Chapter 52: I Want to Take It Easy, But They Just Won’t Cooperate!

Li Ye’s final exams went relatively smoothly. After the first test, he went to find Teacher Luo and mentioned that Director Yao seemed to be “poaching” students. Director Tang Feiyu from County No. 2 High School swiftly arrived on his bicycle. Then, he pulled Director Yao aside, laughing and chatting about something, effectively disrupting the proctoring duties of Li Ye’s teacher and sparing Li Ye from having to see him and feel annoyed.

Once the exams ended, the school prepared for the holidays, only waiting for the results to be announced before everyone took their score sheets and went home to their mothers. Students who did well would receive praise from their mothers and enjoy a joyful New Year. Those who performed poorly faced uncertain consequences—both mental and physical punishments—whose bitterness only those who suffered it could understand.

During the two days waiting for the results, Li Ye saw several students crying. After exams, everyone checked the answers, and instead of getting more correct, the mistakes piled up, leading to breakdowns. Teenagers aged eighteen or nineteen wept like children, a sight both heartbreaking and oddly amusing.

Students of that era were pure-hearted, without games like “King of Glory” or “PUBG” to vent their emotions, nor distractions from extracurricular instructors. Their sole obsession was studying and preparing for exams. When that obsession wavered, their mental state fluctuated greatly. At that time, it was not uncommon for sudden emotional changes to trigger serious psychological trauma or illness.

Yet, within the group of eight friends, the atmosphere remained quite good.

“I got all three of these questions right. Don’t believe me? Look at the final answers I wrote down.”

“I got two right, but that one… how did I get it so wrong?”

“By my calculations, I did get it right, but I didn’t write the answer on the paper… probably around 55 points.”

“I scored about 60… adding the estimated written score, it’s roughly 360 points… can that be real?”

“This test was a bit easier, probably to boost our confidence by lowering the difficulty…”

Li Dayong, Hu Man, and others were also discussing the questions. Although they didn’t nearly achieve the near-perfect score that Li Ye did, they generally felt optimistic, even incredulous. After all, if you could get 360 points in the college entrance exam, that was enough to guarantee admission into a university or vocational college.

However, after observing Xia Yue, Jin Shengli, and others carefully for two days, Li Ye had a different perspective.

“This exam wasn’t easy. Those few people have been frowning and stressed for two days.”

The afternoon after the exam, Director Tang from the teaching office of County No. 2 High School, homeroom teacher Luo, and several subject teachers entered the first repeat class. Xia Yue quickly asked the students in the front row to squeeze onto a bench with the others to make room for the teachers.

Director Tang took the podium and quietly said to Xia Yue, “Go call Zhuang Hongxing from the third class.”

Xia Yue hurried to summon him. Soon, a student with prematurely white hair came over and was seated.

“Ahem, now that everyone is here, I have a few things to say,” Director Tang’s voice rang out clearly. “The purpose of this countywide joint exam is to assess your latent abilities. This time, the questions were somewhat difficult. Don’t lose confidence just because your scores aren’t ideal.”

Xia Yue, Jin Shengli, and others immediately looked much relieved. Meanwhile, Hu Man, Han Xia, and Fu Yingjie whispered anxiously among themselves. Particularly, Jiang Xiaoyan turned pale and broke out in sweat.

[The test was more difficult? How could it be just ‘more difficult’? No… it was too hard!]

Director Tang continued from the podium, “The reason we are gauging your latent potential is to prepare for the college entrance application process a few months from now. As you know, each university has a limited number of admissions.”

“For example, last year, Capital City University admitted just over 30 students from our province, and Capital City Foreign Language Institute only about 40.”

“If everyone rushes to apply to the same school, it will cause collisions. Therefore, we will conduct multiple joint exams to thoroughly understand everyone’s true scores, negotiate with partner schools, and help you make the best choice of preferences.”

Li Ye understood: Director Tang intended to stagger applications among students with similar scores across Qingshui County to increase their chances of admission.

Li Ye wasn’t sure if this method would be effective, but the application process in the early 1980s was truly bizarre. Unlike later practices where students filled out preferences after receiving their results—or even after exams—back then, students had to submit their college preferences before the exams, without even having an estimated score.

This caused great uncertainty in admissions. Some students performed exceptionally well and were admitted with scores far above their chosen schools’ cutoff lines. Others underperformed and quietly failed, watching classmates with lower usual results soar. Some overestimated their abilities or were overly cautious, wasting valuable points. In short—applications were a gamble.

For example, new students admitted to top universities in the early 1980s could have scores differing by over a hundred points. That meant both 550 and 450 point scorers could enter the same university. How fair was that, especially with a national standardized test? The only criterion for application was the ranking in regular school performance.

Achieving a city-wide ranking was nearly impossible, so County No. 1 and No. 2 High Schools united to create a county-wide ranking to give students a clearer sense of their standing.

“Ahem, quiet please, I will now announce the top twenty scores from our school’s exam.”

“20th: Yang Shugao, 271 points.”

“Nineteenth…”

“Eleventh: Li Dayong, 294 points.”

“…”

“Ninth: Qi Meijuan, 301 points.”

Xia Yue looked back three times at Li Dayong. In her understanding, Li Dayong was ranked beyond the top thirty in the repeat first class. Although he occasionally scored high in some subjects, his overall score shouldn’t have been in the top twenty.

Though Director Tang didn’t explicitly say it, these top twenty students were clearly the ones expected to negotiate preferences with partner schools—the most likely to be admitted. Those outside the top twenty had slim chances.

[Li Dayong scored 294. How much did Hu Man get? And Wen Leyu?]

Xia Yue worried and glanced at Jin Shengli, the class study committee member, who also looked tense.

How many in their isolated group of eight would actually make it to university?

Hu Man was known to be a good student; Wen Leyu even more so—her English alone could boost her score by thirty or forty points.

As things stood, at least three from Li Ye’s small group would be in the top twenty, with two in the top ten.

This… was alarming.

“Fourth: Xia Yue, 316 points.”

When Director Tang read Xia Yue’s name, she felt a sudden pang of disappointment, followed by deep unwillingness.

She had always believed she should be first in County No. 2 High School. Although Jin Shengli appeared slightly ahead, he was already on his third year of repeating.

Lu Jingyao’s letter had told Xia Yue that students like Jin Shengli had long exhausted their potential, with little hope of further improvement. Only first-year repeaters like herself, with solid foundations and great potential, had the best chance of admission.

[How am I only fourth? Three ranks behind Jin Shengli? And… did I really lose to Hu Man and Wen Leyu?]

Xia Yue hunched over, head bowed, eyes fixed on her hands, feeling a sourness in her nose as if something was about to spill out.

Losing to Jin Shengli she could accept, but losing to Hu Man was unbearable. The two had argued recently, even angrily insulting each other’s parents and elders—a bitter rivalry. To lose now was a profound humiliation.

Just as this thought formed, Jin Shengli’s name was called.

“Third: Jin Shengli, 318 points.”

The whole class stirred. Everyone turned to look at Hu Man. The last diagnostic test had promoted Hu Man, who was first in the second repeat class, into the first repeat class. Now, the two top students from each repeat class were finally confronting each other.

Director Tang did not stop the commotion in the classroom but continued announcing the final two names.

“Second: Zhuang Hongxing, 321 points.”

“First: Jiang Xiaoyan, 345 points.”

The room went silent, then erupted.

“Who? Jiang Xiaoyan?”

“Jiang Xiaoyan is first? How is that possible?”

“345 points—that’s enough for university or vocational college!”

“Nonsense, last year Zicheng Normal College’s cutoff was 335 points.”

“So she can get into university?”

“Not necessarily. She used to be worse than us; I guess she just got lucky this time.”

“Yes, definitely just lucky.”

The students whispered and debated, unaware of Li Ye’s sharp, piercing gaze.

Li Dayong, sensing Li Ye’s cold stare, grew uneasy. His large frame twisted restlessly on the bench, finally leaning over with a forced smile.

“Brother, I didn’t make the top ten.”

Li Ye’s gaze remained unchanged, but Li Dayong read his meaning.

[Didn’t I repeatedly tell you to control your scores? To take it easy?]

Li Dayong’s broad face twisted like a pretzel, half crying, half laughing.

“Brother, I almost took it easy enough to fall into the Qingshui River, but who knew they… didn’t listen!”