The leaves turned from yellow to green, and the weather changed from cold to hot. At last, July arrived, bringing the high school entrance examination.
The happiness was genuine, and so was the misfortune. On the very first day of the high school entrance examination, they encountered torrential rain. The sky was as dark as the bottom of a pot, and to ensure the examination could proceed smoothly, the school had no choice but to distribute candles to the examinees.
Taking an examination by candlelight was Yun Qing’s first time, and honestly, he found it rather novel.
The conditions at their examination site were fairly good. The roof did not leak. Some examination sites were less fortunate, with leaking roofs that forced the invigilators to catch the rain in basins. Later, Yun Qing heard some examinees say that the constant dripping had made them exceptionally irritable, like a death knell urging them onward, leaving them completely unable to calm their minds.
The high school entrance examination lasted three days and covered six subjects. Once the final subject, foreign language, was over, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The students relaxed, and so did the teachers.
Yun Qing’s homeroom teacher was surnamed Wang. The moment the examination ended, he seized Yun Qing.
“Student Zhou Yunqing, how did the questions feel?”
“They were all right. Not difficult. There shouldn’t be any problems.” Yun Qing answered casually.
“That’s good, that’s good.” Teacher Wang smiled in relief.
Their school was a workers’ children’s middle school. Compared with those key middle schools, its rate of advancement had always been low. If several students could get into key technical secondary schools this time, the school’s teachers would be able to hold their heads high wherever they went.
The applications had been submitted long ago. Yun Qing had also learned for the first time that there was a system in which students filled out their preferences before taking the examination. After submitting their preferences came the political vetting. Thanks to Zhou Hongjun, as a worker’s child, Yun Qing was unquestionably of impeccable revolutionary background.
His first choice was the Capital Mechanical Industry School, and his second choice was the Electric Power School. Both were key technical secondary schools directly administered by a ministry. He had not applied to high school at all.
When he filled out his preferences, he even frightened Teacher Wang. The teacher said that his choices were too ambitious and that, for safety’s sake, he should choose an ordinary technical secondary school. Yun Qing was unusually stubborn this time and only selected consent to adjustment.
The results came out twenty days later. This was also the final class to be admitted according to examination scores before the resumption of the college entrance examination. In the Original Host’s memories, beginning the following year, students would no longer be admitted according to scores. Instead, admission would be based on political performance, and the publication of scores would be canceled.
That year was exceptionally hot, with the highest temperature reaching 38°C. The school erected temporary tents and announced the examination results on the athletic field before posting them publicly.
The total score was 600, and Yun Qing scored 560. Throughout the entire capital city, he ranked among the top three. This was his raw score; he had no bonus points. He was neither a third-generation poor peasant, nor was his father a model worker.
Those people all had bonus points.
If only raw scores were counted, Yun Qing would have ranked first.
These results made all the school leaders beam with delight. It was practically an unexpected blessing.
It was not that a perfect score was impossible, but it would attract too much attention. As long as he could get into a technical secondary school, that was enough. In this era, there was no such thing as a Top Graduate.
Teacher Wang happily patted his shoulder, too moved to speak. He looked at Yun Qing as though he were a precious treasure, giving Yun Qing the urge to run away.
When Zhou Yunxue saw this scene, the flames of jealousy in his eyes seemed capable of burning someone alive.
As for causing trouble, or stealing the admission notice or something like that? Unless he stole it from Yun Qing’s hands, he truly had no opportunity to do so before this.
Yun Qing had been admitted to a key technical secondary school directly administered by a ministry, so the admission notice was delivered by designated personnel. First, the admission notice was mailed to the school. Then, the school leaders and police officers from the police station delivered it personally to the recipient. After checking it against the household registration booklet, the recipient signed for it.
Stealing it halfway? That was simply a pipe dream. But stealing it from Yun Qing was even more absurd. Nowhere could be safer than the Space, so Yun Qing was not worried in the slightest that Zhou Yunxue would cause trouble.
If Zhou Yunxue dared to cause trouble, it would not only be Yun Qing who dealt with him; Zhou Hongjun would not let him off either. The value of this admission notice went without saying. It was the kind of achievement that could make even the Zhou Family’s ancestors’ graves emit green smoke.
If Zhou Yunxue dared to cause trouble, Zhou Hongjun would dare beat him half to death and then drive him out of the house.
A week later, the Principal and police officers from the police station delivered the admission notice to Yun Qing. It was for his first choice, the Capital Mechanical Industry School, majoring in Mechanical Manufacturing.
That day, Zhou Hongjun specially bought two ounces of meat, along with some sunflower seeds and sugar blocks, and celebrated properly at home. He handed out sunflower seeds to the neighbors and even went to the workshop to show off.
Zhao Hongmei personally cooked dinner that evening. No one knew what she was thinking inside, but the smile on her face never faded. Anyone who did not know better would truly have thought she was his biological mother. One had to admit that this stepmother was no amateur; at the very least, she had Zhou Hongjun firmly under her thumb.
Zhou Yunlan was also extremely happy, bustling around nonstop. Over the past six months, Yun Qing had often given her food, and the little girl had finally gained some flesh. She had grown a little taller too, and at least no longer looked like a refugee.
That weekend, Zhou Hongjun even took Yun Qing back to their old home in Tong County to visit Chu Ying’s grave.
When Grandpa Zhou and Grandma Zhou heard that their family had produced a cadre, they were so delighted that they kept saying it was the ancestors’ blessing.
Yun Qing: “Blessing my ass! This was the result of my own hard work.”
He was disdainful inside, but his face still wore a happy expression. Toward his male cousins back home, he remained neither warm nor cold, just as before. The Original Host had no affection for them. He had moved away when he was little, so where could that affection have come from?
However, the envy in their eyes when they looked at Yun Qing was unmistakable. This was a cadre. If they did not take this opportunity to get close to him, they would have even less of a chance in the future.
Older Male Cousin One: “Yun Qing, you’re really amazing! You’ll be a cadre from now on. Our Zhou Family has never produced a cadre before.”
Yun Qing: “You can do it too if you study hard.”
Older Male Cousin Two: “Yun Qing, I heard Second Uncle say that you don’t have to spend any money to attend school? The school even gives you money? Is that true?”
Yun Qing: “It’s true. The school gives me a subsidy every month.”
Zhou Hongjun was the second-born in his family.
Younger Male Cousin Three: “Brother Yun Qing, I’ll study hard too from now on, get into a technical secondary school, and become a cadre.”
Yun Qing: “That’s the spirit. Work hard!”
You might not get the chance. In another three years, the political winds will change.
Younger Male Cousin Four: ………
This was the first time he had realized that the Zhou Family had so many children. There were more than ten in just his generation, and that did not even include those not yet born. What a thriving family!
After eating a meal in their old home, father and son hurried back to the city. Zhou Hongjun had to work the next day, and missing a day of work would mean earning several dimes less. He could not bear that.
Along the way, Zhou Hongjun had considered talking with Yun Qing, but every time, Yun Qing retorted until he was speechless, so he simply shut his mouth.
Yun Qing thought to himself: Why didn’t you try to build a father-son relationship before? Now that you’ve seen I have value, you want to build one? Too late!
The days of waiting were boring, but he was not idle. He still left early and returned late, practicing martial arts, fishing, and searching for treasures. Any of those was better than staying at home.
Before, it had been silent hostility; now it was flattery. The change had come far too quickly! Yun Qing was not used to it, so he simply hid outside. Even going fishing at Shichahai or entering the mountains was better than staying at home.
That day, he went into the mountains again, hunted a small wild boar, and sold it to the Textile Factory canteen. In exchange, he received some defective cloth and money coupons. He had Zhou Yunlan make him two Sun Yat-sen suits. The remaining cloth was enough for her to make herself a set of clothes.
Zhou Yunlan happily agreed. From childhood to adulthood, she had never worn new clothes. This time, she had this opportunity only because she benefited from her Second Brother.
Zhao Hongmei privately sought out Zhou Yunlan and told her to give the cloth to Zhou Yunxi to make clothes. The little girl naturally refused and was beaten.
When Yun Qing returned that evening, the slap mark on Zhou Yunlan’s face had not yet faded.
“Who hit you?” Yun Qing asked.
“N-no one.” Zhou Yunlan did not dare say. If she did, she would be beaten again.
Seeing her like this, Yun Qing immediately guessed what had happened.
“Your mother hit you? Did you provoke her?”
“No. Mother told me to give the remaining cloth to Third Brother to make clothes, but I refused.” As Zhou Yunlan spoke, tears streamed down her face. She was extremely aggrieved.