Liu Yong’s teeth were aching.
Even though Liu Fen thought her daughter was perfect in every way, she couldn’t believe this.
They might not understand college admission rates, but rural folks had their way of judging – they simply looked at how many people around them got into university. After the restoration of the college entrance examination, Xia Ziyu was the only one from Dahe Village who got in. Wang Jianhua wasn’t originally from Dahe Village; he was just a sent-down youth temporarily stationed there.
Take Qijing Village for example – Chen Qing had a strict family upbringing from childhood, villagers saw him as clever and quick-witted, and his family’s conditions were among the best in the village. Yet even someone like him who devoted himself entirely to studying failed this year’s college entrance exam… When Xia Xiaolan said she wanted to take next year’s exam, all three elders were stunned.
Her aunt suspected that Xia Xiaolan might have feelings for Chen Qing – hadn’t they noticed how Chen Qing would blush whenever he saw Xia Xiaolan?
Perhaps because Xia Ziyu had stolen her potential boyfriend, Xia Xiaolan felt embarrassed and still wanted to find a college student as a partner. Since there weren’t any available ones, she settled for Chen Qing, who showed potential. But surely she wouldn’t go as far as following him to take the college entrance exam!
Chen Qing was certainly a good match. The villagers had watched him grow up and knew his background well. Village Chief Chen’s family discipline was particularly strict, and Chen Qing was well-mannered, never showing the typical educated person’s disdain for country folk. If Xiaolan ended up with Chen Qing, it would be considered a good marriage. Li Fengmei’s mind stirred, and she immediately spoke up in Xia Xiaolan’s defense:
“Isn’t it a good thing that Xiaolan wants to go to college? Let the Xia family see how blind they’ve been!”
Whether she could pass the exam or not was beside the point – for young men and women to get closer, they needed common topics and more interaction.
Chen Qing was destined to become an urban resident – how could he look for a wife in the countryside? Young people in the city were all about free love now, and even arranged marriages required matching conditions between men and women. With enough time spent together, wouldn’t it naturally become free love? Chen Qing wasn’t some good-for-nothing who couldn’t find a wife – Li Fengmei had her shrewdness.
Liu Yong didn’t know his wife’s thoughts, but he also felt he should offer encouragement, immediately changing his tune:
“Then go ahead and try – it would be wonderful if you get in!”
Liu Fen hemmed and hawed.
Xia Xiaolan explained further: “It’s not that simple to enter County No. 1 High School. In a few days, I’ll have to take their entrance exam. Only if I pass can I transfer there; if I don’t pass, I definitely won’t be able to take next year’s college entrance exam.”
She would continue running the business even if she passed. Xia Xiaolan couldn’t possibly abandon everything and let her uncle bear the burden of supporting both mother and daughter, while also being responsible for her education expenses. How should she negotiate with County No. 1 High School? It seemed she would need to not only score above the 350-point specialist college threshold but also score even higher for the school to agree to her conditions.
When Xia Xiaolan said she might not pass, Liu Fen became anxious instead:
“You definitely can! These next few days, I’ll go sell the eels, and you stay home and study!”
If she really could get into college – not necessarily a first-tier university in Beijing like Xia Ziyu, but even just a technical college – after graduation, she would be assigned a state job. Then Liu Fen would truly stop worrying! Individual businesses might earn more, but nothing was as respectable and stable as having an iron rice bowl.
Xia Xiaolan shook her head, “Things aren’t settled in the city yet, no rush these few days. I’ll just look through these books first.”
If she didn’t pass County No. 1 High School’s transfer exam in a few days, she could focus on reviewing for several months and take it again before next year’s mock exam. Xia Xiaolan’s thinking was sound, and Liu Fen couldn’t argue with her. Even Liu Yong urged her to go study quickly.
Chen Qing was thorough in his task, borrowing complete sets of textbooks from the first through the third year of high school. As Xia Xiaolan flipped through these materials, she slowly recalled some memories related to the 1984 college entrance exam. She thought she had forgotten everything, but perhaps due to the additional effects of her rebirth, or maybe because “Xia Xiaolan’s” body was in excellent condition, she remembered some things.
Although Xia Xiaolan took her college entrance exam in 1995, she had heard about the 1984 exam – the next year’s mathematics exam would be the most difficult, hellish test paper in history. Years later, the internet was full of legends about it. Reportedly, the national average score for mathematics in 1984 was only around twenty points. Many students walked out of the exam room feeling dizzy and hopeless, sobbing in despair. Some students with weaker psychological resilience even gave up on the subsequent subjects.
After the mathematics section, there were many empty seats in the examination hall!
The 1984 mathematics paper directly became a model for future Olympic mathematics problems, but in the 1980s, students didn’t even know the concept of “Olympic mathematics.”
Xia Xiaolan’s heart was pounding.
When they analyzed previous years’ test papers in her time, they skipped over the 1984 mathematics paper because teachers thought it had little value – such difficult questions would never appear again. But Xia Xiaolan had done that paper. She scored very low the first time, but her stubborn personality wouldn’t let her give up until she understood all the test points. She did that paper several times, while she couldn’t remember anything about her actual 1995 college entrance exam paper – she even recalled the specific numbers and answers for the first multiple choice question about number sets.
Not knowing if she was right, Xia Xiaolan quickly wrote in her notebook:
“The relationship between set X = {(2n+1)Ï€, where n is an integer} and set Y = {(4k±1)Ï€, where k is an integer} is…”
Could she remember?
Xia Xiaolan felt it was unbelievable too.
She didn’t expect to remember everything – mathematics was worth 120 points, and if she could score above 90, she would probably outperform the vast majority of examinees nationwide.
Xia Xiaolan studied until midnight, organizing the chapters of mathematics and Chinese from the first through the third year. She had forgotten most of the memorization required for Chinese, but mathematics, which relied on understanding, would be quicker to pick up once she remastered the formulas.
Xia Xiaolan had another advantage others couldn’t match – her English was good. As a senior executive in a multinational company, many business dealings were international, and Xia Xiaolan had worked hard on her English to be among the elite. Now science students have to take one more subject than arts students. Chinese and Mathematics were both 120 points, while English, Physics, Chemistry, and Politics were all 100 points, and Biology was 50 points, totaling 690 points. Xia Xiaolan needed to score 350 points for County No. 1 High School to allow her transfer.
Though she had forgotten much of the Chinese memorization content, she was somewhat confident about mathematics.
English and mathematics were her easiest subjects to score in. Before going to bed, Xia Xiaolan planned to review English the next day. She wasn’t sure how much she remembered of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology… Politics was hopeless – why was it still included in science students’ exams now? Xia Xiaolan didn’t understand.
After all, when she took the college entrance exam, that was a subject only art students had to memorize!
Before falling asleep, Xia Xiaolan’s mind was still filled with mathematical formulas, and she slept particularly soundly that night. When she woke up in the morning, Li Fengmei told her that Liu Fen and Liu Yong had gone to collect eels that day.
“Your uncle took the bicycle, so just stay home and study well.”
Li Fengmei was conveying the family’s collective opinion. With a three-to-one majority, Xia Xiaolan had no room to argue and could only spend the day studying at home. In the evening, Liu Fen and Liu Yong returned home with their collected eels. Even Taotao was suppressed by authority, not allowed to make noise and disturb Xia Xiaolan. The family naturally moved about quietly whatever they were doing.
Xia Xiaolan thought, that if she didn’t pass County No. 1 High School’s transfer exam now, she really wouldn’t have any excuse.