“In my memories, that summer after the college entrance exams — the blazing sun, the endless cicada song — felt exactly as hot and noisy as so many summers before, yet it was utterly impossible to forget.”
At the end of June, the Education Examination Network published the college entrance exam results. Xi City No. 10 High School, for the first time in five years, had produced a provincial top scorer in the sciences.
As the homeroom teacher of the top scorer’s class, Old Yu was beside himself with joy. The moment he learned the results, he called the top scorer directly.
“Lin Tao, have you checked your scores yet? You probably haven’t seen them — your teacher already checked for you. You did very well.” Then Old Yu couldn’t help laughing again. “You really did very well. Much better than that Jiang Yan.”
The moment those words fell, a low laugh came through the receiver. Jiang Yan’s voice was somewhat deep. “Old Yu, that’s not what you said when I got my early admission.”
Hearing that, Yu Bingshan’s laughter came to an abrupt halt. He looked down at his phone’s contact name and muttered, “How did you end up answering? Where’s Lin Tao?”
Jiang Yan caught the disdain in Old Yu’s tone and gave a light click of his tongue. “Sleeping.”
“Still sleeping?!” Old Yu said, agitated. “Has she checked her scores? Does she know how many points she got? Seven hundred and twenty-five! First place in the entire province! How can she still be sleeping?”
Jiang Yan wasn’t the least bit surprised that Lin Tao had come in first. He raised a hand to rub his temple and said coolly, “Even the top scorer in the country needs to sleep when she’s tired.”
“……”
The evening before the results were announced happened to coincide with Hu Hanghang’s grand finale on the singing competition show Voice. The seven-member squad reunited and headed to the recording venue together.
The show ran deep into the night. Hu Hanghang officially debuted in third place, and after the show ended, he signed with his mentor’s talent agency. He spent the entire summer busy preparing his first solo album.
After filming wrapped, Hu Hanghang had a rare stretch of free time. The seven of them found a hot pot restaurant and ate, drank, and made merry until dawn, then went their separate ways home.
The moment Lin Tao returned to the internet café, she fell back asleep — sleeping straight through to the following afternoon. When she woke up, she learned from Jiang Yan that she had taken the top score in the province.
“Good heavens.” Lin Tao was a little dazed. “I thought I’d get city top scorer at best. How did it end up being the whole province? Could the papers have been marked wrong?”
Jiang Yan reached out and ruffled her hair, smiling warmly. “Did you sleep yourself silly?”
“I did not.” Lin Tao came back to her senses and looked up to meet his gaze, smiling. “I told you I could bring home a top score.”
“Mm.” Jiang Yan was smiling too. “Better than me.”
What followed went as smoothly as water finding its natural course. With scores like hers, Lin Tao no longer needed to agonize over which school to choose.
That very afternoon, the student affairs office at No. 10 High received calls from the admissions offices of numerous top universities.
Lin Tao had settled on her school and major long before. After discussing it with her parents, Lin Tao and Lin Yongcheng, she submitted an early admission application to Qing’an University’s Law Department, and received her acceptance letter ahead of all her classmates.
Of the seven-member squad, four sat the college entrance exams.
Lin Tao was admitted to Qing University with the top score in the province.
Meng Xin performed as expected. Her total score ranked fifth in the city. When filling out her application, she listed only one school — Capital Medical University — and let all other options lapse.
Song Yuan’s last-minute cramming before the exams was not wasted. He scored five hundred and twenty-six points. Based on Hucheng Police Academy’s score lines from previous years, his score was virtually guaranteed to qualify.
Although Xu Yichuan was going abroad after graduation, he hadn’t entirely given up on the exams. His score wasn’t spectacular, but it was far better than his previous grades, where every subject had been in the odd hundreds.
……
Beyond the four of them, a number of other students from Class 18 also achieved excellent results in that year’s exams.
Du Wenbao scored 720 points and was admitted to Jing’an University’s Department of Chemistry.
Xu Huanhuan scored 679 points and was admitted to Jing’an Foreign Language University’s Foreign Languages Department.
Zhou Qi scored 659 points and was admitted to Haishi Jiaotong University’s Traffic Engineering program.
Li Rui scored 650 points and was admitted to Jingnan University’s Geology program.
……
And those classmates who hadn’t taken studying seriously in the classroom — they too, after graduation, had found their own paths in life.
Hu Hanghang gave up on the exams to appear on Voice, fighting his way through every round. He placed third in the grand finale, earned the chance to debut, and going forward might become a singer or perhaps a lyricist.
Xu Cheng, who was brilliant at gaming, successfully convinced his parents. When the exams ended, he joined a professional team’s training academy, setting out on the path to becoming a professional player.
Liu Sheng and Fang Chengcheng, both brimming with athletic talent, were admitted to Xicheng Normal College’s Physical Education program as sports students.
Yu Yifan and Li Xiang, who had once played on the same team and warmed the bench together, chose to preserve their student status and entered the military.
……
These young people stood at the fork in the road of life and chose different paths. Yet no matter where they headed, no matter what kind of people they would one day become — everything that filled that blazing summer would forever remain the most beautiful moment of their youth.
A summer is only truly called a summer when it belongs to the young.
May the future hold promise for us all.