Lin Mu felt a huge relief in his heart, and devoted himself to preparing for the college entrance exam.
This sester, in addition to the never-ending test papers, there was the training before the physical education exam, the first and second mock exams...
All these likely beca the deep-seated nightmares in the mory of every child who had experienced the Gaokao.
Finally, it was June 2003 at last.
Even Zhou Yiyi, who had experienced it before, still had sweaty palms from nervousness. In the last few days of the countdown, both teachers and students seed to have reached the peak of tension in their lives.
In the final days, school lessons were halted. Students took their exam admission tickets and went ho to prepare. Zhou Yiyi took it even further by staying near her exam venue, not leaving the house or reading books for the next few days. She imrsed herself completely in hot springs, swimming, and cooking fine foods, determined to keep her mind off the Gaokao entirely.
This year’s Gaokao was scheduled a month earlier than usual, specifically on June 7, 8, and 9. Normally, the exams would be on July 7, 8, and 9. Thus, technically, they were at a disadvantage by having one whole month less to review than others. But since June’s weather was slightly cooler than July’s, whether this was beneficial or detrintal depended on one’s mindset.
In H province, the Gaokao lasted only two days, covering Chinese, Mathematics, English, and either Humanities Comprehensive or Science Comprehensive, all within June 7 and 8.
Zhou Yiyi wasn’t placed in the sa school as Zhou Mo and Lin Mu for the exams and had to handle everything on her own. Of course, they secretly sent text ssages to each other to cheer one another on. On June 7, she took the Chinese and Mathematics tests, and on June 8, the English and Science Comprehensive tests.
Over the years, Zhou Yiyi’s scores in Chinese had consistently been above 130, with every test in school never falling below 140. Her English was almost always perfect, and with Zhou Mo’s unselfish help, her other science subjects also achieved nearly perfect scores. So, all she needed was to perform steadily this ti, and getting into a top-tier university would be completely feasible.
But what Zhou Yiyi had not anticipated was a girl in front of her, overwheld by the pressure, tearing up her own answer sheet, and those of several other students nearby. Zhou Yiyi, sitting right behind her, was the first victim of this attack, during the Science Comprehensive test.
That is, the test was almost over, but she had a complete breakdown due to the imnse pressure and fainted on the spot.
The few of them whose answer sheets were destroyed were utterly bewildered by this scene. Luckily, the proctor comforted them.
"You all, just sit in your own places. Don’t move. Let the other students continue their exams. We’ll extend this session by fifteen minutes. Everyone focus on your papers. Don’t worry about anything else. You guys don’t panic either. The higher-ups are currently discussing the situation."
After the girl was taken away by the ambulance, calm was quickly restored to the venue. Due to this disruption, their session was extended by fifteen minutes to ensure fairness.
Zhou Yiyi sat calmly in her seat, reviewing the exam paper in her mind, silently recalculating the types of questions and the answers.
When the other students in the exam hall submitted their papers, they five students, whose answer sheets had been reissued, set about answering the questions again.
Although no one wanted such an incident, now that it had occurred, they could only face it calmly.
This news didn’t spread as fast as it would in later years. Zhou Mo and Lin Mu beca really anxious when they couldn’t reach Zhou Yiyi by phone, and rushed to her examination center. Only when they got there did they hear about the serious incident from their school teachers. There weren’t many parents left at the school gate by then, and since Zhou Yiyi’s phone was off, it was obvious from what the teacher said about the examination room that Zhou Yiyi had suffered a lot.
Unexpectedly, they waited until seven o’clock, when they saw a tired-looking Yiyi walk out of the school gate, and both of them approached her at once.
Zhou Mo offered water, Lin Mu offered food, which Yiyi took and asked, "Why did you guys co?"
"We could ask you the sa thing. Why such bad luck? Did this big incident affect you a lot?"
"Don’t worry, I’m fine. If anything, I got extra ti to check my work. I reviewed my paper twice. How about you? How did your exams go?"
The confidence in Zhou Mo’s eyes made Lin Mu sowhat indignant, "Stop asking, don’t you know his level already? Others were running out of ti, and there he was, actually nodding off during the exam. The proctor looked at him quite a few tis."
Zhou Mo and Lin Mu sat the exams together, so they knew each other’s situation very well.
"And you?"
"? Just so-so. But Beijing Film Academy is definitely within reach, don’t worry. The real question now is, since we’ve finished our exams, can we find sowhere to relax? Oh, my god, I finally made it through senior year, it wasn’t easy."
"Have your uncle and aunt gone back?"
"Yes, I told them to go back first. My mom gave so money to take you out to unwind. How about it? KTV, internet café, bar, where do you want to go?"
Zhou Yiyi shook her head, "Can I say, I just want to sleep well?"
Lin Mu responded, "How about this? Rest well tonight, and tomorrow we’ll go to a water park?"
Zhou Yiyi found this acceptable and looked towards Zhou Mo, who shrugged, "Up to you guys, but where are you staying?"
Yawning, Zhou Yiyi replied, "No worries, I’ll just find a hotel."
Hearing this, Zhou Mo and Lin Mu frowned simultaneously, "How can that be? Why don’t you co to my place? I can give you my room and I’ll sleep on the couch."
Zhou Mo imdiately said, "Co to my house; we have a guest room. Since we’re heading out together tomorrow, you might as well stay at my place."
Though Lin Mu felt uncomfortable, at least it ant Zhou Yiyi didn’t have to stay in a hotel. After a mont he added, "Yeah, maybe you should stay at Zhou Mo’s."
Their school had been emptied out before the exams, so returning there to stay wasn’t an option. Zhou Yiyi had been treating her space like a mobile ho already. The two insisted, worrying about her, and without being able to refuse further, she had no choice but to thick-skinnedly accept the offer to stay at Zhou Mo’s.
Zhou Mo was an only child, living with just his parents in a governnt agency’s compound in a three-room apartnt. Grandparents or maternal grandparents ca to stay sotis. Before inviting Yiyi, Zhou Mo had already phoned his parents. They were familiar with Yiyi and had already ford a familial bond over the years, despite Aunt Mu being sowhat aloof and not expressive, but she was very kind-hearted.
Uncle Zhou was the head of a bureau and extrely busy, often traveling for work and seldom at ho. Normally it was just Aunt Mu at ho. Now that the Gaokao was finally over, the adults were completely at ease.
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