Chapter 18: The First Day of the College Entrance Examination
At last, I had finished the 800 meters. To my surprise, I actually passed. Three minutes and fifty seconds—something I could never have imagined before. It seems human potential truly is limitless.
Ge Xin still hadn’t run her race; she was in Class Eight, so her group was the last to take the exam. Most of the students who had finished were already heading back to their dorms or classrooms, seizing the chance to rest before the afternoon classes resumed as usual.
Though my legs trembled with exhaustion at every step, I was determined to wait until Ge Xin finished before leaving. Finally, it was her turn. Standing on the field, I watched as she effortlessly took the lead in her group, leaving the others far behind. I couldn’t help but sigh—how can the gap between people be so vast?
Having completed this seemingly impossible task, only the college entrance examination remained. The days that followed passed in an unremarkable blur, neither sorrowful nor joyful.
I continued going to and from school every day. I watched as the countdown to the college entrance exam on the blackboard dwindled from double digits to single digits, and finally to zero.
Was it really coming to an end?
That night, I prepared the stationery I would need for the exam. Oh, and the admission ticket—I mustn’t forget that. I lay down early but couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. Besides the nerves, there was also a sense of uncertainty. What exactly was my goal?
The next morning, after breakfast, my father took me to the exam site on his bicycle. It was quite a coincidence: the exam site was my old middle school, the very school where my father taught. To avoid any suspicion of favoritism, the school administration hadn’t assigned my father as an invigilator. Considerately, they also told him he didn’t need to come to work. So during the days of the college entrance exams, my father could take me to and from the exam site.
Outside the exam hall, crowds had already gathered—parents and students waiting anxiously at the school gate. The pressure was overwhelming.
After waiting for about twenty minutes, the doors finally opened and we could enter. My father reminded me, “Don’t rush. Start with the questions you know.” I waved him off. “I know, Dad.” Then I turned and entered the exam hall with the crowd.
Ah, the classroom building was just as I remembered it. Though I had graduated three years ago and rarely returned since starting high school, it was still so familiar. I found my seat according to the admission ticket number on the desk and sat down.
In the corner, a small blue speaker was broadcasting the exam instructions. I was so nervous.
The first subject was mathematics, my worst subject. I didn’t recognize the two invigilating teachers, though I must have seen them before.
The teachers explained the exam rules, then, following the broadcast instructions, unsealed the exam papers. When the paper was handed to me, I flipped through it roughly.
It looked… impossible. I couldn’t do any of it.
My hands began to tremble uncontrollably, almost unable to grip my pen. Countless thoughts flashed through my mind—what if I scored zero? Would I still get into university? Would I have to repeat a year? Would my parents be disappointed?
I was so nervous I could barely breathe, my face flushed, and I felt on the verge of tears.
I glanced around. Others were scribbling rapidly on their scratch paper, appearing confident in their answers.
I stared blankly at the math paper, at a complete loss.
Silently, I repeated to myself, “Don’t panic, don’t panic, start with what you know.”
I began with the fill-in-the-blank questions, working them out on my scratch paper, though the answers didn’t seem right. No matter—I wrote something down anyway.
Then came the multiple-choice questions. These were a bit better; even if I didn’t know the answer, I could at least pick the one that seemed most likely.
Gradually, my mind calmed, if only a little, though I still couldn’t stop my hands from shaking.