Transmigrated & Triumphant: Defying Destiny's Chosen One-Chapter 608 - 83: My Year in This Battle
October 21st.
Autumn in Beijing is as brief as in Ning City; the temperature has dropped, but thankfully it’s not too cold.
Shi Suifeng wore the autumn clothes made by Daya and hesitated twice about whether to wear autumn pants, finally deciding not to listen to the kids—
Although the temperature was only in the tens, he felt warm every day from training.
It wasn’t because he thought he was still young.
He is now in charge of new combat training and had just returned in a sorry state with a group from the mountains when he noticed a different atmosphere in the camp.
There was new news coming from the radio
—The college entrance exam had been reinstated.
He pressed his chest. It was clearly something he had long anticipated, but for some reason, an intense feeling of reluctance suddenly arose in his heart.
It was like... saying goodbye to old comrades.
But the feeling vanished quickly, and he was soon overwhelmed with joy.
"I’m going to make a call!"
His comrades laughed and patted him on the shoulder, as everyone knew there were six or seven people in Shi Suifeng’s family who just received their graduation certificates this year!
...
That winter, on December 11th, 5.7 million examinees walked into the exam halls they had dreamed of.
The children were dispersed in different positions, but before entering, Chu River stood outside the exam hall with his hands behind his back, watching over a few children—
"I’m telling you, it’s been tough supporting you all these years, and now it’s time for you to repay me! How? By making me proud."
"This exam, if any of you don’t get into college, I’ll pin you to the wall and you won’t be able to come down, believe it?"
"Listen carefully, your grades can’t be bad! If you do poorly, I’ll beat you!"
A few tall and short kids stood in front of him, obedient like quails.
Chu River’s voice was loud, and at that moment, the bustling crowd outside the exam hall fell silent for a second.
Da Dan’s face was full of determination—for the college entrance exam, he’d halted his business for several months, which amounted to a lost house!
If he didn’t do well this time, he’d lose big in his business! A huge loss!
He absolutely had to achieve a decent score.
Gu Ping only felt full of shame—why did the motivational talk have to be in front of so many people?
Later, he had to be the top scholar, what if people remembered...
Wait a minute!
He saw Little Xuan holding a book.
Never mind—Gu Ping thought: I’ll settle for second place, or even third place.
Luckily, the loving education from Chu River didn’t last too long, considering the speaker was also taking the college entrance exam—and she had only briefly skimmed a book before the exam.
Gu Ping secretly laughed—his aunt wasn’t being serious, he was definitely going to outscore her this time, hahaha...
...
The exam hall was just as it was; the environment was no different from the past.
Gu Ping found his seat and clenched his fists silently, thinking:
Da Dan and the others had even put aside their business to study well, this time, no matter what, he also had to achieve a better score.
Apparently, he wasn’t the only one full of expectations for a good score.
Entering the exam hall, everyone was both excited and apprehensive, and the young man in front of Gu Ping had a weathered look but a fire was burning in his eyes.
"Comrade, you’re so young; how old are you this year?"
The other took the initiative to talk to him.
Gu Ping’s demeanor was steady, but his youthful vigor was evident, starkly contrasting with those who had gone to the countryside.
"Sixteen?"
The other widened his eyes, looking at him with envy.
"Sixteen, huh... really great, really great."
He tightened his thin and worn-out cotton coat and smiled faintly.
"I’m already 27 this year."
years old!
A whole generation apart from the 16-year-old youth in front of him.
Time had worn on for too long, the difficult years were too prolonged.
But at least it still left him a glimmer of hope.
Thinking of those companions who had married and had children in the countryside, he couldn’t help but feel fortunate again. He had a lot on his mind to say but didn’t know where to start.
Facing this young and tender youth, looking at his undiminished vigor, the other really wanted to pour out his feelings and took the initiative to speak—
"I was sent to the countryside in ’65; our local school was doing quite well, and I heard there’s a teacher invited to mark papers."
When the car came to pick them up, the news couldn’t be contained.
These days, the confidentiality for exam paper markers wasn’t that strict.
The other was obviously full of passion, and Gu Ping was quite supportive too:
"Is that so?"
"Yes!"
Once the conversation started, the other said a lot: "That teacher even composed a poem and published it in our provincial newspaper! Have you read it?"
Gu Ping hadn’t heard about this.
During this period, besides reading newspapers, they were busy studying intensely, but due to transportation restrictions, they only read what they could buy locally in Beijing, including newspapers like the People’s Daily.
The ones from Hui Province... they didn’t have!
And the other revealed a dimple by his cheek, reciting the poem to him:
"The central decision restores the college entrance exam, intellectual youth clap and smile.
By day they battle both heaven and earth, by night they clean guns and sharpen knives.
One core as red as can be, two preparations firm as steel.
Living in a humble village hut, yet aspiring for the grand goal of modernization!
This teacher’s surname was Xia; unfortunately, by the time we went for revision, he had already been taken away.
Strictly speaking, this could only be considered a simple doggerel.
But the young man in front of him was not concerned at all about the quality of the poem; he was simply filled with an excitement that had nowhere to go.
Gu Ping glanced at his slightly trembling hand, and was filled with emotion.
——With an uncle and an aunt around, their days were indeed much better.
"Very good."
He showed a sincere smile.
The other person sat on a simple wooden stool, with a patch of dark yellow and grey cotton showing at the cuff.
Yet at this moment, his eyes were also red, with tears almost brimming over:
"Yes, it’s wonderful."
...
Besides Gu Ping, Da Dan and others also encountered acquaintances in the exam hall.
The other person tightly clutched his sleeve, with tears brimming in their eyes.
"Chu Yang, I didn’t get a chance to thank you during our review before. No matter how I do this time, I am thankful to you for helping me seize this opportunity!"
"Great kindness and virtue, I will remember it forever!"
Great kindness and virtue?
At this moment, Da Dan only felt a pang of bitterness—was there really such great kindness and virtue?
It was merely five sets of books.
And it wasn’t given to any one person individually, but directly donated to the local school.
Their family, due to customs and the uncle’s emphasis, had all sorts of books. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
Even during the toughest years, hidden in the cellar, they didn’t miss a single professional book.
But ever since October, when it was announced in the People’s Daily that the college entrance exam would be restored, to now in December, even less than two months, publishers couldn’t print fast enough, and books were hard to find everywhere in the country.
Where did these educated youth or even worker farmers get materials for review?
Could they possibly study the old university entrance exam materials like "Basic Industrial" or "Basic Agricultural"?
But in their hands, there happened to be a set of "Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry Self-study Series" for everyone, which were currently the most mature review materials.
Last time they collected these sets of books was back in ’63. Chen Changhai bought them from the scrap yard spending a fortune, eight cents a piece.
Back then, many large tomes could be bought for just one or two cents.
It was mainly because they were banned books, so the seller secretly raised the price on the spot.
But since the God of Wealth’s family needed them, even if it was eight yuan per book, Chen Changhai would gather a few sets.
But they had already been thoroughly familiar with these books before, so they didn’t need them for review now. They only kept two sets and donated the other five to the school, where the school organized college entrance examinees to copy the materials here day and night and study on their own.
Just a few sets of books, since they couldn’t use them anyway, Da Dan and the others just felt they did what they ought to do.
But for these people, for these young individuals delayed by the times, their meager assistance was enough to change the future of many!
At this moment, the words of the young man before them mirrored the inner feelings of countless test takers who copied the materials.
The tense pre-exam time quickly passed by, and when the proctor brought the exam papers into the classroom, everyone sat there motionlessly, barely daring to breathe.
The paper seemed to still bear ink marks, and if you touched it, the dark ink stains would faintly stamp onto your arms.
But everyone held them as if they were holding their most precious treasures.
The bell rang, and the test began.
Classmate Chu Yang, who struggled with Chinese, turned over the exam paper and found that the most troubling essay topic even offered two options—
1: Through hardships and challenges, determined effort can succeed. (Starting from Ye Jianying’s poem on overcoming obstacles)
2: Follow Chairman Hua closely and always sing The East is Red.
Da Dan’s mind instantly tensed up.
Because no matter which essay topic, he found it incredibly hard.
If asked what’s most important in pickling vegetables?
Or how to maximize the value of soybeans?
That he could certainly write thousands of words effortlessly.
...
Opposite to Da Dan was Little Xuan.
The moment the paper was in hand, after hurriedly checking it, and writing his name on both sides, Little Xuan couldn’t wait any longer and started to write the moment the bell rang.
The college entrance exam had finally come!
If it didn’t come, he had almost forgotten all the high school knowledge, and there was still homework assigned by a physics professor at home waiting for him to ponder!
Alas, if you asked him, why even conduct the exam over two days?
Hand out the papers to everyone at once, and those who finish can leave, can’t they?
Thinking about the half-solved problems at home, his nerves instantly tensed.
From the first question to the last, none of them posed a barrier. His pen moved as smoothly as the wind, even causing the pacing proctor to pause beside him.
But being the grandson of a scientist, how could he be affected by such a small gaze to halt his writing?
At this moment, Little Xuan had only one goal in mind—
I want to be the top scorer!
The better the grades, the more favorable attention from teachers, the more challenging problems he could encounter in university, and the more opportunities to find solutions.
When he goes to university, he must get to know more teachers and clear up all the accumulated questions he has!
After all, getting into college just to receive a subsidy isn’t enough, is it? A fixed salary has no future! Taking the knowledge to heart is the most worthwhile!
Little Xuan, with the temperament of a researcher, didn’t realize that his current way of thinking had an unexpected similarity with the pragmatic Chu Dadan.
