On December 25th, the sky was clear and blue, but it was unusually cold.
As dawn broke in the east, students taking the college entrance examination began to get up one after another.
More than a hundred people from the entire Hongqi Commune participated in the college entrance examination. They walked together in high spirits to the commune bus station to gather, and then took a bus to the county town examination site.
Xie Yuyao, Yang Shumei, and others had arrived in the county town and stayed overnight the day before. When the time came, they, along with other candidates, carrying their admission tickets and stationery, lined up and entered the county's No. 1 Middle School.
The examination room was quite old, with peeling paint on the walls and dilapidated desks and chairs.
However, what attracted Xie Yuyao's attention even more than the environment were the other candidates in the same examination room. These people ranged in age from teenagers as young as fifteen or sixteen to young adults who looked to be in their thirties or forties, a wide age range.
Xie Yuyao and Zhao Jianbin were in the same examination room, but their seats were several rows apart. The other educated youth from Qingshantun were scattered in other examination rooms.
The first morning's exam was on politics, which consisted mostly of material she had memorized from her high school textbooks. Xie Yuyao wrote it down word for word. As for the few subjective questions, she tried her best to extract relevant content from her textbook knowledge, without writing anything superfluous.
Perhaps because it was a rare opportunity, no one in the classroom handed in their papers early. Xie Yuyao followed suit and waited until the bell rang to signal the end of the exam before leaving the classroom.
Afterwards, he walked out of the school gate with Zhao Jianbin and met up with Zhao Honghui, who had been waiting outside, and then waited for Yang Shumei and other educated youth.
Zhao Honghui handed Xie Yuyao the hand warmer he had been hiding in his coat: "Are you cold?"
"It's alright," Xie Yuyao said with a smile, taking the exam and holding it in her arms. No one was discussing the exam questions.
Judging from their expressions, they all seemed relaxed.
With nowhere to rest at noon, many people squatted against the school wall, eating cold steamed buns for lunch, finding joy in the sunshine amidst the hardship.
Zhao Honghui had made preparations in advance. He rented a courtyard near the school through connections and also hired a trusted aunt to cook lunch.
After the candidates from Qingshantun gathered, Zhao Honghui led them to the destination.
After walking for about ten minutes, the group arrived at the courtyard. After enjoying a good meal, they began to review the subject-specific knowledge they would be taking that afternoon.
Xie Yuyao applied for the science exam. When she received the exam paper, she found that the questions were quite simple and there weren't many questions. She handled it with ease, checked it twice, and then sat down to hand in her paper.
The next morning, it started snowing heavily.
Before entering the examination room, Xie Yuyao told Zhao Honghui to wait in the rented courtyard and not to wait outside the examination room.
Zhao Honghui smiled and nodded, watching her enter the school gate.
The subject tested in the morning was mathematics, which did not involve differences in time periods, so Xie Yuyao had no worries and answered it with ease.
After finishing the check, she looked out at the snow falling outside the window and drifted off into her own thoughts in the examination room.
The proctor tapped on her desk, signaling her to check her work after she finished.
Xie Yuyao looked up and smiled gratefully, then carefully checked it again.
After the exam, no one checked the answers. Everyone did the same thing as yesterday: went to the courtyard to eat and study.
The afternoon exam was Chinese, which was also the last subject of this year's college entrance examination.
Xie Yuyao took a deep breath; the biggest challenge was about to begin!
The first few questions on the Chinese exam weren't a problem for Xie Yuyao, but the real challenge was the last question: the composition.
The essay topic is: My Year of Struggle
She recalled the year's experiences, which were full of twists and turns, unlike the smooth sailing of the previous year. Fortunately, she escaped danger and the bitterness eventually turned into sweetness.
Thinking of her beloved with whom she had finally found happiness, Xie Yuyao smiled contentedly, and began writing with determination and hope.
Outside the examination hall, the snow gradually stopped. Zhao Honghui leaned against the wall, gazing at the white snow, and thought of his leg injury from the past.
If it weren't for Yao Yao, he would still be hiding in the heated kang room at home, unable to easily leave the house.
Looking back now, those days seem like a very, very long time ago...
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