Lin Chaoxi and Bao Xiaomeng walked along the alley, and before they knew it, they were under the eaves where they had met by chance.

"Where are you going next?"

She and Bao Xiaomeng spoke at the same time, and then were stunned.

"Go stay with my aunt for a few days. She rented a house near the university where you are having training."

"Then what?" Lin Chaoxi continued to ask.

“I want to continue my studies.”

Lin Chaoxi didn't understand: "Why do you suddenly want to go to school?"

Bao Xiaomeng was immediately discouraged. After a while, she said, "I don't know either, but they all said that things will be different after going to college."

"So do you have anything you like or want to do? You like jewelry, so how about jewelry design?"

"I don't particularly like it."

"Is that so..."

"I really don't know what I want." Bao Xiaomeng said, "I can't stand standing on the bench for a month. Working is so tiring and difficult. I just can't hold on. I want to escape and go back to school." Bao Xiaomeng rubbed his face, "It's normal for you to look down on me."

Lin Chaoxi didn't say anything.

"See you then. I'm going that way." Bao Xiaomeng pointed in the direction of the neon jewelry store.

It was still a back figure turning away. In just one month, the originally fresh and cheerful little girl had her shoulders collapsed under the burden of life.

Lin Zhaoxi couldn't help but ask, "You didn't have anything you wanted to do, so why did you ask me that day, how are you going to catch up with me?"

Bao Xiaomeng turned her head sharply and shouted, "I'm just jealous of your brain. I just want to catch up with you and be as good as you. Okay!?"

I finally said what I had been holding back for so long.

After such a long and stuffy summer, there is finally a cool breeze after the rain.

Lin Zhaoxi smiled and said, "Okay."

"I'll never be able to do that!"

"Whether you can do it or not, you should give it a try. Let's try to find the answer you want together!"

——

Hongzhang New Village, garage.

The house that Bao Xiaomeng's aunt rented was actually two rooms separated from the garage.

The lights were bulbs that came down from the ceiling, and the windows were welded shut and couldn't be opened. Lin Chaoxi felt that he might have an inexplicable connection with the garage.

After arriving at the place, Bao Xiaomeng took out the only remaining instant noodles in the trolley case. Lin Chaoxi reluctantly took a hot shower in the toilet and wolfed down another bowl of instant noodles.

After she finished her last sip of soup, Bao Xiaomeng asked weakly, "Do you really want to work hard with me, not to find the answer together?"

"Actually..." Lin Zhaoxi wiped his mouth and looked at Bao Xiaomeng pitifully: "I'm disliked by other people in our dormitory and want to move out. Can I live with you in your aunt's house?"

Bao Xiaomeng: “…”

Lin Chaoxi pushed the soup bowl away and tried to take out paper and pen from his schoolbag, but found that all the papers were wet.

"Do you have any paper?" she asked Bao Xiaomeng.

Bao Xiaomeng rummaged through the suitcase for a long time, then suddenly stopped. The room was too small. Lin Chaoxi looked over and found that she was holding a notebook in her hand.

A blue film with a green campus in the middle. It was the uniform exercise book issued by Anning Middle School.

Bao Xiaomeng squatted on the ground holding the notebook, her shoulders trembling slightly, but she didn't look back.

There was a smell of motor oil in the garage, which was stuffy and depressing.

Lin Zhaoxi looked at her silently.

After a while, Bao Xiaomeng wiped her eyes, turned around and stood up. Her eyes were very red, but there were no tears.

Spreading out the notebook, Lin Chaoxi began to organize his thoughts with Bao Xiaomeng.

If Bao Xiaomeng wants to catch up with her, she must first study for a bachelor's degree.

The country has no restrictions on adult college entrance examinations, but to pass the qualification review, you must prove that you have mastered high school knowledge, that is to say, there are three paths.

1. Provide a high school diploma or completion certificate

2. Diploma from vocational high school, technical secondary school or technical school.

3. Show the street a certificate proving that you have high school education.

"The third one seems very simple..." Bao Xiaomeng said.

Lin Chaoxi did not answer, but just opened the notebook and wrote three questions on it.

"These are the three fill-in-the-blank questions that are good for scoring in the college entrance exam."

Bao Xiaomeng looked down at the three lines of questions on the table, her hands shaking slightly.

"The college entrance examination is not easy. Most students have prepared seriously for three years to take this exam."

Bao Xiaomeng lowered her head: "So I am still delusional, right?"

Lin Zhaoxi wanted to rub her head and say, "Actually, I am the same as you." But now, she said seriously, "Now, you are."

Bao Xiaomeng sobbed a little, but didn't say anything sadly, and pointed her finger at the first one.

"I didn't fill out my application form, and my score is very low. Is it still possible for me to go to high school?"

"The possibility is very small." Lin Zhaoxi replied, "Unless you buy it with money."

"Then there is only the second one." She said, "Actually, when you asked me whether I like jewelry, you wanted to suggest that I go to a technical secondary school?"

Lin Chaoxi blushed. How did Comrade Xiao Meng suddenly become so smart? "Other people's suggestions are just suggestions. The key is to see what you really want."

"I want to be like you. I will go to a technical secondary school and then take the college entrance examination." Bao Xiaomeng raised his head and repeated seriously.

She might have advised Bao Xiaomeng in the past that “you don’t have to be like me”. But now, hearing Bao Xiaomeng say this, she actually felt like crying.

——

At that time, Ma Pingping said that Bao Xiaomeng might not be able to go to secondary technical school, which was actually a threat to her.

Technical secondary schools implement registration for admission, and candidates are required to register at the school with their senior high school entrance examination scores for admission.

Therefore, as long as the school is willing to accept, Bao Xiaomeng still has the possibility of being accepted with her grades.

But the prerequisite is: the school is willing to accept.

The next task is even easier.

They began to analyze the quality of teaching in the province's vocational high schools, technical secondary schools, and technical schools, and checked the score lines to see which schools Bao Xiaomeng could attend with her grades.

The result is: there are basically no good schools.

When I came out of the black Internet cafe, it was almost ten o'clock.

Bao Xiaomeng held the blue-background exercise book, which contained all the schools they had found in the past few hours. After the screening, there were only five schools left, all in Yongchuan.

Bao Xiaomeng was visibly frustrated: "The scores required by these schools for the high school entrance exam are so high, how could they possibly accept me..."

"Let's go to these schools tomorrow and ask about the specific situation," said Lin Chaoxi.

——

Lin Chaoxi felt that he was as strong as an ox.

It was my period and I was caught in the rain and wind, but I woke up feeling full of energy the next day.

She lied to Zhang Shuping, saying that she was going to see a doctor, then went to the dormitory to get some change, and happily ran around the various technical schools in Yongchuan City with the other two.

Now that the high school entrance examination is coming to an end, the good schools have already filled their places, so they first called and consulted the schools that accept out-of-town students.

There were a few nails at the beginning.

The three schools directly stated that they would not accept students from Anning City in Yongchuan and asked them to return to their own cities to look for students.

But Bao Xiaomeng said that An Ning was too close to her mother. Her mother opposed her continuing her studies. If she stayed near home, the school would be affected, so she had to leave.

Lin Chaoxi grew up with Old Lin and admired her determination to leave her parents, so she couldn't say anything against it.

There are 12 schools left, and they have to go to the school admissions offices themselves.

Under the bright sunshine, she and Bao Xiaomeng traveled through the streets and alleys of Yongchuan City. She had lived here for several years and was familiar with most places.

It has been many days since I have let myself go like this. Lin Chaoxi feels that he really needs such an empty day without having to think about anything.

They knocked on door after door, but received more or less the same answers.

"With your grades, it's impossible for you to get into our school. Don't you have a textile college in An Ning? See if you have any connections so you can go there."

"What? You still want to go to college? Last year, someone here was admitted to Yongchuan University, but he failed the high school entrance exam and worked hard for three years. It's impossible for you to do that."

"Little girl, let me tell you, people are different. A high position is a high position. It's better for girls to be down-to-earth."

Bao Xiaomeng always said in a gentle tone: "Teacher, I just want to give it a try. If I can't get into a bachelor's degree, I can get into a junior college."

"If you want to go to college, what did you do during your three years in junior high school?"

There are many such questions, and Bao Xiaomeng always answered them honestly; "I didn't think about studying hard in junior high school, and now I regret it. I want to try to see if I can continue my studies."

Whenever Bao Xiaomeng said this, the admissions office teachers would look at her with contempt, and some would even say directly: "Forget it? You don't have the brain for studying."

Of course, there were also some teachers in the admissions office who were very friendly and introduced many majors to them in detail, but once Bao Xiaomeng showed her grades, they would shake their heads and refuse.

Many times, Lin Chaoxi wanted to quarrel with the other party, but Bao Xiaomeng always held her back.

Only two technical schools warmly welcomed them.

"It's no problem if you want to go to university! Do you need a diploma from Yongchuan University or Sanwei University?" the teacher said, patting his chest.

"I have no money. I have to take out a loan for my tuition and I also have to work part-time to earn living expenses." This was Bao Xiaomeng's answer.

Then they were thrown out.

——

"But I want to try."

Sometimes, if you say something too many times, it becomes your belief. From morning to night, Lin Chaoxi didn't know how many times Bao Xiaomeng had said this.

At the end of the day, they arrived at a normal school. This school looked different from the old technical secondary schools and vocational schools they had visited before. It was new, with a bronze statue at the gate and the school motto below: Education creates miracles.

The teaching level of academic subjects in teacher training colleges is relatively higher, but because there is employment guarantee, the score line is not much lower than that of many ordinary high schools.

Before she walked in, Bao Xiaomeng's originally fair skin had turned red from the sun, but she didn't show any frustration: "If it really doesn't work out, I'll secretly go back to An Ning to study at that textile college, and ask my mom to give me some more money, and I'll be able to get in."

"I should have noticed..."

"What did you find?"

"You are a Taurus." Lin Zhaoxi said.

It ranks first among all the zodiac signs in terms of "stubbornness" and also in terms of "thriftiness".

At this normal college, Bao Xiaomeng encountered the same rejection process.

When the female teacher from the admissions office saw her grades, she shook her head and said, "Sorry, our quota is full."

"Can you help me? I really want to continue my studies."

"Student, with your grades, even if I give you a backdoor, you still won't be able to catch up."

Bao Xiaomeng seemed to have accepted this answer and sniffed.

Lin Chaoxi really wanted to say something to help, but this is the current state of society. Most people may be moved by your spirit, but they may not necessarily lend you a helping hand.

"How can you open a back door for me?" Bao Xiaomeng still asked.

The teacher shook her head: "Unless your father is the director of education?"

This answer is a clear no to anyone.

But Bao Xiaomeng was still asking: "But I don't have a father who is the director of education."

The teacher in the admissions office was a little amused by her: "It doesn't matter if it's a city-level or provincial-level leader who sends a note."

"I don't have such a relationship either. Is there any other way?"

"You're not going to let me talk about a bigger leader, are you?"

"Is there any other way? Can you open a back door for me?" Bao Xiaomeng still didn't give up.

Lin Chaoxi took a step forward and held Bao Xiaomeng's hand. The teacher looked over and asked, "You said you had been to many schools before you came here?"

"Yes, the 14th Institute." Lin Chaoxi replied.

“What did the other teachers say?”

"Tell her to stop dreaming."

"She keeps begging people like this?"

"No, she's been pestering you more." Lin Chaoxi told the truth.

"Why?"

"I don't know either."

The teacher turned to look at Bao Xiaomeng and said, "Sincerity is the key to success, but that doesn't work with me."

"But that's not what the school motto on the school gate says!" Lin Chaoxi spoke slowly.

"I have forgotten what our school motto is." The teacher said with a smile to another person in the office.

"It says here that education can create miracles." Lin Chaoxi said seriously.

There was a second of silence in the office.

"What is a miracle?" The teacher looked at Bao Xiaomeng's grades, then looked at her. "For example, give her a chance to see if she can raise her grades from 230 to our admission score of 530 in one month. If she passes the test, we will make an exception and admit her."

His thoughts were completely exposed, and Lin Chaoxi remained silent.

"Have you watched too many Japanese school dramas?" the teacher asked.

"Can I?" Bao Xiaomeng didn't seem to hear the irony in the tone, as if she was grabbing at the last straw.

Lin Chaoxi wanted to hold her back and stop her from talking.

But suddenly, she heard the teacher say, "Yes."

The voice was understated, with a happy, relaxed, and we've settled it kind of tone.

Lin Zhaoxi raised his head suddenly.

"I really like motivational school plays." The teacher smacked his lips, as if recalling something: "It feels good to try to be the kind of person who can give people the opportunity to create miracles."