Chapter 80

After Ma Gensheng left, Su Ye’s neighbors couldn’t suppress their curiosity and gathered at the door to take a look. Most of the people living in this area were cadres, which was different from the neighbors in the old dormitory buildings, but their gossiping tendencies were the same.

When Su Ye first moved in, they originally thought Grandma Zhou was moving back in, but they were surprised to find that the new neighbor was actually Gu Xiangqian and his wife. They heard that Gu Xiangqian’s new wife had come from the countryside, and they thought there might be some friction between her and her husband.

They observed discreetly for a few days, and the more they observed, the more imbalanced their attitudes became.

Su Ye was undoubtedly the luckiest person they had ever seen. She brought home chickens and ducks almost every few days. The couple was constantly making delicious things—either stewing pork belly or making chicken soup. The aroma of the meat never stopped, which was incredibly enviable.

When summer vacation began for the students, Ma Gensheng, who came from the countryside, hurried over to deliver a gift to Su Ye. The new neighbors had heard that people from the countryside would bring chickens and dried mountain delicacies to Su Ye, but hearing about it was one thing, and seeing it with their own eyes was quite another.

“Teacher Su really has a lot of things here. Is this wild ginseng?”

“These dried bamboo shoots and mushrooms are really well-dried. Little Su’s social skills are great, she’s so well-liked everywhere she goes.”

Su Ye politely replied, “I’ve helped them with a few small things, and these are gifts of thanks.”

Su Ye couldn’t help but laugh, looking at the small wild ginseng that Ma Gensheng had forcefully shoved into her hands. The ginseng roots were dense, each one carefully tended to. Although small in size, they were old, having grown for many years.

Wild ginseng grows in extremely harsh conditions, only in high mountains and deep forests, and it only gains about 1 gram in weight each year. The wild ginseng Su Ye was holding must have been growing for at least several decades.

Shanggou Village Village was indeed a poor, remote place, without much of value to offer. The villagers had to rely on the mountains for their livelihood. How long would it take to gather enough wild ginseng to fill that small bag? Su Ye felt that holding it in her hands was almost too much to bear.

“Wild ginseng is a rare treasure! Do you all remember Captain Huang from our yard? He just came down from the battlefield at the end of last year, badly wounded. His family went around trying to buy ginseng, but the wild ginseng they bought was nowhere near as big as the ones Su Ye is holding!”

These “gifts of thanks” were certainly not light, the neighbors thought.

What did the production team leader say? Su Ye spends so much energy teaching, and she uses this wild ginseng to brew tea… Hearing this, the neighbors couldn’t help but twitch their mouths. What does “spending energy” even mean? Being a teacher is already exhausting, if you’re not spending energy, are you even a teacher?

Su Ye carefully stored the wild ginseng. Ma Gensheng had said it was nothing special, but such good things couldn’t be wasted like this.

She smiled and said, “If Captain Huang still needs wild ginseng, he can come to me. I need to save the rest for Xiangqian.”

This was just a polite way of speaking on Su Ye’s part. It was impossible for her to give it to Gu Xiangqian—he was full of energy, lively and healthy, and didn’t need precious wild ginseng. Instead, the person who truly needed it was Professor Ning from the northwest. He was the one who had been overworking, both mentally and physically. Su Ye carefully wrapped the ginseng and sent three pieces to Ning Qian.

The neighbors spread Su Ye’s words, and that very evening, Captain Huang’s family came knocking eagerly.

Mrs. Huang grasped Su Ye’s hand tightly, saying, “Thank you, Comrade Su, thank you so much.”

Su Ye smiled and gently patted the thick stack of bills in her hand. After a few polite refusals, she said firmly, “Don’t be so polite, we’re all comrades. We’ve shared a deep bond as revolutionary allies, what’s money? Just take it!”

“Comrades like Captain Huang are the backbone of the party and the nation, wild ginseng is nothing compared to that.”

The people living in this area were all high-ranking officials, and Mrs. Huang wouldn’t shamelessly accept such a valuable gift without any return. Things that money could buy were not truly valuable, it was the favor owed that was worth more.

Mrs. Huang was deeply moved, and Su Ye’s heartfelt words struck a chord with her. Adding to this was Su Ye’s sincere, righteous expression, and her earnest eyes, which made her words all the more believable. If someone else had said these words, it might have seemed insincere, but Su Ye’s righteous appearance made it very convincing.

Thinking about her experiences over the past six months, Mrs. Huang almost had tears in her eyes.

After the guests left, Su Ye briskly counted the money—fifteen large bills.

Although it wasn’t a huge sum and far less than the wild ginseng would fetch decades later when it became priceless, in this era, it was still a considerable amount. Wild ginseng with decades of age, nowadays, wasn’t as rare as it once was.

Actually, she hadn’t planned on accepting any money. Why did everyone insist on not owing her anything? What was Su Ye’s favor worth anyway?

Su Ye put the money into her little savings box. Together with the money she had earned earlier, she now had a total of 6,308 yuan in her personal savings. The thick stack of bills still had a little warmth to it.

At first glance, the amount seemed pretty decent, but it was still less than the leftover change from selling tea. Su Ye counted the money and thought that she could earn more.

—

After the college entrance exams were over, Su Ye kept her promise and taught the senior students some basic electrical knowledge, including how to fix light bulbs, watches, radios…

A group of social misfits had finally learned the legendary secret to getting rich. They listened intently with heads raised, diligently taking notes with the sound of pens scribbling. Among them were many students who hadn’t even passed their high school graduation exams. Now, they all clung to Teacher Su, eager to learn any skills they could, knowing that once they entered society, it would be hard to learn such things.

After Su Ye finished explaining the points, she looked down and met the students’ serious and focused gazes. She couldn’t help but shake her head. “If you were even half as serious during review sessions, I bet you’d all be dating in college by now.”

When the students heard the mention of “dating,” they blushed. One male student pleaded, “Teacher Su, it’s not that I’m not serious, but when I see formulas and theorems, I get dizzy.”

“I’m already very satisfied that I made it through high school and got my diploma,” another student added.

“I’d be just as satisfied even without the diploma,” a loud-voiced male student shouted.

Xu Le, never one to shy away from stirring things up, said, “Teacher Su, you haven’t even gotten your grades back yet. You might not even beat us.”

Yang Chenxing added fuel to the fire, “Brother Siyuan went back and memorized the answers to math, physics, and chemistry. The factory Director hired a teacher to look at his papers. It seems like he didn’t lose more than five points.”

Even they had to marvel that there were people like this in the world—those who played the most and studied the least, yet ended up with better test scores than everyone else.

Su Ye glanced over at Lu Siyuan, realizing why he had been so arrogant recently.

Su Ye calmly packed up her teaching materials and molds, her composed expression oddly convincing. She smiled faintly and said, “Well then, let’s see if I can beat all of you.”

A week later, the results for the 1960 unified college entrance exam were rumored to be coming out.

In the decades before, universities conducted regional admissions exams. It wasn’t until 1952 that China implemented its first unified college entrance exam, commonly known as the ^[1]Gaokao (高考) is the National Higher Education Entrance Examination in China. It is an extremely important and rigorous exam taken by Chinese high school graduates to gain admission to universities … Continue readingGaokao. Su Ye’s batch of students had to take eight subjects: Chinese, mathematics, foreign languages, physics, chemistry, political knowledge, biology, and history/geography. The exams lasted for three days in a row.

Su Ye excelled in the sciences, but in the humanities, she seemed average—probably not as good as Qin Lan. Lu Siyuan, though not strong in the humanities, was extremely good at the sciences. When everyone’s strengths and weaknesses were considered, it seemed that they all had similar chances.

Who would score the highest among Su Ye, Lu Siyuan, Yang Chenxing, and Xu Le? Before the scores were released, no one had any confidence.

Although Su Ye was strong in the sciences, her humanities scores were clearly average. She usually taught science to junior high students, squeezing in review sessions for them when she had time. She was so busy with her work and striving for tenure that she barely had any time to study the humanities. Many of the students thought this way…

Even He Meimei was nearly misled by others into thinking the same way about Su Ye. Previously, she had specially tutored Su Ye in Chinese and history/geography, but Su Ye had shown little interest. However, upon further reflection, He Meimei realized that some people couldn’t be judged by common logic—they were simply beyond belief.

And Su Ye was one of those people.

When the teachers of the senior class heard that the Gaokao exam papers had been graded, they eagerly gathered at the school to wait for the principal’s phone call regarding the results.

Under the eager gazes of everyone, the principal cheerfully dialed the phone and called the admissions committee office to inquire about the exam results.

The voice from the other end of the line said, “Ah, it’s the principal of No. 1 High School… We haven’t even finished counting how many of our students got into university, but your school did exceptionally well this year—really, exceptionally well!”

Hearing the repeated praise, the principal’s heart settled, and she smiled as she turned to the other teachers and said, “Did you hear that? The leaders are praising us! Everyone will get two jin of sweet potatoes as a bonus!”

There was a brief pause on the phone, and then the voice from the committee office continued excitedly, “The student who performed the best is… Su Ye. Oh, is she one of your students? She’s really remarkable, she scored full marks in many subjects.”

The principal repeated the words like a broken record for everyone to hear, “The best student is… Su Ye?”

Her tone suddenly shifted as she instinctively corrected herself, “No, wait, Su Ye is one of our teachers, she’s not a student.”

In the principal’s subconscious mind, Su Ye taking the Gaokao was not a serious matter—it was just a joke, something to be brushed off.

No. 1 High School had excellent benefits, a prized “iron rice bowl” position. People outside were eager to get in, and Su Ye had only just become a permanent teacher. How could she possibly give that up to attend university? Even after finishing university, she would still have to come back and find a job, right?

Little did the principal know, the teacher she was preparing to entrust with significant responsibilities had quietly taken the exam and ended up coming in first.

The teachers in the office were stunned, then a warm smile spread across their faces, and a sense of admiration welled up within them.

No one had expected Su Ye to come in first. It was a result that surprised everyone, but upon reflection, it made perfect sense. During the period leading up to the exam, Su Ye’s face practically screamed “I’m confident.” Could she have filled out her university application without solid qualifications?

She didn’t lack confidence. She was willing to spend precious time tutoring her students, wasn’t she?

The principal was speechless, her expression stunned, as if she were in a dream. She didn’t say a word for a long time. Everyone exchanged glances, waiting for the principal to continue reporting the results.

Zhou Yi cleared his throat lightly and took the microphone, correcting, “Hello, Su Ye is one of our teachers, but her academic record is still registered with No. 1 High School, so she is indeed considered a candidate from No. 1 High School this year.”

He listened to the receiver while quickly jotting down the data with a pen.

Zhou Yi calmly reported the results, “The highest score in our city and also the highest in the province this year is Su Ye. She scored full marks in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry, 5 points off in Chinese, full marks in Politics, 10 points off in History and Geography, and 3 points off in Biology. Her total score is 782, which is the highest score since the Gaokao began.”

“Next is Yang Chenxing with a total score of 672, Chen Ziming with a total score of 639…” followed by a list of other students’ names.

He Meimei held her breath, listening carefully. She felt unsettled, thinking that Su Ye was really amazing. Yang Chenxing performed unexpectedly well, managing to get second place! Then she heard a familiar name, “Lu Siyuan, total score 492, Xu Le, total score 438, Qin Lan, 430…”

Zhou Yi finished by saying, “Students with a total score of 420 and above have a good chance of being admitted.”

Su Ye had scored 360 points more than the passing line! This year, the number of students entering university was more than double that of last year, and nearly half of the students in Class 3 had been admitted to university. After hearing all the scores, He Meimei couldn’t help but gasp, feeling as though hot tears were about to spill from her eyes.

Everyone had recovered from the shock, nodding as they thought to themselves: Su Ye’s arrogance was justified, but she had been too modest about her academic achievements—perhaps excessive modesty was a bit off-putting? He Meimei’s class had been fully guided by Su Ye, and the university admission rate was visibly twice that of the other classes.

This made them wonder: if Su Ye could help improve the performance of Class 3, whose scores had been so low, how much better would their own students have done if they had been “specially tutored” by Su Ye?

They couldn’t help but feel regretful, wondering why they hadn’t asked her to teach in their class. What they had missed out on was the chance to have the top scorer personally teach their students—the top scorer who had achieved the best results in years!