And so, in the back-and-forth chase between the three of them, what should have been a race lasting nearly ten minutes ended in just over four minutes.
It wasn't until the Science Assistant declared time was up that everyone present finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Good heavens, it was supposed to be a competition between just the three of them, but in the end, everyone was drawn into the tension.
"Well then, did Ji Ruochu manage to defend her leading position? Next, let's have the Science Assistant reveal the result for us!"
In the next moment, the cameras focused on the three assistants beside the three answer terminals.
"According to the statistics, challenger Bei Lingyu successfully submitted six times."
"Challenger Quan Tianheng successfully submitted eight times."
"The challenger team scored a total of 14 points."
In other words, Ji Ruochu's score had to exceed the sum of the two to win the competition, at least 15 points.
"If I remember correctly, Ji Ruochu's fastest time during training was around twenty seconds, right?"
"That's right. If she could maintain that pace, submitting three times per minute... it's still not enough. The two sides kept accelerating against each other, the actual competition time definitely didn't exceed five minutes."
"And her speed started to slow down in the second one-on-one match before."
...
After the scores came out, the contestants below immediately started discussing.
Obviously, everyone thought Ji Ruochu's submission count was higher than the other two, but the possibility of exceeding their combined total... was low.
"To be honest, even if she loses under these rules, it's still an honorable defeat."
After all, future international competitions would also be one-on-one.
However, just as this thought was settling in, a voice ignited the entire scene.
"According to the statistics, contestant Ji Ruochu submitted 18 times!"
!!
"Congratulations to Ji Ruochu for successfully defending her position."
The whole scene was in an uproar.
After a brief shock, everyone mechanically began clapping in congratulation.
In the next second, the big screen started replaying the footage of the three answering questions.
Every time a question was submitted, the scores on the side would change accordingly, and Ji Ruochu, after initially being tied with the combined score of the other two... started to exert herself.
Yes, that initial tie was just her warm-up.
It was at this time that everyone clearly saw how incredibly fast she was at solving problems, and the most bone-chilling thing was that her state seemed to improve as time went by.
At the moment the answer terminal dimmed, people could clearly see... regret? on her face.
Was it regret?
Was she regretting that time was up before she could fully enjoy herself?
How terrifying.
And so, in this challenge competition, Ji Ruochu successfully defended her position with her formidable memory, calculation skills, and strength.
"Congratulations to Ji Ruochu for successfully defending her position. At the same time, you have entered the challenger protection period. Until the end of the preliminaries, your position cannot be challenged again."
Wow—
Another round of exclamations erupted at the scene. Good heavens, is this the legendary correlation between risk and return?
Rising to fame in a single battle, she truly rose to fame in a single battle!
Although... there probably won't be many people challenging her after this.
In response, Ji Ruochu, whose smile disappeared in an instant, stated — the protection is good, but don't protect me next time.
The comments section erupted with laughter.
[Help, the baby is just too adorable? When the host said she couldn't be challenged again, her smile instantly vanished.]
[While others are cute and love to play, the baby is both formidable and loves to play.]
[Haha, I felt like her footsteps got heavier as she returned to her seat.]
...
And so, the program ended amidst the laughter of netizens and the enthusiastic atmosphere at the scene.
As expected, after the program aired, Ji Ruochu once again topped several trending searches.
#Ji Ruochu: It seems like she lost even though she won#
#The Landlord·Ruo officially debuted#
#Is there really someone with memory power this formidable?#
As a result, in the time that followed, the program "Brain Battle" successfully made the general public aware of "what a genius is."
It's not just about having good grades or being outstanding in competitions.
The difference between a genius and an ordinary person doesn't lie in the 99% effort, but in the fact that they have that 1% talent and are still willing to put in that 99% effort.
In fact, some geniuses even feel that they're only a "tad bit" more diligent than others.
At first, there were also netizens who expressed sentiment, saying that just from watching a variety show, they suddenly felt that their own efforts didn't seem to amount to much.
After all, as ordinary people, no matter how they faced difficulties, they couldn't match a genius, let alone break through the class divide.
In response, Ji Ruochu even posted a status update:
[I reflect on myself three times a day: Is the food to my taste? Am I in a good mood? Am I wholeheartedly studying?]
Netizens directly translated below:
[Just eat well, be in a good mood, and study hard. Don't think too much, it's useless anyway.]
[Exactly, why so much melancholy? Whether you're a genius or not, we all grow old the same way.]
Ji Ruochu silently gave a like below.
Time flowed slowly, and the program's competition schedule reached the latter half—the international events.
Unlike the previous domestic challenges, this time's one-on-one matches pitted participants against foreign "friends."
Not to mention those from farther away, even just the neighboring island country had a mental calculation prodigy, who was only a ten-year-old girl.
Fortunately, a "hall-sweeping" young contestant emerged from the previous domestic challenge—Liang Wanyue.
She was a little girl of only nine years old. Upon seeing Ji Ruochu, she cutely called her "Big Sister Wen Qu Xing."
After some inquiry, it turned out that she had a chance encounter with Ji Ruochu's family many years ago in an airport lounge.
At that time, Ji Ruochu, whose college entrance exam results had just come out, went around touching the heads of all the children in the VIP lounge, amid much fanfare.
Little Wanyue was held by her mother, her small face pushed towards Ji Ruochu's hand.
Back then, the four-year-old girl was still bewildered, only knowing that this sister was truly beautiful. After her soft hand caressed her forehead, she even secretly pinched little Wanyue's chubby cheeks.
From that day on, her mother would occasionally tell her that little Wanyue had been blessed by Big Sister Wen Qu Xing, and would definitely become a little genius.
At first, her father said her mother was superstitious, until... little Wanyue's mental calculation abilities started to manifest.
Adding to that, Ji Ruochu's dazzling achievements in recent years motivated the little girl to study diligently, setting her sights on entering the same school as Big Sister Wen Qu Xing.
[Small Skit]
In a certain villa, an elderly person watching TV saw the little girl on screen, then looked at his grandson staring longingly at a small cake on the table, drooling, and sighed:
"You say both these children had their heads touched by Wen Qu Xing, and our good boy was the first, why is there such a difference?"
Family members beside him: ... Good question.
