Chen Qing was finally moved by his mother’s words.

His gloominess was mostly self-directed anger. He’d had so many opportunities before but was too timid to confess. Now that Xia Xiaolan was dating someone else, who could he blame?

But even with Xia Xiaolan having a boyfriend, Chen Qing couldn’t forget her.

Young people’s feelings often come quickly and simply. Chen Qing felt particularly frustrated about failing before even trying.

What if things didn’t work out between Xiaolan and her boyfriend?

As his mother said, dating wasn’t marriage. He wouldn’t do anything unsavory – his feelings for Xiaolan were his own business and wouldn’t disturb anyone. Chen Qing tried his best to act normal as he went to help.

Xia Xiaolan had brought Gong Yang for a site survey. This wasn’t interior decoration – the house needed to harmonize with its surroundings.

Gong Yang particularly liked Qijing Village’s reed marshes. In July, the reeds were a sea of green, rolling like waves in the river breeze. Gong Yang said it was picture-worthy.

“Though both are rural, the scenery here surpasses my hometown.”

Yunan Province wasn’t particularly water-rich, with some areas like Qijing Village near rivers and others lacking water. The water-scarce areas tended to be poorer, with less scenic beauty. Gong Yang preferred vibrant places. The riverside reeds inspired him. Given the ample space, he thought it feasible to dig a small pond in the yard, drawing live water from the canal. Creating a small waterway, raising some fish, and transplanting some reeds would complement the village’s backdrop.

While Chen Qing didn’t know Gong Yang, he recognized Li Dongiang and Ge Jian.

These two men with out-of-town accents, though called Xiaolan’s distant relatives, showed her great respect.

After Gong Yang finished speaking, Chen Qing asked Xia Xiaolan when she’d collect her scores tomorrow.

“Following previous years’ practice, the provincial admissions office posts the cutoff scores the day after grading finishes. Our school will have someone waiting outside the admissions office for immediate updates… Teacher Lei from our school is grading this year.”

The school had only one teacher surnamed Lei – the English teacher Lei, who was married to the Chinese teacher Qi.

As a repeat student, Chen Qing knew these details better than Xia Xiaolan. The admissions office would post cutoff scores around 9 AM on their bulletin board. Provincial TV and newspaper reporters would wait there to immediately report Yunan Province’s admission cutoffs. It would be broadcast on radio and evening news – the college entrance exam was a national event.

Students were told to collect their results at 10 AM, allowing time for schools to copy and tabulate scores. Getting scores from the provincial admissions office to Anqing County First High by 10 AM was already quite fast – there was no telephone inquiry system then, everything was copied by hand.

Chen Qing suggested arriving before 9 AM: “Our class still needs to take graduation photos.”

Once scores were out, those who did well wouldn’t mind photos, but those who scored poorly wouldn’t be in the mood. Better to take graduation photos before scores are announced. Xia Xiaolan agreed, “Then I’ll arrive at 9. See you at school tomorrow?”

Chen Qing felt slightly disappointed – he’d thought Xia Xiaolan would stay in the village tonight.

Thinking carefully, it made sense. The Liu family house had been empty for a long time. Xia Xiaolan would need to clean before staying overnight – better to return to the provincial capital.

On the evening of July 15th, Teacher Lei – Comrade Lei Shengli – finished his five-day grading work.

The grading area was restricted, and exam papers had names sealed. Scores were only registered after all papers were graded. This prevented graders from favoring their own school’s students, especially in subjective sections like Chinese composition where scores could vary significantly between graders – one might score 40 points, another might give 30.

Lei Shengli received a 3 yuan daily allowance for grading, but earning 15 yuan over three days was secondary to his important duty of copying scores for Anqing County First High.

In such hot weather, not all teachers were willing to do intensive grading just for the allowance. But it was an honorable task that gave first access to exam scores.

When tired, they’d light a cigarette and continue. After five grueling days, the work was nearly complete.

Then came unsealing the papers.

The provincial admissions office was skilled at this, first sorting by school before recording scores.

Lei Shengli hadn’t gotten this job, dashing his hopes of seeing Xia Xiaolan’s paper first. That night, despite exhaustion, he couldn’t sleep, wondering if Xia Xiaolan had achieved perfect English scores again. During grading, he hadn’t heard anyone mention a perfect English paper. Perfect scores required group evaluation – Lei Shengli suspected Xia Xiaolan’s paper hadn’t been assigned to their group.

Overthinking was pointless – they’d see the scores tomorrow morning.

Lei Shengli tossed and turned in his temporary accommodations at the provincial admissions office.

His roommates grumbled, forcing him to lie still to avoid disturbing others. Ah, these colleagues couldn’t understand his thoughts – Xiaolan was Anqing First High’s most promising candidate ever for Hua Qing University. How could any teacher not care?

While Teacher Lei was restricted, Principal Sun could toss and turn freely in his bed.

Alternating between sighs and foolish grins, his wife finally couldn’t stand his behavior and banished him to the sofa.

Principal Sun protested: “You women with long hair and short wisdom, what do you understand!”

He was worried for Xia Xiaolan – estimated at 584 points, how many would she score? What if the graders were in bad moods and deducted points here and there, reducing her total? Principal Sun secretly vowed that if Xia Xiaolan’s total fell below 560, he’d petition the provincial admissions office for a recheck!

The more tense the situation, the calmer Xia Xiaolan became. Confident in her performance, she slept well and left at 7:30 AM to take the bus to school. Liu Fen couldn’t focus on the store that day and accompanied Xia Xiaolan to Anqing.

At 9 AM, Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen arrived at the classroom.

Though results were due at 10 AM, every student was anxious. Xia Xiaolan was among the last to arrive.

Outside the Yunan Provincial Admissions Office, reporters had gathered, waiting for this year’s cutoff scores and highest scores – both newsworthy topics. Lei Shengli was also waiting. At 9 AM, someone shouted “The cutoff scores are out!” and Lei Shengli rushed out.

The bulletin board clearly showed in black and white:

Key University Line (First Batch): 494 points

Regular University Line (Second Batch): 460 points

Vocational College Line (Third Batch): 427 points

Lei Shengli’s first thought was that this year’s admission lines were indeed lower than last year!

His second thought was how accurate the school’s estimates had been. Each school had different predictions for admission lines, but Anqing County First High had been remarkably precise this year, estimating the university line at exactly 460 points – very helpful for students’ applications!

“Xiao Lei, from your expression, Anqing County First High’s estimates were good?”

An acquaintance approached, but Lei Shengli was distracted, watching reporters rush to the office. He followed.

“What about the highest score? Why isn’t it posted?!”

“It’s out, but there seems to be an issue, they’re rechecking…”

What issues could there be with the highest score? Lei Shengli was puzzled.

The admissions office staff were frustrated too – had the graders been blind? The arts stream aside, in Yunan Province’s science stream, the highest score exceeded the second place by a full 45 points. How was this possible?!

To avoid mistakes, they requested a recheck before announcing.

“Pull out this student’s papers first. Better we take the trouble now than announce something wrong!”