88,888
Hu Tong's memories of the college entrance examination are very vague. He only remembers the soft whirring of the fans in the examination room, the incessant chirping of cicadas outside, the all-encompassing heat wave, and the handful of cool, sweet lychees he shared with He Qiuying during lunch break.
I don't remember anything else.
I don't remember whether I chose A or C for the last multiple-choice question in math, I don't know if there were any omissions in the force analysis for the physics calculation problem, and I'm not sure if my Chinese composition went off-topic...
How can knowledge be forgotten so quickly?
If anyone asked Hu Tong to rewrite the exam paper the day after the college entrance examination ended, she felt that she would not even be able to get a perfect score.
However, the exam is over, and I passed!
Hu Tong accidentally became the top scorer in the city and was admitted to the Electronic Information Engineering program at Peking University.
Cheng Zhou's path to the college entrance exam was somewhat tortuous. He wasted a lot of study time traveling all over the country to take college entrance exams. His second diagnostic test score almost fell below the previous year's second-tier university admission line for general students, but fortunately the result was good.
He scored 249 points above the undergraduate admission line for fine arts in the college entrance examination, ranking 27th in the country, and was successfully admitted to the Environmental Design major of the Academy of Fine Arts of Peking University.
He Qiuying performed as expected and went to a university on the coast to study Spanish.
Miao Wei performed exceptionally well and was admitted to a local university.
Grandma Miao smiled so broadly that her teeth and eyes were almost invisible, leaving only her slightly receding gums visible. A bright red banner hung above the supermarket sign in the neighborhood all summer.
Hu Jiale and her father hadn't even had time to order a banner when the property management company hung it up first.
Every time Hu Tong enters or leaves the community, he sees the red banner with yellow characters: Congratulations to our community residents Hu Tong and Cheng Zhou for being admitted to Peking University! A blessed place with outstanding people! Choose Mingsheng Royal Mansion and enjoy a quality life!
For the first time, the outgoing Hu Tong experienced embarrassment.
So she ran away.
Hu Tong went on several trips to the surrounding area with Miao Wei and He Qiuying. When they returned, the banners were still there. Her mother even colluded with the property management to hold a large banquet in the community. One day they invited the residents of Phase 1 to a banquet, and the next day they invited the residents of Phase 2 to a banquet. Each time, Hu Tong and Cheng Zhou were asked to go on stage and say a few words.
Hu Tong went from being enthusiastic at the beginning to being in a state of near-death like Cheng Zhou in just three days. Finally, she said incoherently, "That's it. I wish everyone all the best. It is your honor to be my neighbor."
After that, the property management never asked the two to give their pre-meal remarks again.
Cheng Zhou didn't go on any trips during the entire summer vacation; he only returned to his hometown to attend a graduation banquet hosted by his grandmother.
After that, Grandma Cheng was taken to Hu Jiale's house for the summer vacation, and Cheng Zhou became even lazier to go out. He stayed at home every day, doing housework, accompanying his grandmother to bask in the sun, or staying in the bedroom doing who-knows-what.
Amidst the endless banquets, a trip back to Chongqing to receive the award was interspersed.
A local tycoon gave each student who scored in the top 2 of the college entrance examination an 80,000 yuan reward, and the school added another 8,888 yuan, making a total of 88,888.
Hu Tong and Cheng Zhou were so excited when they first handled such a huge sum of money that they didn't know what to do.
Hu Jiale led the two to activate the bank card attached to their admission notices, allowing them to use the money as they saw fit.
Hu Tong naturally saved all the money. The red envelopes she received at the graduation banquet also amounted to a large sum of money, so she didn't need the prize money for the time being.
Cheng Zhou originally planned to divide the 88,000 yuan into three parts: 40,000 yuan for Hu Jiale and her father, 40,000 yuan for her maternal grandmother, and 8,888 yuan for Hu Tong.
But the number 4 sounded unlucky, so he divided the money again, giving 20,000 yuan each to Hu Jiale and Hu's father, 20,000 yuan to his maternal grandmother, and asking his maternal grandmother to keep the 20,000 yuan he had given to his mother, Cheng Yin.
The adults naturally didn't take the money, telling him to save it himself. Prices in Beijing are high, and with the start of the school year, there would be many expenses. Besides, he had only just been admitted to university and hadn't found a job yet; he had a long road ahead of him, and it wasn't the time for Cheng Zhou to give back to his family.
Hu Tong accepted Cheng Zhou's generous red envelope of 8,888 yuan without any qualms, as she had given Cheng Zhou a lot of extra help.
Cheng Zhou deposited the money in a fixed-term deposit.
Besides the prize money, Hu Tong also gained something else from his trip back to school to receive the award.
Although this is nothing compared to getting into Peking University, who can blame her for being Hu Tong who likes to show off?
"Look, Miaomiao! I've made it onto the confession wall!"
As soon as Hu Jiale parked the car, Hu Tong jumped out and rushed toward Miao Wei, who was eating an ice cream at the supermarket entrance.
She handed the phone to Miao Wei, who casually handed her an ice pop, warning her, "Don't eat my ice pop," while taking the phone and looking through it.
"I want to express my admiration for Hu Tong, who returned to school today to receive her award. She's amazing, beautiful, and has a very long neck."
Miao Wei looked at the photo attached to the post. Hu Tong, Cheng Zhou, and several other students who were admitted to the Top 2 universities were all in the picture. The photographer seemed to be far away from the award stage, but the composition was very careful, making it easy to spot Hu Tong, who was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and jeans with his hair tied in a ponytail.
Miao Wei muttered, "The filming was pretty good, but the way they said it was really strange... Why would they praise someone's long neck for no reason?"
Hu Tong clicked her tongue, shoved the popsicle into Miao Wei's mouth, and snatched the phone back. She raised her chin high and said smugly, "Because it really is long! The eyes of the masses are indeed discerning!"
Miao Wei shivered from the cold popsicle. She took two big sips, then patted Hu Tong's neck, "Long, long, you're the longest."
"Of course!" Hu Tong could easily tell that Miao Wei was teasing him. He grabbed Cheng Zhou, who was walking around the corner, and said, "Right, Cheng Zhou, my neck is longer than yours, isn't it?"
Cheng Zhou ignored Miao Wei's eye roll and nodded slightly, "Yeah, longer than mine."
Cheng Zhou lowered his eyes slightly, the sunlight filtering through the leaves turning his eyelashes golden. As he answered the question, his eyelashes fluttered gently like butterflies about to take flight. He carried the pastry gift box, watching Hu Tong's increasingly arrogant smile. His snow-white face, too, showed a hint of amusement amidst the dappled sunlight.
Miao Wei rolled her eyes again: "Tch, I knew it. Who told Cheng Zhou—"
Before she could finish speaking, a hand with distinct knuckles reached out to Miao Wei, with a brightly colored box hanging from its fingers. It belonged to a well-known local pastry brand.
Cheng Zhou handed the gift box to Miao Wei and said slowly, "Please give this to Grandma Miao. Aunt Lele bought it. She wants to thank Grandma Miao for the quiet signs that were hung up in the supermarket during the two days of the college entrance examination."
"Hu Tong and I slept very well those two days. As for you, Miao Wei, you shouldn't be able to sleep at night and comment on your old classmates—"
"Hey, hey, hey!" Miao Wei cleared her throat and hurriedly took the gift box. "Why are you being so polite? I'll take it right away!"
Hu Tong didn't notice the subtle exchange between the two. He simply patted Cheng Zhou's arm with satisfaction and, under Cheng Zhou's smiling gaze, turned on his phone.
Cheng Zhou's smile froze instantly, because he saw Hu Tong's fingers rapidly tapping on the phone screen, finally typing out a comment.
"Good luck, juniors! I'll be waiting for you at Peking University! Also: the beauty in picture 1 is still single!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
