58: Chapter 58 College Entrance Examination Results

It was past 11 o'clock. Chen Fan and his family were in front of the computer, waiting with bated breath.

Chen Jianguo sat on the edge of the bed, holding a cigarette between his fingers, but he hadn't lit it; he was just pinching it. Wang Mei stood behind Chen Fan, her hand resting on the back of his chair, her eyes fixed on the time in the bottom right corner of the computer screen—11:47.

"There's still over ten minutes left," Chen Fan said.

"I know," Wang Mei replied, tapping her hand lightly on the chair back twice.

"How about we eat something first?" he suggested. "We can eat while we wait."

"I can't eat," Wang Mei said without turning her head.

Chen Fan chuckled. "Dad, why don't you sit for a while? Stop pacing back and forth."

"I'm not pacing." No sooner had Chen Jianguo said this than he stood up again, walked to the window to glance outside, and then sat back down on the bed.

The Shaanxi Admissions and Examination Information Network page was open on the screen. The registration number and ID number were already filled into the login box; all that was left was a click of the mouse.

Chen Fan stared at the time in the bottom right corner of the screen as it ticked by, second by second.

11:56... 11:57... 11:58... 11:59...

The time on the screen jumped to 12:00.

Chen Fan refreshed the page.

Blank.

Refreshed again.

Still blank.

"Why isn't it there?" Wang Mei's voice sounded a bit anxious.

"It might be slow. Let's wait a bit longer."

Chen Fan continued to refresh. Once, twice, three times—

The page suddenly changed.

The moment it loaded, before Chen Fan had a chance to look, Wang Mei had already bent over and leaned in toward the screen, her voice trembling:

"How much? How much?"

Chen Fan's gaze swept over the line of numbers—

Chinese 141, Math 145, English 141, Science Comprehensive 282, Total Score 709, 5th place in the province.

He was stunned for a moment.

Wang Mei was also stunned for a moment.

Then she grabbed Chen Fan's shoulder, her voice rising an octave: "709?!?"

Chen Jianguo stood up with a start, his cigarette dropping to the floor. "How much?!?"

"709! 5th in the province!" When Wang Mei shouted it out, her eyes turned red.

She hadn't expected that her son, whom she previously thought had no hope of getting into college, could actually score 709 points now.

Chen Fan sat there, looking at that string of numbers on the screen, suddenly feeling a bit dazed.

709.

Regarding this score, Chen Fan was not surprised. After the exam finished, his own estimated score had been roughly this same result.

This year's Gaokao was relatively harder; even with Chen Fan's High School Chinese - Mastery, he only scored 709.

However, Chen Fan was already very satisfied. Spending 300,000 wealth points to score 709 on the Gaokao—many people wouldn't even have this opportunity even if they wanted to spend 3 million.

Just then, Chen Fan's phone suddenly vibrated.

He picked up his phone and saw it was a strange number with a Beijing area code.

Without hesitation, he chose to answer it.

"Hello, may I ask if this is student Chen Fan? I am a teacher from the Peking University admissions office."

Chen Fan was a bit surprised. He wasn't the top scorer; would a Peking University teacher really call him to actively recruit him?

But since they had called, he might as well answer, even though he wouldn't be going to Peking University.

"Yes, I am Chen Fan."

"Student Chen Fan, you should have already checked your Gaokao score, right?"

"Yes, 709 points."

"Then has student Chen Fan considered applying to our Peking University?"

"Not considering it~"

There was a clear pause on the other end of the line.

"Uh..." The Peking University teacher clearly hadn't expected such a straightforward reply. After pausing for a second, they spoke enthusiastically again,

"Student Chen Fan, with your score, applying to Peking University is absolutely no problem. We can guarantee admission, and we can also try our best to satisfy your wishes regarding your major. Would you like to reconsider?"

"Teacher, Peking University is the best school in the country; in my eyes, it's even better than Tsinghua University. But I'm just a person with no big ambitions; I'm a homebody, so I'm only considering schools in my hometown. If Peking University moved to Xian, I would definitely choose to apply to Peking University the first chance I got."

"Student Chen Fan, your reason... I really can't refute that." The teacher's tone carried a hint of helpless amusement. "But with your score, is it a bit of a pity to only consider schools within the province?"

"It's not a pity," Chen Fan smiled. "What suits you best is the best."

The teacher paused, seemingly a bit surprised by these words.

"Alright then, student Chen Fan. Since you've thought it through clearly, I won't try to persuade you further." The teacher's tone held a hint of admiration. "However, with your score, no matter which school you go to, you should be a top student. I wish you a bright future."

"Thank you, teacher."

Just after hanging up, his phone rang again. Chen Fan looked and saw it was also a Beijing area code.

"Hello, may I ask if this is student Chen Fan? I am a teacher from the Tsinghua University admissions office. I wanted to ask if you are willing to apply to our Tsinghua University."

"Thank you, I'm not considering it~"

"Uh, student Chen Fan, Tsinghua is..." The Tsinghua admissions teacher began to introduce their school's strength and the generous benefits Chen Fan would receive after going there.

"Teacher, Tsinghua is the best school in the country; in my eyes, it's even better than Peking University. It's just that I'm a person with no big ambitions; I'm a homebody, so I'm only considering schools in my hometown. If Tsinghua moved to Xian, I would definitely choose to apply to Tsinghua the first chance I got."

The Tsinghua admissions teacher also paused, then tried to persuade him one more time, but Chen Fan's mind was made up, so they could only helplessly hang up the phone.

"Son, are you really not considering Tsinghua or Peking University?"

"Mom, didn't I tell you already? I'm planning to apply to Chang'an Jiaotong University. I'm not considering others~"

"Alright then~" Wang Mei could only sigh helplessly.

Chen Fan was not surprised by his mother's reaction; after all, in the eyes of parents, Tsinghua and Peking University were simply the best schools in the country.

If a child in the family could get into Tsinghua or Peking University, it would basically be a sign of immense good fortune for the family.

It was a pity that Chen Fan had already made up his mind to go to a university in Xian, so he could only reject Tsinghua and Peking University.

"I wonder how much Lin Xi scored?" Chen Fan couldn't help but think of this question.

"Ring ring."

The phone rang again. He thought it was another admissions teacher.

He picked up his phone and saw it was actually Lin Xi calling.

He walked out of the room and answered the phone.

"Hello, Xixi."

"Chen Fan, are your scores out?" Lin Xi's voice held a hint of anticipation.

"709. How about you?"

"709?!?" Lin Xi's volume suddenly went up. "That's so high! I only got 602 points~"

Chen Fan smiled. "That's already very good."

"Compared to you, it's not enough," Lin Xi muttered, then asked, "So, have you decided which university you're applying to?"

"Chang'an Jiaotong University."

There was a second of silence on the other end of the line.

"Jiao Tong University, huh..." Lin Xi's voice lowered, carrying a hint of disappointment. "It's a pity, my score isn't high enough to apply; there's no way to be at the same school as you."

Chen Fan heard the unhappiness in her tone. He paused and said,

"It's okay, they're both in Xian, it's not far."

"That's true. If you went to Tsinghua or Peking University, we wouldn't even be in the same city."

"Don't worry, I'm definitely going to Xian~"

"I know~" Lin Xi's voice finally lightened up a bit. "Alright, you go be busy, I won't disturb you."

After hanging up, Chen Fan began to fill out his applications.

He opened the Qin Province Admissions and Examination Information Network and entered his registration number and password to log in.

The page loaded, and a line of red text at the top read: "Qin Province 2010 General Higher Education Admissions Online Application System." Below were a row of options: Application Submission, Query/Modify, Exit System.

Chen Fan clicked into "Application Submission."

The system prompted: "The batches you can currently apply for: Early Batch Undergraduate, First Batch Undergraduate, Second Batch Undergraduate."

He scanned it once and clicked directly into First Batch Undergraduate.

The form popped up, with clear columns: Institution Code, Institution Name, Major Code, Major Name, Willing to accept transfer.

After finding Chang'an Jiaotong University,

he began to fill in his majors.

First choice: Business Administration.

Second choice: Finance.

Third choice: Trade Economics.

He filled in a few more majors casually; anyway, with 709 points, the first three were enough to get him admitted.

Willing to accept transfer? He selected "No."

He checked it one more time, confirmed there were no issues, and then clicked submit.