Chapter 34
In the second year after the resumption of the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), the exam was changed from December to July, the provincial exams became nationally unified exams, and the exams were divided into arts and sciences tracks.
When registering, He He chose humanities. She has a pretty good memory and is interested in subjects like history and geography. She was also good at these two subjects in school and could memorize them.
Li Baiyun, like her, also chose humanities, while everyone else chose science.
This year, the Cheng family sent out a lot of college entrance examination materials, some of which are hard to find on the market. They were basically bought up by candidates or their parents who lined up overnight as soon as they were released.
Even the brigade leader, knowing they had all the materials, called on the young people in the brigade who were taking the college entrance exam to come over and copy the materials so they could take them back and study.
He He and Cheng Surin were not stingy; they gave whatever the brigade leader asked for. After all, they had been in the brigade for so long, and they would be happy if the Qianjin Brigade could produce a few more college students. If they could get into the same university, they might be able to look after each other when they went out.
These days, travel and communication are inconvenient, and people don't know much about other provinces, not even the capital city they long for. To avoid any mishaps, most people only dare to apply to universities within their own province.
Last year, including three educated youths, a total of five people from Qianjin Brigade were admitted to university. This is a very high probability, making it the brigade with the most university students in Guangming Commune.
The commune also awarded the Qianjin Brigade a red certificate of merit and allocated some funds to the brigade leader so that he could properly cultivate talent.
The brigade leader was pleased. The simple brigade school from last year had been renovated and rebuilt. Several new teachers were hired, and the curriculum was arranged in a more formal manner.
We will no longer let last year's veteran teachers take the lead.
Even their lunches are subsidized by the brigade, all so that they can study hard and get into university.
Following this trend, people who were previously unwilling to send their children to school began sending their kids, who used to play in the fields, to school.
After class ended in the afternoon, the red sunset peeked out.
The senior teacher invited by the brigade leader was highly respected and very responsible. As long as there was one student left and another student had questions, she would stay until the very last moment.
According to the brigade leader, this old teacher studied in Beiping (now the capital) during the War of Resistance against Japan, attending the highest institution of learning in Beiping.
She was a kind old lady, without the arrogance of city scholars, and her lectures were humorous and witty. He He liked her the most.
He He stayed and listened for a while, but her stomach started growling, so she had no choice but to go back with everyone else.
Chen Jingbai walked alongside her, but the two of them lagged behind.
He He listened attentively in class today, and he sat next to her. Sometimes when He He dozed off, he could immediately notice.
However, He He always listens very attentively when facing Teacher Liu's class.
Chen Jingbai turned his head to look at He He, and leaned close to her ear, "You were very diligent today, I'll give you a reward tonight, can you keep it up tomorrow?"
No one knew better than He He what the reward Chen Jingbai was talking about was. Her ears turned slightly red, and she looked up at Chen Jingbai with a shy yet smiling expression. "I'm sure I can do well tomorrow too!"
However, when she thought about her teacher tomorrow, who was a middle-aged male teacher sent by the commune, she felt it would be difficult to pay attention in class.
The male teacher's lectures were particularly boring and dry; she couldn't concentrate on them.
Seeing He He's troubled expression, Chen Jingbai thought about who would be teaching tomorrow and comforted her, "It's okay, I'll teach you tomorrow. If you can't stand his class, we won't go to school tomorrow, and I'll stay at the educated youth point and teach you."
He He exclaimed excitedly, "Really?"
Chen Jingbai chuckled, "Of course, when have I ever lied to you?"
The next day, Chen Jingbai and He He did not go to school.
Chen Jingbai provided one-on-one tutoring for He He.
He He is bad at math, but good at everything else, especially Chinese. Everyone praises her for her excellent writing, saying that her compositions are sincere and persuasive.
So her main focus is to improve her math skills. Today's lesson was still math. He He has made great progress recently and can easily solve basic problems. One of her good points is that she is not careless.
That's great; she can get points for anything she knows how to do, and she won't lose points because of carelessness.
Chen Jingbai focused on helping her with the equations, and He He listened attentively. With the college entrance examination approaching, the sense of urgency forced her to concentrate.
During lunch break, the other educated youth did not return. They usually ate lunch at school and then rested directly on their desks to avoid wasting time traveling back and forth.
Lunch was prepared by Chen Jingbai; he cooked some refined white noodles.
The clear soup was sprinkled with chopped green onions, making it look incredibly appetizing.
After dinner, He He accompanied Chen Jingbai to wash the dishes. She stood beside Chen Jingbai and watched him wash the dishes cleanly and efficiently.
Bored while standing, she would occasionally lean closer to Chen Jingbai and peck him on the face repeatedly; she couldn't get enough of kissing him last night.
Chen Jingbai shook the water out of the bowl. "Stop fooling around, I'm washing the dishes. If you want to kiss, wait a bit."
He He ignored him and tried to kiss Chen Jingbai on the face again. This time, Chen Jingbai dodged, and she missed his face, kissing his neck instead.
Chen Jingbai finally looked at her, his gaze burning, his breathing heavy, his voice low, "Wait until I finish washing the dishes."
He He pursed her lips and smiled, laughing awkwardly, "I'm going back now."
Oh no, she doesn't know how to handle this situation. She needs to go back and lie down first.
She left in a hurry, returned to the girls' dormitory, closed the door, and quickly crawled into bed.
She lay there for a while and then fell asleep.
After Chen Jingbai put the bowls down, he came out and saw He He sleeping soundly through the glass window. Helpless, he returned to the boys' dormitory.
After lunch break, no matter how hard He He tried to hide, she couldn't escape; she always had to come out to study.
She was sitting on Chen Jingbai's lap, her back against the table, her upper body uncontrollably leaning back.
Chen Jingbai kissed her fiercely, and no amount of dodging back helped. In his arms, she could only be pulled closer to him by his arms.
Staring at her swollen lips, then glancing at He He's wet eyes, Chen Jingbai's gaze deepened. "Do you like it? Will you provoke me again next time?"
He He surrendered: "I dare not!"
She's lying; she'll do it again next time.
The days passed by in this chaotic way, with review sessions continuing until July, when the college entrance exams were held for three consecutive days.
For the past three days, the educated youth have been eating at the brigade leader's house.
The captain treated them very well, and they had meat at every meal.
After three days of exams, everyone was finally free, but that didn't quite count.
He He was pulled aside to estimate the score, and Chen Jingbai was even more nervous than she was.
Once the estimate was almost complete, Chen Jingbai breathed a sigh of relief. "He Bao, you're amazing, really amazing."
She could apply to National Taiwan Normal University or the Chinese Literature Department, which she preferred, based on her score.
Waiting for the admission notice was an anxious process, but when we finally received it, everyone was happy and hugged each other, shedding tears of joy.
Along the way, everyone encouraged and supported each other. Zhao Dechuan and Li Baiyun, who failed the exam last year, also passed.
Chen Jingbai and Chen Jingyi both attended the best university in the province.
Chen Jingbai's first choice was architecture, and Chen Jingyi chose economics. Both of them were admitted to their first choice. Cheng Surin chose the chemistry department of a science and technology university.
Just like last year, the brigade held a banquet for those who were admitted to university.
The group was in high spirits and each of them drank a little of the captain's treasured wine.
On the way back, He He, who had only taken a sip of wine, was a little drunk. She jumped around Chen Jingbai, saying, "I really passed the exam! Pinch my cheek, is it true?"
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Author's Note: My little darlings, starting from chapter 18 tomorrow, chapters will be available for purchase only. Those who have already read them, please be careful not to click on them! [kissing emoji]
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