Aunt Min continued the story: "At that ti, the situation was like this: there was only one spot recomnded for dicine, but there were certainly many people who wanted to study, over a hundred had signed up. In the end, only six people could participate in the internal exam. Your mother prepared so diligently, and everyone had great confidence in her, so I still can’t understand why, when the results ca out, she ranked last."
Her mother was last? Xie Wanying frowned, finding it hard to believe. She often heard from her grandfather that her mother had been a top student since childhood. If it hadn’t been for the turbulent tis, she could have gone to university like Xie.
"Auntie, what do you think caused my mother’s poor performance in the exam?" Xie Wanying asked Aunt Min carefully, sensing that she had sothing to reveal and had specially sought her out.
Encountering the daughter of an old friend in the last days of her life, Aunt Min thought it was fate and sighed. Reaching out, she grasped Xie Wanying’s hand earnestly and said, "It’s been many years. You becoming a doctor now can be seen as fulfilling the dream your mother couldn’t complete back then."
Xie Wanying nodded, acknowledging that part of her dream was influenced by her mother, and it was also her mother’s dream.
"What I’m about to tell you, you decide whether or not to tell your mother, alright?" Aunt Min placed the decision in the daughter’s hands, trusting her.
"I understand, Auntie, please tell ." Xie Wanying promised to handle the information she learned responsibly.
Seeing her comprehension, Aunt Min felt reassured and revealed the long-buried secret: "Actually, I’ve almost forgotten this matter. But seeing you as a doctor today reminds of your mother from back then, and if I don’t say it, my conscience would be troubled. What I heard might be true or false, as it was just hearsay, unverifiable. At that ti, your mother had already left, so I couldn’t contact her and discuss it. It happened two or three years afterward when I had a al with a leader who also knew your mother. During our conversation, he inadvertently revealed an inside story, saying that soone swapped your mother’s exam papers with another’s, saying it was a pity for your mother."
A trace of shock crossed Xie Wanying’s mind; she never imagined such a hidden scandal really happened to her mother.
It could only be said that good people are easily bullied. Her mother, with a kind heart, often believed everyone around her was good and never imagined being manipulated by soone she knew. Xie Wanying, too, before her rebirth, had no idea so people secretly wanted to sabotage her university application.
The swapping of her mother’s exam papers was certainly done by soone familiar or condoned by them. Since it was an internal recomndation exam, for the final results and candidate selection to be acknowledged, all recomnding parties had to reach consensus, including those who recomnded her mother.
Looking into Xie’s eyes for a long ti, Aunt Min had to admit her suspicion was correct, feeling an intense sadness, she said: "Back then, there was no fair and just examination system; it was very murky, allowing manipulations. The dean who recomnded your mother reached an agreent with others to recomnd another candidate."
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