Chapter 139 The Middle School Entrance Exam
"June weather is like a child's face, changing in an instant! Yesterday it was blazing sun, and today there's thunder and lightning! Ah Yin, bring an extra layer when you go out, otherwise you'll catch a cold during the exam! Never mind, I'll get it! There's still time, I'll go make some ginger soup! I'll get some for you and Ah Hua later! Drink it before you go into the exam room!" Gu Qinglang finished speaking and immediately went into the kitchen to get busy.
Because Gu Yin was taking the high school entrance exam, Gu Qinglang took a special leave to come back and accompany her. When Boss Xia heard that Gu Yin was taking the exam, he specially approved it, telling him to stay home and accompany her, and that he could come back to make up for it after the exam.
Today is the day of the high school entrance exam. Gu Yin's exam venue is No. 1 High School. That's not all. Yesterday the weather was fine, but it suddenly started raining in the middle of the night, and now it's even more thundering and raining!
It always rains during the high school entrance exams, and this year was no exception, except it rained exceptionally heavily.
The old lady took out breakfast and looked at the weather with concern, saying, "The rain is too heavy. If we ride our bicycles over there, we'll be soaked to the bone by the time we get to the No. 1 Middle School. Eldest son, go to the village chief's house and see if his tricycle is available for the next three days. We can borrow it!"
Gu Qingming also had this plan.
"Okay, I'll go ask now!"
When Gu Qingming arrived, the old village chief had already gotten up and was sitting under the eaves watching the rain. When he saw Gu Qingming coming, the old village chief was taken aback.
"Why did you come all the way in the rain? You could have just called if you needed anything. There's no rush!"
Gu Qingming put down his umbrella and said with a smile, "My two daughters are taking their high school entrance exams today. It's raining too hard, and it's not safe to ride a bicycle, so I came over to ask if your tricycle is available."
The old village chief got up, went inside to get the keys, and handed them to him: "They're free! Even if you're busy, you have to be! Exams are important! You should drive off now! I'll get you a tarpaulin so the kids can sit in the back and be covered up and won't get wet!"
There were only two small shops and the village chief's house in the village that had tricycles. The Gu family wasn't familiar with the other two, so even though the village chief's tricycle was open-air and had no canopy, the Gu family was still willing to come and borrow it.
After setting up the tarpaulin, Gu Qingming bid farewell to the old village chief and drove his tricycle home.
After Gu Yin finished breakfast, she changed into tall rubber boots, grabbed a light jacket, and got on the tricycle with Gu Hua. After Gu Qinglang got on, the three of them picked up the tarpaulin, and the old lady handed them three stools. The three of them sat down, and with the tarpaulin covering them, they couldn't see anything.
The pattering of rain came from the tarpaulin above her head. Gu Hua said helplessly, "This rain is too heavy. I hope it will stop after the exam this morning!"
Gu Yin recalled that when Gu Hua took the high school entrance exam in her previous life, it seemed that the rain never stopped and lasted for a whole week! Moreover, the river level rose sharply.
Gu Qingming put on his raincoat, changed into shorts, put on sandals, and got into the driver's seat: "Hold on tight! I'm going to drive!"
"Sit still!"
The three responded, and the tricycle started moving.
The rest of the Gu family watched them leave until they disappeared from sight, then went about their own business.
There weren't many people on the road, and the other middle school exam takers hadn't come out yet. Gu Qingming's face was covered in rain after driving for a while, but he didn't dare to blink, keeping his eyes fixed on the road ahead. He also drove slower than usual, as safety was the most important thing.
Twenty minutes later, the car reached the fork in the road between the town and the No. 2 Middle School, and Gu Qingming stopped the car.
Gu Hua put on her raincoat under the tarpaulin, then opened her umbrella. After getting ready, she looked at Gu Yin and said with a smile, "May you pass the imperial examination with flying colors!"
Gu Yin nodded and replied with a smile, "A resounding victory!"
After speaking, Gu Hua got out of the car with Gu Qinglang's help, and Gu Qinglang followed her out of the car so he could drive.
After Gu Hua and Gu Qingming left, Gu Qinglang started the car and headed to No. 1 Middle School.
When Gu Yin and the others arrived, it was already eight o'clock. The exam was scheduled for nine o'clock, but they had to enter the exam room at eight-thirty.
Gu Qinglang parked the car at the entrance. After Gu Yin got out, he gave her the ginger soup he had prepared earlier: "Drink some to get rid of the dampness. Dad knows you won't be nervous, so I won't say much. But in the exam room, it's not just about being nervous, but also about not being too relaxed. That makes it easy to misread the questions or miss something. Let's take it slow, okay?"
Gu Yin checked her admission ticket and other important documents again. After confirming that everything was in order, she nodded and said, "Dad, don't worry, I will check it three times before I come out!"
"Then go in and do your best on the exam. I'll wait for you at the school gate. Your grandma made some delicious food at home, so you can eat it when you get back after the exam!" Gu Qinglang said with a smile, then watched Gu Yin enter the school gate.
A few days before the exam venue was sealed off, they had already come to check it out. So when they arrived at the teaching building, Gu Yin wasn't in a hurry to go and check it out. She went to the restroom first, and when she came back, she found the exam venue and lined up to wait for the bell to ring before going in.
While queuing, Gu Yin saw many people cramming with books at the last minute. Gu Yin didn't comment on this behavior because she had done the same thing when she took the high school entrance exam in her previous life, and the classical Chinese text she had crammed at the time happened to be on the test!
Of course, some people are working hard, while others are just chatting.
"It's raining so hard today! My brand new sandals are all soaked. They're definitely going to break very quickly!"
"Yeah, it was sunny yesterday, and my new dress got all wet. I hope I don't catch a cold!"
"Look at that person, coming over in rain boots, doesn't he care about looking bad!"
Gu Yin glanced at her bright red water boots and remained silent. Ugly as it may be, as long as her pants don't get wet.
"Hey classmate, which school are you from? Where do you sit? How are your grades? Show me some later! I'm so nervous!"
A boy next to Gu Yin tugged at her clothes and asked with a smile.
Before Gu Yin could speak, the bell rang once, and the proctor came over.
"Line up. Nothing is allowed inside except what you need for the exam. There are security cameras inside. Anyone caught will be disqualified and permanently banned from taking the exam! It will be recorded, and this stain will follow you for life! Now, put any extra things against the wall!"
The teacher will say whatever is most serious.
The exam environment is quite good now, and no one dares to cheat.
After putting their things away, everyone entered the classroom one by one when the second bell rang.
"Find your seat and sit down. Don't whisper to each other, and don't cover your name tag on the desk. The teacher will check it later. There are A and B versions of the test. Don't try to crane your neck to look at the test paper next to you. Even if you copy it, the answer will be wrong!"
After Gu Yin sat down, she looked around at her classmates, none of whom she recognized. The boy who had just spoken was sitting right next to her, but there were a few students from the experimental class near the podium in front of her.
After the teacher finished speaking, two more teachers came over with file folders, turned them over twice, and then used razor blades to open them.
"You all see, it's sealed!"
This step is essential and requires strict adherence to procedures.
After all three teachers had checked the exam papers, one of them left, and the remaining two began distributing the papers.
The first exam was in Chinese, and it lasted two hours.
Three rings rang out, followed by a broadcast announcement: "The exam has officially begun. Candidates, please begin answering the questions."
After that, the whole school fell silent.
After writing her personal information, Gu Yin glanced at the essay. It was a picture-based writing prompt. She had guessed the question type correctly; it was the same one that she and Gu Hua had both agreed when they were guessing the question before. They both thought that this time the essay question would likely be a picture-based writing prompt.
Gu Yin originally planned to continue reading comprehension, but the proctor walked over to her and knocked on her desk: "Start doing the questions."
Gu Yin smiled sheepishly, turned to the first page, and began to answer.
Of all the subjects, Chinese was the easiest for Gu Yin. The basic questions were simple, and the dictation, memorization, and translation questions were even simpler. She had a large amount of reading experience and countless classical allusions in her mind. So after finishing all the questions, she didn't need to draft anything and wrote the essay directly, writing it effortlessly.
An 800-word essay was really easy for Gu Yin, who was used to writing novels of tens of thousands of words. She finished it in about 20 minutes. If she wasn't worried that writing too fast would affect her score, Gu Yin could have finished even faster!
After carefully checking three times, Gu Yin had only spent a little over an hour. She looked around and saw that no one showed any signs of handing in their paper early.
In order not to disturb others, Gu Yin sat in her seat and wrote down the entire selected classical Chinese text from memory.
When the teacher walked by and saw it, she reminded her to check her work several times after she finished writing.
So Gu Yin checked twice more. When it was 10:30, Gu Yin saw that the rain outside had lessened a bit and there was still half an hour left before the exam ended. Gu Yin didn't linger any longer and raised her hand in advance. After the teacher came over to check her paper, he covered it up and let her leave the classroom.
As Gu Yin walked out of the examination room, she saw people coming out of other classrooms as well, who must all be top students.
She took the umbrella and walked towards the school gate.
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