If over a year ago someone had told Su Ziceng that she needed over a thousand to live in the Sixth District, she would have thought that person was joking. But it happened, so Su Ziceng has come to accept it.
However, more than a year later, when Wen Maixue announced in front of the whole class that Su Ziceng must live on one hundred francs in Paris for a month, Su Ziceng could only muster: "This is not fair, how much is one franc in US dollars?" She meant to protest that one hundred francs and one hundred US dollars were not equivalent. But her words only invited contempt from the entire class, dozens of pairs of eyes saw Su Ziceng snatch the most difficult promotion exam from right under Wen Maixue’s nose, originally belonging to Wen Maixue.
Everyone believed that Wen Maixue could not possibly engage in favoritism; she had already chosen to keep the hardest assessment question for herself; it was Su Ziceng who foolishly snatched the envelope away.
"The school gives everyone a week to prepare. Next Wednesday, assemble at the school, and the school will provide a free shuttle to respective airports or bus stations," Wen Maixue’s words felt like an early gust of snowy wind, bringing an unwelcomed chill that didn’t fit with autumn.
"I’m sorry, I’ve only just heard clearly, ignorance is no sin, it would be better to draw again," Su Ziceng was still making a futile struggle, at least she needed to ask clearly about the so-called assessment rules.
Wen Maixue stopped in her tracks. She was a few centimeters shorter than Su Ziceng, but this did not prevent her from looking down arrogantly at the annoying woman in front of her: "You’d do better to prepare a guide to Paris than waste time drawing again."
"We’ll see the real deal after a month," Su Ziceng retorted with the tone that Paris was her backyard: "I’ve been to Paris no less than a hundred times," she said, only to realize afterward that there was something off with her statement. To be exact, the nineteen-year-old Su Ziceng had only been to Paris once, and it was the shopaholic "Su Ziceng" who traveled back and forth to Paris often.
"So I’ll state it again, do not bring any communication devices, pack the simplest luggage, and then next Wednesday, at two o’clock, be on time to gather under the teaching building," Wen Maixue’s reply was concise and powerful, but to Su Ziceng’s ears, no matter how she listened, it just sounded wrong.
It was not until Su Ziceng saw the notice outside Kelly Women’s College, that she understood the real reason for the graduation exam being brought forward. It turns out that with the support of Mo City government, the provincial education department issued a document to turn Quan University into a nationally renowned, top-class international institution comparable to Bianjing University, and Kelly Women’s School had joined the "project". After a year and a half, the reformed Kelly Women’s School would become a branch of Quan University.
This was considered a flagship project by the new government in Mo City, and Su Ziceng sensed something unusual about it. The directors within Kelly had diverse opinions; those who supported the old Kelly tradition, including the Wen family board members, unanimously agreed that, come what may, the independence of the graduation exam for the last batch of female students must be maintained. The only result of this was the school having to accelerate the pace of assessment and teaching, the original four years of study were forcibly compressed into three years.
Standing in the ancient Kelly Women’s College, Su Ziceng felt an unprecedented sensation, the wheel of fate was moving imperceptibly. Kelly Women’s College, Quan University, and even the whole of Mo City and the entire Z country were undergoing changes. Faced with the pressing changes, she felt uncomfortable, yet had no choice but to accept this transformation.
When Pello heard that Su Ziceng had drawn the envelope for the assessment to Paris, he appeared puzzled. It’s known that Paris and New York are top high-consumption cities in the world. In the history of assessments, only over twenty years ago during Ye Taina’s time were these two international metropolises chosen with a budget of one hundred francs. After that, due to the extreme difficulty of the assessment, it had been canceled. Only this year did Wen Maixue decide to add Paris again to increase the difficulty of her own assessment. When Wen Maixue placed Paris as an option, she made clear that she would choose Paris. She wanted to visit Pello’s hometown and have a good look around.
Given Wen Maixue’s capabilities, she would absolutely be able to survive in such a bustling metropolis as Paris, so the school committee approved her suggestion. But what about New York? Pello did not know in advance that New York had been set as another assessment location.