Upon hearing this, another teacher curiously leaned over and asked, "What happened? How come Ni Yang only scored in the teens for physics and history?"
Normally, Ni Yang had never scored so low.
By her side, Ni Yang’s homeroom teacher, Teacher Xu, said, "She wasn’t feeling well and handed in her paper early."
"No wonder," said the teacher who had spoken. "Old Xu, it looks year’s top student in our city will definitely be Ni Yang from your class."
Teacher Xu adjusted her glasses and replied modestly, "There’s always someone better than the best. It’s too early to be certain."
Zhang Qiang felt very uncomfortable when he heard this.
Ni Yang was someone he had introduced to the school, and the top student was from their class. The feeling was like having won a five million jackpot but losing the lottery ticket.
As the exam drew closer, Ni Yang seldom visited the shop these days and was thoroughly revising at home.
She hadn’t taken part in the 1985 college entrance examination and didn’t know what it was like, but she knew there would definitely be text completion questions in Chinese.
Reading comprehension, classical Chinese interpretation, and essay writing didn’t scare her; it was the text completion that she dreaded the most.
So she had been cramming for Chinese at home these past few days.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the day of the college entrance examination arrived.
The college entrance examination is a major turning point in life, and both the Zheng Family and the Shangguan Family took it very seriously. Old Master Zheng, Madame Zheng, and the dowager Madame Shangguan all wanted to personally escort Ni Yang to the examination room, but she refused them, saying that the whole family showing up would be too grand...
"Grandmas, Grandpa, Mom and Dad, don’t worry," she said. "It’s just an exam; why are you more nervous than I am? Having Big Brother Mo with me is enough."
"Then why hasn’t Xiaomo arrived yet?" Madame Shangguan asked anxiously.
"He should be here soon," Ni Yang replied. "I arranged to meet him at the intersection up ahead. I’ll go on ahead."
Madame Zheng grabbed Ni Yang’s wrist, "Yangyang, are you sure you don’t need us to accompany you?"
Ni Yang smiled and said, "Really, I don’t. I have Big Brother Mo with me, and it’s not like I’m alone."
Seeing Ni Yang so composed and not at all nervous, Madame Zheng also breathed a sigh of relief. "Then we will make something delicious at home and wait for you tonight."
"Mhm," Ni Yang nodded.
Just like it had been arranged, as soon as Ni Yang stepped out of the front door, Mo Qishen arrived in his car.
Ni Yang opened the car door and got in.
"Why are you driving today? Where’s Wu Daming?" Ni Yang asked, puzzled.
Mo Qishen replied, "Because it’s the college entrance examination. Wu Daming’s sister is also taking it this year, so he went back to accompany her."
Ni Yang nodded, "You wouldn’t expect Daming to be such a good brother."
At this time, the countryside still held a strong preference for sons over daughters. It was very difficult for a family to let a girl take the college entrance examination, unlike in later generations where men and women were treated as equals and female university students were everywhere.
Before long, they had reached the examination room.
The examination room was at a certain middle school in Beijing.
There were many parents there to send off their children, most of whom had come by bicycle. There were very few who, like Mo Qishen, had arrived by car.
For a moment, this garnered many lingering glances.
Fortunately, the atmosphere in Beijing was gradually becoming more open, and it wasn’t rare to see couples secretly holding hands on the street. Rewind a few decades, and a young couple like Ni Yang and Mo Qishen would have been subjected to public criticism.
Mo Qishen carefully checked the pencil case, making sure that all the stationery and her admission ticket were in place. Then he said, "Yangyang, don’t be nervous. I will be right here waiting for you when you come out."
"I’m not nervous. You, on the other hand, are sweating, Big Brother Mo, and you’re not even the one taking the exam." Ni Yang stood on her tiptoes and used her sleeve to wipe away the beads of sweat on Mo Qishen’s forehead.
Being so close, she could smell a fresh mint fragrance mixed with a subtle scent of tobacco.
"I’m heading in," Ni Yang continued.
"Wait a moment," Mo Qishen said, catching Ni Yang’s wrist.
Ni Yang looked back slightly, "What is it?"
Mo Qishen held her hand with one hand and took off the watch from his own left wrist with the other, placing it on her wrist, "Wear this and you can check the time during the exam."
The men’s watch was large, making her fair wrist look even more delicate and exquisite.
"I’m off then," Ni Yang said, shaking the wristwatch.
"Don’t worry," Ni Yang nodded, smilingly replied, "I will, Big Brother Mo. See you later."
Mo Qishen waved at her and watched as her figure disappeared at the school gate.