My IQ Increases Year by Year

"Hello."

It was a bit noisy on the other end of the line.

The faint sound of a classical symphony could be heard, mixed with the crisp clinking of wine glasses and the formal pleasantries of elders toasting each other.

"Captain."

A gentle, clear voice, imbued with the calm composure of a good upbringing, came through.

Chen Zhuo stood by the landline phone.

"Shian, sounds pretty lively over there for the New Year."

"Don’t even start."

Miao Shian sighed softly on the other end, his voice sounding as if he were muffling the receiver.

"A whole room of elders. I have to toast each and every one of them. My face is stiff from smiling. I finally found an excuse to sneak out to the balcony to call you."

Chen Zhuo heard the flick of a lighter, followed by Miao Shian’s muffled cough.

"Started smoking?"

"Snuck a puff. It’s harsh."

Miao Shian chuckled, his tone taking on the lazy drawl of a casual chat.

"Captain, my dad sent me to an international school."

Chen Zhuo didn’t say anything, listening quietly.

"Now I spend all day with English-only textbooks, learning how to handle foreign interviewers, how to write a polished résumé, and studying for the TOEFL. The physics classes at school are as basic as middle school general knowledge. They don’t even bother to go deep into force analysis."

There was a pause on the other end, and the sound of glasses clinking was heard again.

"Sometimes I miss the summer at the training camp, the days when Professor Wang forced us to build alarm systems out of scrap metal. The physics back then... it was tangible."

Chen Zhuo toyed with the telephone cord and smiled.

"The labs at an international school must be pretty advanced. If you’re that bored, you could always go tear apart your school’s fire alarm system and rewire it. I imagine that would be pretty interesting."

Miao Shian laughed on the other end.

"Yeah, right. If I did that, my dad would cancel my card tomorrow. Anyway, I can’t talk long. My uncle’s coming over. Happy New Year, Captain. I’ll treat you to a meal when I get my offer letters."

"Happy New Year."

The call ended.

Chen Zhuo put the receiver down and glanced at the piece of paper with phone numbers on the coffee table.

He dialed the number marked with two or three asterisks.

It rang twice before the call was instantly picked up, so fast it was as if someone had been waiting right by the phone.

"Hello, hello, hello? Who’s this? Is that you, Chen Zhuo?"

A rapid-fire barrage of questions burst from the receiver.

Chen Zhuo held the receiver ten centimeters away from his ear.

"Huashao, it’s me."

"Holy crap! Brother Zhuo! You finally called back!"

Wang Huashao yelled into the phone.

"I called you three times this afternoon—your mom was starting to get sick of me! Where’d you go? Ditching TV on New Year’s... you went out to have some fun, didn’t you?"

"Yeah," Chen Zhuo didn’t deny it. "Went out with a friend."

"I knew it!"

Wang Huashao snickered.

"You have no idea how bored I am. Let me tell you, my high school is strict as hell! The dean patrols the grounds every day, busting couples. He never misses."

Chen Zhuo held the receiver a little farther away.

"Sounds like you’re adapting pretty quickly."

"What choice do I have?"

He took a breath, then changed the subject and started pouring out his grievances.

"Oh, right. The school forced me onto the Physics Olympiad training team. We didn’t even get a break until the twenty-ninth of the last lunar month! The coach tortures us every day with past years’ semifinal exams. I could calculate the critical points for those stupid sliding block problems with my eyes closed, but I still have to pull all-nighters with those book-smart seniors. It’s driving me crazy!"

Chen Zhuo switched the receiver to his other ear.

"Being able to calculate the critical points of sliding blocks with your eyes closed... sounds like you’re doing just fine."

"It’s whatever. Just casually snagged a provincial first-prize for fun."

Wang Huashao’s voice was filled with an unconcealable smugness.

"Hey, Brother Zhuo, do you know any cute upperclasswomen over at Keda? Introduce me to some, huh? I don’t mind if they’re older."

"I don’t even see female mosquitoes flying around here."

Chen Zhuo was expressionless.

"Bullshit."

Wang Huashao didn’t believe him.

"By the way, Zhou Kai called you too, right?"

"That guy’s gone crazy. I heard he’s glued to Cheng Jiafu’s *Mechanics Chapter* every day, grinding away at it. He’s even drawing force analysis diagrams on scrap paper while in line for food at the cafeteria. I think he just can’t get over you one-upping him back then. He’s dead set on winning a national first-prize in this year’s Physics Olympiad to prove himself."

"Yeah, I’ll call him back in a bit."

"Alright, my mom’s calling me for dinner. Brother Zhuo, Happy New Year! I’ll come find you during summer break!"

Chen Zhuo hung up the phone.

Chen Jianguo pushed the door open and came in, carrying two bottles of beer and bringing a chill from the outside with him.

"Who were you on the phone with?"

Chen Jianguo put the beer on the dining table and rubbed his hands together.

"A friend from the old training camp."

Chen Zhuo answered while dialing the third number.

The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.

"Hello, who are you looking for?"

The voice was steady and deliberate.

"Zhou Kai," Chen Zhuo said.

The other end went quiet for a second. Then, Zhou Kai’s voice became somewhat tense, as if he had suddenly straightened his posture.

"Chen Zhuo. You called back."

"Yeah, I was out this afternoon. Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year." Zhou Kai’s greeting was just as formal. "How is your progress at Keda?"

"It’s fine."

"I’ve looked at some of Keda’s final exams from previous years."

Zhou Kai’s voice carried a competitive edge.

"The calculus and linear algebra sections have huge logical leaps. Are you managing to adapt?"

"Getting by."

"I will catch up to you."