The Illegitimate Heir

CHAPTER FOUR

You all should bear in mind that the team name we have selected today says a lot about us. As we have decided the name we wanted.

The name dictates whether we want to go with a creative and thoughtful name.

A powerful team name also goes down with the audiences, and it commands respect from other competing groups, and it should also be easy to remember.

I guess that's all for today, tomorrow morning by 7:00am we shall be conveying here.

We have to be here on time in other to get to Multi Choice Cybercafé

As we all know, it's just the only Cybercafé in this area and that being said, we need to go there on time to avoid meeting crowds.

Turning towards James and Derek, his two friends, as they were the last to go home after Nadia and hope had left.

Let's find our way back home, it's already getting dark.

7AM 8th February 2021, All dressed in their nice outfit marching towards Multi Choice Cybercafé

It was located at the end of the road.

Hello Mr. Bruce.

Good morning Sir, they greeted in excitement.

Mr. Bruce? Mr. Bruce?

He seems not to have heard his name because of the noise coming out from the bakery factory opposite his Cybercafé.

Zayn went ahead to tap him by his shoulder.

He turned to check who was taping him by the shoulder. He saw 5 strange faces staring at him.

You must be Mr. Bruce?

Yes, I am. How may I help you?

We came to register for the Programming competition.

Which one?

“Sir, is there any other programming competition coming up except the one that was announced in the news a few days back,” Derek Asked?

So sorry Guys, I thought I heard you came to register for the Drama Competition.

Hope and Nadia couldn't hold back their laughter

Alright, just give me a minute, let me turn on the systems.

As you can see, I am just opening

Alright Sir,

The five of them sat on the chair placed by the window side waiting patiently for Bruce.

The System was on and running

They registered for it without wasting much of their time.

They paid him and left.

On their way home, they discussed the next plan which was getting a system which all of them agreed to collect from their parents, except Zayn, who already had an HP laptop which he was managing.

Our next meeting place should also be decided now.

I heard Mrs. Yang complaining about how we have chased away her customers because we have been occupying her customers' chairs.

My house wouldn't be bad, Derek said.

Alright guys, we will be meeting tomorrow at 900am at Derek's house.

All seated at the table, very much excited to start their lesson, when Zayn brought out the 15 books related to programming and some past related questions they were all discouraged.

At a point, they felt like giving up.

Who are we trying to be? James asked. The time we have is short, and there's no number of miracles that would make us solve all these and win.

Well, you're right, Zayn said, maybe we should all just go home and forget about all this.

Guys, come on, we have really come a long way, how can we quit just like that? Nadia shouted.

For some time, they had to give it their best shot even if in the end they didn't win, they had already made a name.

At 7:00 pm of that same day, they have left for their individual homes, Zayn was all alone in his house

trying to draft out what and what he needed to teach them the next day.

He was not perfect, but he was better than the rest of them.

In the morning, inside Derek's apartment.

Derek and his friends all seated at the round table next to the left side window with their laptops on top of the big brown table

Standing in the front of it was Zayn with his writing materials and a board.

He wrote down the necessary topic he needed to teach, which was:

What is a programming language?

Basic principles of programming language

Algorithm

He went further more to explain the benefits of programming, which are:

When an elite programmer takes part in a competitive programming event, he or she has a significantly faster ability to solve issues and understand new concepts. Most product-based companies rely on such competitive programming events to hire the most advanced programmers.

It can help you get coding interview opportunities. Programming profile demonstrates that you genuinely know how to tackle difficult problems.

Zayn went further to bring out some competitive programming questions they needed to learn.

I hope it's not that difficult, Derek said.

Well, we just have to try our best, the answers are here already.

But I'll share some essential competitive coding questions I drafted out. I believe it will go a long way.

We would be learning all these to prepare for the competition.

That's too many things to learn, how do we go about it?

Hope asked.

We really need to stop complaining and do the best we can.

If we can remove this self-doubt in us, we can do it.

I am scared too, but if I allow the feeling of fear to consume me, we might as well forget about this competition.

You're right, James said.

At a point, Zayn lost his patience and became furious because everything he taught them, they learned nothing.

Because to them, it felt like a punishment, and they thought it was going to be an easy way to success.

Guy, we need to take this seriously! As he got his hand on the table in frustration.

They all got shocked and woke up from their sleep as they thought it was another earthquake happening.

Three weeks have passed, and it felt like two years.

In two days’ time was the competition.

Zayn had finally learned what they needed to learn.