The third day after the preliminary rounds ended.
The atmosphere in Class 3 of Grade 11 at Jiangcheng No.1 Middle School was as oppressive as a pressure cooker.
The trash cans in the back were full of crumpled paper; if you didn't know better, you'd think someone was practicing basketball shooting there.
Zhang Ya huddled in her seat.
I was frantically refreshing the "Fuzhiyao" official website, my fingers practically sparking from the phone screen.
With each rotation of that loading circle, her heart skipped a beat.
"It's not out yet...it's not out yet...this is too slow!"
Zhang Ya bit her nails and kept muttering to herself.
Li Bowen, standing next to him, wasn't much better off.
He hadn't turned a page of that thick workbook in his hand for half an hour; his eyes were fixed on it, as if he were in a trance.
Lin Que was the only oddball in the whole class.
He pulled his school uniform over his head and fell fast asleep on the table.
The black ballpoint pen was casually tossed on the corner of the table.
It was still trembling slightly, following his even breathing rhythm.
It exudes a sense of relaxation.
"I have to say, Brother Que, you've got a really big heart."
Wu Di leaned closer and carefully lifted a corner of Lin Que's school uniform, like a spy making a rendezvous:
"It's been three days already, and they're both going crazy. Aren't you worried at all?"
Lin Que opened his eyes groggily.
Stung by the light from the window, I lazily rolled over.
"What's the panic? Do you think the examiners are going to climb over the internet cable and come at me?"
"It's not a question of whether or not to fight."
Wu Di lowered his voice, looking conflicted, his eyebrows almost twisted into a knot.
"Rumors are flying everywhere right now, everyone's saying there's a huge trap in this year's exam."
Many top students came back from the exam looking pale, saying they only realized later that the questions were tricky.
"trap?"
Lin Que sat up straight and stretched.
He glanced at the bare sycamore tree outside the window:
"Great joy is followed by great sorrow, and the extreme of great sorrow leads to madness."
If you didn't see it, you deserved to fall into the pit.
After saying that, he lay back down:
"Do your best and leave the rest to fate. The rest depends on whether those old scholars dare to take my knife."
...
Shanghai, Huaguang Building, Fudan University.
The air pressure in the marking room was terrifyingly low.
I was ten times more nervous than the students waiting to check their scores.
There is no other reason.
The system is frozen.
More than 3,000 manuscripts were reviewed in three rounds.
Unfortunately, I got stuck on the very last one.
In the entire computer room, only Zhou Yu's computer was running normally.
All other screens displayed "Hanging due to special reasons".
The huge LED screen in the center was now surrounded by people.
The head of the technical department was sweating profusely.
The ten fingers left afterimages on the keyboard, like playing the piano.
"How's it going? Still not done investigating?"
Chen Jingzhi stood at the front with his hands behind his back, his face solemn.
Zhou Yu and the group of professors grading the papers behind him didn't even dare to drink water.
I stared intently at the red progress bar.
"Almost there... just 1% left!"
The person in charge's voice was trembling.
The progress bar has finally reached the end.
The flashing red frame instantly turned into a reassuring green.
Immediately afterwards, a huge pop-up window filled everyone's field of vision.
There is only one line of text above.
Extremely dazzling, extremely shocking.
[Database plagiarism rate: 0.31%]
[Judgment Result: Completely original.]
A deathly silence.
A full five seconds passed before Zhou Yu suddenly gasped.
His voice was so dry it sounded like he'd swallowed a handful of sand.
"Zero...is it really zero?"
"That kind of seasoned and insightful writing style, that kind of incisive satire of the old imperial examination system,"
"Was this written out of thin air by a high school student?"
This is not scientific!
"It didn't come out of thin air."
Chen Jingzhi stared intently at the "0.31".
His eyes suddenly flashed with an almost fanatical light.
"This is talent."
Is this a gift from God? No, it's God feeding him while chasing after him!
"Professor Chen, how should we score this?"
Zhou Yu looked at Chen Jingzhi.
Giving too little? That's blind.
Give it full marks? This article is too sarcastic.
It's practically insulting all scholars. If this gets out and causes controversy, who will take the blame?
How do we fight?
Chen Jingzhi turned around abruptly, his gaze sharp as lightning, sweeping across the entire room.
He walked a few steps to Zhou Yu and pointed to the essay "Fan Jin Passes the Imperial Examination".
"Do you think it's extreme? Do you think it's dark?"
Chen Jingzhi sneered:
Did the author use profanity? Did they swear? No!
He merely constructed an absurd framework, capturing Fan Jin's moment of ecstasy and madness.
Show it to us like it's been sliced!
The old man's voice echoed in the computer room:
"He is tearing off the mask of that cannibalistic system!"
If such articles are buried because they are considered too profound or out of step with the crowd…
"Bang!"
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