The more I thought about it, the more heroic I felt. I walked with a swagger, as if I were riding the wind!
"Wang Sanhe!" He Xiang called out with a chuckle as I was nearing my front door. "What's on your mind? You look like you're the king of the world!"
He Xiang was my childhood friend. We grew up together, and she always ranked in the top three academically in the entire city.
Yet, fate seemed to have played a peculiar joke on us—we were part of the 2003 College Entrance Examination.
I can only describe it as "peculiar." Because if I called it tragic or fortunate, I'd probably get beaten up.
Of course, calling it "peculiar" might get me an earful too, but I really can't find a better word for it.
The 2003 College Entrance Examination was unprecedented.
Under the shadow of the SARS epidemic, the exam papers were actually stolen! And just one day before the test.
The appearance of the legendary "backup papers" made that year's exam the most difficult in history.
We only learned all of this after the exam was over and the details of the case were revealed. At the time, all we could do was stare at the impossible questions, desperately searching for a glimmer of hope.
The math section that year felt like an insurmountable chasm.
For students aiming for top-tier universities, you could afford to lose a few points on the Chinese and English essays, discussion questions, or from minor careless mistakes.
But for math, you were expected to solve every major problem with ease.
But in the exam hall, I was completely clueless on the very first major problem.
I quickly skipped it and moved on to the second, but I couldn't figure that one out either.
The third, the fourth... I couldn't figure out any of them.
Just then, the sound of sobbing began to ripple through the exam hall.
After endless days of high-pressure cramming, we all knew one thing for certain: if you couldn't solve two or three of the major math problems, you could basically kiss your chances of getting into an Ivy League or any other top university goodbye.
But at that moment, not only was I not upset, I felt a strange surge of excitement.
*Haha, it's fine! No one else can solve them either!*
At the same time, I couldn't help but wonder, *Have the people who wrote this year's exam gone mad?*
*To pull a stunt this big! Incredible!*
Once I relaxed, I suddenly found I had some ideas for the seemingly impossible problems I'd skipped earlier.
When I walked out of the exam hall feeling quite pleased with myself, I was met with a sea of tears.
The earlier sniffling had turned into full-blown wailing. It was like a funeral.
The average score for the math section, it was later said, was somewhere between thirty and fifty points out of 150.
Math was on the first day. That one subject shattered the confidence of countless students, affecting their performance for the rest of the exam.
He Xiang was one of them.
She had been a shoo-in for Tsinghua or Peking University, but she ended up missing her chance.
It wasn't a huge loss—she still got into a top-tier university—but it was a shame nonetheless.
I imagine she must have been incredibly frustrated, even if she didn't say it.
I, on the other hand, had a blessing in disguise and performed better than ever.
I won because I didn't let it get to me.
*Is this what they call fate?* I thought, staring at her.
"Hey, where'd your mind wander off to?" she asked, waving a hand in front of my face.
"I'm here!" I snapped out of it and smiled.
"What were you thinking about so intently?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.
Her question reminded me that I still hadn't figured out the phrase Lao Dao had given me.
He Xiang would definitely know what it meant.
It wasn't just that she was a good student; her knowledge of history and literature was simply unparalleled.
She was the type who could write entire novels or historical dramas in classical Chinese.
If she didn't know, then probably no one in the world did.
I quickly repeated Lao Dao's words to her. "What does 'South Up North Down' mean?"
He Xiang gave me a strange look, as if she could see right through me. It gave me the creeps.
"What is it?" I asked, confused.
"Why are you asking about that out of the blue?" He Xiang asked, tilting her head.
The moment I saw her expression, I knew. She definitely knew more about it than I did.
I tried to be casual. "Oh, it's nothing. I just saw it written on a scrap of paper. It didn't look like a common phrase, so I got curious."
He Xiang was a simple, trusting person. She didn't suspect a thing and began to explain "South Up North Down" to me.
"In ancient China, the earliest maps were oriented with south at the top and north at the bottom. This is because common people rarely traveled far, so maps were primarily used by emperors and generals. Whether it was an emperor in his palace or a general setting up camp, they always faced south from a northern position. The maps were drawn from this perspective, so south was placed at the top.
"In ancient times, south was considered the direction of honor. South was *yang*, and north was *yin*. Becoming emperor was called 'facing south in honor,' while being defeated was 'bai bei,' literally 'defeated north.' East was the next most honored direction, followed by west, which is why the crown prince resided in the Eastern Palace.
"There's also an idiom, *tian nan di bei* (heaven south, earth north), which comes from the same logic: south is up, north is down.
"It was only after the Qing Dynasty that maps gradually shifted to the modern orientation of north-up, south-down.
"In ancient homes, the toilet was generally in the south or southwest, far from the main house to disperse odors. The kitchen was in the north or northeast, which helped with heating.
"So, going to the toilet meant walking south, which is why we say *shang cesuo*—'up to the toilet.' Going to the kitchen meant walking north, which is why we say *xia chufang*—'down to the kitchen.'"
"Of course, the phrases 'up to the toilet' and 'down to the kitchen' aren't *just* because of the south-up, north-down orientation," He Xiang said, then suddenly stopped.
I was listening with rapt attention. Why'd she suddenly hit the brakes?
He Xiang looked at me with a grin. "I've finished explaining 'South Up North Down.' Anything more would be getting off-topic."
"No, no, it's fine! You have to finish what you were saying about the toilet and the kitchen. You can't just stop halfway! What's the other reason?" I pressed, my curiosity piqued.
Proofreader: Peter Pan