In Qunnan Province, in an inconspicuous town called Liyun, in the even lesser known No. 1 High School, the university admission recommendation list was announced. Jiang Run's name wasn't on it.

When Jiang Run heard the name "Yu Zhiliang," it was as if thunder struck. He loved to show-off; after his mother paid Li Yurong to take care of the matter, he firmly believed the admission quota was already his and bragged far and wide. So while Yu Zhiliang's mood s.h.i.+fted from despondency to ecstasy, his was the opposite. The strange looks from the other students in cla.s.s humiliated him ever further.

He didn't finish his cla.s.ses that day—before noon, he grabbed his bag and ran to his mother's company.

"What?!" Jiang Xiaoyun was shocked when she heard the news. "Teacher Li received the money, how could this happen?!"

"She was transferred away, the princ.i.p.al too," Jiang Run cried. "Mom, what should I do now? I can't get into Qunnan University with my grades!"

"What?! Teacher Li and the princ.i.p.al were transferred away?!" Jiang Xiaoyun had been so busy recently she had no time to pay attention to the local news, so this was the first time she heard about this. Anxiety hit her at once. "Why didn't you tell me such an important thing earlier, you foolish child?!"

Jiang Run… forgot. He really forgot. All the students, even those from Cla.s.s 1, were happy Li Yurong was gone, and he was no exception, so he underestimated the seriousness of this matter. Princ.i.p.al Tao's departure was an even more joyous event—after he left, food in the cafeteria was richer, with soup, meat, and fish dishes every day. In addition, Jiang Xiaoyun left home early in the morning and returned at night, so he rarely even saw her these days. It always slipped his mind to tell her about this.

Jiang Run's face turned pale, and Jiang Xiaoyun sighed, somewhat exasperated, but let it go. "Never mind. Don't worry, mom will think of a way."

She called the school and asked to speak with the new English teacher.

The other woman was gentle and polite, but a tactful rejection was still a rejection. She said both the grandes and conduct of the chosen student was absolutely impeccable since his first year of high school, and besides, the leader of the inspection team selected him personally. As such, there was really nothing she could do.

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Xiaoyun was under even more pressure than before. She felt her back break out in a nervous sweat.

Her company had been having a rough time recently, and now there was trouble with her son's school on top of that. Why were so many bad things happening all at once? She didn't know what had gone wrong, but they didn't get their hands on the antiques, and Section Head w.a.n.g from the Provincial Bureau of Land and Resources could not be reached. Liyun Town's land development plan had been canceled!

Since that day, the company had one headache after another: not only did the prepared bid plan became useless, but all their real estate under development was suddenly subjected to intense scrutiny. Jiang Xiaoyun thought it was probably Mr. w.a.n.g, offended because they didn't keep their end of the deal. She was so anxious she couldn't sleep, and her hair began to fall out from stress. She went around looking for government officials who could help, wanting to invite them out for a dinner, but they either avoided her or bluntly refused. Mr. w.a.n.g was much more powerful than she thought!

Having went for wool and came back shorn, Jiang Xiaoyun was filled with regret—had she known the things would end up like this, she would have never tried to put a ladder against the sky!

Despite all this, she still gently coaxed her son to return home. After Jiang Run left, she sat alone in the empty office, too drained to even get upset.

She had already used all her connections and exhausted all means available. As she slumped in her chair, impotent, the pile of newspapers on the table caught her eye.

On the front page of Liyun Town Post, the black-and-white photos of ancient bronzes were striking, piercing her eyes like countless small needles. Her head hurt.

What determination, really. She didn't expect Lin Jingzhe would rather donate the bronzeware to a museum than let them get ahold of it. The moment she saw the article, her doubts about the failure were finally answered. Looking at the words "Yan City" and "National" printed in bold in the headline, Jiang Xiaoyun realized that she would never get them in this life.

She had no choice but to contact the person she was least willing to deal with—

Jiang Qiaqia.

Some time ago, they had a big fight over the bronzeware fiasco, and they hadn't contacted each other since. Jiang Xiaoyun didn't want to be the first to back down, but she had to, for her son's sake.

Jiang Qiaqia was not happy to get a phone call from her sister.

"What's the use of looking for me!" Right now, she herself balanced on the edge of a cliff—where did she have time to care about her nephew's studies? She didn't even want to hear it, and hung up after a few perfunctory remarks.

After putting down the receiver, Jiang Qiaqia looked up and saw her mother-in-law. The old lady wore a satin cheongsam, a pearl necklace, and had elegantly permed hair. She sat erect, like an empress dowager on her throne, and watched her with disapproval.

"…Mom," Jiang Qiaqia greeted her with a smile.

"Is it your country relatives again? How many times have I told you—since you have married into Qi, you should have less contact with your birth family, and don't let them ask you for favors." The old lady sucked in her cheeks. She dropped the remote, displeased. "Qi Qing has missed dinner for several days already; just how many things does he have to clean up after you? If you can't be of help to him, then at least don't make trouble!"

Jiang Qiaqia's heart was full of bitterness. All she wanted was to put her hands on the wretched old hag's throat and choke her to death, yet she had no choice but to meekly bow her head.

There was a sound, and the two looked towards the entrance. It turned out to be Qi Qing, finally coming home from work.

As Qi Qing was shook off his umbrella and removed his dress shoes, Jiang Qiaqia came to meet him: "Are you back?"

Qi Qing looked at her, but only nodded slightly. He handed his briefcase to his mother, who also approached, and headed straight for the living room, barely brus.h.i.+ng against his wife's shoulder as he pa.s.sed by.

Jiang Qiaqia was left standing in the entrance, blankly staring at the patches of rainwater on the floor.

She understood clearly—Qi Qing blamed her.

They abruptly lost contact with Section Head w.a.n.g and couldn't find anyone else to support them, so Qiqing Real Estate failed to win a land lot at the auction. This matter was already enough for Qi Qing to tear out his hair but soon, other troubles followed. The bank loans, the contracted builders… One by one, the chain links broke off. By this point, it was impossible to think everything was just bad luck.

No matter how unwilling Jiang Qiaqia was to admit it, this was probably Mr. w.a.n.g's revenge, in rage because he failed to get the antiques.

Qi Qing, originally wild with joy to have gained a connection with such an important man, was now drowning in regret. Every day, he ran himself ragged trying to douse the fires; inevitably, all his negative feelings focused on Jiang Qiaqia, leading to their relations.h.i.+p chilling.

Jiang Qiaqia didn't go for dinner but hid in the bedroom. In the darkness, she looked at the empty, cold double bed, and thought wearily—

Why was this happening?

Before the college entrance examination, Liyun No. 1 High School gave students three days off.

Lin Jingzhe had been living in Gao Sheng's house during this time. On the day of the exam, they got up early. Hu Yu brought them porridge with fermented bean curd topping and stood aside, nervously watching them eat.

"Mom," Gao Sheng called, grabbing a piece of fermented tofu with his chopsticks. "Where are salted duck eggs? I want some!"

Hu Yu stamped her foot and glared at him. "Pooh! Eating salted ducks eggs today? What stupid thing are you saying! You want to 'eat an egg' on the exam too?!"

"Eating an egg" was scoring 0 points.

Lin Jingzhe almost laughed out loud. Gao Sheng complained, "Mom, you're a teacher, how can you believe in superst.i.tion?"

"Don't talk nonsense—if I say you're not allowed to eat it, then you're not allowed," Hu Yu said unreasonably. As the two friends packed their bags, she hovered by them, fussing endlessly: "…Do you have your exam admission tickets? You can't forget them. Have you checked if the information on them is right? Remember to write legibly, don't scribble! Don't hand in the papers early, no one is rus.h.i.+ng you—use the remaining time to check your answers…"

They changed their clothes and left the house accompanied by almost non-stop chatter. Hu Yu checked the contents of their bags multiple times to see if they had everything needed but still felt they must've forgotten something and in the end, escorted them all the way to the examination hall.

Zhou Haitang and Deng Mai waited in front of the door, accompanied by their parents, who were so nervous as if their little babies were about to face a trial of life and death.

After exchanging greetings, the parents, with tears in their eyes, watched their children enter the examination hall. They stayed in front of the door, patting each other shoulders encouragingly.

Gao Sheng lifted his head to face the sky and sighed, "G.o.d, I'm so nervous."

"Why?" Lin Jingzhe asked. "This is the zero hour. Getting nervous is useless—right now, you should relax and try your best. After all, what's the worst that can happen? At most, you will only fail to get into university. It's not as if there are no other choices available to you."

Deng Mai b.u.mped Gao Sheng's shoulder. "Old Gao, it's over, I'm done for. I forgot all about how to solve that math problem Lin Jingzhe reviewed with us yesterday…"

Gao Sheng searched his memory, then exclaimed with horror, "You mean the one about square pyramid?!"

Alarmed, everyone gathered together and reviewed the pyramid problem again to help Deng Mai and other unfortunates remember. They only broke up, reluctantly, after the time to start the exam was about to arrive and the teachers urged them to take their seats.

The cla.s.sroom was s.p.a.cious; the distance between the seats seemed as wide as an ocean trench. Before opening the exam, Lin Jingzhe glanced at the unfamiliar faces surrounding him. For a moment, he had an illusion he was transported to another world, finding his surroundings both intimately familiar and startlingly strange.

The world bizarrely turned full circle—after everything he had went through, all the struggles and painful experiences, he sat here again, having a chance to start his life anew.

"The student over there, don't look around!" A stern reminder woke Lin Jingzhe up from his daze. He obediently nodded then focused on the exam paper.

He leafed through it carelessly, about to pick up the pen to write his name, when something caught his eye and he froze.

On the second page, next to a large 15-point question, there was a picture he was very familiar with—

It was the square pyramid they had just reviewed!

Soon, he found more questions he was familiar with. The structure or the numbers might've changed but, though different on the surface, they used the formulas he'd come to know by heart.

Lin Jingzhe's pen flew. At this moment, he was generously rewarded for studying like crazy since the day of his rebirth—the answers to these questions seemed to be buried in his mind, appearing when he needed them without him even having to think. It was as if he was picking razor clams on the beach at low tide, easily grabbing them at just the right moment after they popped out. His hand never stopped moving.

The proctor in charge of this side was surprised by the speed of his writing. A little doubtful whether this student was answering the questions randomly, he came down from the dais and walked between the rows of desks, pretending to casually approach Lin Jingzhe.

However, after barely a glance, he was so shocked he stopped in place. He stood by the desk, watching Lin Jingzhe write.

Another proctor noticed him stop in the middle and gave him a questioning look. Had he perhaps caught a student cheating?

The first proctor signaled him with his eyes, indicating he should come and see.

The second proctor did so. In such a short time, Lin Jingzhe had finished one page and moved on to the next. The man, who stopped next to his colleague and also observed for a while, was dumbfounded. As the two slowly walked away from Lin Jingzhe to watch other candidates, they couldn't help but sigh silently.

It turns out people really weren't born equal.

Lin Jingzhe felt as if he was taking a walk on one of those perfect spring days when Mother Nature seemed to do everything to make people comfortable. By the time he finished, most of the other students weren't even half-done. He didn't hand the exam papers in, though, and began to check them repeatedly. Finally, before the bell rang, he found a minor mistake in a multiple choice question and corrected it hurriedly.

By the time he handed in the exam and left, it was almost noon. When the hot air outside blew in his face, he felt like he was about to take off!

The English exam in the afternoon went even smoother. During the listening test, he almost completed the sentences faster in his mind than the recording played.

That day, after the exams ended, the friends followed Gao Sheng home, feeling like they were dreaming.

Gao Sheng said, "I think I knew most of the questions."

Zhou Haitang was also confused: "I really completed all the extra problems…?"

Deng Mai was even more bewildered: "Somehow, I feel I might actually pa.s.s?"

Everyone looked at each other, hesitated for a moment then, at the same time, rushed to grab Lin Jignzhe's chemistry review materials spread on the desk!

Liyun Town's college entrance examination lasted for two and a half days. At noon of the third day, when Lin Jingzhe stepped out of the cla.s.sroom with his bag, Gao Sheng was already waiting for him.

Outside, Hu Yu awaited them anxiously. When she saw the two of them walking out, she immediately rushed forward. She touched their heads and grabbed their hands, saying, distressed, "You must be exhausted, poor things. Let's quickly return home—you will drink some soup and take a nap."

Then she pulled Lin Jingzhe's hand again. "Jingzhe, how do you think you did?"

He thought back on his state in the examination hall, and the way the two proctors' gazes locked on his back every time he went out after handing in the papers.

He hesitated, then said uncertainly, "Probably… not bad?"

When they went upstairs, they saw three figures squatting in the dark corridor in front of Hu Yu's door.

Lin Jingzhe was vigilant until Hu Yu called out, "Yu Zhiliang? How come you're here?"

The youngest one among the three raised his head. With a crew cut and thick gla.s.ses, he looked like a stereotypical honor student.

Noticing the home inhabitants were back, he blushed and whispered, "Teacher Hu, Cla.s.smate Lin Jingzhe, Cla.s.smate Gao Sheng."

"Aiya! Teacher Hu, you are back." A much more outgoing middle-aged woman with a headscarf tied on her head who squatted beside him immediately got up. She stepped forward and said, her voice loud but friendly, "It's nothing! We just came to see you!"

When her gaze fell on Lin Jingzhe, she was instantly overcome with joy: "You're Lin Jingzhe, right? Aiya, you're such a handsome boy. Auntie heard people say you helped Zhiliang get the admission quota. Thank you so much, auntie is very grateful to you!"

As she spoke, she held out her hand, her eyes full of tears. Lin Jingzhe, somewhat at a loss, hurriedly reached out and shook it.

He knew she was a farmer as soon as he touched her hand; the calluses and rough, thickened skin almost hurt his palm.

It was just an accident Lin Jingzhe recommended Yu Zhiling to get the quota, so he had no idea how to react to the other's party sincere grat.i.tude. He opened his mouth, unsure what to say, but the woman suddenly exclaimed, "Aiya, what am I doing? You must be tired after today's exams. We will just give you this and stop bothering you."

As she said that, she called over her shoulder. The skinny middle-aged man behind her smiled and put the burlap sack lying on the floor on his shoulder. Mother Yu gestured to it: "Hurry up and open the door, Teacher Hu—this bag is very heavy, the old man will carry it inside before we leave."

Hu Yu wanted to protest, but seeing the man struggle under the weight, she didn't dare to delay and hastily opened the door.

"Please stay for a meal, I cooked a lot of soup!" She desperately tried to hold them back.

"No, no, we have to go back to the village, and the bus doesn't run in the evening. There's no time!" The couple skillfully fought back. Before leaving, they once again expressed their grat.i.tude to Lin Jingzhe. "Really, thank you so much. Our family is poor so we couldn't bring you anything good, but after Zhiliang graduates from Qunnan University, he will make money and repay you." 

"You really don't have to…" Lin Jingzhe held her arm so she could put on her shoes. Dismayed, he kept protesting, but the couple would hear none of it. They also promised to bring Hu Yu a sack like this every year.

They were still shouting thanks as they were leaving, only stopping after they left the building. Lin Jingzhe breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to Yu Zhiliang, who barely said anything the whole time, and gave him a nod as a farewell.

Behind the gla.s.ses' lenses, Yu Zhiliang's eyes were fixed on Lin Jingzhe. He looked at him for a while, then lowered his gaze and whispered, "Thank you. Also, I'm sorry—when Li Yurong made you change cla.s.ses, I was too scared to speak up for you."

"Don't worry about it," Lin Jingzhe replied lightly. "It's not as if I meant to help you, things just turned out this way." 

The shake of Yu Zhiliang's head was surprisingly forceful. "It doesn't matter. Anyway, without you, I definitely wouldn't have been given the admission quota, and I doubt I would've gotten into Qunnan University on my own."

Lin Jingzhe let out a sigh. "Maybe."

Though, in his last life, this was exactly what must've happened. After all, with the exam results at that time being so tragic, if somebody from their school managed to get into Qunnan University, it would've surely made a deep impression on him.

This admission seemed to have satisfied Yu Zhiliang. A bit fl.u.s.tered, he a.s.sured, "I will definitely repay you. And…" 

He paused, then whispered, "And the other students in Cla.s.s 1 asked me to tell you, they're sorry too. After taking the English exam the day before yesterday, most people said it was particularly difficult, and many things weren't included in what Teacher Li taught us. If it hadn't been for you and Teacher Hu, everyone would have done really badly."

Saying this apparently embarra.s.sed him, and without waiting for Lin Jingzhe's reply, he turned and fled.

Lin Jingzhe looked at his rapidly disappearing back. He sighed, both gratified and melancholy.

This wasn't half-bad. His past life was full of hards.h.i.+p, but he got another chance; if possible, he wanted other people to be a bit happier this time around.

The sack's contents shocked Lin Jingzhe—Yu Zhiliang's parents actually gave them a wild boar they caught!

Distressed by this windfall, Hu Yu went around delivering the wild pork to her neighbors. It was getting dark, and Lin Jingzhe turned on the desk lamp. Though the college entrance exam was over, he still read the preparatory textbooks.

Gao Sheng felt he did quite well on the exam, and was in a good mood. He wandered around the room holding his soup bowl, daydreaming about the future.

"Jingzhe!" He called out suddenly. "Say, if I get a high enough score to get into college, which one should I choose?"

Lin Jingzhe, who didn't understand his excitement, replied dully, "Check the minimum admission score and choose the best one you can get into."

"Tsk!" Gao Sheng clicked his tongue, dissatisfied, but soon cheered up. "Don't you want to study in Yan City? Then I will go to Yan City with you!"

Taken by surprise, Lin Jingzhe stared blankly at the page. Yan City…

He had so many memories there, both precious and painful.

He came back to himself and nodded. "Yes, this isn't a bad idea."

"Then, what major do you think I should study?" Gao Sheng asked excitedly. "Should I become a teacher like my mom?"

Lin Jingzhe did a double take—this random, impatient, hot-tempered guy, a teacher?!

He vaguely recalled Gao Sheng loved to play video games in his last life. After pondering the future employment prospects, he said, "You should consider Information Technology."

"What the h.e.l.l?" In Liyun Town in 1990, computers weren't very popular. Gao Sheng had to think for a moment before he figured out what it was. "You mean, the one about computers? Are you nuts? Why would I study that?"

"Weren't you envious there was a computer course at the high school in the provincial capital? You said you like the computer games."

Gao Sheng and his father went to Qunnan City last year, and happened to play a computer game. It left a profound impression on Gao Sheng. "Yeah, I do, but what's the use of studying this if I can't find a job later? I still need to eat."

Explaining would be a bother, so Lin Jingzhe just said, "You want to go to college, but would you be able to study anything besides computer science? Other majors read books and memorize a ton of material every day, high school homework doesn't even compare. Well, whatever, if you want to choose something else, go ahead."

Frightened by these terrifying prospects, Gao Sheng swallowed. "Is it really so bad?"

Suddenly anxious for his future, he began to admit computer science really might be a good choice for him. He looked at Lin Jingzhe raising an eyebrow. "Man, you really know me."

Then his face became serious again. "Actually, my mom asked me to ask you, do you… um, have you got enough money for tuition?"

Lin Jingzhe put down the book and turned to look at him. A warm smile thawing his cold face, he said, "I have money, tell Teacher Hu not to worry."

But this money was far from enough.

Before his grandfather died, he'd secretly gave Lin Jingzhe a pa.s.sbook, worried that his son and daughter would make trouble for him. There was 10,000 yuan saved there.

In this era, when average income was a bit more than a hundred yuan, ten thousand yuan was a very large sum, more than enough to pay tuition.

However, Lin Jingzhe knew very well how frighteningly fast inflation would rise in the next decade or two due to the country's rapid economic growth.

Now that the college entrance examination was over and done with, he should temporarily put the studying aside and think about how to make some money.

Translators: Eques, Teo

Editor: Bet

Here's more info about the college entrance exam (aka the Gaokao):

…Okay, I might've gone a little nuts with these. ?