The first exam was Chinese Language.
The test paper began with a technology article filled with numerous technical terms. Bai Lian scanned the paper, estimating its difficulty, and felt worried for Wen Qi.
As she thought about this, she wrote down her answers on the test paper.
The proctor made a round and stopped beside Bai Lian for a few seconds.
Since the Guange style lacked distinctive features and wasn’t recognized by the Calligraphy Association, few people studied it nowadays. The Guange style emphasized brush technique and endurance, also testing layout. Bai Lian’s Guange style incorporated brushwork methods from the Liangti style, making it exceptional by any standard.
The proctor had never seen such a neat and beautiful answer sheet.
To avoid pressuring students, exam proctors couldn’t stay beside one student for too long, though this proctor wanted to look at that answer sheet longer.
Time slowly passed.
After completing the previous questions, Bai Lian finally reached the essay section.
At the podium, the proctor who had been watching this student with beautiful handwriting became puzzled when he saw her staring at one page for a long time without moving.
The national unified exam was already difficult, but he had seen this student writing smoothly until now – why was she stuck on the essay?
Was this year’s essay particularly difficult? He wondered.
At 11:30, the bell rang. The proctor instructed all students to put down their pens and stop writing. Two teachers began collecting answer sheets from both ends of the room.
When they reached Bai Lian, the proctor saw the girl’s left hand pressing down on the test paper, her fingertips tapping the desk intermittently, her right hand supporting her chin, long eyelashes lowered, seemingly looking at the test paper yet appearing lost in thought.
“Student, please hand in your answer sheet,” the proctor reminded.
Bai Lian finally snapped back to reality and pulled out her answer sheet from under the test paper to hand it to the teacher.
After the exam, Ji Shaojun and Shen Qing had gone home early to prepare lunch, leaving only Jiang Fuli waiting at the entrance.
Jiang Fuli still stood under that tree, looking down at his phone. His jet-black bangs fell slightly forward. With the large temperature difference between morning and noon, he had taken off his jacket and wore only a loose white T-shirt.
In the scorching noon, other waiting parents appeared hurried and agitated, but he alone remained casual and relaxed, naturally exuding a cool air.
Seeing Bai Lian approach, he turned his phone and lifted his head slightly as he walked over. “Was it difficult?”
Jiang Fuli handed her the water he was holding.
Since she hadn’t turned in her exam early, he was curious about the difficulty level.
Bai Lian came back to her senses. Following Jiang Fuli to the parking area, she remembered his question and answered slowly: “Not difficult.”
As soon as the morning exam finished at noon, Weibo’s trending topics were updated—
[National Exam Essay Question]
Posted by a news website, followed by the “explosive” symbol.
The comments below were mostly from casual observers and college students.
There were fewer high school seniors commenting, as they were preparing for the afternoon math exam.
Sister Xin worked in the entertainment industry. Knowing today was Bai Lian’s exam, she had been following the trending topics. Seeing the essay topic trending, she discussed with Yan Lu: “Netizens say this year’s essay topic was too simple, but the reading comprehension and classical Chinese sections were brutal. Wonder how Miss Bai did.”
“Miss Bai has deep literary foundations,” Yan Lu closed her script book and said seriously.
The afternoon was Mathematics.
Math had always been the most feared subject for both liberal arts and science students. This year’s last three questions got progressively harder. Bai Lian worked from front to back, barely using the scratch paper for the multiple choice and fill-in questions, only starting to use it for the long-form questions.
This year’s third major question was about proving an inequality: under the condition xyz=1, prove that a fourth-degree equation with three variables was greater than 1. Almost every student in the exam room just wrote “Solution” when they saw this question.
Until the answer sheets and test papers were collected, not a single student spoke.
Reporters had been waiting early outside Xiangcheng First High School’s gate. Seeing the first student emerge, they quickly approached with microphones asking, “Student, were this year’s math questions difficult?”
Every year, the national exam questions would be criticized.
The male student lifted his head, and after seeing the camera, he even adjusted his hair. “I don’t know.”
“Don’t know?” The reporter found this interesting. “Student, do you feel it’s difficult to evaluate?”
The student: “No, I couldn’t understand a single question.”
Reporter: “…”
Math was indeed very difficult. Students’ expressions were dejected as they left the exam room.
After the exam finished, Lu Lingxi sent a message to the group— [Everyone forget about this exam once it’s done. Rest well and prepare calmly for tomorrow’s final two exams.]
Most students were quite devastated leaving the exam room.
Every year, the math and Chinese exams were news hotspots.
After the math exam, “National Math Exam” quickly topped the trending topics. High school seniors who had held back all day finally went wild, criticizing the math difficulty.
Top comment: [I’ve participated in math competitions, and for the second-to-last question, I just drew one auxiliary line (smile)]
When netizens checked the profile, they saw this student’s provincial team medal posted last year. They were surprised – ordinary people complaining about difficulty was one thing, but even a provincial team genius found it hard?
In the afternoon, Shen Qing and Ji Shaojun came to wait for Bai Lian at the school gate. Seeing the devastated looks of the examinees, they didn’t dare ask Bai Lian anything.
Jiang Fuli stood beside Bai Lian, lowering his head about to ask how her math went.
Shen Qing coughed lightly, “Xiao Jiang, come have dinner with us tonight.”
She interrupted Jiang Fuli.
Jiang Fuli just glanced at Bai Lian and didn’t ask further.
The group returned to Ji Heng’s courtyard, where Ji Heng was playing Gomoku with Jiang He. When they returned, Ji Heng saw Jiang Fuli and sighed in relief, quickly standing up with his pipe, “Xiao Jiang, come here.”
Jiang He slowly looked up, seeing Jiang Fuli, his casually swinging legs gradually stopped.
Jiang Fuli sat down casually across from Jiang He, picking up a white piece.
Two minutes later, Jiang Fuli glanced at Jiang He and unhurriedly stood up: “Must respect the elderly.”
Jiang He: “…”
Ji Shaojun and Shen Qing were busy in the kitchen when he received a call from Butler Lou.
On the phone, Butler Lou stood in the courtyard, “What time are you leaving tomorrow? I’ll have the car take you to North City.”
They would fly to Jiangjiang from North City.
Tomorrow the college entrance exam would be over.
“We can’t go back tomorrow,” Ji Shaojun pondered briefly, “Let’s go the day after, leave on the afternoon of the 9th.”
The 9th was the Dragon Boat Festival, and Ji Shaojun wanted to have one more meal with Ji Heng before leaving.
Butler Lou was silent for a long while. Pressing his temples, his eyes, weathered by countless storms, now showed signs of age. “That works. How did your niece do on the exam?”
“Don’t know,” Ji Shaojun washed vegetables with one hand, his voice lightening somewhat: “Heard the math questions were too difficult, so we didn’t ask her.”
Butler Lou was just asking out of courtesy. Hearing Ji Shaojun’s response, he wasn’t surprised. “If possible, I still hope you can return before the Dragon Boat Festival.”
The next day, the final two exams.
Comprehensive Science and English – there was no “most difficult,” only “more difficult.”
The last exam in the afternoon was English.
In the exam room, Bai Lian wrote the last word of her English essay, checked all the questions again, and finally filled in the multiple choice answers on the answer sheet. After confirming everything was correct.
She looked at the black pen in her hand.
She didn’t have many fancy pens. This one she had used since the start of senior year, replacing countless refills, its black shell now having lost its shine.
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Bai Lian put the answer sheet aside and capped her pen.
Meanwhile, at No. 3 Middle School.
Yang Lin had also finished writing her last sentence. She put a period at the end of her essay. Sunlight streamed in through the window onto her test paper. Yang Lin stared at it in a daze.
She had struggled for twelve years, studied hard for twelve years, seemingly all for this moment.
At five o’clock.
The bell rang, marking the end of the most important exam in senior students’ lives, though their life journey was just beginning.
After turning in her test paper and answer sheet, Bai Lian followed the crowd outside.
This time was earlier than usual dismissal. The sunlight was rather harsh, so Bai Lian just carried her pencil case, lazily making her way through the sea of people.
Under the tree at the school gate.
Jiang Fuli wore a loose short-sleeve shirt, standing casually under the tree with a somewhat lazy posture.
Many parents waited for students at the gate, most holding bouquets of sunflowers, but Jiang Fuli was different.
He held a bouquet of flowers that most people couldn’t identify.
Single-layered petals, each flower petal as light as clouds, swaying gently in the wind, standing tall and graceful. Red ones were brilliant, pink ones like peach blossoms, white ones pure as snow, blue ones like smoke – elegant yet magnificent, brilliant to the extreme.
Many people around cast sidelong glances at him.
There were only so many parents waiting for their children’s exams, and many had become familiar with Jiang Fuli over these two days.
His aura was excessively cold. Even though he had somewhat contained his presence, he was still difficult to approach, like a flower on a high cliff untouched by the mortal world.
Now seeing him buying flowers, most people were surprised.
Jiang Fuli’s light-colored eyes casually scanned the crowd. Upon seeing Bai Lian in the crowd, he stood straight. When she reached him, he said nothing, just handed the bouquet to her.
Bai Lian accepted it and raised an eyebrow at Jiang Fuli, who then handed her phone to her.
Having just finished the exam, Class 15’s group chat was constantly buzzing.
Wen Qi was leading the commotion again.
Wen Qi: [@Homeroom Teacher Lu Ma, hotpot!]
Others lined up below. Bai Lian put her phone back in her pocket, then looked down and gently touched the flower petals before looking at Jiang Fuli. “Let’s go to the hotpot restaurant near school.”
Jiang Fuli knew they were having a gathering today. He walked with Bai Lian toward the car.
As the two passed through the crowd, many people watched their retreating figures, privately discussing whether they were celebrities from somewhere.
Xiangcheng was still Xiangcheng.
The young lady was still that young lady.
The poppies bloomed year after year as always.
In Jiangjiang.
After the last exam, Old Madam Xu sent Xu Zhiyue to take the test.
Then she stayed in the Buddhist prayer room.
When the exam time was over, she finally came out from the prayer room, anxiously waiting in the hall for Xu Zhiyue’s return.
In the hall, Xu En sent a message asking how Bai Lian did on the exam. Bai Lian hadn’t replied, making him worry if the child hadn’t done well.
Seeing the old madam repeatedly standing up to look toward the main gate, he spoke up, “Mom, don’t be anxious. Sit down and wait patiently, the exam is already over.”
How could Old Madam Xu not be anxious? She sat down and asked everyone in the hall, “Do you think Zhiyue did well this time?”
“Of course,” Ji Mulan nodded. She had always trusted Xu Zhiyue, “Zhiyue is the smartest child I’ve ever met.”
The butler even smiled, “Just wait to be the grandmother of the second-place scholar.”
The old madam’s heart settled.
Just then, a car horn sounded outside – it was the driver bringing Xu Zhiyue back.
The old madam quickly got up supporting herself with her cane, asking the moment Xu Zhiyue got out of the car: “Zhiyue, how did you do? What’s your estimated score?”
A genius like Xu Zhiyue could usually estimate their score right after the exam.
This time, however, Xu Zhiyue shook her head, “Not sure.”
Xu Wenyao, who was looking at his phone, was surprised. “Was this year’s exam very difficult?”
So difficult that even Xu Zhiyue couldn’t be certain?
“Extremely difficult,” Xu Zhiyue wore glasses and spoke gently, “The last questions in both math and physics were types I’d never seen before. I asked Dog Liang on my way back, and he wasn’t sure either.”
Xu Zhiyue and Liang Wuyu were both rare geniuses known to Xu Wenyao. Especially Liang Wuyu, who had participated in various competitions since middle school, finished high school curriculum in his first year, and spent senior year studying with a professor in some laboratory.
It could be said his knowledge surpassed 99.9% of high school seniors.
Even Liang Wuyu wasn’t sure?
Just how difficult were this year’s questions?
“That difficult?” Xu Wenyao gripped his phone and stood up, saying in surprise: “What happened?”
The difficulty of college entrance exams was usually about the same each year, unless there were special circumstances. Xu Wenyao remembered that several years ago, one year’s exam was particularly difficult, dubbed the “First Rankings,” and no subsequent exam had surpassed it, but this year…
What was going on?
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