It's still midnight today!
Zhang Hongmei took out a pen and a new notebook from her bag, sat down in a chair, and began answering questions.
This question was from advanced mathematics. Zhang Hongmei had already read it, so she didn't pause after reading the question and quickly wrote down her answers in her notebook. Song Shouxin saw that her handwriting was neat and her thinking was clear. She was a good prospect and no less capable than Liu Jingze.
The second question was a geometry problem. Zhang Hongmei took out a ruler from her bag and drew a diagram on her notebook. With just two simple auxiliary lines, she solved the problem.
Zhang Hongmei thought to herself that this question really couldn't stump the female science and engineering genius.
"Very good. You all wait here for me, I'm going to the principal's office." After saying that, Song Shouxin took the exam paper and Zhang Hongmei's answer book and went out.
"Hongmei, you're amazing! It took me ten minutes to solve the second problem, and it was more complicated than yours. How did you do it?"
"Isn't it obvious at a glance?"
After listening, Liu Jingze exclaimed, "You really have a knack for mathematics. Maybe you'll become a mathematician someday?"
"Come on, I don't want to do research all day."
Liu Jingze smiled and shook his head; he was still too young.
Song Shouxin came in excitedly, followed by several other people.
After Liu Jingze greeted them, Zhang Hongmei realized that one of the teachers was the principal, and the rest were all teachers teaching the second year of high school.
One of the teachers was holding an exam paper.
"This is the exam paper for the transition from the first year of high school to the second year. You have two hours for all four subjects. If you score above 90 in all of them, you can go directly to the second year of high school. Are you confident?"
"I'll give it a try; it shouldn't be too difficult."
"Let's start now. You can decide which subject to do first."
Zhang Hongmei's first subject was math, the second was geology, the third was history, and only lastly was Chinese.
The office was quiet except for the rustling sound of your writing.
After she finished each subject, the teacher would take it to be graded.
After I finished the Chinese exam and handed in my paper, the scores for the other three subjects came out. I got a score of 90 in history, 95 in geography, and a perfect score in math.
Fifteen minutes later, the Chinese score came out: 92 points.
He passed all the tests. The teachers were very excited. They thought they were lucky to have nurtured Liu Jingze, but they didn't expect to have produced another talent.
Liu Jingze was overjoyed; this girl was so intelligent, and he felt proud of her.
"Okay, since you passed the test, you can start high school in the second year. I will be your homeroom teacher from now on," Chen Sheng said with a smile to Zhang Hongmei.
Zhang Hongmei stood up and bowed deeply. "Thank you, teachers, for this opportunity. I will cherish it and work even harder in the future." What an unexpected joy! She had thought she would have to spend two years in high school, but she never expected to meet such a helpful person and be able to skip a year.
"Alright, go back and study hard. Read more history books. I have a complete book of modern history, take it home and read it."
A female teacher in her forties went back and brought back a thick book, which she handed to Zhang Hongmei.
"Thank you, teacher."
It was noon when the two left the school. Zhang Hongmei took out a lunchbox and handed it to Liu Jingze, saying, "Jingze, go to the cafeteria and heat it up yourself. I have to go back."
"Aren't you going to eat? Wait a bit, and the dumplings will be ready to eat."
"No, otherwise I'll have to leave tomorrow. Also, here are some pine nuts for you. I roasted them this morning. Eat more if you have time. I'll pick more pine cones when I get back, so you can eat as much as you want. I really have to go now." With that, she turned and left.
Liu Jingze, holding a small cloth bag and a lunchbox, watched Zhang Hongmei run off and chuckled. He'd make sure Songzi ate plenty; he'd ask the girl for some after the exam.
Zhang Hongmei got into the car and returned to the village primary school. School was about to let out. She found Shi Tou and San Ya and would take them back in a little while so they wouldn't have to walk.
He then hurriedly went to the principal's office to tell him the good news.
"That's great. Keep up the good work! Come visit my house sometime; I have lots of books there, feel free to look around."
"Okay! I'll go when I have time."
"No matter how I called you before, you wouldn't go. So it turns out there weren't any books that attracted you? If I had known you were interested in these things, I would have sent you home to pick some out long ago."
"Hehe, it's never too late to go."
Zhang Hongmei carried Sanya on her back, and Shitou sat on her back as the three of them went home together.
"Hongmei, how did your exam go?"
"No problem, you can go straight to the second year of high school."
"Sister Hongmei, you're amazing! I wish I could skip a grade too."
"Don't rush things now. You need to lay a solid foundation first. How can a house be stable if the foundation is unstable?"
"Okay. We have exams in two weeks too."
"If either of you gets a perfect score in both subjects, I'll give her two pencils."
"Sister Hongmei, you should prepare the prizes. We can both get 100%."
"So confident, huh?"
"It's very simple."
"Alright! The prizes are all ready and waiting for you."
The three of them chatted and laughed as they went home. Li Cuihua noticed that the two children had come home earlier than usual and asked them what had happened. She then learned that Zhang Hongmei had brought them back.
Zhang Hongmei resumed her routine of picking pine cones and shelling pine nuts, wearing out three pairs of gloves in the process.
Zhang Hongmei didn't stop frantically shelling pine nuts until the twelfth lunar month. She smiled contentedly as she looked at the two large bags full of pine nuts in the warehouse.
The children run around the village all day long, and no one bothers Zhang Hongmei's house, which is either locked or closed.
Zhang Hongmei always brought a radio to the canteen and played it while everyone ate. People generally didn't listen to the news; what they loved to listen to most were Peking Opera and revolutionary songs.
With nothing else to do, Zhang Hongmei took up teaching again, leading a group of children in singing revolutionary songs and telling them history. In this way, she killed two birds with one stone and also reviewed the complete book of modern history that her teacher had given her.
The old lady waited and waited at home for Zhang Hongmei, but she didn't come. She was getting anxious. The girl hadn't come over for several days.
If you don't come, I'll come to see you. The old lady, leaning on her cane, arrived at the cafeteria.
Zhang Hongmei was quite surprised to see the old lady coming over. "Grandma, you've come out for a stroll?"
"You brat won't even come to see me, but I'll come to see you."
A group of children respectfully called out to their great-grandmother.
"Oh, look, I was just thinking of going today, and here you are! Hehe!"
"You're just trying to fool me."
"No, really, I've been lazy these past few days and just stayed home." But a guilty conscience lurked within her; she had truly forgotten that the joy of the harvest had made her overly excited.
"Grandma, I really came to tell you the good news, I can go straight to the second year of high school."
"Really? Your third uncle found someone?" It's no wonder the old lady thought that way, mainly because Zhang Hongmei didn't know anyone else in the city.
"No, it was Brother Jingze who found his teacher."
"Great, you'll be able to go to university next year."
"You have that much confidence in me?"
"I have confidence."
Zhang Hongmei was touched; this old lady was truly heartwarming.
"It's a success. You can teach them now. I'm going back."
"Okay! Take care."
The children excitedly surrounded Zhang Hongmei after the old lady left.
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