Chapter 25: The Results Are Announced

Without realizing it, my mother and I had already been back from Beijing for half a month.

That day, I suddenly received a call from the school: the results of the college entrance exam had been released, and the ranking list was already posted on the bulletin board in front of the main building.

My heart began to pound nervously.

“Mom, the results are out. I’m going to school to check!” My mother was cooking in the kitchen when I dashed in to tell her.

“Oh! They’re out. Alright, take the bus, don't ride your bike.” She seemed just as anxious.

At that moment, my father walked in from the living room. “Don’t forget to bring some change!”

“Got it!” I hurriedly grabbed my wallet, along with some paper and a pen, and rushed out the door.

The sun outside was scorching, but I paid it no mind and quickly made my way to the bus stop.

Soon, bus number 2 arrived. I hopped on, inserted a one-yuan bill, and quickly found a seat.

It takes seven stops to get from home to school by bus. I quietly watched the familiar buildings flash by the window, coming toward me and then receding into the distance.

I wished the bus would just keep going, so I wouldn’t have to face my exam results.

But things rarely go as one wishes. Traffic in Y City is almost never congested, and now, during the summer break, there were hardly any cars or pedestrians. In no time, the bus reached my stop.

I got off and walked to the intersection, because there were traffic lights there, and I never dared to cross a street without them.

Across the street was the school gate. From afar, I could see many students on campus, all likely here to check their exam results.

The green light came on, and I quickly crossed the pedestrian lane.

Once inside the school gate, I saw several bulletin boards in front of the main building, covered with long lists of scores, surrounded by students.

I joined the crowd to look for my name. I had a general sense of how I’d done, so I started scanning from the middle of the list, my eyes moving swiftly.

Finally, I found it.

Ye Lingyin, total score: 479. Chinese: 97, Mathematics: 66, Physics: 88, Chemistry: 101, English: 127.

It was exactly the same as my last mock exam before the finals. I remembered telling Yin Yu in English class that my college entrance exam score would probably be just like that.

It had turned out to be a prophecy, not a single point off!

The dust had settled...

English had rewarded me, giving me extra points.

Mathematics, on the other hand, was pitifully low.

The total score for the exam is 750, with each subject out of 150, so 90 is the passing mark. Sixty-six in math is equivalent to a 44 on a percentage scale—not even a pass.

I took out my paper and pen and copied my scores down.

The science and arts lists were separated, so I went over to the arts list to look for Ge Xin’s score.

As expected, Ge Xin was ranked first in arts, with an English score of 134—seven points higher than mine.

Among the crowd, I didn’t see Ge Xin, nor any girls from her dorm.

It was nearly noon. During the summer break, the school hadn’t closed the graduates’ dormitories, mainly to allow students from out of town to wait for their exam results in the dorms.

After the exam, Ge Xin hadn’t gone home and was still living in the dorm. She must have heard the results had been released before I did and probably checked them already and gone to the cafeteria for lunch.

Just then, there were fewer people at the science list, so I started from the top.

I didn’t look at the total scores—comparison only brings pain, why seek it?

I only looked at the English scores, scanning from top to bottom...

Only six students in the whole school scored above 120 in English. My score was second only to Ge Xin’s, ranking me second.

Ah, my tiny sense of pride was satisfied.

But what does it matter?

The college entrance exam is based on total score.

Yin Yu scored 522; she applied to the Engineering University in H City, and should have no problem getting in.

Liu Yunyi’s total was 446. It looked like he had little hope for undergraduate admission, and even junior college was uncertain.

I didn’t know if he would choose to repeat the year or wait for a placement at a junior college.

I was not much different. If last year’s undergraduate cut-off of 480 was anything to go by, I was one point short, but there was still a chance.

After all, I had applied to universities within the province, and not to any elite schools, so there weren’t many applicants.

No matter what, all I could do now was continue to wait, hoping that one of the universities I applied to would accept me and send an admission letter...

Such is life. When you keep working hard and reach a certain height, you gain the right to choose.

But once you slack off and become mediocre and ordinary, you inevitably must accept the choices of others.

There are geniuses in this world, but true geniuses are rare.

Many of those we call geniuses have worked incredibly hard.

Ge Xin, with her outstanding grades, even cut her beloved long hair short to save time.

While we are relaxing, the “geniuses” in our eyes are giving up their favorite games and sacrificing their rest, still striving and pushing forward.

Fate is fair.