In the blink of an afternoon, the long-silent third class group chat became lively again, with messages quickly surpassing 99+.

"Did the scores come out?"

"They did."

What followed were screenshots of exam results. The atmosphere was festive, with scores above 500 flying everywhere.

Yang Qiming scored 562, Huang Caicai's score was a bit lower, just over 540, but still not bad.

The cutoff line for the first tier hasn't been released yet, but it's estimated not to exceed 530.

Liu Yang scored 537, although he wasn't in great shape during the exam, he didn't mind.

At worst, he'll attend a second-tier college; it doesn't make much difference within the province. If things don't go well, he plans to go to graduate school when he feels like putting in effort.

College, time to have some fun first!!

Screenshots of scores were being thrown into the group one by one. Dong Que scored 506, pretty average.

In the class, more people joined the celebration.

Zeng You: "[Image] 580."

Ma Guojun: "What the f*ck, how did you score like that? English 100, Chinese 100, Science comprehensive...."

"Is it a joke, Mathematics 140, Science comprehensive 240?"

Zeng You: "Just scribbled it down, during the English exam, I was reading a novel during noon, almost fell asleep in the afternoon."

"Get real!!" Li Hua couldn't stand it, sending over some memes, "Did you cheat?"

Zeng You: "Xiao Lizi, what's your score? (Sunglasses)"

"Get real!!"

Li Hua really wanted to throw out a screenshot with a score of zero to show provincial top 50, but unfortunately, he couldn't.

"Over 650, ranked in the 900s."

As soon as the image appeared, the group exploded. It was the first time they saw a three-digit ranking in the group.

"Anyone in the top 100?" Lin Dong @ Tao Ran, Jiang Nian, "Class representative, what are your scores?"

Tao Ran sent an image, "Slightly higher than Li Hua, but ranked much higher."

Li Hua: "Get real!!"

"Strong, we have two above 650 in our class?" Liu Yang popped up, "By the way, where's Jiang Nian?"

Lin Dong said, "Wang Yuhe and her friends usually score well too, wonder if they could beat 650 this time."

A senior class representative for biology suddenly chimed in, throwing a screenshot into the group.

"Messed up."

It was a screenshot showing 601, which indeed counted as a failure for Qian Wenyu, but no one cared.

Bro, six hundred something and you complain?

"The college entrance exams are tougher." Yang Qiming chimed in, "The higher you aim, the tougher it gets, the class rep only scored 650."

Zeng You: "I think it's not that hard."

Qian Wenyu: "..."

He wanted to retaliate, but couldn't think of anything to say back. After sending an ellipsis, he simply left the group.

"Who left?"

"Who cares, speaking of which, where's Jiang Nian that kid?"

"Probably celebrating secretly."

"Don't call him, or he'll throw out a zero score screenshot, and the guy will really have a heart attack."

Not long after, Wang Yuhe also shared a screenshot with her score covered. Over 640, then another one.

"Did you post it twice?" Lin Dong glanced, "Hmm? How come Chen Yunyun also has over 640?"

"What the heck?" Ma Guojun was also at a loss, having held back until now, he couldn't stay quiet any longer.

"What's with our class, so many scoring over 640?"

"Old Liu's laughing himself silly." Lin Dong said, "Ah, our group has two academic giants heading to top schools."

Li Hua: "And Zhang Ningzhi, Yao Beibei's score is pretty high too, though I doubt she'll surpass me."

"Leader, stop @ing me." Zhang Ningzhi was a bit speechless, "My score's about the same as yours."

"Really?" Li Hua was dumbfounded, sending several emojis, "Come on, are you chasing after my score?"

Zhang Ningzhi: "....."

"Where's Yao Beibei?"

"What do you want, I'm having dinner with Zhizhi." Yao Beibei sent a photo, with desserts and steak.

"Li Hua, you're really not doing well."

Li Hua: "??? "

"What do you mean? You're not at 660, are you?"

"No." Yao Beibei replied, "My score's about the same as yours, (middle finger) better to be a tiger down and out than a dog, huh."

"Get real, get real!!"

Meanwhile, Old Liu was lurking in the group chat. Just like the smaller groups, the public class group was also bustling and lively.

At this moment, it truly was a moment of glory.

In this lifetime, he wouldn't lead so many students to top universities; it was truly a competitive, legendary class.

The more crucial thing was the two new screenshots he received.

Zeros.

...

Can a golden phoenix fly out of a small county?

Hard to say.

For the Qingbei admissions team, making a trip for one or two people wasn't exactly cost-effective.

Without getting scores beforehand, on one side were top-100 schools, on the other, a school with zero last year.

Hmm...

But the phone calls still needed to be made. After all, in eight hours, it only costs a few cups of milk tea.

Of course, this system wasn't perfect.

Occasionally, a student might unexpectedly score high but miss out on a call, having to reach out themselves.

It mainly related to scores that year and available admission places.

Other college admissions offices couldn't access scores beforehand but might have some inside information or their own channels.

Prior to score releases, they had usually set off, already en route, or even redirected mid-way.

Zhen Nan!!

A small, unremarkable county frequently mentioned, as business cars poured in from all directions as evening fell.

At dawn, Old Liu went out for a breather.

He'd been up for two days, and even his walking was a bit unsteady. Not just because he was busy, but because he enjoyed being so busy.

Even just glancing at the group chat was joyous.

Just coming out of the restroom, he was going to buy breakfast. Also intending to buy a pack of cigarettes since he finished them all last night.

No sooner did he glance casually than he stood frozen.

Many unfamiliar vehicles were driving in from outside the school. Before he could react, he got a call from the leader.

"Old Liu, you're still at school, right?"

"I... I'm always on duty."