College entrance exam! College entrance exam!

On December 9, 1977, after more than a month of preparation, the Gaokao (National College Entrance Examination) began in Shaanxi Province.

On the morning of that day, the subject was Mathematics.

The weather was excellent today, with the sun shining brightly. The candidates, feeling excited and nervous, waited anxiously at the entrance of the examination hall for it to open, not feeling the slightest bit of cold.

It had been eleven years since the Gaokao was last held, ten years ago. Facing the first Gaokao in over a decade, everyone was inevitably nervous.

Many candidates arrived very early to wait outside the examination hall for this exam.

These candidates held some study materials in their hands, muttering to themselves, seizing the time to memorize knowledge points and formulas that might be tested.

Outside the examination hall, there were not only candidates but also many parents, relatives, friends, husbands, or wives of candidates.

They came to cheer on their family and friends, and also to take care of the candidates' food and daily needs.

Tian Runye and Zhao Dongchuan did not arrive very early; they leisurely ate breakfast before coming.

Breakfast was prepared by Tian Runye: a cup of soy milk, two meat buns, and a white flour steamed bun.

With their abilities, as long as they remained calm and did not perform poorly, getting into university would be very easy, so they were both very composed.

Zhao Dongchuan rode his bicycle, carrying Tian Runye, and arrived outside the examination hall forty minutes before the exam started.

Then, under the watchful eyes of armed soldiers, the examination staff checked his and Runye's admission tickets. After verifying that the examination room, photos, personal information, and other details were correct, they allowed the two to enter.

It seemed that a lot of effort had been put in from above to ensure the complete success of this Gaokao.

The two followed the scattered crowd of candidates into the school.

Zhao Dongchuan and Tian Runye were at the same examination center but in different examination rooms.

"Stay calm... just perform normally..."

Zhao Dongchuan said to Runye with a smile.

"Mhm, you too. With your strength, I estimate you might very well be the top scorer in our province!"

Runye smiled sweetly.

Candidates nearby who heard Runye say this to Zhao Dongchuan couldn't help but stop.

Who is this person? So shameless, 'top scorer'? Do you think a top scorer is like a common cabbage, just found anywhere?

They all started complaining inwardly. Normally, they would definitely argue with Runye and Zhao Dongchuan, but at this moment, the exam was the priority, so naturally, no one bothered with them.

However, the disdain in their eyes was undisguised.

"Runye, you two hurry up... stop chatting! Get in there quickly!"

Du Lili, wearing high heels, walked over quickly. Du Lili also participated in this Gaokao.

In fact, many people in the unit participated in the Gaokao. Due to the nature of cultural work, the proportion of participants was very high compared to other units, and their abilities were also stronger.

Of course, there were also some people who were just trying their luck; it wouldn't hurt to take the exam, and what if they got in?

... "Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling!"

The ten-minute warning bell rang in the examination hall.

As the start time of the exam approached... several invigilators checked the candidates' admission tickets one by one.

Every candidate entering the hall needed to place his admission ticket on the upper left corner of the desk for the invigilator to check, to prevent impersonation.

At the same time, invigilators would also check if candidates were 'smuggling private goods,' which meant cheating.

After checking, the invigilators then explained the examination rules and so on... during which everyone sat upright... "Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling!"

Another bell rang.

The invigilators began distributing the exam papers.

During this time, candidates could only read the papers, not answer.

Then another bell rang... The exam officially began!

So, the sounds of writing 'shua shua' and scratching heads and ears began!

... Zhao Dongchuan glanced through the entire exam paper and felt that the math was slightly difficult.

He directly ignored the last two optional questions... they didn't count for points anyway!

Although he wondered why the questions were so unfriendly in the first year after the Gaokao resumed, he didn't think much of it and proceeded directly to solve the problems.

As time passed, the differences became apparent.

Those with solid foundations were diligently working on the problems, while those who usually neglected their studies and only crammed at the last minute were scratching their heads and ears; the sound of scalp scratching was truly incessant and unnerving.

About an hour later, Zhao Dongchuan had finished all the problems and checked them once.

However, he had no intention of submitting his paper early; he still pretended to be deep in thought. He didn't want to stand out and just stayed quietly in the examination room.

By this point in the exam, those who knew how to do the problems had basically done them, leaving only the difficult ones. There were quite a few like him who were deep in thought.

"Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling!"

As the bell rang, the first math exam concluded!

... Zhao Dongchuan and Tian Runye met up, and they exchanged smiles, both feeling confident.

"For question ten, which cutting method yields a larger square piece of material? Is it Figure 1 or Figure 2?"

Runye walked alongside Zhao Dongchuan, discussing the math questions from earlier.

"The exam's over, let's not talk about it, okay? Let's calmly prepare for the politics exam this afternoon..."

In his previous life, Zhao Dongchuan disliked checking answers after an exam. This might be a common trait among poor students; perhaps top students liked it?

In the following days, both of them focused on their exams, abstaining from smoking, drinking, and lust!!!

Afternoon of the 10th... "Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling!"

As the bell rang, the last comprehensive science exam ended.

All candidates in the examination hall stopped writing under the supervision of the invigilators. A few individual candidates tried to write a few more words but were stopped by the teachers.

All candidates stood up and left the examination hall as requested by the teachers.

At this point, the number of people in the examination hall was much smaller compared to the first math exam... many people had dropped out after a few subjects, probably preparing to try again next year.

"The exam's over, shall we go celebrate?"

Zhao Dongchuan said with a smile, holding Tian Runye's hand.

"Sure, where to?"

"Of course, to a restaurant... This time I'll take you to eatHotpot (shuan yang rou - instant-boiled mutton)..."

The two rode their bicycles to a very popular state-run restaurant of the time, whose signature dish was "shuan yang rou"!

By this time, quite a few people were already seated inside.

Among them were many candidates from this Gaokao.

They gathered together, discussing the recently concluded Gaokao.

"Those math problems were so hard... I only did three questions, and the rest I guessed..."

"Yeah... yeah... I feel like I only got the inequality problem right..."

"Which topic did you write your essay on?"

"I chose 'An Unforgettable Day'!"

"Mine was 'A Letter to the National Science Conference'..."

"How did you do on the physics problems?"

"Too hard, I couldn't understand any of it... What circuit, what disconnecting and connecting... finding the voltage between A and B... my head was spinning..."

"..."