Chapter 150

These days, the busiest person at home is Xiao Fantuan. Every day, apart from eating and sleeping, he was studying. Forget about playing with his younger siblings; even his meals were served separately by Su Xiaoxiao and taken to his study room. He hastily finished eating and continued studying, not even knowing when Xiao Doubao took his dishes to wash.

Xiao Roubao, who was usually accustomed to being looked after by his elder brother, found it hard to adjust to the sudden lack of attention. Instead of misbehaving, he sat quietly at the door, scribbling and drawing on the small blackboard his second Brother gave him.

A week passed by in the blink of an eye, with more and more people joining the army of high school seniors preparing for the college entrance examination. Since the high school section couldn’t accommodate everyone, the principal decided to use the classrooms vacated by the junior high section as well. Although there were places to study, there was a severe shortage of teachers. The principal had no choice but to discuss the matter with the authorities.

With a sweeping gesture, the leaders coincided with Han Cheng’s idea and decided to conduct a preliminary exam. After all, there was only a little over a month left before the exams began. Those with poor fundamentals would first need to brush up on their basics and wait until next year to sit for the exam; otherwise, it would be a waste of resources. Those with good fundamentals would be screened out and given this month to sprint. Perhaps a few could even shine for the military district.

With a shortage of teachers, comrades who had attended university or had teaching experience in high school in the army were asked to help with classes. Han Cheng was one of the leaders’ preferred candidates for the role of mentor.

Han Cheng himself had submitted an application to pursue postgraduate studies. The leaders, with mixed feelings, patted Han Cheng on the shoulder. “Good comrade, leading by example, ambitious, well done!” Without hesitation, they approved Han Cheng’s application.

There were quite a few people from Qingfeng Town responding to the call to participate in the college entrance examination. Most of the town’s residents were either military personnel or their families, so even if they weren’t residents eligible to live in the town, their political reviews were undoubtedly trouble-free, saving a lot of hassle in the political review process.

The preliminary exam was scheduled for the weekend, with all high school students getting a day off, freeing up several classrooms for the third-year students to take the preliminary exam.

Yali was also taking the exam today. Su Xiaoxiao left the twins and Xiao Doubao at Zhao Xianfeng’s house. Both Zhou Yuhua and Zhao Xianfeng were off today. Xiao Zhuzi went along, but he buried himself in studying, occasionally glancing at his younger siblings.

He had thought he was already working hard enough. After advancing to the higher grades, his workload had increased significantly. To maintain good grades, he had to expend a lot of effort. Moreover, for the past two or three years, all his summer vacations had been spent writing and drawing, to the extent that he hadn’t even finished previewing the first-year curriculum. Now, it was the last semester of primary school, and he had to graduate with excellent grades while also preparing for the first year of junior high. The task was quite heavy.

As they watched the distance between themselves and Fantuan grow, Fantuan was already preparing for the college entrance examination. Though it was like Uncle Han pushing ducks onto the shelves, Xiao Zhuzi firmly believed that Fantuan could outperform most people in the exam. Feeling the pressure, Zhuzi knew he had to catch up, or he would fall further behind Fantuan. He still wanted to go to college with Fantuan in the future.

Zhao Xianfeng’s home hadn’t been this lively in a long time. Zhao Xianfeng had always felt the emptiness of having only one child at home, but Zhou Yuhua was reluctant to have another child. Besides, he loved the idea of having twins so much that he couldn’t bear to let go of Xiao Roubao once he held him. He would occasionally give him a piece of candy, making Xiao Doubao, who took over the role of supervisor from his older brother, keep a constant eye on them.

Whenever Zhao Xianfeng was caught giving sweets to his younger son, Xiao Doubao would forget about losing teeth or speaking clearly and would directly tell Zhao Xianfeng, “Uncle Zhao, Xiao Roubao really shouldn’t eat snacks today, or Mom will be angry!”

Zhao Xianfeng weighed the heavy Xiao Roubao in his arms, indeed, he was a bit heavy, as if Xiao Roubao shouldn’t eat anymore. “I know, Uncle understands. Thank you for reminding me, Xiao Doubao.” He then gave the candy to Xiao Doubao. “You can have it.”

It was all because Xiao Roubao enjoyed eating so much and naturally had a pair of smiling eyes. His slightly curved lips made everything seem festive. The little girl was the same; she sweetly called out “Uncle Zhao” and unconsciously wanted to give them all the good things to eat.

Xiao Doubao shook his head in frustration. “You should give it to Brother Zhuzi to eat. I just lost my teeth, and eating candy will ruin them even more. I’ll wait until they grow back.”

Zhao Xianfeng glanced at Zhuzi, who was buried in his studies and couldn’t help but pat Xiao Doubao’s head. “You’re really good!”

Why were the kids from the Han Cheng and Zhang Hongtu families so obedient? They said Xiao Roubao was a naughty one in Han Cheng’s family, but apart from his love for food, he hadn’t seen him act like a troublemaker. He is sweet and obedient and knows how to flatter.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

………………….

Returning to Su Xiaoxiao’s side, a family of three holding hands to take the same exam is truly a fun thing to talk about in their spare time.

Fantuan hadn’t seemed so disheartened since leaving Zhou Cuihua’s house. He pursed his lips, wearing a delicate face, too disheartened to even smile.

Su Xiaoxiao squeezed her son’s hand to comfort him. “Fantuan, relax. You don’t need to be so nervous. You’re not taking the college entrance exam. It doesn’t matter how many points you score.”

Xiao Fantuan looked like a deflated ball, he wrapped his arms around his mother. “Mom, I’m not nervous. I just feel unhappy because I’m about to face my first below 100 scores in my academic career. How can Han Fantuan’s exams not be perfect? Sigh…”

Su Xiaoxiao and Han Cheng: “…”

Who is Han Fantuan?

Su Xiaoxiao: “Deducting marks for essays is inevitable; getting full marks is rare. Have you forgotten when you lost two marks on your fifth-grade essay?”

Xiao Fantuan retorted, “But I got extra points for neat handwriting and clean paper. The teacher added two marks. I don’t care; my total score was still a hundred!”

Han Cheng rubbed his son’s head and said, “Alright, don’t be naughty. Not only Chinese, but many subjects in the humanities are subjective questions. The deduction is normal. Don’t dwell on this, just try your best.”

Xiao Fantuan straightened his chest and nodded, “I know, I’ll try my best to score above 80.”

After listening to the conversation between the family of three, Yali felt like crying: “Fantuan, Aunt Yali thinks passing the exam is difficult. You can score 80 points, and that’s already very impressive.”

Fantuan felt embarrassed: “Aunt Yali, cheer up! I just said that casually. We haven’t even seen the exam papers yet.”

Yali sighed. “I’m really worried that I’ll fail miserably.”

Su Xiaoxiao reassured her, “Don’t worry. We’re just joining in for fun. We’ll still be revising at home, not taking up public resources.”

Yali nodded. “Xiaoxiao, look at my embarrassing state. My legs are trembling even now. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have the courage to enter the exam hall.”

Su Xiaoxiao said, “That’s where it goes, but it’s great to adapt to the atmosphere in advance. When you’re nervous enough this time, you can actually enter the exam room the next time you don’t feel nervous.”

Yali watched the calm demeanor of this family of three and took a deep breath. The differences between people were astonishing.

………………..

With time being short, since it was just a trial test, there weren’t many formalities. Both the arts and sciences exams contained typical questions from all subjects, divided into basic questions and extra credit questions, each roughly accounting for fifty percent of the score. Those opting for the arts took arts-related questions, while those for the sciences took science-related ones. There was also an additional English test. Seats were assigned randomly, and students could sit wherever they found an empty seat.

To avoid suspicion, Su Xiaoxiao had already discussed it with Fantuan and Han Cheng at home. They decided that each of them would sit in a different classroom to prevent gossip.

So Su Xiaoxiao, Fantuan, and Yali all took the liberal arts exam papers, while Han Cheng took the science exam papers. The family of three also took the additional English exam papers before entering different exam rooms. Yali knew a little Russian but had a poor foundation in English, so she didn’t take the additional English exam paper. She followed Su Xiaoxiao into the same exam room but sat in the farthest spot from her.

In her previous life, Su Xiaoxiao stumbled upon sample exam questions from the first year of the restored college entrance examination while scrolling through short videos. Although she didn’t remember any of the questions, she vaguely remembered that they didn’t seem too difficult. The basic questions in the diagnostic test mainly tested everyone’s foundational knowledge, which Su Xiaoxiao found easy. She thought even Fantuan could score full marks on them. As for the tricky questions for grading purposes, it posed a bit of a challenge, but for Su Xiaoxiao, who had never put down her books, it was as easy as cutting vegetables.

Everyone in the same exam room either wore a worried expression or scratched their heads, but Su Xiaoxiao picked up her pen and began writing away. She even finished the English exam paper before looking up, stretching her somewhat stiff neck.

After thoroughly checking her answers, she found nothing to revise and immediately raised her hand to submit her paper.

Many of the older teachers had gone to participate in the diagnostic test, so there weren’t enough monitors. The monitor, who was in her fifties and had been temporarily transferred from the junior high department, noticed Su Xiaoxiao buried in her answers and saw her as the first one to submit her paper, catching her attention.

As she walked over and glanced at the name on the paper, seeing the distinctive “Su Xiaoxiao,” she couldn’t help but take another look at Su Xiaoxiao. It was the first time she had seen a name that matched its owner’s face. As she continued reading, she was immediately stunned. The handwriting on the paper looked exactly like the printed font used for the exam questions, almost as if it were the standard answer already printed on the exam paper. The whole test paper was neat and tidy, with no corrections anywhere, even the English words seemed pre-printed. As an English teacher herself, she was extremely impressed with this English answer sheet.

In this small town, Su Xiaoxiao’s family can be said to be well-known to everyone, but Su Xiaoxiao usually lives in seclusion and only interacts with a few neighbors. She had heard before that she took a substitute class in elementary school for a period of time, and the whole class’s grades were greatly improved, which became a popular story. In addition, she was able to teach excellent children like Fantuan Zhuzi and Doubao. The monitor just didn’t expect her to be so excellent herself. She nodded with satisfaction again, and this exam paper could be used as a standard answer for revising.

……..

Yali is still answering the test, but Su Xiaoxiao didn’t wait for her.

The situation is similar for Han Cheng and Xiao Fantuan.

It goes without saying that Han Cheng’s foundation is not inferior to Su Xiaoxiao’s. Even though he doesn’t have as much time for review as Su Xiaoxiao, his foundation in mathematics, physics, and chemistry is very good. He can basically pick up the test paper and start solving problems. He took about the same amount of time as Su Xiaoxiao and was also the first one to turn in his paper in the exam hall.

In the military region, everyone knows Han Cheng. The monitor collected his paper and looked at it, thinking with emotion, “How can this be a diagnostic test? It’s clearly meant to demoralize people.”

Xiao Fantuan found that most of the questions were easier than he had imagined, especially the basic ones; he could basically answer them all. For the tougher questions that he hadn’t studied, he simply gave up on them without even bothering to write anything. As for the English paper, it was just as his father had said; it was all basic knowledge taught by his mother. The words were just the twenty-six letters put together, and he remembered most of what his mother had taught him.

Fantuan knew that getting a perfect score on the main exam was hopeless, so he paid special attention to the English paper. At least getting a full score on the additional paper could salvage a bit of his reputation, right? After finishing the questions, Fantuan even calculated his own score. If it wasn’t at least eighty points, he planned to blather on a bit to show off his beautiful handwriting and try to garner some sympathy points. But after calculating, he found that he had exactly eighty points, so he didn’t dwell on it and immediately raised his hand to turn in his paper.

As the youngest candidate to take the final exam, Xiao Fantuan naturally caught the attention of the monitor. At first, the monitor thought he was just here to make up for the numbers, but he didn’t expect him to pick up his pen and start answering questions earnestly. After looking through the exam paper, the monitor felt a bit stunned; at least he couldn’t answer the questions as smoothly as this kid.

After reading Fantuan’s paper, he was stunned and forgot that this was the exam room. He directly asked, “Are you Fantuan?”

On Fantuan’s test paper, it was written as Han Jing. At first, the monitor did not associate him with the famous “Fantuan,” who had serialized his works in the daily newspaper. However, he himself is a calligraphy and painting enthusiast and is very familiar with the calligraphy and painting of the three children. At a glance, Han Jing’s handwriting matched Fantuan’s.

Fantuan nodded and whispered, “Yes, is there a problem?”

The monitor cleared his throat and said, “No, no problem, everyone continues.”

Only after Fantuan had walked away did the monitor relax, withdrawing his gaze and feeling relieved. “A strong youth means a strong nation. That’s really good.”