Qiao Chu's legs were weak when she walked off the stage. She had been on the stage for nearly three hours and had been standing for three hours, the longest time among all the challengers on stage so far. The challenge time of the first two challengers was just over an hour, but she took three times as long as them, which consumed a lot of mental and physical energy.

Because she had an extra challenge compared to others, and the audience was very emotional just now, which delayed her for more than half an hour, so it took her a longer time. However, what she didn't know was that this was also intentional by the program crew. She is the contestant that the program team is most optimistic about among all the contestants. Both her outstanding appearance and extraordinary wisdom are quite attractive. Therefore, the production team deliberately let her stay on the stage a little longer, wanting to promote her as the highlight of this season's The Brain, to attract audiences and increase the ratings of the show.

However, Qiao Chu was not aware of this.

She stretched her stiff body and walked towards the lounge.

When she opened the door of the lounge, she was greeted by warm applause.

"Qiao Chu, you are so awesome!"

"Qiao Chu, your challenge just now was so exciting!"

"Yeah, I got goosebumps!"

"After seeing your performance, I want to go home..."

"Qiao Chu, do you have special abilities?"

Chen Ziang also came forward with a look of admiration, "Qiao Chu, I didn't expect you to be so strong. Compared to you, I am still too weak."

He has been a child with outstanding IQ, good character and good academic performance since he was young. He has always been the pride of the whole family. He lives in praise and compliments every day, and he is deeply proud of it. However, after meeting Qiao Chu today, he finally realized that there are always people better than you and there are always things better than you. Compared to Qiao Chu, what he had was nothing more than trifles.

With her outstanding performance, Qiao Chu became the most popular among the contestants. Everyone loved to get along with her and would talk to her from time to time to discuss their learning experiences. They are all geniuses, and what they admire most are people who are stronger than themselves, and Qiao Chu conquered them with his wisdom.

Qiao Chu scored a full score of 150 points, the highest among all challengers. Even if there are 22 people who have not challenged yet, there should be no one with a higher score than hers, so she has already secured her entry into China's Strongest Brain Team. Next, she had no pressure at all and just had to leisurely be a spectator in the lounge and let the camera capture her beautiful face from time to time.

Since each challenger's challenge time is more than an hour, plus the various preparation time and rest time of the program team, only 3-5 challenges can be recorded every day. The 25 contestants recorded for a whole week before they finished.

In the end, after the qualifying round, the top nine challengers formed China's Strongest Brain Team, including Qiao Chu and Chen Ziang. Among the other seven people, two are high school students from Beijing, one is a student from Peking University, one is a student from Tsinghua University, one is an 11-year-old junior high school student from Zhejiang Province, and the other two are international students studying abroad.

The nine of them will represent Chinese and foreign geniuses in a brain battle, which is the second half of the Strongest Brain - "China-Foreign PK Competition". However, since talents from abroad also need to be selected, and coming here involves visa issues, the China-foreign PK match cannot be recorded immediately. Therefore, after recording the promotion matches, Qiao Chu and the others can go home first, and then come back to participate after the preparations for the China-foreign PK match are completed.

On the last day, the 25 contestants said goodbye in the lounge. After a week of getting along, they had become friends. After all, people with high IQs are easier to chat with and have more common language. The 16 eliminated people sincerely congratulated Qiao Chu and his team, and also wished them to defeat foreign players and win glory for the country in subsequent Sino-foreign PK competitions.

Just as they were reluctantly saying goodbye, several judges walked in. Usually they would leave after finishing the show, but I don’t know why they hadn’t left today and even came to the contestants’ lounge.

Everyone immediately gathered around with joy.

"Teacher Yuan, Teacher Liang, Brother Tianyou, Sister Yuanyuan, why haven't you left yet?"

Ren Yuanyuan coquettishly lifted her long hair and said affectionately, "Today is the last day. We have become attached to everyone. How can we just leave like this? Of course we are here to say goodbye to everyone. At the very least, we should take a photo with all the geniuses as a souvenir."

"Yes, I promised my fans that I would take a picture with her."

Yin Tianyou gave a typical smile and raised his chin towards Qiao Chu.

"Ah—that's great!"

This unexpected surprise made everyone very excited. Although they were all talented people who dominated the stage, they were still young and it was the time for them to chase stars. Ren Yuanyuan and others were celebrities with outstanding achievements in various fields and were very worthy of admiration. They couldn't wait to rush up and take photos with the judges.

Yin Tianyou walked up to Qiao Chu and invited her with a smile: "Come on, my little fan, I wonder if I have the honor to take a photo with you?"

Qiao Chu couldn't wait to say, "Of course, I'd love to!"

Qiao Chu was so happy. This time by participating in the show, he not only got to know his idol, but also had close contact with him. It was great!

From now on, please call her – the star-chasing winner!

The two stood side by side, looking at the camera with bright smiles.

Snap——

"You must continue to support me in the future. It's such an honor for me to have such a great fan like you! Please don't abandon me."

"No, I definitely won't. I will always support Brother Tianyou!"

"Then I would like to thank you for your support."

"Brother Tianyou, can I take a picture with you?"

At this time, a contestant walked up to the two and asked politely.

"Of course."

The two of them hadn't chatted for a few words when Yin Tianyou was pulled away.

"Shall we take a photo together?"

A voice suddenly came from behind him. Qiao Chu turned around and saw that it was Atom Dimension. He was all smiles and looked very friendly, very different from when he was on the judges' panel.

"Hello, Mr. Yuan."

Yuan Ziwei looked at Qiao Chu with admiration in his eyes, and said gently: "Student Qiao, you are one of the few geniuses I have ever seen. You must work hard and study hard in the future. Your age is the time to love playing, but it is also the best time to learn. You must always maintain a heart of striving for progress, and never waste your talent."

In real life, Atom Dimension is a gentle and polite person. The reason why he is so strict on stage is entirely because of his identity. As a scientist judge, he has the responsibility to select the strongest person. He must look at these challengers rationally and cannot be soft-hearted.

However, now that the promotion was over and his duty was done, he had regained his mild and good temper.

He admired Qiao Chu very much and felt that this girl was extremely talented and, if nothing unexpected happened, she would have a bright future. However, Qiao Chu is only 16 years old. Usually at this age, people lack perseverance and persistence. One wrong step may waste their entire life. He is a teacher and has seen many examples of "The Injury of Zhongyong". Every time he could only sigh and lament.

Therefore, he specially came over today to say these words to Qiao Chu. Although it was a bit presumptuous, they were truly from the bottom of his heart, reflecting his deep love and appreciation for talents.

If Qiao Chu was really only 16 years old, he might not listen to Atom Dimension's words. However, she was once an adult, had wasted years, and experienced regret. She could fully understand the meaning of his words and suddenly felt grateful.

She bowed respectfully to Yuan Ziwei, "Thank you, Mr. Yuan. I will definitely keep your teachings in mind. If you don't move forward, you will fall behind. I will not let my youth go to waste, please rest assured."

Yuanziwei saw that her attitude was sincere, her expression was respectful, and her answers were very cautious. It was obvious that she had listened to what he just said. He was very pleased and admired Qiao Chu even more.

He is so young but not impetuous, his words and actions are steady, and he is so intelligent. It is really rare. This boy will become a great man in the future! Atom Dimension was filled with admiration.

Just as the two were chatting happily, Liang Zhongqiu, who had already taken photos with others, came over and said to Qiao Chu, "Student Qiao, let's take a photo together too."

Qiao Chu quickly straightened up and said respectfully: "Okay, Teacher Liang."

Liang Zhongqiu is the best table tennis coach in the country. He has been training talents for the country's table tennis team and has won many honors for the country. However, Qiao Chu usually never pays attention to the sports circle, and never watches table tennis. It’s a bit embarrassing to say this...but it doesn’t stop her from admiring Liang Zhongqiu.

And... when she first saw Liang Zhongqiu a few days ago, she felt that he looked familiar. Now that she looked at him up close... he looked even more familiar.

Has she met Teacher Liang somewhere? Qiao Chu was confused.

That's impossible... She has a photographic memory. If she had seen Liang Zhongqiu, she would definitely remember him.

So…why? Where have I seen it before...

Qiao Chu stared at Liang Zhongqiu's face and fell into thought. Her brain was working rapidly, like a sophisticated instrument, rapidly replaying all the past fragments, not missing even a second.

Suddenly, when she was flipping through an old memory, that face appeared! Qiao Chu suddenly understood.

No wonder she felt Liang Zhongqiu looked familiar, but couldn't remember who he was. It turned out to be...

"Student Qiao, what's wrong with you?"

Liang Zhongqiu was a little confused when he saw that she was in a daze and staring at his face.

Qiao Chu came back to his senses, smiled, and said to Liang Zhongqiu: "I'm fine, Teacher Liang, I just remembered something. By the way, is your son okay?"

This was a very ordinary greeting, but Liang Zhongqiu's expression changed drastically after hearing it. He was shocked at first, then angry, and finally pointed at Qiao Chu without caring about his manners, "You, you..."

His hands were shaking slightly, and he was obviously very angry. He couldn't speak for a long time. Finally, he snorted coldly and quickly left the lounge.

Bang--

The loud sound of a door slamming startled everyone in the lounge who were taking pictures enthusiastically.

Qiao Chu was confused. Did she say something wrong? Why was Teacher Liang so angry just now? No... angry is not enough to describe Liang Zhongqiu's performance just now, he could be said to be furious. She felt that if it weren't for the wrong occasion, Liang Zhongqiu might have scolded her.

But...why?

"Student Qiao, come out with me for a moment."

At this time, Yuan Ziwei, who had been standing nearby and witnessed the whole process, looked anxious and whispered to Qiao Chu, "Come quickly."

Qiao Chu left the lounge with Yuanziwei in confusion.

Yuan Ziwei led her to a secluded corner and began to reproach her: "Student Qiao, you are too reckless!"

"Uh, Mr. Hara, what's wrong with me?"

Yuan Ziwei looked around furtively, and seeing that there was no one around, he lowered his voice and said to Qiao Chu, "Student Qiao, you must not mention his son in front of Teacher Liang."

"Why?" Qiao Chu was puzzled.

Yuan Ziwei sighed, "You may not have heard about it. After all, this matter is kept secret. I know a little bit about it because I have a good personal relationship with Lao Liang. Lao Liang's son was kidnapped and has not been found yet. The kidnapper neither called nor asked for a ransom, so the police could not find him. They speculated that something might have happened. He hadn't contacted his family for such a long time, so he might have been... killed."

"What?" Qiao Chu was shocked, and then she realized how inappropriate her words were. It was like rubbing salt into someone's wound. Teacher Liang didn't scold her, which was very graceful.

"So, don't blame Mr. Liang. You can imagine how he feels."

Speaking of this, Yuanzi Wei shook his head, feeling very heavy. When he visited Liang Zhongqiu's home before, he often saw that child. He was really a lively and intelligent little adult. He was very polite at a young age. He didn't cry like other children. He would greet him obediently. It was a pity...

Alas - he couldn't help but sigh again.

"It's been half a year, and the police have given up, saying there is little hope..."

"Wait!" Qiao Chu suddenly interrupted Yuan Ziwei and asked, "Teacher Yuan, you said half a year? Teacher Liang's son was kidnapped half a year ago?"

Atom Dimension nodded: "Yes, it was half a year ago. I remember it was... July of last year. What happened?"

Seeing Qiao Chu's conflicted look, he asked in confusion.

"Teacher Yuan, does Teacher Liang's son look very similar to Teacher Yuan?"

"Yes, she looks 90% like your teacher Liang, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and dimples."

"So he's about 3 or 4 years old?"

"Yeah, what's wrong, do you really know Junjun?"

Qiao Chu didn't answer. She lowered her head and fell into thought.

After a while, she raised her head, still with a confused look on her face, and said to Yuan Ziwei: "Teacher Yuan, I don't actually know Teacher Liang's son. I just saw a little boy who looked very much like Teacher Liang. I was very familiar with Teacher Liang when I saw him. I just remembered him, so I asked him a question. I didn't expect that I would anger Teacher Liang."

"So that's how it is. I was wondering why you suddenly mentioned Lao Liang's son. Sigh, that child looks a lot like Lao Liang, so he must be his son. It's a pity that he is so young..."

"But I saw that little boy three months ago... Teacher Liang's son was kidnapped six months ago..."

"What? What did you say?"

Before Yuan Ziwei could say anything, there was a sudden excited roar from behind them, which frightened the two men so much that they trembled. When they turned around, they saw that it was Liang Zhongqiu who had returned.

Liang Zhongqiu came back to apologize to Qiao Chu. He had just slammed the door and left. After calming down, he felt that he should not argue with a 16-year-old child, which was unbecoming of an elder. Besides, the other person didn’t know the situation at his own home, so it must have been an unintentional mistake, and his original intention was good. So, he came back, and happened to overhear the conversation between Qiao Chu and Yuanzi Wei.

He rushed forward, held Qiao Chu's shoulders, and said excitedly: "Qiao Chu, what did you say? You met Junjun three months ago? Is it true?"

Qiao Chu hadn't reacted yet, and replied subconsciously: "Uh, it's true, it was three months ago, on October 1st last year."

"Are you sure that it was Junjun you saw?"

Liang Zhongqiu became even more excited and shook Qiao Chu's shoulders unconsciously.

Atom Dimension who was standing next to him quickly stepped forward and pulled him away, "Lao Liang, Lao Liang, calm down first, you are being too rude."

"Ziwei, I..."

"Okay, I understand how you feel. This is not the place to talk. Let's go somewhere else and talk slowly."

Then, Qiao Chu followed Atom Dimension and Liang Zhongqiu to Atom Dimension’s private lounge. On the way, Liang Zhongqiu kept staring at Qiao Chu, as if he was afraid that she would run away.

As soon as the door of the lounge was closed, Liang Zhongqiu couldn't wait to speak: "Student Qiao, are you sure that it was Junjun you saw?"

Liang Zhongqiu was very nervous. He hoped to hear good news from Qiao Chu to give himself hope, but he was afraid that it was a false alarm and he could not bear it.

Qiao Chu knew that this matter was of great importance, and answered seriously: "Teacher Liang, I can be sure. Because the little boy looks exactly like you, and there is a word "Liang" embroidered on the collar of his clothes. Otherwise, I would not have asked him so rashly just now."

Liang Zhongqiu's legs suddenly became weak, and he took two steps back powerlessly, holding onto the table beside him, tears streaming down his face, "It's Junjun! It's really Junjun... It turns out he's still alive!"

His face was distorted with a mixture of sadness and ecstasy. Then, he excitedly rushed to Qiao Chu and asked anxiously, "Where is he now?"

Qiao Chu shook his head: "I don't know..."

Liang Zhongqiu was anxious, "How come you don't know? Haven't you seen him? You..."

Seeing that he was a little out of control, Yuan Ziwei hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Lao Liang, don't worry, let's sit down and listen to Qiao's explanation of the whole story. Now that we know Junjun is still alive, the next step is to rescue him. Qiao must know some clues, let's listen to her slowly."

What he said made sense, and Liang Zhongqiu barely suppressed his inner anxiety.

"Okay, classmate Qiao, please tell me now. I only have this one son, you must help me find him!"

Liang Zhongqiu's eyes were red and he looked very sad. He is over fifty years old and has dedicated most of his life to the country. He trained hard when he was a child and fought everywhere to win gold medals when he was a teenager. After retiring, he still wants to cultivate talents for the country.

At the age of 50, God showed mercy to him and gave him a son who looked very much like him. He was so cute that he held this son in his hands and loved him. But he didn't expect...

This...how can he bear it!

If he hadn't held onto a tiny glimmer of hope in his heart, he would have probably... followed...

Seeing him so sad and anxious, Qiao Chu couldn't help but think of his father. Qiao Weimin is also a good father. If she was kidnapped, he would definitely be as miserable as Liang Zhongqiu, right?

Thinking of this, she hoped even more that she could help this poor father.

She thought for a moment and began to recount what happened: "It was October 1st last year. I took a plane from Hai City to Jing City to participate in a competition. On the plane, I met Mr. Liang's son Junjun. We were sitting in the same row. He was sitting in the innermost window seat. There was a woman between him and me. I thought the woman was his mother at the time. She took good care of him, and Junjun seemed to trust her very much. Junjun was very well behaved and didn't cry or make a fuss. However, he seemed to have a cold and kept sneezing..."

"Yes, yes, it must be Junjun. Junjun has rhinitis. When he arrives in a strange place, he is prone to sneezing. It must be him, it must be him! Classmate Qiao, please continue!"

"After that, we got off the plane in Beijing and went our separate ways. We never saw each other again."

"What? Never seen him again? It's been three months. I wonder how Junjun is doing now? You said there's a woman with him?"

"Yes, a woman of about forty."

"She must be the one who kidnapped Junjun!"

Liang Zhongqiu gnashed his teeth, wishing he could find that woman and tear her into pieces. "Then did you see clearly what that woman looked like?"

If we find out who that woman is, we will definitely be able to find Junjun! I just hope that after three months, Junjun will be fine...

Yuan Ziwei couldn't help but interrupt, "Lao Liang, I think you are so anxious that you are confused! Who is our classmate Qiao? Don't you know her ability? She can draw a person exactly with just a glance, how could she not remember the appearance of that woman?"

"Yes, how could I forget..." After he reminded him, Liang Zhongqiu finally remembered. His eyes were filled with ecstasy, and he even said to Qiao Chu in a pleading tone: "Student Qiao, could you please draw it for me?"

Qiao Chu agreed without hesitation: "Of course no problem, I'll draw it right away."

Yuanziwei quickly found paper and pen and handed them to her.

Qiao Chu took the paper and pen, thought for a while, and then started drawing on the paper.

Yuan Ziwei and Liang Zhongqiu looked at her nervously from the side, not daring to make any sound for fear of disturbing her.

About twenty minutes later, Qiao Chu put down his pen and handed the finished portrait to Liang Zhongqiu, "Teacher Liang, the woman I saw is her."

Liang Zhongqiu quickly took the portrait, took a closer look, and immediately shouted in shock: "It's her!"

He obviously knew this woman. Qiao Chu added, "I saw her taking good care of Junjun that day. Junjun also relied on her and there was no sign of being kidnapped. I think she must be someone Junjun is very familiar with and trusts."

"She...she is..." Liang Zhongqiu opened his mouth several times, but in the end said nothing.

He stood up suddenly, holding the portrait, and said to Qiao Chu: "Student Qiao, can you leave me a contact number? I need to go back now! I have to find Junjun right away, and I may need your help then. Please leave me your phone number."

Qiao Chu gave him the phone number, Liang Zhongqiu entered it into his mobile phone, thanked her, and left in a hurry.

Qiao Chu looked at his anxious back and prayed silently in his heart:

I hope Teacher Liang can find Junjun successfully.

The New Year is coming soon. On this day of family reunion, I wish that the father and son can be reunited soon...