The gaokao is a grueling mental activity, and before the exam, everyone’s thoughts are on the looming gaokao.
They think that as long as they take the gaokao, what follows is not their responsibility but an issue for the parents to worry about.
Many parents watch as their children, since the end of the gaokao, begin to indulge themselves, without much thought for the results that have yet to come out, or some may even give up, knowing they didn’t perform well on the test.
Yang Xue’s parents were actually very nervous, even though Yang Xue and Zhang Li both assured that she would definitely achieve good results.
But as long as the gaokao results weren’t out, no one knew what the final scores would be.
The Yang couple knew that over the past year, Yang Xue had worked as hard as one possibly could.
If possible, they didn’t want Yang Xue to retake a year.
After leaving the gaokao exam site, Zhang Li quickly calculated her scores in her mind, knowing she was sure to obtain a good result but uncertain whether she could secure a scholarship from Harbor City University.
In the midst of their anxiety, the results finally came out.
Father Yang knew Zhang Li’s admission ticket number and, after checking Yang Xue’s gaokao score, he checked Zhang Li’s as a favor; hearing Zhang Li’s scores for each subject over the phone, he was truly stunned.
He knew Zhang Li’s results would be good, but he did not expect them to be this excellent.
Father Yang’s colleagues knew his daughter took the gaokao and naturally wanted to know her results.
Just as they were about to ask, they saw his face filled with surprise and disbelief, making them quite apprehensive at heart.
They wondered if perhaps the Yang Family’s daughter hadn’t done well, leaving Father Yang unable to accept it?
They looked at each other, contemplating how to properly console Father Yang.
After all, no one wanted such an outcome; everyone hoped for good gaokao results, but some things don’t pan out just because you wish them to.
They looked at each other, unsure of what to say; they had also watched Yang Xue grow up and knew how hard she worked after entering high school.
Especially after entering her senior year, her grades had truly shot up like a rocket.
They had asked Father Yang under which teacher she was studying, only to have him reply that her previous tutor fell ill, and later, when trying to find a new tutor, there was no suitable candidate.
That’s when they remembered Father Yang had asked them for recommendations, so they didn’t inquire further, thinking now that without a good tutor, one indeed risked doing poorly on the gaokao.
The leader happened to come over looking for someone and saw that Father Yang’s expression was grim, "Old Yang, what’s the matter?"
"I was just checking the scores of my daughter and her classmate," Father Yang said, his expression relaxing slightly.
Recalling that the Yang Family’s daughter was taking the gaokao this year, the leader casually asked, "How did she do?"
"Not bad," Father Yang said, knowing that saying simply "good" was unconvincing, so he reported his daughter’s scores.
The people who were originally planning to comfort Father Yang couldn’t help but purse their lips; this result was commendable. Their own children hadn’t scored as well on the gaokao.
"That’s a good score," the leader said, somewhat baffled, "If the score is good, what made you pull such a long face just now?"
Did he pull a long face just now? Father Yang paused, "My daughter’s classmate scored better than her."
Offhandedly mentioning the classmate’s scores, everyone who had been awed by Yang Xue’s gaokao results, did not expect someone to have done even better.
"Such high scores," someone sighed.
Likewise, someone recalled Father Yang once mentioning that his daughter was studying with a classmate, "Is that the same person who was studying with your daughter?"
Father Yang grunted in acknowledgment, "Right, I’ve never found a suitable tutor, and my daughter’s deskmate had good grades, so they wanted to study together. I thought they might as well study together until we found a tutor."
"Unexpectedly, my girl’s performance actually improved a lot by studying with the other student."
Father Yang knew that Zhang Li didn’t like to tutor, and if it wasn’t for the fact that Yang Xue got along well with her and it didn’t trouble her too much, he really wouldn’t have agreed to it.
"You really didn’t hire a tutor and just studied with the other student?" Everyone looked at Father Yang with surprise.
"Yeah, I have no reason to keep it from you."
"And there are only so many good teachers anyway. Even if I hid it from you, you would still find out." Father Yang didn’t mind them checking for themselves.
There weren’t that many good teachers available these days, and even fewer were willing to tutor.
Seeing that Father Yang had said as much, they knew he was telling the truth, and they felt a sense of regret. Could studying with a classmate really improve one’s grades?
"In fact, it’s my daughter’s deskmate whose grades are quite good, previously ranking within the top fifty of the grade and later settling firmly within the top ten."
Father Yang worried that these colleagues would also have their children study with peers and then, if their grades didn’t improve or even got worse, what would they do?
Very few high-achieving students would be willing to study with those who had poor grades. It was truly a pipe dream.
They were considering which classmates their children should team up with for studying, but after hearing about the other child’s grades from Father Yang, they immediately abandoned the idea.
It wasn’t that there were no students with good grades, but who would want to study with someone who performed poorly? Wouldn’t that just hold them back?
"Old Yang, your daughter is really lucky," someone said with envy and jealousy toward Father Yang.
Father Yang just smiled, saying nothing; after all, no matter what, his situation was one to be envied and resented.
"What did she put down for her college choices?" The leader was curious about Yang Xue’s preferences.
"R University and F University," Father Yang said, not mentioning that he was also considering whether she could get into Harbor City University. That was something he’d rather not talk about; honestly, it was like asking for trouble.
Even without mentioning Harbor City University, just the mention of these two universities was enough to impress everyone. "Those are very good universities."
That’s not to say there weren’t better universities, like B University and Q University, but so far none of the children from their department had been admitted to these prestigious schools.
Getting admitted to R University or F University was considered very impressive in the eyes of many.
The leader was taken aback for a moment, "If she gets into college, you’ll definitely have to treat us."
Even if the leader hadn’t said it, Father Yang would certainly have hosted a celebration, let alone now that the leader had spoken, "Definitely, definitely."
Zhang Li, too, had learned of her own results, not because she went out to check her scores, but because the head teacher had come to her home.
The head teacher had always thought that Zhang Li would hold nothing back during the college entrance exams, but in the end, she had not become the top scorer.
What made the head teacher most angry was that Zhang Li’s college entrance exam score was shy by merely two points.
If only she had tried a little harder, checked her work a bit more thoroughly, she might have surpassed the other person.
Looking at the head teacher’s regretful face, Zhang Li felt powerless. She couldn’t sacrifice her circumstances just for the face of the head teacher and the school.
The head teacher could only sigh with regret, "Although this year’s top college entrance exam score isn’t from our school, our school now has the highest number of first-tier university acceptances in the city."
As the college entrance exam cutoff scores were released, the scorelines for the various categories were also announced.
The school’s administration, despite their regrets, saw the overall improvement in performance as a positive for future admissions.