Chapter 28 Spring Day Green (11) All the expectations, efforts, wishes...
After New Year's Day, everyone gradually returned to the studio. Most passed the joint entrance exam, but a few never returned, including Qian Shanshan.
However, to some extent, this is what she wished for, Lin Xia thought.
It wasn't until after she returned that Lin Xia learned that her joint exam score was not only the highest in Wangchun City, but also the highest in her studio. However, this didn't necessarily mean she was the best in the studio. After all, each province had different test difficulty and scoring criteria, as well as individual performance. It was simply that she had done exceptionally well this time.
Lin Xia herself found it hard to believe that after experiencing heavy snow blocking the roads, train delays, and arriving more than ten hours later than expected, she could remain so calm and perform so well. The secret behind this was known only to her and He Chuan.
Yang Yang was happy for her, Ren Zijian congratulated her generously, and Old Sun felt a little jealous, but that feeling vanished in a flash. After all, this was only the first step of 81 difficulties, and there were even more difficult tests waiting for them.
In preparation for the upcoming school entrance exam, the studio entered the final sprint and began taking devilish classes.
The devil class is a nickname given to it by everyone. Specifically, the one-day vacation per month is changed to half a day per month. After the original class from 8 am to 9:30 pm, there is a half-hour break, and the class continues from 10 pm to 1 am before returning to the dormitory to sleep.
With such intense classes, exhaustion and sleepiness quickly swept through the studio, and even these 18- and 19-year-olds, full of youthful enthusiasm, couldn't handle it. Many people simply skipped the dorms after class in the early morning and slept directly in the studio. The two worn-out sofas in the corner often became the VIP seats, often fought over by everyone. They were always occupied by people in the morning, with no regard for manners, modesty, or gender differences. Everyone was just a machine with a pen, a tool for applying color. Relying on their youth, they would tilt the sofa, sling their legs over the bench, and the night would pass like this.
She never got enough sleep. Every afternoon around two or three, she could hear yawns coming from the studio, and from time to time, the sound of paintbrushes falling to the ground. The pop songs in her headphones became lullabies, and Lin Xia had to turn up the volume to the maximum, as it hurt her ears.
In order to cheer everyone up, the teacher played the most cheerful and dynamic square dance music on the speakers. They were all DJ-speeded-up versions, and they were as rustic and exciting as possible. It was simply spiritual pollution.
I hate Phoenix X-O, really.
Lin Xia complained in the message she sent to He Chuan:
Whenever their songs come on, my head starts dancing and I forget everything about how I started writing and how I adjusted the colors. I never want to listen to their songs again in my life!
He Chuan rarely replied with a laughing emoji. He usually seldom sends emojis.
[It seems you finally understand how I felt when I was tortured by my roommate.]
Winter vacation in Hong Kong is indeed very short. Sometimes it ends before the Spring Festival, and then the holiday starts again during the Spring Festival. He Chuan returned to school after New Year's Day. They only saw each other briefly before they parted again.
After starting the devilish classes, the two people's daily chats became intermittent, but such random gossips were still sporadic comforts for Lin Xia in her extreme fatigue from schoolwork, and a little bit of sugar in her bitter life.
Soon, in early February, Lin Xia faced her first school entrance exam, Beijing University of Technology.
Choosing which university entrance exam to take is up to everyone based on their own abilities and preferences. Since there are so many schools and the exams are so intense, you shouldn't cast a wide net. Instead, plan your time wisely, with a safe and focused approach. This is no different from filling out your application form for a regular high school senior. After all, everyone is coming to Beijing to study fine arts, and most of their applications are to Beijing institutions. Tsinghua University and Central Academy of Fine Arts are top choices. Beijing Institute of Technology's fine arts program isn't particularly strong, but many people still apply. Simply put, it's just for practice.
However, they were really just practicing. Lin Xia fell asleep halfway through drawing, and so did Ren Zijian, who was in the same examination room with her. The two of them had the sweetest sleep in the past month. When they saw each other when they walked out of the examination room, they both smiled at the same time.
Yang Yang laughed and scolded them, "You two are too arrogant. You're using the places others are rushing to get as a backup. If you have the guts, why don't you be like Old Sun and not bother to sign up? You're taking up the spots and wasting other people's resources."
Although it was a joke, Lin Xia and Ren Zijian also reflected on it humbly. Practicing for this kind of thing is enough only once. As the saying goes, the first effort will weaken the second and the third will eventually lead to exhaustion. It is better to retain some sense of tension.
This year's Lunar New Year was relatively late, so not many schools scheduled entrance exams before the Lunar New Year. After the Polytechnic University entrance exam, there was practically nothing left to take. And then the Lunar New Year arrived. It was a crucial time, and the studio didn't even close on New Year's Eve. Aside from making dumplings in the cafeteria for dinner, the rest of the class was just like any other.
That year, Beijing had already begun to ban the use of fireworks, but Tongzhou was still okay. There were residential areas near the factory, and firecrackers could be heard from time to time. Everyone in the studio really had to make every effort to restrain their own restlessness, and comfort themselves over and over again, saying that it was just firecrackers, and everyone had seen it. There would be many more New Years to come, so this one wouldn't make a difference.
Suddenly, the phone in her pocket vibrated, and Lin Xia paused. She usually didn't bring her phone into the studio, but today she had a vague premonition. When her phone rang, she quickly put down her brush, wiped the paint off her hands, and took it out. Sure enough, it was a message from He Chuan, but it wasn't an MSN message, but an MMS.
The photo shows the New Year’s Eve fireworks display against the backdrop of the Victoria Harbour night sky.
【Happy New Year! May all your wishes come true in the new year. 】
It was just a simple blessing, without any messy New Year greetings or witty remarks, very much in He Chuan's style.
Thousands of miles away, he gave her a brilliant fireworks display.
Lin Xia subconsciously reached out and touched the small, blurry and distorted photo on the screen, and chuckled.
She replied seriously:
Happy New Year! May all our wishes come true.
All expectations, efforts and visions will all come true!
This year is passing quickly, and she can't wait to face the challenges of the new year!
.
Time passed quickly while waiting. Just after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Lin Xia had her first exam after the Chinese New Year, which was also one of the most exciting highlights - the Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts entrance exam.
Last September, when Lin Xia visited Tsinghua University, he boasted that he would never come again unless he was admitted to Tsinghua University.
However, she only now realized how wrong she was, because she still needed to come here to take the school exam. Well, fortunately, no one except He Chuan knew about this, otherwise it would be too embarrassing.
Lin Xia didn't even dare to look at the school gate. She followed the other students and entered the examination room dejectedly according to the signs.
In an empty gymnasium, with small plastic benches, a 7-hour tough battle began.
Like the joint entrance exam, the Tsinghua University of Fine Arts entrance exam consists of three subjects: color, drawing, and sketching. However, the difficulty of the questions, the focus of the examination, and the style of the paintings differ significantly. The latter undoubtedly demands higher standards in all aspects. Furthermore, compared to other school entrance exams, the Tsinghua University of Fine Arts emphasizes students' observation, creativity, and the lifelike and atmospheric qualities of the paintings. For several years, the school entrance exam has not included a simple sketching section, but has instead included a dictation section. This year was no exception, with all three subjects consisting of dictation, and the color section's topic was "window."
Just like memorizing templates for Chinese and English compositions in advance, art students also need to memorize materials in advance before the exam, practicing certain still lifes and portraits thousands of times, and finding ways to apply them to any questions in the exam.
After reading the topic, Lin Xia quickly put pen to paper. The open glass window, the curtains fluttering in the wind, and the various items on the table in front of the window were all things she knew so well that she could draw them with her eyes closed... However, as she painted, she couldn't help but add other elements: the phone's signal light flashing when it received a text message, a half-played MP3 player with headphones entangled in it, a bunch of fresh cosmos in a glass bottle, a half-drawn blurry portrait on the drawing board, and a colorful paint palette, the tall buildings outside the window, the green trees and the scorching sun, and the endless, blue sky of spring.
These are all Lin Xia’s memories of her eighteen years old. Regardless of whether she could get a high score or not, the moment everything appeared on the drawing paper, she had no regrets.
.
The Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts entrance exam is over, and the next exam to prepare for is the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Since there are so many people applying for the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, the studio chartered several buses to take all the students to the Luyi examination center in Shenyang to take the exam, and also to train there for a week.
That week was the most difficult week Lin Xia had ever experienced since she started studying art. The accommodation conditions were very poor. There were more than 20 people in one dormitory, but this was not important at all, because they slept in the studio every day and rarely went back to the dormitory. They didn't comb their hair or wash their faces. They were immersed in paint and lead dust, just painting, painting day and night, painting desperately.
The marking preferences of teachers at CAFA are completely different from those at Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts. Changing the style in such a short period of time is almost like being reborn after death. Moreover, the structure of CAFA is really too difficult.
Everyone is trying their best. No matter whether it is Lin Xia, Ren Zijian, Lao Sun, or Yang Yang, no one dares to say that they can definitely go to Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts or anywhere else. Even if they have personal preferences, the position of CAFA in the hearts of all art students is still unshakable. If they can take the exam, why not?
Seven days of hell passed by, and finally we entered the examination room. The examination questions of CAFA that year were unprecedentedly abstract and difficult. After enduring an extremely long whole day of examinations, everyone left the examination room with a pale face. Yang Yang even handed in his paper in tears.
I always feel that even at this point today, they still have a long way to go.
But no matter what, this hurdle has been passed.
Life and death are predestined, success or failure is up to God.
.
After everyone returned to Beijing, Lin Xia had only one last exam left, which was Beijing Forestry University. To be safe, this was her backup school. Ren Zijian and Lao Sun did not take the exam, so only she and Yang Yang went.
In fact, by now, Lin Xia's heart had been scattered. She no longer had the same all-out, prepared attitude as before. Fortunately, the questions at Beilin were not particularly difficult. After she and Yang Yang finished the exam, they went to Wudaokou for dinner. Instead of going to the shengjian restaurant they had last time, they found a Korean restaurant.
For some reason, Wudaokou is particularly famous for its abundance of Korean restaurants, perhaps due to the large number of international students nearby. Northeast China is close to North Korea, and has a large ethnic Korean population. Lin Xia is no stranger to Korean food, and while Beijing's Korean cuisine is similar to that in Northeast China, it's often enhanced with trendy elements. Yang Yang, on the other hand, was having a first-time experience with authentic Korean food, but she felt the dish wasn't spicy enough, so she added a generous amount of chili sauce to her bibimbap.
After enduring for so long and achieving a temporary victory, they thought they would eat a lot to their heart's content, but they didn't expect that after just a few bites, Lin Xia and Yang Yang were both full.
Popular songs from Korean dramas were playing loudly in the store. The young college students around were talking and chatting while eating. Only their table was empty with two people staring at each other in a daze, unable to eat anything.
"The exam is over--" Yang Yang sighed.
"Yeah." Lin Xia nodded blankly.
"We all have to go back."
"yes."
"I feel a little reluctant."
Lin Xia smiled and said, "Yeah."
From June last year to now, from summer to winter, and from winter to spring, they have experienced more than half a year, with poor eating and sleeping, less laughter and more tears, but why do they feel reluctant to leave when they think about it now?
Another week passed, and the examinations for all art schools in Beijing, Tianjin, and the surrounding areas of Hebei Province gradually concluded. The final result was that, except for the first exam for the University of Science and Technology of China, Lin Xiaqing Fine Arts, the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and the Forestry University all passed.
Ren Zijian was admitted to Tsinghua University of Fine Arts and Central Academy of Fine Arts, Lao Sun was admitted to Tsinghua University of Fine Arts and Tianjin University of Fine Arts, and Yang Yang was admitted to Linyi University.
This is just the school entrance examination result. Whether they can get into school depends on their scores in the cultural subjects of the upcoming college entrance examination. For art students like them, that is the biggest test.
At this point, this studio training session officially ended.
In fact, some people had already gone home early, but on the day of their official departure, the remaining students still held a small ceremony in a serious manner. Everyone said goodbye to each other and took photos as souvenirs, as if they had really completed their youth graduation ceremony here.
This is destined to be the most unforgettable experience in the lives of this group of people. From now on, they will go their separate ways and will never have such days of trying their best without regrets again.
Lin Xia's train left Beijing at 7pm. After going through so much during the art exam, her parents were relieved that she could take the train alone.
Lao Sun and Yang Yang had already left, and Ren Zijian sent her to the bus stop.
While waiting for the bus, the two chatted casually.
"Is it still snowing in Northeast China?" Ren Zijian asked curiously.
Lin Xia told him, "It does rain occasionally, but it's usually sleet. It melts quickly and you can't stand."
"Really? I thought it snowed all the time in Northeast China. I really want to go there. The snow in Beijing isn't heavy enough."
"Then you have to come in winter. Every year in Northeast China, there's a lot of snow that doesn't melt all winter long. You can make snowmen and have snowball fights. There are also ice lanterns in the park, which are really beautiful."
"Then when I go there next time, you can be my tour guide!"
"No problem!" Lin Xia agreed readily.
Seeing the bus slowly approaching at the end of the road, Lin Xia was about to pull the handle of the suitcase when she suddenly heard Ren Zijian ask her:
"They said, you have a boyfriend, right?"
Lin Xia was suddenly embarrassed. It would be fine if this rumor only spread within the dormitory, but how did it get to Ren Zijian?!
She was about to open her mouth to clarify, but she heard Ren Zijian say:
"Don't just focus on dating. Go back and study hard. You're my competitor. If you don't pass the academic test, I'll look down on you!"
Lin Xia was not convinced and snorted:
"Just wait and see, who will look down on whom by then?"
Ren Zijian smiled, revealing his white teeth, and waved to her.
"Let's go, see you at Tsinghua University!"
"Sure! See you at Tsinghua!"
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