On the first day of the exam, the opening subject wasn’t Chinese, but politics. For Yu Xinyan, it didn’t matter which subject was first.
After briefly scanning through the questions, her pen didn’t stop moving until she finished the last question.
She carefully checked her answers twice before putting down her pen, but to avoid disturbing other students, she didn’t submit her exam early.
She waited until the bell rang, and then handed in her exam along with everyone else, walking out of the exam hall.
Zhao Jianlan ran towards her from another exam hall: "Xinyan, thank you so much, I feel confident about this subject now."
Yu Xinyan smiled and patted her on the shoulder: "That’s great."
Perhaps because the first subject went smoothly, even the pouring rain outside didn’t dampen their spirits. Zhao Jianlan nodded and said, "Yes, hopefully, the physics exam in the afternoon will go just as smoothly."
Yu Xinyan looked at the rain outside the window. It seemed that resting at the guesthouse outside was no longer possible, which was a pity considering He Jinxuan’s kind offer.
The students from the Mechanical Factory, who came to the city for the exam, mostly brought food from home. Zhao Jianlan linked arms with Yu Xinyan: "Let’s go find a place to eat."
The city students originally planned to go home for meals, but the heavy rain made it difficult for them.
Before long, they heard a teacher calling from the corridor: "XXX student, your family brought your meal, come and get it."
Suddenly, the entrance was crowded with people delivering meals.
Yu Xinyan looked down both sides of the corridor: "Where’s Ruilian?"
Zhao Jianlan pointed to the classroom at the far end: "Ruilian’s cousin is also taking the exam here, she’s probably gone to find her cousin."
Hearing this, Yu Xinyan didn’t go looking for her. The two of them went into the classroom where Yu Xinyan had just taken the exam to eat their food.
Zhao Jianlan brought steamed buns with her. Her mom had specially made mushroom sauce for her to eat with them. Seeing that Yu Xinyan had brought dumplings, she said, "Xinyan, try some of my sauce, my mom’s cooking is amazing."
Yu Xinyan smiled and handed her a dumpling: "Try it, I made it fresh this morning."
The two of them ate happily, and many people looked enviously at the plain white bread they brought.
At that moment, a teacher from the school brought hot water. Yu Xinyan was delighted because the water in her bag had gone cold, and she didn’t feel right heating it in front of Zhao Jianlan, feeling a little troubled.
After thanking the teacher, she filled a jar with hot water and returned to her seat.
After eating, they planned to rest on the desk for a while. The desk was too small for two people, and Zhao Jianlan, worried about disturbing Xinyan’s rest, decided to return to her exam classroom. Yu Xinyan reminded her: "Just take a nap, don’t fall asleep, or you’ll catch a cold."
Zhao Jianlan laughed and agreed, "Got it."
After Zhao Jianlan left, Yu Xinyan got up and walked outside. She wanted to find a quiet spot to enter the space and rest a bit; it was too cold outside.
Earlier, she heard students from this school say that there were exam halls on all floors except the third, so she headed to the third floor.
But as soon as she walked up the stairs, she saw a young boy sitting on the stairwell corner leading up to the third floor, holding his stomach with his hands.
She thought the boy was sick: "What’s wrong with you?"
Just as she asked the question, she heard the boy’s stomach growling loudly, and he pressed his hands hard against his stomach.
Yu Xinyan realized the boy wasn’t sick, just hungry.
Before Yu Xinyan could say anything more, the boy’s stomach growled again, making him look embarrassed.