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Chapter 3: The Line of Equal Connection

Tuesday, May 9th.

凭霖高级中学一年四季都只有一套作息时间表，晚自习19：00开始，22：10结束，高三再加一节到23：00，23：30教室熄灯。19：00~19：40，无任课老师，学生们自主学习。

Math teacher and class teacher Dong Chuang came to the classroom to inspect and wrote a string of URLs on the blackboard. At the meeting yesterday, the principal emphasized that all students must sign up. The registration rate is related to the school's evaluation and ranking, and the higher-ups attach great importance to this matter.

"Have you all read the official website of the domestic asymptote? Students who have mobile phones, please take out your phones. Students who don't have mobile phones, please read it with your deskmate. If you don't have any, just listen to me."

Until June this year, Pinglin Senior High School still strictly prohibited students from bringing mobile phones. But as more and more students became accustomed to it, the school lifted the ban on mobile phones. As long as it does not affect others and does not use mobile phones during exams, the school will not interfere.

The reasons for lifting the ban are complex. One of them is that everyone has asymptotes, and campus life is dangerous. If something goes wrong, the school does not want to be responsible, and the teacher will ask the student to contact the parents. In this case, it is the quickest for the student to call the parents.

Mu Zhengguang and Lu Hao both brought their cell phones with them. They took out their phones and watched and listened at the same time.

When the webpage was opened, Mu Zhengguang saw three pictures on the homepage of the official website: Saturn's rings, meteorites, and asteroid belts. The pictures occupied the left half of the screen, and the right half was a detailed description of the first-order star ring level, the second-order star meteorite level, and the third-order star belt level.

Dong Chuang found that most of the students brought their mobile phones, and he felt amused. He quickly calmed down and continued to talk with professionalism.

"October 10th to 10th are the preliminary rounds of the Asymptote Modeling Competition and the 'Asymptote +' Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. Those who want to participate can sign up. The Modeling Competition is more about physical combat, while the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition is more about brain competition. Both the Modeling Competition and the Entrepreneurship Competition have extra points for the college entrance examination and cash rewards. It is best for everyone to sign up. Students who bring mobile phones can look at the rules of the competition. If you are undecided, discuss with other students. If anyone does not want to participate, please come to me before the morning self-study tomorrow to explain the reason."

Suddenly, the sound of whispers rose and fell, forming a huge tide that could be heard in the next class.

The teacher was talking, and the students were talking. The students’ voices almost drowned out the teacher, but the teacher was not angry and allowed the students to talk and discuss. After all, the times are different now, and studying is no longer the only task. Moreover, students bring their mobile phones to school every day, and their test scores are getting lower and lower. If they want to get into a good university, they can only hope to get extra points in the competition.

Lu Hao looked at Mu Zhengguang: "What are you going to do?"

He and Mu Zhengguang had known each other since the first year of junior high school, and it was not easy for them to be deskmates in high school. As a good friend with rich experience, he knew very well that his deskmate was in a bad situation and there was no asymptote so far.

"I won't sign up yet. There will definitely be more than one competition. I'll wait for the next one."

As soon as Mu Zhengguang finished speaking, he heard an angry word: Damn it. The voice came from the center of the classroom. He turned his head to see which classmate was so casual and spoke so loudly in class.

Zhang Sutian, top 50 in class, top 100 in the whole school. He Zhuyang, top 100 in class, top 150 in the whole school... Han Chenlu, top female in class, top in the whole school. Li Moqi, second female in class, top in the whole school...

Those sitting in the middle and those sitting on the sides can be seen clearly at a glance, as if they are clearly distinguished.

Mu Zhengguang was not familiar with these people, and he looked at them several times but could not tell the source of the sound. Suddenly, he heard Lu Hao exclaim "It's over".

"what happened?"

Lu Hao said bitterly: "It's not fair! God is blind..."

Mu Zhengguang interrupted him immediately: "Be careful with your words. Speak again. What's the matter?"

Mu Zhengguang has always been cautious about matters related to "Heaven". No matter who it is, as long as they say something similar to "Heaven has no eyes" in front of him, he will stop them.

Lu Hao usually only thought this in his heart and rarely said this in front of Mu Zhengguang, but today the incident happened suddenly and he had no time to organize his words, so his thoughts blurted out.

"I'm actually a modern asymptotician. It's not fair!" Lu Hao showed him his phone while speaking. "Look, the rules for dividing asymptotics are so unfair!"

The time taken to go from the first order to the second order is the "first-order asymptotic rate". In months, the first-order asymptotic rate is divided into seven intervals: 4~6, 6~8...14~16, 16~18, corresponding to seven levels: ancient, medieval, modern, transitional, modern, contemporary, and contemporary.

Mu Zhengguang does not think there is anything wrong with the division rules. It is just stating the facts, nothing more, and it has nothing to do with whether it is fair or not.

You are in the second to last level, no wonder you complain, but this complaint is meaningless. Behind you are the contemporary asymptotes, who account for 93.09684% of the population. You are ahead of them, which is not bad. However, where do these percentages come from? Did the Star Master calculate it? Can the Star Master see the asymptotic rate of others? The Star Master calls the asymptote "ancient asymptote", but "ancient" is not in the seven levels. Ancient is older than ancient, does ancient mean a smaller asymptotic rate?

Mu Zhengguang asked him: "How do you calculate your asymptotic rate?"

"Easy. Once you have the asymptotes, you'll understand."

"Ah... OK." Mu Zhengguang recalled the exclamation he had just heard, and combined with Lu Hao's performance, he roughly guessed the reason for the exclamation: the person sitting in the middle of the classroom ranked in the top 4% of the province. Lu Hao felt wronged because he was a modern asymptotician. If that classmate was a contemporary asymptotician, wouldn't it be even more "wronged"?
At 22:10, after the evening self-study session, Xu Ying walked into Class 19 of Senior carrying a black canvas bag.

"You also skipped classes?" As soon as he said this, Mu Zhengguang felt something was wrong: Your head teacher must have also talked about the registration, so you came to me, and my question was completely unnecessary. Even if you didn't come to me, I would still come to you. But, would it be inconvenient for you to come to me? The resistance you faced when you skipped classes was much greater than mine.

Xu Ying stood next to Mu Zhengguang and answered proudly, "Yes, I was on duty. There are too many people here, let's talk somewhere else."

Mu Zhengguang replied: "Okay, I'll put away my homework."

"Ah."

The two walked out of the classroom, chatting as they walked.

Xu Ying said: "The preliminary round is in October, there is still more than a month to sign up."

Mu Zhengguang was very worried: "No accidents will happen, right?"

Xu Ying already had the answer: "You don't have to participate after registering, but you definitely can't participate if you don't register. Even if we don't have an asymptote by then, we can just give up the competition. I signed up for the modeling competition."

Mu Zhengguang was even more worried: "Are you leaning towards a violent fight? Isn't that too risky?"

"No. If I don't reach the Near Ancient Times, I won't participate and will wait for the next competition."

"That makes sense. I'll be participating, too. Thanks."

"You're welcome. The initiative is yours. The registration lasts for ten days, so there's still plenty of time. But let me make one thing clear. This is not to give you a glimmer of 'hope'."

Xu Yingze's waiting is a relatively positive waiting, while Mu Zhengguang's waiting is a relatively negative waiting. Although their attitudes are different, they are both "waiting" rather than "impatience."

Therefore, Mu Zhengguang easily understood what the other party meant: "Well. How is your side?"

"No, it's the same as before, there is still no asymptote."

"There should be something in the future, right?" Whether it will happen or not is still unknown. However, at this moment, why should we worry about the future? Why should we worry about things that we can't do anything about? If there is something, there is something. If there is nothing, there is nothing. People's worries are useless. However, there is one thing we can do. As they were about to reach the entrance of the playground, Xu Ying brushed past the iron fence and said, "Let's go and take a look inside."

"it is good."

On autumn nights, there are many people walking on the playground. They use the flashlights on their mobile phones to illuminate the way. The light travels far away and is dim, like flying fireflies.

In the flickering light, the two walked together, taking two circles, without a word, without a worry.

They cherish each other and have a relatively peaceful attitude towards life, so this simple companionship can play a role in eliminating worries. When friends get along with each other, they don’t necessarily have to make suggestions and solve problems. Sometimes, just being attentive is enough. When the other party feels this kind of heart, they can benefit from it.

After returning home, Mu Zhengguang carefully read the rules of the modeling competition. Since he had decided to sign up, he had to be well prepared for the competition.

He signed up and let it go.

Things move forward in waiting, and thoughts of fate circle back to the starting point.

October 10. The four-day holiday ended yesterday because I had to go back to school for evening self-study.

When he woke up that day, Mu Zhengguang saw a note on the table. He felt a little excited, opened the note, and looked at it again. He had another feeling: the alignment of all things exists. Things that deviate from the alignment also exist, and they constitute another form of the alignment.

“Our past resurfaces.”

Mu Zhengguang entered the first level with one thought and surpassed the recovery stage.

"Just like being in the 'dark'."

It was then that Mu Zhengguang realized why Lu Hao knew the identity of the modern asymptote: the asymptotic rate and domain radius were secrets to others, but to himself, he could feel them with a little effort.

He summoned the entity and looked at it carefully. The golden sand flowed in the colorless transparent glass shell. The three glass pillars and the circular upper and lower bases received the light from all directions and paved the fine golden sand into stars.

Mu Zhengguang calculated the time and ran to his classmate's house at full speed without even having breakfast, just in time to intercept Xu Yingze on the road.

He wanted to share his joy with her, but she made a "hush" gesture. He thought about it and realized what she meant, so he talked about something that didn't need to be kept secret: "Thank you very much for persuading me to apply for the exam."

Xu Ying took out the windmill and said casually, "It's just a small favor, not worth mentioning. My competition venue is in Nancun Park, how about you?"

Irregular purple pinwheel? Looks familiar. If it's a different color, it'll look even more familiar! Isn't this the leaf pinwheel we made before? The competition information was sent a few days ago, but you never asked and I didn't tell you. Now the time has come, I can tell you.

"Forest Park."

"It's not exactly on the same route, but the route into the city is the same. Are you taking the train or the car?"

Mu Zhengguang thought for a few seconds: "I plan to take the train, but I haven't bought the ticket yet."

"You have my information, so buy me a ticket and let me know before you leave. I won't pay for the ticket, just consider it as a thank you for persuading you to participate."

The prizes for the modeling competition are very generous. If you miss it, you will inevitably regret it. The ticket from the county to the city is only a dozen yuan. Compared with persuading people to participate in the competition, helping them buy tickets is really a piece of cake. How could I not know what you are thinking? You don't want me to feel that you owe me a favor. Mu Zhengguang smiled happily and said, "I am very happy to do so."

That night, Mu Zhengguang went to Xu Yingze's house and had a secret conversation, avoiding all surveillance and eavesdropping.

This was the first secret conversation between the two.

"Seven months, 212 days. Your asymptotic rate should be the same as mine, right?" Xu Ying could confidently say this "unprovoked" guess, due to both her own reasons and the other party's reasons.

"Same." Mu Zhengguang took out an hourglass, and the gold sand inside the glass shell remained still.

Xu Ying summoned a stationary windmill and flicked it with her hand. The four-bladed windmill rotated clockwise in the direction of her finger.

Mu Zhengguang sat opposite his classmate. To him, the windmill rotated counterclockwise. He thought about it and the gold sand fell.

The falling of gold sand is not affected by gravity. Even if it is turned over, the original flow direction of the gold sand will not change.

Xu Ying asked him, "How long is your countdown?"

"60 minutes."

"What effect?"

"It's a very abstract effect. The gold sand flows, the opponent is weakened, and we are strengthened. The weakening and strengthening are all the attributes that we can imagine, and the upper limit is 50%. And the target of the hourglass seems a bit... empty."

The countdown has many limitations. In addition to the "target" he mentioned, the "scope of action" also constrains the effect of the hourglass. The hourglass is only effective within a certain area, which is the scope of influence of the hourglass. The "scope of influence" is the same size as the asymptotic domain. Within the scope, strengthening and weakening are effective. Once the target leaves the scope, the effect disappears and the hourglass is reset to the initial state.

"Oh, about the same as mine. But my countdown is a little faster than yours, 48 ​​minutes. But mine shouldn't be counted as a countdown, the windmill slows down, but it won't stop. We still have many tricks, but let's stop here today. No, there's one thing I forgot to mention, my asymptote is called: operating force."

Mu Zhengguang showed the same level of sincerity and answered truthfully: "Existence. There is one thing I didn't mention just now. The existence in the form of gold sand is temporary. Existence can be effective for any person or thing, but the countdown is only effective for life forms with asymptotes."

Lu Hao once told Mu Zhengguang that his asymptote was "coloring power", which was a modified and diluted statement. However, what Xu Ying said to Mu Zhengguang was the truth without any impurities.

Xu Ying said with a smile: "The official website says that it is best not to tell anyone anything about the asymptote. The others mentioned here probably do not include relatives and friends. The official website also says that the asymptotic rate must not be told to anyone. The others mentioned here definitely include relatives and friends."

Mu Zhengguang thought: When I first arrived, you told me about your asymptotic rate and then asked me. The relationship between us does not belong to any kind of "others", so it doesn't matter if you tell me.

"Don't worry, even if they are my biological parents, I won't tell them too much detail."

Xu Ying had already thought of a brilliant "cover" for him: "If anyone asks, you can say that your asymptote is a force related to sand. Judging from the names of the asymptotes published on the official website, most of them are forces related to something. Usually, if something is a real object, there is no quotation marks, but if it is an imaginary object, there must be quotation marks. You can't be considered lying if you say that."

"Yeah, I see. Thanks."

(End of this chapter)