TVDC 40: Zhongkao

{T.N.: Zhongkao means the Chinese high school entrance exam.}

The high school entrance exam arrived as scheduled. On that day, before the sun even rose, Zhou Mingmei had already woken up and hurriedly made breakfast for Qiu Xuning.

She had a lot on her mind. The night before, she had already prepared taro dumplings, so now she could just cook them for Qiu Xuning to eat.

If she made congee, he might end up needing to use the bathroom during the exam, which would delay his answering of the questions!

Zhou Mingmei had finished cooking the dumplings just as Qiu Xuning was getting up.

“Come over and eat the dumplings!” Zhou Mingmei called to him.

Qiu Xuning scratched his neck, then went to the bathroom to freshen up before coming out.

At this moment, the dumplings had cooled down just enough to be the perfect temperature to eat. Zhou Mingmei noticed that Qiu Xuning kept scratching his neck. She gently pulled his hand away and took a quick look. His skin was fair, and the few scratch marks were very noticeable. What stood out more was the red patch on his neck. Zhou Mingmei asked, “Did a mosquito bite you?”

Qiu Xuning answered somewhat plaintively, “The mosquito coil didn’t work.”

Zhou Mingmei said, “You focus on your exam first. Afterward, I’ll spray some insecticide in your room so you can sleep well tonight.”

Qiu Xuning nodded in response, ate the dumplings, and found them delicious. He then asked Zhou Mingmei, “Mom, are there any more dumplings?”

Without thinking, Zhou Mingmei replied, “No, that was the last bowl I made for you.”

Qiu Xuning let out a slightly disappointed “Oh.” Zhou Mingmei knew his appetite—just that one bowl was enough, and it was clear he couldn’t eat more. She added, “Don’t eat too much, or what if your stomach hurts later?”

Zhou Mingmei thought for a moment, then grabbed a pack of tissues from home and stuffed it into Qiu Xuning’s backpack. “Take the tissues with you. Do you have your scratch paper and exam admission ticket?”

“I have everything,” Qiu Xuning said, being careful and meticulous. He had prepared all of this a few days ago.

Still not fully reassured, Zhou Mingmei said, “Take them out and let me have a look, just to make sure you didn’t forget anything. I don’t want anything to delay your exam!”

Qiu Xuning had no choice but to open his backpack and carefully check everything one by one. “I really have everything, Mom. Don’t worry.”

Zhou Mingmei let out a sigh of relief, glanced at the time, and said, “I’ll take you to the exam venue!”

Qiu Xuning could feel Zhou Mingmei’s anxiety and nervousness. After a moment’s hesitation, he didn’t refuse.

Just as they were about to leave, He Zhiyuan came downstairs. He didn’t have class today, so he could stay at home.

Qiu Xuning glanced back at He Zhiyuan, his eyes clearly filled with expectation.

He Zhiyuan looked at him and said, “Do well on the exam.”

Even with just a simple sentence, Qiu Xuning felt happy. While Zhou Mingmei was changing her shoes, he quietly said to He Zhiyuan, “I’ll work hard to get good results and come back.”

Once they were outside, Zhou Mingmei said, “You and He Zhiyuan get along well, and I don’t mind that, but after you get into the first high school, don’t spend all your time fooling around with him, understand?”

Qiu Xuning looked at her and quietly asked, “What do you mean by ‘fooling around’?”

Zhou Mingmei said, “What I mean is, you need to focus on your studies and not waste time.”

Qiu Xuning obediently agreed.

She dropped him off at school, and only then did she feel at ease enough to head home.

Qiu Xuning found his exam room and casually flipped through some books for a while. Gradually, more and more people arrived, and eventually, the exam began.

The first exam was math, which was Qiu Xuning’s strong suit.

Listening to the exam rules broadcasted over the loudspeaker, he glanced at the questions as soon as he got the test paper. They seemed very easy, even easier than the practice papers he had done. Qiu Xuning’s confidence soared, and as the broadcast ended, he immediately began writing.

When he finished the paper, the teacher reminded everyone of the time—there was still half an hour left. Since the middle school entrance exam didn’t allow early submission, he spent the remaining time checking his answers twice.

Finally, the bell rang. Qiu Xuning checked his name and admission ticket number one more time, and only after the teacher collected the test papers did he leave the exam room.

Twenty minutes after the first exam, the English exam was about to begin. Qiu Xuning went to the restroom, and as he was coming out, Qin Shouze from the neighboring exam room found him and asked, “How did it go?”

Qiu Xuning thought for a moment and replied, “It should be okay. What about you? How did you do?”

Qin Shouze said, “I finished it.”

Qiu Xuning paused for a moment, then burst into laughter, his small canine teeth peeking out. “You just finished?”

Qin Shouze raised an eyebrow and smiled, “For me, finishing it is the best outcome.”

Qiu Xuning smiled faintly. Qin Shouze’s grades were actually pretty good, though he had some significant gaps in certain subjects. He excelled in math, physics, and chemistry, but struggled with English and Chinese.

Qiu Xuning said, “You need to do well in English. Don’t let it be like usual, where you barely get a passing score.”

Qin Shouze looked at him and suddenly said, “Qiu Xuning, after the exams, how about we go travel?”

Qiu Xuning was stunned for a moment. “Travel? Where do you want to go?”

Qin Shouze replied, “We don’t have to go far. How about we go to Mount Tai and Mount Lu? They’re not too far from us. A week would be enough, then we can come back. What do you think?”

Qiu Xuning lowered his gaze and said, “I want to stay home and review the high school textbooks… So, sorry about that.”

Qiu Xuning’s dedication to his studies was something Qin Shouze had noticed. When he gave his response, Qin Shouze wasn’t really surprised. After thinking for a moment, he didn’t press further. Instead, he changed his approach and said, “Then I won’t go. After the exams, I’ll come find you to hang out. Is that okay?”

Qiu Xuning smiled slightly, nodding his head. His voice was soft as he replied, “Sure.”

Just then, the preparation bell rang. Qin Shouze stood up and said to him, “Do well on the exam. We’ll see each other after it’s over.”

Qiu Xuning replied with a quiet “Mm,” watching as Qin Shouze left his exam room.

After finishing the exams for the day, Qiu Xuning returned home. Before he could even take off his shoes, Zhou Mingmei was already asking, “How did it go?”

Qiu Xuning smiled and said, “I think it went pretty well.”

When Zhou Mingmei heard Qiu Xuning say that, she felt relieved. Whenever he said it went well, it meant he had performed up to his usual standard—there hadn’t been an exam he didn’t do well on. If he said it went well, it meant he had delivered his usual level of performance.

Hearing the answer she wanted, Zhou Mingmei went off to start preparing a big dinner.

Since the high school entrance exam was happening, the high school students had a break, and Qiu Zhaozhao was also at home. She was about to enter her senior year, and although Zhou Mingmei didn’t want to force her to study, now that there was a bit more breathing room at home, she hadn’t brought up the topic of her dropping out again. However, recently, Qiu Zhaozhao’s grades had dropped significantly, which left Zhou Mingmei dissatisfied, often scolding her for it.

When Qiu Xuning came back, the house grew quiet, but he could feel that the atmosphere was off. He went to check on Qiu Zhaozhao, and sure enough, she was sitting on the floor with a gloomy expression, peeling corn.

Qiu Xuning put down his backpack and quietly asked her, “What’s wrong?”

Qiu Zhaozhao mumbled, “Mom just scolded me, said I don’t study hard enough, said I’m not as good as you. I’m a girl, isn’t it normal for me not to be as good as you? Besides, I think not studying is better. I want to go to work and make money.”

“……” Qiu Xuning was a bit confused. “Jie, that’s not right. You’re still young. If you don’t study… won’t it be hard to find a job?”

Qiu Zhaozhao muttered, “Why can’t I? You don’t know. I have a classmate from elementary school. She’s really rich now, even bought a car, and everything she has is really good. She stopped studying after elementary school.”

Qiu Xuning didn’t know how to respond. His mind felt a little tangled, and he hesitated before quietly urging, “Jie, don’t think too much about it. Please study hard, okay? I want to go to university with you.”

Qiu Zhaozhao casually replied, “As long as you can get into college, that’s enough for the family. As for me, it’s fine. If I start working now, I can earn and save money a few years earlier. That works too.”

“…” Qiu Xuning sighed, then carefully gathered his thoughts and spoke softly, “Jie, there’s no rush to make money. You’re only 18, and there are so many years ahead of you. A few years won’t make a big difference. Please, just focus on your studies for now. If Mom doesn’t let you, I… I’ll find a way. Look at Dajie, she wanted to study but couldn’t. You have the chance to study, but you’re not taking it. If she finds out, she’ll feel bad.”

Qiu Zhaozhao felt a little guilty. It was true that Qiu Haiyan was very concerned about her studies. She hadn’t started working yet, and there were many reasons for that. With both Qiu Haiyan and Qiu Xuning standing in her way, and the family not being in desperate financial need, she was still allowed to continue her education.

But when she looked at her former elementary school classmates, many of whom hadn’t continued their studies, they were all becoming wealthy. Some had built new houses and bought cars. It made her uneasy. She was smarter than them, so surely she could do better than they had.

When jealousy and frustration took over, her heart became restless, and she couldn’t focus on her studies. That’s why her grades had dropped so quickly.

“Don’t tell Mom yet, I need to think about it,” Qiu Zhaozhao said to Qiu Xuning.

Qiu Xuning looked at her seriously and said, “Jie, I really want to go to university with you.”

Qiu Zhaozhao felt a sense of warmth in her heart from his words, but she still retorted, “You still need me? You and He Zhiyuan get along so well, and you’ll probably end up applying to college together. Where would I fit in?”

She was a bit upset as she continued, “You’re turning your back on me, always sticking to outsiders. I’m your sister, your real sister, and you don’t even care about me. You’re always hanging out with him!”

“Uh…” Qiu Xuning was caught off guard. After a pause, he shyly replied, “Well, it’s not exactly like we’re ‘glued together,’ right?”

Qiu Zhaozhao said, “I’m not arguing with you. Anyway, you don’t care about me anymore. Every time I try to talk to you, I just see you hanging out with him.”

Qiu Xuning’s gaze flickered, and he couldn’t help but quietly defend himself, “It’s just… we’re both guys, so we have more to talk about, you know?”

Qiu Zhaozhao stared at him. “What kind of common ground could you two possibly have? I see it as you always sticking to him, trying too hard to be nice to him. Let me tell you, I can read people, and he’s clearly a wolf in sheep’s clothing. When he grows up, he’ll leave our family for good, and we’ll never see him again.”

Qiu Xuning replied, “…Well, that’s normal. Do you want him to live with us forever?”

Qiu Zhaozhao said, “…Not really. I don’t like him. He should leave soon. I want to sleep in Big Sis’s room. That room has good lighting, unlike mine, which is so dark. Plus, it’s close to the bathroom, so it’s always damp.”

Qiu Xuning looked at her and suddenly thought of something. He whispered, “You still want to call him a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but you were riding that first-place pink little donkey he gave you.”

“You see, you’re defending him again,” Qiu Zhaozhao said, using force as she peeled the corn. A few kernels fell to the ground. Qiu Xuning picked them up and tossed them into the bag. Then he heard her continue, “Even though it was his lucky prize, the money’s ours, right? If Mom hadn’t asked you guys to go grocery shopping, you wouldn’t have caught the supermarket’s special offer, right? If it weren’t for me coming back, you wouldn’t have bought over a hundred yuan worth of groceries. And in the end, it’s that He guy who gets the prize, and suddenly it’s all his credit? Where in the world does something like this even happen?”

Qiu Xuning: “……”

Qiu Zhaozhao glanced at him with a smug look, “So, do you think I’m right?”

“I… I think it’s not right,” Qiu Xuning mumbled quietly.

Qiu Zhaozhao raised an eyebrow, “What’s not right? Tell me, what’s wrong?”

Qiu Xuning looked up at her, then lowered his gaze and quietly said, “It’s all about luck. If it were me, there definitely wouldn’t have been a first-place prize. He just got lucky and won the prize.”

Qiu Zhaozhao, feeling dissatisfied, responded, “You’re wrong about that. Have you ever heard a story? It’s about a person who had the habit of buying lottery tickets every day. One day, he didn’t have time, so he asked his neighbor to buy the ticket for him. In the end, the neighbor’s ticket won five million. Now, who does that money belong to?”

“……” Qiu Xuning was momentarily speechless, unable to come up with a response right away.

Qiu Zhaozhao laughed and said smugly, “See? The neighbor was just doing a favor. It wasn’t even their own money, just helping out once. So, the prize money has nothing to do with them, right? That little donkey is ours, and it has nothing to do with He Zhiyuan.”

Qiu Xuning’s mind finally clicked, and he responded, “Luck is important too. I think at least the neighbor should get a part of the prize money. If it weren’t for their good luck, they wouldn’t have bought the winning ticket, right?”

Qiu Zhaozhao paused for a moment, then said, “But the money isn’t theirs, right?”

Qiu Xuning quietly said, “Sometimes, the process doesn’t matter. What matters is the result… and the result is that He Zhiyuan won the first-place prize, and then you got to ride it.”

Qiu Zhaozhao didn’t respond immediately. After a while, she said, “Anyway, you’re defending him. I don’t want to argue with you.”

Just as Qiu Xuning was about to say something else, Zhou Mingmei’s voice came from the kitchen, “Ningning, there’s still an exam tomorrow. Why aren’t you studying yet? What are you chatting with your sister about?”

Zhou Mingmei added, turning to Qiu Zhaozhao, “How long does it take you to peel a corn? Hurry up and finish, the meal’s almost ready, just waiting for your corn!”

With that, she retreated back into the kitchen.

Qiu Zhaozhao then said to Qiu Xuning, “Focus on your exam. If you do well, Mom and Dad will be happy, and we’ll be able to enjoy a good summer vacation.”

After speaking, Qiu Zhaozhao stood up, holding the basin filled with corn cobs, and went into the kitchen.

Qiu Xuning remained seated on the small stool, looking at the messy floor. He reached down, picked up the corn husks, and threw them into the trash bin. Then, he went to the bathroom to wash his hands, grabbed his backpack, and headed to his room.