“Ding-ding-ding…” The urgent chime of bells reverberated through the campus of Yian District’s First High School. Parents, who had been waiting anxiously outside the examination hall—some seated on the lawn, others along the pathways—instantly rose to their feet, straining their gaze through the railings toward the school grounds.
The bustling crowd of examinees emerged from the examination halls.
The 2056 Gaokao in Jiangnan City had officially concluded.
“Now, Bai.” A slightly bald, refined-looking middle-aged man stood at the school gate, smiling as he called out to his son exiting the exam room.
“Dad.” Zhang Haobai smiled as he walked over.
“How did you do?” The middle-aged man asked with a smile.
Zhang Haobai shook his head helplessly, “I can only say it was okay. The math exam was really difficult this time, with many tough questions from the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank sections to the calculation problems. Especially the calculation problems… out of the five calculation questions, I managed to solve only two completely. For the other three, I could only do partial work, hoping to get some points based on the steps.”
The five big math questions tested thinking ability and naturally awarded points based on steps.
“Oh?” Zhang Haobai’s father, Zhang Zelong, frowned. “It seems your math score might be quite low this time.”
“It’s okay, Dad. If it was hard for me, it was hard for everyone else too. I wasn’t the only one,” Zhang Haobai said with a smile. “Since the math paper was difficult, the cutoff score for undergraduate admission will definitely be lower. I should be fine for entering a military academy.”
“Oh, by the way.”
Zhang Zelong smiled, “Earlier, while we were waiting at the school gate for you to finish the exam, we heard something. A student from your school, a famous examinee named ‘Luo Feng,’ collapsed in the examination hall about an hour before the exam ended.”
“Collapse in the examination hall?” Zhang Haobai’s eyes widened. “Dad, you’re talking about Luo Feng?”
“That’s right,” Zhang Zelong nodded. “Luo Feng was taken away by ambulance, and many people saw it. Listen, many parents around here are discussing it with their children.”
“Luo Feng collapsed?”
Zhang Haobai looked around and listened carefully. Indeed, many parents and their children were talking about a candidate fainting and losing consciousness in the examination hall. Zhang Haobai clearly heard many people mentioning ‘Luo Feng.’
“Haha, this poor kid finally got what was coming to him. Haha!” Zhang Haobai couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“Dad, you don’t know. this guy always used to hassle me back at school,” Zhang Haobai angrily continued. “He relied on his strength being better than mine, always overshadowing me in everything. Now he’s finally had his day.” Zhang Haobai felt an immense sense of relief, holding deep resentment against Luo Feng.
In reality, Luo Feng had never paid attention to Zhang Haobai, but Zhang had always considered Luo as a rival. Luo had surpassed him both academically and in martial prowess, naturally making Zhang very uncomfortable.
“Haha, these little guys, inexperienced and unable to handle psychological pressure, just collapse under stress. Forget about him. Come on, your uncle knows today is the end of your Gaokao and has specially arranged a feast for you. Let’s go,” Zhang Zelong said with a smile.
“Uncle?” Zhang Haobai’s eyes lit up.
The reason the Zhang family could be considered wealthy in Yian District was precisely because of his uncle, because…
His uncle was a warrior!
…
“No way, absolutely no way!”
Wei Wen, just out of the exam hall, became agitated in front of his parents. “How could Feng collapse in the exam hall out of nervousness and faint? Impossible. Forget everything else, Feng’s mental toughness was even praised by the instructors at the Limit Martial Arts Academy.”
Wei Wen and Luo Feng could be described as close as brothers, though not by blood.
“Ah Wen, how can that be fake? We saw it with our own eyes. Luo Feng’s father and his younger brother, who uses a wheelchair, rushed to the hospital immediately,” Wei Wen’s father quickly added.
“Hospital? Probably the nearest one. Dad, Mom, I’m going to see Feng first. We can have lunch later.”
Without hesitation, Wei Wen handed his exam supplies to his parents and rushed towards the hospital.
…
Inside the People’s Hospital of Yian District.
Luo Feng was walking out from the hospital lobby entrance with a forced smile, accompanied by his father and younger brother. At that moment, Luo Hongguo and Luo Hua were somewhat worried that Luo Feng might be greatly affected by the incident.
“Dad, I’m fine. Let’s go home and eat,” Luo Feng appeared calm, though he felt some reluctance inside. Yet he knew that what had happened couldn’t be changed, and all he could do was accept it.
“Ah Feng, Ah Feng.” A voice came from a distance.
Luo Feng looked up and saw a figure running toward the hospital entrance—it was his good friend ‘Wei Wen.’
Seeing Wei Wen running in a hurry, his clothes already soaked with sweat, Luo Feng felt touched. Then a thought struck him, and he quickly asked, “Ah Wen, how difficult were the last three calculation problems on the math paper?” He hadn’t even had time to attempt the last three questions himself. If those final three were extremely difficult, preventing most people from solving much of them, there was still hope for his score.
“It was pretty tough,” Wei Wen nodded. “This year’s math exam was extremely hard. Out of the five calculation questions, only the third one seemed slightly easier. The other four were all very difficult.”
“Good,” Luo Feng sighed in relief inwardly.
There was still a glimmer of hope…
…
At eight o’clock on the evening of June 16th, after the Gaokao, scores could be checked via telephone or online, and the undergraduate admission cutoff scores would also be released simultaneously.
On June 16th, a little after seven in the evening.
Inside Luo Feng’s home, in the room shared by Luo Feng and his brother Luo Hua, only Luo Feng was present. The door was tightly shut as he sat in front of his laptop, repeatedly clicking the refresh button on the webpage. Although the score inquiry was scheduled to start at eight in the evening, it usually opened a bit earlier.
“This time, I’m afraid I won’t make it into the First Military Academy of Jiangnan.”
“But in the math exam, I completed the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank sections, and solved the first two calculation problems. Although I didn’t fully complete the second calculation question, I wrote a lot of steps. Based on step-by-step scoring, I should get some points,” Luo Feng thought. “If I’m lucky, I might still score over 120 in math.”
Luo Feng hoped: “In both the liberal arts and science exams, I performed normally. If I’m lucky, I might still reach the undergraduate admission line.”
“As long as I reach the undergraduate line, I can get into the Second Military Academy.”
Of the two military academies, the First Military Academy was naturally better, but it required very high scores. Luo Feng had already lost hope for that.
However, for the Second Military Academy, based on his own estimation, there was still a bit of hope.
“Hmm?” Luo Feng’s eyes lit up.
The Gaokao score inquiry page had actually loaded.
“Please, please help me pass the undergraduate admission line. As long as I pass the undergraduate line, I can get into the Second Military Academy,” Luo Feng thought anxiously. He immediately entered his name, ID number, and exam certificate number on the score inquiry page and clicked the ‘Inquiry’ button.
Flash!
The laptop screen flickered slightly, then displayed a table.
Examinee: Luo Feng
Gender: Male
ID Number: 426123203806083211
Exam Certificate Number: 5878643567890766
Liberal Arts: 216
Science: 223
Math: 118
Total Score: 557
Undergraduate Admission Line: 561
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