Chapter 119： finals

June 1, 1978, Children's Day, MIT Basketball Hall.

After the gate of the stadium opened at 8:00 in the morning, the audience began to enter the stadium one after another, and took their seats according to their seat numbers.

This time it was a live broadcast in the United States. Originally, Bao Zixuan didn't want to reveal his photos too early. But now it seems impossible, and it would be unreasonable not to show up as the chairman of the company for such an important event.

Since he wants to show up, he has to take it seriously. Bao Zixuan put on Phil Hawkins's wedding suit again. As soon as he appeared, he immediately became the focus of the audience. So young, dressed like this and sitting on the rostrum, there is only one person with such qualifications, Bao Zixuan, the boss of Heiyun Group. Because sitting next to him is MIT President Johansson.

Bao Zixuan was having a cordial exchange with Principal Johansson. This time, Bao Zixuan explained the rules, and Principal Johansson would announce the opening of the competition.

However, there was some gunpowder smell on the seats next to the rostrum. The tickets for these seats were all given by Bao Zixuan. In addition to roommates are members of two female dormitories at Harvard University and Boston College.

Hearing Miyuki Matsushita's English with an obvious RB accent, Jessica Mellon knew that it must be this RB girl who was arguing with her that day.

Could it be that Bao Zixuan brought his girlfriend here, but he didn't hear from my brother that he had a girlfriend! I want to see who this girl is! With this in mind, Jessica Mellon began to ask Danny Green, who was sitting next to him, what he had.

As soon as 9 o'clock arrived, the host made an opening remark, and Bao Zixuan stood up. Walking to the center of the venue, he held the microphone and said to everyone, "Welcome everyone to the finals of the first Rubik's Cube Competition. I'm Bao Zixuan."

After speaking and bowing, the audience burst into warm applause.

Bao Zixuan went on to say, "This time it's a knockout competition. You have to go through 6 rounds to win the final championship."

"After the first round of 100 players, we selected 60 players to enter the second round; of the 60 players in the second round, we selected 30 players to enter the third round; in the third round of 30 players, we selected 10 players to enter the third round. Four rounds; out of the 10 players in the fourth round, we will select 5 players to enter the fifth round. We will select 3 players out of the 5 players in the fifth round to enter the sixth round. The sixth round of 3 players will go to the final round.”

"Each competition is 10 minutes apart, and eliminated players will automatically leave the field to rest in the lounge. In order to increase competition participation, each advance round will be rewarded accordingly."

"Now all players have a bonus of $10,000, and we add another $10,000 for each advance round. The final prize money is $360,000, the runner-up is $260,000, and the third place is $160,000."

"It will be distributed to everyone after the game. I just tell the children that as long as you work hard, you can support yourself."

After Bao Zixuan returned to his seat, the host said, "Next, I invite the President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the best university in the world, to announce the opening of the competition."

Johansson took the microphone and stood up and said, "I announce the opening of the finals of the first Black Cloud Cube Competition."

As soon as the voice fell, the Heiyun employee on the field put the competition table in the center of the field, and at the same time, the Casio employees also entered the field with a timer.

This time, Casio sent a huge team to make a name for himself in this competition. Originally there was only $200,000 in sponsorship, but because there were too many people to come, and all of them were wearing Casio uniforms, they were given a lot of billboards. After negotiating with Black Cloud, the sponsorship fee was increased to $1 million.

This is also the reason why the bonuses of the participating players have increased. After all, it would be unreasonable if Heiyun did not increase the welfare of the participating players after collecting so many sponsorship fees.

Everything was ready. After the host said "start", the 100 players left the timer with both hands and picked up the Rubik's Cube and danced quickly. In less than 10 seconds, all the team members have completed the restoration of the Rubik's Cube.

At this time, the millisecond-accurate timer has already counted all the results. The fastest player only took 5.63 seconds, and the slowest player took 8.28 seconds. In this high-pressure competition, 63 players entered within 6 seconds.

As the last 40 players left the field, the atmosphere became more tense. The remaining players were all ruthless men within 6 seconds. The results were not much different, and if they were not careful, they would be eliminated.

After the timer is reset, the staff is carefully checking for possible problems. If there is a problem with the timer, then Casio's previous efforts will be in vain, and the RB people's work in this area is indeed commendable.

After the new preparations were completed, the host said "start". This time, the time was shorter than the last time, and the recovery was completed in less than 7 seconds. It was still a player who made a wrong step in the case of a mistake and wasted 1 second.

The mistake was that a little girl was very sad and cried beside her. At this time, the little volunteers showed great love. A volunteer handed a tissue to the little girl who made a mistake and gave her a hug, and the audience applauded when they saw this scene. The audience in front of the TV was also moved.

The narrator said: "A small tissue, two small figures hugging each other and telling us not to be afraid of mistakes, but to face difficulties bravely. A mistake is not terrible, you can come again next year when you are young."

The third round was within 6 seconds, and the 20 contestants left in disappointment. But the game has no losers by this time. Every player deserves respect.

Now the remaining players have been reported by various countries before, and they have become local stars.

Although the time of each game is very short, everyone feels very enjoyable to see the players' fingers turning like a motor. There is no competition in this world where the hand speed can be so fast, and the Black Cloud Group has become the first enterprise to eat crabs.

In the fourth round, Los Angeles player Ryan, who had been performing well before, was unexpectedly eliminated, which disappointed the American audience, but this is a competitive game. Every time someone moves toward the next goal, someone leaves with regret.

In the fifth round, there are the last five players left. They are Hank of Germany, Yingzi of RB, and two young players; the remaining three are young people over 16 years old; Guy from the United States, James from the United Kingdom and Hong Kong Lu Hong students.

Lu Gangsheng is the child of an employee of Heiyun Group. He has been very fast since he was a child. This time, I got the Rubik's Cube ahead of time by virtue of the identity of the family members of internal employees Although there is some suspicion of cheating, if I don't have the strength, I can't achieve the current results. And the Rubik's Cube was purchased by the child's father with money. Bao Zixuan didn't say anything after hearing about it, he had to give this child a chance no matter what.

After the five contestants were ready, the host shouted "Start". This time everyone is faster, the fastest has reached 5.14 seconds. The slowest is 5.60 seconds. If it is not displayed by the timer, it cannot be seen with the naked eye.

The finalists were Germany's Hanke; RB's Yingzi; and America's Guy. The British and Hong Kong players were eliminated. But they are not frustrated, for them today has been a super-level performance. If you can achieve such a result, you can leave with your head held high.

The three contestants in the final are moving their knuckles, and they have to make the final effort. In particular, Yingzi has received widespread attention, and girls are very rare in competitions that emphasize speed and intelligence.

After the three people re-entered the venue, the camera focused on them. Their country and every family are cheering them on.

Bao Zixuan came to the competition venue in person, took the host's microphone and shouted "start". The three people moved their fingers quickly, but at a glance, the Kung Fu Rubik's Cube has been restored. The final result stunned everyone. Germany's little Hank was exactly 5 seconds and won the first place without a doubt.

Gay of the United States won the runner-up in 5.35 seconds, and Yingzi of RB won the third runner-up in 5.54 seconds. After the game, all 100 contestants came to the center of the field and began to receive bonuses and medals.

The photo of Hank wearing the championship medal and holding the championship trophy has made a lot of media headlines, and has become a household hero in Germany.

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