Extra 1: College Entrance Examination Scores
Inside the sweltering workshop, the roar and vibration of the machinery seemed to destroy the world. Once a person entered this workshop, they lost their name, their gender, their senses, and were left with only the strength to breathe.
Apart from catching their breath, the only thing the people in the workshop could do for themselves was to look up from time to time at the huge clock hanging on the wall.
When the minute and hour hands of the clock pointed to eleven o'clock in the evening, the roar of the machine finally stopped reluctantly.
Only then did people seem to become human again.
Chen Chunli came closer to Xu Wenqiang and said, "We're going to eat barbecue at the stall outside the factory later. You can come with us."
In the afternoon, Chen Chunli had just received this month's salary, and she made an appointment with a roommate to go out for a meal and have a drink.
Xu Wenqiang didn't want to go. She arrived late and had only received half a month's salary. If she went out to eat and drink with Chen Chunli, she would get even less money.
"Sister Chunli, you guys go, I won't go."
"Why not go? We're all going. It would be such a disappointment if you don't go."
"Sister Chunli, I've been working all day. I'm tired and want to go back to bed early."
"Come on. Everyone here has been working all day, so who isn't tired? You're the youngest of them all, so don't complain about being tired in front of us."
Chen Chunli was about thirty years old. Although she had a carefree personality, she was very thoughtful. She put her arm around Xu Wenqiang and said with a giggle, "I know you're short on money, so consider this meal a treat from you, my sisters."
"Sister Chun-Li, I..."
Xu Wenqiang looked up at Chen Chunli and wanted to say something, but Chen Chunli reached out and pinched Xu Wenqiang's face. "When you get into university, remember to let us know."
Xu Wenqiang nodded heavily, "I remember."
Late at night at a street barbecue stall, a group of women chattered about their difficult mothers-in-law, their cowardly husbands, and their children who looked just like their ancestors. The stall owner would occasionally glance at the women, his indifferent gaze tinged with both irony and pity.
"Okay, stop talking about that crap. If we could live in peace, would we come here and work hard to earn money?"
"That's true. Let's not talk about those bad things. By the way, I want to tell you that I bought a book at the night market a few days ago..."
"Oh, you're a cultured person, you're even reading a book."
"Listen to me, the book says that man's thing is a 'divine dragon between his legs'. Think about it, it's a dragon, so how powerful must it be? Hahahaha..."
"You shameless person, aren't you afraid that your man will come and take you home by saying this?"
"My man? If my man was capable, would I be here telling you about other men's abilities?"
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Several women of different ages laughed unscrupulously, and their laughter made the night even more ambiguous.
"You bunch of women, don't you dare to hide the fact that there's a virgin here?"
Chen Chunli was about to hit the person who was laughing and talking the most enthusiastically, but Xu Wenqiang stopped her, "Sister Chunli, I'm not in the way. I just find what you're saying quite interesting."
Chen Chunli looked at Xu Wenqiang and laughed, "Do you think it's interesting?"
Xu Wenqiang said, "Well, that's interesting."
"Then tell me why you think it's interesting." Chen Chunli became interested, and the others followed suit. "Tell us about it."
Xu Wenqiang said calmly, "In life, love between men and women is natural. But ordinary men and women put their lives first, and love is regarded as something dispensable. But in fact, it is dispensable because life is too hard, so it is deliberately ignored. But in fact, this kind of thing should be enjoyed in life. Sisters are usually tired from work, so now we have a drink and are interested in chatting about the relationship between men and women. I think it's quite interesting."
The women who had been smiling and waiting to see the joke stopped laughing, and a look of sadness appeared on their faces.
That yellow-haired girl was right. Life was so hard, who would have the time to think about sex? Even if they did think about it, it would just be to satisfy their desire to have sex with their sisters...
Xu Wenqiang thought of Xu Yanmei again.
When Xu Yanmei was alive, a book or two would sometimes appear in her home. The women in the books were scantily clad, striking suggestive poses. Sometimes, CDs would also appear, their covers even more revealing, depicting both male and female figures in sexually suggestive ways.
Xu Wenqiang had always felt terrified, and later, disgusted. Later, when Xu Yanmei died, she grew up and began to understand the relationship between men and women. She finally understood that the books she read and the discs Xu Yanmei watched were all natural, given that Xu Yanmei was a woman and had no men.
When she came to her senses and found that everyone around her was unusually quiet, she was also stunned. Did she say something wrong?
"elder sister……"
"Did you hear that? What this girl said really hit the nail on the head."
Chen Chunli broke the silence. She raised her glass and invited everyone to toast together. "Let's drink together, just for us women. From now on, we can speak openly about men and their abilities. How about that?"
"What I'm saying is that it's all natural and right. We should talk about it and laugh at it when we should."
"That's right, a girl can see it better than us. I just thought that college students would also like this."
"Love between men and women is natural. College students are human beings too. What's wrong with liking this?"
"That's right, maybe he's even more restless than us."
…
Xu Wenqiang listened to the women's laughter and scolding, her eyes fixed on the public telephone booth not far away.
It’s already past midnight, and it’s time to check the college entrance examination results.
Chen Chunli put down her wine glass and asked her, "Do you want to call someone?"
"It's so late, I won't fight anymore," Xu Wenqiang said. She was actually a bit conflicted, wanting to know the results but also not wanting to, so she held back.
Chen Chunli was unaware of this. After hearing what Xu Wenqiang said, she checked the time and stood up abruptly. "It's so late, we have to go back."
Then he stood up and called out to the women who were staggering around, "That's all for today, let's go back."
"Go back, go back."
Before leaving, the women checked every plate and every wine glass. After making sure that everything on the plates had been eaten and the wine in the glasses had been drunk, they staggered to their feet and left the barbecue stall.
After they left, the barbecue stall owner started to clean up while cursing, "These women are finally gone..."
Back in the factory-provided dormitories, most of the women collapsed onto their beds. Some, more diligent, simply washed up at the sink and went to sleep. Xu Wenqiang, wanting to blend in with the group and not stand out, was less particular about her washing, simply washing herself casually.
When she finally lay down on the bed, she sighed, closed her eyes and fell asleep.
The moment the dormitory phone rang, Xu Wenqiang was startled into a cold sweat. The phone was on the cabinet next to her bed, and the piercing ringtone was almost ringing in her ear.
Everyone in the dormitory was woken up and started cursing.
The phone was still ringing, and Xu Wenqiang forced herself to get up and answer it.
"Hello, who are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for—" The voice on the phone paused, "Are you Xu Wenqiang?"
Xu Wenqiang was drowsy and didn't recognize who was on the phone. "It's me, who are you?"
"Xu Wenqiang, have you checked your scores?"
"Who are you?"
Xu Wenqiang was woken up in the middle of the night and had to get up to answer the phone, which made her angry.
"Xu Wenqiang, you scored XXX points." The person on the other end of the line was already excited, but didn't bother to say who they were. They just said, "I scored 10 points less than you. You are very likely to be the first in Qingshi No. 1 Middle School!"
Fraction?
Xu Wenqiang finally came to her senses.
"How many points did I get on the test?"
"XXX points?"
"Is it the college entrance examination score?"
“It’s the college entrance examination score.”
Xu Wenqiang regained some consciousness and subconsciously wanted to thank the person who came to tell her the score in the middle of the night. "Thank you, thank you for helping me check the score."
The person on the other end of the phone seemed to smile, then asked, "Xu Wenqiang, did you recognize who I am?"
Xu Wenqiang stared blankly, and could only sincerely thank her, "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Xu Wenqiang. Congratulations on getting this score on the college entrance exam," the person on the phone said with a smile, "You're the top female scorer at Qingshi No. 1 High School."
Hearing the term "female champion", Xu Wenqiang was stunned. She had heard this term before the college entrance examination. "You are——"
"Xu Wenqiang, goodbye." The other party didn't give her any room to think and hung up the phone.
Xu Wenqiang was holding the phone, still thinking about the score.
XXX points - she had never achieved this score in any of the mock exams before this one.
The score was one thing, but who was the person who told her the score? Few people knew about the call: Lin Tong, Su Xiaoshan, and Xiao Cheng. But at first, she was still half asleep, and then she was so focused on the score that she didn't even realize who was calling.
"Xu Wenqiang, can you go to university with this score?"
"Xu Wenqiang, is this a high score?"
…
The people in the dormitory had been woken up. After they heard Xu Wenqiang finish her call, they started asking questions at once.
Xu Wenqiang didn't say much, but just said with a smile, "Sister, I can go to college now."
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