Chapter 120
When getting off the bus, they let Teacher Lu go first and they followed.
Lu Qin put his hands in his pockets and said worriedly, "Have you arranged a place to stay?"
"It's been arranged, Mr. Lu, don't worry, comrade." He almost called him Teacher Lu.
The Red Flag Hotel on Laiyang Street charged 70 cents a day, but they couldn't bear the expense, so they went to a nearby residential area, where they could stay for only 20 cents a day, with meals charged separately. They didn't plan on having any fancy food, so they would send a fellow villager to buy them buns from a state-owned restaurant in advance, giving them some travel expenses.
There was no room for Lu Qin to perform at all. I have to say that this batch of educated youth were very thorough in their work.
The group was divided into several groups and separated after getting off the bus.
Lu Qin put his empty hands in his pockets. His brother-in-law and sister walked in front of him, and Kong Yue carried the luggage of the three of them.
Several young people were already crowded around the hotel reception desk checking in. The waiter, who might have just started working, was standing behind the counter, frantically checking everyone's information.
Then, Lu Qin encountered a situation where he had to give up his seat again.
"Student Lu, you're staying here too. Come on, come on, register first."
The speaker was a tall man. His home was on the edge of the county town, close to the countryside. It took him more than an hour to get to the middle school for the exam. When he saw Lu Qin, his eyes lit up.
There was a woman in her forties or fifties behind the man. When she heard her son's words, she raised her hand and hit him. They had been waiting for a long time before it was their turn. Why did they let him wait?
Fortunately, the man quickly explained, "Mom, it was this classmate Lu who gave me the opportunity to review at school."
His tone rose.
The woman comrade fully demonstrated how fast the face-changing technique could be, and knocked down with her hand, "Is that so? Why didn't you say so earlier?"
After being knocked, the gay man held back from making a sound.
After she looked at him curiously, she put on a smile and said, "So this is Comrade Lu. You go ahead and do it. We're not in a hurry."
As she stepped back, she glanced past Lu Qin and behind him. She saw the man on the left standing straight with his shoulders stretched into a straight line. There was also a female comrade who looked quite similar to Lu Qin, a pretty girl. She looked at him a few more times.
Both husband and wife nodded.
The woman was speaking to them now, her eyes still fixed on the girl, and she smiled warmly, "You two should register first."
Lu Qin winked at his brother-in-law: Look, how eye-catching my sister is.
Kong Yue somehow understood the look in his eyes and was about to step forward to refuse, but Lu Qin had already rejected him. "No, no, there's no rush. Let's take our time. It's quite warm in the house anyway."
"And waiter, please don't be anxious. Accurate registration is the most important thing."
"Yes, yes, we are not in a hurry." The others quickly realized that they just didn't react as quickly as the men and didn't expect to give up their seats.
The originally tense and hurried atmosphere suddenly calmed down. The two waiters secretly wiped their sweat and happened to remember Lu Qin's face, feeling grateful.
After a large group of people registered and said hello to Lu Qin, they turned around and left one by one.
Lu Qin and the others arrived not too late, when it was their turn.
The waitress glanced at them and asked tentatively, "Comrade Lu, how about I arrange for you to stay on the first floor?"
There is no need to climb stairs on the first floor, it is directly close to the front door, and the hot water room is also on the first floor. It is obvious that the lesbian is thinking of repaying her gratitude.
Lu Qin didn't expect such treatment. He turned around and said, "Sister..."
Lu Chunnong replied, "That's fine, just don't bother this female comrade."
The waitress craned her neck and easily spotted the two people speaking. She immediately realized they were siblings. She shook her head, "It's okay. It's just a matter of two rooms. No problem."
It's first come first served.
After registering, Lu Qin took the key, tossed it upwards, and then quickly caught it. "Thank you."
"No, no." The waitress shook her head. "If you have any difficulties, you can tell us. If we're not here, you can just register it in this book. We'll check it every day when we're working."
"Okay, I wish you a happy work."
He turned around and said, "Sister, let's go. Let's wash up and rest early today."
They booked two single rooms. Lu Qin took the key and went to one room. Then he closed the door and was greeted by a musty smell.
Seeing him go in, the couple looked at each other and went to the next room.
After settling in, Kong Yue went to the state-owned restaurant to buy food. Dinner consisted of simple steamed buns and stir-fried pork with shredded radish, with a few small pieces of garlic in the mix. It smelled delicious. He also made a bowl of egg soup. It was too cold outside, so even if he held it in his arms, it was already cold by the time he got home.
At night, the hotel's poor soundproofing left a lasting impression. Someone could be heard walking upstairs, and someone next door tossed and turned. The bed creaked. Lu Qin lay in bed, his coat propped up against his head. He stared out the dark window, turned over, and breathed a sigh of relief, figuring that once this year was over and he could make it to December of next July or August, everything would be fine. He wasn't nervous at all, but rather calmly embraced the rest of life.
Kong Yue and Lu Chunnong also had trouble sleeping. The couple hugged each other, listening to the sounds around them. Kong Yue closed his eyes and commented, "Lu Qin is quite good."
"Yeah." Lu Chunnong opened his eyes and looked at him.
Kong Yue coughed and said, "Nothing, go to bed early. I'll buy him some vegetable and lean meat porridge and buns tomorrow. What do you want to eat?"
The couple chatted for a few words at night and fell asleep quickly.
The next morning, Lu Qin opened the door and found a pot of hot water at the door. He turned his head and looked left and right. The waiter in the distance pointed at himself and then at the water.
At the end of the corridor, people were queuing up to get water.
His brows lifted, he waved his hand and silently thanked them. Everyone at that time was very grateful and eager to help others.
"Brother-in-law, I'm hungry." Walking to the other side, he raised his hand and knocked on the door.
As soon as the door opened, Lu Chunnong shared breakfast with him and said, "Your brother-in-law bought this. Eat it quickly and then go to school."
Lu Qin took it, but he didn't expect his brother-in-law to actually buy it for him. He took it and took a bite, then mumbled with something in his mouth, "Sister, have you eaten yet?"
"I ate two eggs, and there are two more hot eggs in the hot water cup. If you want to eat them, take them yourself."
Eggs will become fishy when they get cold, so boiling them in water is to prevent them from getting cold.
"Hmm." Lu Qin took a bite of the bun and walked to the bed and sat down.
His things were all in his brother-in-law's bag. Kong Yue took out the things he needed for the exam and stuffed them into his bag. He came over to him with the things in his hand and said, "Take care of your things and don't drop them."
As he said that, he hung the bag around his neck.
Lu Qin tilted his head and held the package steady, "Don't worry."
Half an hour later, they walked out of the hotel, and people followed one after another behind them, with a fast pace.
The weather seemed to be particularly kind that day. The wind stopped and the sun came out. Although I didn't feel warm when it shone on my body, it was bright and dazzling, like hope.
All three were in different examination rooms.
Kong Yue rarely reminded him, "Lu Qin, take the exam seriously and don't be nervous."
Lu Chunnong remained calm and raised his hand to straighten his collar, "Try harder."
Lu Qin smiled and said, "Yeah, you guys should do well in the exam too."
He and his brother-in-law both took science exams, but Lu Chunnong chose liberal arts.
The science and engineering exam consists of politics, Chinese, mathematics, physics, and chemistry. The last two are collectively referred to as physics and chemistry. English is an additional subject for applicants majoring in foreign languages, as well as liberal arts and science. It has nothing to do with Lu Qin.
The time arrangement is generally reasonable, one course in the morning and one in the afternoon, and there is a break at noon.
On December 28th, the morning test was math, and the afternoon was politics. The next day, the morning test was physics and chemistry, and the afternoon was Chinese. In short, it was a mix of arts and sciences. But each province was different. As for the exam on the third day, it had nothing to do with them.
When I got the math papers, I could faintly smell the scent of ink. These were papers that witnessed history.
Lu Qin first flipped through the pages to check for ink marks or missing questions. If he found none, he began to work through the questions. Since it was his first year, the questions were relatively easy. The most difficult one was a parabola problem, which might require a bit of detours to solve.
The invigilators weren't originally from Laiyang County No. 1 Middle School; Gao Weimin and his colleagues had been seconded to the middle school in the neighboring county. So the teachers above them had to keep their eyes open as wide as possible. The meetings two days before the exam weren't in vain; if anything went wrong, the invigilators would be held accountable. But they'd never seen the papers flipped so evenly; it was as if the students in their room had agreed to this.
Lu Qin casually glanced around the surroundings and saw that many people were starting to lower their heads to answer questions. He took off the cap of his pen and started writing.
It was normal for some people to be nervous in the first exam. When they were leaving the exam room after the first exam, Lu Qin saw some people smiling with ease, some with sad faces, and some even broke down and cried, but they all quickly calmed down.
He touched the cold egg in his pocket and soaked it in hot water for half an hour. Although the question was simple, it was really tiring.
In the afternoon, the exam was about politics. There was no shortage of newspaper reports about the Life Food Factory, so Lu Qin dared to say that his thoughts had been influenced by them long ago and there was nothing wrong with them. However, he still had to think carefully before he wrote anything.
A day passes in the blink of an eye.
Lu Qin wanted to go back to the hotel as soon as he left the school gate, no doubt because it was too cold that night. There were still people checking answers at the gate, and he dared to say that those who checked answers were those who hadn't come to the middle school to review.
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