor Li, and Vice Dean Zhang were already seated.
Several new faces appeared nearby.
Section Chief Zhang from the city's Education Bureau arrived first. He was in his early fifties, with his hair neatly combed, wearing a dark gray jacket, and carrying a thermos.
He and Principal Wang were old acquaintances, and they started chatting as soon as they sat down.
"Principal Wang, this year's Innovation Cup is quite a big event." Section Chief Zhang glanced at the audience seats. "It's much larger than last year."
"There are many teams participating this year, and the level of competition is also high," said Principal Wang. "In particular, several teams from the freshmen group are quite outstanding."
"I've heard about it." Section Chief Zhang nodded. "One of the first-year teams tied with the defending champions, right? The Education Bureau is all talking about it."
Principal Wang smiled but didn't reply.
At this moment, ZTE's HR director arrived.
He was in his forties, wearing a well-tailored suit and carrying a briefcase. He shook hands with Professor Li, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then sat down beside him.
"Professor Li, are there any students in this year's finals who deserve special attention?" He got straight to the point. "ZTE is currently recruiting interns. Although they are only freshmen, we can train them in advance."
Professor Li smiled: "You've come at the right time. Among these eight teams today, there are at least five or six promising talents worth watching."
"Then I'll have to take a good look." The HR director opened his briefcase, took out a notebook, turned to a blank page, and unscrewed the pen cap.
Section Chief Zhang glanced over and said, "ZTE is already poaching talent? They're only freshmen."
"It's never too early to cultivate good talent," the HR director said with a smile. "Several students from Shenzhen University that we recruited last year are now in core project teams. Shenzhen University students have a solid foundation and are easy to use."
Everyone laughed.
Just then, a person walked in through the entrance.
He was in his forties, wearing glasses and a dark blue suit, but no tie, and walked at a moderate pace. He glanced at the podium and walked straight over.
Professor Li was the first to stand up: "Mr. Ma, this way please."
Ma Huateng, one of the founders of Tencent and an alumnus of the Computer Science Department of Shenzhen University (class of 89), was personally contacted by President Wang.
"Mr. Ma, it's been a long time." Principal Wang stood up and extended his hand.
"Principal Wang, you're too kind." Ma Huateng shook his hand. "Since you called personally, how could I not come?"
Principal Wang smiled and said, "Sit down and let's take a look at this year's promising students."
Ma Huateng sat down in the reserved seat.
Section Chief Zhang and the ZTE HR both glanced at him. Ma Huateng of Tencent, an alumnus of Shenzhen University, someone you usually see in the news, was now sitting right next to him.
Section Chief Zhang spoke first, his tone somewhat polite: "Mr. Ma, it's an honor to meet you. I'm Old Zhang from the Education Bureau."
"Hello, Section Chief Zhang." Ma Huateng nodded, his attitude polite but not distant. He turned to Principal Wang, "Principal Wang, this year's Innovation Cup is much larger than last year's."
"It's gotten bigger," Principal Wang said with a smile. "There are more teams participating, and the level is higher. When you were in school, there weren't this many competitions."
Ma Huateng laughed: "We didn't have that kind of opportunity back then. Several of us huddled together in a lab, taking turns using one computer."
Professor Li chimed in from the side: "The stock market tycoon card that Mr. Ma made back then is still kept in the department."
"Don't even mention it," Ma Huateng waved his hand. "The code I wrote back then, I can't even bear to look at it now."
Everyone laughed.
The ZTE HR representative next to him seized the opportunity to speak up: "Mr. Ma, what do you think of these promising talents this year?"
Ma Huateng flipped through a page of documents: "Just looked at it, it's hard to say yet. But this first team—" He pointed to the page with the Four Heavenly Kings, "is quite interesting."
Principal Wang, holding his teacup, twitched the corner of his mouth slightly, then picked up a brown paper envelope from the side and handed it over:
'
Mr. Ma, this is a separate matter.
Ma Huateng took it and opened it.
There was only one page inside.
Chen Long, majoring in Electronic Science and Technology, is from Guangzhou, Guangdong.
During high school, I won the first prize in the National Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition, was selected for the National Training Team (Science and Technology Innovation), and was admitted to Shenzhen University without taking the entrance exam. In my second year of high school, I independently completed a chip design simulation tool, which was adopted by a university laboratory.
Li Hu, Computer Science and Technology, is from Shenzhen.
During high school, I won a gold medal in the National Olympiad in Informatics, was selected for the National Training Team (Informatics), and was admitted to Shenzhen University without taking the entrance exam. In my second year of high school, I discovered a performance vulnerability in the scheduler of a certain version of the Linux kernel, submitted a patch, and it was adopted.
Xu Zang, a communications engineer, is from Hunan province.
Achieved perfect scores in both the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) mathematics and physics. No competition record. Note: This student was on the provincial physics competition team in both grades 10 and 11, but left the team in grade 12 for unknown reasons. Despite not attending school for two months prior to the NCEE, the student still ranked 37th in the province and was admitted to Shenzhen University.
Lin Dong, Electronic Information Engineering, is from Shantou.
His college entrance exam score exceeded the admission line for Shenzhen University by 100 points.
No competition record. Note: Before enrolling, this student completed a master's level RF LNA design in two minutes during Stanford University's Summer Tech Week, defeating Mark Chen, a PhD student in RF at Stanford.
After the game, I had a private conversation with Steve Jobs for about fifteen minutes. It has been confirmed that the student registered a technology company in Shenzhen before enrolling, engaged in smartphone research and development.
After reading the last page, Ma Huateng remained silent for a long time.
He looked up at Principal Wang.
Principal Wang picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "Mr. Ma, once this is out of this room, I'll pretend I never showed it to you."
O
Ma Huateng folded the paper, put it back in the envelope, and placed it on the table.
"Principal Wang," he said, "you personally arranged this dormitory, didn't you?"
Principal Wang smiled but did not answer.
Ma Huateng glanced at him but didn't ask why.
Shenzhen University always has its own reasons for doing things.
Section Chief Zhang chimed in from the side: "I heard this team tied with Zhang Yang's team in the second round? Zhang Yang is the defending champion."
"It's a tie," Vice Dean Zhang replied. "And in the second round, the first three of the Four Heavenly Kings took almost twenty minutes longer than Zhang Yang's team. In the end, it was the number 4 player who caught up."
"Who's in position 4?" Ma Huateng asked.
"Lin Dong," Professor Li said, "is the first one in the information."
Ma Huateng nodded and said nothing more. He flipped through the publicly available information and glanced at Lin Dong's photo—name, major, and place of origin, all neatly arranged. The page that Principal Wang showed him was one that no one else had ever seen.
Vice Dean Zhang continued, "In the last twenty minutes of the second round, Lin Dong took the stage, wrote his part, checked the code of the three people before him, integrated it, and got it running. He finished in 119 minutes and 48 seconds, tying with Zhang Yang's team."
Ma Huateng tapped his knee lightly with his fingers.
In twenty minutes, I finished my part, checked the code of the other three people, integrated it, and got it running. This speed demonstrates the ability to get every step right even under the most pressure.
"How are Lin Dong's grades usually?" he asked.
Professor Li thought for a moment: "Above average. Not the kind of student who gets first place in every course, but has passed all the required courses and knows all the necessary knowledge."
"Hidden?" Ma Huateng said.
Professor Li paused for a moment, then smiled: "Mr. Ma has a good eye. We also felt he was hiding something. But we couldn't tell exactly how much he was hiding."
Ma Huateng nodded and said nothing more. The four of them each had their own unique characteristics.
He glanced towards the waiting area. The four young men hadn't come out yet, but they would be soon.
Principal Wang picked up his teacup, took a sip, and asked, "Mr. Ma, who do you think will win today?"
Ma Huateng thought for a moment and said, "It's hard to say. Zhang Yang's team has more experience, while the Four Heavenly Kings are in strong shape."
"So, who do you think has a better chance?"
Ma Huateng smiled and said, "I think the game will be exciting."
Everyone laughed.
Section Chief Zhang remarked from the side, "Mr. Ma's words are perfectly flawless."
"It's not watertight."
Ma Huateng said, "It's the truth. Zhang Yang's team has played for two years and has far more finals experience than the Four Heavenly Kings."
Even the Four Heavenly Kings, no matter how skilled, are only reaching the finals for the first time. Nervousness, mistakes, and fluctuations in mentality—these are things that skill alone cannot solve.
Professor Li nodded: "Mr. Ma is right."
"However—" Ma Huateng paused, "that number 4 player, Lin Dong, doesn't seem like someone who gets nervous."
Several people looked at him.
Ma Huateng flipped through the documents and glanced at Lin Dong's photo again: "A person who can turn the tide in twenty minutes must have a strong mentality. With him around, the Four Heavenly Kings can stay calm."
He closed the document, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the entrance to Area A.
Section Chief Zhang remarked from the side, "General Manager Ma seems to be paying close attention to that Lin Dong."
"It's not about being interested," Ma Huateng said. "It's about being curious. An 18-year-old freshman who can single-handedly turn the tide in the last twenty minutes and keep his abilities hidden from the judges—this kind of person is rare."
"How many has Mr. Ma met?" Professor Li asked.
Ma Huateng thought for a moment and said, "Not many. Every single one of them later became an extraordinary person."
3
There was a moment of silence on the podium.
Vice President Zhang said with a smile, "Then Mr. Ma should take a good look at today's match."
"Of course," Ma Huateng said, "I came here to see them."
At nine o'clock sharp, the broadcast came on.
"All participating teams, please enter the venue."
The door to the waiting area opened, letting in light. Four people walked out.
The stadium is more than twice the size of the stadium in the previous two rounds.
The partitions between sections A, B, C, and D were all removed, opening up the entire venue. The seats for the eight teams were arranged in a row in the center of the hall. The spectator seating, from the first floor to the second floor, was packed with people.
Li Hu paused for a moment.
Chen Long adjusted his glasses, his expression unchanged.
Xu Zang glanced at the audience seats, then looked away.
The four men walked to their respective seats and sat down.
Four computers, four seats, lined up in a row.
Li Hu sat on the far left, followed by Chen Long and Xu Zang, with Lin Dong on the far right.
When Lin Dong sat down, he glanced at the podium.
Principal Wang sat in the middle, flanked by Professor Li and Vice Dean Zhang. Next to them sat a section chief, ZTE's HR representative.
The director, and Ma Huateng.
Ma Huateng was looking in their direction. Their eyes met briefly across the entire stadium.
In his previous life, he spent twenty years in Shenzhen and heard the name Ma Huateng countless times.
At dinner parties, industry forums, and food stalls in Huaqiangbei, some say he was lucky, some say he had a keen eye, and some say he caught a trend.
But Lin Dong knew it wasn't that simple. This person, after graduating from Shenzhen University, worked on pager software, stock trading cards, OICQ, QQ, and WeChat. Every step he took was perfectly timed, and he was always half a step ahead of everyone else.
We never had the chance to sit together before.
Now, it'll be soon.
Lin Dong looked away and placed his hands on the keyboard.
On the podium, Professor Li stood up and took the microphone.
"Dear contestants and audience members, welcome to the finals of the Creative Cup Programming Contest. Eight teams have made it to the finals, and today we will determine the ultimate champion."
The rules are displayed on the large screen.