Chapter 060: First Subject, Literature

On October 4th, 2002, while the freshmen and sophomores of Bincheng No. 1 Senior High School were still basking in the fleeting joy brought by the seven-day National Day holiday, the seniors had already made their way to school early in the morning.

Unlike the younger students, their holiday lasted only three short days. The reason was simple: the seniors had to sit for their midterm exams.

The phrase "Senior year is as fierce as a tiger" was not just empty talk. Students with weak mental fortitude could easily be crushed by the relentless barrage of major and minor exams.

Hence, a saying, adapted from a famous quote by Lu Xun, went: "If you don’t fall in love in your melancholy, you’ll go mad in your melancholy."

With the freshmen and sophomores still on break, the campus was so quiet when Lin Yu arrived that it felt almost unsettling.

A thin morning mist, like a gauzy veil, shrouded the campus. The majestic teaching buildings disappeared into the pale haze, rendering the dawn on campus gentle and beautiful.

Yet Lin Yu no longer had the mood to appreciate such scenes. Though he had once faced down a score of spoiled troublemakers with enviable composure, on this morning he was uncharacteristically nervous, making several trips to the restroom.

“What a coward I am,” he muttered to himself, biting his lip as he waited in line to enter the exam hall.

According to the school’s usual arrangements, each exam room held thirty students. Because Lin Yu had ranked dead last in his class during the previous exam, he was naturally assigned to the last exam room for the liberal arts track, which had only seventeen students.

“Now, the rules for the exam will be announced…”

After the formal announcements ended over the loudspeaker, the two proctors began distributing the exam papers.

It was only now, as Lin Yu resolved for the first time to take the test seriously, that he noticed something amusing.

Lin Lie, who had been knocked out by two burly “Munich warriors,” was sitting right in front of him. The white bandages wound around his head looked rather comical.

Normally so boisterous, Lin Lie was uncharacteristically quiet today. As the proctor handed out the papers, he suddenly turned, regarding Lin Yu with a complicated expression, and said, “I didn’t expect you to know that person.”

“Huh? Which person?” Lin Yu found Lin Lie’s words puzzling.

“Liang Jing! If I’d known you knew her, I never would have messed with you!” Lin Lie sighed. He had always been arrogantly overbearing towards Lin Yu; now, the tables had turned, and he seemed almost meek.

“Liang Jing? Who’s Liang Jing?”

Lin Yu was briefly stunned, then recalled that the manager at the Glorious Hotel’s lobby was named Liang Jing. But she seemed quite ordinary—just an eloquent woman. What was so special about her?

At that moment, the teacher reached their row to hand out the exams, so Lin Yu didn’t pursue the matter further. He accepted the test paper carefully with both hands.

The first subject was Chinese.

The first question was to complete a famous quote:

“Who will grieve for the lost traveler beyond the mountains and passes? When strangers meet, all are guests in a foreign land.” The blank was for “Who will grieve for the lost traveler?”—lines from Wang Bo’s masterpiece, “Preface to the Prince of Teng’s Pavilion.”

When Lin Yu first read the question, he drew a complete blank. He had no recollection of these lines.

Left with no choice, he turned to his super search system. After entering the quote, the complete version appeared instantly.

Easily, he breezed through questions referencing “Mencius: The Way Enjoys Many Helpers,” Su Xun’s “On the Six Kingdoms,” and similar items.

After knocking out the first section with surprising confidence, Lin Yu soon ran into increasingly difficult problems.

By the time he had barely managed the classical Chinese section, he was faced with the most challenging part: reading comprehension.

The reading passage for this midterm was an essay penned by He Jing, the homeroom teacher of Class 7, Year 3. There was nothing about it in his search system.

This stumped Lin Yu; reading comprehension counted for thirty points—a major section. If he couldn’t answer it, he would lose everything.

He had already lost about thirty points earlier; together that was sixty. Even if he wrote a perfect essay, his total would only be ninety!

Slightly dissatisfied with this score, Lin Yu had no choice but to immerse himself in the passage, hoping he could answer a few questions by luck.

At this point, only thirty minutes had passed since the exam began.

“Teacher, may I hand in my paper?” Lin Lie, the boy in front of Lin Yu, suddenly raised his hand.

“Yes, it’s been thirty minutes. You may submit,” replied the female proctor at the teacher’s desk.

The two young proctors knew this room was full of the lowest-ranking students, none likely to take the test seriously, so they were more relaxed.

At the teacher’s signal, all the students—who cared nothing for their grades and just wanted to get outside for some air or sneak a cigarette in the restroom—rushed to hand in their papers.

“Proctoring this room really is a treat!” Li Qingdong, the young P.E. teacher perched on a chair in the last row, grinned smugly.

Once the students all handed in their papers, he could finish his proctoring duties and hurry back to the office to go online and play his favorite game, “Sword of the Sky.”

Thinking of his in-game wife and child, Li Qingdong’s smile grew ever wider.

But soon he noticed that at the third desk from the left near the door, a boy was still working intently, showing no intention of submitting his paper.

“Hm? Isn’t that Lin Yu from He Jing’s class? Has he turned over a new leaf, trying to break out of the ‘bottom exam room’? This kid really doesn’t play by the rules…” Li Qingdong mused, curiosity piqued, and walked over to see if Lin Yu was actually answering the questions.

To his surprise, this notorious “problem student” was indeed reading the passage intently, so absorbed that he didn’t even notice the teacher standing beside him.

“How unlucky! My first time in the legendary easiest exam room, and I run into a one-of-a-kind case like this.” Li Qingdong sighed inwardly, lamenting that Lin Yu’s delay was costing him precious gaming time.

Only then did Lin Yu realize the proctor was standing behind him. He glanced around the now-empty room—only himself and the two teachers remained.

“These animals! The exam barely started…” Lin Yu thought, feeling as conspicuous as a beetle on Ge You’s head—unmistakable and out of place.

One student taking the test, two teachers watching. Anyone would feel a bit awkward.

Although Li Qingdong was itching to get back to his game, seeing a usually unruly student calmly sitting and answering his paper moved him. Warmly, he said, “No rush, you still have two hours. Take your time.”

“Thank you, sorry to trouble you,” Lin Yu replied politely, then turned his attention to the essay prompt.

This sixty-point section required him to write an essay titled “Encounter.” The topic and genre were unlimited.

Seeing the prompt, Lin Yu was momentarily at a loss. The first thing that came to mind was Qi Yue and his brothers.

He wanted to write sincerely about meeting Qi Yue and his friends, but a rough draft proved just how difficult writing truly was.

So once again, he turned to his internal search system, entering the theme “Encounter” for poems and essays.

He picked a piece titled “Some Encounters” and copied it down:

Some encounters
Are like reunions after a long, fated separation.
Therefore,
There’s no need to spin the prayer wheel with devotion;

No need for any guidance,
Nor for endless prostrations before the Buddha;
All it takes
Is to turn at a street corner
And, in a fleeting glance and a gentle smile,
Perhaps you’ll find
In the glow of distant lights,
The figure standing there,
Eyes meeting yours,
Is the one you’ve been searching for.

No need for words
Or proofs;
Because you’ll realize
That just after meeting,
You’re already afraid of losing,
Afraid that the two of you
Will drift apart in the vast sea of people.
So you hurry forward,
Hold on tight,
And never let go.

Together, you watch the fleeting clouds,
Your eyes taking in the endless dust,
Silently content,
Quietly joyful,
Never again asking about partings,
But growing old together,
Hand in hand.