“Teacher Sun…”

How could this be considered an exam with people coming and going to the office?

Chen Qing wanted to negotiate with Teacher Sun, but Xia Xiaolan stopped him: “Go back to class. I’ll take my time with the test papers here. If I’m quick, I might make it to the cafeteria when it opens.”

Teacher Sun glanced at Xia Xiaolan.

It was now 9 AM, and County No. 1 High School’s cafeteria opened at 12 PM at the earliest, closing at 1 PM.

At most 4 hours – how many subjects could Xia Xiaolan complete?

“You can’t leave during the test. All papers are on the desk.”

Teacher Sun worried Xia Xiaolan might memorize the questions and go ask for answers. Xia Xiaolan didn’t mind, though it meant she wouldn’t get lunch – even with her abilities, she couldn’t possibly finish seven subjects in 4 hours.

“Then I’ll bring you lunch, pass it through the window.”

Chen Qing ran off before Xia Xiaolan could refuse.

“Teacher Sun, thank you for your trouble.”

Teacher Sun would obviously have to “proctor” from start to finish. Hopefully, Chen Qing will remember to bring lunch for Teacher Sun too. Considering Xia Xiaolan’s middle school education, Chen Qing must have put in considerable effort to get this special test opportunity at No. 1 High School. The young Teacher Sun, assigned to proctor Xia Xiaolan, naturally felt unhappy about what she considered a waste of time.

Hearing Xia Xiaolan’s words, Teacher Sun felt a bit better:

“Let me know if you need to use the restroom. There are clean cups there if you want water.”

Xia Xiaolan nodded and sat down.

The desk was completely clean except for seven test papers. Xia Xiaolan took out her fountain pen and ink, then pulled out the English paper first.

It was incredibly simple.

The first question was “word pronunciation” – find the word with a different vowel sound among four options.

“form, word, born, torn”

Xia Xiaolan was almost moved to tears.

Heaven might have truly sent her back to 1983 to make her life’s winner. If she’d come half a year earlier, she could have directly taken the 1983 college entrance exam. Then there wouldn’t have been this mess where Xia Ziyu soared like a phoenix while “Xia Xiaolan” fell lower than a common hen.

Xia Xiaolan underlined “Word.”

She finished the English test paper in 20 minutes.

Then she pulled out the mathematics paper.

With people coming and going into the office, Xia Xiaolan just kept her head down and worked. Her continuous writing surprised Teacher Sun. Wasn’t this supposed to be a middle school graduate doing a high school senior’s exam? When Xia Xiaolan needed to use the restroom, Teacher Sun accompanied her, locking all the test papers in a drawer before leaving.

Xia Xiaolan was working on the Chinese paper, leaving many simple recitation questions blank. Teacher Sun shook her head secretly – with this level, how could she hope to transfer to County No. 1 High School for next year’s college entrance exam?

Even enrolling in the first year now and taking three years would be gloriously successful if she passed.

Teacher Sun shook her head, accompanying Xia Xiaolan to the bathroom, having basically no expectations for this student’s test results. By noon, Xia Xiaolan had completed English, Mathematics, and Chinese. The math problems weren’t particularly simple – she couldn’t just look and know the answers. She’d forgotten many formulas and concepts, requiring extensive scratch work to calculate results.

Though she couldn’t do the recitation parts of Chinese, Xia Xiaolan could still manage her reading comprehension.

The writing section also took some time.

“Xiao Sun, not going to lunch? I can watch for you?”

A male teacher walked in smiling, showing concern for the young Teacher Sun.

“Teacher Zhao, you go ahead. I’ll go later.”

Whether Xia Xiaolan could answer correctly was one thing, but from what Teacher Sun observed, this girl had been diligently writing the whole time – an attitude worth acknowledging. Teacher Sun planned to take Xia Xiaolan to the cafeteria after she wrote a bit more. Teachers weren’t wealthy these days, but she could still treat Xia Xiaolan to a couple of buns at the cafeteria.

The test papers were easy to handle – just lock them up. Teacher Sun planned to take the key with her, effectively “guarding” Xia Xiaolan from contact with others, preventing any chance of cheating.

Teacher Zhao was still trying to persuade her, but Teacher Sun was responsible.

As they were at an impasse and Xia Xiaolan was about to say something, Chen Qing called from the window:

“Teacher Sun… ah, hello Teacher Zhao!”

He’d bought lunch for Xia Xiaolan from the cafeteria. Speaking of Chen Qing’s good upbringing, his emotional intelligence was higher than his peers – he’d remembered to bring food for Teacher Sun too. Since Xia Xiaolan was still taking the test and worried about staining the papers, Chen Qing had brought buns without soup.

“Teacher Sun, thank you for your trouble. I brought some for you too.”

Teacher Sun insisted on giving meal tickets to Chen Qing, but Teacher Zhao jumped in: “Just eat, Xiao Sun. I heard about Chen Qing recommending a middle school graduate to transfer here. The school gave you this task, causing much inconvenience to your teaching schedule – accepting two buns from Chen Qing is nothing!”

Teacher Sun wouldn’t listen, stuffing the meal tickets to Chen Qing before accepting the buns.

“Student Xia, come eat your buns before continuing.”

Only when she heard Teacher Sun’s words did Xia Xiaolan put down her pen. She had been facing away from the office door, and when she turned around, revealing her true appearance, Teacher Zhao was stunned.

He had never seen such a beautiful girl.

Teacher Zhao, neither here nor there in life, had set his sights on the newly arrived Teacher Sun after working for several years. Teacher Sun had fair skin, a round face, and crescent-moon eyes, and looked approachable when smiling, not too intimidating even when stern. Teacher Zhao had counted on young female teachers being easy to embarrass, pestering Teacher Sun since her assignment to County No. 1 High School – but Teacher Sun couldn’t compare when placed next to Xia Xiaolan.

Teacher Zhao’s breathing became rapid.

When Xia Xiaolan put down her test papers and went to wash her hands, his eyes followed her closely.

Teacher Sun coughed lightly, and Teacher Zhao came to his senses. He no longer tried to invite Teacher Sun to lunch, leaving the office somewhat flustered.

After eating the steamed buns, Xia Xiaolan returned to the test papers. Chen Qing, afraid of disturbing her exam, didn’t stay long in the office. Seeing how calm Xia Xiaolan appeared, this test didn’t seem to pressure her much… Were the questions very simple?

Chen Qing left with his doubts.

Xia Xiaolan finished all the papers by 2:30 PM and handed them to Teacher Sun.

“Teacher Sun, when will I know my test results?”

Teacher Sun thought, with so many blanks on your Chinese paper, it would be a miracle if you passed – Chinese was the easiest subject for students to score well in. However, Xia Xiaolan’s test-taking attitude had been very proper, without any issues during the process, so Teacher Sun didn’t dislike her.

“Leave your home address. Since Chen Qing knows you, he’ll bring you word if you pass.”

What else could they do?

In 1983’s Qijing Village, even the village chief’s house didn’t have a landline telephone.

Xia Xiaolan nodded, “Thank you for your trouble, Teacher Sun. Goodbye.”

She wanted to say something to Chen Qing, but his class was having a test. Xia Xiaolan waved to Chen Qing from afar and went home.

After all, if she passed County No. 1 High School’s exam, there would be plenty of opportunities to thank Chen Qing.