"I just want to finish the exams ASAP, get free, and then hit the internet cafe for three or five all-nighters in a row! Then I'll get a job and save up a small nest egg before college. I heard you don't even have to attend classes in college, is that true?"
"You do have to go to classes."
"Bummer!" Brother Nan said, sitting beside Zhou Li. "Let me tell you something interesting. Teacher Chang called me yesterday and said if I really can't figure out some of the questions, I shouldn't be so rigid and just keep it subtle... like if my neck is stiff and I want to stretch it, I could sneak a peek. As long as I'm not too obvious, the proctors won't give us a hard time. He said no one has ever been caught for minor stuff like that in all these years. Do you think he's telling the truth or trying to set me up?"
"You're not calling him a lecher anymore."
"Heh-heh, I think he's got a point. But didn't you say the seats are spaced quite far apart?"
"I still trust myself more."
A while later, the two of them walked towards the examination hall.
They queued up for security checks, compared their admission tickets and ID cards, verified fingerprints, signed in, and took their seats.
The Chinese language exam was relatively relaxed, mostly relying on accumulated knowledge from daily studies, both in and out of class, with minimal interference from other factors. Simply put, you get the score you deserve; it won't fluctuate much.
It had the least impact on one's mindset as well.
This year's essay topic wasn't tricky either. It involved writing based on a comic strip, designed to best assess the students' true abilities.
Zhou Li finished relatively quickly. He had plenty of time left after completing the essay.
He glanced at the two proctors.
One had his head tilted, looking utterly listless, his gaze sweeping across the exam hall through his glasses.
The other was looking down and kicking the ground, occasionally glancing up.
Huai Xu had been sitting cross-legged on the floor beside him, yawning out of boredom, but now he'd taken on the role of a proctor and started patrolling the room.
The head proctor's figure appeared outside the window.
The proctors suddenly became very alert.
One of them looked towards him.
Zhou Li was not flustered; according to his experience, these teachers were like deities, able to tell at a glance if you were serious or trying to cheat. They wouldn't waste much attention on those who were taking the exam seriously.
As expected, the teacher shifted his gaze away and turned to a fidgety young man sitting behind him.
"COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!"
The teacher coughed a few times, frowning.
Zhou Li also started reviewing his paper.
He'd left only one question blank—a multiple-choice one he was unsure about. That's the nature of Chinese questions; if you don't know it, it's hard to figure out the answer.
What can I do? Choose C? Or, like Brother Nan, rely on spinning a pen to find the answer?
Just then, a voice rang out, "I saw a lot of them chose D."
A hand reached over, its slender white fingers pointing to the D option.
Suddenly, D looked like the correct answer, no matter how I looked at it.
He handed in his paper and left the room, bumping into Brother Nan right outside.
"Hey!" Brother Nan greeted him enthusiastically, tossing aside Mother Zhao's instructions 'not to discuss answers' and 'not to ask how the exam went,' as she felt Zhou Li had strong mental fortitude. "How did you do? Any questions you couldn't answer?"
"I filled them all in."
"Hey, me too! I filled them all in, but a few were guesses. Not sure if they're right."
"I found many I could answer."
"Hope so," Zhou Li thought. She has a point. For example, the dictation of famous quotes and passages—all three happened to be ones Brother Nan often recited near me. Still, I can't help but think if Brother Nan had guessed more, her score might actually be better.
Together, they walked outside where a dense crowd of parents surrounded the school gates. A few police officers were maintaining order, and heavily armed SWAT officers were sweating profusely.
Huai Xu pointed in a direction. "There's your dad, mom, and little brother!"
Zhou Li turned to look and saw Zhu Shuang frantically tiptoeing and waving at him, with Aunt Jiang and Old Zhou behind him.
Zhu Shuang pointed to the left of the school gate, and the three of them began to push through the crowd in that direction. So Zhou Li said to Brother Nan, "My parents are over there, I'll head over now."
"You go on, I'm heading this way too."
Aunt Jiang, carrying a thermos, kept glancing at Brother Nan. She poked Zhu Shuang in the back. He instantly understood, turned to whisper something in Aunt Jiang's ear, and then Aunt Jiang leaned over to whisper something in Old Zhou's ear.
Zhou Li heard every word clearly.
Aunt Jiang came over, opened the thermos, and said, "I made a pot of mung bean soup for you, chilled."
"Hmm, it's actually not that hot today."
"Have some; it'll clear your head."
"Zhou Li, I'm going ahead then!" Brother Nan walked past Zhou Li.
"Eh, is that your classmate?" Aunt Jiang suddenly asked.
"Yes." Zhou Li pursed his lips.
Brother Nan, hearing this, felt it would be awkward to just leave, so she turned back, waved again, and said, "Hello, Auntie! Hello, Uncle!"
Aunt Jiang was very enthusiastic. "Are you hot? Come have a bowl of mung bean soup, I just happened to bring two portions."
Zhou Li was expressionless.
Brother Nan never refused food, but with more delicious treats waiting for her at home, she smiled politely. "No need, Auntie, I should get home!"
Aunt Jiang's face was all smiles. "Then take it easy on your way home."
Zhou Li silently drank the mung bean soup.
Old Zhou remained composed. After Li Nan left, he turned his head to ask Zhou Li, "How did it go? Was it alright?"
Aunt Jiang glared at him.
Zhou Li nodded, "Yeah, it was fine."
Old Zhou didn't press further and leisurely started walking back.
「Math was in the afternoon.」
Zhou Li received the test paper and, out of habit, first glanced through the major problems in the back, immediately spotting something interesting.
The very last major question looks so familiar! On closer inspection, I recognize several of them! Many were questions the English teacher used to stump Brother Nan, which Brother Nan then used to stump me. The question types barely changed.
Zhou Li's expression was quite a sight.
「The next morning, for the comprehensive science exam, the script was largely the same.」
In the afternoon, even the English essay topic was very similar to one the English teacher had assigned; many sentences could be adapted and reused.
Emerging from the exam room, Brother Nan was incredibly grateful to Zhou Li and felt deeply ashamed towards their English teacher.
Zhou Li was also very grateful to Brother Nan. Perhaps these questions didn't add many points to my score, as I would have known how to do many of them anyway. But in the college entrance exam, even one point is precious. Besides, this feeling of hitching a ride on some mysterious power is truly awesome!
「At the school gate, Old Zhou's Family was still out in full force.」
The contingent from Old Li's family was even more impressive.
Amazingly, Old Zhou and Aunt Jiang were actually standing with Li Nan's parents, chatting.
Seeing them coming over, Aunt Jiang's eyes lit up. "Oh, you two came out together!"
Brother Nan didn't find it strange at all. "Yep!"
Honestly, if I hadn't known beforehand, I wouldn't have found this strange at all. I would have just assumed Aunt Jiang and Old Zhou got bored waiting and went over to chat with Boss Li, whom they knew. After all, many parents there were making small talk.
This time, Aunt Jiang had gone to trouble again, making homemade yogurt strawberry popsicles.
The popsicles were individual sticks. Just like at noon, when she had dished out taro ball sweet soup in disposable plastic bowls, she handed them out one by one— "Heading home? Alright, take one to eat on the way."
As they parted, Aunt Jiang also reminded Brother Nan, "Xiao Nan, remember to come visit us when you're free!"
Brother Nan nodded her head, popsicle in mouth.
「By the time he reached the entrance to their residential complex, only Zhou Li was left.」
It was still quite early. Aunt Jiang and Old Zhou had gone to the supermarket to buy groceries, with Zhu Shuang as their porter. Zhou Li had wanted to go too but was turned down.
Huai Xu, accompanying him, seemed quite pleased. "Will you be able to get into university?"
"Yes," Zhou Li nodded.
Huai Xu didn't know much about university; his understanding was still at an elementary school level, so he thought getting into university was incredibly impressive.
Zhou Li, on the other hand, felt somewhat empty inside.
All that hard work, all that time... it's finally over. And now, suddenly, I don't know what to do! Come to think of it, I'm actually a bit envious of Brother Nan. She's probably busy right now, rounding up people for an all-night gaming session, right?
As he was thinking this, Zhou Li arrived home and, indeed, received a message from Brother Nan—
Li Daimao: All-nighter?
Li Daimao: [Voice Message 4s]
Zhou Li turned off his phone screen.